An 8-wk study of the effects of CLA, rendered animal fats, and ractopamine, and their interactive effects on growth, fatty acid composition, and carcass quality of genetically lean pigs was conducted. Gilts (n = 228; initial BW of 59.1 kg) were assigned to a 2 x 2 x 3 factorial arrangement consisting of CLA, ractopamine, and fat treatments. The CLA treatment consisted of 1% CLA oil (CLA-60) or 1% soybean oil. Ractopamine levels were either 0 or 10 ppm. Fat treatments consisted of 0% added fat, 5% choice white grease (CWG), or 5% beef tallow (BT). The CLA and fat treatments were initiated at 59.1 kg of BW, 4 wk before the ractopamine treatments. The ractopamine treatments were imposed when the gilts reached a BW of 85.7 kg and lasted for the duration of the final 4 wk until carcass data were collected. Lipids from the belly, outer and inner layers of backfat, and LM were extracted and analyzed for fatty acid composition from 6 pigs per treatment at wk 4 and 8. Feeding CLA increased (P < 0.02) G:F during the final 4 wk. Pigs fed added fat as either CWG or BT exhibited decreased (P < 0.05) ADFI and increased (P < 0.01) G:F. Adding ractopamine to the diet increased (P < 0.01) ADG, G:F, and final BW. The predicted carcass lean percentage was increased (P < 0.05) in pigs fed CLA or ractopamine. Feeding either 5% fat or ractopamine increased (P < 0.05) carcass weight. Adding fat to the diets increased (P < 0.05) the 10th rib backfat depth but did not affect predicted percent lean. Bellies of gilts fed CLA were subjectively and objectively firmer (P < 0.01). Dietary CLA increased (P < 0.01) the concentration of saturated fatty acids and decreased (P < 0.01) the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids of the belly fat, both layers of backfat, and LM. Ractopamine decreased (P < 0.01) the i.m. fat content of the LM but had relatively little effect on the fatty acid profiles of the tissues compared with CLA. These results indicate that CLA, added fat, and ractopamine work mainly in an additive fashion to enhance pig growth and carcass quality. Furthermore, these results indicate that CLA results in more saturated fat throughout the carcass.

Highlights Estimates of players’ maturity status should be taken every 3–4 months during an annual season, with a focus on players approaching and during peak height velocity. Key stakeholders should be educated about maturation and peak height velocity, particularly in relation to the potential use of bio-banding strategies. Clear lines of communication should be established with key stakeholders in order to identify the volume of weekly physical activity each child is engaged in. The prediction error embroiled within each maturity-estimation equation should be considered, along with the implications of additional errors imposed by spurious anthropometric measurements (i.e., self-reported birth-parent stature). Key stakeholders should be aware of the increased risk of injuries owing to inappropriate training loads across peak height velocity.

Purpose: This study compared the adaptive responses to two concurrent training programmes frequently used in professional soccer. Methods: 15 youth soccer players (17.3 ± 1.6 yrs, 1.82 m ± 0.06 m, 77.0 ± 7.3 kg; VO 2 peak, 62.0 ± 4.7 ml -1 .kg -1 .min -1 ) who compete in the English Premier League volunteered for this study. In addition to completing their habitual training practices, the participants were asked to alter the organisation concurrent-training by performing strength (S) training either prior to (S+E, n = 8) or after (E+S, n = 7) soccer- (-0.23 (2.5%) vs -1.52 (13.2%)). Conclusion: Results suggest the organisation of concurrent training, recovery time allocated between training bouts and the availability nutrition may be able to modulate small but clinically significant changes in physical performance parameters associated with match-play. This may have practical implications for practitioners who prescribe same day concurrent-training protocols.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the understanding and perceptions of professional football academy staff, youth players and parents/carers in the use of 'bio-banding' during a seven week, pre-season training period. Data included a series of one-to-one semi-structured interviews and semi-structured focus groups with the three participant groups. Data were collected at three distinct times: 1) pre-bio-banded training; 2) during-bio-banded training; and 3) post-bio-banded training. Data were analysed qualitatively using a constant comparative approach. Results suggested that there are six key themes associated with biobanding pre-season training: 1) interpretation of bio-banding; 2) perceived disadvantages; 3) perceived advantages; 4) changes to coaching planning and practice; 5) educating stakeholders; and 6) logistical issues. This study concludes by proposing applied practitioners consider the findings as a framework to guide operationalising bio-banding in their environment.

Physique competitions are events in which aesthetic appearance and posing ability are valued above physical performance. Female physique athletes are required to possess high lean body mass and extremely low fat mass in competition. As such, extended periods of reduced energy intake and intensive training regimens are used with acute weight loss practices at the end of the precompetition phase. This represents an increased risk for chronic low energy availability and associated symptoms of relative energy deficiency in sport, compromising both psychological and physiological health. Available literature suggests that a large proportion of female physique athletes report menstrual irregularities (e.g., amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea), which are unlikely to normalize immediately postcompetition. Furthermore, the tendency to reduce intakes of numerous essential micronutrients is prominent among those using restrictive eating patterns. Following competition, reduced resting metabolic rate, and hyperphagia, is also a concern for these female athletes, which can result in frequent weight cycling, distorted body image, and disordered eating/eating disorders. Overall, female physique athletes are an understudied population, and the need for more robust studies to detect low energy availability and associated health effects is warranted. This narrative review aims to define the natural female physique athlete, explore some of the physiological and psychological implications of weight management practices experienced by female physique athletes, and propose future research directions.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of workload prior to injury on injury (tissue type and severity) in professional soccer players. Twenty-eight days of retrospective training data prior to non-contact injuries (n=264) were collated from 192 professional soccer players. Each injury tissue type (muscle, tendon and ligament) and severity (days missed) were categorised by medical staff. Training data were recorded using global positioning system (GPS) devices for total distance (TD), high speed distance (HSD,>5.5 m/s−1), and sprint distance (SPR,>7.0 m/s−1). Accumulated 1, 2, 3, 4-weekly loads and acute:chronic workload ratios (ACWR) (coupled, uncoupled and exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) approaches) were calculated. Workload variables and injury tissue type were compared using a one-way ANOVA. The association between workload variables and injury severity were examined using a bivariate correlation. There were no differences in accumulated weekly loads and ACWR calculations between muscle, ligament, and tendon injuries (P>0.05). Correlations between each workload variable and injury severity highlighted no significant associations (P>0.05). The present findings suggest that the ability of accumulated weekly workload or ACWR methods to differentiate between injury type and injury severity are limited using the present variables.

Implementing concurrent-training and nutritional strategies in professional football: a complex challenge for coaches and practitioners http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/5371/ Article LJMU has developed LJMU Research Online for users to access the research output of the University more effectively. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LJMU Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain.The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of the record. Please see the repository URL above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. The present data demonstrate that the organisation of CT (i.e., exercise order and/or recovery time between bouts) and nutrition (i.e., timing of meal intake) can be unsystematic in the applied environment. The organisation of training and nutrition might influence the players' ability to perform high-intensity actions in secondary training sessions and could potentially impact acute metabolic processes associated with muscle recovery and muscle adaptation.

Reliability of 'in-season' fitness assessments in youth elite soccer players: a working model for practitioners and coaches. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/6717/ Article LJMU has developed LJMU Research Online for users to access the research output of the University more effectively. Abstract: Purpose: To assess the reliability of a battery of field tests when performed around habitual training during one micro-cycle of the in-season period in youth elite soccer players. Methods: n=19 English Premier League academy players (mean ± SD: age, 18.3±0.2 years; stature, 1.80±0.05 m; body mass, 76.5±7.5 kg; V Ȯ2 max; 62.3±4.38 ml·kg-1·min