Effect of different sports on young athlete's posture swimmers and cyclists

Background & Study Aim: In each sports discipline morphological characteristics, elements of technical, tactical, and psychological preparation can be distinguished whose high level may affect sports results. The aim of this study is knowledge about the express diagnostic program and the possibility of detecting changes in musculoskeletal posture in young athletes practicing various sports disciplines. Material & Methods: The participants were 38 athletes from sports clubs in Riga, Latvia, swimmers (n = 19), and cyclists (n = 19) aged 14-15 years old with experience in National competitions. Body posture was assessed once before the training for visual diagnostics and muscular functional testing. A diagnostic program was developed from these methods, which included measuring the changes of 8 sagittal points from the vertical plane and functional testing of 8 muscle groups. The analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS version 26. The Shapiro-Wilk test, an independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyse the data. Results: The results showed that both groups (n = 38); standing posture was falling forward. There were significant differences between the two groups. Cyclists demonstrated significant results than swimmers for the following posture indicators - External Ear Opening (EEO), Radial Point (RP), Highest Point of the Iliac Crest (HPIC), M. Pectoralis Major Upper part (MPMU), Outer Points of the Palm (OPP), Acromion (ACR), Trochanter (Tro), Upper End of Fibula Bone (UEFB), M. Rectus Abdominis (MRA) and Blade Fixators (BF). There were significant results for swimmers in M. Quadriceps Femoris (MQF) and M. Gluteus Medium (MGM) at the 5% level. There was not a significant difference between the two groups in Hamstring Muscles (HM) and for M. Iliopsoas (MI). Conclusions: It can be concluded that each sport leads to postural changes in athletes due to specific functional muscle changes, as the results highlighted changes in both groups. Early postural changes in young athletes can be identified by applying express diagnostics. Early detection should lead to the prevention of injury.