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Purpose: To determine body composition, energy availability, training load, and menstrual status in young elite endurance running athletes (ATH) over 1 year, and in a secondary analysis, to investigate how these factors differ between nonrunning controls (CON), and amenorrheic (AME) and eumenorrheic (EUM) ATH. Correlations to injury, illness, and performance were also examined., Methods: Altogether 13 ATH and 8 CON completed the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire. Anthropometric, energy intake, and peak oxygen uptake assessments were made at 4 time points throughout the year: at baseline post competition season, post general preparation, post specific preparation, and post competition season the following year. Logs of physical activity, menstrual cycle, illness, and injury were kept by all participants. Performance was defined using the highest International Association of Athletics Federations points prior to and after the study., Results: ATH had significantly lower body mass (P < .008), fat percentage (P < .001), and body mass index (P < .027) compared with CON, while energy availability did not differ between ATH and CON. The Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire score was higher in ATH than in CON (P < .028), and 8 ATH (vs zero CON) were AME. The AME had significantly more injury days (P < .041) and ran less (P < .046) than EUM, while total annual running distance was positively related to changes in performance in ATH (r < .62, P < .043, n < 11)., Conclusions: More than half of this group of runners was AME, and they were injured more and ran less than their EUM counterparts. Furthermore, only the EUM runners increased their performance over the course of the year.

Dietary supplements such as caffeine and beetroot juice are used by athletes in an attempt to optimize performance and therefore gain an advantage in competition. The aim of this study was to investigate the individual and combined effects of caffeine and beetroot-juice supplementation during submaximal and maximal treadmill running. Seven males (maximal oxygen uptake: 59.0 ± 2.9 mL·kg -1 ·min -1 ) and 2 females (maximal oxygen uptake: 53.1 ± 11.4 mL·kg -1 ·min -1 ) performed a preliminary trial followed by 4 experimental test sessions. Each test session consisted of two 5-min submaximal running bouts (at ∼70% and 80% of maximal oxygen uptake) and a maximal 1-km time trial (TT) in a laboratory. Participants ingested 70 mL of concentrated beetroot juice containing either 7.3 mmol of nitrate (BR) or no nitrate (P BR ) 2.5 h prior to each test session, then either caffeine (C) at 4.8 ± 0.4 (4.3-5.6) mg/kg of body mass or a caffeine placebo (P C ) 45 min before each test session. The 4 test sessions (BR-C, BR-P C , P BR -C, and P BR -P C ) were presented in a counterbalanced and double-blind manner. No significant differences were identified between the 4 interventions regarding relative oxygen uptake, running economy, respiratory exchange ratio, heart rate (HR), or rating of perceived exertion (RPE) at the 2 submaximal intensities (P > 0.05). Moreover, there were no significant differences in performance, maximum HR, peak blood lactate concentration, or RPE during the maximal TT when comparing the interventions (P > 0.05). In conclusion, no beneficial effects of supplementing with typical doses of caffeine, beetroot juice, or a combination of the two were observed for physiological, perceptual, or performance responses during submaximal or maximal treadmill running exercise.

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to investigate pacing strategies and the distribution of physiological resources in best vs worst performances during a series of 4-min self-paced running time trials (RunTTs)., Methods: Five male and 5 female recreational runners (age 32 ± 7 y) completed a submaximal ramp test and 5 RunTTs on a motor-driven treadmill fitted with a speed-controlling laser system. The supramaximal oxygen-uptake (V̇O 2 ) demand was estimated by linear extrapolation from the submaximal relationship between V̇O 2 and speed, enabling computation of the accumulated oxygen deficit., Results: There were no significant differences between the 5 RunTTs for any of the performance, physiological, or subjective responses (P > .05). The trial-to-trial variability in pacing (ie, separate quarters) was typically low, with an average within-athlete coefficient of variation of 3.3%, being highest at the start and end of the 4 min. Total distance covered and distance covered over the first and last 2 min for best and worst performances were 1137 ± 94 and 1090 ± 89 (P < .001), 565 ± 53 and 526 ± 40 m (P = .002), and 572 ± 47 and 565 ± 54 m (P = .346), respectively., Conclusions: Negative pacing strategies were evident during both the best and the worst performances of the RunTT. Best performances were characterized by more aggressive pacing over the first 2 min compared with worst performances. In addition, the relatively low trial-to-trial variability in running speed suggests that pacing strategies are similar during a series of 4-min self-paced running time trials.

Objectives: Repeated-sprint ability appears to be influenced by oxidative metabolism, with reductions in fatigue and improved sprint times related to markers of aerobic fitness. The aim of the current study was to measure the oxygen uptake (VO₂) during the first and last sprints during two, 5 × 6-s repeated-sprint bouts., Design: Cross-sectional study., Methods: Eight female soccer players performed two, consecutive, 5 × 6-s maximal sprint bouts (B1 and B2) on five separate occasions, in order to identify the minimum time (trec) required to recover total work done (Wtot) in B1. On a sixth occasion, expired air was collected during the first and last sprint of B1 and B2, which were separated by trec., Results: The trec was 10.9 ± 1.1 min. The VO₂ during the first sprint was significantly less than the last sprint in each bout (p<0.001), and the estimated aerobic contribution to the final sprint (measured in kJ) was significantly related to VO₂max in both B1 (r=0.81, p=0.015) and B2 (r=0.93, p=0.001). In addition, the VO₂ attained in the final sprint was not significantly different from VO₂max in B1 (p=0.284) or B2 (p=0.448)., Conclusions: The current study shows that the VO₂ increases from the first to the last of 5 × 6-s sprints and that VO₂max may be a limiting factor to performance in latter sprints. Increasing V˙O₂max in team-sport athletes may enable increased aerobic energy delivery, and consequently work done, during a bout of repeated sprints., (Copyright © 2014 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Despite the wealth of evidence regarding physical training strategies in soccer, there is little information regarding soccer-specific concurrent training and the effects of training order. The current study aimed to: i) quantify the effects of concurrent high-intensity run-based training (HIT) and strength- and power-based training (STR) on soccer-specific performance, and ii) investigate the order effect of completing HIT and STR either first or second within training sessions. Eighteen semi- and fully-professional players completed a battery of field- and gym-based tests before and after a 5-week pre-season training intervention. Players were pair-matched and completed 3 sessions per week of HIT followed by STR (n=9) or STR followed by HIT (n=9). ANCOVA tests revealed no differences between groups for changes in any of the measures (p>0.05). However, a training effect was observed for all measures (p<0.05), with 10-m sprint, 6×30-m repeated sprint, 40-m agility and Yo-Yo test performances improving by 1.8±2.6%, 1.3±1.8%, 1.0±1.5% and 19.4±23.4%, respectively (n=18). In conclusion, there was a positive effect of the concurrent training approach on key measures of soccer performance, but the order of completing HIT and STR appears inconsequential to performance adaptations., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

The well-established ergogenic benefit of ingesting carbohydrates during single-discipline endurance sports has only been tested once within an Olympic-distance (OD) triathlon. The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of ingesting a 2:1 maltodextrin/fructose solution with a placebo on simulated OD triathlon performance. Six male and 4 female amateur triathletes (age, 25 ± 7 years; body mass, 66.8 ± 9.2 kg; peak oxygen uptake, 4.2 ± 0.6 L·min(-1)) completed a 1500-m swim time-trial and an incremental cycle test to determine peak oxygen uptake before performing 2 simulated OD triathlons. The swim and cycle sections of the main trials were of fixed intensities, while the run section was completed as a time-trial. Two minutes prior to completing every quarter of the cycle participants consumed 202 ± 20 mL of either a solution containing 1.2 g·min(-1) of maltodextrin plus 0.6 g·min(-1) of fructose at 14.4% concentration (CHO) or a sugar-free, fruit-flavored drink (PLA). The time-trial was 4.0% ± 1.3% faster during the CHO versus PLA trial, with run times of 38:43 ± 1:10 min:s and 40:22 ± 1:18 min:s, respectively (p = 0.010). Blood glucose concentrations were higher in the CHO versus PLA trial (p < 0.001), while perceived stomach upset did not differ between trials (p = 0.555). The current findings show that a 2:1 maltodextrin/fructose solution (1.8 g·min(-1) at 14.4%) ingested throughout the cycle section of a simulated OD triathlon enhances subsequent 10-km run performance in triathletes.