A number of psychological and sociocultural factors have been suggested to influence athletes' willingness to play despite being injured. Investigation of this phenomenon is undertaken optimally at the time when athletes are injured; however, many studies have relied upon retrospective recall of feelings in individuals following recovery. This study aimed, through semi-structured existential-phenomenological interviews, to explore decision-making and attitudes surrounding playing with injury in professional footballers that were currently injured but continuing to play in matches in the English football leagues. Using deductive qualitative content analysis, cultural, situational and personal moderators that have been theorised to influence playing with injury in professional football were tested. The sample comprised nine professional footballers from three different playing leagues that were identified as playing whilst injured by team physiotherapists. There was a high level of agreement in the findings of this study with previous research. Personal and cultural moderators were stable across participants, and included conforming to the athlete role and operating in a culture where pain has been normalised. Situational factors, however, were unstable and were influenced by playing league, with constraints in squad size being an important influence for lower league players. These professional footballers sought windows of opportunity for treatment and recovery both within the season and at the end of the season. It appeared that a decline in performance, rather than the presence of pain, is used as a critical marker for injury. More research is needed to explore differences in presenteeism practices at different playing levels using larger number of participants.

Objective: Conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis assessing the effects of foam rolling on range of motion, laboratory-and field-based athletic measures, and on recovery.

This study explored whether anthropometric measures influence magnitude of skin cooling following exposure to whole body cryotherapy (WBC). Height, weight, body fat percentage, and lean mass were measured in 18 male and 14 female participants. Body surface area, body surface area to mass ratio, body mass index, fat-free mass index, and fat mass index were calculated. Thermal images were captured before and after WBC (−60°C for 30 seconds, −110°C for 2 minutes). Skin temperature was measured at the chest, arm, thigh, and calf. Mean skin temperature before and after WBC and change in mean skin temperature (ΔT sk) were calculated. ΔT sk was significantly greater in females (12.07 ± 1.55°C) than males (10.12 ± 1.86°C; t(30) = −3.09, P = .004). A significant relationship was observed between body fat percentage and ΔT sk in the combined dataset (P = .002, r = .516) and between fat-free mass index and ΔT sk in males (P = .005, r = .622). No other significant associations were found. Skin response of individuals to WBC appears to depend upon anthropometric variables and sex, with individuals with a higher adiposity cooling more than thinner individuals. Effects of sex and anthompometrics should be considered when designing WBC research or treatment protocols.

Individualising the exposure of −110°C whole body cryotherapy: the effects of sex and body composition. Journal of Thermal Biology. 65, pp. 4147. 03064565. It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of whole body cryotherapy (WBC) on a range of thermoregulatory measures. We also sought to examine the influence of sex and body composition.A convenience sample of 18 healthy participants (10 males and 8 females) (27±6 yrs) volunteered for this study. Temperature (core, tympanic, skin and mean body), heart rate, blood pressure, and thermal comfort and sensation were recorded pre-and post-(immediately and every 5 min until 35 min post) exposure to a single bout of WBC (30s at -60°C, 150s at 110°C). Anthropometric data (height, weight, body surface area, body mass index, fat mass and fat free mass) were also recorded. No significant differences in temperature (core, tympanic, skin and mean body), heart rate, blood pressure, or thermal comfort / sensation were observed between male and females at baseline.Immediately post WBC mean body (male: 31.9 ± 0.8°C; female: 31.0 ± 0.9°C; ∆ mean body temperature: 0.9 ± 0.1°C; P ≤ 0.05, d = 0.64) and mean skin (male: 22.1 ± 2.2°C; female: 19.6 ± 2.8°C; ∆ mean skin temperature: -2.5 ± 0.6°C; d = 0.99, P ≤ 0.05) temperature was significantly different between sexes. Sex differences were also observed in regional skin temperature (male thigh, 20.8 ± 1.1°C; female thigh, 16.7 ± 1.1°C, ∆ mean thigh skin temperature: -4.1°C; d = 3.72; male calf, 20.5 ± 1.1°C; female calf, 18.2 ± 1°C, ∆ mean calf skin temperature: -2.3 ± 0.1°C; d = 3.61; male arm, 21.7 ± 1°C; female arm, 19 ± 0.4°C, ∆ mean arm skin temperature: -2.7 ± 0.3°C; d = 3.54; P ≤ 0.05). Mean arterial pressure was significantly different over time (P ≤ 0.001) and between sexes (male 0 mins: 94 ± 10mmHg; female 0 mins: 85 ± 7mmHg; male 35 mins: 88 ± 7mmHg; female 35 mins: 80 ± 6mmHg; P ≤ 0.05). Combined data set indicated a strong negative relationship between skin temperature and body fat percentage 35 minutes' post WBC (r = -0.749, P ≤ 0.001) and for core temperature and body mass index in males only (r = 0.726, P ≤ 0.05) immediately after WBC. There were no significant differences between sexes in any other variables (heart rate, tympanic and perceptual variables). We observed sex differences in mean skin and mean body temperature following exposure to whole body cryotherapy. In an attempt to optimise treatment, these differences should be tak...

No abstract