Rafel Cirer-Sastre

Background: This study investigates the influence of sex, age, and their interaction on health behaviors, perceived physical fitness, and attitudes toward physical activity and eating among schoolchildren. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 1027 students aged 8–12 years from 15 primary schools in Lleida. Participants completed the PAQ-A for physical activity, the IFIS for perceived physical fitness, the AATPA for attitudes toward physical activity, and the AATE for attitudes toward eating. Data were analyzed using regression models to assess the effects of sex, age, and their interaction. Results: Males reported higher physical activity levels and more positive attitudes toward physical activity than females (p < 0.05). Perceived physical fitness was also greater among males (p < 0.05). Age was positively associated with physical activity and attitudes toward healthy eating, with older children reporting more favorable outcomes (p < 0.01). Significant interaction effects between sex and age were observed for physical activity levels and attitudes toward eating, indicating demographic-specific trends. Conclusions: This study highlights significant sex and age differences in children’s health behaviors and attitudes. These findings underscore the need for gender-sensitive and age-appropriate interventions to promote healthier lifestyles among schoolchildren. Future research should explore longitudinal designs to confirm these relationships over time.

(1) Background: Conventional strength training and core exercises are commonly prescribed to improve cycling performance. Although previous studies have explored the utility of strength training in various cycling populations, this intervention has never been compared to core exercises; (2) Methods: 36 trained road cyclists were divided in 3 groups of 12 participants that performed either no strength training, conventional strength training or core exercises, in all cases together with their regular cycling training during a 12-week period. Peak power outputs across different durations (5 seconds, 60 seconds, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes) were recorded before and after the intervention; (3) Results: Conventional strength training is superior to core training and no strength training for all measured durations. At the same time, core training results in improved 5 second power output when compared to no strength training, while all the other measures are comparable among groups; (4) Conclusions: Conventional strength training is superior to core exercises and no strength training in trained road cyclists, and accordingly, it is recommended that this population incorporates strength training during their regular weekly workouts.

The Allen & Coggan protocol suggests that 95% of the power output during a 20-min time trial is a valid surrogate for 60-min maximal power. The validity of this concept has not been studied previously in cyclists with different performance levels. As a result, we classified 120 cyclists in our study as recreationally trained, trained, well trained or professional, based on their maximal oxygen consumption. Participants performed a functional threshold power testing protocol based on a 20-min time trial and a 60-min time trial, separated by a 72-hour rest. Sixty-minute maximal power was successfully modeled with 20-min maximal power and performance group using 2/3 of the dataset (R²=0.77, 95% CrI [0.74, 0.79]) with different coefficients for each group: Professional: PO_60min=PO_20min × 0.96; well trained: PO_60min=PO_20min × 0.95; trained: PO_60min=PO_20min × 0.92 and recreationally trained: PO_60min=PO_20min × 0.88. The predictions of the original equation and our model were assessed using the remaining third of the data. The predictive performance of the updated equation was better (original: R²=0.51, mean absolute error=27 W, mean bias=–12 W; updated: R²=0.54, mean absolute error=25 W, mean bias=–7 W). Received: 24 November 2022 Accepted: 04 April 2023 Article published online: 06 October 2023 © 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved. Georg Thieme Verlag Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

Cardiac troponin (cTn) is a recognized marker used to assess damage to the heart muscle. Actual research has indicated that the levels of cTn increase after doing exercise in individuals who are in good health, and this is believed to be a result of a normal cellular process rather than a pathological one. The main goal of this study was to investigate the evidence of a postexercise release of cTn in child and adolescent athletes (6–17.9 years old) of different ages, sex, and sports disciplines. The Web of Science, MEDLINE, and Scopus databases were used to conduct the research up to March 2023. Three hundred and twenty-eight records were identified from the databases, however, only twenty-three studies were included in the review after being screened and quality-assessed by two independent authors. The gender, age of the participants, maturational status, and training level of the participants, the timing of sample collection, the exercise modality, and the number of participants with values above the cut-off reference were the data analyzed. Males, older young people, and individual sports seemed to have higher levels of serum cTn after practice exercise. Different methodologies, analyzers, and cut-off reference values make it difficult to compare the data among studies.

Road cycling is an endurance sport characterized by several anthropometric performance factors, such as reduced body mass and body fat percentage. As the power to weight ratio is considered one of the most important markers of performance in this sport discipline, it is speculated that anthropometric factors could relate to the physiological parameters found in road cyclists of different performance levels. The current study aimed to describe the anthropometric differences across road cyclists of different performance levels and to assess whether anthropometric values could relate to physiological markers that are commonly used to classify road cyclists, according to their performance level. We classified 46 cyclists as recreationally trained, trained, well trained and professional, according to their VO_2max, and performed graded exercise tests and complete anthropometric assessments. The results showed that there were no significant anthropometric differences between trained, well trained and professional cyclists, with only recreationally trained cyclists exhibiting larger perimeters and skinfolds than professional cyclists. Further, although physiological performance, such as VO_2max and respiratory compensation point, correlated negatively with several skinfolds and perimeters, these correlations remained restrained and did not distinguish between cyclists of different specialties.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la relación existente entre diferentes metodologías de medición de la carga de entrenamiento en un equipo profesional de baloncesto. 12 jugadores de un mismo equipo fueron sometidos a estructuras de entrenamiento iguales en cuanto a diseño y fueron monitorizados diariamente con frecuencia cardiaca, GPS y percepción subjetiva de esfuerzo. Los resultados indicaron diferencias significativas entre todas las metodologías de control utilizadas. RPE (x2=12.4; P=.015), sRPE (x2=21.5; P<.001), TRIMP (x2=23.5; P<.001), SHRZ (x2=19.3; P<.001) y distancia (x2=21.7; P<.001). Se observó una correlación entre todas ellas exceptuando la variable distancia recorrida; Borg (p=.19; P=79), sRPE (p=.14; P=.299) y sHR-Z (p=.17; P=.197). Estos resultados sugieren que los diferentes métodos de evaluación utilizados para el control de la carga de entrenamiento determinan resultados variables en un equipo de baloncesto profesional. Se consideró que el ratio de esfuerzo percibido por sesión resulta el instrumento más eficaz para el control de la carga de entrenamiento.

Post-exercise elevations of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and I (cTnI) are often used in isolation but interpreted interchangeably. Research suggests, however, that post-exercise cTn kinetic might differ with each isoform. In this cross-sectional observational study, we collected blood samples before, immediately after (5 minutes), and at 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-hours post-exercise in a mixed cohort of 56 participants after a 60-min (age range from 14 to 22, 57.1% female). swimming trial. Cardiac troponin kinetics were modeled using Bayesian mixed-effects models to estimate time to peak (TTP) and peak concentration (PC) for each isoform, while controlling for participants sex, tanner stage and average relative heart rate during the test. Exercise induced an elevation of cTnT and cTnI in 93% and 75% of the participants, respectively. Cardiac troponin T peaked earlier, at 2.9 h (CI: 2.6 – 3.2 h) post-exercise, whereas cTnI peaked later, at 4.5 h (CI: 4.2 – 4.9 h). Peak concentrations for cTnT and cTnI were 2.5 ng/L, CI: 0 – 11.2 ng/L and 2.16 ng/L, CI: 0 – 22.7 ng/L, respectively. Additionally, we did not observe a systematic effect of sex and maturational status mediating cTn responses.

Background: Water-polo is the water sport with the highest incidence of injuries, with shoulder pain being the most common one. The understanding of risk factors and guidance on preventive measures is essential in this sport discipline. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a specific 6-week training plan on range of motion (ROM) and joint strength levels in a group of professional water-polo players. Methods: Quasi-experimental study with a sample of 28 participants (age: 20.1 ± 2.5 years; height: 176.9 ± 6.2 cm; body mass: 74.6 ± 8.1 kg). Three study groups, which consisted of one control group and two experimental groups, were established. Two repeated measurements, pre and post intervention, were performed. During these measurements, ROM of the glenohumeral joint was analyzed both in external (ER) and internal (IR) rotation, as well as the maximal isometric strength. Conclusions: The application of a training program improved glenohumeral joint ROM. ER and IR evolve differently in both shoulders. ER improved only in the throwing arm only in the group undergoing intervention but for the non-dominant side, improvements were observed in both ER and IR, regardless of whether or not they had followed the intervention plan. No improvements were observed in either the isometric strength or contralateral asymmetries.

The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of two 8-week neuromuscular training (NMT) interventions on selected physical indicators in young tennis players. Twenty-four junior male tennis players were assigned to a machine-based (MG) (n = 8), flywheel (FG) (n = 8) or a control...