Replicability of Strength Domains in Australian Rules Football Athletes.

Geneau, MC, Carey, DL, Gastin, PB, Robertson, S, and James, LP. Replicability of strength domains in Australian rules football athletes. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-Maximal lower body strength is a multidimensional construct defined as the maximum force application under specific task constraints.

The repeatability of stride time variability, regularity, and long-range correlations.

Background: Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and sample entropy (SE) measure the long-term correlations and regularity of gait patterns, respectively, having previously been used to identify participants at risk of falling, previous history of injury, or patients with motor diseases. Since these measures are more sensitive to gait impairment than linear measures (e.g.

Global Industry Perspectives on Postgraduate Strength and Conditioning Degrees: An Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Purpose: This investigation sought to determine industry perceptions of postgraduate strength and conditioning (S&C) degrees to understand whether graduates are equipped for the demands of sport performance service roles.

Methods: Survey data were collected from 111 participants employed as performance staff or in a role that recruits and supervises performance staff. The survey consisted of 3 main sections: (1) perceptions of career-development opportunities in S&C, (2) perception of S&C postgraduate programs, and (3) perceptions of employability in S&C.

Classification of Force-Time Metrics Into Lower-Body Strength Domains.

Geneau, MC, Carey, DL, Gastin, PB, Robertson, S, and James, LP. Classification of force-time metrics into lower-body strength domains. J Strength Cond Res 38(9): 1561-1567, 2024-The purpose of this study was to classify force-time metrics into distinct lower-body strength domains using a systematic data reduction analysis.

The Agreement between Wearable Sensors and Force Plates for the Analysis of Stride Time Variability.

The variability and regularity of stride time may help identify individuals at a greater risk of injury during military load carriage. Wearable sensors could provide a cost-effective, portable solution for recording these measures, but establishing their validity is necessary. This study aimed to determine the agreement of several measures of stride time variability across five wearable sensors (Opal APDM, Vicon Blue Trident, Axivity, Plantiga, Xsens DOT) and force plates during military load carriage.

Discovery and Characterisation of Forward Line Formations at Centre Bounces in the Australian Football League.

The extent of player formation usage and the characteristics of player arrangements are not well understood in Australian football, unlike other team-based invasion sports. Using player location data from all centre bounces in the 2021 Australian Football League season; this study described the spatial characteristics and roles of players in the forward line. Summary metrics indicated that teams differed in how spread out their forward players were (deviation away from the goal-to-goal axis and convex hull area) but were similar with regard to the centroid of player locations.

Peak movement and impact characteristics of different training methods in professional rugby union.

The purpose of this study was to compare the peak periods (1- to 6-minute epochs) for three different training methods (game-based training - GBT; small-sided games - SSG; and conditioning training - CT) in elite male rugby union (RU) players. The peak movement (m·min) and impact (impact·min) characteristics of 42 players during in-season training were assessed. When comparing between training methods, SSG drills produced the greatest peak movement characteristics for all time epochs (1-minute average peak periods - SSG 195 m·min, GBT 160 m·min, and CT 144 m·min).

Association Between Position-Specific Impact and Movement Characteristics of Professional Rugby Union Players During Game Play.

Peek, RJ, Carey, DL, Middleton, KJ, Gastin, PB, and Clarke, AC. Association between position-specific impact and movement characteristics of professional rugby union players during game play. J Strength Cond Res 37(1): 161-166, 2023-The aim of this study was to understand the association between impact and movement characteristics during whole game and peak 1- to 10-minute rolling windows in professional rugby union.

Characterising Psycho-Physiological Responses and Relationships during a Military Field Training Exercise.

Unlabelled: Over a 15-day period, that included an eight-day field trial, the aims of this study were to (1) quantify the physical workload, sleep and subjective well-being of soldiers in training; (2a) Explore relationships between workload and well-being, and (2b) sleep and well-being; (3) Explore relationships between workload, sleep, and well-being.

Methods: Sixty-two Combat Engineer trainees (59 male, 3 female; age: 25.2 ± 7.

Changing the criteria applied to acceleration and deceleration efforts changes the types of player actions detected.

This study identified and profiled the types of player actions of Australian football players executed during high acceleration and/or deceleration efforts and identified how the duration exceeding the acceleration or deceleration threshold influenced the identified executed player actions. The commencing speed of the acceleration and deceleration efforts were also assessed. Acceleration and deceleration efforts of 22 Australian football players monitored with a 10-Hz GNSS device across two matches were analysed.

COVID-19 Lockdown: A Global Study Investigating the Effect of Athletes' Sport Classification and Sex on Training Practices.

Purpose: To investigate differences in athletes' knowledge, beliefs, and training practices during COVID-19 lockdowns with reference to sport classification and sex. This work extends an initial descriptive evaluation focusing on athlete classification.

Methods: Athletes (12,526; 66% male; 142 countries) completed an online survey (May-July 2020) assessing knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward training.

A Strategy to Inform Athlete Sleep Support From Questionnaire Data and Its Application in an Elite Athlete Cohort.

Purpose: Information from the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire (ASBQ) provide the ability to identify the sleep disturbances experienced by athletes and their associated athlete-specific challenges that cause these disturbances. However, determining the appropriate support strategy to optimize the sleep habits and characteristics of large groups of athletes can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. The purpose of this study was to characterize the sleep profiles of elite athletes to optimize sleep-support strategies and present a novel R package, AthSlpBehaviouR, to aid practitioners with athlete sleep monitoring and support efforts.

Quantification of Recruit Training Demands and Subjective Wellbeing during Basic Military Training.

Purpose: Assess and describe the physical demands and changes in subjective wellbeing of recruits completing the 12 week Australian Army Basic Military Training (BMT) course. Methods: Thirty-five recruits (24.8 ± 6.

Factors Predicting Training Delays and Attrition of Recruits during Basic Military Training.

Ensuring a balance between training demands and recovery during basic military training (BMT) is necessary for avoiding maladaptive training responses (e.g., illness or injury).

The temporal distribution and occurrence of impacts and movement relative to peak periods in men's rugby union.

Objectives: This study identifies the distribution (as a percentage of the positional peak) and occurrence (within a half) of 1-min movement characteristics (m·min) and contact-based events (impact·min) during professional rugby union game play.

Design: Within 95 rugby union games, players wore global positioning system (GPS) devices (n = 1422 player-game files, 160 athletes). One-minute rolling-window averages were calculated with the maximum and mean value being recorded for each dependent variable; relative distance (m·min) and impacts (impact·min), then standardised by the positional peak mean.

Elite Junior Australian Football Players With Impaired Wellness Are at Increased Injury Risk at High Loads.

Background: Elite junior Australian football players experience high training loads across levels of competition and training. This, in conjunction with impaired wellness, can predispose athletes to injury.

Hypothesis: Elite junior Australian football players exposed to high loads with poor wellness are more likely to be at risk of injury than those with improved wellness.

Techniques to derive and clean acceleration and deceleration data of athlete tracking technologies in team sports: A scoping review.

The application of acceleration and deceleration data as a measure of an athlete's physical performance is common practice in team sports. Acceleration and deceleration are monitored with athlete tracking technologies during training and games to quantify training load, prevent injury and enhance performance. However, inconsistencies exist throughout the literature in the reported methodological procedures used to quantify acceleration and deceleration.

Questionnaire-Derived Sleep Habits and Academic Achievement in First Year University Students.

This study aimed to determine the effect of sleep quantity and quality via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) on students' academic achievement in their first year of university study. In this cross-sectional study, 193 students (102 female, 91 male, mean ± SD; age = 19.3 ± 2.

Hydration Status and Fluid Replacement Strategies of High-Performance Adolescent Athletes: An Application of Machine Learning to Distinguish Hydration Characteristics.

There are limited data on the fluid balance characteristics and fluid replenishment behaviors of high-performance adolescent athletes. The heterogeneity of hydration status and practices of adolescent athletes warrant efficient approaches to individualizing hydration strategies. This study aimed to evaluate and characterize the hydration status and fluid balance characteristics of high-performance adolescent athletes and examine the differences in fluid consumption behaviors during training.

Predicting Youth Athlete Sleep Quality and the Development of a Translational Tool to Inform Practitioner Decision Making.

Background: Identifying key variables that predict sleep quality in youth athletes allows practitioners to monitor the most parsimonious set of variables that can improve athlete buy-in and compliance for athlete self-report measurement. Translating these findings into a decision-making tool could facilitate practitioner willingness to monitor sleep in athletes.

Hypothesis: Key predictor variables, identified by feature reduction techniques, will lead to higher predictive accuracy in determining youth athletes with poor sleep quality.

Training During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices of 12,526 Athletes from 142 Countries and Six Continents.

Objective: Our objective was to explore the training-related knowledge, beliefs, and practices of athletes and the influence of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Methods: Athletes (n = 12,526, comprising 13% world class, 21% international, 36% national, 24% state, and 6% recreational) completed an online survey that was available from 17 May to 5 July 2020 and explored their training behaviors (training knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and practices), including specific questions on their training intensity, frequency, and session duration before and during lockdown (March-June 2020).

Results: Overall, 85% of athletes wanted to "maintain training," and 79% disagreed with the statement that it is "okay to not train during lockdown," with a greater prevalence for both in higher-level athletes.

Motives for Dropout Among Former Junior Elite Caribbean Track and Field Athletes: A Qualitative Investigation.

Anecdotal reports within the Caribbean track and field fraternity have revealed that there is a high level of athlete dropout from competitive sport at the junior-elite level, and a poor transition to senior-elite status. Consequently, this qualitative investigation explored the key motives that may have contributed toward the unsuccessful transitions and ensuing dropout of Caribbean track and field athletes during the junior to senior transition period. Eleven former junior-elite track and field athletes (four males, seven females; M = 29, SD ± 4.