Non-Hospitalized Patients With Post-COVID Condition and Myopathic Electromyography Findings Show no Difference in Symptom Severity and Clinical Manifestations Compared to Those Without Myopathic Findings.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a post-infectious syndrome designated as long-COVID or post-COVID condition (PCC) that presents with numerous symptoms including fatigue and myalgias. This study evaluated myopathic electromyography (EMG) findings in non-hospitalized PCC patients in relation to symptom severity, quality of life (QoL), and physical function.

Methods: Twenty-nine PCC patients with persistent symptoms ≥ 3 months after laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, without hospitalization or comorbidities, were included.

Physical and perceptual demands of youth international team match-play in traditional and aged-matched future teams for biologically late maturing soccer players.

Background: Given the rapidly increasing interest in national futures programmes, and the associated significant increased resource investment, there is a pressing need for data specific to futures programmes to inform practice across world football.

Aim: To investigate the differences in the physical and perceptual demands of match-play using Global Positioning Software technology and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) in traditional youth international team and age-matched international future teams for biologically late-maturing players over one in-season period.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 18 U15 future team (FT) players and 21 national team (NT) players were examined.

Longitudinal changes in regional fat and muscle composition and cardiometabolic biomarkers over 5 years of hormone therapy in transgender individuals.

Background: Longitudinal studies investigating hormone therapy in transgender individuals are rare and often limited to 1- to 2-year follow-up periods.

Objectives And Methods: We examined changes in body composition, muscle volumes, and fat distribution as well as muscle strength, arterial stiffness, and cardiometabolic biomarkers in both transgender men (TM; n = 17, age 25 ± 5 years) and transgender women (TW; n = 16, age 28 ± 5 years) at baseline and after 1 and 5-6 years of hormone therapy in a longitudinal prospective cohort design. Whole-body and regional fat and muscle volumes were analyzed using magnetic resonance imaging, and blood samples were taken.

A pilot study on bio-banding in male youth ice hockey: Players' perceptions and coaches' selection preferences.

Classifying athletes based on estimates of biological maturation (i.e., bio-banding) as a supplement to traditional age grouping has been shown to be a potential tool for enriching player development in team sports; however, bio-banding has not yet been evaluated in ice hockey.

Relative age and biological maturity-related selection biases in male youth soccer across different competitive levels within a national association.

Objectives And Methods: This study aimed to examine whether biological maturation and relative age selection biases existed and varied by level of competition (regional, national, and international) in Under-15 soccer players ( = 951) within the Swedish Football Association's male player pathway. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between relative age and body height, body weight, predicted adult height, percentage of predicted adult height (PAH%), maturity Z-score, and biological age to chronological age offset.

Results: The results showed a significant bias ( < 0.

Functional Limitations and Exercise Intolerance in Patients With Post-COVID Condition: A Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial.

Importance: Many patients with post-COVID condition (PCC) experience persistent fatigue, muscle pain, and cognitive problems that worsen after exertion (referred to as postexertional malaise). Recommendations currently advise against exercise in this population to prevent symptom worsening; however, prolonged inactivity is associated with risk of long-term health deterioration.

Objective: To assess postexertional symptoms in patients with PCC after exercise compared with control participants and to comprehensively investigate the physiologic mechanisms underlying PCC.

The International Olympic Committee framework on fairness, inclusion and nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations does not protect fairness for female athletes.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently published a framework on fairness, inclusion, and nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex variations. Although we appreciate the IOC's recognition of the role of sports science and medicine in policy development, we disagree with the assertion that the IOC framework is consistent with existing scientific and medical evidence and question its recommendations for implementation. Testosterone exposure during male development results in physical differences between male and female bodies; this process underpins male athletic advantage in muscle mass, strength and power, and endurance and aerobic capacity.

Relationship between maximal oxygen uptake, within-set fatigue and between-set recovery during resistance exercise in resistance-trained men and women.

Background: The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between maximal oxygen update (V̇O) and within-set fatigue and between-set recovery during resistance exercise in men and women.

Methods: We examined the relationship between V̇O and various indices of fatigue and recovery during parallel squats (3 sets, 90 s rest, 70% of 1RM to failure) and isokinetic knee extensions (3 × 10 maximal repetitions at 60 deg/s, 45 s rest) in 28 (age 27.0 ± 3.

Who Reaches the NHL? A 20-Year Retrospective Analysis of Junior and Adult Ice Hockey Success in Relation to Biological Maturation in Male Swedish Players.

Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between biological maturation and success in adolescence and adulthood in male Swedish ice hockey players.

Methods: Anthropometric records of players in certified ice hockey high schools between 1998 and 2017 were retrieved (n = 4787). The database was complemented with records of Swedish junior national teams (U16, U18, U20) and National Hockey League (NHL) appearances.

Limited effect of over-the-counter doses of ibuprofen on mechanisms regulating muscle hypertrophy during resistance training in young adults.

We have previously shown that maximal over-the-counter doses of ibuprofen, compared with low doses of acetylsalicylic acid, reduce muscle hypertrophy in young individuals after 8 wk of resistance training. Because the mechanism behind this effect has not been fully elucidated, we here investigated skeletal muscle molecular responses and myofiber adaptations in response to acute and chronic resistance training with concomitant drug intake. Thirty-one young (aged 18-35 yr) healthy men ( = 17) and women ( = 14) were randomized to receive either ibuprofen (IBU; 1,200 mg daily; = 15) or acetylsalicylic acid (ASA; 75 mg daily; = 16) while undergoing 8 wk of knee extension training.

Skeletal muscle morphology, satellite cells, and oxidative profile in relation to physical function and lifelong endurance training in very old men.

In the current study, we compared muscle morphology in three advanced aging cohorts that differed in physical function, including a unique cohort of lifelong endurance athletes. Biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle of seven lifelong endurance athletes (EAs) aged 82-92 yr, and 19 subjects from the Uppsala Longitudinal Study of Adult Men (ULSAM) aged 87-91 yr were analyzed. ULSAM subjects were divided into high- ( = 9, HF) and low- ( = 10, LF) function groups based on strength and physical function tests.

Effects of Flywheel vs. Traditional Resistance Training on Neuromuscular Performance of Elite Ice Hockey Players.

Puustinen, J, Venojärvi, M, Haverinen, M, and Lundberg, TR. Effects of flywheel versus traditional resistance training on neuromuscular performance of elite ice hockey players. J Strength Cond Res 37(1): 136-140, 2023-This study aimed to examine the effects of 8 weeks of flywheel (FW) vs.

The Effects of Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Training on Muscle Fiber Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Whole muscle hypertrophy does not appear to be negatively affected by concurrent aerobic and strength training compared to strength training alone. However, there are contradictions in the literature regarding the effects of concurrent training on hypertrophy at the myofiber level.

Objective: The current study aimed to systematically examine the extent to which concurrent aerobic and strength training, compared with strength training alone, influences type I and type II muscle fiber size adaptations.

Assessment of anterior thigh muscle size and fat infiltration using single-slice CT imaging versus automated MRI analysis in adults.

Objectives: We examined the longitudinal and cross-sectional relationship between automated MRI-analysis and single-slice axial CT imaging for determining muscle size and muscle fat infiltration (MFI) of the anterior thigh.

Methods: Twenty-two patients completing sex-hormone treatment expected to result in muscle hypertrophy ( = 12) and atrophy ( = 10) underwent MRI scans using 2-point Dixon fat/water-separated sequences and CT scans using a system operating at 120 kV and a fixed flux of 100 mA. At baseline and 12 months after, automated volumetric MRI analysis of the anterior thigh was performed bilaterally, and fat-free muscle volume and MFI were computed.

Improvements in Maximal Oxygen Uptake After Sprint-Interval Training Coincide with Increases in Central Hemodynamic Factors.

Introduction: Sprint-interval training has been shown to improve maximal oxygen uptake, in part through peripheral muscle adaptations that increase oxygen utilization. In contrast, the adaptations of central hemodynamic factors in this context remain unexplored.

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to explore the effects of sprint-interval training on maximal oxygen uptake and central hemodynamic factors.

Functional improvements to 6 months of physical activity are not related to changes in size or density of multiple lower-extremity muscles in mobility-limited older individuals.

Older adults are encouraged to engage in multicomponent physical activity, which includes aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities. The current work is an extension of the Vitality, Independence, and Vigor in the Elderly 2 (VIVE2) study - a 6-month multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of physical activity and nutritional supplementation in community dwelling 70-year-old seniors. Here, we examined whether the magnitude of changes in muscle size and quality differed between major lower-extremity muscle groups and related these changes to functional outcomes.

Compatibility of Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Training for Skeletal Muscle Size and Function: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Both athletes and recreational exercisers often perform relatively high volumes of aerobic and strength training simultaneously. However, the compatibility of these two distinct training modes remains unclear.

Objective: This systematic review assessed the compatibility of concurrent aerobic and strength training compared with strength training alone, in terms of adaptations in muscle function (maximal and explosive strength) and muscle mass.

The Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) Related Public-Health Measures on Training Behaviours of Individuals Previously Participating in Resistance Training: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

Introduction: Understanding the impact of lockdown upon resistance training (RT), and how people adapted their RT behaviours, has implications for strategies to maintain engagement in similar positive health behaviours. Further, doing so will provide a baseline for investigation of the long-term effects of these public health measures upon behaviours and perceptions, and facilitate future follow-up study.

Objectives: To determine how the onset of coronavirus (COVID-19), and associated 'lockdown', affected RT behaviours, in addition to motivation, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and intent to continue, in those who regularly performed RT prior to the pandemic.

Transgender Women in the Female Category of Sport: Perspectives on Testosterone Suppression and Performance Advantage.

Males enjoy physical performance advantages over females within competitive sport. The sex-based segregation into male and female sporting categories does not account for transgender persons who experience incongruence between their biological sex and their experienced gender identity. Accordingly, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) determined criteria by which a transgender woman may be eligible to compete in the female category, requiring total serum testosterone levels to be suppressed below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months prior to and during competition.

Early accentuated muscle hypertrophy is strongly associated with myonuclear accretion.

The current study explored whether the marked hypertrophic response noted with a short-term unilateral concurrent exercise paradigm was associated with more prominent changes in myonuclei accretion, ribosome biogenesis, and capillarization compared with resistance exercise alone (RE). Ten men (age 25 ± 4 yr) performed aerobic and resistance exercise (AE + RE) for one leg while the other leg did RE. Muscle biopsies were obtained before and after 5 wk of training and subjected to fiber-type specific immunohistochemical analysis, and quantification of total RNA content and mRNA/rRNA transcript abundance.

Three months of bed rest induce a residual transcriptomic signature resilient to resistance exercise countermeasures.

This study explored the muscle genome-wide response to long-term unloading (84-day bed rest) in 21 men. We hypothesized that a part of the bed rest-induced gene expression signature would be resilient to a concurrent flywheel resistance exercise (RE) countermeasure. Using DNA microarray technology analyzing 35 345 gene-level probe-sets, we identified 335 annotated probe-sets that were downregulated, and 315 that were upregulated after bed rest (P < .