The Impact of Sports Inactivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic on Spinal and Pelvic Health Among Amateur Football Players

Abstract

The importance of this research lies in its focus on implementing a therapeutic and rehabilitative program for spinal and pelvic injuries among amateur football players aged 40-48 years after their inactivity during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The research problem arose from the researcher's observation, after conditions improved with the return to normalcy and the decline of the pandemic, that a significant number of amateur football players over 40 years of age, who had previously participated in sports activities, were absent from the fields due to complaints of lower back and pelvic pain resulting from prolonged sitting and the cessation of sports activities. This prompted the researcher to develop a proposed rehabilitation exercise program for this sample. This study aimed to eliminate these symptoms by employing an experimental approach, considered the most suitable for therapeutic and rehabilitative research. Therefore, it was applied to the research sample using a pre- and post-test design with two groups (control and experimental) to align with the study's objective. The participants were purposively selected from among amateur football players aged 40-48, totaling 78 players who had stopped playing due to lower back and pelvic injuries resulting from prolonged sitting during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Of these, 36 players, representing approximately 46% of the research population, were selected as the experimental group. Eighteen of these players were chosen after expressing their willingness to participate in the rehabilitation program. The most significant finding was the positive impact of the proposed therapeutic and rehabilitative program on improving the strength and elasticity of the abdominal, back, and leg muscles, as well as the flexibility of the spine and pelvis in the experimental group of amateur football players.