Iff Samuel, Fröhlich Stefan, Halioua Robin, Imboden Christian, Spörri Jörg, Scherr Johannes, Butzke Ingo, Seifritz Erich, Claussen Malte Christian
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
University Center for Prevention and Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.
Front Sports Act Living. 2022 May 3;4:867140. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.867140. eCollection 2022.
Government restrictions during the first COVID-19 lockdown, such as the closure of gyms and fitness centers, drastically limited the training opportunities of bodybuilders and fitness athletes (BoFA) who rely on indoor training facilities. This provided a unique situation to investigate the effect of training limitations on the training patterns, training adaptive strategies and mental health of BoFAs.
The primary aim of this study was to investigate differences in the training patterns and the mental health of BoFA before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The secondary aim was to assess whether BoFA who exhibited features of muscle dysmorphia were affected differently from the group that did not.
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 85 BoFAs by means of an online questionnaire asking about sports activity, intensity, subjective physical performance, and economic status, including primary or secondary occupations before (from memory) and during lockdown, current physical health problems and financial fears, symptoms of depression, sleep disorders, anxiety (trait and state), muscle dysmorphia, coping mechanisms and actions during the first lockdown in Switzerland.
Training patterns and mental health of BoFA were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and first lockdown. During lockdown, the physical activity on the BoFA dropped significantly from 2.3 ± 0.8 h per day to 1.6 ± 0.9 h per day ( < 0.001), the subjective training intensity decreased significantly from 85.7 ± 13.2% to 58.3 ± 28.3% ( < 0.001) and the subjective performance declined significantly from 83.4 ± 14.3% to 58.2 ± 27.8% ( < 0.001) of maximal performance. In comparison to those without risk for body dysmorphia, participants at risk rated their maximal performance significantly lower and scored significantly higher for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety.
This study showed the significant changes on the training patterns of BoFA before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown and poor mental health scores of BoFA during the lockdown itself, with those at risk of muscle dysmorphia scoring statistically worse regarding mental health than those with no risk of muscle dysmorphia. To better understand the particularities of BoFA, further investigation is needed to understand their psychology and in particular the effect of training restrictions on it.
在首次新冠疫情封锁期间，政府实施的限制措施，如关闭健身房和健身中心，极大地限制了依赖室内训练设施的健美运动员和健身运动员（BoFA）的训练机会。这为研究训练限制对BoFA的训练模式、训练适应策略和心理健康的影响提供了一个独特的情境。
本研究的主要目的是调查首次新冠疫情封锁之前和期间BoFA的训练模式和心理健康的差异。次要目的是评估表现出肌肉畸形症特征的BoFA与未表现出该特征的群体受到的影响是否不同。
对85名BoFA进行了一项横断面研究，通过在线问卷询问他们的体育活动、强度、主观身体表现和经济状况，包括封锁之前（凭记忆）和期间的主要或次要职业、当前的身体健康问题和经济担忧、抑郁症状、睡眠障碍、焦虑（特质和状态）、肌肉畸形症、应对机制以及在瑞士首次封锁期间的行为。
BoFA的训练模式和心理健康受到新冠疫情和首次封锁的影响。在封锁期间，BoFA的体育活动从每天2.3±0.8小时显著下降至每天1.6±0.9小时（<0.001），主观训练强度从85.7±13.2%显著降至58.3±28.3%（<0.001），主观表现从最大表现的83.4±14.3%显著降至58.2±27.8%（<0.001）。与没有身体畸形风险的人相比，有风险的参与者对自己最大表现的评分显著更低，在抑郁、睡眠障碍和焦虑方面的得分显著更高。
本研究表明，在首次新冠疫情封锁之前和期间，BoFA的训练模式发生了显著变化，且在封锁期间BoFA的心理健康得分较低，有肌肉畸形症风险的人在心理健康方面的统计得分比没有肌肉畸形症风险的人更差。为了更好地理解BoFA的特殊性，需要进一步调查以了解他们的心理，特别是训练限制对其心理的影响。
