International journal of sports physiology and performance最新文献

Purpose: To examine the relationship between well-being and match performance in elite team handball.

Methods: Eighteen male handball players competing in the first German national league were investigated over an entire season (September 2023 to June 2024). On matchdays, well-being was assessed in the morning with a customized, nonvalidated questionnaire, consisting of three 5-point Likert-type items ("physical condition," "mental freshness and energy level," and "sleep and recovery"). Team performance was evaluated based on the points scored in each match. Individual performance was assessed using a novel approach with 4 data aggregates of positive and negative offense and defense playing actions, on which the Handball Performance Index (version 2.0; official individual match performance metric in the Handball-Bundesliga) is based. Cumulative link models for ordinal regression and linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze the relationship between well-being, match type (home vs away), and both team and individual performance.

Results: "Sleep and recovery" ratings were lower prior to away matches (p < .001). Interaction effects revealed that physical and mental well-being influenced match outcomes ("physical condition" × "match type": P = .019, "mental freshness and energy level" × "match type": P = .001), with a weaker effect in away matches. No significant effects were observed on individual performance metrics.

Conclusions: This study is the first to investigate the complex relationship between athlete well-being, contextual factors (home vs away matches), and performance in elite team handball. However, it is important to consider the study's limitations regarding validity, applicability, and transferability.

Purpose: In preparation for the reduced 1500-m-rowing racing distance at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, we compared performance between maximal 2000-m (TT2000) and 1500-m (TT1500) ergometer time trials and evaluated the predictive accuracy of a linear critical speed (CS) model in elite rowers.

Methods: Thirty-four elite under-23 rowers (12 female, 22 male) completed TT2000, TT1500, and 500-m (TT500) maximal ergometer time trials on separate days. Performance differences between TT2000 and TT1500 were assessed using linear mixed modeling. Completion times from TT2000 and TT500 were used in a CS model to predict TT1500 time.

Results: Compared with TT2000, mean power output was 4.8% higher in males and 4.4% higher in females during TT1500, with a 26% reduction in completion time across both groups. The CS model using TT500 and TT2000 accurately predicted TT1500 time for both sexes, with a mean absolute error of <1 second, a standard error of estimate of 2.8 seconds, and a coefficient of variation of 0.5%. A near-perfect correlation existed between actual and predicted TT1500 times (R = .99).

Conclusions: This simple CS model, based on standard tests, allows practitioners to track 1500-m performance progression without disrupting preparation for 2000-m events, which remain central to international competition throughout the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games quadrennial. Performance times in TT1500 indicate that elite rowers likely require further specific preparation to optimize performance over the reduced Olympic racing distance.

Purpose: Athletes frequently experience sleep disturbances due to training intensity, competitive pressure, and travel. While sexual activity, particularly achieving orgasm, is linked with improved sleep through hormonal mechanisms in general populations, this relationship remains unexplored in athletes, whose sleep and recovery needs are unique. This cross-sectional study primarily aimed to examine competitive athletes' perceptions regarding how sexual activity (partnered intercourse and masturbation, with or without orgasm) influences sleep quality, latency, and sport performance and explore differences by sex and sport discipline (individual vs team).

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 164 competitive athletes (males = 115, females = 49; age 18-40 y) from Italian sport federations completed a structured survey assessing sexual behavior, orgasm frequency, sleep parameters, and perceived athletic impact. Statistical analysis included chi-square, Fisher exact, and t tests with significance at P < .05.

Results: A majority reported that orgasmic sexual activity significantly improved sleep quality (partnered sex: 67.7%, masturbation: 49.1%) and latency (partnered sex: 58.4%, masturbation: 46.9%). Partnered sex appeared slightly more beneficial, but the difference was not statistically significant (quality: P = .810, latency: P = .996). Significant sex differences emerged in orgasm consistency during partnered sex (men: 77.8%, women: 30.0%; P < .001) and masturbation (men: 99.1%, women: 83.3%; P < .001). No sex or sport-discipline differences were identified regarding perceived sleep benefits or performance impact; most athletes (≥50%) perceived no negative effects on training or competition.

Conclusion: Competitive athletes perceive sexual activity with orgasm as beneficial for sleep and neutral regarding athletic performance, challenging conventional abstinence recommendations. Practitioners should adopt individualized, evidence-based strategies when advising athletes on sexual behavior in relation to sleep and performance.

Purpose: Lifting straps (LS) are popular tools used by resistance-training (RT) practitioners with the intention of improving exercise performance. This tool is worn around the wrist to enhance grip on the barbell or other RT equipment and potentially decrease grip limitation throughout the exercise-a limitation that is usually reported by practitioners, especially during deadlifts, weightlifting movements, and pulling exercises. However, this knowledge remains mostly based on common experiential beliefs. Thus, this narrative review aims to highlight the current knowledge on the impact of LS in RT, focusing on physiological and biomechanical effects, exercise performance, chronic training adaptations, and safety concerns, and also to expose the existing literature gaps and distinguish between evidence-based findings and empirical assumptions.

Conclusion: Evidence suggests that LS can enhance maximal strength and grip perception. However, for pulling/back exercises, no consistent effects have been observed. In addition, LS may increase mechanical work in the deadlift, but contrary to common belief, they appear not to contribute to increased muscle recruitment. Furthermore, no scientific evidence supports the chronic effects of LS usage in training; it is still a hypothesis. Finally, this review offers future research insights to assist sport scientists in designing and conducting more comprehensive investigations on this topic, ultimately enhancing the understanding and application of LS in RT.

Purpose: To assess total, weekly, and session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) training load (TL), identify factors influencing sRPE-TL, and analyze interplayer, individual relative-to-team, and intraplayer variability in elite youth female footballers.

Methods: All outfield players (age 13.7 [0.5] y) from the U14 (under 14 y of age) team of a Spanish Women's First Division academy were monitored over a 19-week competitive period. Players reported sRPE after each training session and match. TL was calculated as sRPE × session duration. Individual- and team-level analyses were performed.

Results: Players completed 95% (4%) of sessions. Total and weekly team sRPE-TL averaged 19,717 (1708) and 1200 (104) AU (arbitrary units), respectively. Playing position had no significant effect (P > .05), whereas training day significantly influenced session TL (P < .001), with matches showing substantially lower TL than training sessions (Cohen d: 2.85-4.34). Interplayer variability was small to moderate (coefficient of variation 7%-14%). Differences between individual and team means ranged from -26% to +25%, trivial to very large. Intraplayer variability was moderate to very large (coefficient of variation 10%-53%), with session-level variability classified as very large for all players. The interaction between individual-team difference and intraplayer variability was analyzed.

Conclusions: Despite consistent team-level TL, marked individual differences emerged. Two individual TL profiles were identified: (1) mean-aligned versus mean-divergent and (2) stable versus unstable. Combining both dimensions enhances individual TL profiling and supports tailored training strategies. These findings emphasize the need to move beyond team averages to ensure appropriate monitoring and individualized development in elite youth female football.

Purpose: Although previous studies have compared strength-training adaptations between free weights (FW) and machine-guided exercises, those studies did not use a Smith machine (SM), which most closely replicates the exercises performed with FW. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the chronic effects of strength-focused, velocity-based training regimens using FW versus SM.

Methods: Thirty-seven sport-science students (14 female) were assigned, balanced by sex and relative strength, to either an FW or SM training group. The training program lasted 8 weeks (2 sessions/wk), and participants performed 4 sets per exercise (back squat and bench press) at 70% of their 1-repetition maximum with moderate effort levels (20%-25% velocity loss). Load-velocity profile parameters (load-axis intercept, velocity-axis intercept, and area under the load-velocity relationship line), cross-sectional areas of the vastus lateralis and pectoralis major muscles, and the number of repetitions to failure in the bench-press exercise were assessed before and after the training program. Mechanical variables were assessed using both FW and SM.

Results: All variables, with the exception of back-squat velocity-axis intercept (P = .124), improved in both training groups. The changes in load-axis intercept and area under the load-velocity relationship line were more pronounced when the training and testing conditions matched. Failure in the bench-press exercise and cross-sectional areas of the vastus lateralis and pectoralis major showed comparable improvements for both training groups, while velocity-axis intercept tended to improve more in the SM group.

Conclusions: The general population, unconcerned with the specificity of strength adaptations, can choose a training modality (FW or SM) based on personal preferences.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to report isometric hip adduction and abduction strength reference values of men's and women's Gaelic football and rugby union players and compare values between sexes and between sports.

Methods: This cross-sectional cohort study consisted of 331 club-level athletes. Maximum isometric hip adduction squeeze and abduction press strength values were measured with a ForceFrame across several testing positions.

Results: Hip adduction squeeze and abduction press strength reference values for men's and women's Gaelic and rugby union footballers were provided with mean and 1 SD. A 2-way analysis of variance demonstrated significant sport × sex interaction main effects for hip adduction squeeze (η2 = .159-.228), abduction press (η2 = .099-.144), and adduction:abduction ratio (η2 = .120). Men demonstrated significantly greater relative (Newtons per kilogram) maximum isometric hip adduction squeeze (15.5%-26.4%, 0.48-1.00 N/kg) and hip abduction press (9.6%-19.6%, 0.20-0.67 N/kg) strength across all testing positions when compared with women of the same sport. Male Gaelic football players demonstrated significantly greater hip adduction (8.7%-14.0%, 0.30-0.52 N/kg) and abduction (6.1%-8.6%, 0.16-0.31 N/kg) strength (Newtons per kilogram) than their rugby counterparts, while no significant between-sports differences in strength were observed between female athletes.

Conclusion: Reference values are provided with mean and 1 SD. Sport and sex interaction had significant main effects for hip adduction, abduction, and adduction:abduction ratio, with medium to large effect sizes. Male athletes demonstrate significantly greater hip strength than female athletes of the same sport, and male Gaelic players demonstrate greater hip strength than male rugby players.

Purpose: The recently announced Enhanced Games (EG) positions itself as a revolutionary alternative to the Olympic Games, proposing a sporting event in which performance-enhancing drugs are not only permitted but medically supervised and celebrated. Founded by Dr Aron D'Souza, the initiative markets itself as a more transparent, scientific, and technologically progressive and equitable model of elite sport. In contrast to the World Anti-Doping Agency's long-standing global commitment to banning doping substances, the EG advocates for full transparency and deregulation of enhancement practices, aiming to eliminate what is perceived as hypocrisy in contemporary elite athletics. The purpose of the current commentary is to critically evaluate the medical, societal, ethical, and regulatory consequences of the EG. Conclusions: We argue that many of the claims made by the advocates of the EG are flawed and the use of scientific rhetoric is often misleading. Moreover, we argue that the EG represents a high-risk social experiment with potentially profound medical, societal, and ethical consequences that abandons the principles that govern current elite sports: respect for athlete autonomy and health, fair competition, and the quest for sporting and human excellence. We point to the need for a renewed commitment to these principles, not their abandonment. Contrary to the EG, strengthening antidoping systems and investing in safe, evidence-based performance support are all viable paths forward. The EG may produce new records but challenge radically the moral relevance and nature of sport.