elite sports – Seite 7

elite sports performance exercise physiology sports science

Performance diagnostics in endurance sports – anaeroboc threshold, VO2max, aerobic capacity – where do we go?

Exercise testing in athletes and patients is an important and valuable diagnostic tool in the hand of the physician and sport scientist. A close collaboration between sport scientist and sport physician creates a win-win-win-situation for athletes and patients and professionals equally. According to the demands of the sport an incremental lactate threshold test (determination of the anaerobic threshold), testing of VO2max and performance at VO2max, and a testing of aerobic capacity (performance at competitional level) are the tests of choice. All tests need to be valid, reliable and sport specific. Sport specificity in testing is for practical purposes the most important.

elite sports recovery sports science

Sleep – A Game Changer in the Athletic World?

The restorative qualities of sleep are fundamentally the basis of the individual athlete’s ability to recover and perform, and to optimally be able to challenge and control the effects of exercise regimes in high performance sport. Research consistently shows that a large percentage of the population fails to obtain the recommended 7–9 hours of sleep per night [17]. Moreover, recent years’ research has found that athletes have a high prevalence of poor sleep quality [6]. Given its implications on the recovery process, sleep affects the quality of the athlete’s training and outcome of competitions.

elite sports recovery sports science

Recovery strategies for football players

Recovery from intense efforts and matches demands special consideration, and recent years have seen the development of multiple new modalities which promise faster and better recovery. The world of professional football has taken notice, especially due to the repetition of matches and reduction of number of days in between for the best teams playing in the Champions League. Abd-Elbasset Abaïdia presented at the #SportSuisse2018 conference for Grégory Dupont, who was on duty with the World Cup winner French National team.

sports injury hip & groin sports physiotherapy RTS RTS

Return to sport following hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome: return to sport rates and methodological considerations

Research studies on “Return to sport” (or return to play) have been recently published also in the field of hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in athletes. While most published papers discuss cases series (low level of evidence), Lasse Ishoi and the group of K. Thorborg and P. Hölmich (Copenhagen, Denmark) conducted one of the first prospective cohort studies on this topic. The paper has already been published in AJSM and the results were presented at the #SportSuisse2018 conference. One of the key methodological points is the definition of “Return to sport” when conducting studies: is it return to any sport at any level, or return to preinjury sport at preinjury level?

exercise physiology sports science performance

Laboratory versus outdoor testing: Lactate endurance diagnostics and training management

Recording the endurance lactate concentration has for some 40 years now been considered the most sensitive parameter for identifying and differentiating the aerobic capacity in muscle metabolism. Lactate behavior or the lactate-running-speed ratio is influenced under lab conditions both by the shock absorption of the specific treadmill type, the treadmill angle of inclination, and outdoors by the ground conditions. What is decisive for both indoor and outdoor measurements is the integrative lactate behavior.

elite sports interview

Ellen Sprunger: from heptathlete to «health and performance» coordinator

Ellen Sprunger war während mehr als 10 Jahren eine feste Grösse in der Schweizer Leichtathletik und eines unserer Aushängeschilder international. Als Siebenkämpferin erzielte sie mit 6124 Punkten die zweitbeste Leistung einer Schweizerin aller Zeiten und sie gehörte auch im Sprint zur Schweizer Elite. Ende 2017 trat sie vom Spitzensport zurück. Nun kann Sie einen Teil ihrer Erfahrungen aus dem Leistungssport in ihre zweite Karriere als Managerin mitnehmen. Sie gibt uns in einem Interview Einblick in ihre sportliche Karriere und die neuen beruflichen Perspektiven.

elite sports performance sports medicine preparticipation sports science

Vitamin D levels and predictors in Swiss elite athletes – recommandation for supplementation

Background: Vitamin D concentrations corresponding to 75 nmol/L of 25(OH)D or more have been related to maintained muscle function, growth and regeneration, to optimal bone health and immunology in athletes. The objective of this study was to investigate prevalence and predictors of insufficient 25(OH)D concentrations in athletes and to come up with recommendations for our Swiss athletes. Methods: 603 competitive Swiss athletes were assessed during their annual pre-participation examination. A standardized questionnaire was used to gather information about potential predictors for 25(OH)D concentrations.

elite sports sports medicine preparticipation sports science monitoring

Iron deficiency in athletes – new guidelines for diagnosis and treatment

Background: Iron deficiency (ID), worldwide a common affection is associated with reduced performance, fatigue and increased risk for infections. Athletes are a risk-population due to a higher prevalence of restrictive diets or exercise-induced inflammation. Particularly in athletes, the diagnosis of ID based on unspecific symptomes or routine laboratory diagnostics with ferritin is not always reliable. The goal of this study was therefore to discover if a new diagnostic approach adding zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) or soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) in the routine assessment of ID in athletes is helpful or even necessary.

elite sports exercise is medicine cardiology sports medicine cardiology

Resting ECG as screening tool for Sudden Cardiac Death: PRO and CON

During our Annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Sports Medicine in Basel 2017 one of the highlight sessions was the PRO-CON discussion about the use of a resting ECG as screening tool to detect youth at risk for sudden cardiac death. We present the two statements of the cardiology experts that were finally not so controversial as the PRO-CON may suggest. Well as often in medicine, it is the choice of each of you, how to deal with the situation. On one side we are taught to know and listen to the “evidence in medicine”, but on the other side we so often end up in our traditional professional perspective as decision maker that is not always wrong …

elite sports performance recovery sports and technology monitoring sports medicine cardiology

Sex-specific reaction of the cardiac autonomic nervous system to different training phases in Swiss elite runners

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure of the cardiac autonomic nervous system activity (CANA) has the potential to tailor endurance training and may contribute to the prevention of overtraining. We aimed to investigate whether there are sex differences and sex-specific reactions of the CANA to different training periods (TPs) in Swiss elite runners. Methods: Two HRV measurements (each 5 minutes supine and 5 minutes standing) per athlete were performed, the first during preparation period (PP) and the second during competition period (CP).