The Effect of Water Exercise on Static and Dynamic Balance of Injured Elderly Athletes

Aging is a period that is associated with gradual, progressive and spontaneous erosive changes in most organs and physiological functions of the body. In fact, human beings have many problems that affect their lives as they enter old age. Common physical problems among the elderly that occur as a result of certain diseases or as a result of the aging process include loss of balance, postural control, difficulty in gait and gait control, muscle atrophy, weakness and dysfunction, and decreased strength (1). Balance is a complex motor skill that describes the body's postural dynamics in preventing falls. With the onset of old age, changes in the function of the musculoskeletal system, vestibular system, sensory system and visual system occur as physiological systems involved in balance, and the elderly are exposed to serious injuries due to imbalance, including bone fractures and Places long disabilities (1, 2). It is one of the effective factors in improving the balance of athletic performance, but older people have problems in performing these exercises due to movement restrictions due to chronic pain, low level of physical fitness, as well as fear of imbalance and falling. Research has shown that water has a beneficial role in rehabilitation in injured people due to its special properties such as buoyancy, relaxing role on muscles and reducing tension, reducing pain caused by environmental stresses such as weight pressure on the lower extremities, as well as People with special disabilities, such as the elderly (9). According to the above, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercises and sports activities in water on the balance of injured elderly athletes.

In this quasi-experimental study, 30 retired athletes with knee and ankle injuries were selected by purposive sampling and randomly divided into two groups of control and water exercise. Dynamic balance and static balance of subjects were measured before and after the exercise intervention. The star excursion balance test (7) was used to measure static balance and the star balance test (11) was used to measure the dynamic balance of the subjects. The intervention included 8 weeks of water balance exercises. SPSS version 26 was used for data analysis software.

The results showed that in the static equilibrium index, the main effect of test sessions (F1,28= 184.90, P= .001, h2= 0.738) and group (F1,28= 19.84, P= .001, h2= 0.524) was significant. In the dynamic equilibrium index, the main effect of the test sessions (F1,28= 317.40, P= .001, h2= 0.689) and the group (F1,28= 55.33, P= .001, h2= 0.511) was significant.

The results of this study showed that selected water sports exercises improved static and dynamic balance of elderly athletes with a history of knee and ankle injuries. The results of the present study are in line with the results of previous research, including the research of Guillamón et al. (2019), Askari et al. (2018), Padua et al. (2018), Mousavi and Ghazalian (2020) and Dokht Abdiyan et al. (2016), all of which have beneficial effects of exercise in water mentioned (8, 12-15) was consistent. Retired Athletes are a group of seniors who, in addition to the problems that arise in the normal course of old age, are also involved in chronic injuries during their professional sports career. In some cases, the presence of such chronic sports injuries can increase the problems many times over. Exercise in water can improve the motor function (9, 10) of the elderly by developing the capabilities of the central nervous system as well as motor coordination. One of the limiting factors of motor function in injured people is chronic pain caused by injury (16). It has also been shown that these individuals are limited in their daily activities due to chronic pain and excitatory stress-induced stress (17, 18); On the other hand, to prevent age-related complications that include the destructive process of the nervous system as well as skeletal muscles, and exercise can be a preventive and therapeutic process (18). The use of the aquatic environment due to its properties can reduce the fear of falling in the elderly with the buoyancy it creates (9, 10); Therefore, the elderly can easily exercise and enjoy the benefits of exercise. On the other hand, due to the fact that body weight on land causes pressure on the lower limbs and thus increases stress on nerve endings and as a result increases pain in injured limbs, they usually have problems for training on land; Therefore, according to the characteristics of aquatic environments, these people can benefit from the benefits of rehabilitation exercises as well as physical activities by adjusting their weight due to the special conditions of water (19, 20). In general, it can be said that exercising in water by increasing neuromuscular function improves balance in elderly athletes with a history of lower limb injuries. Balance and gait problems and maintaining a proper walking pattern are complications of aging that are much more severe in the elderly with a history of severe sports injuries to the knee and ankle. Exercise has its limitations due to the physiological problems of the aging process, especially those suffering from diseases such as osteoarthritis, chronic joint injuries, and mobility disabilities. Therefore, despite the benefits of physical exercise, it should be considered that doing this type of exercise on land due to some psychological and physical problems of old age, especially in people who suffer from diseases and injuries such as joint pain and have limitations. They are, it is difficult.Therefore, due to the low risk nature of water, water exercises can be used to improve balance and gait indicators. The results of the present study showed that participation in 8 weeks of selected water sports exercises led to improved gate parameters such as stride length, step frequency, walking speed and endurance as well as static and dynamic balance in elderly athletes with a history of severe knee and ankle injuries This exercise method can be used to prevent the complications of old age, especially in the elderly who have a strong sports history and have suffered severe ankle and knee injuries during their professional sports.