Printed Nanocarbon Heaters for Stretchable Sport and Leisure Garments

The ability to maintain body temperature has been shown to bring about improvements in sporting performance. However, current solutions are limited with regards to flexibility, heating uniformity and robustness. An innovative screen-printed Nanocarbon heater is demonstrated which is robust to bending, folding, tensile extensions of up to 20% and machine washing. This combination of ink and substrate enables the heated garments to safely flex without impeding the wearer. It is capable of producing uniform heating over a 15 × 4 cm area using a conductive ink based on a blend of Graphite Nanoplatelets and Carbon Black. This can be attributed to the low roughness of the conductive carbon coating, the uniform distribution and good interconnection of the carbon particles. The heaters have a low thermal inertia, producing a rapid temperature response at low voltages, reaching equilibrium temperatures within 120 s of being switched on. The heaters reached the 40 °C required for wearable heating applications within 20 s at 12 Volts. Screen printing was demonstrated to be an effective method of controlling the printed layer thickness with good interlayer adhesion and contact for multiple printed layers. This can be used to regulate their electrical properties and hence adjust the heater performance.

The Impact of Hyperthecosis on Sporting Performance of Female Players

Testosterone is an anabolic hormone that increases muscle mass and strength, stimulates erythropoiesis, promotes competitive behavior and enhances the sporting performance of female athletes. A comparative study was designed on forty female athletes who were selected from the three public and private sector universities of Lahore, they had been diagnosed with HTC by a qualified gynecologist based on clinical features and lab tests. At the same time, a healthy group of female athletes (n=40) was selected from participants of the same population and having regular menses and showed no clinical features of HTC. The main objectives of the study included: 1) to compare both the groups of female athletes on clinical features of HTC, and 2) to compare both the groups on self-perceived sports performance. Data collection was done using two different instruments involving the “Hyperthecosis Questionnaire (HTCQ)” and “Athlete’s Subjective Performance Scale (ASPS)”. Data analyses involved descriptive analysis followed by an “Independent Sample t test’ to compare the physical and psychological impact of HTC and ANOVA was applied to analyze the impact of HTC on sports performance. There were significant differences between female athletes with HTC and those with Non-HTC on physical and psychological conditions. It can be concluded that female athletes with HTC were more concerned about their physical and psychological conditions. Moreover, their sporting performance was statistically significantly higher than Non-HTC athletes, which is attributed to higher energy levels caused by HTC itself.

Air Pollutants Reduce the Physical Activity of Professional Soccer Players

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of air quality—analyzed on the basis of the model of integrating three types of air pollutants (ozone, O3; particulate matter, PM; nitrogen dioxide, NO2)—on the physical activity of soccer players. Study material consisted of 8927 individual match observations of 461 players competing in the German Bundesliga during the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 domestic seasons. The measured indices included players’ physical activities: total distance (TD) and high-intensity effort (HIE). Statistical analysis showed that with increasing levels of air pollution, both TD (F = 13.900(3); p = 0.001) and HIE (F = 8.060(3); p = 0.001) decrease significantly. The worsening of just one parameter of air pollution results in a significant reduction in performance. This is important information as air pollution is currently a considerable problem for many countries. Improving air quality during training sessions and sports competitions will result in better well-being and sporting performance of athletes and will also help protect athletes from negative health effects caused by air pollution.

Architecture of the athlete

<p>Designers of sports facilities focus on physical aspects, like walls and tile angles to improve an athlete’s performance. However, from experience, the mental components of an athlete’s performance are overlooked; which is believed to have a greater impact on their overall performance. Using my experiences to produce a unique body of research, this thesis focusses on using the athlete’s perspective to design. This thesis investigates Sporting Facilities and Natatoriums are the focus. Using the skill of architects to create space and affect emotion, the thesis will investigate how they can be used to create an atmosphere that will allow an athlete to enter the optimal emotional state to achieve a successful sporting performance. The research will look the emotion and atmosphere of architecture, and the knowledge of sports psychology to understand how atmosphere can be used to challenge current design conventions. The approach will look at the relationship of facilities with and without local community involvement when they are not being used for competitions. This allows the needs of the community which has an effect upon the design, to be controlled. Which allows for an athlete’s perspective to drive the design. Using Natatoriums as the focus of the thesis, a series of design investigations will be conducted looking at how these spaces can be developed and arranged to optimise athlete performance. Objectives are to understand the arrangement of program and atmosphere required at each stage of an athlete’s pre-competition process, so a facility can be developed that is biased towards an athlete’s mental state versus other design factors.</p>

Architecture of the athlete

<p>Designers of sports facilities focus on physical aspects, like walls and tile angles to improve an athlete’s performance. However, from experience, the mental components of an athlete’s performance are overlooked; which is believed to have a greater impact on their overall performance. Using my experiences to produce a unique body of research, this thesis focusses on using the athlete’s perspective to design. This thesis investigates Sporting Facilities and Natatoriums are the focus. Using the skill of architects to create space and affect emotion, the thesis will investigate how they can be used to create an atmosphere that will allow an athlete to enter the optimal emotional state to achieve a successful sporting performance. The research will look the emotion and atmosphere of architecture, and the knowledge of sports psychology to understand how atmosphere can be used to challenge current design conventions. The approach will look at the relationship of facilities with and without local community involvement when they are not being used for competitions. This allows the needs of the community which has an effect upon the design, to be controlled. Which allows for an athlete’s perspective to drive the design. Using Natatoriums as the focus of the thesis, a series of design investigations will be conducted looking at how these spaces can be developed and arranged to optimise athlete performance. Objectives are to understand the arrangement of program and atmosphere required at each stage of an athlete’s pre-competition process, so a facility can be developed that is biased towards an athlete’s mental state versus other design factors.</p>

Offensive/Defensive Talent and Sporting Success in Football: Evidence From the Big Five European Leagues

Over the past decade, the sustained growth of the football business has been associated with clubs’ interest in investing in players’ talent, which has boosted both the transfer market and players’ salaries. However, players’ talent is heterogeneous, given that both defensive and offensive talent are required. Therefore, clubs have to decide on the optimal talent composition, taking into account the differences in the cost and the productivity of both talents. The article shows that, firstly, clubs’ talent composition (ratio between offensive and defensive talent) presents significant differences over time among the Big Five European leagues. Secondly, the talent composition is consistent with maximizing sporting performance (or profit maximization) in the case of Serie A, but not in the case of Bundesliga. Results for Premier League, LaLiga and Ligue 1, are not conclusive with a few exceptions associated with the top teams.

Epidemiology of Injuries in Olympic Sports

Injuries effect the performance of athletes. Severity of injuries is determined by time loss and sporting performance reduction. To treat injuries adequately, it is necessary to get an overview of varied injuries types in different sports disciplines. In a retrospective study 7.809 athletes from Germany, Switzerland and Austria competing in competitive or recreational levels of sports were included. Injury prevalence was highest in team sports (75%), followed by combat (64%), racquet (54%) and track and field (51%). Knee (28%) and shoulder (14%) were the most at risk joints. Time loss in sporting activity after injury was longest in the region of knee (26 weeks). Of all reported injuries, 48% were accompanied by a reduced level of performance. The highest injury prevalence occurred in the year 2016 (45%). More injuries occurred during training (58%) compared to competition (42%). Across Olympic disciplines, a large number of injuries occurred during training sessions. Injury frequency increased as the Olympic games drew closer. Knee and shoulder injuries were the most severe injuries with respect to time loss and reduction sporting performance.

The Influence of an 8-Week Training Program with Small-Sided Games on the Anaerobic Capacity of Junior Football Players

"ABSTRACT. Introduction. The level of development of anaerobic capacity at footballers requires the achievement of sporting performance. Objective. The study analyses whether the anaerobic capacity is developed as a result of the participation of the athletes in a training program with small-sided football games. Methods. A group of 40 athletes aged 16-18 years old were grouped in two equal teams, named: experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). During the period of the study, which was between 5.01.2021 – 27.02. 2021, the two groups were exposed to different training programs: the EG in a smallsided football games training program and the CG in a classic way. The following technology was used: Hosand GT.a – to measure HR – and the WittyGateMicrogate2 system for timing of the stress sample. Subjects took the YYIRTL1 sample. SPSS program, variant 23 was used for statistical analysis of the data. Results. The results taken in the initial test (IT) between the two groups had no statistical significance in YYIRTL1 field sample was concerned, but there could be noticed significant differences in the final test (FT) for the parameter indicating the hold time in the anaerobic zone>81%HRmax (U = 67.50, N1 = 20, N2 = 20, twotailed p = .000336, d = 1.46). Conclusions. The study shows that the anaerobic capacity of subjects has developed through the implementation of an 8-week period program where small-sided football games have been used."

Economic-Financial and Sports performance in the management of Brazilian Football Clubs

The economic, financial and sports performances of Brazilian football clubs may be related. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between the economic-financial and sporting performances of Brazilian football clubs, in the years 2015 to 2019. The methodology regarding the problem is quantitative, as for the objectives is descriptive and has as its objective technical procedure to documentary research. Data were collected from the transparency portal of the 30 clubs that participated, at least once, in Series A, of the Brazilian Championship (CBF), in the defined period. After collecting the financial statements, the data were tabulated and analyzed statistically by means of correlation. The results show that clubs with better positioning in the CBF ranking have, in general, total assets and revenues higher than the other teams. In addition, there was a high percentage of indebtedness in football clubs, and the return on assets, in most of the sample, showed negative indicators. Thus, it is concluded that larger clubs (size), with high revenue generation and better positioned in the ranking tend to have a higher level of financial and sporting performance in their management.