Efficacy of caffeine as an ergogenic aid in multiple cycling time trials.

Introduction: Evidence that caffeine supplementation is effective to improve performance in cycling time trials has been obtained in single rather than multiple time trials. We investigated whether 5 mg.kg of caffeine enhanced performance in multiple 4 km cycling time trials (TT4km) conducted within the same day and across different days.

Carbohydrate mouth rinse improves performance of mentally fatigued cyclists despite null effects on psychological responses.

Mental fatigue reduces exercise performance through an impaired psychological response such as increased perceived exertion. Carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinses improve exercise performance and perceived exertion likely due to an improved activation in cerebral reward areas, then we investigated if the CHO mouth rinse-improved exercise performance in mentally fatigued individuals was associated with ameliorated reward-related psychological responses. We hypothesised that CHO mouth rinse would be beneficial for mentally fatigued cyclists mainly in high-metabolic disturbance intensities.

Unilateral seated shot-put test, muscle strength, and range of motion on recreational athletes with chronic shoulder pain: Cross-sectional study.

Objective: To correlate the functional performance assessed by means of the Unilateral Seated Shot-Put Test (SSPT) with shoulder muscle strength, range of motion (ROM), and handgrip strength in recreational athletes with chronic shoulder pain.

Methods And Materials: The sample was composed of recreational athletes with nonspecific pain in the dominant shoulder ≥3 months, both sexes, aged between 18 and 45 years. We diagnosed shoulder pain by reporting pain intensity ≥3 points on the Numerical Rating Pain Scale and used the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, Pain-Related Catastrophizing Thoughts Scale, and Baecke Questionnaire.

No Evidence of Postactivation Performance Enhancement on Endurance Exercises: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Purpose: Narrative reviews have suggested that postactivation induced by warm-up routines is effective to increase endurance exercise performance in real-world scenarios. However, systematic reviews with meta-analysis rather than narrative ones are required to provide an up-to-date summary of the evidence and provide directions for practical decisions. Therefore, we systematically reviewed peer-reviewed and gray literature to determine the certainty of evidence and the relative effects of postactivation performance enhancement (PAPE) in endurance exercises.

Reliability of the Heartbeat Tracking Task to Assess Interoception.

Interoception refers to the competence in perceiving and interpreting internal sensations emerging from the body. The most common approach to assess interoception is through cardiac interoceptive tests like the heartbeat tracking task (HTT), which measures the accuracy on perceive and counting heartbeats during a period. However, the literature is scarce in providing adequate reliability evidence for this measure so that the interoception assessment may be threaten.

Ice Massage on the Calf Improves 4-km Running Time Trial Performance in a Normothermic Environment.

Local cooling with ice massage is a practical and inexpensive technique to decrease perceptual stress and improve motor performance in hot environments. However, it is unknown whether local cooling with ice massage reduces perceptual responses to exercise and improves performance in a normothermic environment. Thus, we investigated whether ice massage on the calf muscles before a 4 km running time trial (TT) reduced the ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and perceived muscle pain, thereby improving exercise performance in a normothermic environment.

The reward for placebos: mechanisms underpinning placebo-induced effects on motor performance.

Different from the most popular thinking, the placebo effect is not a purely psychological phenomenon. A body of knowledge from multidisciplinary fields has shown that the expectation of a potential benefit when receiving a treatment induces a cascade of neurochemical-electrophysiological alterations in brain reward areas, including motor-related ones. Alterations in the dopamine, opioid, and glutamate metabolism are the neural representation converting reward-derived declarative forms into an attractive and wanted behavior, thereby changing the activation in reward subcortical and cortical structures involved in motor planning, motor execution, and emotional-cognitive attributes of decision-making.

Fear of Return to Sport Scale (FRESS): a new instrument for use in injured professional or recreational athletes in rehabilitation.

Objective: To create, develop, and validate the Fear of Return to Sport Scale (FRESS) for injured professional or recreational athletes in rehabilitation.

Methods: This is a questionnaire validation study. To determine the structural and construct validity, 192 injured professional or recreational athletes of different sports modalities were included.

The Effect of Low-intensity Aerobic Training Combined with Blood Flow Restriction on Maximal Strength, Muscle Mass, and Cycling Performance in a Cyclist with Knee Displacement.

Low-intensity aerobic training combined with blood flow restriction (LI + BFR) has resulted in increases in aerobic and neuromuscular capacities in untrained individuals. This strategy may help cyclists incapable of training with high intensity bouts or during a rehabilitation program. However, there is a lack of evidence about the use of LI + BFR in injured trained cyclists.

Measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the Copenhagen Neck Functional Disability Scale in patients with chronic neck pain.

Objective: To evaluate the measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the Copenhagen Neck Functional Disability Scale (CNFDS) in patients with chronic neck pain.

Methods: One hundred and five patients were included in the study. The structural validity of the CNFDS was assessed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with the following fit indices: chi-square divided by degrees of freedom (chi-square/df), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI).

Cardiac Autonomic Modulation is a Key Factor for High Blood Pressure in Adolescentes.

Background: The interest regarding hypertension among children and adolescents has increased since the blood pressure rating system was updated to be compared with the adult rating system, changing the terminology from "normal high" to "prehypertension".

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the association between cardiac autonomic modulation and pressure levels of adolescents.

Methods: 203 adolescents were grouped according to systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP).

Proof-of-Concept and Test-Retest Reliability Study of Psychological and Physiological Variables of the Mental Fatigue Paradigm.

This study provided a proof-of-concept and test-retest reliability of measures frequently used to assess a mental fatigue paradigm. After familiarization, 28 healthy men performed (40-min) the Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVP) test in a test-retest design, having mental fatigue sensation, motivation, emotional arousal, total mood disturbance, and electroencephalography (EEG) in the prefrontal cortex measured before and after the test. EEG was recorded during a 3-min rest so that the power spectral density of theta (3-7 Hz) and alpha (8-13 Hz) bands was calculated.

Effects of Self-Selected Passive Recovery Time in Interval Exercise on Perceptual and Heart Rate Responses in Older Women: A Promissory Approach.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of passive recovery with self-selected time on affect, ratings of perceived exertion, and heart rate in self-selected interval exercises (SSIE). Fifteen older women (68.1 ± 3.

Self-Estimated Functional Inability Because of Pain Questionnaire for Athletes: A Reliability and Construct Validity Study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure the reliability, internal consistency, construct validity, and floor and ceiling effects of the Brazilian version of the Self-Estimated Functional Inability Because of Pain Questionnaire for athletes (SEFIP-sport).

Methods: This was a validity questionnaire study developed in a university community. Athletes or practitioners of any sport undertaking regular practice (weekly frequency of at least twice a week for at least 6 months), with the ability to read and write in Brazilian Portuguese, were included.

Effects of experimentally induced muscle pain on endurance performance: A proof-of-concept study assessing neurophysiological and perceptual responses.

Pain arising from exercise potentiates fatigue and impairs the performance of endurance exercise. We assessed neurophysiological and perceptual responses to endurance exercise performed under experimentally induced muscle pain by a model that separates muscle pain from muscle fatigue. After a series of pilot studies investigating different hypertonic saline volumes, 17 healthy males performed a preliminary VO test before performing a familiarization of the cycling time-to-exhaustion exercise (80% of the peak power output in the VO test).

Correction: Caffeine increases motor output entropy and performance in 4 km cycling time trial.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

The Impact of Sex and Performance Level on Pacing Behavior in a 24-h Ultramarathon.

We analyzed the impact of sex, performance level and substantial speed reductions (SSR) on pacing in the VI Rio 24-h Marines Ultramarathon. This will provide insights into the importance of minimizing speed variations in relation to optimal pacing in endurance events. Runners (30 males and 21 females), classified as high- (HP) and low-performance (LP) ran the race while having their time recorded every 400 m.

The effect of menstrual cycle and exercise intensity on psychological and physiological responses in healthy eumenorrheic women.

Psychological responses such as affect, mood, motivation, anxiety are important considerations for exercise adherence. A large body of evidence indicates that exercise intensity is a controllable variable capable of increasing positive feelings. Investigations thus far, however, have not considered that the higher incidence of negative psychological responses in women could be due to physiological particularities of the menstrual cycle (MC).

Caffeine increases motor output entropy and performance in 4 km cycling time trial.

Caffeine improves cycling time trial performance through enhanced motor output and muscle recruitment. However, it is unknown if caffeine further increases power output entropy. To investigate the effects of caffeine effects on cycling time trial performance and motor output entropy (MOEn), nine cyclists (VO2MAX of 55 ± 6.

Carbohydrate Mouth Rinse Mitigates Mental Fatigue Effects on Maximal Incremental Test Performance, but Not in Cortical Alterations.

Detrimental mental fatigue effects on exercise performance have been documented in constant workload and time trial exercises, but effects on a maximal incremental test (MIT) remain poorly investigated. Mental fatigue-reduced exercise performance is related to an increased effort sensation, likely due to a reduced prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation and inhibited spontaneous behavior. Interestingly, only a few studies verified if centrally active compounds may mitigate such effects.