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Improving women's handball through increased performance and sustainability is crucial. Strength training, especially with Olympic movements, develops strength, power, and speed, key factors for success in team sports. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of Olympic movements on performance variables such as jumps, throws, sprints, and changes of direction, and additionally, to promote a more sustainable and holistic approach to overall health and wellbeing. Twenty-one women handball players were divided into two groups (the experimental group (EG) [n = 11; age: 15.91 ± 0.70 years; BMI: 21.37] and the control group (CG) [n = 10; age: 15.60 ± 0.52; BMI: 22.31]). All participants performed four assessment tests to determine jump height (Abalakov test), throwing speed (throw test), running speed (20 m sprint) and change of direction ability (V-cut test). Measurements were carried out before and after the intervention. For six weeks, the control group performed the strength work established by the club twice a week while the intervention group additionally performed training with Olympic movements. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found between the pre and post measurement of the control group and the intervention group in jump height, throwing speed, and running speed, being higher in the intervention group. For change of direction, no significant differences were found. Between groups, significant differences were observed at the end of the intervention for jump height and running speed. The conclusion of this study is that the experimental group achieved greater improvements in jumping performance, throwing speed, and running speed in women handball players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: 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. Methods: This research examined the effects of a 10-week neuromuscular training program on physical performance and asymmetries in female football players. Thirty-eight female players from two Spanish Second Division women’s football teams participated in the study. The physical performance tests used were: ankle dorsiflexion, bilateral and unilateral horizontal jump, bilateral and unilateral vertical countermovement jump, 40 m sprint including partial times at 10, 20 and 30 m and the 505 test for change of direction evaluation. For 10 weeks, players in the experimental group performed three weekly 24-min neuromuscular training sessions. Participants in the control group completed their normal 24-min strength and conditioning program. Results: The main results were that maximal linear velocity and change of direction skills showed the most notable improvements [effect size (ES), 0.46 to 0.59] after implementation of the training program, ankle dorsiflexion and jumping skills, also improved although, to a lesser extent (ES, <0.35) while asymmetries between limbs were reduced. Maximal running speed improved in the intervention group (p < 0.001) with a mean ES −0.59. Discussion: We conclude that a 10-week neuromuscular training program can be a sufficient stimulus to improve football-specific performance variables in highlevel female football players. Therefore, female players and coaches should be aware that weekly inclusion of strength, power and dynamic balance exercises following a neuromuscular paradigm is helpful for football-specific performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous variables can affect performance before the competition. Nevertheless, it could be a subject of curiosity to find out whether a warm-up strategy has a more positive effect on the power performance of kickboxers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of different specific warm-up protocols and time of day on optimum power performance in kickboxers. Ten volunteer males performed three different warm-up routines in random order. The warm-up protocols consisted of only 20 min for each group. The groups with low-intensity aerobic running (NSWU) and specific warm-ups (SWU-20m) performed 20-min protocols. The other group followed 10 minutes of jogging and 10 minutes of specific warm-up (SWU-10m). All groups followed the warm-up randomly at two different periods of the day (i.e. morning: 09:00-10:00 and evening: 16:00-17:00) on non-consecutive days. A statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of Mean Propulsion (W) (F=3.518; p2=0.036). There was a statistically significant difference in Mean propulsive Power (W) between NSWU and SWU-10m (p3= 0.0007) in addition there was also a statistically significant difference in SWU-10m and SWU-20m (p3= 0.0106) and, NSWU and SWU-20m (p3= 0.415) protocols. In conclusion, mean propulsion (W) performance showed diurnal variation, and performances of the kickboxers' can be affected more positively in the evening hours, especially after SWU protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]