ABSTRACT
Introduction:
It is believed that strengthening cardiopulmonary function can reduce health risks caused by the COVID-19 virus, and swimming is a practice that could benefit its practitioners during the epidemic context.
Objective:
Study the effect of swimming on the cardiopulmonary capacity of college students in the context of COVID-19.
Methods:
A total of 60 volunteers in three groups were trained twice a week for one hour each for 12 weeks. Among them, swimming group A performed freestyle exercises, swimming group B performed breaststroke exercises, and the control group performed reading activities or another study, mainly focusing on staying seated.
Results:
The cardiopulmonary capacity of groups A and B was improved, while the cardiopulmonary capacity of the control group experienced little change. This shows that swimming training can effectively improve cardiopulmonary capacity in college students. Conclusion: Appropriate swimming training can improve the cardiopulmonary capacity of college students, and optimize their physical fitness, in the context of COVID-19. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.
Keywords:
COVID-19; Swimming; Physical Fitness
RESUMO
Introdução:
Acredita-se que o fortalecimento da função cardiopulmonar possa reduzir os riscos à saúde causados pelo vírus COVID-19, sendo a natação uma prática que poderia beneficiar seus praticantes durante o contexto epidêmico.
Objetivo:
Estudar o efeito da natação sobre a capacidade cardiopulmonar dos estudantes universitários sob o contexto da COVID-19.
Métodos:
Um total de 60 voluntários em três grupos foram treinados duas vezes por semana durante uma hora cada, durante 12 semanas. Entre eles, o grupo de natação A realizou exercícios de estilo livre, o grupo de natação B realizou exercícios de bruços, e o grupo de controle realizou atividades de leitura ou outro estudo, focando principalmente em manterem-se sentados.
Resultados:
A capacidade cardiopulmonar do grupo A e B foi melhorada, enquanto que a capacidade cardiopulmonar do grupo de controle sofreu poucas alterações. Isto mostra que o treinamento de natação pode efetivamente melhorar a capacidade cardiopulmonar dos estudantes universitários.
Conclusão:
O treinamento adequado de natação pode melhorar a capacidade cardiopulmonar dos estudantes universitários, otimizar sua aptidão física, no contexto da COVID-19. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.
Descritores:
COVID-19; Natação; Aptidão Física
RESUMEN
Introducción:
Se cree que el fortalecimiento de la función cardiopulmonar puede reducir los riesgos para la salud causados por el virus COVID-19, y la natación es una práctica que podría beneficiar a sus practicantes durante el contexto epidémico.
Objetivo:
Estudiar el efecto de la natación sobre la capacidad cardiopulmonar de los estudiantes universitarios en el contexto del COVID-19.
Métodos:
Se entrenó a un total de 60 voluntarios en tres grupos dos veces por semana durante una hora cada uno durante 12 semanas. Entre ellos, el grupo de natación A realizaba ejercicios de estilo libre, el grupo de natación B realizaba ejercicios de braza, y el grupo de control realizaba actividades de lectura u otro tipo de estudio, centrándose principalmente en permanecer sentado.
Resultados:
La capacidad cardiopulmonar de los grupos A y B mejoró, mientras que la capacidad cardiopulmonar del grupo de control experimentó pocos cambios. Esto demuestra que el entrenamiento de natación puede mejorar eficazmente la capacidad cardiopulmonar de los estudiantes universitarios.
Conclusión:
Un entrenamiento de natación adecuado puede mejorar la capacidad cardiopulmonar de los estudiantes universitarios y optimizar su aptitud física, en el contexto del COVID-19. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.
Descriptores:
COVID-19; Natación; Aptitud Física
INTRODUCTION
The outbreak of novel coronavirus in December 2019 began to affect all industries in the world. College students are seriously affected. The novel coronavirus mainly affects the course arrangement and school time of college students. Most colleges and universities adopt the closed management mode, which is followed by the reduction of outdoor sports time for college students.11 Raiola G, Di Domenico F. Physical and sports activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Phys Educ Sport. 2021;21(Suppl 1):477-82. The form of online courses has gradually become a regular teaching form under the epidemic situation. The lack of outdoor sports will threaten the health of college students, reduce their physical functions and increase their obesity. Therefore, colleges and universities should make in-depth research on students’ physical education under the epidemic situation.22 Gumantan A, Nugroho RA, Yuliandra R. Learning during the covid-19 pandemic: Analysis of e-learning on sports education students. J Sport Area. 2021;6(1):51-8. With the goal of improving college students’ physical and mental health, relevant curriculum plans are formulated. The specific effects of exercise on college students’ body indexes were studied in depth. Effectively reduce the impact of the epidemic on college physical education.33 Batez, M. ICT skills of university students from the faculty of sport and physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability. 2021;13(4):1711. As we all know, long-term participation in swimming can help improve the human heart and lung function. Swimming is mainly participated in by aerobic sports. Long term participation in swimming will help shape college students’ bodies and improve their physical fitness. Moreover, aerobic exercise is the main activity. The respiration under high-intensity exercise and the special environment in water will help to improve the vital capacity. Therefore, in the form of epidemic, the improvement of cardiopulmonary function has long-term benefits for the health of college students.44 Lassen MC, Skaarup KG, Lind JN, Alhakak AS, Sengeløv M, Nielsen AB, et al. Recovery of cardiac function following COVID-19–ECHOVID-19: a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Eur J Heart Fail. 2021;23(11):1903-12. Strengthening the cardiopulmonary function can effectively reduce the health risks caused by COVID-19 virus. According to the epidemic situation, colleges and universities can analyze the specific impact of swimming on the improvement of cardiopulmonary function by offering swimming related courses or updating the content of curriculum arrangement. Referring to the analysis results, it is helpful to the arrangement of swimming related courses in colleges and universities.55 Kim DJ, Kim JH. Relationship between Cardiopulmonary function Metabolic Syndrome Indices. Res J Pharm Technol. 2017;10(11):3868-72. It can effectively improve college students’ physical health index and improve their physical quality. Effectively reduce the potential safety hazards of the epidemic situation for college students’ health problems.
METHOD
From the universities interviewed, according to the form of volunteer recruitment, 60 research subjects were selected from the students registered in the swimming pool. The study and all the participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of Shenyang Institute of Engineering (NO.SYITE19-Z066). These students are freshmen and sophomores of universities, who have certain swimming skills, but do not belong to swimming majors, nor are they sports majors, so that the research results are closer to the actual situation of current college students. The basic information of the three groups of volunteers is shown in Table 1.
It can be seen from the early swimming training and basic cardiopulmonary endurance that there is no significant difference between the three groups of athletes in terms of their sports level and physical function (P>0.05), so as to reduce the interference of different levels of research objects on the experimental results. A total of 60 volunteers in the three groups conducted the experiment twice a week, one hour each time, during the 12-week training process. Among them, swimming group A carried out freestyle exercises that they are good at, swimming group B carried out breaststroke exercises, and the control group carried out reading or self-study activities mainly focusing on sitting in the same time.
In order to comprehensively analyze the impact of swimming on college students’ cardiopulmonary capacity under the influence of COVID-19 epidemic, the changes of college students’ body shape and cardiopulmonary capacity were selected as the judgment indicators.
RESULTS
The influence of swimming on college students’ body shape
The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic has been closed to many colleges and universities. Students have fewer opportunities to exercise, leading to a gradual decline in their physical fitness. It is mainly shown in the increase of weight, BMI, waist circumference and hip circumference. The decline of these physical functions will gradually have some adverse effects on college students’ physical quality, heart and lung conditions, etc., and it is also easy to induce some chronic diseases, resulting in factors that are not conducive to students’ health. Therefore, swimming training can effectively alleviate the decline of physical functions of college students under the influence of COVID-19. Specific data are shown in Table 2 and Table 3.
As shown in Table 2, the body shape of the three groups of college students before the experiment is compared. It can be seen from the table that the three groups of college students all present the problem of high BMI values. In the delineation standard of BMI, the range of > 24 can be classified as obesity. It can also be seen from the measurement of waist to hip ratio that the waist to hip ratio of the current three groups of college students is on the high side, showing a state of obesity. Therefore, before the experiment, the three groups of college students are in poor health, and there is a common obesity problem among current college students. Therefore, it needs to be adjusted through relevant sports training.
As shown in Table 3, the body shape of the three groups of college students after the experiment is compared. It can be seen from the table that the weight values of both groups, whether freestyle group A or breaststroke group B, have decreased to a certain extent, the BMI values have also decreased to a certain extent, and the waist hip ratio has gradually decreased. Although it is still within the range of overweight, it has shown a good posture. As long as you can persist in training, you can adjust your body shape, make the BMI value within the normal range, and further optimize your body shape. Through the observation of the control group, it can be found that the value of the control group has almost no change before and after the experiment, and some values have even risen, which indicates that in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, long-term meditation will have a certain impact on the physical function of college students. If you do not pay attention to diet control, you will also have obesity and other behaviors, further reducing physical fitness. Therefore, under the COVID-19 epidemic situation, we should actively carry out sports training represented by swimming training, so as to keep our BMI normal and prevent a series of problems due to obesity.
The influence of swimming on college students’ cardiopulmonary capacity
The cardiopulmonary capacity of college students is closely related to their cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health and physical quality. If the cardiopulmonary capacity is weakened, it is easy to cause chest distress and asthma in daily life, affecting the quality of daily life of college students, and a series of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems will be caused in serious cases, endangering the health of college students. Therefore, in the context of COVID-19 epidemic situation, it is necessary to enhance the level of college students’ cardiopulmonary capacity, as shown in Table 4 and Table 5.
Comparison of cardiopulmonary capacity of three groups of college students before the experiment.
Comparison of cardiopulmonary capacity among three groups of college students after the experiment.
As shown in Table 4, it is a comparison of the cardiopulmonary capacity of the three groups of college students before the experiment. It can be seen from the table that the ability level of the heart and lungs of the students in freestyle group A, breaststroke group B and the control group is in a relatively general state, which indicates that under the influence of the COVID-19 epidemic, the heart and lung functions of the students are also affected to some extent.
Table 5 shows the comparison of the cardiopulmonary capacity of the three groups of college students after the experiment. It can be seen from the table that the cardiopulmonary capacity of freestyle group A and breaststroke group B has improved, while the cardiopulmonary capacity of the control group has not changed much. This shows that swimming training can effectively improve the cardiopulmonary capacity of college students, thus bringing more convenience to college students’ daily life, and can also effectively prevent the emergence of some chronic diseases, thus promoting the healthy growth of college students.
DISCUSSION
As we all know, swimming can not only help college students shape their own bodies, but also help them keep healthy. In particular, it has a great positive effect on the improvement of their own cardiopulmonary function. The improvement of heart and lung function plays a positive role in the self respiration of human body. The strengthening of the ability of the respiratory system can effectively improve the self immunity and resistance of college students. The improvement of immunity can effectively improve the probability of avoiding infection. And swimming is mainly participated by aerobic exercise, which helps college students burn fat and effectively improve various diseases caused by obesity. Therefore, long-term swimming can significantly improve the cardiopulmonary function and physical problems of college students. The temperature of the conventional swimming pool is about 26 °C, so the students’ body heat dissipation in the water is greater, and the body energy consumption is also increased. The body's nervous system responds. Through the function of the nervous system, the body can adapt to the underwater environment. The rapid energy production in the body accelerates the rate of human metabolism. Make college students have higher cold tolerance. So as to improve their own immunity and resistance. By looking up the calories consumed by different sports, it is found that the energy consumption of swimming at the same speed is three times that of jogging. Moreover, compared with other land sports, swimming is less likely to suffer from sports injuries of bones. College students who often participate in swimming events. Can get good heart exercise. When the human body is exercising, all tissues and organs of the body need the heart to provide blood function. Swimming is mainly participated by aerobic exercise, which can make college students’ hearts get good exercise. Make the heart function of college students develop gradually, and the developed heart function can provide stronger cardiac contractility. It can effectively prevent various vascular diseases. Because of the particularity of swimming, it is more difficult to breathe underwater than on land. The difficulty of breathing is affected by the type of swimming and the water pressure environment. Long term swimming training can provide good training opportunities for respiratory muscles. College students can obtain higher vital capacity. It can provide a long pause time after each breath. Strong vital capacity can make college students feel less tired when exercising. This can effectively reduce the hidden danger of respiratory diseases.
CONCLUSION
The impact of COVID-19 epidemic on colleges and universities is not only the online teaching and closed management of schools, but also the sports and psychological level of students. The long-term closed management greatly increases the students’ static time and reduces their exercise time, which is not conducive to the improvement of students’ physical quality and the progress of their cardiopulmonary capacity. Therefore, by discussing the influence of swimming training on college students’ cardiopulmonary capacity, the paper analyzes the effect of appropriate sports training on the improvement of students’ physical fitness under the background of COVID-19. The results show that proper swimming training can effectively enhance the level of college students’ cardiorespiratory ability, optimize their physical fitness, and thus improve their physical fitness in the context of COVID-19. Therefore, the physical education teachers and managers of colleges and universities should carry out swimming training for college students in batches under the condition of ensuring safety, and integrate swimming training into physical exercise, so as to provide more opportunities for college students under closed management under the COVID-19 epidemic situation, so as to improve their physical fitness, enhance their resistance, and better face the challenges brought by the COVID-19 epidemic situation.
REFERENCES
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1Raiola G, Di Domenico F. Physical and sports activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Phys Educ Sport. 2021;21(Suppl 1):477-82.
-
2Gumantan A, Nugroho RA, Yuliandra R. Learning during the covid-19 pandemic: Analysis of e-learning on sports education students. J Sport Area. 2021;6(1):51-8.
-
3Batez, M. ICT skills of university students from the faculty of sport and physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability. 2021;13(4):1711.
-
4Lassen MC, Skaarup KG, Lind JN, Alhakak AS, Sengeløv M, Nielsen AB, et al. Recovery of cardiac function following COVID-19–ECHOVID-19: a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Eur J Heart Fail. 2021;23(11):1903-12.
-
5Kim DJ, Kim JH. Relationship between Cardiopulmonary function Metabolic Syndrome Indices. Res J Pharm Technol. 2017;10(11):3868-72.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
27 Feb 2023 -
Date of issue
2023
History
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Received
30 Nov 2022 -
Accepted
14 Dec 2022
