Comparison of balance strategies in mountain climbers during real altitude exposure between 1.500 m and 3.200 m: Effects of age and expertise

Acute Exposure to Normobaric Hypoxia Impairs Balance Performance in Sub-elite but Not Elite Basketball Players

“…Previous studies conducted in other sports (e.g., curling, football, and surfing) in normoxia showed advanced balance in athletes competing at higher playing levels, suggesting that balance may be sensitive to training status, playing experience, and/or sport- and movement-specific adaptations (Paillard et al, 2011 ; Pojskic et al, 2020 ). In this study, given that there was no difference in balance between HYP and NOR in the elite group, we could assume that both longer and advanced basketball training and competition might have induced advanced adaptation of the neuromuscular system, which in turn was less susceptible to the adverse effects of the HYP condition (Bruyneel et al, 2017 ). Although there was a significant age difference between the elite (21.8 ± 2.5 years) and sub-elite (17.2 ± 0.4 years) groups, we cannot consider a difference in the maturation of the sensory systems as a crucial factor contributing to advanced balance performance in the higher level group.…”

“…In other words, it might reveal a potential adaptation stimulus that could be included in balance training and facilitated by high-altitude chambers. Furthermore, evidence is lacking regarding the influence of player performance level, which has been shown to modulate balance performance both in normoxia (Paillard et al, 2011 ; Pojskic et al, 2020 ) and in mountain climbers at high altitudes (3,200 m; Bruyneel et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Secondary aims were to investigate whether player performance level modulated balance performance in hypoxia and whether the variability of repeated single-leg balance tests (SLBTs) was greater in hypoxia than normoxia. We expected that an acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia would be less detrimental to balance in the elite than the sub-elite group (Paillard et al, 2011 ; Bruyneel et al, 2017 ; Pojskic et al, 2020 ). Furthermore, it was hypothesized that the balance test would be a valid, reliable, and useful testing tool in assessing balance in basketball players in both conditions (Hildebrandt et al, 2015 ; Pojskic et al, 2020 ).…”

“…However, the majority of studies exploring the effect of hypoxia on balance have been conducted on aircraft crew members, mountaineers, or healthy active subjects in fieldbased and laboratory-based settings (Nordahl et al, 1998;Degache et al, 2020). Negative effects of hypobaric hypoxia on balance ability and postural control have been demonstrated in these populations at high altitudes (>3,500 m) (Stadelmann et al, 2015;Bruyneel et al, 2017) and in normobaric hypoxia (Nordahl et al, 1998;Cymerman et al, 2001;Wagner et al, 2011;Drum et al, 2016). Given that high-altitude training has become an increasingly popular training method for team sports (Girard et al, 2013) and that some national, professional, and University teams in ball and court sports (e.g., basketball, baseball, soccer, and American football) may train at moderate (2,300-3,500 m) and high (3,500-5,500 m) altitudes (Kraemer et al, 2011;Gore et al, 2013), improving understanding of the extent to which hypoxic exposure affects balance in team sports is pertinent.…”

Do Grade II Ankle Sprains Have Chronic Effects on the Functional Ability of Ballet Dancers Performing Single-Leg Flat-Foot Stance? An Observational Cross-Sectional Study

“…Despite new wearable technologies, such as Inertial Measurament Unit IMU [18,19] and wireless electromyography (EMG) [20], having been proposed to investigate balance and postural control, stabilometry remains the most commonly used tool [21]. To date, there is a lack of studies about the chronic effects of an ankle injury in ballet dancers using stabilometry evaluation, but there is an increasing body of literature concerning this method [22,23], including not previously injured ballet dancers [24]. A study performed by Lin et al, using stabilometry to assess dancers with ankle injuries, found that non-acute ankle injuries could worsen postural stability of professional ballet-dancers during ballet-specific postures.…”