Recovery & Sleep

The associations among athlete status, sleep, and well-being in a large national sample of college students.

This study examined how sleep patterns might explain differences in well-being (flourishing) between college athletes and non-athletes. Athletes reported better sleep quality, more consistent sleep schedules between weekdays and weekends, longer overall sleep, and more frequent napping than non-athletes, and these sleep factors were associated with higher well-being scores, though the connections were modest.

No Influence of Sleep Quality and Chronotype on the Effects of Mental Fatigue: Evidence From an Exploratory Analysis.

This study tested whether sleep quality and chronotype (morning vs. evening person) influence how mental fatigue—induced by a 45-minute cognitive task—affects physical performance, perceived effort, and cognitive function. The researchers found that sleep quality and chronotype primarily affected subjective feelings of mental fatigue and sleepiness, but had no meaningful impact on actual physical performance or cognitive task results.

Muscle Massage Adding Capacitive Resistive Electric Transfer Therapy in Active or Sham Condition for Post-Exercise Recovery in Athletes: A Crossover Clinical Trial.

This study tested whether adding capacitive resistive electric transfer (CRET) therapy to a standard recovery massage helped athletes recover better after intense anaerobic exercise, compared to massage alone. Adding active CRET lowered blood lactate levels at 60 minutes post-exercise and showed some changes in muscle tissue on ultrasound, but didn't improve actual performance measures like strength or power output compared to sham treatment.

Acute differences in field-based physical performance between Ramadan-type fasting and non-fasting conditions in 10–11-year-old youth soccer players

This study compared how 10-11-year-old soccer players performed on various field tests after either fasting for 14 hours or eating a normal meal, measuring their jumping, sprinting, agility, and intermittent endurance abilities. Fasting didn't affect short explosive movements like jumping and sprinting, but it significantly reduced intermittent endurance performance, while also increasing fatigue perception, heart rate, and perceived exertion during the tests.

Post-race lactate, clearance velocity, and recovery protocols in youth competitive swimming

This study examined how a 1200-meter cool-down protocol helps youth swimmers clear lactate (a fatigue byproduct) after races of different distances, and whether perceived effort and recovery feeling correlated with actual lactate levels. Swimmers racing 100m accumulated more lactate immediately after racing and cleared it faster during cool-down, though the total amount cleared was similar across race distances.

From monitoring metrics to decision evidence: validating actionability in applied sport science

Returning to Competition after a Long Break: A Practical Guide for the Adult Swimmer

Multidimensional Monitoring of Recovery States, Biomarkers, Workload, and Performance in Elite Basketball: An Exploratory Longitudinal Field Study

The Mum-Alete: An Observational Survey-Based Study of Australian Athletes Returning to High-Performance Sport After Pregnancy.

Investigation of the Relationship Between Linear Sprint, Curve Sprint and Change of Direction Speed in Young Male Soccer Players and Comparison According to Playing Positions

Kurashchilarda mushak toliqishidan so‘ng qayta tiklanishning fiziologik mexanizmlari va ilmiy asoslangan strategiyalari

Association between college students 'physical fitness index and negative emotional symptoms: an empirical study based on college students in Chongqing City, China

Growing a Better Airway: Rapid Maxillary Expansion, Nasal Breathing, and the Open Question of Aerobic Development in the Child and Adolescent Athlete

This review examined whether rapid maxillary expansion (RME)—a procedure that widens the upper jaw to reduce nasal airway resistance—could improve aerobic development in young athletes. The study found that RME consistently decreases nasal airway resistance and may improve sleep quality, but there is currently no evidence that it directly enhances athletic performance or aerobic capacity.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Curcumin as Non-Pharmacological Strategies for Modulating Post-Exercise Inflammation in Individuals with Autoimmune Diseases: A Scoping Review

This scoping review examined whether omega-3 fatty acids and curcumin could help reduce exercise-related inflammation in people with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. While both supplements show some anti-inflammatory promise in theory, the review found limited direct evidence that either reliably reduces post-exercise inflammation in autoimmune populations, though omega-3 showed the strongest results in rheumatoid arthritis specifically.

Sports participation and physical health outcomes: the mediating roles of educational attainment and health-related behaviors

Precision Prevention for Health: The Global Alliance Framework for the Promotion of Physical Activity

Extreme energy expenditure during a 200 km three-day open-water swim: A doubly labeled water case study

This case study measured the total energy expenditure of an Olympic-level swimmer during a 200 km three-day open-water swim using doubly labeled water, a precise scientific method. The swimmer burned approximately 46,700 kcals over three days (about 14,700 kcals per day), which is among the highest energy expenditure rates ever recorded in humans, likely due to the combination of near-continuous exercise and the body's need to maintain heat in cold water.

Effects of mental fatigue on agility and coordination in female soccer players under high ambient temperature

This study examined how mental fatigue (induced by a challenging cognitive task) and high heat affect agility and coordination in female soccer players. Mental fatigue and high temperature each independently slowed agility performance, but coordination was only significantly harmed when both mental fatigue and heat occurred together.

Isometric knee strength and postural control show no robust baseline associations in young soccer players

Effectiveness of Fartlek Training on Maximum Oxygen Consumption and Resting Pulse Rate in Relay Runners

Association of sleep efficiency with cardiac autonomic modulation in young and professional soccer players during pre-season.

This study examined whether sleep quality was linked to heart rate variability (a measure of how well your nervous system recovers) in 53 soccer players aged 15 to professional level during pre-season training. Professional players showed better aerobic fitness, and the study found that sleep efficiency was positively associated with cardiac autonomic modulation and aerobic performance across all competitive levels.

Improving sleep monitoring in athletes: a comparative evaluation of four automated sleep scoring algorithms on 204 polysomnography recordings.

This study evaluated four automated AI algorithms (Luna, U-Sleep, YASA, and GSSC) for analyzing sleep stages in 204 sleep recordings from 75 athletes, comparing them to manual expert scoring. All four algorithms performed well with strong agreement to manual scoring, but GSSC was the most accurate and reliable overall, particularly resistant to poor signal quality which commonly occurs when monitoring athletes in real-world settings.

Plant-Derived Whole Foods and Food-Based Supplements on Post-Exercise Recovery in Physically Active Individuals: A Systematic Review of Human Intervention Trials.

Supramaximal Isometric Holds Enhance Squat Performance: An Integrated Analysis of Barbell Kinematics, Force Production, and Postural Stability

Sleep-related metrics that predict training intensity: an exploratory study in women's college athletics.

Effects of caffeine supplementation on post-exercise recovery: a systematic review and three-level meta-analysis of perceptual, functional performance, physiological, and sleep outcomes.

Training exposure, recovery, and injury incidence among course-based and competitive university Wushu Taolu practitioners: a 12-week prospective cohort study

This 12-week study compared injury rates between competitive university Wushu Taolu athletes and casual course-based practitioners in China, tracking 255 total participants across multiple waves. Competitive athletes had a higher overall injury rate (68.9% vs. 20.0%), but when adjusted for their higher training volume, the injury rate per training hour was similar between groups, and a history of prior injury was a strong predictor of future injury.

Rethinking neurophysiology of delayed onset muscle soreness: updated concepts and mechanisms for mitigation across endurance, resistance, and plyometric exercise

This review examined how delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) develops across different exercise types, finding that it involves multiple interconnected systems including inflammation, nerve sensitivity, and proprioceptive changes rather than just muscle damage alone. Different exercise modalities activate distinct pathways—endurance causes cumulative inflammation, resistance training sensitizes pain receptors, and plyometrics disrupts balance control—and recovery interventions like compression, acupuncture, and foam rolling show varying effectiveness depending on the exercise type and individual response.

Running Constraints Shape Multifractal Movement Complexity Beyond Physiological and Mechanical Load: A Pilot Study

Applying sport and performance psychology to space exploration: enhancing astronaut training, performance and mission readiness

This paper examines how mental performance techniques used in elite athletics could support astronauts during long-duration space missions, noting that both athletes and astronauts face similar demands for high performance under extreme psychological pressure. The authors review self-regulation techniques and technological tools from sport psychology that may help astronauts maintain mental health and readiness during isolated and confined conditions on Moon and Mars missions.

An Investigation into the Effects of Different Training Approaches on Muscle Strength and Explosive Power Performance in Table Tennis Players

This study examined whether adding 6 weeks of robot-assisted multi-ball training to traditional table tennis training improved muscle strength and explosive power in 46 young players. Both the robot-assisted group and the control group (traditional training only) showed improvements in forehand and backhand performance, but the robot-assisted training provided no additional benefit over traditional training alone for strength gains or vertical jump ability.

Body composition and handgrip strength as predictors of maximal strength and maximum push-up and pull-up performance in resistance-trained young men

This study examined how body composition and handgrip strength predict maximal strength and bodyweight exercises (push-ups and pull-ups) in 71 resistance-trained young men. Handgrip strength was a strong predictor of bench press and lat pulldown performance, while higher muscle mass and lower body fat predicted deadlift strength, though the relationships were task-specific and the predictive models explained 51–80% of performance variance depending on the exercise.

Effects of 10% Versus 30% Velocity Loss Thresholds on Strength and Explosive Performance in Trained Female Collegiate Athletes: A Randomized Parallel-Group Trial

This study compared training female collegiate athletes with two different velocity-loss thresholds (stopping sets when movement speed dropped 10% versus 30%) during squat training for 8 weeks. The 30% velocity-loss group gained more maximal squat strength, while the 10% velocity-loss group showed better improvements in long jumping and sprint speed, though both groups improved across all measures tested.

The Effects of Different Dietary and Glycogen-Loaded Two-a-Day Training Approaches on Muscle Damage and Inflammatory Markers for Enhancing Metabolic Efficiency

Fluctuation of conflict and attentional processes underlying inhibitory control during high-intensity interval training.

This study had 31 adults perform mental attention tasks while doing high-intensity interval training on a bike, measuring their accuracy, reaction time, and brain electrical activity to track how well they could control their attention. During hard exercise intervals, people got faster but made more mistakes on tricky tasks and showed reduced brain signals related to attention control, though these changes reversed during recovery periods.

Associations between time-series features of training-load monitoring indicators and relative composite performance in elite speed climbers: a GEE and quantile regression study

Relationship between Energy Availability and Phenotype in Free-Living Athletes.

This study examined how energy availability affects body composition, diet, sleep, and well-being in 75 Spanish elite and pre-elite athletes across different sports. Surprisingly, athletes with low energy availability showed higher bone mineral markers than those with adequate energy availability, while other measures like fat mass and lean mass showed no significant differences.

Time course of eccentric hamstring strength recovery after a competitive match in under-20-year-old football players

This study tracked eccentric hamstring strength in elite under-20 football players at 24, 48, and 72 hours after a competitive match. On average, hamstring strength dropped 16% one day after the match, 13% after two days, and returned to normal by three days; however, 40% of players still showed strength deficits in at least one leg at the 72-hour mark.

Comparative effects of short- and long-distance sprint training on speed, change-of-direction ability, and intermittent aerobic endurance in collegiate basketball players

This study compared short-distance sprint training versus long-distance sprint training in collegiate basketball players over 6 weeks, using the same total training volume for both groups. Both training approaches improved sprint speed, change-of-direction ability, and aerobic endurance similarly, with only the short-distance sprint group showing significantly greater gains in 5-meter sprinting.

Daily prospective associations of structured and unstructured physical activity within 24-hour movement behaviour composition with next-day affect in adolescent athletes: a Bayesian multilevel compositional analysis

This study tracked 169 adolescent athletes over 14 days to see how their daily balance of sleep, sitting time, light activity, and moderate-to-vigorous exercise affected their mood the next day. The researchers found that spending more time doing light physical activity was linked to better moods and less negative emotions the following day, while spending more time sitting was associated with worse moods, and replacing sitting time with light activity showed clear mood benefits.

Association between dietary intake, energy availability, and recovery in young sub-elite Moroccan football players.

This study tracked 19 young Moroccan football players over four weeks to see how their daily food intake and energy availability (calories consumed minus calories burned) affected their recovery after training, matches, and rest days. The researchers found that players had significantly lower energy availability on training days compared to match and rest days, and that higher energy availability was strongly linked to lower perceived effort and better subjective recovery, though the connection to jumping performance was weak.

Prevalence, burden and risk markers of health problems in HYROX athletes: a 12-week prospective cohort study

This study tracked 89 HYROX athletes (a hybrid fitness competition mixing running and functional stations) for 12 weeks and found that about 30% experienced health problems weekly, with overuse injuries—particularly in the knee and lower leg—being the dominant issue. Previous injury was identified as a potential risk marker for greater cumulative injury severity, though the researchers note this finding needs confirmation in larger studies.

Contralateral repeated bout effect in the triceps surae after unilateral heel drop exercise at 2- and 7-day interbout intervals

This study tested whether doing eccentric heel drops with one leg protects the other leg from strength loss and soreness, examining two different time gaps (2 or 7 days) between workouts. The researchers found that exercising one leg reduced strength loss in the opposite leg after both time intervals, though soreness protection only appeared in the 2-day group.

Biomarker Targets for Stress Fracture Surveillance and Intervention in Military Personnel: A Scoping Review.

This scoping review examined biomarkers (measurable indicators of tissue damage) that could help identify military personnel at risk for musculoskeletal injuries, particularly stress fractures, and explored how modifiable health behaviors might influence these biomarkers. Vitamin D emerged as the most commonly studied biomarker across 22 studies, though the review found that existing research uses suboptimal study designs and often fails to account for contextual factors like seasonality, sleep, training load, and smoking that affect biomarker levels.

Trigonelline improves mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and reduces calpain activity after skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice.

Time-of-day variation in endurance and strength performance, and physiological state across the waking day

A Six-Week Dynamic Stretching Warm-Up Protocol Enhances Dynamic Balance but Not Sprint and Agility Performance in Adolescent Male Volleyball Players

Effects of polyphenol-rich interventions on the time-course of muscle recovery and athletic performance following exercise-induced muscle damage: a three-level meta-analysis

The effects of resistance band training on strength, vertical jump and sprint performance in young male basketball players: a randomised controlled trial

Opportunities for correcting psychosomatic states of elite athletes during pre-competition activities using off-training methods and extra-training means

Delayed lead straight punch performance following resistance priming with different velocity-loss thresholds in highly trained boxers

EFFECTS OF AN ANTIOXIDANT-RICH DIET ON MUSCLE SORENESS FOLLOWING TRAINING IN ADOLESCENT SOCCER PLAYERS

From Physiology to Bioheat Simulation: A Data‐Driven Framework for Core Temperature Initialization

How digital lifestyles transform women’s exercise participation: a mixed methods study from China

Integrating calisthenics into volleyball training: effects on athletic performance and technical skills in adolescent athletes

Integrative Nutritional Strategies for Performance, Recovery, and Weight Management in Taekwondo

Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Combined with Lycopene on Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Collegiate Badminton Players After High-Intensity Training

Training Load-Recovery Mismatch and Injury Occurrence in Competitive Athletes: Insights From Longitudinal Monitoring.

Menstrual cycle hormonal fluctuations and their associations with athletic performance and injury susceptibility in female athletes.

From Macronutrients to Functional Foods: Nutritional Strategies for Recovery Following High‐Intensity Exercise

Inter-Set Blood-Flow Restriction Increases Peripheral Physiological Stress While Preserving Repeated-Sprint Mechanical Output in Trained Athletes.

Researchers had 26 national-level male badminton players do repeated 5-second cycling sprints, applying blood-flow restriction cuffs (or a sham low-pressure cuff) to the legs during the rest periods between sets. Sprint power was unaffected by the cuffs, but BFR lowered muscle oxygen levels and slowed reoxygenation during recovery, raised leg discomfort and perceived effort, and led to a drop in countermovement jump height afterward.

Similar Muscle Recovery but Greater Soreness in Active Vegans on Low‐Protein Diets Compared to High‐Protein Omnivores Following Exercise‐Induced Damage

The future development of rehabilitation

Mechanism-based nutritional strategies for performance and recovery in soccer players: a qualitative research synthesis.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Tobacco/Nicotine Use Among Recent Graduates-United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 2022-2025.

Effects of Magnesium Supplementation on Selected Strength and Speed Performance Tests in Elite Soccer Players

The Health Benefits of Exercise: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms

Network-based performance analysis of multidimensional performance characteristics in trained male youth combat athletes

A Comparative Analysis of Handgrip Strength, Vertical Jump, Agility, Flexibility, and Joint Range of Motion in Young Male Tennis and Badminton Players

Dmax-derived lactate-threshold intensity profiles and associated factors in adolescent swimmers: a multicenter cross-sectional study

Thermographic and Calorimetric Assessment of Upper-Limb Muscle Recovery Following Wushu Training in University Martial Artists

The Relationship Between Physical Condition And Environment-Based Talent Development And The Achievement Of Muaythai Athletes In Tanah Laut Regency In The 2025 Province Championship

High-Intensity Exercise Induced Changes in Oxidative Stress and Skeletal Muscle Damage in Male Endurance and Resistance Trained Athletes: A Comparative Study

Sprint and explosive performance changes following six weeks of plyometric training in collegiate track and field athlete

PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPING ENDURANCE CONSIDERING THE AGE-SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FOOTBALL PLAYERS

The cold‐water immersion recovery–adaptation paradox: Reconciling acute parasympathetic and analgesic benefits with chronic hypertrophy attenuation

Acute Responses of CK, LDH, CRP, and IL-6 Following Exercise-Induced Fatigue in Healthy Young Male Adults

Orthometria: Metric Fixation in Digital Health and a Framework for Responsible Use in High-Performance Sport.

Does chronic polyphenol supplementation modify resistance training-induced strength and muscle morphology adaptations in adults? A systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Space physiology: Challenges and solutions for a journey to Mars

Sleep and athletic performance

Ketone Ester Intake Did Not Improve Performance, Neither Cognitive Function or Sleep, During an 8-Day Simulated Cycling Race.

Post-exercise consumption of milk or Greek yogurt may support the anti-inflammatory environment following high-intensity exercise

Influence of Training Load on Recovery, Wellness, and Performance in Elite Soccer Athletes.

Coping with Stress in Athletes: Psychological Strategies and Psychometric Tools for Stress and Anxiety Assessment.

Acute effects of squat and core exercises using elastic bands on post-activation performance enhancement in tennis players: control, randomized, crossover trials

Global research trends in youth soccer: A 20-year bibliometric analysis (2005-2025)

Determinants of Match Play’s Top-End Sprint Speed from Female Collegiate Soccer Players

Effect of <i>Lactiplantibacillus plantarum</i> GKK1 Supplementation on Exercise-Induced Fatigue, Muscle Damage, and Recovery in Healthy Men: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Interactive associations of daily music engagement and nutritional behavior with psychological performance in competitive athletes: a 14-day naturalistic diary study.

Functional and muscle recovery after critical illness: current and future nutritional, physical and metabolic strategies.

This review examines why muscle weakness and loss of physical function persist for years after a stay in intensive care, and what nutrition, exercise and metabolic treatments can do about it. It reports that simply giving more calories/protein or more exercise during the acute phase does not improve long-term outcomes and can even harm some patients, because the body is temporarily resistant to anabolic (muscle-building) signals; the authors propose timing nutrition and training in phases as inflammation subsides and the body becomes able to respond.

Tracking sleep in ultramarathon male runners before, during, and after a mountain race: Actigraphic evidence of sleep restriction.

Researchers used wrist actigraphy to track sleep in 15 male ultramarathon runners for a week before, during, and a week after a 135 dash;217 km mountain race. Runners slept poorly overall (mostly under 8 hours, low sleep efficiency, lots of night waking), averaged only about 97 minutes of sleep during the race itself, and nearly all reported symptoms like sleepiness, loss of balance, or hallucinations; race sleep was not linked to finish time.

Tourniquet Use Independently Predicts Early Quadriceps Muscle Inhibition Following Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Dose-Response Analysis.

Researchers compared 110 knee replacement patients whose surgery used a tourniquet (a limb blood-flow cuff) versus those whose surgery did not, checking on days 1 and 3 whether patients could lift the straight leg off the bed \u2014 a sign the quadriceps is working. Quadriceps shutdown was far more common with a tourniquet (40.4% vs 18.9%), and tourniquet use, higher BMI, and longer surgery each independently predicted inhibition, with longer tourniquet time meaning greater risk.

Rapid Weight Loss in Combat Sports: Health Risks, Performance Trade-Offs, and Evidence-Based Weight Management — A Scoping Review

This scoping review mapped the research on rapid weight loss ("weight cutting") in combat sports like boxing, MMA, wrestling and judo. It found the practice is very common and typically uses dehydration, energy restriction and heat exposure, with risks including electrolyte imbalance, kidney injury, hormonal disruption, poor sleep, mood changes and disordered eating; evidence that regaining weight fast after weigh-in improves competitive success was inconclusive.

Nicotine and Tobacco Products in Sport and Exercise: A Scoping Review of Use Patterns, Exercise Performance, Physiological Responses, and Health Outcomes

This review pooled existing research on how nicotine and tobacco use relates to athletic performance, physiology, health, dependence, and doping rules. Nicotine use among competing athletes was fairly common (especially in men and team sports), but performance effects were inconsistent — a few endurance, repeated-sprint and skill tasks showed possible benefits while most strength, anaerobic and time-trial studies showed none, and smoking was linked to worse lung function, lower VO2max, and slower heart-rate recovery.

Exercise and Fat: A Primer

This narrative review summarizes what's known about body fat and exercise, covering the different types of fat cells (white, brown, beige), how fat is burned as fuel during exercise, and how fat tissue changes with training. It notes that fat is the main fuel source at moderate exercise intensities and that both endurance and resistance training prompt fat and muscle tissue to release signaling molecules (exerkines) that drive adaptations and improve metabolic health.

Correlation between the reduction of IL-6 and TNF-α with muscle mass restoration in hyperthyroid patients post-radioactive iodine therapy.

The Relationship Between Dietary Intake and Meal Timing on Sleep Behaviors in Professional Male Rugby League Athletes.

Researchers tracked 7 days of food intake and actigraphy-measured sleep in 28 professional male rugby league athletes during preseason, looking at whether what and when they ate was linked to sleep quality. The only significant finding was that more sugar eaten after 6 PM was associated with slightly lower sleep efficiency; no other dietary factors were linked to sleep outcomes.

The effect of sorbet containing the Australian native plant Davidson plum (<i>Davidsonia jerseyana</i>) on muscle recovery following a high-intensity interval training session in long-distance runners - A protocol for a double-blind parallel trial.

This is a study protocol (a plan, not results) for a double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial testing whether eating a strawberry sorbet made with Davidson plum powder for about 10 days improves muscle recovery in trained long-distance runners after a high-intensity interval session. Recovery will be tracked with soreness ratings, jump performance on force plates, sit-and-reach flexibility, and blood creatine kinase, but no findings are reported yet.

The post-activation performance enhancement of sub-maximal load back squat with varied range of motion and intra-set fatigue on jump height in trained males

Twelve trained men did a single heavy back squat set (87% of 1RM) in four ways — deep or half squats, either stopping short of failure or going to failure — and then jumped at 4, 8, and 12 minutes afterward. All four protocols boosted countermovement jump height, but the stop-short sets peaked earlier (4 minutes) than the to-failure sets (8 minutes), and half squats produced bigger gains than deep squats.

AI-Driven Motion Capture for Health-Oriented Performance Analysis and Training Optimization in Boxing

Researchers put wearable motion sensors on 15 professional and 97 amateur boxers and used machine learning to predict fatigue and training load, then fed those predictions into a system that recommends training adjustments. The fatigue classifier and load model performed well (AUC 0.91 and R² 0.89), and using the recommender reportedly reduced fatigue-related overload episodes by 21.3% and injuries by 13.8%.

Preliminary field evaluation and exploratory external-association analysis of a modified wellness questionnaire for short-term monitoring in elite male water polo players.

Running Momentum as a Potential Complement to Aerobic Speed in Evaluating Performance in Male Football Players

Combined L-carnosine and L-tyrosine supplementation as an ergogenic strategy for physical and cognitive performance under fatigue in professional football players

In a randomized, double-blind crossover trial, 24 professional male footballers took L-carnosine, L-tyrosine, both together, or a placebo before a fatiguing Wingate protocol, then did sprints, agility, passing and Stroop cognitive tests. Carnosine mainly boosted anaerobic power and agility, tyrosine mainly boosted cognition, and the combination worked best (~17% higher peak power, 7-13% faster sprint/agility times, ~15% faster incongruent Stroop reaction time) with lower perceived exertion but no change in blood lactate.

A Biopsychosocial Model of Athlete Performance: Integrating Psychological Skills, Coaching Competence, Nutritional Readiness and Well-Being Among Nigerian University Athletes

Researchers surveyed 149 university athletes in Nigeria to see how psychological skills, coaching quality, nutritional readiness and general well-being related to their self-reported competitive performance. Together these four factors explained about 61% of the differences in performance, with coaching competence the strongest single contributor, followed by well-being, mental skills and nutrition.

Impact of Combined Core Strength, Balance and Visual Skill Training on Selected Skill-Related Physical Fitness and Performance Variables of School-Level Badminton Players in Tirupathur District: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Researchers gave school-age badminton players in Tamil Nadu a 12-week programme combining core strength, balance, and visual (eye-tracking/coordination) training, then compared them with players doing their usual training. The trained group showed greater gains in agility, dynamic balance, explosive power, eye-hand coordination, and badminton skill performance than the control group.

Chronotype, temporal eating patterns, and sleep behaviors among physically active university students: A cross-sectional study.

Researchers surveyed 200 physically active university students (exercising at least 3 days and 150 minutes per week) to see how their body-clock preference, meal timing, and sleep fit together, using questionnaires plus three-day sleep and food records. Eating the first and last calories of the day later was independently linked to being more of an "evening person," and evening types tended to have less favorable sleep; total calories and macronutrients showed no relationship with sleep outcomes.

Clinical Limitations of Oral Contraceptives in the Management of Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea in Female Athletes

This review examined whether birth control pills are a good way to protect bone health in female athletes who have lost their periods due to low energy availability (functional hypothalamic amenorrhea). It reports that the pill creates a withdrawal bleed without actually restoring normal hormonal function, which can hide an ongoing energy deficit, and that oral estrogen may lower IGF-1 and blunt bone benefits, whereas transdermal (patch) estradiol avoids liver first-pass metabolism and preserves IGF-1.

Evaluation of GFAP, UCH-L1 and S100B Blood Biomarkers for the Management of Sports-Related Concussion in Professional Rugby Players: A Prospective Observational Study

Researchers tracked 68 elite French rugby players over two seasons, measuring three brain-injury blood markers (GFAP, UCH-L1, S100B) at baseline, after matches, and after 23 suspected concussions. S100B and UCH-L1 rose 2 hours after normal matches in line with how many contacts a player had, but all markers returned to baseline by 36 hours; at 36 hours, a rise in S100B or elevated GFAP flagged concussion with 100% specificity but low sensitivity (52% combined).

Exercise alone or combined with functional foods in aging and age-related diseases: targeting DNA damage, repair pathways, and genome integrity

This is a review paper that pulls together existing molecular, animal, and human research on how regular exercise and "functional foods" (those rich in polyphenols, omega-3s, and flavonoids) affect DNA damage, DNA repair, oxidative stress, and genome integrity as we age. It focuses especially on the brain and whether combining exercise with these nutrients adds anything beyond either one alone, and the authors conclude such lifestyle approaches show promise while noting that translational human evidence is still limited.

Predicting athletic performance in track and field athletes based on wearable physiological and psychological indicators: an interpretable machine learning study

Researchers tracked 132 track-and-field athletes for about 14 weeks, using wearable data (heart rate variability, resting heart rate, sleep, training load) plus psychological measures (anxiety, self-efficacy) to predict how each athlete's performance would change the following week. A machine-learning model combining both types of data predicted weekly performance change better than physiological monitoring alone, and psychological readiness—especially self-efficacy—mattered most for technical events, though much of the model's accuracy came simply from knowing an athlete's competitive level.

Implementation Challenges and Enablers of Wearable Health Technologies in Physiotherapy Among English-Speaking Participants in India: A Qualitative Study

Researchers surveyed 62 practicing physiotherapists in India (via an English-language online questionnaire) about what helps or hinders using wearable health devices like activity and movement trackers in clinical practice. Therapists saw real potential for wearables to improve care and personalise treatment, but flagged limited time, lack of training, poor market access, data privacy and reliability concerns, and high cost as the main barriers.

A common WBGT limit activates unequally across Grand Slam tennis venues because dry heat suppresses the wet-bulb term

Researchers used a decade of hourly weather data to calculate wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) at the four tennis Grand Slam venues and check whether the same WBGT heat-policy thresholds get triggered equally. They found they don't: the very hot but dry Australian Open never hit the suspension threshold despite air temperatures up to 44 °C, while the humid US Open came closest, and at matched air temperatures (33–37 °C) WBGT ran about 3.2 °C higher in New York than in Melbourne.

Carbon monoxide and other “tricks” in sports: does the winner take it all?

This is an opinion piece, not an experiment: it uses the trend of athletes repeatedly inhaling carbon monoxide (and using simulated-altitude hypoxia) as an example of risky shortcuts chased in elite sport. The author notes CO inhalation has been banned by cycling's governing body and WADA over safety concerns, that its performance benefits are unproven and possibly offset by inflammation and toxicity, and argues that lasting success comes from years of consistent, evidence-based training rather than tricks.

Run Smart, Run Strong: Exploring the Role of Physiotherapy in Running Load Management and Injury Prevention Among Recreational Runners

This narrative review pulled together six randomized trials on recreational runners to see whether physiotherapy-style exercise and smarter training-load management reduce running injuries and improve performance. It reported that a multi-component exercise programme cut overall and overuse running injuries, HIIT and plyometrics improved power, sprint speed and agility, while isolated hip/core or ankle/foot drills produced only small biomechanical changes with no clear clinical benefit.

Gut microbiome and functional adaptations to paleo and rational diets in professional athletes: a pilot study

Ten professional male handball players were randomly assigned to eat either a Paleo diet or a conventional ("rational") diet of equal calories for 8 weeks, with stool samples analyzed at the start, 4 weeks and 8 weeks to track gut bacteria. Neither diet substantially changed the core gut microbiome, though the rational diet produced some specific bacterial and functional shifts; the Paleo diet was lower in carbs and higher in (mostly unsaturated) fats, and both diets fell short on vitamin D, with the Paleo group also low in calcium.

Auditory-cued terminal knee extension enhances vastus medialis motor unit function in the early phase following ACL reconstruction: a randomized controlled trial

Researchers tested whether adding a rhythmic auditory cue (like a beep to time each rep) to terminal knee extension exercises changed inner-quad (vastus medialis) nerve-muscle activity in people two weeks after ACL reconstruction. In the 20 participants analyzed, the cued group showed significantly bigger increases in motor unit action potential size and muscle activity, plus a rise in firing rate, while the uncued group did not — though this was only a single session with immediate measurements.

Influence of Aerobics Training on Physical Health: The Auxiliary Effect of Sportswear Design on Cardiopulmonary Function and Sports Performance

Researchers put 20 female aerobics athletes through 8 weeks of training, with one group wearing gradient compression sportswear and the other ordinary cotton kit. The compression group showed bigger gains in VO2max (13.4% more) and lactate threshold (14.4% higher), used 10.6% less energy, had 33.3% less muscle vibration, and reported less perceived exertion and better thermal comfort.

Optimization of Textile Material Properties for Sports Protection Needs and Analysis of Design Compatibility for Athletic Protective Gear

This engineering paper looks at how to match textile material properties (impact absorption, stretch recovery, breathability, abrasion resistance) to the protective needs of different sports, using injury data and user feedback from six sport scenarios. It proposes a framework linking protection requirements to material optimization and gear design, but the abstract reports no tested performance results.

Altered kinematics and muscle activities during half squats in people with ankle sprain history

Researchers compared 10 physically active people who had recovered well from an ankle sprain ("copers") with 10 people who had never sprained an ankle, measuring joint angles and muscle activity during half squats and walking. During half squats, the copers showed less thigh rotation, more foot angle, and lower activity in the hamstring, quadriceps, and shin muscles, while walking showed almost no differences between groups.

Improvement of Sports Training Efficiency Driven by Artificial Intelligence Practice of Monitoring and Dynamic Adjustment of Training Load through Multimodal Physiological Data Fusion

This paper proposes an AI system that combines several types of physiological sensor data (rather than a single metric like heart rate) to estimate an athlete's training load in real time and automatically adjust the training plan. The authors report that their experiments showed more accurate load assessment, better performance, faster recovery, and fewer injuries, though the abstract gives no specific numbers, athlete details, or comparison conditions.

Objective Return-to-Sport (RTS) Decision Frameworks for Adolescent Shoulder and Elbow Injuries: Tests, Thresholds and Exercise Targets

This paper discusses objective frameworks for deciding when adolescent athletes can safely return to sport after shoulder and elbow injuries, including specific tests, pass/fail thresholds and exercise targets. No abstract was available, so the actual findings and recommendations can't be summarized here.

CDE-Driven Time-Series Analysis of Training Load and Injury Risk Prediction for Football Players

Researchers built a computer model that combines wearable-sensor data from professional footballers \u2014 acceleration, heart rate, speed, distance and recovery markers \u2014 with machine learning to track training load over time and estimate injury risk. Tested on long-term training data from pro players, the system reportedly predicted injury risk accurately and performed consistently across different training load levels.

“Happiness because I could play again”: professional mother footballers’ experiences of pregnancy and postpartum

Researchers interviewed nine professional footballers who had children, asking how they handled pregnancy and their return to play afterwards. Four themes emerged: stepping away from play is highly individual, returning requires gradually rebuilding strength, progress often comes with setbacks, and while support has improved there is still room to grow.

Endocrine markers of energy deficiency and within-day energy balance metrics in elite athletes

Researchers assessed 43 Swedish national-team athletes for Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) using body composition scans, resting metabolic rate, blood markers, questionnaires and 4-day food/energy tracking. Over half (53.5%) were classified with REDs — more often women — and these athletes had higher cortisol, lower resting metabolic rate ratio, lower energy intake and availability, and spent more time in energy deficit during the day; similar patterns showed up in half the 'control' athletes too, suggesting a continuum rather than clear-cut categories.

The Effect of Caffeine Mouth Rinsing on Shooting Performance in Bocce Volo Players: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Study

Twenty-four professional male bocce volo players each completed shooting tests under three conditions in random order: swishing a caffeine solution in the mouth, a placebo rinse, and no rinse. Shooting accuracy (both points and accuracy percentage) was significantly higher with the caffeine mouth rinse than with placebo or no rinse.

Similar Muscle Recovery but Greater Soreness in Active Vegans on Low-Protein Diets Compared to High-Protein Omnivores Following Exercise-Induced Damage.

Researchers put 7 physically active vegans and 7 omnivores through a hard lower-body squat and leg press session to failure, then tracked muscle damage markers (CK, LDH), soreness, jump performance and range of motion for 72 hours. The vegans ate far less protein (0.98 vs 2.14 g/kg) and fewer essential/branched-chain amino acids; both groups showed similar blood markers and functional recovery, but vegans reported markedly more muscle soreness at 24 and 72 hours.

<b>MAGNÉSIO E DESEMPENHO FÍSICO EM ATLETAS: UMA REVISÃO INTEGRATIVA</b>

This integrative review pooled 6 studies (from 175 initially found in PubMed, BVS and Cochrane) on whether magnesium intake or supplementation improves athletes' health and physical performance. It found that while supplementation reliably raises magnesium levels in the body, performance benefits were inconsistent in people who weren't already deficient "" gains seemed to come from correcting a nutritional shortfall rather than boosting performance directly.

Machine learning based ECG analysis with data augmentation for fatigue status detection in elderly individuals

Researchers built a cheap, portable ECG sensor (AD8232 plus ESP32 chip) and recorded 6,304 heart-signal segments from 100 older adults to see whether machine learning could spot fatigue. After boosting the data with augmentation techniques, a GRU neural network detected fatigue with 97.96% accuracy, 0.99 AUC and a 0.98 F1-score, beating LSTM, RNN, random forest and logistic regression models.

Inspirations of traditional Chinese martial arts Qinggong training for parkour

This is a conceptual paper, not an experiment: researchers compared historical Chinese Qinggong training texts with modern parkour coaching and movement-science literature to see where the two overlap. They found shared themes like movement continuity, soft landings, balancing on narrow supports, and gradual difficulty progression, and proposed five coaching ideas (e.g., using landing sound as feedback, varied fall drills, altering surfaces and visual conditions, monitored load progressions, and staged task sequencing) plus a foundation–specialization–practice framework — all untested hypotheses at this point.

DA PREVENÇÃO AO RETORNO AO ESPORTE: UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA INTEGRATIVA SOBRE CONCUSSÃO EM ATLETAS JOVENS

This review pooled 25 studies (2021-2025) on sport-related concussion in athletes aged 5-21, covering prevention, rehab, return to play, and biological monitoring. It reports that supervised early aerobic exercise sped up symptom recovery, neuromuscular training cut new sports injuries by 52%, psychosocial factors like anxiety and school load affected recovery, and past concussions were linked to higher depression and suicidal ideation risk; blood markers (GFAP, UCH-L1, NfL, t-tau) and retinal markers showed promise for objective monitoring.

Football Coaching, Academic Learning Time, and Student Success

Researchers interviewed student footballers, coaches, sports administrators and academic staff at several Ghanaian universities to understand how football coaching demands affect study time and academic success. They found football built discipline, time management, resilience and social connection, but also caused missed lectures, late assignments, fatigue and less study time in season, with flexible scheduling, mentoring and coach-lecturer cooperation helping students cope.

Pregnancy and postpartum experiences of elite para athletes: a cross-sectional survey

Researchers surveyed 25 elite Para athletes who had been pregnant, asking about their health, training changes, and return to sport. Pregnancy and newborn outcomes were generally good, but fewer than half received any advice about exercising during pregnancy even though most modified their training; median returns were 6 weeks to exercise, 14 to training, and 20 to competition.

The impact of an 8-week music listening and sports games programme on athletic mental energy and toughness in Chinese secondary school students

Researchers randomly assigned 200 Chinese secondary school students to 8 weeks of music listening only, sports games only, both combined, or regular exercise, then measured mental energy, mental toughness, blood oxygen, and the stress hormone cortisol. All intervention groups gained mental toughness and lowered cortisol, but combining music with sports games produced the biggest boosts in mental energy and the largest cortisol drop, with no differences between genders.

Comparative effects of different sport psychology interventions on anxiety in competitive athletes: a Bayesian network meta-analysis

Researchers pooled 24 randomized trials to test whether sport psychology interventions reduce anxiety in competitive athletes and to rank which approaches work best. Overall the interventions produced a moderate-to-large anxiety reduction versus control, with cognitive-behavioral therapy, arousal regulation, and mindfulness/acceptance methods all beating passive control and CBT most likely to rank first; effects were largest when training was delivered during the regular training period rather than right before competition.

Effect of Extensive Interval Training on Endurance Performance in Long-Distance Runners

Researchers had 15 male long-distance runners (aged 20-27) complete a program of extensive interval training, testing their endurance before and after with the 12-minute Cooper run test. Average distance covered rose from about 1,835 m to 1,929 m, a statistically significant improvement in endurance.

Creatine Monohydrate in Non-Athletic Adults: Are Health Benefits Independent of Exercise? A Critical Review

This review sifted through human research on creatine supplementation in non-athletic adults to see which health benefits show up on their own versus only alongside exercise. It reports that muscle and strength gains were most consistent in older adults who also did resistance training, while creatine alone produced small or inconsistent effects; cognitive benefits appeared without exercise but were modest and variable, and evidence for blood sugar, vascular, inflammation, and chronic-disease outcomes was preliminary. Standard doses were generally well tolerated, though serum creatinine can rise without indicating kidney problems.

Reproductive Disorders among Female Athletes: Causes, Pathomechanism, and Treatment Approaches – A Literature Review

This narrative review pulled together research and expert guidelines on reproductive problems in female athletes, from the older Female Athlete Triad idea to the broader RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) framework. It concludes that low energy availability is the main trigger, suppressing the hormonal signals that drive menstruation and harming bone, heart, metabolic, and mental health; treatment should focus on nutrition and psychological support, with hormone patches only as a last resort, while routinely prescribing oral contraceptives simply masks the underlying energy deficit.

Muscle power, menarche, estradiol, and lean mass in young female volleyball athletes: a cross-sectional study

Researchers compared 32 young female volleyball players (average age ~11) who had or had not started menstruating, measuring body composition, estradiol levels, medicine ball throw power, and vertical jump height. Girls who had reached menarche had higher estradiol and greater upper- and lower-body power; jump power tracked with estradiol levels, while throwing power tracked mainly with lean muscle mass.

Workload, maturation, and injury risk in youth football: A machine learning approach

Researchers tracked 240 male academy football players aged 12-18 for a year, recording GPS-based external load, session RPE internal load, and biological maturity (timing relative to peak height velocity), then used machine learning to predict time-loss injuries in the following week. The model combining workload and maturation predicted injuries best (AUC 0.78) versus load alone (0.76) and demographics alone (0.62), with acute:chronic workload ratio, maturity offset, and weekly high-speed distance the strongest predictors.

Distinct self-regulation patterns differentiate runners by recent injury history and current injury status: A cross-sectional study of Australian runners

Researchers surveyed 335 Australian runners and sorted them into four groups based on how recently they'd been injured, then compared their mental strategies, passion for running, and how they respond to pain. Runners who were currently or recently injured reported higher physical and emotional demands, more anxious overthinking, and less helpful pain responses, while never-injured runners had lower demands, more mental resources, fewer negative pain reactions, and more running experience.

Effects of physical activity distribution patterns on basketball skill acquisition and physical exercise self-efficacy among Chinese male university students: a randomised controlled trial

Researchers randomly split 105 male university students (18-25) into two 8-week basketball training programs with identical total volume and intensity, differing only in whether practice was crammed (massed) or spread out regularly, then followed up two months later. The spread-out schedule produced better gains in shooting and passing skills and in exercise self-efficacy, with some benefits persisting at follow-up, while dribbling improved in both groups with no significant difference between them.

Biological maturation may contribute to difference in neutrophil mobilization and IL-8 responses following repeated sprint exercise in athletes: a quasi-experimental study

Researchers had 30 trained athletes — adolescents grouped by maturity stage (before or around their growth spurt) plus adults — perform a standard repeated-sprint workout, then tracked immune markers in their blood (neutrophil counts and shape, plus the inflammatory signal IL-8) at rest and during recovery. Sprinting temporarily raised neutrophils and IL-8 in everyone, but adults and athletes around their growth spurt showed larger and/or longer-lasting immune responses than less mature adolescents, and these differences held even after accounting for age.

Effect of Integrated Strength-Conditioning and Recovery Protocols on Performance and Injury Risk in Young Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Researchers randomly assigned 84 youth athletes (average age ~15) to either their usual training or a 12-week program that combined strength and conditioning with structured recovery protocols. The integrated group improved more in 30-m sprint time, countermovement jump, and VO2max, and had 37% fewer injuries; integrated training and heart rate variability were both linked to lower injury odds.

Natural experiments in marathon running

This review explains how "natural experiments" \u2014 analysing huge real-world datasets of runners' training and race data rather than lab testing \u2014 have been used to study marathon physiology. It reports that such studies show marathons are run just below critical speed (with faster runners holding a higher fraction of it), and that heat, altitude, training program design, and pacing all affect marathon performance, largely agreeing with smaller lab studies while revealing subtler trends.

What is the pediatric sport framework, and how can it be applied in professional practice?

This is a concept paper, not an experiment: it proposes a framework called "Pediatric Sport" for guiding youth athletic development in both able-bodied and para-sport settings. The framework argues that training for kids and teens should be built around health first, combining biological maturation, psychological, environmental, nutritional, and training factors, with strategies to manage workload, track athletes over time, and avoid the overuse injuries, burnout, and dropout linked to early specialization.

The Cold Water Immersion and Cryotherapy in Post-Exercise Recovery: A Narrative

This narrative review pooled existing research on cold water immersion (10-15 minutes at 10-15\ixmath\degree C) and whole-body cryotherapy (2-4 minutes at -110 to -190\degree C) as post-exercise recovery tools. Both reliably reduced muscle soreness, markers of muscle damage and inflammation, and improved how recovered athletes felt, but repeated cold water immersion after resistance training may blunt muscle protein synthesis and muscle growth, while endurance adaptations appear largely unaffected.

The relationship between post-occlusive reactive hyperemia and the level of training and lifestyle in young adults.

Researchers compared blood flow in the smallest vessels (microcirculation) of 60 people \u2014 marathon runners, bodybuilders, MMA athletes, and non-athletes \u2014 by briefly cutting off blood flow to a limb with a cuff and measuring how quickly flow rebounded. The only measure that differed between groups was time to peak blood flow: MMA athletes rebounded fastest (about 21 seconds) versus roughly 38\u201348 seconds in the other groups, while resting flow, peak flow, and recovery time were similar across groups.

Sleep Loss and Post-Exercise Muscle Recovery Hormonal, Inflammatory, Metabolic and Circadian Mechanisms with Practical Implications for Athletes

This narrative review gathered existing research on how not getting enough sleep affects muscle recovery after exercise. The authors report that sleep loss appears to disrupt growth hormone/IGF-1 signaling, raise cortisol, alter testosterone, increase inflammation, lower muscle protein synthesis, impair mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity, and disturb muscle circadian rhythms — all of which may blunt repair and training adaptation.

Effects of Task Specificity on External and Internal Load in Professional Male Futsal Players: A Prospective Observational Study.

Researchers tracked 10 professional Spanish futsal players across 43 training sessions and 11 matches, measuring external load (hard accelerations and decelerations), perceived exertion, and wellness (soreness, stress, fatigue, sleep). Match days and drills that more closely mimicked the game produced the highest external and internal loads, and both the day of the week and task specificity significantly affected load and fatigue.

Post-Exercise Cardiac Autonomic Recovery and the Slow-Wave-Sleep Gate: A Systems Physiology Framework and Testable Predictions

This is a review paper arguing that deep (slow-wave) sleep isn't just a passive backdrop to recovery but actively drives how your nervous system rebounds after training. The authors synthesize existing evidence that parasympathetic ('rest and digest') activity peaks during slow-wave sleep and drops in REM, that boosting slow-wave activity raises parasympathetic HRV, and that vagal reactivation is blunted specifically during slow-wave sleep on nights after hard exercise \u2014 though they note the effect is window-specific and the human circuit-level mechanism is still inferred largely from rodent work.

Are Lower Limb Running Kinematics Altered 48 Hours After a Personal Best Half-Marathon Attempt? A Within-Subject Repeated-Measures Study.

Researchers tested 15 trained runners before and 48 hours after an all-out half-marathon, measuring 3D running form, soreness, and perceived recovery. Runners still felt less recovered and had more thigh tenderness, but their running mechanics were essentially unchanged apart from slightly longer ground contact time and a bit more ankle rotation.

Acute neuromuscular and short-term recovery responses to low-load exercise with individualized blood flow restriction in elite male volleyball players.

Thirty-three elite male volleyball players did low-load leg press sessions with blood flow restriction cuffs set at 0%, 40%, 60%, and 80% of their individual arterial occlusion pressure, while researchers tracked muscle activation (EMG), muscle thickness, 30-minute recovery, and how the cuffs felt. Higher pressures produced slightly larger acute neuromuscular and muscle-swelling responses on average, but recovery over the first 30 minutes was similar across all pressures, and discomfort, pain, pins-and-needles, and perceived effort all increased as pressure rose.

Current Evidence and Practical Considerations for Adaptogen Use in Exercise Recovery, Training Adaptation, and Exercise Performance in Athletes: A Narrative Review.

This narrative review gathered existing research on "adaptogen" supplements — ashwagandha, ginseng (Panax), Rhodiola rosea, and Cordyceps — and their potential effects on recovery, training adaptation, and performance in trained athletes. The authors report that a small number of varied studies hint at some benefits, with ashwagandha having the most consistent evidence, while the other three remain preliminary; overall the evidence is too thin and inconsistent to set dosing or efficacy recommendations, and female athletes are underrepresented.

Peculiarities of adaptation of the endocrine system of athletes to various types of physical exercises

This is a literature review that gathered existing research on how three hormones \and vitamin D markers ",- cortisol, testosterone, and vitamin 25(OH)D - behave in athletes both at rest and after training, sorted by the sport's dominant energy system. The authors report that hormonal adaptation appears specific to the type of exercise and energy system used, and they argue that standardized hormone-monitoring protocols and more research are still needed.

Acute Hamstring Fatigue in Elite Male Sixes Lacrosse Players Following a Single Competitive Match

Researchers tested hamstring isometric strength (using a 90:90 test on force plates) in ten elite male British lacrosse players before and after a single sixes lacrosse match. Peak force dropped with moderate-to-large effect sizes, and rapid force production at 100 and 200 ms dropped even more, indicating clear localized hamstring fatigue after just one match.

Digital health solutions for chronic disease physical activity management: wearable devices, artificial intelligence, and public health implementation

This review pulled together research on using wearable trackers and AI to boost physical activity in people with chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, lung disease, cancer survivorship, and older adults with multiple conditions. It found the strongest and most consistent benefits for behavior — more steps, more overall activity, better self-monitoring, and sometimes less sitting — while effects on function and clinical markers were mixed, and evidence on long-term health outcomes, cost, and AI specifically was still weak or early-stage.

Dietary Behavior, Physical Activity, and 24-Hour Rhythm Coherence: A Digital Phenotyping Perspective on Vascular and Glycemic Health.

This narrative review gathered and summarized research on how the timing and regularity of eating, exercise, and sleep across the 24-hour day relate to blood vessel and blood sugar health, proposing a concept the authors call "rhythm coherence." Across selected studies, earlier or more regular meal timing, walking or moving after meals, and consistent sleep-wake schedules were linked to better cardiometabolic profiles, but the evidence was mixed and the authors stress it does not prove that combined eating-activity-sleep alignment causes these benefits.

Comparative Effects of Biofeedback Electrical Stimulation, Kegel Exercise, and Vaginal Cone Training on Postpartum Pelvic Floor Muscle Weakness in Primiparous Women: A prospective real-world observational study

This large observational study followed 2,403 first-time mothers who had vaginal deliveries and had weakened pelvic floor muscles at 6 weeks postpartum, comparing no treatment, Kegel exercises, vaginal cone training, and biofeedback electrical stimulation over a 6-week intervention. Muscle strength (Type I and Type II fibers) was rated at baseline, 3 months, and 9 months postpartum, and the groups differed significantly in strength distribution at both follow-ups, though the abstract is cut off before reporting which method worked best.

Identification of Activity, Insulin, and Dietary Thresholds Associated With Exercise-Related Hypoglycaemia and Hyperglycaemia in Children With Type 1 Diabetes: A Free-Living Study Using Explainable Machine Learning.

Researchers tracked 36 children with type 1 diabetes for a week of normal life, combining continuous glucose monitors, accelerometers, and logs of exercise, food, and insulin, then used machine learning to find thresholds linked to low or high blood sugar during exercise, the 2 hours after, and overnight. Insulin boluses above 11% of the daily dose in the 4 hours before exercise (and above 17% during early recovery) and self-reported sessions longer than 80 minutes were linked to hypoglycaemia, while over 15 minutes of vigorous activity appeared protective against post-exercise lows and multiple sessions per day protected against overnight highs.

A Tripartite Framework of Conflict-Induced Stress, Acoustic Hypervigilance, and Ramadan Observance as Convergent Determinants of Circadian Decoherence in Athletes

This is a review paper (not a new experiment) proposing a framework for how three stressors irumen-conflict-related chronic stress, being jolted awake by missile sirens and emergency alerts, and Ramadan fasting irumen-can each disrupt sleep, cortisol rhythms, and recovery in athletes. The authors argue these pressures may compound when they overlap, distinguish siren-driven nighttime hypervigilance from ordinary screen-related sleep loss, and suggest cortisol markers plus countermeasures like noise management, adjusted meal timing, napping, and resilience training.

Longitudinal associations between physiological characteristics and performance in elite speed climbers

Researchers tracked 24 elite Chinese national team speed climbers (12 men, 12 women) across six testing blocks from 2022 to 2025, checking which physical qualities tracked with faster climbing times. Faster times in men were linked mainly to higher countermovement jump height, while in women they were linked mainly to short-duration relative lower-body anaerobic power (with a smaller link to 30-second anaerobic power).

Integrating mechanical, physiological, and muscle oxygenation responses during field-based tethered repeated-sprint exercise in male professional soccer players.

Ten professional soccer players did six all-out 35-m tethered sprints with 10-second rests while researchers tracked force, velocity, power, and muscle oxygen levels in the thigh (vastus lateralis) and arm (biceps brachii). The thigh muscle showed much greater oxygen depletion than the arm, oxygen levels only related to sprint performance in the last two sprints, and thigh oxygenation was linked to how much speed players lost across sprints; post-exercise heart rate and blood lactate showed no relationship with muscle oxygenation.

TruBlk™ Shilajit Resin Supplementation Improves Muscle Strength, Endurance, and Exercise Recovery in Males Undertaking Resistance Training: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Trial

Researchers gave 100 resistance-trained men aged 21-50 either 250 mg of a standardised shilajit resin twice daily or a placebo for 90 days, while everyone kept their normal training and diet. The shilajit group improved more than placebo in leg press 1RM (+26% vs +18%), muscle endurance, grip strength, perceived exertion and soreness, and also showed bigger drops in muscle-damage markers (creatine kinase, LDH), higher testosterone, and a small VO2max edge, with no adverse events reported.

Effects of post-exercise compression garments on subsequent endurance performance and delayed-onset muscle soreness in endurance athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Researchers pooled nine small controlled trials (158 endurance athletes total) testing whether wearing compression garments after exercise reduces muscle soreness and improves later endurance performance. Soreness scores leaned slightly in favor of compression at both the immediate and ~24-hour marks, but the results were statistically inconclusive, and performance effects couldn't be pooled at all — overall certainty was rated very low.

Effects of Three Consecutive Days of Diurnal Intermittent Fasting on Cognitive Function, Psychomotor Vigilance, and Sleep Quality in Adolescent Male Soccer Players: A Quasi-Experimental Parallel-Group Study

Researchers compared 35 adolescent male soccer players, half of whom fasted from dawn to sunset (~14 hours, no food or fluid) for three consecutive days, testing memory, attention, psychomotor vigilance, and subjective sleep/wellbeing. No significant group differences emerged in cognitive or reaction-time measures; a hint of divergent sleep quality did not survive statistical correction, and the authors stress the study was too small to prove fasting is harmless.

Delaying task failure in high-intensity exercise: a Pi-afferent-effort framework for targeted sports nutrition

This is a theory paper (not an experiment) proposing that fatigue during hard exercise comes from several limits converging at once: inorganic phosphate buildup impairing muscle contraction, acid-base disturbance, nerve feedback from the muscles restricting motor output, and how effort and pain feel. The authors then map common supplements onto whichever limit each is most likely to influence, e.g. nitrate to lower the ATP cost of work, creatine to support phosphocreatine and between-set recovery, beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate for acid-base buffering, caffeine for effort perception and pain tolerance, and carbohydrate for prolonged or repeated hard efforts.

The relationship between exercise commitment and psychological detachment from academic activities among Chinese college students: the chain mediating roles of self-identity and sense of belonging.

Researchers surveyed 850 Chinese college students to see how committed they were to exercise and how well they mentally switched off from schoolwork during downtime, also measuring self-identity and sense of belonging. Students with stronger exercise commitment reported less psychological detachment from academic thoughts, though the study was cross-sectional and self-reported, so it can't show cause and effect.

Generative artificial intelligence and large language models in sports medicine: a scoping review of applications, accuracy, and ethical implications.

This scoping review gathered 32 studies on how generative AI tools like ChatGPT are being used in sports medicine, covering training prescription, nutrition, rehab, mental health, clinical decisions, academic writing, and ethics. Accuracy was inconsistent dash outperforming in some areas (GPT-4 scored acceptable validity for jet lag advice, GPT-3.5 did not for sleep guidance), and the authors concluded AI may help as a supervised support tool but is not reliable for unsupervised clinical use.

Acute and Short-Term Neuromuscular and Perceptual Responses to Isometric vs. Dynamic Strength Training in Youth Soccer Players: A Randomized Crossover Trial.

Twenty-one teenage male soccer players did two matched strength sessions a week apart "and deadlifts/squats at 75-80% of 1RM (dynamic) versus maximal 4-second isometric squats and mid-thigh pulls"and researchers tracked jump height, bar speed, soreness and fatigue at 30 minutes and 24 hours afterwards. Jump height was higher 30 minutes after the isometric session than after the dynamic session, suggesting heavy dynamic lifting causes greater short-term neuromuscular fatigue than isometric work.

Hyrox®: Current Evidence on Physiology, Psychology and Performance Determinants

Researchers reviewed the 11 existing studies on Hyrox, the standardized hybrid fitness race, to summarize what's known about its physiological demands, psychological side, and what predicts performance. The evidence shows Hyrox creates sustained high metabolic and perceived effort, with the functional stations driving especially high blood lactate, and running ability was consistently the strongest predictor of overall race performance; psychology, recovery, sleep, and injury remain barely studied.

Neuromuscular Fatigue and Perceived Fatigability in the Hours Following a High‐Intensity Endurance Running Depend on the Exercise Protocol

Twelve trained men ran about 8 km three different ways \u2014 longer bouts at threshold pace, or shorter bouts at 30% and 50% above it \u2014 and researchers tracked leg strength, muscle function, tiredness and leg pain for 6 hours afterwards. All protocols left voluntary force reduced for at least 6 hours, but the threshold-pace run caused the biggest drop in nervous-system drive to the quad, while the fastest 50%-above protocol caused the greatest loss of contractile function, rapid force production, and the most lingering leg pain and tiredness.

Effect of Training Load and Recovery Time on Neuromuscular Performance in Elite Youth Soccer Players

Researchers tracked 75 elite youth male soccer players (U16-U18) over six months, measuring countermovement jump height before, 24 hours after, and 48 hours after moderate- and high-intensity training weeks. High-intensity weeks caused the biggest drop in jump performance at 24 hours, with only partial recovery by 48 hours, and bigger drops were seen in players whose recent workload spiked relative to their usual load (high acute-to-chronic workload ratio).

Impact of Qi dance on psychological stress, anxiety, and sleep quality among breast cancer patients in the rehabilitation phase: An investigation of intervention efficacy

Researchers randomly split 72 breast cancer patients in recovery into a Qi Dance group or a control group, then measured perceived stress, anxiety, sleep quality, and quality of life. The Qi Dance group improved significantly on all four measures compared with both their own baseline and the control group.

Hitting the Wall in Marathon Running: An Integrative Psychophysiological and Durability-Based Review

This narrative review examined why marathon runners "hit the wall" late in races, arguing that it isn't just glycogen depletion. The authors propose that late-race collapse stems from many interacting stressors \dehydration, gut problems, heat strain, neuromuscular and biomechanical fatigue, rising perceived effort, and pacing errors and that a runner's "durability" (resistance to deterioration over long efforts) helps explain why similarly fit runners fare differently.

Dynamic proprioceptive training improves functional recovery in sprinters with patellofemoral pain: A randomized trial.

This randomized trial put 60 recreational sprinters with knee (patellofemoral) pain into either a dynamic proprioceptive/balance-based training program or a conventional strengthening program, both supervised three times a week for 12 weeks, and tracked pain, dynamic balance, hop distance, and limb symmetry. The authors concluded that the proprioceptive training group achieved greater overall functional recovery than the strengthening group, though the abstract's results section is cut off and gives no specific numbers.

From Mechanisms to Practice: Gut Microbiome-Based Strategies for Supporting Recovery in Elite Athletes.

This review looks at how gut bacteria might influence athletic recovery, through effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, sleep, and the production of vitamins and other useful compounds. It reports that athletes tend to have gut microbes with greater capacity to make beneficial nutrients, that endurance and strength athletes show different microbial profiles, and that small trials of multi-strain Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotics have reported lower inflammatory markers, better oxidative stress markers, and improved sleep quality — though the authors stress the evidence is still preliminary and needs larger prospective studies.

Dietary Microplastic Exposure in Athletes: Implications for Metabolism, Gut Health, and Performance.

This narrative review asked whether microplastics swallowed through food, drinks, packaged sports products and supplements could matter for athletes, who tend to eat and drink a lot. It reports that lab, animal and food-contamination studies suggest plastics could disturb the gut barrier, microbiome, inflammation, oxidative stress, hormones and metabolism, but no direct studies exist in athletes, so effects on recovery, adaptation and performance remain plausible yet unproven.

Post-exercise glycaemic rebound characterises exploratory glucose-lactate response patterns during incremental rowing in elite male rowers: a cross-sectional study.

Researchers measured both blood glucose and lactate in 26 elite male rowers during a step-by-step incremental rowing test and in the first minutes of recovery. They found two distinct glucose response patterns — one 'coupled' with lactate and one dominated by a glucose spike shortly after exercise — that lactate measurements alone did not reveal, though the authors stress the practical meaning of these patterns is unknown.

Effectiveness of intermittent hypoxia on muscle recovery in rats: A systematic review.

Researchers pooled five animal (rat) studies testing whether intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (simulated altitude of about 4,000-4,500 m for a few hours a day), cold exposure (~4°C), or combinations with light exercise help muscle recover after fatigue or injury. The altitude exposure alone improved muscle regeneration, reduced scar tissue, and boosted contractile force versus passive rest, and with light aerobic exercise it raised markers of blood-vessel growth and repair; cold exposure boosted mitochondrial proteins but also raised oxidative stress, and study quality was rated as having 'some concerns.'

Sleep and Athletic Performance: A Multidimensional Review of Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms

Multidimensional review of the physiological and molecular mechanisms linking sleep quality and duration to athletic performance and recovery.

Effects of sleep deprivation on sports performance and perceived exertion in athletes and non-athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Systematic review and meta-analysis quantifying how acute sleep deprivation affects sports performance and perceived exertion.

Short-term creatine supplementation enhances strength, reduces fatigue, and accelerates recovery in resistance-trained athletes: a double-blind, randomized, crossover trial

Double-blind, randomized crossover trial testing whether short-term creatine loading affects strength, fatigue, and recovery in resistance-trained athletes.