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Standardizing the Quantification of External Load Across Different Training Modalities: A Critical Need in Sport-Science Research
Wissem Dhahbi, Helmi Chaabene, David B. Pyne, and Karim Chamari
A Comment on González et al: Predicting Injuries in Elite Female Football Players With Global-Positioning-System and Multiomics Data
Lorenzo Lolli
Erratum. Exploring 24-Hour Movement Behaviors in Early Years: Findings From the SUNRISE Pilot Study in Tunisia
Pediatric Exercise Science
“I Use Technologies Strategically With My Family Now”: Practices That Parents Value to Promote Physical Activity in Young Children
Juliana Zabatiero, Laura Stone, Derek McCormack, David Zarb, Andrea Nolan, Kate Highfield, Helen Skouteris, Susan Edwards, and Leon Straker
Background: Although widely accessible digital technology (DT) provided multiple opportunities for young children’s play, learning, and development, it also raised parents and professionals’ concerns regarding its impact on children’s physical activity. This study aimed to identify practices involving DT that were valued by parents in helping their young child to be physically active. Methods: Participants were parents of ambulatory young children (less than 5 y of age) engaged with a playgroup. The study involved representatives from 3 service organizations, who compiled a list of digital resources related to using DT to promote children’s physical activity that were suitable to be shared and trialed by parents and young children. During a pretrial workshop, researchers, participants, and organization representatives collaboratively developed the intervention, which involved the delivery of selected resources by weekly email, over a 12-week period. Participants provided weekly feedback about their experiences and participated in a postintervention semistructured qualitative interview. Results: Thirteen families, with children aged between 15 and 36 months, completed the trial. Participants reported several valued practices to promote their children’s physical activity, including those where the child was active while engaging with DT, where child engagement with DT acted as a prompt for later physical activity, where DT assisted parents in planning physical activity, where DT assisted parents in integrating movement with learning and play, and where DT was used to reinforce the child’s enthusiasm for physical activity. Conclusions: Parents reported several valued practices where children were physically active, rather than sedentary, while using digital technology.
Implementation Evaluation of a Parks- and Faith-Based Multilevel Intervention to Promote Physical Activity Among Latinos
Lilian G. Perez, Tara Blagg, Alane Celeste-Villalvir, Gabriela Castro, Michael A. Mata, Sergio Perez, Elva Arredondo, Steven Loy, Anne Larson, and Kathryn P. Derose
Background: Latinos in the United States face multiple barriers to engaging in physical activity (PA). We implemented a faith-based multilevel intervention to promote PA in parks for Latino adults, which was partially adapted to a virtual platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, and evaluated it using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework. Methods: We conducted in-depth semistructured interviews (83% in Spanish) with 24 intervention participants (75% women) participating in a cluster randomized controlled trial in 2019–2022 that linked 6 churches (3 intervention, 3 control) with parks in East Los Angeles, CA. The intervention included in-person, park-based fitness classes, which were adapted to Facebook during the pandemic; PA motivational text messages; and other activities. Interviews assessed Reach (participation), Effectiveness (perceived impacts), Implementation (participation barriers/facilitators), and Maintenance (plans for sustaining PA), as well as perceived pandemic impacts. Results: About 80% of interviewees participated in ≥1 park class and 67% in ≥1 virtual class (Reach). Interviewees perceived positive intervention impacts across multiple health and well-being domains (Effectiveness) despite perceived negative pandemic impacts; several facilitators to participation (personal, social, program) and few barriers (personal, virtual, environmental; Implementation); and plans for maintaining PA (eg, revisiting intervention text messages and video recordings; Maintenance). Conclusions: Findings support the utility of Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance to understand the broad impacts of a faith-based PA intervention. Findings point to the adaptability and robustness of the intervention during a public health crisis. Overall, findings may help inform the translation of the intervention to other communities to advance health equity.
Response to Lolli: Predicting Injuries in Elite Female Football Players With Global-Positioning-System and Multiomics Data
Juan R. Gonzalez and Gil Rodas
Strategic Analysis of Net Exchanges in Professional Padel: Insights From Different Competition Phases of the World Padel Tour Finland Padel Open Tournament
Adrián Escudero-Tena, Rafael Conde-Ripoll, Corrado Lupo, and Alexandru Nicolae Ungureanu
Purpose: This study analyzed the effectiveness of net exchanges (ie, number of times the pairs exchange their zone on the court from the net zone to the back zone or vice versa) in men’s and women’s professional padel depending on the competition phase. Methods: Data were collected from 41 matches, comprising a total of 4829 points, from both the qualifying and the main draws of the World Padel Tour Finland Padel Open tournament. Descriptive analysis (frequency and percentage) and inferential tests (Pearson chi-square [χ 2], Cramer V coefficient [Vc], corrected standardized residuals, and chi-squared automatic interaction detection) were carried out. Results: There were significant differences (P < .05) in net exchanges between the main and qualifying draws, both in men’s (79.6% vs 72.1% for no exchanges) and women’s (62.2% vs 57.6% for no exchanges) padel. Additionally, differences in the likelihood of winning points based on whether the serving pair or the returning pair finished the rally at the net were highlighted. Indeed, finishing rallies at the net for the serving pairs increased the probability of scoring a winning shot (ie, in even-numbered net exchanges), while finishing rallies away from the net (ie, in odd-numbered net exchanges) was more likely to result in errors, for both male and female players and main and qualifying draws. Conclusion: This study provides valuable insights into the strategic behavior of professional padel matches, highlighting the importance of net dominance and its impact on match outcomes, particularly in relation to gender differences and phase of competition.
Associations Between Substitution of Sedentary Behavior Patterns With Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adolescents: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study
Leonardo Alex Volpato, Vinícius Muller Reis Weber, Wendell Arthur Lopes, Jeffer Eidi Sasaki, Catiana Leila Possamai Romanzini, Enio Ricardo Vaz Ronque, and Marcelo Romanzini
Background: Little is known on how the substitution of time spent in sedentary behavior (SB) patterns with time spent in physical activity impacts cardiovascular risk factors during adolescence. The study aimed to investigate how the substitution of time spent in SB and sedentary bouts with time spent in different physical activity intensities was associated with longitudinal changes in cardiovascular risk factors in analyses stratified by sex. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study with a mean follow-up period of 3.2 (±0.34) years, involving 109 (60 girls and 49 boys) Brazilian adolescents. Body mass index, waist circumference, and cardiorespiratory fitness were the cardiovascular risk factors considered. A cardiovascular risk score was calculated. Sedentary bouts, light physical activity (LPA), and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured by accelerometers. Multivariate linear regression models adopting the isotemporal substitution were used to analyze the association between substitution of 10 minutes per day of sedentary bouts with LPA and MVPA and risk factors. All analyses considered 5% significance levels. Results: Substitutions of SB, short and long bouts, with MVPA were associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness in boys (β = 0.077; 95% confidence interval, 0.001 to 0.55; β = 0.076; 95% confidence interval, 0.003 to 0.154; and β = 0.084; 95% confidence interval, 0.001 to 0.167, respectively). No associations were observed when analyses involved substitution of sedentary bouts with LPA, adiposity, cardiovascular risk score, and girls. Conclusions: Substituting SB bouts with MVPA appears to favorably influence changes of cardiorespiratory fitness in boys during adolescence. Greater benefits appear to occur when longer sedentary bouts are substituted by MVPA.
Effects of the Birthplace Altitude and Training Volume on Hematological Characteristics in Youth and Junior Male Colombian Cyclists
Erica Mancera-Soto, Mauricio Garzon, Alain S. Comtois, and Grégoire P. Millet
Purpose: The long-term development of talent in endurance sports is a topic of interest. Among various factors, the importance of total hemoglobin mass (tHbmass) and the potential benefits of being an altitude-native athlete remain unclear, particularly in young categories. This study aimed to investigate the impact of altitude and training content on hematological characteristics by comparing young male cyclists age 15–16 and 17–18 years who were born and trained at a moderate altitude (ie, greater than or equal to 2500 m; MA) and cyclists who were born and trained at low altitude (below 1000 m; LA). Methods: tHbmass (in grams and grams per kilogram), measured by using the optimized carbon monoxide rebreathing method during an incremental test on a cycle ergometer; hematocrit percentage, hemoglobin concentration; and erythrocyte, blood, and plasma volume were measured in youth male cyclists age 15–16 years and junior cyclists age 17–18 years who were born and trained at MA versus LA. All variables were analyzed with a 2-way (age [youth cyclist vs junior cyclist] × altitude level [MA vs LA]) analysis of variance with subsequent Tuckey post hoc test. Results and Conclusion: Some altitude-induced benefits were reported in cyclists at age 15–16 years in the MA group with higher values in hematocrit percentage, hemoglobin concentration, and tHbmass (grams per kilogram) (P < .05) than their LA counterparts. This was also observed at age 17–18 years (P < .001), except for tHbmass, wherein no significant difference was found between MA and LA groups. In contrast, plasma volume was lower in MA than LA junior cyclists. New Findings : (1) The altitude of birth and residence could generate an advantage in tHbmass in young male cyclists age 15–16 and 17–18 years who train at MA compared with cyclists who are born and train at LA. (2) Altitude-induced benefits in physiological variables (hematocrit percentage, hemoglobin concentration, tHbmass in g·kg−1) were reported in cyclists at age 15–16 years and partially at age 17–18 years. In contrast, plasma volume was lower in MA than in LA junior cyclists. This may impact the strategies for identifying and developing talent in cycling.
Isometric Midthigh-Pull Testing: Reliability and Correlation With Key Functional Capacities in Young Soccer Players
Vincenzo Rago, Fábio Yuzo Nakamura, Carlos Suarez-Balsera, Javier Arnaiz-Lastras, and Pedro Figueiredo
Purpose: We examined the reliability of force parameters derived from the isometric midthigh pull (IMTP) and their correlation with the functional capacities of young soccer players. Methods: Data were collected from 20 young professional soccer players within and between 2 sessions (after 1 wk) using a 1000-Hz force plate. Results: Performance outputs in all IMTP parameters were consistent and showed moderate to excellent reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .72–1.00) within and between sessions. However, all parameters reported a marginal ability to detect chronic changes in performance (smallest worthwhile change [SWC] < standard error of measurement [SEM]) except for peak vertical force (PF) parameters, which showed good usefulness (SWC > SEM). Absolute PF was correlated with the countermovement-jump (CMJ) total impulse (CMJ-TI; r = .54), whereas relative PF (to body mass) was correlated with CMJ height, CMJ peak power, and the last speed of the 30:15 Intermittent Fitness Test (V IFT; r = .40 to .63). IMTP time-dependent forces were correlated with CMJ-TI (r = .52 to .62). The IMTP impulse parameters were positively correlated with CMJ-TI (r = .48 to .58) and negatively with V IFT (r = −.44 to −.38). None of the IMTP parameters were correlated either with the CMJ mean propulsive force or with any linear acceleration times. Conclusions: All IMTP parameters can be adopted by practitioners involved with testing young soccer players based on their acceptable reliability criteria. However, caution should be taken when interpreting the time-dependent variables based on their marginal usefulness when assessing performance. Generally, a greater PF was associated with a greater vertical power based on its correlation to CMJ.
