Occurrence of dystonic-type response to physical stress in soccer players

Purpose: to investigate the occurrence of dystonic type response to physical activity in the form of submaximal PWC170 test in soccer players. Material & Methods: 741 soccer players divided into 3 groups according to their sports qualification were examined. The data of 68 high-class soccer players with "infinite tone" and 69 high-class soccer players without "infinite tone" were compared, 251 advanced soccer players with "infinite tone" with 179 advanced soccer players without "infinite tone", and 69 intermediate soccer players with "infinite tone" with 105 similarly qualified soccer players without "infinite tone". Blood pressure was measured by the Korotkoff method using an aneroid sphygmomanometer (Romed, Netherlands) on the right arm. Three measurements were taken 5 minutes apart, and the lowest reading was used. Physical working capacity was assessed on a bicycle ergometer (Corival, Netherlands). Results: it was found that physical working capacity didn't differ significantly between athletes with and without "infinite tone", and in the group of advanced athletes was significantly higher in players with "infinite tone". The same number of soccer players with signs of metabolic cardiomyopathy was found with and without “infinite tone” (p=0.916). Conclusions: dystonic type of reaction of cardiovascular system to physical load in the form of submaximal PWC170 test with "infinite tone" is found in 52,4% of examined soccer players, more often in advanced athletes aged 19 (18; 22) years – 64,7%, in comparison with intermediate players aged 16 (15; 17) years – 17,8%, p<0,001, which doesn’t confirm the opinion about occurrence of "infinite tone" in adolescents during puberty. The absence of significant differences in most of the studied indicators, in particular, the relative value of physical working capacity and blood pressure at 5 minutes of recovery period, indicates the unrelated appearance of "infinite tone" in soccer players of different sports qualification. The opinion of scientists that the dystonic type of reaction to physical load with "infinite tone" is physiological and the reaction is atypical is confirmed with the recommendation to make corrections in the section "Functional tests" of the national textbook "Physical Rehabilitation. Sports Medicine".