Sport Modality and Training Period Determines the Bradycardia Magnitude and their Mechanisms in Elite Athletes

This research aimed to explore the effects of physical activity and training routine on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and the proclaimed emergency state and curfew. To measure the mental health components of psychological distress and subjective well-being, two studies were conducted on different samples: Study 1 during the beginning of curfew in Serbia (N = 678) and Study 2 during the ending phase (N = 398). The results of Study 1 showed that elite athletes as well as those with high level of physical activity experienced the lowest distress. Furthermore, effects of the changes in the training routine on distress among physically active individuals depended on the level of sports participation with elite athletes who reduced trainings showing lower anxiety compared to recreational athletes who reduced trainings as well or kept the same training routine. Thus, we could conclude that in the early stage of the pandemic, elite athletes showed better mental health and adaptability to the crisis situation. Results of Study 2 showed that although all the participants had decreased well-being during the curfew, compared to the period before the pandemic and the curfew, there were no differences in well-being between elite and recreational athletes, who had higher well-being compared to non-athletes. However, this effect held both before and during the curfew showing that physically active individuals did not additionally benefit from this decrease compared to the non-active. Furthermore, athletes who became physically inactive showed lower well-being compared to those who kept the same training routine. Thus, in the later stage of the pandemic, prolonged physical inactivity had negative effects on mental health.

Download Full-text

Best Practices for Postprocessing Ensemble Climate Forecasts. Part I: Selecting Appropriate Recalibration Methods

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-15-0868.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (20) ◽

pp. 7247-7264 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Philip G. Sansom ◽

Christopher A. T. Ferro ◽

David B. Stephenson ◽

Lisa Goddard ◽

Simon J. Mason

Keyword(s):

Linear Time ◽

Training Data ◽

Training Period ◽

Limited Data ◽

Near Surface ◽

Climate Forecasts ◽

Mean And Variance ◽

Overall Performance ◽

The Mean ◽

And Training

Abstract This study describes a systematic approach to selecting optimal statistical recalibration methods and hindcast designs for producing reliable probability forecasts on seasonal-to-decadal time scales. A new recalibration method is introduced that includes adjustments for both unconditional and conditional biases in the mean and variance of the forecast distribution and linear time-dependent bias in the mean. The complexity of the recalibration can be systematically varied by restricting the parameters. Simple recalibration methods may outperform more complex ones given limited training data. A new cross-validation methodology is proposed that allows the comparison of multiple recalibration methods and varying training periods using limited data. Part I considers the effect on forecast skill of varying the recalibration complexity and training period length. The interaction between these factors is analyzed for gridbox forecasts of annual mean near-surface temperature from the CanCM4 model. Recalibration methods that include conditional adjustment of the ensemble mean outperform simple bias correction by issuing climatological forecasts where the model has limited skill. Trend-adjusted forecasts outperform forecasts without trend adjustment at almost 75% of grid boxes. The optimal training period is around 30 yr for trend-adjusted forecasts and around 15 yr otherwise. The optimal training period is strongly related to the length of the optimal climatology. Longer training periods may increase overall performance but at the expense of very poor forecasts where skill is limited.

Download Full-text

PARAMETERS OF VOLUME AND INTENSITY OF TRAINING LOAD OF QUALIFIED WEIGHTLIFTERS PREPARING FOR COMPETITIONS

Pedagogical IMAGE ◽

10.32343/2409-5052-2020-14-4-629-638 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 629-638

Author(s):

A. V. Bolshoy ◽

◽

O. I. Zagrevskiy ◽

Keyword(s):

Training Load ◽

Training Period ◽

Training Cycle ◽

Intensity Parameters ◽

Load Volume ◽

Load Characteristics ◽

And Training

Abstract. Introduction. Nowadays, the training load of qualified weightlifters reaches the values close to the limit, which enhances the importance of an optimal relationship between the parameters of volume and intensity of load. Materials and methods. The work involved an analysis of scientific and methodological literature on the topic of research published in recent years. This study has also examined diaries and training plans of some athletes who took part in the national and international competitions in 2000-2020. Results. The paper presents averaged volume and intensity parameters that can be used in the development of model load characteristics in micro-and mesocycles of competitive training of qualified weightlifters. Conclusions. The dynamics of changes in load parameters for qualified weightlifters depends on the type of microcycle and the training period in the annual training cycle. The greatest change in the load value is observed in shock and competition microcycles. Keyword: weightlifting, training load, volume, intensity, mesocycle, microcycle.

Download Full-text

No evidence of association between HRV and training load in a pool of professional athletes before, during, and after the first COVID-19 lockdown.

10.31236/osf.io/crm6q ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alejandro Javaloyes ◽

Daniele Marinazzo ◽

Daniel Sanabria ◽

Manuel Moya-Ramón ◽

José Ramón Lillo-Bevia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Body Mass ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Elite Athletes ◽

Training Load ◽

Training Volume ◽

Specific Effects ◽

And Training

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 crisis also affected elite sport severely, as elite athletes either stopped or drastically reduced their training regimen due to the lack of competitions and the mandatory lockdown. The aim of this study was to test whether heart rate variability was a reliable index of training load, which was dramatically altered due to the mandatory lockdown that occurred as a consequence of the COVID-19. METHODS: Training (volume and intensity) and heart rate variability of sixteen professional male (n = 8; body mass index = 22.2 ± 2.0) and female cyclists (n = 8; body mass index = 20.3 ± 1.1) before (4 weeks), during (7 weeks), and after (4 weeks) the mandatory lockdown in Spain were monitored. RESULTS: Individual analyses showed that the mandatory lockdown caused reliable reductions in training volume in 13 subjects (-96 to -7 % reductions in minutes), that were followed by an increase after the lockdown in all subjects (5 to 270%). In contrast, changes in training load were not homogenous across individuals. Moreover, such changes were not matched by comparable variations in heart rate variability. A mixed model of the heart rate variability as a function of training volume and intensity revealed no significant modulation by these two variables, and subject specific effects on the slope. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we did not find evidence of association between heart rate variability and training load and/or intensity as many previous reports have suggested, even if training conditions changed dramatically overnight.

Download Full-text

A Novel Approach to Assessment of Perceptual-Motor Efficiency and Training-Induced Improvement in the Performance Capabilities of Elite Athletes

Frontiers in Sports and Active Living ◽

10.3389/fspor.2021.729729 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Gary B. Wilkerson ◽

Dustin C. Nabhan ◽

Tyler S. Perry

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Performance Metrics ◽

Performance Enhancement ◽

Elite Athletes ◽

Average Distance ◽

Whole Body ◽

Neurophysiological Mechanism ◽

Motor Efficiency ◽

Left And Right ◽

And Training

Standard clinical assessments of mild traumatic brain injury are inadequate to detect subtle abnormalities that can be revealed by sophisticated diagnostic technology. An association has been observed between sport-related concussion (SRC) and subsequent musculoskeletal injury, but the underlying neurophysiological mechanism is not currently understood. A cohort of 16 elite athletes (10 male, 6 female), which included nine individuals who reported a history of SRC (5 male, 4 female) that occurred between 4 months and 8 years earlier, volunteered to participate in a 12-session program for assessment and training of perceptual-motor efficiency. Performance metrics derived from single- and dual-task whole-body lateral and diagonal reactive movements to virtual reality targets in left and right directions were analyzed separately and combined in various ways to create composite representations of global function. Intra-individual variability across performance domains demonstrated very good SRC history classification accuracy for the earliest 3-session phase of the program (Reaction Time Dispersion AUC = 0.841; Deceleration Dispersion AUC = 0.810; Reaction Time Discrepancy AUC = 0.825, Deceleration Discrepancy AUC = 0.794). Good earliest phase discrimination was also found for Composite Asymmetry between left and right movement directions (AUC = 0.778) and Excursion Average distance beyond the minimal body displacement necessary for virtual target deactivation (AUC = 0.730). Sensitivity derived from Youden's Index for the 6 global factors ranged from 67 to 89% and an identical specificity value of 86% for all of them. Median values demonstrated substantial improvement from the first 3-session phase to the last 3-session phase for Composite Asymmetry and Excursion Average. The results suggest that a Composite Asymmetry value ≥ 0.15 and an Excursion Average value ≥ 7 m, provide reasonable qualitative approximations for clinical identification of suboptimal perceptual-motor performance. Despite acknowledged study limitations, the findings support a hypothesized relationship between whole-body reactive agility performance and functional connectivity among brain networks subserving sensory perception, cognitive decision-making, and motor execution. A complex systems approach appears to perform better than traditional data analysis methods for detection of subtle perceptual-motor impairment, which has the potential to advance both clinical management of SRC and training for performance enhancement.

Download Full-text

Talent identification in soccer using a one-class support vector machine

International Journal of Computer Science in Sport ◽

10.2478/ijcss-2019-0021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 125-136

Author(s):

S. Jauhiainen ◽

S. Äyrämö ◽

H. Forsman ◽

J-P. Kauppi

Keyword(s):

Support Vector Machine ◽

Elite Athletes ◽

Characteristic Curve ◽

Decision Makers ◽

Support Vector ◽

Sporting Events ◽

Talent Identification ◽

Physical Tests ◽

The Mean ◽

And Training

Abstract Identifying potential future elite athletes is important in many sporting events. The successful identification of potential future elite athletes at an early age would help to provide high-quality coaching and training environments in which to optimize their development. However, a large variety of different skills and qualities are needed to succeed in elite sports, making talent identification generally a complex and multifaceted problem. Due to the rarity of elite athletes, datasets are inherently imbalanced, making classical statistical inference difficult. Therefore, we approach talent identification as an anomaly detection problem. We trained a nonlinear one-class support vector machine (one-class SVM) on a dataset (N=951) collected from 14-year-old junior soccer players to detect potential future elite players. The mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) over the tested hyperparameter combinations was 0.763 (std 0.007). The most accurate model was obtained when physical tests, measuring, for example, technical skills, speed, and agility, were used. According to our results, the proposed approach could be useful to support decision-makers in the process of talent identification.

Download Full-text

Physiological Versus Psychological Evaluation in Taekwondo Elite Athletes

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance ◽

10.1123/ijspp.7.4.322 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 322-331 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Erika Casolino ◽

Cristina Cortis ◽

Corrado Lupo ◽

Salvatore Chiodo ◽

Carlo Minganti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Perceived Exertion ◽

Selection Process ◽

Elite Athletes ◽

Training Period ◽

Ratings Of Perceived Exertion ◽

Technical Parameters ◽

Psychological Measures ◽

National Team ◽

Blood Lactate Accumulation ◽

National Training

Purpose:To anticipate outstanding athletic outcomes, the selection process of elite athletes simultaneously considers psychophysiological and technical parameters. This study aimed to investigate whether selected and nonselected athletes for the Italian national taekwondo team could be discriminated by means of sportspecific performances and psychophysiological responses to training.Participants:5 established Italian national athletes and 20 elite Italian taekwondo black belt athletes (9 women, 16 men; age 23.0 ± 3.1 y; body mass 67.0 ± 12.1 kg).Methods:To update the Italian national-team roster, the 20 elite athletes participated in a 1-wk selection camp (7 training sessions). Selected athletes (n = 10) joined established national athletes during the following 3-wk national training period (7 training sessions/wk). During the 1-wk selection camp, differences (P < .05) between selected and nonselected athletes in performances, heart-rate responses, blood lactate accumulation [La], subjective ratings of perceived exertion (session RPE), and mood were examined. During the 3-wk national training period, differences (P < .05) in mood between selected and established national athletes were investigated.Results:With respect to nonselected athletes, selected athletes responded better to training in terms of session RPE (P = .047) and [La] (P = .046). No difference in performance and mood between subgroups emerged. After the 3-wk national training period, differences (P = .035) emerged for confusion, with decreases in the established national athletes and increases for recently selected athletes.Conclusions:Session RPE and [La] seem to be more effective than psychological measures in discriminating between elite taekwondo athletes. Evaluation of mood could be effective in monitoring athletes’ response to national training.

Download Full-text

The Effects of Psychological Skills Training for Archery Players in Korea: Research Synthesis Using Meta-Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052272 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2272

Author(s):

Eui Jae Kim ◽

Hyun Wook Kang ◽

Seong Man Park

Keyword(s):

Effect Size ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Skills Training ◽

Training Period ◽

Future Research ◽

Psychological Skills ◽

Psychological Skills Training ◽

Training Interventions ◽

Small Effect Size ◽

And Training

The purpose of this meta-analysis study was to investigate the effectiveness of psychological skills training interventions for archery players in Korea. A total of 17 research papers examining the effects of psychological skills training interventions were selected for data analysis. To analyze the data, the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software program was used. The results of this study were as follows: The overall effect size of psychological skills training interventions for archery players was ES = 0.469 (Hedges’ g), which was a small effect size. The major factors that influenced the effects of psychological skills training interventions for archery players appeared to be the player level and training period. In particular, adult players and longer periods of training had bigger effect sizes. The results of this study demonstrate that psychological skills training for archery players is effective and show that the player level and training period are crucial factors in the psychological skills training design. Based on these findings, some implications for future research are discussed.

Download Full-text

Coaches’ and Young soccer players' training load perceptions during different training phases

Revista Andaluza de Medicina del Deporte ◽

10.33155/j.ramd.2019.05.005 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Diogo Hilgemberg Figueiredo ◽

Diego Hilgemberg Figueiredo ◽

Francisco De Assis Manoel ◽

Helcio Rossi Gonçalves ◽

Antonio Carlos Dourado

Keyword(s):

Linear Regression ◽

Perceived Exertion ◽

Training Session ◽

Training Load ◽

Rating Of Perceived Exertion ◽

Soccer Players ◽

Training Period ◽

Stepwise Linear Regression ◽

Large Correlation ◽

And Training

Objective: To our Knowledge, information about the agreement between coaches’ and the young soccer players’ session rating of perceived exertion is not consistent during specific periods of training (intensification and taper) and has not been established. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the internal training load and session rating of perceived exertion between coaches’ and young soccer players’ during three weeks in different training phases. Method: Participants were 16 male elite Under19 soccer players and their coaches. Before each training session, the coaches reported a session rating of perceived exertion using the Borg CR-10 scale as well as the planned duration (min) of the training based on prior planning, while the athletes responded the scale after each training session. Results: No differences in intensity session rating of perceived exertion (t = 0.49; p = 0.62) and training load (t = 0.18; p = 0.86) were observed between coaches and players during the training period analyzed. During different training phases, no significant differences were found during intensification (t = 0.18; p = 0.85) and taper (t = -0.19; p = 0.85) in training loads and in the session rating of perceived exertion prescribed by coaches and perceived by players. A very large correlation was observed between coaches training load (r= 0.84) and players training load. However, a trivial correlation was found between players training load and changes in the Yo-yo IR1 performance (r= -0.09), age (r= -0.06) and years of competitive experience (r= -0.08). Stepwise linear regression revealed that coaches training load (F1; 238= 582.7; R2= 0.710; p<0.001) explained 71% of the variance in players training load. Conclusion: The results suggest that the session rating of perceived exertion and training load prescribed during three weeks in different training phases (by coaches) was not different from perceived by young soccer players. Moreover, coaches training load seem to be effective to predict the training load in soccer players.

Download Full-text

Heart Rate Variability and Stress Recovery Responses during a Training Camp in Elite Young Canoe Sprint Athletes

Sports ◽

10.3390/sports7050126 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (5) ◽

pp. 126 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

André Coelho ◽

Fábio Nakamura ◽

Micaela Morgado ◽

Clifton Holmes ◽

Angela Di Baldassarre ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Perceived Exertion ◽

Small Difference ◽

Elite Athletes ◽

Rating Of Perceived Exertion ◽

Training Period ◽

Confidence Limits ◽

Small Reduction ◽

Total Stress ◽

National Team ◽

Training Camp

Training camps are typical in elite Canoeing preparation, during which, the care to assure adaptation to avoid undesired fatigue is not always present. This study aimed identifying a specific sex response in perceived training loads, recovery and stress balance, and cardiac autonomic responses. Twenty-one elite athletes (11 males and 10 females) of the Portuguese Canoeing National team participated in the investigation. The daily HRV (lnRMSSD) was monitored. The (RESTQ-52) questionnaire was used to access the recovery and stress state. The 10-day training camp was composed of two consecutive 5-day periods (P1 and P2). Data analyses were performed using confidence limits, effect size, and magnitude-based inference. In the females, Session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE), lnRMSSD, and its coefficient of variation did not change between P1 and P2. However, in males, lnRMSSD showed a small reduction from P1 to P2. Also, sRPE was higher in males over the training period, with a possibly small difference at P2. Regarding RESTQ-52, total stress most likely increased with large and very large differences in males and moderate differences in females during the training period. Male canoeists undertook higher perceived training loads than females, with a consequent higher level of total perceived stress and lnRMSSD during a 10-day training camp.

Download Full-text