The Iberian study, which included the participation of researchers from the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Nova FCSH), concluded that in Spain the drop was slightly lower (63 percent) and that only 15 percent of Spaniards (Portugal 16 percent) did not suffer any changes in their training.

The study, to which Lusa had access, also concluded that the vast majority already felt the effect of the cancelled tests (90 percent in Portugal and 83 percent in Spain), especially in terms of economic impacts (33 percent PT and 41 percent ES). The most mentioned effect is the non-refund of the amounts paid in subscriptions (37 percent PT and 41 percent ES).

More than one in four (26.2 percent) of the Portuguese who participated in the study had to buy equipment to maintain their training.

Despite the difficulties, the vast majority say they will not abandon sports practice (94 percent PT and 89 percent ES), although they plan to introduce changes in the way they train.

Of the approximately 3,000 participants in the study, the majority in Portugal, 22 percent of Portuguese people believe that their physical capacity will be greatly affected (31 percent ES) and that the return to physical normality will require four months of training (eight months in the case of women).

In both countries, concern is expressed about the exposure of the danger of covid-19 during the tests, which, according to the researchers, should lead organizations to move forward with changes to conventional models.

“Although the difference in the number of responses between Portugal and Spain is considerable and the majority of participants are mostly dedicated to running, the numbers defined for a minimum sample have been exceeded, making it possible to consider that the main conclusions of this survey apply to other activities of outdoors for informal practice such as mountain biking, geocaching and climbing”, considers Rui Pedro Julião, professor at Nova FCSH and one of those responsible for the study.