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This study aimed to compare the effects of an accentuated eccentric training programme on physical performance between men and women. Distributed in two groups by gender, 21 male and 21 female athletes performed four sets of seven repetitions of the half-squat exercise twice per week for 6 weeks. Both groups lifted the same absolute load using a rotary inertial device. To accentuate the eccentric action, the eccentric load was twice as heavy as the concentric load. Vertical jump, sprint, and change of direction (COD) performances were measured pre- and post-intervention. To measure strength gains, vertical ground reaction forces were measured for each repetition of the entire training programme. Vertical jump improved post-intervention (MG: 33.88 ± 4.94 to 35.41 ± 4.86; FG: 20.60 ± 4.62 to 22.12 ± 4.32; p < 0.001; η2p = 0.42), while sprint (MG: 3.08 ± 0.11 to 3.07 ± 0.13; FG: 3.66 ± 0.23 to 3.64 ± 0.23) and COD (MG: 7.77 ± 0.42 to 7.61 ± 0.47; FG: 8.44 ± 0.58 to 8.38 ± 0.57) remained unchanged. Concentric and eccentric forces increased for both groups from session 1 to 4 (p < 0.001; η2p >0.39), while only peak eccentric forces increased until session 12 (p = 0.009; η2p = 0.21). In conclusion, even when men are able to produce greater forces with similar loads, accentuated eccentric RT produces similar strength and strength-related adaptations in male and female athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age differences between athletes born in the same year, as well as an over-representation of older players, are known as the Relative Age Effect (RAE). Players born at the beginning of the selection year have a physical and anthropometric advantage over their younger peers. Experts keep looking for new prediction variables for talent identification. The aim of the study is to correlate anthropometric, strength and power variables with the relative age (RA) and the level of the teams in which players played in each age category. All players (N = 366) from an elite soccer academy of a Spanish club volunteered to participate in the study (U23-U10). There was a significant correlation between the RA of the players and the level of the team in which they played in each age category but no correlation between trimester of birth and level of the team. We found significant correlations between the players' physical capacities, anthropometry, RA and the level of the team in which they played for the same age category, mainly from U16 to U10. U23 did not show any correlation between RA and physical or anthropometric variables. Coaches should be cautious of choosing players based only on anthropometric or physical attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were to compare the force profile of using a horizontal cylinder-shaped axis or a vertical cone-shaped axis to provide resistance in rotary inertia devices, and to report the evolution of kinetic and kinematic variables in experienced athletes during a half-squat exercise. Twenty-two healthy active men participated in the assessment of time, peak velocity, peak force, time to reach the peak force, average force, impulse, and range of movement, during a half-squat incremental test performed on conical inertial device (CP) and on cylinder inertial device (YY). The analysis showed that YY during CON-ECC phased generates substantial higher peak_force, mean_force, impulse, time, and a lower peak_velocity, than CP. We never obtained eccentric overload for peak_force or mean_force. CP offers less resistance to accelerate-decelerate the movement with respect to YY, we need checking whether eccentric overload it is being produced, and the impulse was the only kinetic variable that was able to discriminate between the inertias and devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]