Asymmetry as a Foundational and Functional Requirement in Human Movement

Afonso, José; Bessa, Cristiana; Pinto, Filipe Cabral; Ribeiro, Diogo; Moura, Beatriz; Rocha, Tiago; Vinicius, Marcus; Canário-Lemos, Rui; Peixoto, Rafael; Clemente, Filipe Manuel

doi:10.1007/978-981-15-2549-0

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Importantly, both limb dominance and preference may also be task-specific [34]. Therefore, interlimb asymmetries should not be automatically associated with performance impairments [14,36,60]. Team sports such as basketball, handball, or volleyball, to name some notorious examples, may boost upper limb asymmetries due to their highly specialized and differentiated demands, and the same could be said of racquet sports such as tennis, padel, or badminton.…”

Section: Bilateral Asymmetry Is Ubiquitous In Sports Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Why Sports Should Embrace Bilateral Asymmetry: A Narrative Review

Afonso

Peña

Sá³

et al. 2022

Symmetry

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(1) Background: Asymmetry is ubiquitous in nature and humans have well-established bilateral asymmetries in their structures and functions. However, there are (mostly unsubstantiated) claims that bilateral asymmetries may impair sports performance or increase injury risk. (2) Objective: To critically review the evidence of the occurrence and effects of asymmetry and sports performance. (3) Development: Asymmetry is prevalent across several sports regardless of age, gender, or competitive level, and can be verified even in apparently symmetric actions (e.g., running and rowing). Assessments of bilateral asymmetries are highly task-, metric-, individual-, and sport-specific; fluctuate significantly in time (in magnitude and, more importantly, in direction); and tend to be poorly correlated among themselves, as well as with general performance measures. Assessments of sports-specific performance is mostly lacking. Most studies assessing bilateral asymmetries do not actually assess the occurrence of injuries. While injuries tend to accentuate bilateral asymmetries, there is no evidence that pre-existing asymmetries increase injury risk. While training programs reduce certain bilateral asymmetries, there is no evidence that such reductions result in increased sport-specific performance or reduced injury risk. (4) Conclusions: Bilateral asymmetries are prevalent in sports, do not seem to impair performance, and there is no evidence that suggests that they increase injury risk.

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Section: Bilateral Asymmetry Is Ubiquitous In Sports Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Why Sports Should Embrace Bilateral Asymmetry: A Narrative Review

Afonso

Peña

Sá³

et al. 2022

Symmetry

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“…Although to our eyes, the human body may appear symmetrical about a vertical axis because we have two arms, two legs, two eyes, and so on, in reality, it is not. Humans naturally prefer one side of their body when asked to perform a motor task [28,29] and maintain an asymmetric posture for a long time, which can influence phenotypic plasticity [30]. Therefore, asymmetry appears part of human nature, behavior, and sporting activities [31,32].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Wheelchair Basketball a Symmetric or Asymmetric Sport?

Farì,

Chiaia Noya,

Dell'Anna

et al. 2024

OBM Neurobiol

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Wheelchair basketball (WB) is a health and inclusion opportunity for people with disabilities. In the scientific literature, no evidence defines WB as a symmetrical or asymmetrical sport; however, it would be helpful to deepen this aspect because it could improve the quality of training programs and consequently speed up WB performance. In WB, the biomechanical role of the shoulders is crucial. Therefore, the symmetry index and the activation of the bilateral supraspinatus and biceps brachii muscles were investigated to establish, with specific WB tests, whether it is a symmetrical or asymmetrical sport. Ten professional athletes were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Each athlete was assessed by executing three tests on the field: sprint test, figure 8 test with the ball, and test without the ball. The symmetry index and muscle recruitment of the right and left supraspinatus and biceps brachii muscles were evaluated with a surface electromyograph. In all three tests, there was a positive correlation between muscle activations of the right and left supraspinatus muscles (sprint test: p-value 0.004; figure 8 without the ball: p-value 0.016; figure 8 with ball: p-value 0.009), while no correlation emerged between the muscle activities of the two brachial biceps (sprint test: p-value 0.155; figure 8 without ball: p-value 0.291, figure 8 with ball: p-value 0.9). There was a negative correlation between right biceps brachii muscle recruitment and performance in the figure 8 test without the ball and between right and left supraspinatus muscle recruitment and performance in the figure 8 test with the ball. Finally, no correlation was found between the symmetry index of the supraspinatus and brachial biceps muscles and the performance in the three tests. A p-value < 0.05 was considered significant for all tests. A higher and more symmetrical shoulder muscle recruitment does not lead to a better performance. WB could be regarded as an asymmetrical sport, particularly in sport-specific gestures, where technical skills are more important than muscle strength. Therefore, training should not aim to implement strength and symmetry but to improve the refinement and technical peculiarity of the athletic gesture.

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“…However, the methods used to assess symmetry vary greatly, so caution should be exercised when establishing a correlation between asymmetry and injury (Maloney, 2019). Previous research has shown that when asymmetry exceeds a certain threshold, it can negatively impact an athlete's health, although it may be beneficial for specific athletic performance (Afonso et al, 2020). However, these thresholds are still an unsolved problem in current studies and may vary between individuals and individual states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Therefore, athletes performing an action with bilateral asymmetry may cause a decrease in biomechanical parameters of one or both sides. For example, water rowing is widely evaluated by bilateral continuous variables of force symmetry rather than coordination (Afonso et al, 2020). These findings suggest that asymmetry is an adaptive consequence magnified with long-term physical activity participation (Maloney, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Asymmetry of athletes is one of the main causes of musculoskeletal diseases, sports injuries and poor performance (Bishop et al, 2018). Although bilateral asymmetry is widely believed to be detrimental to sports performance of athletes, previous studies does not fully support this association (Afonso et al, 2020). Therefore, the athletes and coaches would benefit from an biomechanical examination of quantitative asymmetry of the bilateral movement or posture, rather than depending exclusively on subjective determination during daily training (Maloney, 2019;Xiang et al, 2022;Xu et al, 2022;Yahya et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effect of Application of Asymmetry Evaluation in Competitive Sports: A Systematic Review

Gao

2022

Physical Activity and Health

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It has been widely asserted that the two side human body asymmetries are detrimental to the health and performance alike of athletes in training and competition. The current systematic review aims to promote a more refined understanding of bilateral asymmetry in competitive sports and explore the application of asymmetric assessment to performance, injury and rehabilitation. A systematic review of the articles was undertaken using the Web OF Science, ScienceDirect and PubMed databases in May 2022, retrieving a total of 386 studies published in all years. The study quality scoring system developed was used by two evaluators to assess the grading article quality. Twenty-two articles fulfilled our eligibility criteria. The average quality assessment rate for selected articles in this systematic review is 94.4 ± 6.3% (from 0.78 to 1.00). Articles investigated the effect of the application of asymmetry evaluation in one of the following sports types: gait related sports, upper limb sports, ball sports and multifarious sports. Asymmetry has a positive effect on physical performance in athletes engaged in upper limb movements, but it may lead to potential risk of injures in gait-related sports. When examining bilateral asymmetries among athletes in multifarious sports, the studies were primarily used to investigate the relationship between injury rehabilitation and return-to sport, with mixed findings. Further research needs to determine the possible injury-inducing threshold of asymmetry in multifarious sports and the detailed relationship between bilateral asymmetry and sports performance.

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Asymmetry as a Foundational and Functional Requirement in Human Movement

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Why Sports Should Embrace Bilateral Asymmetry: A Narrative Review

Why Sports Should Embrace Bilateral Asymmetry: A Narrative Review

Is Wheelchair Basketball a Symmetric or Asymmetric Sport?

The Effect of Application of Asymmetry Evaluation in Competitive Sports: A Systematic Review

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