J Sport Sci Med
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Muscle damage and soreness associated with increased exercise training loads or unaccustomed activity can be debilitating and impact the quality of subsequent activity/performance. Current techniques to assess muscle soreness are either time consuming, invasive or subjective. Infrared thermography has been identified as a quick, non-invasive, portable and athlete friendly method of assessing skin temperature. ⋯ Thigh temperature was not different statistically between legs at these time points. Infrared imaging was able to detect elevations in skin temperature, at 24 hrs after the DOMS inducing exercise protocol, in both the exercised and non-exercised thigh. Elevations in the skin temperature of both thighs, potentially identifies a systemic inflammatory response occurring at 24 hr after the DOMS-inducing exercise protocol.
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Aquatic cycling is a program of physical exercises performed with immersed stationary bikes. Few studies have provided evidence about the intensity control during its practice. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to examine the concurrent and construct validity of a new scale for rating perceived exertion (RPE) during aquatic cycling in young men. ⋯ ANOVA indicated that an incremental pedalling cadence of 15 revolutions per minute (rpm) provoked significant differences (p < 0.05) regarding previous stages in the majority of the variables analysed. The Aquatic Cycling Scale is an appropriate tool for monitoring exertion intensity during aquatic cycling in fit men. A brief increment in aquatic pedalling cadence of 15 rpm increases the intensity of the aquatic pedalling exercise.
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Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), an ultrastructural muscle injury, is one of the most common reasons for impaired muscle performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of sport compression garments on the development of exercise-induced intramuscular edema in the context of DOMS. DOMS was induced in 15 healthy participants. ⋯ After exercise, there was significantly increased muscle soreness in both lower legs in resting condition and when going downstairs and a decreased range of motion in the ankle joint. No significant difference was observed between the compressed and the non-compressed calf. Our results indicate that wearing conventional compression garments after DOMS has been induced has no significant effect on the development of muscle edema, muscle soreness, range of motion and calf circumference.
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A career as an elite-class male athlete seems to improve metabolic heath in later life and is also associated with longer life expectancy. Telomere length is a biomarker of biological cellular ageing and could thus predict morbidity and mortality. The main aim of this study was to assess the association between vigorous elite-class physical activity during young adulthood on later life leukocyte telomere length (LTL). ⋯ Key pointsA career as an elite-class athlete is associated with improved metabolic health in late life and is associated with longer life expectancy. A career as an elite-class athlete during young adulthood was not associated with leukocyte telomere length in later life. Current volume of leisure-time physical activity did not influence telomere length in later life.
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Pre-season screening is well established within the sporting arena, and aims to enhance performance and reduce injury risk. With the increasing need to identify potential injury with greater accuracy, a new risk assessment process has been produced; The Performance Matrix (battery of movement control tests). As with any new method of objective testing, it is fundamental to establish whether the same results can be reproduced between examiners and by the same examiner on consecutive occasions. ⋯ It is concluded that both inter and intra-rater reliability of tests in The Foundation Matrix are acceptable when rated by experienced therapists. Recommendations are made for modifying some of the criteria to improve reliability where excellence was not reached. Key pointsThe movement control tests of The Foundation Matrix had acceptable reliability between raters and within raters on different daysAgreement between observations made on tests performed real-time and on video recordings was low, indicating poor validity of use of video recordingsSome movement evaluation criteria related to specific tests that did not achieve excellent agreement could be modified to improve reliability.