Athlete paradox

BACKGROUND: The effect of vegan diets on metabolic processes in the body is still controversial in ultra endurance athletes. The study aims to determine gut microbiome adaptation to extreme exercise according to vegan or omnivore diet consumed in ultra-marathoners. We also seek to evaluate long-term vegan diets' effects on redox homeostasis, and muscle fatigue, and assess energy availability. METHODS: Seventy participants will be assigned to the study, including 35 vegan ultra-marathoners and 35 omnivores competing in the Sri-Chinmoy ultra marathon race...

Cabre, HE, Greenwalt, CE, Gould, LM, Hirsch, KR, Blue, MNM, and Smith-Ryan, AE. Exploring the "Athlete's Paradox": Division I cross-country runners demonstrate similar muscle characteristics to recreationally trained young adults. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2021-Endurance training can influence body composition and muscle characteristics. Endurance athletes have demonstrated elevated intramuscular fat (IMF), yet individuals with greater body fat also demonstrate elevated IMF. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in muscle characteristics (echo intensity [EI] and muscle cross-sectional area [mCSA]) and body composition between Division I collegiate athletes and college-age adults matched for percent fat (%fat)...

According to the neural efficiency hypothesis (NEH), professionals have more effective cortical functions in cognitive tasks. This study is focusing on providing a systematic review of sport-related NEH studies with functional neuroimaging or brain stimulation while performing a sport-specific task, with the aim to answer the question: How does long-term specialized training change an athlete's brain and improve efficiency? A total of 28 studies ( N = 829, Experimental Group n = 430) from 2001 to 2020 (Median = 2014, SD = 5...

Introduction: As the number of female athletes competing rises globally, training methodologies should reflect sex differences across critical metrics of adaptation to training. Surrogate markers of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) used for monitoring training load are heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate (RHR). The aim was to investigate ovarian hormone effects on standard recovery metrics (HRV, RHR, respiratory rate (RR) and sleep duration) across a large population of female athletes...

OBJECTIVE: This study examines stressors (i.e., discrimination and stereotypes) and buffers (i.e., exercise) relevant to Asian-identified student-athletes' mental health. The study tests a set of counter-stereotype paradox hypotheses positing that conforming to idealized stereotypes of Asians exacerbates discrimination-mental health links. METHOD: Data were drawn from the 2015-2019 cohorts of the Healthy Minds Study. Regression-based moderations were used to test counter-stereotype paradox hypotheses and a buffering model of exercise...

The running footwear literature reports a conceptual disconnect between shoe cushioning and external impact loading: footwear or surfaces with greater cushioning tend to result in greater impact force characteristics during running. Increased impact loading with maximalist footwear may reflect an altered lower-extremity gait strategy to adjust for running in compliant footwear. The authors hypothesized that ankle and knee joint stiffness would change to maintain the effective vertical stiffness, as cushioning changed with minimalist, traditional, and maximalist footwear...

Metabolome and proteome profiling of biofluids, e.g., urine, plasma, has generated vast and ever-increasing amounts of knowledge over the last few decades. Paradoxically, omics analyses of sweat, one of the most readily available human biofluids, have lagged behind. This review capitalizes on the current knowledge and state of the art analytical advances of sweat metabolomics and proteomics. Moreover, current applications of sweat omics such as the discovery of disease biomarkers and monitoring athletic performance are also presented in this review...

Obesity predisposes individuals to the development of insulin resistance (IR) which is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the muscle plays a central role in this phenomenon. Insulin resistance is associated with: 1) a metabolic inflexibility characterized by a reduced impaired switching from free fatty acid (FA) to carbohydrate substrates and 2) an ectopic accumulation of triglyceride (TG) in skeletal muscle, generating a cellular "lipotoxicity", but TG per se, does not contribute to insulin resistance ("athlete's paradox")...

In evolutionary biology, the "Red Queen Effect" refers to a form of inter- or intra-species competition where continuous improvement is necessary in order to survive and thrive, since the other species/individuals evolve. In sport, the same mechanism can be easily observed, and this article explores its implications. It discusses improved training regimes, scientific diets, innovative techniques enhancing performance, and technological improvements such as fibreglass skis. It argues that the upward spiral of improved achievement can be seen as an effect of the global market, or of the modern values of development and growth which are celebrated in modern sports...

Men's violence against women is a global issue, and in recent decades its relationship with sport has been examined. Much research has focused on male athletes as perpetrators, seeking to understand how sport may foster misogynistic behavior. However, paradoxically, recent research has also examined women's involvement in sport as a protective factor against gendered violence. This article explores this, drawing on the perspectives of 20 women. We argue that sport was experienced in contradictory ways, and thus, positioning women's involvement in sport as a protective factor obscures complex experiences and reinforces the narrative that women are responsible for their safety...

Physical performance fatigue can be ascribed to both peripheral and central components. Central fatigue, however, is an elusive entity, consisting of cognitive/sensory component and presumably also a neuro-physiological component that are difficult to tease apart and assess independently of each other. The most widely accepted method for the assessment of central fatigue is based on the premise that decreasing volitional muscle activation (VA), as determined by the interpolated twitch technique (ITT) in fatiguing muscles, reflects increasing central fatigue...

Athletes' identity development upon retirement from elite sport was examined through a model of self-reformation that integrates and builds on the theoretical underpinnings of identity development and liminality, while advancing seven propositions and supporting conceptual conjectures using findings from research on athletes' transition out of sport. As some elite athletes lose a salient athletic identity upon retiring from sport, they experience an identity crisis and enter the transition rites feeling in between their former athletic identity and future identity post-sport life, during which a temporary identity moratorium status is needed for identity growth...

INTRODUCTION: Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) is a syndrome characterized by paradoxical adduction of the vocal folds during breathing. Its non-specific clinical manifestations frequently lead to misdiagnosis and delay in its treatment. The treatment of VCD is not pharmacological but rehabilitative and remains poorly appreciated. OBSERVATION: In this clinical case we describe a 16-year-old female judoka who presented with effort intolerance associated with occasional dyspnea, which had suddenly worsened over the preceding few months so that in now produced sudden respiratory difficulty, mainly during intense and sudden efforts...

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INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained arrhythmia affecting up to 1% of the world's population. The overwhelming majority of patients with AF have concomitant structural heart disease and comorbidities, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus. One out of ten AF patients has no substantial comorbidities and has been traditionally termed "lone AF". Paradoxically, there exists an association of highintensity endurance exercises and AF. CASE: 43-year-old competitive cyclist and cross-country skier with no known cardiac comorbidities who presented with multiple episodes of dyspnea and palpitations...

Ultra-endurance has been defined as any exercise bout that exceeds 6 h. A number of exceptional, record-breaking performances by female athletes in ultra-endurance sport have roused speculation that they might be predisposed to success in such events. Indeed, while the male-to-female performance gap in traditional endurance sport (e.g., marathon) remains at ~ 10%, the disparity in ultra-endurance competition has been reported as low as 4% despite the markedly lower number of female participants. Moreover, females generally outperform males in extreme-distance swimming...

Whereas left atrial (LA) enlargement is an independent predictor for adverse cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality, this is regarded a physiological adaption of exercise. Paradoxically, LA size in athletes may overlap the enlargement observed in patients with cardiac pathology. Current knowledge is mainly derived from studies of athletes, and little is known about cardiac adaptations to physical activity (PA) in the general population. We explored the association between objectively measured PA and LA volume index (LAVi), and between LAVi enlargement and indices of diastolic dysfunction stratified by PA-level...

PURPOSES: Overtraining syndrome (OTS) is an unexplained underperformance syndrome triggered by excessive training, insufficient caloric intake, inadequate sleep, and excessive cognitive and social demands. Investigation of the recovery process from OTS has not been reported to date. The objective was to unveil novel markers and biochemical and clinical behaviors during the restoration process of OTS. METHODS: This was a 12-week interventional protocol in 12 athletes affected by OTS, including increase of caloric intake, transitory interruption of training, improvement of sleep quality, and management of stress, followed by the assessment of 50 parameters including basal and hormonal responses to an insulin tolerance test and nonhormonal biochemical markers, and body metabolism and composition...

Despite the established benefits of regular physical activity in cardiovascular disease prevention, coronary events in the context of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease are the most common cause of exercise-related sudden death. A paradoxical development of an increased coronary calcification burden is likely associated with endurance training even in the absence of any of the traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In this case report, we present a 50-year-old male long-distance runner with excessive subclinical myocardial ischemia...

CONTEXT: Endurance-trained athletes have high oxidative capacities, enhanced insulin sensitivities, and high intracellular lipid accumulation in muscle. These characteristics are likely due to altered gene expression levels in muscle. DESIGN AND SETTING: We compared intramyocellular lipid (IMCL), insulin sensitivity, and gene expression levels of the muscle in eight nonobese healthy men (control group) and seven male endurance athletes (athlete group). Their IMCL levels were measured by proton-magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and their insulin sensitivity was evaluated by glucose infusion rate (GIR) during a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp...