Neuromuscular Control During the Bench Press Movement in an Elite Disabled and Able-Bodied Athlete

Abstract

The disabled population varies significantly in regard to physical fitness, what is conditioned by the damage to the locomotor system. Recently there has been an increased emphasis on the role of competitive sport in enhancing health and the quality of life of individuals with disability. One of the sport disciplines of Paralympics is the flat bench press. The bench press is one of the most popular resistance exercises used for the upper body in healthy individuals. It is used not only by powerlifters, but also by athletes in most strength-speed oriented sport disciplines. The objective of the study was to compare neuromuscular control for various external loads (from 60 to 100% 1RM) during the flat bench press performed by an elite able-bodied athlete and an athlete with lower limb disability. The research project is a case study of two elite bench press athletes with similar sport results: an able-bodied athlete (M.W., age 34 years, body mass 103 kg, body height 1.72 m, 1RM in the flat bench press 200 kg) and a disabled athlete (M.T., age 31 years, body mass 92 kg, body height 1.70 m, 1RM in the flat bench press 190 kg). The activity was recorded for four muscles: pectoralis major (PM), anterior deltoid (AD), as well as for the lateral and long heads of the triceps brachii (TBlat and TBlong). The T-test revealed statistically significant differences between peak activity of all the considered muscles (AD with p = 0.001; PM with p = 0.001; TBlat with p = 0.0021 and TBlong with p = 0.002) between the 2 athletes. The analysis of peak activity differences of M.W and M.T. in relation to the load revealed statistically significant differences for load changes between: 60 to 100% 1RM (p = 0.007), 70 to 100% 1RM (p = 0.016) and 80 to 100% 1RM (p = 0.032). The flat bench press performed without legs resting firmly on the ground leads to the increased engagement of upper body muscles and to their greater activation. Isolated initial positions can be used to generate greater engagement of muscle groups during the bench press exercise and evoke their higher activation.

The Acute Post-Activation Performance Enhancement of the Bench Press Throw in Disabled Sitting Volleyball Athletes

“…This result may be related to increased muscle activity of the prime-movers during the bench press (pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, triceps brachii) performed with the raised legs compared to the legs supported on the floor, as indicated by previous studies [ 27 ]. This finding was also shown by Golas et al [ 21 ], who found increased involvement of upper body muscles during bench press in an athlete with lower limb disability (limited kinesthetic sense and proprioception). It seems that in such situations the compensation of deficits occurs through the greater activity of the upper body muscles due to the lack of support for the legs.…”

“…There are a large number of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of various conditioning activities on the upper-body PAPE effect [ 5 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ] in groups of able-bodied athletes, but there is no replication of their protocols on disabled athletes. It seems that there is no reason to believe that this phenomenon may differ between able-bodied and disabled athletes; however, in case of the bench press performed with maximum effort, the position on the bench may have an impact on training outcomes [ 21 ]. During the bench press exercise or the BP throw, the athlete has four points of support: head, shoulders and upper back, buttocks, and feet.…”

Effect of Different Types of Warm-up on Strength and Skin Temperature of Paralympic Powerlifting Athletes

“…Among the strength sports, the Paralympic Powerlifting (PP) has been gaining more and more followers, and the sport aims to lift the greatest possible load in the adapted bench press [16,17,18]. However, the studies have focused more on aspects of health, classification and etiology of injuries [12,19,20]. On the other hand, few studies have addressed aspects related to performance [18,21,22,23].…”

Análisis cinético y cinemático de un press de banca a diferentes intensidades de carga (Kinetic y kinematic analysis of a bench press at different load intensities)

“…Esta importancia del PB radica en la alta solicitación de los grupos musculares intervinientes en la cintura 2021, Retos, 39, 459-464 © Copyright: Federación Española de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educación Física (FEADEF) ISSN: Edición impresa: 1579-1726. Edición Web: 1988-2041 escapular (Stastny et al, 2017), requiriendo principalmente de la musculatura del pectoral y del tríceps, y secundariamente de la porción anterior del deltoides y del serrato (Go³aoe et al, 2017;Saeterbakken et al, 2017). Además, estos músculos forman parte esencial en numerosos deportes que requieran elevados niveles de fuerza de los miembros superiores, como por ejemplo el powerlifting (Bengtsson, Berglund, & Aasa, 2018;Helms et al, 2017;Tillaar, 2019;van den Tillaar & Ettema, 2010).…”