Association study of performance-related polymorphisms in Brazilian combat-sport athletes highlights variants in the GABPβ1 gene

Combat sports have an intermittent nature, with mixed anaerobic and aerobic energy production. Here, we investigated whether polymorphisms that have been previously suggested as genetic markers for endurance or power phenotypes were associated with combat-sport athletic status. A total of 23 previously reported performance-related polymorphisms were examined in a Brazilian cohort of 1,129 individuals (164 combat-sport athletes and 965 controls), using a case-control association study. We found that the GABPβ1 gene (also known as NRF2) was associated with athletic status, with the minor G (rs7181866) and T (rs8031031) alleles overrepresented in athletes (P ≤ 0.003), especially among world-class competitors (P ≤ 0.0002). These findings indicate that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the GABPβ1 gene increase the likelihood of an individual being a combat-sport athlete, possibly due to a better mitochondrial response to intermittent exercises.

Single-Item Self-Report Measures of Team-Sport Athlete Wellbeing and Their Relationship With Training Load: A Systematic Review

Background Single-item athlete self-report measures consist of a single question to assess a dimension of wellbeing. These methods are recommended and frequently used for athlete monitoring, yet their uniformity has not been well assessed, and we have a limited understanding of their relationship with measures of training load. Objective To investigate the applications and designs of single-item self-report measures used in monitoring team-sport athletes and present the relationship between these measures and measures of training load. Data Sources PubMed, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus were searched between inception and March 2019. Study Selection Articles were included if they concerned adult athletes from field- or court-sport domains, if athlete well-being was measured using a single-item self-report, and if the relationship with a measure of modifiable training load was investigated over at least 7 days. Data Extraction Data related to participant characteristics, self-report measures, training load measures, and statistical analysis and outcomes were extracted by 2 authors (C.D. and C.D.). Data Synthesis A total of 21 studies were included in the analysis. A narrative synthesis was conducted. The measures used most frequently were muscle soreness, fatigue, sleep quality, stress, and mood. All measures presented various relationships with metrics of training load from no association to a very large association, and the associations were predominantly trivial to moderate in the studies with the largest numbers of observations. Relationships were largely negative associations. Conclusions The implications of this review should be considered by users in the application and clinical utility of single-item self-report measures in athlete monitoring. Great emphasis has been placed on examining the relationship between subjective and objective measures of training load. Although the relationship is still unclear, such an association may not be expected or useful. Researchers should consider the measurement properties of single-item self-report measures and seek to establish their relationship with clinically meaningful outcomes. As such, further study is required to inform practitioners on the appropriate objective application of data from single-item self-report measures.

Target recognition of sport athletes based on deep learning and convolutional neural network

The main purpose of the various methods of evaluating athlete feature recognition is to monitor the current health of the athletes, thereby providing some feedback on the quality of individual training. Based on deep learning and convolutional neural networks, this paper studies athlete target recognition and proposes a feature vector extraction method based on curvature zero point. Moreover, based on the ideas of deep learning and convolutional neural networks, this paper builds an athlete feature recognition model and optimizes the algorithm. In order to verify the feasibility and efficiency of feature extraction algorithm of the sport athletes proposed by this paper and to facilitate comparison with other algorithms, this paper conducts an algorithm performance test on the sport athlete database. The research results show that the method proposed in this paper has certain advantages in the feature extraction of athletes and can be used in subsequent sports training systems.

Estrategias de afrontamiento como intervención al estrés en futbolistas (Coping strategies as a stress intervention in soccer players)

El objetivo de este estudio fue medir los niveles de estrés antes y después de una intervención psicológica centrada en el desarrollo de estrategias de afrontamiento e identificar si esas diferencias fueron estadísticamente significativas en una muestra de futbolistas semiprofesionales. La selección de la muestra fue no probabilística en donde participaron 22 futbolistas varones de 14 a 23 años de edad en el estudio diagnóstico. En el análisis de datos inferencial, se utilizó una prueba no paramétrica t de Wilcoxon para muestras relacionadas en donde participaron 11 jugadores para la comparación entre medias en la variable estrés, antes y después de la intervención en el desarrollo de estrategias de afrontamiento. El instrumento utilizado para este estudio fue el cuestionario de estrés para deportistas Restq-Sport. En los resultados diagnósticos se encontraron una puntación en el índice de estrés de 2.80 lo cual indicó que la mitad del grupo reportó una necesidad de trabajar una intervención en estrategias de afrontamiento, sin embargo, después de intervenir con los 11 futbolistas con las puntuaciones más elevadas en estrés que fue de 2.05, se redujo el índice de estrés específico del deporte con una puntuación de 1.53 indicando que las estrategias de afrontamiento aprendidas y utilizadas por los futbolistas tuvieron un efecto positivo en el ámbito deportivo. Como conclusiones del estudio, en el desarrollo de las estrategias de afrontamiento como intervención al estrés en los futbolistas, se redujeron los indicadores del estrés específico al deporte, pero no del estrés en general, lo que podría indicar una posible falta de generalización de la habilidad en otros contextos y por el período en que se aplicó el postest con los futbolistas durante fechas que coincidieron con sus exámenes escolares.Abstract. The objective of this study was to measure stress levels before and after a psychological intervention focused on the development of coping strategies, and to identify if those differences were statistically significant in a sample of semi-professional soccer players. The selection of the sample was non-probabilistic, by which 22 male soccer players from 14 to 23 years of age were selected for the diagnostic study. For the inferential data analysis, non-parametric Wilcoxon t-test for related samples was employed, involving the comparison of 11 players’ means in stress before and after the intervention in the development of coping strategies. The instrument used for this study was the Restq-Sport athlete stress questionnaire. In the diagnostic results, a stress index score of 2.80 was found, which indicated half of the group reported a need to work an intervention in coping strategies; however, after implementing the intervention with the 11 soccer players with the highest levels of stress, which was 2.05, the sport-specific stress index dropped to a score of 1.53, indicating that coping strategies learned and used by soccer players had a positive effect in the sports field. As conclusions of the study, in the development of coping strategies as stress intervention in soccer players, the indicators of sport-specific stress were reduced, but not those of general stress, which could indicate a possible lack of generalization of the skill in other context. The period in which the posttest was applied with the soccer players was during the dates that coincided with their school exams.