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The use of vibration as a training intervention has been suggested for more than a decade. Following the initial promising studies, a large number of investigations have been conducted to understand the acute and chronic effects of this novel training modality mainly using special populations, sedentary, physically active, and aged individuals. There is a small number of studies involving athletes. For this reason it is at the moment very difficult to provide safe and effective training guidelines to athletes. We discuss the current findings related to the effectiveness on elite athletes and provide some guidance on practical applications. Vibration is without a doubt an interesting intervention; however, more needs to be done to understand the physiological mechanisms involved in the adaptive responses to vibration exercise. Furthermore, more studies are needed to establish a dose-response relationship to vibration training to provide indications on safe and effective vibration training prescriptions.

Purpose: This study investigated (1) the transition rate of elite world-class throwers, (2) the age of peak performance in either elite junior and/or elite senior athletes, and (3) if relative age effect (RAE) influences the chance of being considered elite in junior and/or senior category. Methods: The career performance trajectories of 5108 throwers (49.9% females) were extracted from the World Athletics database. The authors identified throwers who had reached the elite level (operationally defined as the World all-time top 50 ranked for each age category) in either junior and/or senior category and calculated the junior-to-senior transition rate. The age of peak performance and the RAE were also investigated. Results: The transition rate at 16 and 18 years of age was 6% and 12% in males and 16% and 24% in females, respectively. Furthermore, elite senior throwers reached their personal best later in life than elite junior throwers. The athletes of both genders considered elite in the junior category showed a large RAE. Interestingly, male athletes who reached the elite level in senior category also showed appreciable RAE. Conclusions: Only a few of the athletes who reach the top 50 in the world at 16 or 18 years of age manage to become elite senior athletes, underlining that success at the beginning of an athletic career does not predict success in the athlete’s senior career. Moreover, data suggest that being relatively older may confer a benefit across the whole career of male throwers.

Purpose: To quantify how many of the top 50 under-18 (U18) sprinters in the world managed to become top 50 ranked as adult competitors. The authors also described the career trajectory of athletes ranked in the top 50 during either U18 or senior category. Methods: A total of 4924 male and female athletes competing in sprint races and ranked in the International Association of Athletics Federations (now World Athletics) lists in any of the seasons between the 2000 and 2018 were included in the study. The athletes ranked in the top 50 positions of all-time lists during U18, senior, or both categories were analyzed. Results: Only 17% of the male and 21% of the female top 50 ranked U18 managed to become top 50 ranked senior athletes. The top 50 ranked senior athletes consistently produced yearly larger improvements during late adolescence and early adulthood compared with those who ranked in the top 50 at U18. Furthermore, top 50 ranked senior athletes reached their peak performance later compared with the top 50 ranked only in U18. Conclusions: This study confirms that early success in track and field is not a good predictor of success at senior level in sprinting events. The yearly performance improvements and their tracking provide the most suitable approach to identify athletes more likely to succeed as elite performers in adulthood. The authors hope that the results of this study can provide useful comparative data and reference criteria for talent-identification and -development programs.

Little data exists on drinking behavior, sweat loss, and exercise intensity across a competitive handball tournament in elite female athletes. Heart rate (HR), fluid balance and sweat electrolyte content were assessed on 17 international players across a 6-day tournament involving 5 games and 2 training sessions played indoors (23 ± 2 °C, 30 ± 2% relative humidity). Active play (effective) mean HR was 155 ± 14 bpm (80 ± 7.5% HR_max) with the majority of time (64%) spent exercising at intensities >80% HR_max. Mean (SD) sweat rates during games were 1.02 ± 0.07 L · h^-1 and on 56% of occasions fluid intake matched or exceeded sweat loss. A significant relationship was observed between estimated sweat loss and fluid intake during exercise (r ₂ = .121, p = .001). Mean sweat sodium concentration was 38 ± 10 mmol · L^-1, with significant associations observed between player sweat rates and time spent exercising at intensities >90% HR_max (r ² = .181, p = .001). Fluid and electrolyte loss appear to be work rate dependent in elite female handball players, whom appear well capable of replacing fluids lost within a tournament environment. Due to large between-athlete variations, a targeted approach may be warranted for certain players only.

Context: The application of infrared thermography to assess the effects of athletic training is increasing. It is not known if changes in skin temperature (Tsk) as assessed by infrared thermography are affected by the training load or the muscle soreness experienced by the athlete. Purpose : To describe the variations in Tsk in body areas affected by running training and examine any relationships with subjective ratings of muscle soreness. The secondary aim was to assess the feasibility of using infrared thermography for assessing training load in 2 junior male middle-distance athletes. Methods: Data were collected over a 42-d observational period with Tsk of the quadriceps, knees, shins, lateral hamstrings, biceps femoris, and Achilles tendons, and the subjective ratings of muscle soreness were taken each morning prior to any training. All training load was quantified through heart rate, running speed, and distance covered. Changes in Tsk outside the typical error were identified. Relationships between Tsk and subjective ratings of muscle soreness were also examined. Results: Over the 42-d observational period, mean Tsk of the regions of interest was reported outside the typical error on day 31 and day 22 for athletes 1 and 2, respectively. These changes in Tsk did not follow trends similar to those of to training loadings. No significant relationships were observed between Tsk of any regions of interest and muscle soreness. Conclusions: Although Tsk changed outside the typical error throughout the 42-d observational period, these changes were not reflective of training load quantified through cardiovascular strain or subjective ratings of muscle soreness.

Purpose : This study aimed to describe the career performance progression of elite early- and later-success international swimmers competing in sprint events (ie, 50 and 100 m). Methods: The career performance trajectories of 6003 swimmers (50.9% females; 58,760 unique records) competing in the 4 swimming strokes were evaluated. Swimmers with early and later success were identified. The authors identified the top 50 all-time swimmers competing in junior career who did not reach the top 50 rankings in their senior career, and vice versa, and successful swimmers in both junior and senior career. Results: Early-success swimmers mainly achieved their peak performance before the age of 20 years and approximately 5–6 years before successful senior swimmers or approximately 3–4 years before successful swimmers both in junior and senior careers. The annual performance improvements of later-success swimmers were higher (about 1%–2%) until the age of 20 to 24 years, whereas early-success swimmers showed a performance stagnation at about 16 to 18 years in females and 19 to 20 years in males. Conclusions: Early-success swimmers who achieved peak performance at a young age were unable to maintain the same level of competitiveness in adulthood as they experienced a plateau in performance from the age of 20 years. The procedure of considering early performances solely for talent identification (and not the current rate of progression) might represent a limited approach for selecting future elite swimmers. Our results indicate that performance progression in the transition toward adult careers might be a strong indicator of performance potential.