The cognitive processes that influence athletic performance have been increasingly studied in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of an intervention programme aimed at improving the attentional focus of football players, using game situations similar to competitive ones. The participants were 46 male football players belonging to the youth academy of a first division Argentine football club, who were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The methodological design was quasi-experimental, with pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up measures. The measures used were the Psychological Inventory of Sport Performance was used. The results showed significant differences in the variable attentional control in favour of the experimental group compared with the control group after the intervention period and during the follow-up period. On the other hand, the other of the variables analysed (negative coping control, visual image control, positive coping control, and attitudinal control) did not show significant differences between the two groups, but there was a positive trend in the experimental group after the intervention. In conclusion, the use of strategies related to attentional focus in habitual tactical and specific football training tasks seems to have a positive effect on attentional control.
This editorial presents some methodological issues that should be considered when performing physical exercise in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and raises the need for specific knowledge to adjust the protocols and training programs used in this population.
Taekwondo can develop social responses, beliefs, values, attitudes, and cognitive experiences due to its characteristics and the diversity of frequency, intensity, time, and type of application. This can facilitate the achievement of results related to physical health and cognition in individuals in the formation phases. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the effects of taekwondo practice on physical and cognitive variables in children and adolescents. This systematic review followed the PRISMA recommendations and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021293609). The search was performed in the MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases. The search terms were related to the theme taekwondo, school, and students with the keywords grouped in a single Boolean phrase: “taekwondo AND school” OR “taekwondo AND students”. Studies that analyzed the effects of taekwondo on health-related variables in children and adolescents of both sexes were included. The risk of bias in experimental and quasi-experimental studies was analyzed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool and the Risk Of Bias In Non-randomized Studies - of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool, respectively. After using the selection criteria, 8 studies were included. Study interventions consisted of a minimum of 8 weeks and a maximum of 72 weeks. There was a total of 402 participants aged between 6 and 16 years, of which 75% were male. The protocols demonstrated improvement in cognitive performance, strength, flexibility, and balance after taekwondo intervention. We concluded that the practice of taekwondo was able to bring positive responses to physical and cognitive performance in children and adolescents.
Soccer is mentally as well as physically fatiguing. Negative effects of isolated mental fatigue on soccer performance have been reported, however, it does not appear isolated in soccer. This study compared the effects of baseline, mental fatigue and combined mental and physical fatigue on soccer performance. Voluntarily, 18 male soccer practitioners (23.61 ± 4.12y) participated in six randomized and crossover sessions– two non-induced fatigue baseline (30 min. documentary), 2 isolated mental fatigue (30 min. Incongruent Stroop) and 2 combined physical and mental fatigue (30 min. Incongruent Stroop while cycling at 80-85% of the theoretical Maximum Heart Rate). The Visual Analogue Scale pre- and post- fatiguing protocol for mental fatigue, and the Questionnaire to Quantify Mental Load in Sports Team for mental load post-fatiguing protocol were collected. The Loughborough shooting and passing test were performed post- fatiguing protocols. Results revealed the combined protocol as the most mentally loading and fatiguing, showing significant differences when compared with isolated mental fatigue and baseline (p<.001). Isolated mental fatigue was significantly more mentally loading (p<.001) and fatiguing (p<.001) that baseline. Significant impairments on soccer performance were observed after isolated mental fatigue and combined protocols in comparison with baseline (p<.001). However, these impairments were significantly higher after combined than isolated mental fatigue (p<.043). In conclusion, the presence of physical fatigue combined with mental fatigue exacerbates the negative effects that isolated mental fatigue causes on soccer performance.
This study aimed to develop a proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching system using a low-speed, high-torque motor and to investigate the acute response in hip flexion range of motion by applying PNF stretching using this system. The PNF stretching system consisted of a low-speed, high-torque motor with a rotational torque of 157 Nm, a braking torque of 1470 Nm, and a rotational speed of 6 degrees/s, a lever arm attached to the motor and its rotating shaft, and a pedestal mounted on the lever arm. The system, which targets hamstrings, enabled the subjects to raise the leg in a supine straight leg raise position and perform passive muscle lengthening and isometric muscle contractions by operating an electric motor. The study included 21 healthy male students aged between 18 and 21 years. The hold-relax (HR) technique was employed, in which the target muscle was lengthened step by step by performing three 10 s isometric contractions. The hip joint flexion angles were measured at the limit of leg raising without discomfort before and after HR (pre-HR and post-HR) and compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test. The results showed that the hip flexion angle at post-HR (81.4 ± 18.0 degrees) was significantly greater than that at pre-HR (63.9 ± 15.2 degrees) (P < 0.05, effect size = 0.88). In conclusion, the PNF stretching system, which uses a low-speed, high-torque motor, effectively leads to an immediate improvement in hamstring flexibility.
This work aimed to describe the visual search behavior of basketball referees. Eight national and eight regional basketball referees took part in the study. The participants watched five projected gameplay video clips twice from different perspectives: lead and trail referee positions. Dependent variables were based on the extrinsic ocular motility (number of fixations, average fixation time, and total fixation time on the selected areas of interest), and the independent variables were expertise (expert vs novice) and visual angle (lead vs trail referee position). Most gaze behavior differences were found between the lead and trail positions (total fixation time: F = 10.79; p < 0.01; ƞp² = 0.435; average fixation time: F = 16.23; p < 0.01; ƞp² = 0.537). It was found that basketball referees mainly follow a target strategy on the attacking player with the ball and a visual pivot on the players' trunk. Expertise does not determine the number or time of fixations, but it does influence fixation location.
The aim of the current study was to examine the acute effects of three different feedback conditions (positive feedback, negative feedback and no feedback) on heart rate, lactic acid, rate of perceived exertion responses and frequencies of technical actions on basketball players during 3-a-side full-court games. Twelve young basketball players (Mean age: 16.5 ± 1.5 years; height: 181± 5.9 cm; body mass: 71.4 ± 7 kg; training experience: 5.4 ± 2.1 years) voluntarily participated to the study. The players underwent anthropometric measurements followed by the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1. Then, players performed 3-a-side full-court games under three different conditions with positive verbal feedback, negative verbal feedback and no feedback randomly at 2-day intervals. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to assess differences among responses to 3-a-side full-court games in terms of heart rate, lactic acid, rate of perceived exertion responses and the number of technical actions performed. No significant differences were found between the three feedback conditions nevertheless lactic acid results showed clinical significance in the negative feedback group (5.4±1.7) compared to the group without feedback (6.5±1.8). The findings of this study reveal that positive, negative verbal feedback given by the coach or no feedback does not have an acute effect on basketball players' game performance and internal load responses.
This study retrospectively examined 182 high school student-athlete women aged 13-18 using Fletcher and colleagues' (2005, 2006) stress, emotion, and performance model to evaluate the impact of coping on engagement in both sports and academic settings. Additionally, the transfer of coping from sport to study was studied, with sports task-oriented coping acting as a moderator. Results indicated that in sports, stress was positively associated with emotional coping and negatively with engagement, and task-oriented coping positively with engagement. In the academic setting, stress was positively correlated with distancing coping, and task-oriented coping positively with engagement. Emotional coping and task-oriented coping both served as mediators, and sports task-oriented coping moderated academic stress and task-oriented coping. The findings support the processual model of stress and suggest that task-oriented coping should be encouraged and emotion-oriented coping should be avoided in both sports and academic settings. Furthermore, sport task-oriented coping was shown to transfer to the academic setting, as academic task-oriented coping decreased when sport task-oriented coping was below a certain threshold. Thus, it may be concluded that coping is a life skill that facilitates engagement in activities and may be transferred from sport to study in this sample of female student-athletes.
This study aims to compare the physical and physiological profiles between elite men and women wrestlers of free style category. The research group consist of twenty-nine men and twenty-one women freestyle wrestlers who camped for performance tests at the Turkish Olympic Preparation Center in Ankara 2 months before the European Wrestling Championship in Budapest on March 28-April 3, 2022. Subjects performed the leg and arm Wingate anaerobic test (anaerobic power and capacity), VO2max (aerobic endurance), Reactive agility, isokinetic and isometric strength test. The results showed that Lower Extremity anaerobic power obtained from men, knee flexor at VO2max, 60°/s and 180°/s peak torque, isometric force values of arm and trunk extensor muscles, are higher than in women (p<0.05). In contrast, upper extremity anaerobic power values seem to be similar (p>0.05). As a result, it can be said that the endurance capacity, isometric, and isokinetic strength parameters are more effective than the force parameter in gender. These results can be used by coaches, strength and conditioning specialists, and sport scientists to create a comprehensive physical and physiological profile of wrestlers that will help them adapt their training programs.
This study aimed to analyze the differences between clusters obtained by the acute effect of fatigue after an ultra-endurance event in the internal and external load of cyclists. 26 volunteers participated in the study, and they were divided into the experimental group (N = 18; height: 177 ± 8 cm; body mass: 78.6 ± 10.3 kg) and the control group (N = 8; height: 176 ± 10 cm; body mass: 78.0 ± 15.7 kg). The experimental group completed a 12 h non-stop cycling event. Jump height, lactate, plasma antioxidant capacity, pain perception and fatigue perception were measured before and after the event. Cyclists of the experimental group were classified considering their training characteristics (recreational vs. competitive) and by conducting a non-supervised K-means clustering. The differentiation of cyclists according to training characteristics resulted in a lower distance covered by recreational than competitive cyclists (279.4 ± 39.7 km vs. 371.0 ± 71.7 km; ES ≥ 0.8; p < 0.01), although no differences were observed in the remaining variables between groups (p > 0.05). The clustering analysis provided two clusters. Cluster 2 suffered a greater jump height reduction (-3.3 ± 1.6 vs. 1.2 ± 0.8; ES ≥ 0.8; p < 0.001) and increased pain and fatigue perception (ES ≥ 0.5; p < 0.05) after the race than Cluster 1. In conclusion, counter-movement jump can differentiate the fatigue produced by a cycling ultra-endurance event and therefore, this non-invasive technique is useful in fatigue monitoring and recovery planification.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the goal difficulty level on the volleyball serve learning and if the perceived sports competence mediates this process. Adolescent volunteers (N = 22, age = 14.0 ± 0.9 years) participated in this study performing the volleyball serve. Two experimental groups were formed: high difficult goal group (HDG; n = 11) and low difficult goal group (LDG; n = 11). Both groups performed 15 trials in the pretest, 160 trials in the acquisition throughout four days, and 15 trials in the retention test after 72 hours. Performance was measured by means of the target bull’s-eye accuracy of the volleyball serve. Comparing the two groups' performance accuracy and consistency on pretest and retention tests was run through two-way ANOVA and ANCOVA (2 Groups x 2 Blocks). The results showed high goal led to greater performance accuracy in the retention than the lower goal, with a very large effect size. The HDG had higher accuracy in the retention test than the pretest (p < .001), while the LDG had no improvement. ANCOVA detected significant between the covariate perceived sport competence and tests. The effect size magnitude of the high goal difficulty in the serve accuracy was higher when adjusted by perceived sports competence. This finding indicates that perceived sports competence could maximize goal difficulty effectiveness. In conclusion, the goal with high difficulty is more effective for volleyball serve learning than low difficulty, and the perceived sports competence seems to moderate the learning process.
We aimed to evaluate the effect of joint distraction exercises with elastic band as a warm-up method versus an only standard warm-up on lower-body maximal strength performance in male bodybuilders and to determine possible moderator variables affecting performance. In the study, seventeen male bodybuilders who met the inclusion criteria were evaluated. The bodybuilders performed two sets of four joint distraction exercises with 30 seconds of rest following the standardized warm-up versus the standardized warm-up only. The maximal strength performance of bodybuilders was measured with an interval of 96 hours. Joint distraction exercises with the elastic band following the standardized warm-up moderately increased lower-body maximal strength performance of the bodybuilders (p = 0.00; Cohen’d = 0.45, 95%CI = 0.30-0.60). In addition, age (p = 0.34, β = 0.03), height (p = 0.92, β = 0.00), body weight (p = 0.61, β = 0.00), training experience (p = 0.66, β = -0.02) and body mass index (p = 0.55, β = 0.01) were not moderator variables for this training method. Our study showed that joint distraction exercises with elastic bands could acutely improve lower-body maximal strength performance in male bodybuilders regardless of anthropometric characteristics. Practitioners and coaches may prefer this training method before strength training to increase the strength performance of their athletes.
Physical activity is an important therapeutic strategy in reducing the severity of Covid-19 disease. There is a lack of studies evaluating the level of physical activity among doctors who are the frontline responders of Covid-19 pandemic. The online survey aimed at evaluating the effect factors associated with physical activity levels of doctors during Covid-19 pandemic using International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ- SF). The survey included doctors from government and private health sectors of India. Snowballing technique was used to conduct the survey. About 266 Indian doctors with a median age of 36 (IQR = 31, 46) years responded to the anonymous survey consisting of demographic details and IPAQ- SF. Median MET-minutes/week and Inter Quartile Range (IQR) were used to describe the physical activity levels of the doctors. All the data analysis was done in STATA 12.1. The total median MET-duration of doctors was 834 (IQR = 495, 1620) MET-minutes/week with 988 (IQR = 564.3, 2067.9) Kcal/week of total energy expenditure. Low, moderate and high physical activity levels of doctors were 21.4%, 54.5% and 24.1% respectively. Age, gender, doing Covid-19 duties and regular involvement in physical activity before the pandemic have significantly affected PA levels. More than 55% of doctors who reported high or moderate physical activity before the pandemic were doing significantly low physical activity during the pandemic (p < 0.0001). The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the physical activity level in doctors. Doctors aged 31- 40 years performing Covid-19 duties during the conduct of the survey were likely to perform low physical activity. However, those doctors who regularly engaged in physical activity before the pandemic despite the restrictions were found to engage significantly in higher total MET-duration and expended higher energy.
Low back pain (LBP) prevalence in children and adolescents is high during their lives. School-based interventions have reported effectiveness on back health. The study aimed to determine the effect of an educational back-health intervention on knowledge, postural habits and trunk muscle endurance regarding low back pain prevention for a group of 12 to 13-year-old students using a 6-month follow-up. A non-randomized experimental design. Three groups of 1st-grade secondary school students were selected. A control group (CG), and two experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) who participated in a back-health educational program (BHEP); only one of the experimental groups was given a follow-up learning contract (EG2). Assessments were performed at three different time points: before the intervention (baseline), after (post-test) and 6 months after (follow-up). The level of general knowledge of the experimental groups improved after the intervention. The level of postural habits improved in EG1 and EG2 compared to the CG after the follow-up period (p < .001 in both). An improvement in the level of endurance of the trunk musculature after the intervention was observed only for boys between EG2 and the CG (p < .05). A lower percentage of problems in the lumbar area in EG2 was observed after the 6-month follow-up. Teaching students to take care of their spines seems to have positive effects concerning knowledge, postural habits, and back health
Chronic Kidney Patients (CKP) present a negative clinical status, with structural and functional changes in the musculoskeletal system and mental health partly due to a sedentary lifestyle. An effective physical stimulus for CKP is as important as to be able to follow it in the long-term. This study aimed to analyzethe association between some of the most influencing exercise adherence factors in CKP performing an exercise prescription programme. 67 subjects (23.9% women) participated in 14-week exercise programme in 3 dialysis centersin Madrid (Spain). Social-economic, educational, demographics, physical fitness, psychological and quality of life-related factors, were analyzedby a binary logistic regression model. Exercise adherence was established according to the number of training sessions attended per total sessions scheduled (cut-off point >75%). According to our binary logistic regression model performed with CKP, actual side effects symptoms/problems (OR:0.925: 95% CI [0.871, 0.983]) and depressionstatus (OR:0.882: 95% CI [0.788, 0.987]),showed significant negative associations(B= -0.078; B= -0.126, respectively)andState-Trait Anxiety level (OR: 1.122: 95% CI [1.007, 1.250]) and emotional well-being dimension (OR:1.046: 95% CI [1.001, 1.094]),showed significant positive associations (B=0.115; B=0.045, respectively). Thesewerethe most influencing factors related tothefulfilling >75% sessions of the exercise training program scheduled, explaining33.20% in our model.From the total of variables analyzedin our model, psychological issues such asanxiety and depression, besides thehealth-related quality of life factors such as actual side effects (symptoms/problems) and emotional well-beingwere the most influencing factors related to the exercise prescription adherence in CKP.
This study aimed to: (i) present normative data of the variables related to the start in the four swim strokes by tier and sex, and; (ii) understand the relationship between the 15th meter mark time and the final race time of the male and female swimmers competing in the four 50 m events at the 2021 European Championships. Participants were all male and female swimmers who competed in the 50 m events at the 2021 LEN European Championships held in Budapest. The official race times and block times were retrieved from the official competition website. All starting variables were analyzed in a dedicated software for race analysis. The 15th meter mark time was used as the start main outcome. For all events by sex, the 15th meter mark time was the variable presenting the highest and largest tier effect (p < 0.001) besides the final race time. Overall, despite the swim stroke, the variables related to the underwater phase were also responsible for the significant tier effect (p < 0.001). The 15th meter mark time presented a high to very-high relationship with the final race time in all four swim strokes. This relationship was stronger in freestyle (both sexes). That is, swimmers who achieve the 15th meter mark sooner are more likely to deliver better performances. Coaches must be aware that the underwater phase plays a key-role on the swimmers’ (both sexes) start performance. Nonetheless, different strategies can be used based on the swimmers’ strength and weaknesses. Moreover, the start performance in all four swim strokes and in both sexes can strongly predict the final race time.
Anaerobic performance is considered an indicator of performance for short-term muscle activities of high intensity. It is important to determine whether different anaerobic field tests performed to measure anaerobic performance can be used as an alternative to WAnT performed in the laboratory. The study aimed to compare the anaerobic performance with laboratory and field tests in trained children. One-hundred four athletes between the ages of 10 and 16, minimum age of training of one year in different sports voluntarily participated in the study. Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) was performed as the reference test. Besides, Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST) and Pediatric RAST (PRAST) were performed to determine anaerobic performance. Peak power (PP), average power (AP), minimum power (MP), fatigue index (FI) and total exercise time (TED) were determined for each test. All variables of WAnT, RAST, and PRAST were significantly different (p<0.01). According to test-retest results of all tests, ICC [95% CI] values have a high-reliability coefficient for all variables. It was found there is a high correlation significantly between WAnT and RAST for all variables (p<0.01). Besides, there were also high correlations significantly between WAnT-PRAST and RAST-PRAST excluding fatigue index (p<0.01). As a result of this study, it was determined all tests have high reliability. Considering that WAnT requires complex, expensive device and tools, trained staff and is performed in the form of cycling in the laboratory, RAST and PRAST performed with body weight in field conditions can be used to determine anaerobic performance in trained children. High correlations between tests support this determination.
The aim of the present systematic review was to investigate the determinants of fitness center service quality that most influence customer satisfaction. Studies were identified from searches in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCO databases from 2017 through 2022. The search process was carried out by four independent researchers. Titles and abstracts were reviewed to determine whether the studies met the inclusion criteria. The quality of the reporting of the measures was assessed using a tailored list. The electronic search strategy produced 378 studies. A total of 17 articles met the inclusion criteria. Results of the review support the importance of service quality to improve customer satisfaction, leading to customers future intentions with the brand, increasing loyalty and customer retention. Therefore, positive perceptions of service quality influence customer satisfaction, in turn customer loyalty and retention, and are indispensable for the sustainability of these companies. Through the studies included in this systematic review it was possible to identify nine dimensions of service quality as predictors of customer satisfaction: facility quality, instructors and reception staff quality, price, supporting services, service recovery, service assurance, online marketing, and customer relations. This article provides useful and global information on the most current service quality factors. Given the fitness market's competitiveness, understanding the factors that influence service quality allows managers to better choose their strategies for increasing customer satisfaction.
This editorial is a brief summary of current knowledge on mental fatigue (MF) in sports and future recommendations on the topic for researchers, coaches and athletes.
