Page 105 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2024. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih / Health of Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press

Assessment of musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory loads during water
exercise: an overview of the field

Manca Opara, Tamara Logar, Nejc Šarabon
University of Primorska Faculty of Health Sciences, Izola, Slovenia

Introduction: The popularity of exercising in water has increased significantly over the
last two decades due to the positive properties of the aquatic environment, such as
the buoyancy force, which makes exercises easier to perform, and the drag force, whi-
ch can be used to strengthen muscles and increase energy expenditure. To effectively
exploit the benefits of the aquatic environment, it is essential to be aware of the mu-
sculoskeletal (MSL) and cardiorespiratory (CRL) loads to which the body is exposed in
water. The aim of this paper was to systematically review articles that measured MSL
or CRL during exercise or immersion in water.
Methods: The articles were searched in the PubMed database. In the first phase of the
review, we collected articles that measured MSL or CRL during body immersion or
water exercise. According to the outcome measures studied, we divided the articles
into five categories: 1) Force measurements; 2) Movement analysis; 3) Cardiorespira-
tory measurements; 4) Muscle activity measurements; 5) Other MSL or CRL measu-
rements. We conducted a more detailed review of the characteristics of the studies
that measured ground reaction forces (GRF), muscle activity (MA) and CRL during
water exercise.
Results: We found 247 relevant articles. We included 118 articles in a more detailed
review, of which 18 examined GRF, 61 examined CRL, and 39 examined MA during
aquatic exercise. The studies concluded that GRF is lower during exercise in water
than during exercise on land. GRF decreases as the body becomes more immersed,
whereas it increases during exercise with higher cadence or speed of movement. Most preventiva in rehabilitacija ... | prevention and rehabilitation ...
studies found a similar heart rate, oxygen consumption and perceived exertion during
exercise in water and on land. The authors also note that CRLs are comparable for
exercise in water and on dry land at lower exercise speeds and increase at higher exer-
cise speeds on dry land. Most studies found that MA is lower during exercise in water
than on land. It is also apparent that the results of MA comparisons between water
and dry exercises depend on the speed of the movement and the muscle measured.
Discussion and conclusions: We conclude that there is a need for additional research or
review articles in all areas examined (GRF, MA and CRL) to contribute to the develop-
ment of evidence-based practice for aquatic exercise.
Keywords: water exercise, musculoskeletal loads, cardiorespiratory loads, ground re-
action force, muscle activity

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