RESEARCH: studies I shared this week: 22-28 August 2022

All of the studies I've shared (~500 studies) are available on the RESOURCES PAGE.

PACING & HEAT: Marathon Performance and Pacing in the Doha 2019 Women’s IAAF World Championships

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS -

1. In hot conditions, athletes finishing in positions 1 to 10 (group 1) started more conservatively (93.7% of personal best) than slower runners (groups 3 and 4; 96.6% of personal best.
2. Extreme hot conditions reduced performance.
3. Pacing alone does not explain high failure rates in nonfinishers.
4. Athletes competing in the heat should initially pace conservatively to optimize performance.

PHYSIOLOGY: Associations of long-term physical activity trajectories with coronary artery calcium progression and cardiovascular disease events

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS -

1. Participants in the high physical activity (PA) trajectory group had a higher risk of coronary artery calcium (CAC) progression than those in the low PA trajectory group.
2. However, high PA trajectory was not associated with an increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) events.
3. Long-term PA about three times the guidelines or more is independently associated with CAC progression; however, no additional risk of incident CVD events could be detected.

TRAINING: Submaximal Fitness Tests in Team Sports

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS -

1. Heart rate indices are most prevalent in the literature (57% of all outcome measures) and appear sensitive to detect positive endurance-oriented training effects.
2. At present, limited evidence exists regarding the utility of ratings of perceived exertion to monitor training effects within submaximal fitness tests in team sports.
3. SMFT have the potential to serve as time-efficient, non-exhaustive, and feasible standardized tests that can be administered to a group of athletes simultaneously as a part of the warm-up and using specific drill(s) during the training session.

STRENGTH: Resistance Training Variables for Optimization of Muscle Hypertrophy

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS -

1. At least 10 sets per week per muscle group is optimal, that eccentric contractions seem important, very slow repetitions (≥10 s) should be avoided, and that blood flow restriction might be beneficial for some individuals.
2. In addition, other variables as, exercise order, time of the day and type of periodization appear not to directly influence the magnitude of muscle mass gains.

SLEEP: Sleep and physical activity – the dynamics of bi-directional influences over a fortnight

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS -

1. Sleep duration and physical activity (PA) are bi-directionally linked, but only for vigorous physical activity.
2. Neither MVPA nor VPA were associated with subsequent night’s sleep quality, but better quality of sleep predicted more MVPA and VPA the next day.
3. More time spent in vigorous physical activity (VPA) shortens sleep the next night, yet longer sleep duration increases VPA the next day.

TRAINING: Effect of intermittent hypoxia on muscle and cerebral oxygenation during a 20-km time trial in elite athletes

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAYS -

1. The effects of intermittent hypoxic exposure (IHE) on cerebral and muscle oxygenation, arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2), and respiratory gas exchange during a 20-km cycle time trial (20TT) were examined.
2. IHE (7:3 min hypoxia to normoxia) involved 90-min sessions for 10 days, with SaO2 clamped at ∼80%.
3. Reductions in muscle oxy-Hb and systemic SaO2 occurring at exercise intensities close to maximal at the end of a 20TT were offset by IHE, although this was not translated into improved performance.