Running, athlete

Change of direction speed (CODS) is determined by several physical aspects, such as linear sprint speed, reactive strength and power of leg muscles. It appears that core strength may also play a role in CODS, however, its relationship to CODS remains unclear. The aim of this narrative review was to analyze the literature addressing a) the relationship between core strength and CODS and b) the effect of core strength training on CODS. This analysis revealed a significant relationship between the parameters of core strength and stability (the pressure of the activated core muscles during lower limb movement and the greatest mean force output of maximum volunteered contraction) and the time in the Agility T-Test...

Wilson, LJ and Curtis, C. Running event, age, and competitive level as predictors of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry-derived body composition and bone health markers in female runners. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-The aim of this study was to assess the impact of running discipline, competitive level (COMP), and age on body composition measures in female athletes. A total of n = 51 female runners (age: 30.9 ± 5.7 years, stature: 166.7 ± 5.7 cm, and body mass (BM): 57.1 ± 8.2 kg) completed a full-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan in a cross-sectional design...

PURPOSE: To understand athletic performance before and after puberty, this study determined: 1) the age at which the sex difference increases among elite youth track and field athletes for running and jumping events; and 2) whether there is a sex difference in performance prior to ages associated with puberty among elite youth athletes. METHODS: Track and field records of elite USA male and female youth (7-18 years) across three years (2019, 2021, and 2022) were collected from an online database ( athletic...

This document presents a study on the relationship between physical characteristics, respiratory muscle capacity, and performance in amateur half-marathon runners. The aim of this study was to establish a preliminary predictive model to provide insights into training and health management for runners. Participants were recruited from the 2023 Beijing Olympic Forest Park Half-Marathon, comprising 233 individuals. Personal information including age, gender, height, weight, and other relevant factors were collected, and standardized testing methods were used to measure various parameters...

BACKGROUND: Sleep and physical performance are strongly related and mutually influence each other. Athletes, particularly in disciplines like offshore sailing and ultra-endurance sports, often suffer from sleep deprivation due to factors like irregular training times, travel, and the extended duration of events like 100-mile mountain races. Despite growing interest in sleep's role in sports science, few studies have specifically investigated the sleep patterns of ultramarathon runners...

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of a 7-day high-intensity interval training shock microcycle (HIIT-SM) with or without additional low-intensity training (LIT) on aerobic fitness and endurance performance compared to a control group. METHODS: Thirty-three endurance-trained athletes (7 women, 26 men, mean ± SD: age, 30.2 ± 6.9 yr; maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max), 59.8 ± 4.9 mL·min-1·kg-1) performed exercise testing at T1 and were randomly assigned to one of three groups: i) HSM: 10 running-based HIIT sessions (5 x 4 min at 90-95% maximal heart rate) over 7 days ii) HSM + LIT: equal to HSM with additional 30-min of LIT after each HIIT iii) CG: regular training...

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pre and post-exercise cardiac biomarker release according to athletic status (trained vs. untrained); and to establish whether the I/D polymorphism in the ACE gene had an influence on cardiac biomarkers release with specific regard on the influence of the training state. We determined cTnI and NT-proBNP in 29 trained and 27 untrained male soccer players before and after moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) running tests...

PURPOSE: The safety and reliability of endoscopic Achilles tendon rupture repair are still concerning aspects. This study's aim is to evaluate an all-inside endoscopic semiautomatic running locked stitch (Endo-SARLS) technique. METHODS: Forty cases with acute Achilles tendon rupture were treated with the all-inside Endo-SARLS technique between 2020 and 2021. Under endoscopic control, the proximal tendon stumps were stitched with the running locked method using a semiautomatic flexible suture passer...

BACKGROUND: Spatiotemporal parameters of gait are useful for identifying pathological gait patterns and presence of impairments. Reliability of the pressure-sensitive ZenoTM Walkway has not been established in young, active individuals without impairments, and no studies to this point have included running. PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to 1) determine if up to two additional trials of walking and running on the ZenoTM Walkway are needed to produce consistent measurements of spatiotemporal variables, and 2) establish test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) values for common spatiotemporal variables measured during walking and running...

There is a well-established relationship between physical activity (PA) and physical fitness in children, being the latter an important marker for present and future health; however, there is still insufficient knowledge for the transition from the preschool age to early childhood. Therefore, this study in Swedish children aimed to investigate the estimated effect of meeting the aerobic component of the PA guidelines at 4 and/or 9 years of age on physical fitness measured at 9 years of age. PA was assessed using a wrist-worn ActiGraph accelerometer and identical data processing in 217 healthy children in Sweden (114 boys and 103 girls)...

BACKGROUND: Rapid regeneration after intense exercise is essential for competitive athletes. Based on this assumption, supplementation strategies, focusing on food supplements, are increasing to improve the recovery processes. One such supplement is cannabidiol (CBD) which is gaining more attention in competitive sports. However, the evidence is still lacking and there are no data available about the effect of a short-term chronic application. METHODS: A three-arm double-blind cross-over study was conducted to determine the effects of two different CBD products on performance, muscle damage and inflammatory processes in well-trained athletes...

PURPOSE: In Football, the high-intensity running bouts during matches are considered decisive. Interestingly, recent studies showed that peak fat oxidation rates (PFO) are higher in football players than other athletes. This study aimed to investigate whether PFO increases following a pre-season. Secondarily, and due to COVID-19, we investigated whether PFO is related to the physical performance in a subgroup of semi-professional male football players. METHODS: Before and after 8 weeks of pre-season training, 42 sub-elite male football players (18 semi-professionals and 24 non-professionals) had a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan and performed a graded exercise test on a treadmill for the determination of PFO, the exercise intensity eliciting PFO (Fatmax) and peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2 peak)...

Marathon running significantly increases breathing volumes and, consequently, air pollution inhalation doses. This is of special concern for elite athletes who ventilate at very high rates. However, race organizers and sport governing bodies have little guidance to support events scheduling to protect runners. A key limitation is the lack of hyper-local, high temporal resolution air quality data representative of exposure along the racecourse. This work aimed to understand the air pollution exposures and dose inhaled by athletes, by means of a dynamic monitoring methodology designed for road races...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe injury patterns and healthcare utilisation of marathon runners. METHODS: This was a previously reported 16-week prospective observational study of runners training for the New York City Marathon. Runners completed a baseline survey including demographics, running experience and marathon goal. Injury surveys were collected every 4 weeks during training, as well as 1 week before and 1 week after the race...

BACKGROUND: Change of direction (COD) movements are associated with non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in multidirectional sports. Females appear at increased risk compared to males, which could be attributable to whole body kinematic strategies and greater multiplanar knee joint loads (KJLs) during COD which can increase ACL loading. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine and quantitatively synthesise the evidence for differences between males and females regarding KJLs and their biomechanical determinants (whole body kinematic strategies determining KJLs) during COD tasks...

We investigated the effects of far-infrared radiation (FIR) lamp therapy on changes in muscle damage and performance parameters following six sets of 15-min Loughborough intermittent shuttle test (LIST), a simulated soccer match. Twenty-four elite female soccer players (20-24 y) were assigned into FIR or sham treatment group (n = 12/group). The participants received a 60-min FIR or sham treatment (30 min per muscle) over knee extensors (KE) and flexors (KF) at 2, 25, 49, 73, and 97 h post-LIST...

BACKGROUND: Ultra-trail running races pose appreciable physiological challenges, particularly for glucose metabolism. Previous studies that yielded divergent results only measured glycaemia at isolated times. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to explore the impact of an ultra-endurance race on continuously measured glycaemia and to understand potential physiological mechanisms, as well as the consequences for performance and behavioural alertness. METHODS: Fifty-five athletes (78% men, 43...

BACKGROUND: Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) is considered an important summary indicator for assessing the health of children and adolescents. However, there are fewer studies addressing the association between WHtR and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Deriving an optimal WHtR would play an important role in promoting CRF in children and adolescents. Our aim was to analyze the association between WHtR and CRF and determine the optimal value of WHtR. METHODS: In this study, 37,081 (19,125 boys, 51...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on running performance of a within-session placebo procedure consisting of a conditioning treatment plus verbal communications. Twenty-six subjects were assigned to PLACEBO and CONTROL groups. Participants performed three sessions: Session 1-Cooper Test, Session 2-Baseline session and Session 3-Experimental session. During Session 2, participants performed a sprint-interval-training (SIT)-until-exhaustion preceded by a general warm-up, while in Session3 the SIT was preceded by a conditioning treatment (FIFA11+ warm-up), known to be effective in preventing injuries but not improving performance...

The increasing use of motion sensors is causing major changes in the process of monitoring people's activities. One of the main applications of these sensors is the detection of sports activities, for example, they can be used to monitor the condition of athletes or analyze the quality of sports training. Although the existing sensor-based activity recognition systems can recognize basic activities such as: walking, running, or sitting; they don't perform well in recognizing different types of sports activities...