European Journal of Sport Science

Carvalho, Carlos Dellavechia de; Stein, Michelle; Li, Siu Nam; Ihsan, Mohammed; Peeling, Peter; Scott, Brendan Richard; Papoti, Marcelo; Girard, Olivier

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70200pmid: N/A

This study examined the effects of sprint duration and blood flow restriction due to cuff pressure applied only during exercise on sprint cycling performance and psychophysiological responses. On separate days, 12 physically active young adults (9 men and 3 women) performed six ‘all‐out’ cycling sprints (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 s) in a randomised order under three cuff pressure conditions (0%, 40% and 60% of arterial occlusion pressure [AOP]). BFR was applied exclusively during exercise bouts, with passive rest periods of 5–15 min between sprints depending on sprint duration. Power output, peripheral oxygen saturation, vastus lateralis muscle oxygenation, heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion were measured. Mean and peak power output and total work done decreased with longer sprints (i.e., 20–30 s) than shorter efforts (i.e., 5–15 s), with no differences observed between cuff pressure conditions. Ventilatory responses, heart rate and muscle oxygenation variables increased with longer sprints. Peripheral oxygen saturation remained unaffected. BFR at 40% and 60% AOP increased limb discomfort for 15‐, 25‐ and 30‐s sprints compared to 0% AOP. In conclusion, increasing the sprint duration decreased mechanical output (external load) and increased physiological strain (internal load), with these effects largely unaffected by moderate‐to‐high (40%–60% AOP) external limb compression.

Tous‐Espelosin, Mikel; Iriarte‐Yoller, Nagore; Sampedro, Agurne; Lasa‐Sagaseta, Iker; Pavon, Cristóbal; Ojeda, Natalia; Sanchez, Pedro; Peña, Javier; Maldonado‐Martín, Sara

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70182pmid: N/A

Non‐pharmacological interventions, such as exercise and cognitive remediation, have been widely investigated in people with schizophrenia (SZ), showing beneficial effects and supporting their role as complementary approaches to pharmacological treatment. Moving towards precision medicine, it is important to consider variability in individual responses. Thus, this study aimed to analyse the prevalence of responders regarding body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and sleep quality in people with SZ following exercise or cognitive remediation programmes. A total of 159 participants with SZ (41 ± 10 years) were randomly assigned to the treatment‐as‐usual (TAU, n = 53), exercise (EX, n = 59), or cognitive remediation programme (REHACOP, n = 47) groups. Anthropometric outcomes, CRF, and sleep efficiency were assessed pre‐ and post‐intervention using standardised methodologies. The typical error (TE) was calculated to identify responders. The EX group showed the highest prevalence of responders in body mass index (21.2%) and fat mass percentage (20%). There were significant improvements in CRF in the EX group (Δ = 21.0%, p < 0.001), with a significantly higher prevalence of responders compared with the REHACOP and TAU groups (p < 0.001). Sleep efficiency also improved significantly in the EX group (Δ = 1.75%, p = 0.004), again with the highest prevalence of responders (27.7%) in this group. These findings suggest that exercise is a particularly effective strategy for enhancing physical health outcomes in people with SZ. However, cognitive remediation may still play a complementary role by supporting the cognitive resources required to maintain exercise engagement and healthy lifestyle changes.

McGeever, Andrew; Mallon, Niamh; Bruinvels, Georgie; Pedlar, Charles R.; Doherty, Rónán; van Someren, Ken A.

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70195pmid: N/A

This study examined the sleep characteristics and menstrual cycle (MC) phase‐based differences in the sleep of naturally menstruating female team sport athletes. Twelve Senior Intercounty Ladies Gaelic Football players (age = 24.2 ± 4.0 years) were recruited for the study. This study involved the prospective monitoring of participants for approximately 3 months, aiming to capture data for three full MCs. Participants were required to wear an Oura ring to objectively monitor sleep and physiological variables whilst also completing daily sleep diaries. Participants tracked their MC and cycle‐related symptom prevalence using a smartphone application and estimated ovulation via urinary testing kits. A perception‐reality gap was identified, with participants' objective sleep being 55 min less than their subjective sleep. Objective sleep quality measures fluctuated across the MC. Sleep efficiency decreased and wake after sleep onset and sleep onset latency increased in Phase 1 (menstruation), whereas wake events were significantly higher in Phase 4 (pre‐menstrual). There were no significant differences in subjective sleep metrics across MC phases. The prevalence and perceived impact of cycle‐related symptoms peaked in Phase 1 and Phase 4, aligning directly with the timing of objective sleep disruptions. Therefore, monitoring sleep and MC characteristics may be useful for female athletes to identify timepoints where sleep may be disrupted and help them to identify possible mitigation strategies should sleep disturbances occur.

Solon‐Júnior, Luiz José Frota; Fortes, Leonardo de Sousa; Vasconcelos, Gustavo; Abasrashid, Nadia; Bartolomei, Sandro; Marcora, Samuele Maria; Lima‐Junior, Dalton

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70194pmid: N/A

The recent increase in randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of mental fatigue (MF) on RE warrants an update of the available meta‐analytical evidence. This study presents the results of a comprehensive systematic review and meta‐analysis, including GRADE qualification, examining the effects of MF on RE across different subgroups. We included only randomized controlled trials involving healthy human participants, a high‐demand cognitive task requiring cognitive effort (e.g., Stroop test), a low‐demand or passive control condition (e.g., watching documentaries), and a resistance exercise performance task assessing volume. A total of 11 studies reported 14 comparisons involving more than 205 participants, providing moderate‐level evidence. The random‐effects meta‐analysis revealed a significant mean negative effect of cognitive effort on RE volume (g = −0.39 and p < 0.01). Subgroup analyses suggested that multijoint exercises may be more susceptible to impairment (g = −0.45 and p < 0.01) than single‐joint exercises (g = −0.20 and p = 0.09). The magnitude of impairment appeared larger at moderate‐intensity loads (60%–79% 1RM and g = −0.56) relative to low‐intensity (g = −0.40) and bodyweight conditions (g = −0.25). Similarly, the effect appeared greater in high training volume conditions (g = −0.54) compared to moderate volume (g = −0.37). Overall, although this review confirms the negative impact of MF on RE volume, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to low‐quality evidence.

Segovia‐SanBenito, Carlos; Guimard, Alexandre; Fuente, Blanca de la; González‐Frutos, Pablo; Veiga, Santiago

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70177pmid: N/A

In competition, swimmers alternate between swimming on the surface and underwater; they therefore train in apnea to improve their tolerance to lack of oxygen during exercise, even though research in this area remains limited. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of underwater swimming on physiological and perceptual responses of competitive swimmers. Eighteen national level swimmers (700.25 ± 53.42 AQUA points) performed 6 × 25m maximal swimming efforts from a push start with 3 minutes rest in three different conditions: underwater (without breathing), surface (with normal breathing pattern) and competitive (composed of an underwater plus a surface swimming segment) swimming. Swimming performance (T25), gases exchange, heart rate (HR), arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2), blood parameters, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and subjective feeling (FS) were measured. The underwater condition produced a greater increase in blood lactate (Lac) (p < 0.05; η2 = 0.67) and potassium (p < 0.05; η2 = 0.35) than the surface and competitive conditions. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in HR, SpO2 or RPE, whereas FS values were lower (more unpleasant) in the underwater swimming condition. However, oxygen uptake (VO2) was significantly lower (p < 0.003; η2 = 0.09)) in underwater than in competitive swimming. This study shows that a set of 25m underwater swimming efforts at maximum intensity generates an intense muscular, perceptive and metabolic demand in competitive swimmers, well tolerated by young trained competitive swimmers.

Zignoli, Andrea; Giorgi, Andrea; Kolodziej, Filip; Martinez‐Gonzalez, Borja; Leo, Peter; Laursen, Paul B.

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70179pmid: N/A

This study introduces a multi‐timescale mechanical model to quantify proximity to performance limits during endurance exercise. The model represents power output using a set of rolling averages, each associated with a characteristic time constant, and identifies the dominant component as the one approaching its historical maximum at any given time. To demonstrate this framework, real‐world data were collected from 21 male professional cyclists during an 11‐day training camp. Data from the first 10 days were used to construct individual maximal mean power (MMP) profiles across multiple time scales. On the final day, cyclists completed a fatiguing protocol (∼2000 kJ of work) followed by 3‐min and 12‐min maximal time trials. During exercise, the ratio between each exponentially weighted component and its corresponding historical maximum was computed, and the maximum ratio was used to track proximity to performance limits. At the end of the time trials, this ratio reached 98.6% (94.3%–101%) and 101% (98.5%–103%) for the 3‐min and 12‐min efforts, respectively (median and interquartile range), indicating convergence toward maximal performance capacity. Notably, in both trials the dominant component corresponded to a slower time scale (∼1 h), rather than to components matching the nominal duration of the efforts. These findings suggest that performance limits emerge from the interaction of multiple time scales and are not solely dictated by the duration or intensity of the task. This framework extends the traditional use of MMP from a post hoc descriptive tool to a real‐time dynamical measure of performance capacity.

Hanawa, Haruo; Inaba, Hiromi; Hoshino, Fumi; Edama, Mutsuaki; Sekine, Chie; Kikumoto, Takanori; Ishigaki, Tomonobu; Matsuura, Yuiko; Omori, Go

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70198pmid: N/A

Hepcidin is a key regulator of iron metabolism and has been proposed as a biomarker for detecting iron deficiency. This study examined serum hepcidin and non‐invasively measured urinary hepcidin in 260 female athletes to assess their potential utility in evaluating iron status. Urinary hepcidin/creatinine showed a strong correlation with serum hepcidin and was positively associated with ferritin, suggesting that it reflects underlying iron dynamics. Iron‐related measures, including hepcidin, showed expected differences across iron‐status categories, consistent with physiological changes from iron repletion to iron deficiency anemia. In diagnostic analyses, both serum hepcidin and urinary hepcidin/creatinine demonstrated good accuracy for identifying iron deficiency including iron deficiency anemia. Serum hepcidin yielded AUCs of approximately 0.85–0.90, while urinary hepcidin/creatinine showed AUCs around 0.85–0.88. Internal validation produced consistent confidence intervals, suggesting stable estimates. At the Youden‐optimal cutoff, both markers showed comparable performance, with sensitivities of 0.74–0.91, specificities of 0.73–0.92, and high negative predictive values (0.83–0.97). These cutoff values were derived from internally validated analyses and should be considered preliminary, requiring external validation before broader clinical implementation. These findings suggest that hepcidin‐based measures may assist in ruling out iron deficiency or guiding triage decisions. Because urinary hepcidin can be obtained non‐invasively and demonstrated performance similar to serum hepcidin, it may represent a practical screening option in athletic populations, although further external validation is needed.

He, Zhijian; Xue, Zhipeng; Qiang, Lijun; Lu, Zepeng; Wang, Qiushi; Zhang, Ruinan; Xu, Yilin; Tu, Ji; Bao, Dapeng; Zhou, Junhong

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70183pmid: N/A

Aksu, Hakan; Devran, Sergen; Morkuzu, Suat; Bayraktar, Bülent

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70139pmid: N/A

This study aimed to investigate the effects of progressive resistance IMT on diaphragm muscle thickness, inspiratory muscle strength, balance, and isometric endurance of the hip‐back extensor muscles in professional dancers. Thirty‐six professional dancers (15 male, 21 female) aged 16–47 years were randomly assigned to either a training group (n = 18; 7 males, 11 females) or a control group (n = 18; 8 males, 10 females). Both groups performed IMT for 8 weeks, with the training group using progressive resistance (60% of maximum inspiratory pressure [MIP]) and the control group using minimal resistance (10% of MIP). Diaphragm thickness, respiratory muscle strength (MIP and MEP), balance (Y‐balance test), hip and back extensor muscle endurance (Biering‐Sorenson test), and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were assessed before and after the intervention. At baseline, there were no significant differences between groups in demographic characteristics, dance experience, or training regimen (p > 0.05). After 8 weeks of IMT, the training group showed significant improvements in MIP, MEP, diaphragm thickness at total lung capacity (TLC), hip‐back extensor muscle endurance, balance, and ODI scores (p < 0.01). The improvements in the training group were significantly higher than those in the control group for MIP, MEP, TLC, diaphragm thickness ratio (DTR), hip‐back extensor muscle endurance, balance, and ODI scores (p < 0.01). Progressive resistance IMT effectively improves respiratory muscle strength, diaphragm thickness, balance, hip‐back extensor muscle endurance, and reduces disability scores in professional dancers. IMT may be a valuable addition to training programs for dancers to enhance performance.

doi: 10.1002/ejsc.70169pmid: N/A

No abstract is available for this article.