CUIDAR performs physical assessments on Flamengo's Olympic athletes
In this edition, physical education students volunteer to carry out the tests
By Romulo Paranhos and Isabella Loureiro - inCUIDAR conducted the second stage of physical evaluations of Flamengo's Olympic athletes. In this edition, Mais Querido professionals received assistance from physical education students in the physical testing process with Flamengo's athletes. The goal is to provide volunteers with a rich learning and practical experience, while also serving as a valuable opportunity for Flamengo to recruit potential candidates for physical training internships.
Luiz Antônio Moreira, scientific coordinator of CUIDAR, answered a series of questions about the physical evaluations carried out on athletes in each Olympic sport at the club.
What tests are performed?
The mid-year assessment consists primarily of tests measuring athletes' body mass, skinfold thickness to calculate body fat percentage, and vertical thrust. These are the tests used for most sports. Rowing and canoeing employ a slightly more extensive battery of tests, which is coordinated with the sports' technical committee to determine if additional information is needed.
How many times a year do these assessments take place?
It takes place three times a year, at the beginning, middle, and end of the season. The goal is to individually monitor each athlete's profile throughout this period, assessing their body composition and physical performance to determine whether they have progressed. Data collection takes place during the assessment. After the assessment, CUIDAR's statistics department prepares a presentation of the results for each athlete and the team as a whole. This allows for comparisons of the athlete's progress within themselves and as a team throughout the season.
The results are presented in graphs and tables and forwarded to the physical trainer for each sport, who receives the results and prepares a report. Based on the tables and graphs, the trainer analyzes each name to consider the reports for the team as a whole and for each athlete individually. After this process, an intervention proposal or action plan is developed, which may involve physical preparation and other areas of sports science.
How is the volunteers' participation going?
The volunteers' participation is crucial to the speed of assessments and, consequently, the entire process of presenting results to physical trainers and, subsequently, the presentation of reports prepared by the trainers to the coaches of each sport. It's a chain, where the volunteers' participation significantly speeds up the entire process, whether creating spreadsheets or recording data, which gives us the agility that physical trainers need.
How did these volunteers hear about this opportunity?
This recruitment was carried out by an internal contact through a WhatsApp group that spread.
For future reviews, do you intend to disclose?
This experience was very positive, and therefore, we intend to continue. We will evaluate the number of volunteers needed for future editions and announce the number accordingly.