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Sports
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Strength and Conditioning: Enhancing Athletic Performance and Promoting Health
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Strength and Conditioning: Enhancing Athletic Performance and Promoting Health

A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 7 November 2025 | Viewed by 4675

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Samuel P. Hills

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social and Health Sciences, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK
Interests: physiology; performance; testing; strength;conditioning; training
Prof. Dr. Mark Russell

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social and Health Sciences, Leeds Trinity University, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 5HD, UK
Interests: performance; nutrition; physiology; sport; ergogenic
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Strength and conditioning practices aim to improve athletic performance, reduce injury risk, and promote overall health and well-being. Athletic performance may encompass a range of outcomes determined by the needs of an individual’s chosen pursuit. Strength and conditioning may also concern the broader implications for public health, such as physical activity promotion and chronic disease prevention. To enable practitioners to implement evidence-based practices that enhance athletic performance and contribute to community health, it is essential for high-quality studies to elucidate strategies that may or may not have efficacy in various scenarios. This Special Issue calls for papers that address topics relating to strength and conditioning for athletic performance or public health. The scope extends to assessing the effects of acute and longer-term interventions on a range of performance and health metrics, including those evaluated in isolated performance tasks and applied research conducted in competitive or training environments. Additionally, articles that focus on methodological factors, such as reliability, validity, or best practices in testing and monitoring, are encouraged. Original investigations, as well as narrative and systematic reviews are welcome from any relevant elite or non-elite population, including those investigating the connection between athletic training and public health outcomes.

Dr. Samuel P. Hills
Prof. Dr. Mark Russell
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sports is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sports
  • physical
  • training
  • physical activity
  • health
  • performance
  • exercise

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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14 pages, 985 KiB  
Article
Effects of Asymmetric and Symmetric Sport Load on Upper and Lower Extremity Strength and Balance: A Comparison Between the Dominant and Non-Dominant Side in Adolescent Female Athletes
by Safoura Heshmati, Kourosh Ghahraman Tabrizi, Abdolhamid Daneshjoo, Elham Hosseini, Saeid Bahiraei, Mansour Sahebozamani, Andreas Konrad and David George Behm
Sports 2025, 13(3), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports13030089 - 14 Mar 2025
Viewed by 903
Abstract
The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of primarily asymmetrical (soccer and volleyball) and symmetrical sport load (sprint and swimming) in the upper and lower limbs on dynamic balance and muscle strength and to compare these values in the dominant [...] Read more.
The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of primarily asymmetrical (soccer and volleyball) and symmetrical sport load (sprint and swimming) in the upper and lower limbs on dynamic balance and muscle strength and to compare these values in the dominant and non-dominant limbs. This study employed a cross-sectional design, included 45 adolescent female athletes from four sports, divided into asymmetric (ASYM, n = 25) and symmetric (SYM, n = 20) groups. They were assessed for maximal voluntary isometric muscle contraction (MVIC) relative muscular strength using a handheld dynamometer (HHD) for shoulder external rotation (ER) and internal rotation (IR), as well as hamstring and quadricep strength. Upper and lower limb balance were also assessed using the Upper (YBT-UQ) and Lower Quarter Y Balance Test (YBT-LQ) tests. The results showed significantly greater balance in the upper extremities of swimmers and in the lower extremities of the sprinters in both the dominant (DS) and non-dominant (NDS) sides than in other groups (p < 0.0001). However, no significant difference in internal and external shoulder rotator muscles strength between the groups (p > 0.05). Although significant differences were found in hamstring strength on the dominant side and quadricep strength on both sides (p < 0.05), a notable finding was that sprint athletes consistently demonstrated stronger quadriceps muscles as compared to other groups in both the dominant and non-dominant sides. According to the current findings, there are significant differences in upper and lower body balance, hamstring, and quadricep muscle strength among sports. This suggests that athletes of asymmetrical sports may need to improve non-dominant side knee strength and balance symmetry to prevent the risk of injury. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strength and Conditioning: Enhancing Athletic Performance and Promoting Health)
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Review

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20 pages, 1637 KiB  
Review
The Shape of Success: A Scoping Review of Somatotype in Modern Elite Athletes Across Various Sports
by Ximena Martínez-Mireles, Edna Judith Nava-González, Manuel López-Cabanillas Lomelí, Debbie Samantha Puente-Hernández, Miriam Gutiérrez-López, José Omar Lagunes-Carrasco, Ricardo López-García and Erik Ramírez
Sports 2025, 13(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports13020038 - 4 Feb 2025
Viewed by 3310
Abstract
This scoping review aimed to determine the somatotype of modern elite athletes across various sports. The literature search followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. Four databases were consulted, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Clarivate InCites, as well as platforms such as [...] Read more.
This scoping review aimed to determine the somatotype of modern elite athletes across various sports. The literature search followed the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. Four databases were consulted, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Clarivate InCites, as well as platforms such as Google Scholar, Taylor & Francis Online, Books Ovid, CAB eBooks, MyiLibrary, and Core Collection. Eligibility criteria included articles published between 1995 and 2024 involving athletes at the elite level, such as junior, senior, Olympic, first-division professionals, world-class competitors, national competitors, black belts, master athletes, non-professional athletes with at least 10 years of experience, those ranked in the national or international top 10, and high-level collegiate athletes. A total of 66 studies were included. Modern male elite athletes predominantly exhibited an endomorphic mesomorphic somatotype, whereas female athletes were classified as central. The present study was the first to synthesize data from 66 articles, encompassing athletes of varying elite levels, both males and females, while providing detailed information on age, weight, height, BMI, somatotype and its classification, and complemented by somatoplot references. Future research is recommended to include a greater diversity of sports and a more significant number of elite female athletes to enhance the representativeness of elite athletes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strength and Conditioning: Enhancing Athletic Performance and Promoting Health)
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