A controversial question within elite sports is whether young athletes need to specialize early, as suggested by Ericsson et al., or if it is more beneficial to follow the path of early diversification proposed by Côté et al., which includes sampling different sport experiences during childhood and specializing later on during adolescence. Based on a Danish sample of 148 elite and 95 near-elite athletes from cgs sports (sports measured in centimeters, grams, or seconds), the present study investigates group differences concerning accumulated practice hours during the early stages of the career, involvement in other sports, career development, as well as determining whether or not these variables predict membership in the elite group. The results clearly reveal that elite athletes specialized at a later age and trained less in childhood. However, elite athletes were shown to intensify their training regime during late adolescence more than their near-elite peers. The involvement in other sports neither differs between the groups nor predicts success. It can be concluded that factors related to the organization of practice during the mid-teens seem to be crucial for international success within cgs sports. Future research should adopt a longitudinal design with means of drawing causal inferences.
The aim of this study was to explore how and why participants in structured exercise intervention programs continue or stop exercising after the program is finished. We conducted four focus group interviews with four groups of middle-aged and elderly men (total n = 28) who had participated in exercise interventions involving playing either a team sport (football) or a more individually focused activity (spinning and crossfit). Our results show that different social, organizational and material structures inherent in the different activities shape the subjects' enjoyment of exercise participation, as well as their intention and ability to continue being active. In conclusion, team sport activities seem to be intrinsically motivating to the participants through positive social interaction and play. They are therefore more likely to result in exercise continuation than activities that rely primarily on extrinsic motivation such as the expectation of improved health and well-being.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of team sports and resistance training on physical function, psychological health, quality of life, and motivation in older untrained adults. Twenty-five untrained men and forty-seven untrained women aged 80 (range: 67-93) years were recruited. Fifty-one were assigned to a training group (TRG) of which twenty-five performed team training (TG) and twenty-six resistance training (RG). The remaining twenty-one were allocated to a control group (CG). TRG trained for 1 hour twice a week for 12 weeks. Compared with CG, TRG improved the number of arm curls within 30 seconds (P<.05) and 30-seconds chair stand (P<.05) during the intervention. In TRG, participation in training led to higher (P<.05) scores in the subscales psychological well-being, general quality of life, and health-related quality of life, as well as decreased anxiety and depression levels. No differences between changes in TG and RG were found over the intervention period, neither in physical function tests nor psychological questionnaires. Both TG and RG were highly motivated for training, but TG expressed a higher degree of enjoyment and intrinsic motivation mainly due to social interaction during the activity, whereas RG was more motivated by extrinsic factors like health and fitness benefits. In conclusion, both team training and resistance training improved physical function, psychological well-being, and quality of life. However, team sport training motivated the participants more by intrinsic factors than resistance training.
This study explores whether inactive individuals can experience flow, a rewarding, psychological state, during an exercise intervention and if there are differences according to the type of intervention they perform. Furthermore, the study investigates if experiencing flow is connected to physiological improvements attained during the exercise intervention. The 12- to 16-week interventions included six randomized intervention groups, two female and four male groups performing continuous running, football, interval running and strength training. The results indicate that all six randomized exercise intervention groups experience rather high levels of flow regardless of whether the intervention is a team or individual sport. Differences in experiencing flow, worry and exertion as well as physiological improvements could be found for the different types of sports and the two genders, with the male football group having the highest score for physiological improvement and the lowest score for worry. A connection between experiencing flow and physiological improvement could not be found. Future research should investigate the influence that the participant's gender and also the type of sport have on experiencing flow, worry and perceived exertion. Furthermore, it should be investigated whether experiencing flow is linked to the long-term compliance of regular physical activity.
PurposeThe present study evaluated the effects of regular participation in small-sided team handball training on body composition, osteogenic response, physical performance, and cardiovascular risk factors, as well as well-being and motivation, in young untrained women.MethodsTwenty-eight untrained 20- to 30-year-old women were randomized to a handball training group (HG; n = 14, height 170 ± 5 cm, weight 73 ± 11 kg, VO2peak 37.7 ± 4.1 mL/min/kg) that trained 1.7 ± 0.3 times per week over 12 weeks (70 min 4 v 4 handball sessions) or an inactive control group (CG; n = 14, 169 ± 5 cm, 71 ± 12 kg, 38.1 ± 3.7 mL/min/kg). Physiological and psychological and motivational training adaptations were assessed pre- and post-intervention by dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans, blood sampling, physical tests, and questionnaires.ResultsThe average heart rate (HR) over all training sessions was equal to 85% ± 6% HRmax. Between-group intervention effects were observed in favor of HG for muscle mass (2.1%, p = 0.024), proximal femur bone mineral density (0.8%, p = 0.041), Yo-Yo IE1 intermittent endurance test level 1 (IE1) performance (35%, p < 0.001), and incremental treadmill test performance (11.5%, p = 0.003), but not total fat mass (p = 0.176), mean arterial blood pressure (p = 0.328), resting HR (p = 0.219), or blood lipids (p = 0.298–0.854). In CG, no changes were observed in any of the measured physiological variables after the training period. Compared to CG, HG had an increase in intrinsic motivation (p < 0.001) and in the well-being subscale “energy” (p = 0.010).ConclusionParticipation in regular recreational team handball training organized as small-sided games has marked beneficial effects on physical performance, musculoskeletal fitness, well-being, and motivation in untrained young women.
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