Training monitoring, Athlete

Movement control can be an indicator of how challenging a task is for the athlete, and can provide useful information to improve training efficiency and prevent injuries. This study was carried out to determine whether inertial measurement units (IMU) can provide reliable information on motion variability during strength exercises, focusing on the squat. Sixty-six healthy, strength-trained young adults completed a two-day protocol, where the variability in the squat movement was analyzed at two different loads (30% and 70% of one repetition maximum) using inertial measurement units and a force platform...

Proteomic and metabolomic research enables quantitation of the molecular profile of athletes. Multiomic profiling was conducted using plasma samples collected from 18 male athletes performing aerobic activity (running) at high altitude. Metabolomic profiling detected changes in the levels of 4-hydroxyproline, methionine, oxaloacetate, and tyrosine during the recovery period. Furthermore, proteomic profiling revealed changes in expression of proteins contributing to the function of the immune system, muscle damage, metabolic fitness and performance, as well as hemostasis...

This short-term survey examined the effect of body part pain on subjective and objective handball performance in Japanese male national handball athletes. Fourteen athletes participated in this study. Assessments of pain in 10 body parts and subjective performance ( concentration and satisfaction with body movement ) were performed using a visual analog scale from 0 to 10 over four consecutive training days. Monitoring of heart rate and body acceleration during training was also performed to quantify the objective performance...

Sport coaches increasingly rely on external load metrics for designing effective training programs. However, their accuracy in estimating internal load is inconsistent, and their ability to predict autonomic nervous system (ANS) deterioration is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between internal and external training load metrics and ANS recovery and function in college football players. Football athletes were recruited from a D1 college in the southeastern US and prospectively followed for 27 weeks...

BACKGROUND: Outdoor races introduce environmental stressors to runners, and core temperature changes may influence runners' movement patterns. This study assessed changes and determined relationships between sensor-derived running biomechanics and core temperature among runners across an 11.27-km road race. HYPOTHESIS: Core temperatures would increase significantly across the race, related to changes in spatiotemporal biomechanical measures. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional cohort study...

INTRODUCTION: Collegiate coaches and integrative support staff often utilize pre-season as a brief and intense training period to prepare athletes technically, tactically, and physiologically, to meet the demands of competition during a soccer season. This study sought to examine the dose-response from performing on-field soccer activities during a four-week pre-season period in female collegiate soccer players, and if the magnitude in response was associated with accumulated exercise stress...

Merrigan, JJ, Stone, JD, Kraemer, WJ, Vatne, EA, Onate, J, and Hagen, JA. Female National Collegiate Athletic Association Division-I athlete injury prediction by vertical countermovement jump force-time metrics. J Strength Cond Res 38(4): 783-786, 2024-Vertical countermovement jump (CMJ) assessments on force plates have been purported to screen for musculoskeletal injury risk (MSKI) but with little scientific support. Thus, this study aimed to identify associations and noncontact lower-body injury predictability with CMJ force-time metrics in female athletes...

Merrigan, JJ, Stone, JD, Kraemer, WJ, Friend, C, Lennon, K, Vatne, EA, and Hagen, JA. Analysis of sleep, nocturnal physiology, and physical demands of NCAA women's ice hockey across a championship season. J Strength Cond Res 38(4): 694-703, 2024-The aims of this study were to evaluate the (a) relationships between daily physical demands and nighttime sleep, heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV); (b) weekly changes in physical demands and sleep; and (c) differences among positions and between training and competition during a competitive season in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's ice hockey...

The perceived value of athlete monitoring systems (AMS) has recently been questioned. Poor perceptions of AMS are important, because where practitioners lack confidence in monitoring their ability to influence programming, and performance is likely diminished. To address this, researchers have primarily sought to improve factors related to monitoring metrics, e.g., validity rather than socio-environmental factors, e.g., buy-in. Seventy-five practitioners (response rate: n  = 30) working with Olympic and Paralympic athletes were invited to take part in a survey about their perceptions of AMS value...

Elite athletes are vulnerable to sleep and circadian disruption and associated mental health symptoms. This study aimed to investigate sex differences in sleep, circadian rhythms, and mental health, as well as the moderating role of sex in the prediction of mental health, among male professional and female semi-professional elite athletes. Participants were 87 elite Australian Rules football (ARF) athletes (43% female; mean [standard deviation] age 24.0 [4.1] years). Participants completed baseline questionnaires, 2 weeks of sleep/wake monitoring via actigraphy, and a circadian phase assessment (dim-light melatonin onset [DLMO])...

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to comprehend the impact of handball practice on sub-elite athletes by investigating transcriptomic changes that occur during a match. The primary focus encompasses a dual objective: firstly, to identify and characterize these transcriptomic alterations, and secondly, to establish correlations between internal factors (gene expression), and external loads measured through Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems (EPTS variables). Ultimately, this comprehensive analysis seeks to evaluate both acute and chronic responses to exercise within the context of handball training...

PURPOSE: Monitoring performance athletes' training responses can be efficiently completed at competitive events. This study aimed to explore the changes in swimming, countermovement-jump (CMJ), and pull-up (PU) performance following training across a competitive phase, as well as immediately before and after each race. METHODS: Fourteen well-trained male sprint/middle-distance swimmers (height 179 [7] cm, mass 70 [8] kg, age 18 [2] y), from 3 regional training groups, completed CMJ and PU tests before and after the national competitions in October and May, when race performance was also assessed...

Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) training has been recognized as an effective modality for improving body composition, enhancing body strength, and facilitating injury recovery. However, individuals who are new to EMS training and those with certain chronic diseases should exercise caution due to the increased risk of rhabdomyolysis. This case report describes the occurrence of rhabdomyolysis and gluteal compartment syndrome following a single session of EMS training in a 46-year-old Caucasian female professional athlete...

The Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS) and the Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS) are recently-introduced instruments to monitor recovery and stress processes in athletes. In this study, our aims were to replicate and extend previous psychometric assessments of the instruments, by incorporating recovery and stress dimensions into one model. Therefore, we conducted five confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and determined structural validity, internal consistency, and construct validity. Dutch and Flemish athletes ( N  = 385, 213 females, 170 males, 2 others, 21...

BACKGROUND: Fat Free Mass (FFM) is an important and essential indicator in various sports populations, since greater muscle and bone mass generates greater strength, endurance and speed in athletes. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to validate Body Surface Area (BSA) as an anthropometric indicator to estimate FFM in young basketball players. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in 105 male basketball players of the Brazilian Basketball Confederation of Sao Paulo (Campinas), Brazil...

CONTEXT: Upper extremity injuries in baseball pitchers cause significant time-loss from competing and decreased quality of life. Although shoulder range of motion (ROM) is reported as a key factor to prevent potential injury, it remains unclear how limited glenohumeral ROM affects pitching biomechanics which may contribute to upper extremity injuries. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how pitchers with decreased total arc glenohumeral ROM of the throwing arm differed in upper extremity pitching kinematics and kinetics as well as ball velocity compared to pitchers with greater levels of glenohumeral ROM...

PURPOSE: The monitoring of training loads and quantification of physical performance are common practices in youth soccer academies to support coaches in prescribing and programming training for individuals. The interaction between training load and physical performance is unknown during a preseason period in youth soccer players. The current study assessed changes in training load and physical assessments across a 4-week preseason period. The relationship between physical performance and match playing time in youth male soccer players was also investigated...

Volleyball is one of the most globally renowned sports in terms of global popularity. The game is a team sport that both men and women can participate in. The gameplay relies heavily on physical activities such as jumping, landing, and quick movements, often causing strain on the musculoskeletal system and leading to injuries. For this reason, agility training is crucial to improving a player's ability to change direction swiftly as and when required by the gameplay. Although it is relatively safer than other team sports, actions like jumping, blocking, and spiking can lead to potential injuries...

Stress fractures are a consequence of repeated submaximal loads with inadequate time for recovery and biologic repair or remodelling. The foot and ankle complex (FAC) represents a common site for development of stress fractures. Whilst the overall incidence of stress fractures is low, they are prevalent in athletes and military personnel causing significant time away from sports or work. Within these populations, certain stress fractures directly correlate to specific activities. Factors that commonly influence these fractures include an acute increase in new repetitive physical activity combined with muscle fatigue, training errors or improper athletic techniques, which challenge the regenerative and remodelling capacity of bone...

BACKGROUND: Repetitive traumatic brain injuries in American football players (AFPs) can lead to the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Clinical symptoms of CTE range from mood and behavioral changes to cognitive impairment, depression, and suicidality. So far, CTE cannot be diagnosed in vivo and thus specific diagnostic parameters for CTE need to be found, to observe and treat exposed athletes as early as possible. Promising blood-based biomarkers for CTE include total tau (tTau), hyperphosphorylated tau (pTau), neurofilament light protein (NF-L), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), amyloid-β40 (Aβ40 ), amyloid-β42 (Aβ42 ) and calcium-binding protein B (S100-B)...