The Impact of Wetsuit Use on Swimming Performance, Physiology and Biomechanics: A Systematic Review
Identificadores
URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10481/78440Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Gay Párraga, Ana; Ruiz Navarro, Jesús Juan; Cuenca Fernández, Francisco; López Belmonte, Óscar; Abraldes, Arturo; Fernandes, Ricardo; Arellano Colomina, RaúlMateria
Open water Neoprene suit
Fecha
2022-12-12Referencia bibliográfica
Gay, A; Ruiz-Navarro, JJ; Cuenca-Fernández, F; López-Belmonte, O; Abraldes A; Ricardo J. Fernandes and Arellano, R (2022). The impact of wetsuit use on swimming performance, physiology and biomechanics: a systematic review. Physiologia. Volumen 2, Issue 4, 198-230. https://doi.org/10.3390/physiologia2040016
Resumen
This systematic review aims to summarize the effects of wearing different types of wetsuits
and swimsuits in front crawl swimming performance and physiological- and biomechanical-related
variables. The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and the Proceedings of the International Symposium
on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming databases were searched from inception to 25th March
2022. From the 1398 studies initially found, 26 studies were included in the review. The quality
assessment and inter-rater reliability between researchers were conducted. The full body was the
most studied wetsuit, with its use allowing 3.2–12.9% velocity increments in distances ranging from
25 to 1500 m, in incremental tests, in 5 and 30 min continuous swimming and in open water events.
The sleeveless long vs. the full-body wetsuit led to a 400–800 m performance enhancement. Higher
stroke rate, stroke length and stroke index were observed while using three different covered body
part wetsuits vs. a regular swimsuit, with a lower energy cost being observed when swimming
with the full-body wetsuit compared to a swimsuit. These findings provide useful information
for coaches, swimmers and triathletes about the full-body and sleeveless long/short wetsuit use,
since these three wetsuits allow improving swimming performance in different distances in diverse
aquatic environments.