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Sustainable Health: Fitness and Sports after COVID Pandemic

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health, Well-Being and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 14112

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Sport and Physical Education, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Interests: physical education; coaches education; racquet sports
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fitness and sports ecosystems have been considerably impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The varied ways in which this unprecedented phenomenon has affected the health of the population and their behaviors toward fitness and sport has received much attention from researchers in many areas that range from health and fitness, through participation and grassroots development, to high-performance and professional sport.

Studies have tried to discover, share, and integrate data and findings to produce a body of knowledge which could be of use to both researchers and practitioners in this field. Since the COVID-19 pandemic is not completely over, as there are many countries and people that are still experiencing different waves, novel research questions can still be posed from the experiences lived and lessons learned.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to share emerging research issues and the latest developments in the strategies implemented by the fitness and sport sectors to achieve sustainable health levels of the population during the pandemic and the future directions after it.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Health-related issues of athletes, coaches, and team support members during the pandemic;
  • Strategic implications of the impact of the pandemic on the delivery of health and fitness programs for the public and private sector;
  • Management of sports grassroots and participation programs during COVID-19 times;
  • The role of technology in providing health, fitness, and sport activities during the pandemic;
  • The provision of sustainable health and fitness initiatives to people directly affected by the pandemic;
  • Perspectives on high-performance and elite training and competition during the pandemic;
  • Psychological challenges of athlete preparation for competition during COVID-19 times;
  • Examples of best-practice cases and lessons learned when adapting health, fitness, and sport programs to the conditions created by the pandemic;
  • Management of the post-COVID-19 health, fitness, and sports activities and their implications for individuals and organizations.

Dr. Miguel Crespo
Prof. Dr. Rafael Martinez-Gallego
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fitness and sport
  • sustainable health
  • athletes health
  • management of sport grassroots and participation programs
  • COVID-19 pandemic

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2323 KiB  
Article
The Role of Technology in Physical Education Teaching in the Wake of the Pandemic
by Diana Marín-Suelves, Jesús Ramón-Llin and Vicente Gabarda
Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8503; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118503 - 24 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6793
Abstract
Physical education is seen as an essential subject for the development of healthy habits and well-being, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3. Furthermore, the impact of technology on all aspects of life is now an undeniable reality. The field of education is [...] Read more.
Physical education is seen as an essential subject for the development of healthy habits and well-being, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 3. Furthermore, the impact of technology on all aspects of life is now an undeniable reality. The field of education is no exception, and digitalisation has undoubtedly been accelerated by the emergency situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper aims to analyse the scientific production related to the field of physical education, technology, and the pandemic from a double perspective. From a search in Scopus, 86 articles were selected for analysis. A bibliometric approach was used to identify the variables of impact, collaboration, production, and dissemination. While the content analysis allowed us to delve deeper into the topics most frequently chosen by researchers, we found that the articles focused both on the circumstances experienced by practising teachers and on the adaptations made in the teaching/learning process with trainee teachers and students at different stages of education. Thus, technology has emerged as a fundamental tool in physical education during the pandemic, making it possible to develop or maintain better health and learning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Health: Fitness and Sports after COVID Pandemic)
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18 pages, 1141 KiB  
Article
Personality Trait Changes in Athletic Training Students during Their University Career: Effects of Academic Stress or COVID-19 Pandemic?
by Keb Hernández-Peña, Gemma María Gea-García, Juan Pedro García-Fuentes, Luis Manuel Martínez-Aranda and Ruperto Menayo Antúnez
Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010486 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2797
Abstract
Studies about personality traits have shown a link between emotional stability and coaches’ success. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of university education period on the big five personality traits in sports training students according to gender and the [...] Read more.
Studies about personality traits have shown a link between emotional stability and coaches’ success. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of university education period on the big five personality traits in sports training students according to gender and the type of sports practice chosen for their vocational training process as sport coaches. Method: A total of 146 Sports Training students completed the adapted NEO-FFI reduced version assessment twice: first semester in August 2018 and at the beginning of the eighth semester in February 2022 (COVID-19 pandemic appeared during this period). Results: Comparing the scores obtained for the different personality traits, it was observed that the level of neuroticism increased in the last semester (Mpost = 8.12 vs. Mpre = 5.77), while the level of extroversion (Mpost = 14.40 vs. Mpre = 15.97) and consciousness (Mpost = 18.14 vs. Mpre = 19.18) decreased. On the other hand, female students showed higher scores in kindness (15.90 ± 0.87) than men (13.58 ± 0.56) (p = 0.029) at the end of their academic semester. Finally, analysing sport discipline chosen by students, team sports showed a higher score in trait neuroticism (post = 10.47 ± 1.43 vs. pre = 7.73 ± 1.11, p = 0.047) and lower scores in extroversion (post = 13.33 ± 1.01 vs. pre = 16.27 ± 1.17, p = 0.009) than individual sports at the end of the academic semester. Conclusions: Academic stress during the last semester of their bachelor’s degree, as well as the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic could be factors that influenced students’ personality traits concerning neuroticism, extroversion, and consciousness or responsibility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Health: Fitness and Sports after COVID Pandemic)
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10 pages, 618 KiB  
Article
Gender and Age Influence in Pre-Competitive and Post-Competitive Anxiety in Young Tennis Players
by Rafael Martínez-Gallego, Santos Villafaina, Miguel Crespo and Juan Pedro Fuentes-García
Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 4966; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14094966 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3493
Abstract
To study the influence of age and gender on pre-competitive and post-competitive anxiety and self-confidence in young tennis players. A total of 42 U’12 to U’18 category tennis players, 12 females and 30 males, participated in this cross-sectional study. The players had a [...] Read more.
To study the influence of age and gender on pre-competitive and post-competitive anxiety and self-confidence in young tennis players. A total of 42 U’12 to U’18 category tennis players, 12 females and 30 males, participated in this cross-sectional study. The players had a mean age of 13.74 (2.07) years old and a national competitive experience of 4.00 (2.14) years. The pre-competitive anxiety of the participants was assessed using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory–2R (CSAI-2R) and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-E) before and after an official tournament’s match. Results showed that younger players showed lower trait anxiety (r = 0.333; p < 0.05), lower pre-match state anxiety (r = 0.501; p < 0.01) and lower pre-match somatic anxiety (r = 0.313; p < 0.05). Furthermore, girls exhibited higher values of state anxiety (r = 0.445; p < 0.01) and somatic anxiety (r = 0.440; p < 0.01) than boys before the match. However, differences were not observed in the trait anxiety measured by STAI-E (r = 0.203; p = 0.213), cognitive anxiety (r = 0.140; p = 0.363), and self-confidence measured by the CSAI questionnaire (r = 0.150; p = 0.333), before the match. Therefore, coaches and sport psychologists should implement adequate on- and off-court individualized interventions to manage anxiety, specifically in girls and players over 14 years old. Although anxiety levels were similar to those before the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the influence of the pandemic on mental health, results might be taken with caution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Health: Fitness and Sports after COVID Pandemic)
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