Athletes

BACKGROUND: CrossFit is a high intensity functional training that tends to challenge physical limits. The objectives of this study were to assess functional capacity, prevalence and risk of injury in CrossFit practitioners. METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational and prospective study evaluate the rate of injuries that occurred in CrossFit practitioners in the last 12 months and their functional capacities. The sample was given for convenience, with a total of 22 participants...

OBJECTIVE: Motor neuron pool activity is high in spasticity. The effect of inhibitory kinesiotaping (KT) on spasticity is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of inhibitory KT on spasticity after stroke. METHODS: Fifty stroke patients with ankle plantarflexor spasticity were randomised to intervention (27) and control (23) groups. Inhibitory KT was applied to the triceps surae muscle in the intervention group and sham KT to the Achilles tendon in the control group...

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BACKGROUND: While the resting metabolic rate (RMR) is crucial for understanding athletes' energy requirements, limited information is available on the RMR of Paralympic athletes. OBJECTIVE: To determine RMR and its predictors in a diverse cohort of Paralympic athletes and evaluate the agreement between measured and predicted RMR from both newly developed and preexisting equations. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study, conducted between September 2020 and September 2022 in the Netherlands and Norway, assessed RMR in Paralympic athletes by ventilated hood indirect calorimetry and body composition by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry...

Youth and adult participation in sports continues to increase, and athletes may be diagnosed with potentially arrhythmogenic cardiac conditions. This international multidisciplinary document is intended to guide electrophysiologists, sports cardiologists, and associated health care team members in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of arrhythmic conditions in the athlete with the goal of facilitating return to sport and avoiding the harm caused by restriction. Expert, disease-specific risk assessment in the context of athlete symptoms and diagnoses is emphasized throughout the document...

This study examined the effects of an 8-week horizontal speed deceleration training (HSDT) programme in combination with regular handball-specific training as compared with handball-specific training only in measures of physical fitness in male youth handball players. Thirty-nine players were randomly assigned to either an HSDT group ( n  = 18; 15.55 ± 0.24 years) or an active-control group (CG; n  = 21; 14.59 ± 0.23 years). The results showed significant and large between-group differences at post-test in countermovement jump, change-of-direction speed, and repeated sprint ability (RSA) (all p  < 0...

In this article it will be concluded that systematic menstrual tracking in women's sport has the potential to cause harm to athletes. Since the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022) in the United States, concerns regarding menstrual health tracking have arisen. Research suggests that the menstrual tracking of female athletes presents potential risks to "women's autonomy, privacy, and safety in sport" (Casto 2022, 1725). At present, the repercussions of systematic menstrual tracking are particularly under-scrutinized, and this paper seeks to combine novel research in the sport sciences with present ethical debates in the philosophy of sports...

BACKGROUND: Reference values (RVs) for knee function tests have been reported in perioperative patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA); however, such values for practical use in outpatient setting has yet to be determined. Therefore, we aimed to establish the reference intervals (RIs) for outpatients with mild to moderate KOA. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 202 outpatients with KOA from 8 Japanese orthopedic clinics and measured knee extensor/flexor muscle strength (MS) and knee extension/flexion range of motion (ROM)...

Many songbirds learn to produce songs through vocal practice in early life and continue to sing daily throughout their lifetime. While it is well-known that adult songbirds sing as part of their mating rituals, the functions of singing behavior outside of reproductive contexts remain unclear. Here, we investigated this issue in adult male zebra finches by suppressing their daily singing for two weeks and examining the effects on song performance. We found that singing suppression decreased the pitch, amplitude, and duration of songs, and that those song features substantially recovered through subsequent free singing...

Current research suggests that menstruating female athletes might be at greater risk of musculoskeletal injury in relation to hormonal changes throughout the menstrual cycle. A separate body of work suggests that spatial cognition might also fluctuate in a similar manner. Changes in spatial cognition could, in theory, be a contributing risk factor for injury, especially in fast-paced sports that require precise, millisecond accuracy in interactions with moving objects in the environment. However, existing theories surrounding causes for increased injury risk in menstruating females largely focus on biomechanical mechanisms, with little consideration of possible cognitive determinants of injury risk...

BACKGROUND: Anterior shoulder dislocation (ASD) is a frequently observed musculoskeletal injury that is often encountered in the context of sports activities or as a result of trauma. Several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters have been previously investigated for the purpose of characterizing the anatomical features, which could potentially be responsible for the episodes of instability. These measurements have the potential to identify patients who are susceptible to dislocation...

In recent decades, scholars and practitioners alike have devoted increased attention to the psychological well-being of student-athletes. However, to date, far less research has examined the role of virtues, religion, and spirituality in contributing to well-being in student-athlete populations. In this study, we attempt to address these gaps by (a) assessing the association between trait courage, an understudied virtue in the sporting realm, and mental well-being, and then (b) considering how student-athletes' attachment to God might moderate the association between trait courage and depressive symptoms...

The present study has two main goals: to conduct a systematic review of musculoskeletal injuries experienced by badminton players, and to examine the management of such injuries. Searches were conducted of the PROSPERO, PubMed, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases, from their inception until March 2023. The papers analysed were all based on a study population consisting of individuals aged 18 years or more, diagnosed with badminton-related injuries. The methodological quality assessments was using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and REVMAN...

BACKGROUND: After COVID-19 lockdown, studies across Europe and Asia examined its effect on professional soccer injury rates and severity; however, COVID-19 lockdown influence on injuries in United States men's professional soccer has not been evaluated. HYPOTHESIS: Injury and illness rates during the 2020 season were higher than the previous 2 seasons. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational cohort study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3...

There is some, albeit inconsistent, evidence supporting sex differences in preschoolers' motor competence (MC), with these observations not uniform when analyzed by age, and cultural groups. Thus, this study examined sex differences across ages in 3- to 5-year-old children's MC. A cross-country pooled sample of 6241 children aged 3-5 years (49.6% girls) was assessed for MC using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd/3rd edition, and children were categorized into groups of age in months. Multiple linear regression models and predictive margins were calculated to explore how sex and age in months affect scores of MC (i...

BACKGROUND: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is characterized by repeated bouts of relatively intense exercise interspersed with recovery periods. Previous studies have evaluated this exercise strategy with various population subgroups, regimens, and comparator groups, limiting the generalizability of findings. We performed a novel umbrella review to generate an up-to-date synthesis of the available evidence regarding the effect of HIIT on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in adults as compared to non-exercise control and traditional continuous forms of exercise such as moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT)...

Overuse injuries, which have a high prevalence in sport, are suggested to result in different affective responses in comparison to traumatic injuries. Affects may also reciprocally act as risk factors for overuse injury. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between overuse injury and affects within a longitudinal follow-up design. Competitive athletes (N = 149) of various sports and levels of competition completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Centre Overuse injury questionnaire (OSTRC-O) once a week over 10 consecutive weeks...

Association between genomic variants and athletic performance has seen a high degree of controversy, as there is often conflicting data as far as the association of genomic variants with endurance, speed and strength is concerned. Here, findings from a thorough meta-analysis from 4228 articles exploring the association of genomic variants with athletic performance in power and endurance sports are summarized, aiming to confirm or overrule the association of genetic variants with athletic performance of all types...

Athletes interpret dynamic visual scenes quickly and accurately during physical exertion. It is important to understand how increased exertion may impact vision and cognition following sport-related concussion (SRC).Purpose To examine the effect of a treadmill running research protocol on the assessment of dynamic visual acuity (DVA) and balance for athletes with and without recent history of SRC.Methods Varsity athletes following recent SRC (CONC=12) were compared to athletes without SRC (ATHLETE=19). The DVA task presented a Tumbling 'E' target in four possible orientations during random walk (RW) or horizontal (H) motion at a speed of 30°/s...

This study aimed to analyze anthropometric and physiological profiles of highly trained sailors and the differences between sailors regarding various training levels. Forty-two sailors (22 male, 22.4 ± 3.8 years; 20 females, 21.3 ± 3.6 years) were divided into helmsmen and crew groups, and the high- and low-level were distinguished. Sailors completed height, sitting height, legs length, weight, BMI, VO2max, 30 s all-out sprint, isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), countermovement jump, bench pull, core endurance tests...