2026 July - 56 articles
Background. Five-a-side soccer for the blind (F5) is a Paralympic sport that has been the subject of research aimed at identifying variables that influence performance. However, despite its growing popularity, there is limited scientific literature o...
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an effective exercise strategy for improving cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and cardiometabolic health in laboratory settings, yet its effectiveness in real-world conditions remains less clear. This systema...
This study aimed to quantify and compare the absolute daily and weekly external loads and training-to-match ratios of high-speed running distance (HSRD) and sprint distance (SPD) across the microcycle in semi-professional male soccer players. Twenty-...
Background: High-intensity and high-impact exercise may increase intra-abdominal pressure and loading of the pelvic floor. Although pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) has been reported among physically active women, findings remain inconsistent, particul...
This study investigated seasonal changes in anthropometric characteristics, vertical and horizontal jump performance, 30 m sprint performance, estimated maximal aerobic capacity, and repeated-sprint ability in competitive youth soccer players across...
Background: Cardiometabolic risk and physical function are both strongly influenced by physical activity (PA) across the adult lifespan, yet it remains unclear whether this association is uniform across different stages of adulthood in everyday prima...
Muscle strength and bilateral asymmetry of the lower limbs are relevant to injury risk and performance in football, yet their age-related development in adolescent players outside elite Western European cohorts is insufficiently described. This study...
Objective: To compare the between-session reliability of motor units (MUs) behavior derived from high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) during isometric knee extension across three analytical approaches: all identified MUs averaged per parti...
Background: Contemporary adults face fragmented schedules, sedentary digital work, cognitive load, logistical barriers, and unstable routines that can make conventional session-based exercise difficult to sustain. Exercise snacks, vigorous intermitte...
This study investigated whether weekly training sessions replicate the running demands of match play in sub-elite rugby union athletes, examining the principle of training specificity across positional roles. A total of 30 male players from a sub-eli...
Background/Objectives: Postural control in elite athletes may reflect sport- and side-related balance demands. Conventional Centre of Pressure (CoP) path length alone offers only limited information about directional and frequency-domain sway charact...
The countermovement jump (CMJ) is a common measure of lower-body power and neuromuscular performance. Incorporating an arm swing (AS) enhances CMJ outcomes, yet the contributions of anthropometrics, body composition (BC), and muscular power to perfor...
Most studies investigating recovery in CrossFit® have focused on the effects of a single training session, whereas the cumulative effects of consecutive sessions within a training microcycle remain poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate...
This study examined the acute effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and prolonged endurance training (ET) on heart rate variability (HRV) in elite Greco-Roman wrestlers and assessed the usefulness of HRV for monitoring post-exercise reco...
This study examined whether barbell velocity can accurately predict relative load during a free-weight parallel squat performed with a deliberate pause between the eccentric and concentric phases in elite Portuguese rugby players. A repeated-measures...
Research in sports science has frequently excluded women due to the complexity of hormonal fluctuations. The overall aim of this study is to systematically analyse the influence of the menstrual cycle (MC) on intrinsic anatomical, biomechanical and n...
We explored the epidemiological evidence on the prevalence of mental health symptoms among current and former elite athletes as well as among their entourage members. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO,...
Mental health during childhood is a major public health concern, and physical activity has been proposed as a modifiable behaviour associated with psychological well-being and emotional health. This study examined the associations between physical ac...
In Olympic-style weightlifting males outperform females and heavier weightlifters lift more weight than athletes with lighter body mass. Traditional ranking models in weightlifting are based on total weight lifted and do not permit direct comparison...
Background: Long-term symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection such as fatigue, shortness of breath and cognitive impairment represent a major burden on society. Risk factors include female sex, smoking, comorbidities and socioeconomic deprivation. Physic...
Background: The gut microbiota is an emerging factor in athletic performance. Methodological limitations persist in longitudinal microbiome studies, particularly regarding the compositional nature of microbiota data and the lack of standardized perfo...
The relationship between athletes and equipment in the sport of speed skating is critical. A speed skater’s equipment, namely their skates, is an integral part of a dynamic system that facilitates the translation of human motion to on-ice racin...
Linear speed is a key performance determinant in ice hockey, yet no studies have compared continuous on-ice and off-ice velocity profiles across multiple competitive levels. This study examined continuous velocity curves and discrete sprint variables...
Purpose: The assessment of endocrine status in elite athletes is typically linked to training load and perceived stress; however, the relationship between hormonal parameters and psychosomatic and stress indicators remains insufficiently understood....
Monitoring athlete readiness in youth rugby players is important for understanding short-term responses to match demands and supporting recovery management. Here, we aimed to investigate short-term readiness by integrating subjective measures, clinic...
Ice hockey represents a sport with predominantly anaerobic efforts best reflected by repeated sprint ability (RSA) testing (5 × 5 s with 10 s recovery). A controversy persists about the usefulness of VO2max laboratory testing for the assessment...
Background: As a traditional Chinese exercise, Wushu has been shown to effectively promote balance and postural stability in various populations. Preschoolers’ capacity for balance control, including static, dynamic, and dual-task balance, is l...
Strenuous exercise is a well-established physiological stimulus that enhances muscular strength and hypertrophy but can also increase reactive oxygen species production, leading to oxidative stress (OS). Numerous studies have investigated whether die...
While systematic video analysis is widely used to understand anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury mechanisms and contexts, human observation reliability remains a source of concern. This study evaluates the intra- and inter-rater reliability of a...
The aim of this meta-analysis was to synthesize current evidence on inter-limb asymmetries in youth athletes and to determine their magnitude, developmental determinants, and functional relevance. The review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines, and the p...
Mental toughness (MT) may contribute to within-athlete rowing performance variation, yet longitudinal evidence remains sparse. This pilot study examined within-athlete associations between MT and 2K ergometer performance across a competitive season i...
Weekend cyclists are individuals who engage in vigorous physical activity only on weekends, as opposed to those who exercise regularly during the week. Research suggests that concentrating physical training on one or two days may benefit heart health...
Running is a widely practiced exercise modality in which central and peripheral fatigue can influence performance and pacing strategy. This study investigated the influence of cognitive–emotional factors, based on the psychobiological model of...
The rapid evolution of Padel in Saudi Arabia (SA) has positioned the sport as a popular recreational and social activity, mainly among young adults. However, limited research has examined how different forms of sport motivation are associated with me...
High-intensity functional concurrent training (HIFCT) has emerged as a form of training characterized by constantly varied functional movements adapted to individual fitness levels. Previous studies have reported positive effects on muscular strength...
Hypoxic training is widely used to enhance endurance performance, yet its application in combat sports such as judo is poorly understood. This study explored (1) hypoxic training practices, (2) perceptions, and (3) educational pathways among judo ath...
This study aimed to describe the upper-body bilateral deficit (BD) in recreational climbers and to examine its relationship with specific performance. Fifteen recreational climbers (11 men, 4 women; 25–45 years; ≥3 years of experience) perfo...
This study investigated whether body-weight semi-squats (BWSSs) performed under blood-flow restriction (BFR) conditions were associated with higher post-conditioning drop-jump performance compared with the sham condition in adolescent female volleyba...
This review examined study characteristics and common practices in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)-based exercise studies. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search in the PubMed database was conducted. Data were extracted from 93 publicat...
The aims of the present study were to (a) analyze the relationship between acceleration capacity at low and high initial running speeds and the player’s ability to cover high-intensity running distances and perform high-intensity accelerations...
This systematic review investigated the direct association between biomarkers and cognitive performance in adult athletes exposed to repetitive head impacts. Searches in the APA PsycNet, PubMed, Google Scholar, CAPES, and BVSalud databases (11 April...
Introduction: Day-to-day fluctuations in heart rate variability (HRV) are widely used to infer autonomic recovery in endurance athletes. However, the extent to which HRV can be forecast one day ahead from readily available external and internal train...
While functional mobility is known to deteriorate with age, the specific mechanisms driving this decline, along with potential differences between men and women, are not fully established. Therefore, the present study applied a moderated mediation fr...
Current pitchside concussion assessments are limited by low sensitivity, reliance on player self-report, and the need for on-site healthcare professionals. Impairments in cognitive function and motor control are a key predictor of concussive injury....
Football performance depends on multiple interacting factors, including physical, technical, tactical, and psychological components. Among the psychological factors associated with optimal performance are athletes’ emotional states, their regul...
Background: Vertical jump performance is a key determinant of volleyball success. Prior evaluations of complex training in youth have relied largely on frequentist statistics, which can be difficult to interpret in the small cohorts typical of youth...
This study aims to determine the effect of an education intervention on female athletes’ menstrual health knowledge, communication, and perceived importance of menstrual cycle tracking, and whether factors such as age, education level, or hormo...
Growing use of inertial measurement units (IMUs) in velocity-based training has outpaced the evidence supporting their accuracy, making device-specific validation an essential aspect before adoption in research or practice. This study evaluated the c...
Female rugby league performance is influenced by multiple interacting sensory and physiological systems; however, the extent to which these factors vary across playing levels and positional groups remains unclear. This study explored differences in v...
The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the validity and accuracy of wearable technologies used for monitoring physiological metrics in team-sport athletes. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus databases, with a...
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