Verbal Encouragement in Swimming

The Effect of Verbal Encouragement on Performance and Muscle Fatigue in Swimming

Verbal encouragement (VE) is used to enhance the performance in several sports, even though no studies have been conducted in swimmers and no effects have been reported in elite athletes by some Authors. Besides influencing motor performance, VE is also known to enhance the physical load, thus increasing the probability of developing fatigue. The aim of this research was to study VE in swimmers by evaluating both chronometric performance and muscle fatigue (using sEMG).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Healthy
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: with verbal encouragement

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Italy
  • GE
    • Genoa, GE, Italy, 16122
      • Università degli Studi di Genova

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• at least 1 year of experience in training aimed at regional and international competitions
• a score ≥ 200 points on the personal best in the 200m freestyle, in accordance with the international point score (IPS) (http://www. swimnews.com/ipspoints)
• being healthy

Exclusion Criteria:

• having a disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: with verbal encouragement	Other: with verbal encouragement; Each athlete swam a maximal 200m freestyle trial in two different conditions: one trial with verbal encouragement and the other without verbal encouragement
No Intervention: without verbal encouragement

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
swimming velocity	m/sec	up to 2min 30s

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pectoralis Major muscle fatigue	time-course evolution of the median frequency of the power density spectrum (MF [Hz]) of the sEMG signal measured for Pectoralis Major muscle	up to 2min 30s
Triceps Brachii muscle fatigue	time-course evolution of the median frequency of the power density spectrum (MF [Hz]) of the sEMG signal measured for Triceps Brachii muscle	up to 2min 30s
Latissimus Dorsi muscle fatigue	time-course evolution of the median frequency of the power density spectrum (MF [Hz]) of the sEMG signal measured for Latissimus Dorsi muscle	up to 2min 30s
Rectus Femoris muscle fatigue	time-course evolution of the median frequency of the power density spectrum (MF [Hz]) of the sEMG signal measured for Rectus Femoris muscle	up to 2min 30s

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universita degli Studi di Genova

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 2, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 7, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): September 29, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 30, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 10, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 10, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2022
• Last Verified: October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: sEMG; verbal encouragement; performance; muscle fatigue; swimming
• Other Study ID Numbers: VES-DINOGMI-21

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No