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Abstract

Background: The study aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic performance on balance, anaerobic power, agility, and visual reaction in fencers and was designed as a prospective cohort study. Materials and methods: This study involved 26 fencing athletes (age = 20.35 ± 5.12 years, sports experience: 8.44 ± 4.33 years). The 20-m shuttle test, the vertical jump test, the Y-balance test, the fencing-specific 4-2-2-4 forward-back step method, and the Nelson hand reaction test were used to evaluate aerobic performance, anaerobic performance, balance, agility-change of direction, and visual reaction, respectively. Results: The maximum oxygen consumption determined with a use of the 20-m shuttle run test was moderately negatively correlated with the agility test duration (r = −0.624, p = 0.001). The shuttle number and distance were moderately negatively correlated with the agility test duration (r = –0.626, p = 0.001) and was positively correlated with vertical jump height (r = 0.577, p = 0.002). A moderate negative correlation was found between anaerobic power and lower limb fatigue determined using the shuttle run test (r = −0.407, p = 0.039) and the agility test duration (r = −0.679, p < 0.001). No correlation was found between balance, visual reaction time, and aerobic performance (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The study showed that the agility levels, vertical jump heights, and anaerobic power of fencers increased with an increase in their aerobic performance. Furthermore, fencers with greater power had better agility and showed fewer signs of fatigue. Therefore, training programs that combine both anaerobic and aerobic exercises should be designed specifically for the athlete to improve their fencing performance.

Author ORCID Identifier

1 Aysel Gökçe KURT, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey. ORCID: 0000-0002-3646-9703

2 Manolya ACAR, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey, ORCID: 0000-0003-2736-6195

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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