Test-retest reliability of strength, power, agility, and sprint performance in female team handball players.

Objectives: This study assessed the test-retest reliability of athletic performance tests in a cohort of trained Norwegian female handball players, as well as a sub-analysis of the test-retest reliability for naturally menstruating players.

Design: Eighteen handball players (naturally menstruating: n = 8) completed performance test batteries on three separate occasions.

Methods: The performance test battery included: a 1-repetition Smith machine back squat, maximal handgrip strength tests, counter-movement jumps, squat jumps, a modified agility T-test, and 15-m linear sprints.

The effect of electro-magnetic-energy-regulation therapy on subjective sleep among elite players in Norwegian women's football.

The current study investigated if Bio-Electro-Magnetic-Energy-Regulation (BEMER) therapy is affecting subjective sleep among a sample of 21 elite female football players in a Norwegian top series club. Subjective sleep was measured each day over a period of 273 consecutive days by using a smartphone application, PM Reporter Pro, which scheduled push messages to remind the participants to report sleep every morning. The study was conducted as a quasi-experimental design, with a control period before the introduction of BEMER therapy that lasted for 3 months, followed by an intervention period where BEMER therapy was used that lasted for 5 months.

Aspects of Elite Female Football Players' Training Loads and Sleep Variations.

The current study investigated the associations between female football players' training loads and their sleep variations. The sample included 21 female elite football players from a Norwegian top-league club with a mean age of 24 years (±2.8).

A large-scale multivariate soccer athlete health, performance, and position monitoring dataset.

Data analysis for athletic performance optimization and injury prevention is of tremendous interest to sports teams and the scientific community. However, sports data are often sparse and hard to obtain due to legal restrictions, unwillingness to share, and lack of personnel resources to be assigned to the tedious process of data curation. These constraints make it difficult to develop automated systems for analysis, which require large datasets for learning.

Analysis of peak locomotor demands in women's football-the influence of different epoch lengths.

The quantification of peak locomotor demands has been gathering researchers' attention in the past years. Regardless of the different methodological approaches used, the most selected epochs are between 1-, 3-, 5- and 15-minutes time windows. However, the selection of these time frames is frequently arbitrary.

An analysis of training load in highly trained female football players.

Unlabelled: This observational study aimed to analyze external training load in highly trained female football players, comparing starters and non-starters across various cycle lengths and training days.

Method: External training load [duration, total distance [TD], high-speed running distance [HSRD], sprint distance [SpD], and acceleration- and deceleration distance [AccDecdist] from 100 female football players (22.3 ± 3.

The effect of bio-electro-magnetic-energy-regulation therapy on sleep duration and sleep quality among elite players in Norwegian women's football.

The current study investigated if physical loads peak on game days and if Bio-Electro-Magnetic-Energy-Regulation (BEMER) therapy is affecting sleep duration and sleep quality on nights related to game nights among elite players in Norwegian women's elite football. The sample included 21 female football players from an elite top series club with a mean age of ~24 years (± 2.8).

Effects of a neuromuscular training program on physical performance and asymmetries in female soccer.

Women's football require optimal neuromuscular system development for injury prevention and performance optimization. Standardized neuromuscular training programs have shown promising results in reducing injuries and functional asymmetries, but evidence on their impact on performance is limited. This research examined the effects of a 10-week neuromuscular training program on physical performance and asymmetries in female football players.

Affective Valence and Enjoyment in High- and Moderate-High Intensity Interval Exercise. The Tromsø Exercise Enjoyment Study.

Introduction: Exercise at high intensity may cause lower affective responses toward exercise compared with moderate intensity exercise. We aimed to elucidate affective valence and enjoyment in high- and moderate-high interval exercise.

Methods: Twenty recreationally active participants (9 females, 11 males, age range: 20-51 years) underwent three different treadmill running exercise sessions per week over a 3-week period, in randomized order; (1) CE70: 45 min continuous exercise at 70% of heart rate maximum (HR), (2) INT80: 4 × 4 min intervals at 80% of HR, (3) INT90: 4 × 4 min intervals at 90% of HR.

Executive summary: Elite women's football-Performance, recovery, diet, and health.

The present special issue of Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports focuses on performance, recovery, diet, and health in elite women's football. Beside this summary, an editorial, topic reviews, and original articles written by several of the most published authors in football research are presented. It is, for example, highlighted that there is a great gender inequality in football research in favor of men, especially within elite football populations.

The variability of physical match demands in elite women's football.

Peak locomotor demands are considered as key metrics for conditioning drills prescription and training monitoring. However, research in female football has focused on absolute values when reporting match demands, leading to sparse information being provided regarding the degrees of variability of such metrics. Thus, the aims of this study were to investigate the sources of variability of match physical performance parameters in female football players and to provide a framework for the interpretation of meaningful changes between matches.

Physical performance and loading for six playing positions in elite female football: full-game, end-game, and peak periods.

The present study investigated the position-specific match demands and heart rate response of female elite footballers, with special focus on the full-game, end-game, and peak-intensity periods. In total, 217 match observations were performed in 94 players from all eight teams of the best Danish Women's League, that is, goalkeepers (GK, n = 10), central defenders (CD, n = 23), full-backs (FB, n = 18), central midfielders (CM, n = 28), external midfielders (EM, n = 18), and forwards (FW, n = 11). Positional data (GPS; 10 Hz Polar Team Pro) and HR responses were collected.

Maximal Strength, Sprint, and Jump Performance in High-Level Female Football Players Are Maintained With a Customized Training Program During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak with partial lockdown has inevitably led to an alteration in training routines for football players worldwide. Thus, coaches had to face with the novel challenge of minimizing the potential decline in fitness during this period of training disruption.

Methods: In this observational pre- to posttest study involving Norwegian female football players (18.

Flywheel squats versus free weight high load squats for improving high velocity movements in football. A randomized controlled trial.

Background: High load (HL: > 85% of one repetition maximum (1RM)) squats with maximal intended velocity contractions (MIVC) combined with football sessions can be considered a relevant and time-efficient practice for maintaining and improving high velocity movements in football. Flywheel (FW) resistance exercise (RE) have recently emerged with promising results on physical parameters associated with football performance.

Methods: In this randomized controlled trial over 6 weeks, 38 recreationally active male football players randomly performed RE with MIVCs two times per week as either 1) FW squats ( = 13) or 2) barbell free weight (BFW) HL squats ( = 13), where a third group served as controls ( = 12).

Pain Processing in Elite and High-Level Athletes Compared to Non-athletes.

Background: Previous studies shows that elite and high-level athletes possess consistently higher pain tolerance to ischemic and cold pain stimulation compared to recreationally active. However, the data previously obtained within this field is sparse and with low consistency.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to examine the difference in pain perception between elite and high-level endurance athletes (cross country skiers and runners), elite soccer players and non-athletes, as well to explore the impact of psychological factors on pain processing.

Positional Differences in Peak- and Accumulated- Training Load Relative to Match Load in Elite Football.

Quantification of training and match load is an important method to personalize the training stimulus' prescription to players according to their match demands. The present study used time-motion analysis and triaxial-accelerometer to quantify and compare: a) The most demanding passages of play in training sessions and matches (5-min peaks); b) and the accumulated load of typical microcycles and official matches, by playing position. Players performance data in 15 official home matches and 11 in-season microcycles were collected for analysis.

Improved maximal strength is not associated with improvements in sprint time or jump height in high-level female football players: a clusterrendomized controlled trial.

Background: Maximal strength increments are reported to result in improvements in sprint speed and jump height in elite male football players. Although similar effects are expected in females, this is yet to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of maximal strength training on sprint speed and jump height in high-level female football players.

High Intensity Long Interval Sets Provides Similar Enjoyment as Continuous Moderate Intensity Exercise. The Tromsø Exercise Enjoyment Study.

Objective: High intensity interval exercise sessions with interval sets over 3 min may provide superior cardiorespiratory fitness benefits. To our knowledge, the exercise enjoyment of interval sets over 3 min is not yet elucidated. The aim of this study was to examine exercise enjoyment following one session with four intervals of 4 min high intensity exercise (HIIE) versus one session of 45 min moderate intensity continuous exercise (CE) in iso-caloric conditions using a randomized crossover design.

Effects of Linear Versus Changes of Direction Repeated Sprints on Intermittent High Intensity Running Performance in High-level Junior Football Players over an Entire Season: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Changes of direction (COD) repeated sprints (RSs) might have greater relevance to football than linear RSs. We aimed to compare the effects of linear and COD RSs on intermittent high intensity running (HIR) over an entire season.

Methods: In total, 19 high-level male football players (16-19 years) randomly performed linear RSs or COD RSs twice a week during their competitive season over 22 weeks.

Correction: Activity Profiles by Position in Youth Elite Soccer Players in Official Matches.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1055/a-0883-5540.].

Activity Profiles by Position in Youth Elite Soccer Players in Official Matches.

In order to investigate activity profiles and external load patterns in elite youth soccer players, we studied high-intensity activity patterns, maximum running speed, and temporary and end-of-match decline in external load in 54 U17 players (96 match observations) over a full season of official match play. Wide midfielders covered most high-intensity running (HIR) distance (1044.2 m), most sprinting distance (224.

A comparison of match-physical demands between different tactical systems: 1-4-5-1 vs 1-3-5-2.

The team tactical system and distribution of the football players on the pitch is considered fundamental in team performance. The present study used time-motion analysis and triaxial-accelerometers to obtain new insights about the impact of different tactical systems (1-4-5-1 and 1-3-5-2) on physical performance, across different playing positions, in a professional football team. Player performance data in fifteen official home matches was collected for analysis.