These preliminary results support the hypothesis that the addition of hydrogen to traditional treatment protocols is potentially effective in the treatment of soft tissue injuries in male professional athletes. Trial identification: Clinicaltrials.gov number NCT01759498.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of defensive pressure on movement behaviour during an under-18 basketball game. 20 international male players (age: M=16.05, SD=2.09 years old; weekly practice: M=10.9, SD=1.94 h; playing experience: M=7.1, SD=1.1 years) played two 10-min basketball quarters, using man-to-man ¼-court for the first 4 min (F¼), man-to-man full court defence for the next 3 min (FULL), and man-to-man ¼-court defence for the last 3 min (S¼). The positional data were captured by the Ubisense Real Time Location System and analysed with non-linear signal processing methods (approximate entropy) and repeated measures ANOVA. There were differences in the regularity values between F¼ and FULL in distance to the basket and to the opponents' basket. A stronger in-phase attraction in both lateral and longitudinal directions was identified; however, the centroids (i. e., the mean position from all team players) were closer and revealed higher values of irregularity in lateral displacements for all defensive systems. The individual speed displacements became more coordinated with teammates, particularly in the offensive court. Overall, this study provided evidence on how changing the level of defensive pressure promotes different collective behaviours.

The “Century XXI” Project is a seven-year intervention sport program performed among the best Spanish youth basketball players, who were assigned to one of the following intervention groups based on the following criteria: age, position, mature level, and origin in the country. The study was performed (1996-2001) with a total of 90 players. The main purposes of this study were: a) to describe anthropometric and performance characteristics of top youth international male basketballers in the Spanish national academy; and b) to analyze differences among positions. Insummary, the main findings of this study were: a) the anthropometry presented significant differences between groups under (U-) 14 and U-17; and b) in the U-17 group centers presented more arm span. In our study, the most significant changes are in U-16 vs U-14 and U-15 in strength body up values, and the best result in endurance capacity took place in June of the fourth year. Within this context, the results of the present study may be useful for strength and conditioning coaches to plan their programs with youth basketball players.

BackgroundNovel player tracking technologies can change the understanding of performance determinants in team sports by allowing to accurately measuring the activity demands. The aim of this study was to identify how the defensive pressure affects the time-motion variables and the technical actions in basketball.MethodsTwenty international male players (age: 16.05 ± 2.09 years, weight: 73.13 ± 8.10 kg, height: 183.10 ± 5.88 cm) played two 10 min basketball quarters, where they used a man-to-man 1/4-court defense until the 4th min (F1/4), changed to man-to-man full court (FULL) for 3 min and, from the 7th to the 10th min returned to 1/4-court defense (S1/4). A computerized notational analysis was performed using Simi Scout and positional data were captured with the Ubisense Real Time Location System (mean sampling rate 3.74 ± 0.45 Hz per transmitter/player).ResultsThe time-motion variables presented similar results between defensive conditions, showing a total distance covered around 90 m/min. However, results suggested possible vertical jump impairments in S1/4 periods. There was more distance covered while jogging in the offensive court (38.15 ± 12.17 m/min offensive court vs. 32.94 ± 10.84 m/min defensive court, p < 0.05) and more distance covered while running in the defensive court (16.41 ± 10.27 m/min offensive court vs. 19.56 ± 10.29 m/min defensive court, p < 0.05).ConclusionThese results suggest how to improve task representativeness during specific conditioning or game-based training situations and also to help coaches' strategic decisions during the games.

ResumenIntroducción: la distribución específica de macronutrientes y el entrenamiento pueden alterar el comportamiento agudo y crónico de las hormonas y, posteriormente, el rendimiento deportivo. Objetivo: el objetivo principal del estudio fue examinar la relación entre la ingesta dietética y la respuesta anabólica/catabólica hormonal de jugadoras de élite de voleibol durante una temporada de 29 semanas. Métodos: se evaluó en 22 jugadoras de élite (26,4 ± 5,6 años, 178 ± 9 cm, 67,1 ± 7,5 kg) la ingesta dietética (mediante un registro de siete días y un cuestionario de frecuencia de consumo de alimentos), la concentración de hormona anabólica/catabólica en sangre, el rendimiento físico y la composición corporal en cuatro puntos durante la temporada: a) T1: pre-pretemporada; b) T2: once semanas después de T1; c) T3: diez semanas después de T2; y d) T4: ocho semanas después de T3. Las hormonas evaluadas fueron: testosterona total (TT), testosterona libre (FT), hormona adrenocorticotropa (ACTH) y cortisol (C); se calcularon distintos ratios hormonales. Resultados: se observaron correlaciones positivas entre la ratio carbohidratos/proteínas con ΔFT (r = 0,955; p < 0,001), ΔTT/C (r = 0,638; p = 0,047) y ΔFT/C (r = 0,909; p < 0,001). Se encontraron correlaciones significativas y negativas entre la ingesta proteica con ΔTT (r = -0,670; p = 0,034) y FT (r = -0,743; p < 0,001), la ingesta de carbohidratos y ΔACTH (r = -0,658; p = 0,006). No se observó ningún tipo de correlación con el Δcortisol. Por otro lado, no hubo cambios (p > 0,05) en la masa corporal ni en el índice de masa corporal en ningún momento, mientras que el sumatorio de seis pliegues mejoró (p < 0,05) de T1 (86,5 ± 6,9 mm) a T4 (75,2 ± 5,6 mm), así como la masa muscular (T1: 28,9 ± 0,7 kg frente a T4: 30,1 ± 0,8 kg). El salto vertical, el salto de remate y la velocidad mejoraron (p < 0,05) de T1 a T4. Conclusión: en conclusión, una alta ratio de carbohidratos/proteínas se asoció con cambios positivos en el anabolismo, mientras que una ingesta alta de proteína y baja de CHO se asoció con una respuesta anabólica atenuada. AbstractIntroduction: Specific macronutrient distribution and training can alter acute and chronic hormone behavior and, subsequently, sport performance. Objective: The main aim was to examine relationships between dietary intake and anabolic/catabolic hormone response in elite female volleyball players during a 29-week season. Methods: Twenty-two elite female volleyballers (26.4 ± 5.6 years; 178 ± 9 cm; 67.1 ± 7.5 kg) had dietary intake (seven-day dietary recall and food frequency questionnaire), blood concentration of anabolic/catabolic hormones concentration, physical performance, and body composition assessed at four time points: a) T1: baseline/pre-testing; b) T2: eleven weeks after T1; c) T3: ten weeks after T2; and d) T4: eight weeks after T3. Hormones evaluated were: total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT) adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol (C), along with hormone ratios. Results: Positive correlations were obs...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effect of different stretching methods, during a warm-up, on the acceleration and speed of soccer players. The acceleration performance of 20 collegiate soccer players (body height: 177.25 ± 5.31 cm; body mass: 65.10 ± 5.62 kg; age: 16.85 ± 0.87 years; BMI: 20.70 ± 5.54; experience: 8.46 ± 1.49 years) was evaluated after different warm-up procedures, using 10 and 20 m tests. Subjects performed five types of a warm-up: static, dynamic, combined static + dynamic, combined dynamic + static, and no-stretching. Subjects were divided into five groups. Each group performed five different warm-up protocols in five non-consecutive days. The warm-up protocol used for each group was randomly assigned. The protocols consisted of 4 min jogging, a 1 min stretching program (except for the no-stretching protocol), and 2 min rest periods, followed by the 10 and 20 m sprint test, on the same day. The current findings showed significant differences in the 10 and 20 m tests after dynamic stretching compared with static, combined, and no-stretching protocols. There were also significant differences between the combined stretching compared with static and no-stretching protocols. We concluded that soccer players performed better with respect to acceleration and speed, after dynamic and combined stretching, as they were able to produce more force for a faster execution.

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