Search

From March 2020 to May 2021, several lockdown periods caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have limited people's usual activities and mobility in Italy, as well as around the world. These unprecedented confinement measures dramatically modified citizens' daily lifestyles and behaviours. However, with the advent of summer 2021 and thanks to the vaccination campaign that significantly prevents serious illness and death, and reduces the risk of contagion, all the Italian regions finally returned to regular behaviours and routines. Anyhow, it is unclear if there is a long-tail effect on people's quality of life, sleep- and physical activity-related behaviours. Thanks to the dataset described in this paper, it will be possible to obtain accurate insights of the changes induced by the lockdown period in the Italians' health that will permit to provide practical suggestions at local, regional, and state institutions and companies to improve infrastructures and services that could be beneficial to Italians' well being. Measurement(s) Quality of Life • Overall Sleep Quality Rating • Physical Activity Measurement Technology Type(s) SF-36 • Overall Sleep Quality Rating • International Physical Activity Questionnaire (August 2002) Short Last 7 Days Self-Administered Format Sample Characteristic - Organism Homo sapiens Sample Characteristic - Environment questionnaire [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences between types of sport (i.e., closed vs. open skills sport) on inhibitory control and motor fitness in children. Forty-nine children were allocated into three groups based on their sports participation, which comprised an open skill sport group, a closed skill sport group, and a sedentary group. Participants were tested on cognitive performance (inhibitory control by the Flanker task) and motor fitness (reaction time, speed, agility, power, balance). Open skill sport group appeared to display higher inhibitory control (response time and accuracy of incongruent condition of the Flanker task) and motor fitness performance (reaction time, speed, agility, power) than sedentary group, whereas its superiority over closed skill sport group was found only in speed and agility. Moreover, closed skill sport group had only a better reaction time than sedentary group. Our data supports the framework according to which cognitive demands in complex motor actions may contribute to explain the beneficial effects of exercise on inhibitory control. This might suggest that the complexity of the environment (typical in open skill sports) in which sport training is performed plays a key role for both cognitive and motor development in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the exercise intensity during a ski marathon race by monitoring the heart rate (HR) of a well-trained male amateur skier taking part in La Sgambeda 2012 (42 km long). The race consisted of a preliminary short lap of 3.5 km and two almost identical laps of 19 and 19.5 km, respectively. The subject's resting and maximal heart rates (HR and HR) were 60 and 180 beats/min, respectively. During the race, HR and altitude were recorded every 1 s using a HR monitor with GPS system. To describe the exercise intensity profile, three reference HRs were selected. The reference HRs were calculated from the 'Karvonen formula' by multiplying the HR reserve (HRR; HRR = HR−HR) by the factors 0.5, 0.7, 0.9 and adding these values to HR. The HR profile was classified into four levels of exercise intensity. The skier performed the race in 1 h 55 min 40 s, with an HR of 160 beats/min (89 % of HR and 83 % of HRR). Nearly the entire race (96.6 %) was performed at an intensity between 70 and 90 % of HRR. The HR during the 2nd lap was slightly lower as compared to the HR during the 1st lap (from 162 ± 4 to 160 ± 4 beats/min, p < 0.001). This study provided a detailed description of the HR response to a marathon cross-country skiing race. It showed that such race was performed at high intensity throughout the duration of the event, thus requiring high aerobic power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soccer is a team sport that requires prolonged, high-intensity, intermittent exercise and evidence from previous studies has shown that players experience fatigue toward the end of a match. Some preliminary observations indicate that goal scoring increases over time during the game; however, these preliminary results were obtained analysing minor soccer leagues and/or using a limited amount of matches. The aim of this study was to examine the goal scoring patterns in four major European leagues (English Premier League, French Football Ligue 1, Italian Serie A and Spanish Football Liga) across three consecutive seasons (2008–09, 2009–10 and 2010–11). Chi square analysis revealed a significantly ( p < 0.001) higher goal scoring frequency in the second half (55.1 %) compared to the first half (44.9 %). The 15-min interval analysis highlighted a significant ( p < 0.001) upward trend in the number of goals scored as time progressed (13.7, 15.1, 16.2, 17.7, 17.2 and 20.2 %, for 0–15, 15–30, 30–45, 45–60, 60–75 and 75–90 intervals respectively). The main finding of the present study is that in the four major European soccer leagues investigated the amount of goals scored is greater in the second half, with the scoring rate being highest in the last 15-min of a match. Fatigue occurring during the game may play a role; however, fatigue alone cannot explain the differences. The state of the games result and the reduced time available for scoring are other potential contributing factors to the increased goal scoring patterns observed in the latter stages of the game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]