ORIGINAL ARTICLE  SPORT INJURIES AND REHABILITATION 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2018 April;58(4):465-71

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.17.06880-3

Copyright © 2017 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Training intensity and sagittal curvature of the spine in male and female artistic gymnasts

Jose M. SANZ-MENGIBAR ^{1, 2, 3} ✉, Pilar SAINZ-de-BARANDA ¹, Fernando SANTONJA-MEDINA ^{1, 4, 5}

¹ Department of Sports and Exercise Science, Murcia University, Murcia, Spain; ² Department of Physiotherapy, Clinic of Rehabilitation, Madrid, Spain; ³ Vojta Therapy, London, UK; ⁴ V. de la Arrixaca University Hospital, Murcia, Spain; ⁵ Faculty of Medicine, Murcia University, Murcia, Spain

BACKGROUND: Specific adaptations of the spine in the sagittal plane have been described according to different sports disciplines. The goal of this study was to describe the integrative diagnosis of the sagittal morphotype of the spine in male and female artistic gymnasts.
METHODS: Forty-eight gymnasts were measured with an inclinometer. Thoracic and lumbar curves were quantified in standing position, in Sit and Reach and Slump Sitting in order to assess the sagittal spine posture and analyze if adaptations were related to training intensity.
RESULTS: Correlation values of the sagittal plane spine measurements showed significantly increased thoracic kyphosis in men (-0.445, P<0.001). No significant correlations have been found between training hours per year or training volume and any measurements of the spine on the sagittal plane. When data from the two sitting tests were integrated, 62.5% of gymnasts had a functional thoracic kyphosis and 39.6% had lumbar kyphotic attitude.
CONCLUSIONS: Our hypothesis has only been partially confirmed, because training intensity did not influence the sagittal curvatures in artistic gymnastics; however, this sport seems to cause specific adaptations in postural hypolordosis, functional thoracic kyphosis and lumbar kyphotic attitude during sitting and trunk flexion. The implications of the functional adaptations observed in our results may require a preventive intervention in male and female artistic gymnasts can be assessed with the integrative diagnosis of the sagittal morphotype of the spine.

KEY WORDS: Kyphosis - Lordosis - Gymnastics