Does Social Media Use on Smartphones Influence Endurance, Power, and Swimming Performance in High-Level Swimmers?

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the repeated effect of social media on smartphones immediately before training sessions on inhibitory control (Stroop task), endurance (tethered swimming), countermovement jump (CMJ), and swimming performance (50, 100, and 400-m freestyle) in high-level female swimmers. Methods: It is a randomized and experimental investigation with parallel groups. Twenty-two participants underwent the eight weeks of the experiment. The swimmers (eight to twelve sessions per week with 15.9 ± 1.6 hours/week, and training experience of ~ 5.6 years) were randomized in two groups: control (CON, n = 11) and smartphone (SMA, n = 11). Immediately before each training session, the CON group watched videos about Olympic Games for 30-min. The SMA group used social network smartphone apps during 30-min. The inhibitory control, endurance, CMJ, and swimming performance were measured before and after the eight weeks of intervention. Results: No group x time interaction for 50-m freestyle (F(4, 18) = 1.04; p = .33; η2 = 0.09) and CMJ performance (F(4, 18) = 0.31; p = .58; η2 = 0.03) was found. Both experimental groups improved CMJ (F(2, 20) = 8.71; p = .01; η2 = 0.46). Only the CON group improved the 100-m (p = .02), 400-m freestyle (p = .01), and endurance performance (p = .01). The CON group improved the inhibitory control response (p = .01). Conclusion: It is concluded that the repeated effect of social media on smartphones immediately before swimming training sessions might reduce or nullify training gains on swimming and endurance performance.

Effects of smartphone use before resistance exercise on inhibitory control, heart rate variability, and countermovement jump.

BACKGROUND: The effect of MF induced by exposure time to social media smartphone apps on inhibitory control, heart rate variability (HRV), and high-intensity physical effort following a resistance exercise session might indicate whether strength and conditioning professionals should suggest avoiding smartphone usage before a resistance exercise session. AIM: The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of mental fatigue on inhibitory control, HRV, and countermovement jump (CMJ) in trained adults after resistance exercise. METHODS: A total of 16 trained males (21.4 ± 3.3 years) volunteered in this study. The participants performed resistance exercises with and without mental fatigue. The Stroop Task, countermovement jump, and heart rate variability were evaluated before and after the resistance exercise. The participants used smartphones in the mental fatigue condition, whereas the participants watched TV in the control condition. RESULTS: No condition × time interaction was found for the Stroop accuracy (p = 0.87), CMJ (p = 0.68), SDNN (p = 0.15), or pNN50 (p = 0.15) in the heart rate variability. An interaction was found for Stroop response time (p = 0.01) with a higher response time for the mental fatigue condition (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Mental fatigue impaired the inhibitory control performance after a resistance exercise session in trained adults.

Effects of Mental Fatigue Induced by Social Media Use on Volleyball Decision-Making, Endurance, and Countermovement Jump Performance.

We studied the effects of repeated inducements of mental fatigue (MF) from using social media on smartphones immediately before training sessions by young male volleyball athletes, focusing specifically on their decision-making, endurance, and countermovement jump performance (CMJ). We pair-matched 24 participants according to their decision-making abilities and then, randomly assigned them to one of two 4-week block training groups: control (CON) and smartphone use (SMA). For a 30-minute period before each training session, the CON group watched TV and the SMA group used social media apps on smartphones. We found a significant group x time interaction effect for decision making (attack, p = 0.03; passing, p = 0.02) during training blocks. More specifically, only the CON group improved their decision making (attack, p = 0.03; passing, p = 0.02). Both groups significantly improved their CMJ performance (p = .01), with no significant group x time interaction effect for CMJ (p = 0.91). Neither group significantly improved their endurance (p = 0.56). We concluded that 30-minutes of repetitive social media app use on a smartphone immediately before 4-weeks of volleyball training sessions negatively affected decision-making in young male volleyball athletes.

Smartphone Use Among High Level Swimmers Is Associated With Mental Fatigue and Slower 100- and 200- but Not 50-Meter Freestyle Racing.

Discovering any performance degradation effect of racing swimmers' use of social media smartphone apps might lead to new training and race preparation protocols, including pre-meet smartphone avoidance. This study's objective was to analyze the performance effects of using smartphone social media apps on the 50, 100, and 200-m freestyle among 25 high-level swimmers. Each participant performed the three race distances in two conditions: with smartphone app exposure (50-MF, 100-MF, and 200-MF) and without (50-CON, 100-CON, and 200-CON). We randomized the order of these two conditions across participants. While smartphone app use was not associated with statistically significant performance differences on the shortest race (50CON versus 50MF), a repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant condition × time interaction for the swimmers'100-m freestyle performance (p = 0.01), with a significantly slower performance following smartphone app use evident in the last half of this race (p = 0.02) but not in the first half (p = 0.41). We also found a condition × time interaction in the same direction (slower for swimmers who used the smartphone app) for the 200-m freestyle performance (p = 0.01), with the slower performance occurring in the second (p = 0.01) but not the first (p = 0.91), third (p = 0.07) or fourth (p = 0.06) quarters of this race. Thus, prolonged smartphone social media app use was associated with reduced performance from elite swimmers on the 100- and 200- but not the 50-m freestyle.

Acute effects of equated volume-load resistance training leading to muscular failure versus non-failure on neuromuscular performance.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the acute effects of resistance training to failure (TF) and non-failure (TNF) with volume-load equalization on neuromuscular performance in recreationally resistance-trained adults. METHODS: Twenty-two trained men (age 21.4 ± 2.3 years) were included in a controlled, randomized, and design cross-over investigation with two experimental conditions and one-week of washout interval between them. The participants performed parallel back-squat adopting TF or TNF with volume, intensity, and rest between sets equalized. Countermovement jump (CMJ) height and peak power (PP) were used as mechanical indicators of neuromuscular performance. The mechanical variables were assessed in five moments (pre-experiment, post 15-s, 10-min, 20-min, and 30-min). RESULTS: When compared with the TNF condition, TF presented greater decrement on CMJ height (P < 0.001) and PP (P < 0.001) performance. The CMJ height and PP performance in parallel back-squat exercise following the TNF condition returned to the pre-experiment values 10-min after (P > 0.05). On the other hand, the TF condition promoted greater decrement in CMJ and PP performance compared with the pre-experiment and TNF protocol even 20-30 min later (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that TF promotes greater acute impairment on neuromuscular performance even when volume-load is equalized.

Effects of mental fatigue on passing decision-making performance in professional soccer athletes.

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of mental fatigue on passing decision-making in professional soccer athletes. A controlled and counterbalanced cross-over design was adopted consisting of three visits with a 1-week interval between sessions. Twenty professional soccer male athletes participated in three randomized conditions divided into three visits: control, 15-min Stroop task, and 30-min Stroop task. Inhibitory control was accessed by the Stroop task (accuracy and response time) before and after induced mental fatigue protocol. The athletes played a training match (90-min) following the experimental conditions. The Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI) was used for the passing decision-making analysis. The GPAI analysis showed impaired passing decision-making performance following the 30-min Stroop task compared with the 15-min and control condition (F (2,17) = 6.99, p = .01). Moreover, an increase in response time during the Stroop task was found following 30-min Stroop task condition (F (2,17) = 6.57, p = .03) compared to 15-min of Stroop task and control conditions. Prolonged cognitive tasks may be considered a mediating factor in passing decision-making performance in male professional soccer athletes throughout a full-length training match. Thus, athletes should avoid highly demanding-cognitive tasks before a soccer match. Future studies are required to explore more ecological cognitive tasks to induce mental fatigue (i.e. smartphones and video-games) and their effects on other performance indicators (e.g. physical, technical, tactical) in a full-length training match setting.

Relative Age Effect is Modulated by Playing Position but is Not Related to Competitive Success in Elite Under-19 Handball Athletes.

This study aimed to verify the occurrence of the relative age effect (RAE) in male elite young handball athletes according to the playing position and its association with team performance in a World Championship. Data from 383 handball athletes from 24 countries who participated in the 7th World Men's Championship in the under-19 category were analyzed. RAE was investigated from the birth trimester of the athletes, their playing position, and final ranking in the Championship. The results showed an overrepresentation of athletes born in the first two trimesters (Q1 and Q2) (χ2(3) = 32.97; p < 0.001, ω = 0.29). The analysis of the athlete's position showed that most wings (χ2(3) = 18.37; p < 0.001, ω = 0.32) and backs (χ2(3) = 12.51; p = 0.006, ω = 0.34) were born in the first trimesters (Q1 and Q2). The ranking in the Championship presented no significant association with the date of the birth (p > 0.05). The results showed the existence of the RAE in youth handball elite athletes, especially for the back and wing positions. However, the strategy of selecting is questionable once the presence of RAE was not associated with competitive success.