Training During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices of 12,526 Athletes from 142 Countries and Six Continents

• Published in: Sports medicine (Auckland) Vol. 52; pp. 933 - 948
• Main Authors: Washif, Jad Adrian, Farooq, Abdulaziz, Krug, Isabel, Pyne, David B, Verhagen, Evert, Taylor, Lee, Wong, Del P, Mujika, Iñigo, Cortis, Cristina, Haddad, Monoem, Ahmadian, Omid, Al Jufaili, Mahmood, Al-Horani, Ramzi A, Al-Mohannadi, Abdulla Saeed, Aloui, Asma, Ammar, Achraf, Arifi, Fitim, Aziz, Abdul Rashid, Batuev, Mikhail, Beaven, Christopher Martyn, Beneke, Ralph, Bici, Arben, Bishnoi, Pallawi, Bogwasi, Lone, Bok, Daniel, Boukhris, Omar, Boullosa, Daniel, Bragazzi, Nicola, Brito, Joao, Cartagena, Roxana Paola Palacios, Chaouachi, Anis, Cheung, Stephen S, Chtourou, Hamdi, Cosma, Germina, Debevec, Tadej, Delang, Matthew D, Dellal, Alexandre, Dönmez, Gürhan, Driss, Tarak, Peña Duque, Juan David, Eirale, Cristiano, Elloumi, Mohamed, Foster, Carl, Franchini, Emerson, Fusco, Andrea, Galy, Olivier, Gastin, Paul B, Gill, Nicholas, Girard, Olivier, Gregov, Cvita, Halson, Shona, Hammouda, Omar, Hanzlíková, Ivana, Hassanmirzaei, Bahar, Haugen, Thomas, Hébert-Losier, Kim, Muñoz Helú, Hussein, Herrera-Valenzuela, Tomás, Hettinga, Florentina J, Holtzhausen, Louis, Hue, Olivier, Dello Iacono, Antonio, Ihalainen, Johanna K, James, Carl, Janse van Rensburg, Dina C, Joseph, Saju, Kamoun, Karim, Khaled, Mehdi, Khalladi, Karim, Kim, Kwang Joon, Kok, Lian-Yee, Macmillan, Lewis, Mataruna-Dos-Santos, Leonardo Jose, Matsunaga, Ryo, Memishi, Shpresa, Millet, Grégoire P, Moussa-Chamari, Imen, Musa, Danladi Ibrahim, Nguyen, Hoang Minh Thuan, Nikolaidis, Pantelis T, Owen, Adam, Padulo, Johnny, Pagaduan, Jeffrey Cayaban, Perera, Nirmala Panagodage, Pérez-Gómez, Jorge, Pillay, Lervasen, Popa, Arporn, Pudasaini, Avishkar, Rabbani, Alireza, Rahayu, Tandiyo, Romdhani, Mohamed, Salamh, Paul, Sarkar, Abu-Sufian, Schillinger, Andy, Seiler, Stephen, Setyawati, Heny, Shrestha, Navina, Suraya, Fatona, Tabben, Montassar, Trabelsi, Khaled
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Verlag 23-09-2021
• Subjects: Cognitive science; Humanities and Social Sciences
• ISSN: 0112-1642
• DOI: 10.1007/s40279-021-01573-z

Objective Our objective was to explore the training-related knowledge, beliefs, and practices of athletes and the influence of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods Athletes (n = 12,526, comprising 13% world class, 21% international, 36% national, 24% state, and 6% recreational) completed an online survey that was available from 17 May to 5 July 2020 and explored their training behaviors (training knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and practices), including specific questions on their training intensity, frequency, and session duration before and during lockdown (March-June 2020). Results Overall, 85% of athletes wanted to "maintain training," and 79% disagreed with the statement that it is "okay to not train during lockdown," with a greater prevalence for both in higher-level athletes. In total, 60% of athletes considered "coaching by correspondence (remote coaching)" to be sufficient (highest amongst world-class athletes). During lockdown, < 40% were able to maintain sport-specific training (e.g., long endurance [39%], interval training [35%], weightlifting [33%],