Comparing Video Analysis to Computerized Detection of Limb Position for the Diagnosis of Movement Control during Back Squat Exercise with Overload.

Incorrect limb position while lifting heavy weights might compromise athlete success during weightlifting performance, similar to the way that it increases the risk of muscle injuries during resistance exercises, regardless of the individual's level of experience. However, practitioners might not have the necessary background knowledge for self-supervision of limb position and adjustment of the lifting position when improper movement occurs. Therefore, the computerized analysis of movement patterns might assist people in detecting changes in limb position during exercises with different loads or enhance the analysis of an observer with expertise in weightlifting exercises. In this study, hidden Markov models (HMMs) were employed to automate the detection of joint position and barbell trajectory during back squat exercises. Ten volunteers performed three lift movements each with a 0, 50, and 75% load based on body weight. A smartphone was used to record the movements in the sagittal plane, providing information for the analysis of variance and identifying significant position changes by video analysis (p < 0.05). Data from individuals performing the same movements with no added weight load were used to train the HMMs to identify changes in the pattern. A comparison of HMMs and human experts revealed between 40% and 90% agreement, indicating the reliability of HMMs for identifying changes in the control of movements with added weight load. In addition, the results highlighted that HMMs can detect changes imperceptible to the human visual analysis.

Análisis de la composición corporal de los jugadores de la selección española de fútbol para ciegos / Analysis of the body composition of the players of the Spanish blind soccer team

La Composición Corporal (CC) de los deportistas varía en función de la modalidad deportiva practicada. Además, es un factor determinante en el rendimiento deportivo, y puede influir en la prevención de lesiones. En fútbol practicado por personas sin discapacidad, varios estudios analizan las diferencias en la CC de los jugadores en función de la posición de juego y nivelcompetitivo. Por el contrario, son escasos los estudios que analizan la CC en modalidades deportivas para personas con discapacidad, en concreto en jugadores profesionales de Fútbol para Ciegos (FpC). El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar la CC en función de la Lateralidad y de la Posición de juego de los jugadores de la Selección Española de FpC. El estudio presenta un diseño cuantitativo descriptivo y transversal, de carácter ecológico. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 12 jugadores (Edad: 28.76 ± 8.89 años, Peso: 73.89 ± 10.79 kg, y, Altura: 176.82 ± 9.07 cm), pertenecientes a la Selección Española de FpC durante una concentración previa a los Juegos Paralímpicos de Tokio 2020. Para ello, se utilizó un monitor de CC modelo BC-601 (TANITA, Tokio, Japón). Los resultados muestran que no existen diferencias significativas en ninguno de los análisis realizados en función la Lateralidad y de la Posición de juego. Sin embargo, la CC es uno de los factores determinantes del rendimiento deportivo y establecer rangos de CC en deportistas profesionales de FpC va a permitir establecer patrones para la seleccionar jugadores. Por otro lado, ante la escasez de investigaciones encontradas, se recomienda llevar a cabo estudios que analicen la CC de los jugadores y su influencia en los procesos y etapas de entrenamiento con la finalidad de determinar la influencia de la CC en el rendimiento deportivo. (AU)

Analysis of the External and Internal Load in Professional Basketball Players.

The quantification of the external load and internal load of professional players is of vital importance since it provides a great deal of information on the state of the physical condition of athletes during competition and training. The aim of the present study was to quantify the external load and internal load of the players of a first level team of the Spanish basketball league for two weeks corresponding to the pre-season 2022/2023. Seventeen load variables were analyzed and organized into kinematics external load, neuromuscular external load, and internal load. All variables were normalized to the same time unit (minute). For this purpose, all training sessions were monitored using inertial devices. The results show significant differences in the external load and internal load variables depending on the task performed and the specific position. Each type of task provokes different responses in the players, with Full Game situations producing the highest values in the kinematic external load variables (p < 0.05). The selection of each type of task must be adjusted to the physical and technical-tactical objective to be developed. Despite the general work carried out in the pre-season, the centers are the players who bear the greatest internal load in this period. For this reason, it is necessary to individualize the training processes from the pre-season.

Research Trends in the Effect of Caffeine Intake on Fat Oxidation: A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis.

In the last few decades, numerous studies pertaining to research groups worldwide have investigated the effects of oral caffeine intake on fat oxidation at rest, during exercise, and after exercise. However, there is no bibliometric analysis to assess the large volume of scientific output associated with this topic. A bibliometric analysis of this topic may be used by researchers to assess the current scientific interest in the application of caffeine as a nutritional strategy to augment fat oxidation, the journals with more interest in this type of publication, and to draw international collaborations between groups working in the same area. For these reasons, the purpose of this study was to assess the research activity regarding oral caffeine intake and fat oxidation rate in the last few decades by conducting a bibliometric and visual analysis. Relevant publications from 1992 to 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database. Quantitative and qualitative variables were collected, including the number of publications and citations, H-indexes, journals of citation reports, co-authorship, co-citation, and the co-occurrence of keywords. There were 182 total publications, while the number of annual publications is saw-shaped with a modest increase of 11.3% from 2000 to 2009 to 2010 to 2019. The United States was the country with the highest number of publications (24.17% of the total number of articles), followed by the Netherlands (17.03%). According to citation analyses, the average number of citations per document is 130, although there are 21 documents that have received more than 100 citations; the most cited document reached 644 citations. These citation data support the overall relevance of this topic in the fields of nutrition and dietetics and sport sciences that when combined harbored 85.71% of all articles published in the WoS. The most productive author was Westerterp-Plantenga with 16 articles (8.79% of the total number of articles). Nutrients was the journal that published the largest number of articles on this topic (6.59% of the total number of articles). Last, there is a tendency to include keywords such as "performance", "carbohydrate", and "ergogenic aid" in the newer articles, while "obesity", "thermogenic", and "tea" are the keywords more commonly included in older documents. Although research into the role of caffeine on fat oxidation has existed since the 1970s, our analysis suggests that the scientific output associated with this topic has progressively increased since 1992, demonstrating that this is a nutritional research area with a strong foundational base of scientific evidence. Based on the findings of this bibliometric analysis, future investigation may consider focusing on the effects of sex and tolerance to caffeine to widen the assessment of the effectiveness of oral caffeine intake as a nutritional strategy to augment the use of fat as a fuel, as these terms rarely appear in the studies included in this analysis. Additionally, more translational research is necessary as the studies that investigate the effect of oral caffeine intake in ecologically valid contexts (i.e., exercise training programs for individuals with excessive adiposity) are only a minor part of the studies on this topic.

Body Composition Relationship to Performance, Cardiorespiratory Profile, and Tether Force in Youth Trained Swimmers.

This study sought to analyze the relationship between regional body composition, swimming performance, and aerobic and force profile determined through tethered swimming in well-trained swimmers. Eleven male and five female swimmers were involved in the study and underwent the following evaluations: (1) body composition, assessed by the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry method (DXA); (2) swimming performance, determined for 200, 400, 800, and 1.500 m front-crawl swimming; (3) a tethered swimming force test to determine maximum and mean force (Fmax and Fmean); and (4) an incremental tethered swimming test for the aerobic profile determination of the swimmers. Oxygen uptake (VO2) was directly measured by an automatic and portable system (K4b2 Cosmed, Italy). The fat-free mass (lean mass + bone mineral content, LM+BMC) in lower and upper limbs (UL_LM+BMC: 6.74 ± 1.57 kg and LL_LM+BMC: 20.15 ± 3.84 kg) positively correlated with all indexes of aerobic conditioning level, showing higher coefficients to the indexes representing the ability to perform at high aerobic intensities (VO2max: 49.2 ± 5.9 mL·kg-1·min-1 and respiratory compensation point (RCP): 43.8 ± 6.0 mL·kg-1·min-1), which attained 0.82 and 0.81 (with VO2max), 0.81 and 0.80 (with RCP). The S200 (1.48 ± 0.13 m·s-1) was significantly correlated to Trunk_LM+BMC (r = 0.74), UL_LM+BMC (r = 0.72), Total_LM+BMC (r = 0.71), and LL_LM+BMC (r = 0.64). This study highlights that regional body composition plays an important role in swimming, and body segment analysis should be considered instead of the total body. Tethered swimming may represent a useful method for force and aerobic assessment, aiming at training control and performance enhancement.

Analysis of individual performance indicators of football goalkeeper

One of the most widely used strategies for performance analysis in different sports is notational analysis through direct observation of technical-tactical actions, which allows to understand the main indicators of sporting performance of the players, both individually and collectively. Football goalkeepers (GKs) are involved in the game differently when compared to the rest of the players in the team and, therefore, they develop different high-level and high-intensity tactical-technical actions. Therefore, the present work aimed to analyse the different performance indicators of football GKs through a search in the following databases: Web of Science (WOS), Scopus (Elsevier), PubMed (NIH) and, SPORTDiscus (EBSCO), until February 2023. The following keywords were used: "Football" or "Soccer", "Goalkeeper" and "Performance analysis". The results show that the main performance indicators are the percentage of avoided goals, the distribution of the ball at the goal kick as well as the number of offensive and defensive actions. Therefore, training sessions should be planned and implemented aimming to improve these skills. (AU)

Una de las estrategias más utilizadas para analizar el rendimiento en diferentes modalidades deportivas, es el análisis notacional a través de la observación directa de las acciones técnico-tácticas, lo que permite conocer los principales indicadores de rendimiento deportivo de los jugadores, tanto individual como colectivamente. Los porteros de fútbol tienen una involucración en el juego diferente comparativamente al resto de los jugadores del equipo, y, por ende, desarrollan diferentes acciones táctico-técnicas de alto nivel y de alta intensidad. Por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo fui a analizar los diferentes indicadores de rendimiento de los porteros de fútbol mediante una búsqueda en las bases de datos: Web of Science (WOS), Scopus (Elsevier), PubMed (NIH) y SPORTDiscus (EBSCO), hasta febrero del 2023. Para ello, se emplearon las siguientes palabras claves, “Football” o “Soccer”, “Goalkeeper” y “Performance analysis”. Los resultados muestran como los principales indicadores de rendimiento son el porcentaje de goles evitados, la distribución del balón en el saque de portería, así como el número de acciones ofensivas y defensivas. Por tanto, se deben planificar e implementar sesiones de entrenamiento para la mejora de dichas habilidades. (AU)

Effects of Exercise and Sports Intervention and the Involvement Level on the Mineral Health of Different Bone Sites in the Leg, Hip, and Spine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The current study analysed whether the osteogenic stimuli of exercises and sports have an independent effect on bone mineral density (BMD). Studies with a design having two different cohorts were searched and selected to distinguish the effect due to long-term involvement (i.e., athletes vs. non-active young with good bone health) and due to the planning of intervention (i.e., pre- vs. post-training) with exercises and sports. Moreover, only studies investigating the bone sites with a body-weight support function (i.e., lower limb, hip, and spine regions) were reviewed, since the osteogenic effects have incongruous results. A meta-analysis was performed following the recommendations of PRISMA. Heterogeneity (I2) was determined by combining Cochran's Q test with the Higgins test, with a significance level of α = 0.05. The studies reporting the effect of involvement in exercise and sports showed high heterogeneity for the lower limb, total hip, and spine (I2 = 90.200%, 93.334%, and 95.168%, respectively, with p < 0.01) and the effect size on sports modalities (Hedge's g = 1.529, 1.652, and 0.417, respectively, with p < 0.05) ranging from moderate to high. In turn, the studies reporting the effect of the intervention planning showed that there was no heterogeneity for the lower limb (I2 = 0.000%, p = 0.999) and spine (I2 = 77.863%, p = 0.000); however, for the hip, it was moderate (I2 = 49.432%, p = 0.054), with a low effect between the pre- and post-training moments presented only for the hip and spine (Hedge's g = 0.313 and 0.353, respectively, with p < 0.05). The current analysis supported the effect of involvement in exercise and sports by evidencing the effect of either weight-bearing or non-weight-bearing movements on BMD at the femoral, pelvic, and lumbar bones sites of the athletes when comparing to non-athletes or non-active peers with healthy bones. Moreover, the effect of different exercise and sports interventions highlighted the alterations in the BMD in the spine bone sites, mainly with long-term protocols (~12 months) planned with a stimulus with high muscle tension. Therefore, exercise and sport (mainly systematic long-term practice) have the potential to increase the BMD of bones with body-weight support beyond the healthy values reached during life phases of youth and adulthood.

Documents Publication Evolution (1990-2022) Related to Physical Activity and Healthy Habits, a Bibliometric Review.

This research aims to provide an overview of the growing number of scientific literature publications related to Physical Activity and Healthy Habits. A bibliometric analysis between 1990 and 2022 in the Web of Science was carried out, following the bibliometric analysis law, using Microsoft Excel and VosViewer Software for analysis and data processing. A total of 276 documents (262 primary studies and 14 revisions) related to the topic under study were located. The results reveal an exponential growth of scientific production by 48% between 2006 and 2022. Public Environmental Occupational Health, Kaprio, J., and the USA were the knowledge field, author, and country most productive, respectively. A great thematic diversity was found related to the most used keywords by the authors, such as "physical activity", "health habits", "exercise", and "obesity". Thus, the research related to this theme is really in an exponential phase, with great interest in the importance of physical activity and healthy habits, implying practical decisions in policies to develop programs to promote physical activity and healthy habits.

Revisión sistemática de programas de intervención para promover hábitos saludables de actividad física y nutrición en escolares españoles / Systematic review of intervention programmes to promote healthy physical activity and nutrition habits in Spanish school children

Introducción. La obesidad infantil es uno de los problemas de salud pública más graves del siglo XXI, originado porque los niños crecen en un entorno en el que no se fomenta la práctica deportiva. Esto es debido al cambio en el tipo de alimentación y al aumento del sedentarismo. Objetivo. Describir y analizar los principales programas de intervención, basados en la promoción de hábitos saludables (Nutrición y Actividad Física) en la población infantil y las principales estrategias utilizadas para su implantación en los centros educativos españoles. Materiales y métodos. Se ha realizado un estudio transversal descriptivo mediante el empleo de una revisión sistemática de la literatura realizada en el mes de octubre de 2022. La población de estudio fue el alumnado de entre 6 y 12 años escolarizados en centros de Educación Primaria de España. Resultados. Se ha identificado que las intervenciones educativas sobre nutrición y/o actividad física realizadas en los centros educativos, resultan positivas en la mejora de los hábitos de alimentación y la práctica físico-deportiva entre los escolares. Discusión. Además, combinando las temáticas de nutrición y actividad física, se fomenta la consecución de hábitos saludables, con el objetivo de prevenir la obesidad y el sedentarismo. A su vez, fomentando la participación de las familias en los programas de intervención se obtiene un resultado positivo en la efectividad de las intervenciones. Conclusiones. La mayor parte de los programas de intervención analizados demuestran su eficacia a la hora de modificar los hábitos alimentarios, además, se produce un aumento del nivel de actividad física, evitando el sedentarismo entre los escolares, y, por ende, disminuir el riesgo de obesidad(AU)

Introduction: Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century, because children are growing up in an environment where sport is not encouraged. This is due to changes in dietary patterns and an increase in sedentary lifestyles. Objective. Describe and analyze the main intervention programs, based on the promotion of healthy habits (Nutrition and Physical Activity) in the child population and the main strategies used for their implementation in Spanish schools. Material and methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study based on a systematic review of the literature carried out in October 2022. The study population was pupils aged between 6 and 12 years old attending primary schools in Spain. Results. It has been identified that educational interventions on nutrition and/or physical activity carried out in schools are positive in improving eating habits and physical activity among schoolchildren. Discussion. In addition, by combining the topics of nutrition and physical activity, healthy habits are encouraged, with the aim of preventing obesity and sedentary lifestyles. In turn, by encouraging the participation of families in the intervention programmes, a positive result is obtained in the effectiveness of the interventions. Conclusions. Most of the intervention programmes analysed demonstrate their effectiveness in modifying eating habits, as well as increasing the level of physical activity, avoiding sedentary lifestyles among schoolchildren and, therefore, reducing the risk of obesity(AU)