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Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic affects society on a global scale in many ways. In Germany, various social and leisure facilities such as schools, sports clubs and gyms had to be closed due to lockdowns. The impact of these closures on sports behavior in children and adolescents is still insufficiently explored.Methods: To address that, we conducted a survey among 51 athletes, asking them retrospectively about their training, their competitions, their training motivation, and their concerns about the future.Results: The athletes, aged 9-20 years, (66.7% female, 43.1% performance sports) reported the lowest hours of exercise during the first lockdown: 5 (9.8%) children mentioned 0h per week and 31 (60.8%), 1-5h per week. Recreational athletes were more affected than performance athletes. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 8 (15.7%) of all athletes had motivational problems regarding their training in contrast to 25 (49.0%) during the lockdowns. 19 (37.3%) of the athletes reported that the pandemic will have an impact on their career regardless of a COVID-19 infection.Conclusion: Sport faded into the background during this challenging time, athletes sports behavior has been affected in many ways. It is important that children and adolescents are quickly enabled to return to sport, as the health benefits speak for themselves.Key Words: SARS-CoV-2, Questionnaire, Young Athletes, Competitive Sports, Physical Activity, Training Motivation

Introduction: An infection with SARS-CoV-2 is relevant especially in high-performance sport due to possible organ damage and reduced performance which occurs in individual cases. Various recommendations are found in the literature concerning when safe return to sports is possible and what examinations are suitable to support this decision. The dominance of other virus variants than those at the start of the pandemic makes revision of earlier recommendations necessary. Methods and Analysis: The recommended actions are based on the currently-available scientific knowledge of the pathogenicity of the virus and on clinical experiences in general and elite athletes. Twenty-one recommended actions were proposed by the Scientific Council of the DGSP, discussed and agreed on in consensus with experts from German-language sports-medical facilities and evaluated by an independent co-author. The resultant position paper was subsequently released by mutual agreement. Results: The recommendations are oriented to the severity of the course and the symptoms. The required medical diagnostic is deduced therefrom. During persistent symptoms, sports should be paused and training only begun again at low intensity after a three-day symptom-free period. If COVID-19-associated complaints recur, physical exertion should be stopped and a doctor consulted. After moderate and serious course, medical diagnostics are required prior to the start of training. Summary: To prevent a health risk due to sports and thereby resultant organ damage after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, a procedure adapted to the symptoms and course before return to training and finally to competitive sports is recommended.

After prioritization of populations with risk factors for severe courses of Covid-19 (Corona) and occupational groups with a high number of close contacts with patients and other human beings, from now onward (performance-oriented) athletes will be considered for vaccination. Recommendations for vaccinations in this target group can be different from the ones for the general population in some aspects. However, there are only very few scientifically valid findings that may guide vaccinating medical doctors. This article summarizes available evidence and formulates recommendations for vaccinations in (high-performance) athletes.Key Words: Corona-Pandemics, COVID-19, Risk Factors, Priorization, General Population

Problem: The skin is exposed to numerous stresses during sport. In addition to infection-related or allergic triggers, the development of sport-associated skin diseases depends on the discipline practiced and can be caused by mechanical stressors, thermal damage, and UV radiation. Methods: This review intends to give an overview of study results on the incidence and prevalence of skin diseases in competitive athletes. Publications describing case reports of the outbreak of a specific skin disease within a small cohort of athletes of a defined discipline were included as well as publications comparing the incidence of dermatoses between different disciplines based on large study cohorts.Results: Most studies focus on the analysis of the ocurrence of certain skin diseases in athletes of only one defined discipline, in most cases athletes performing sports with close body contact. Hardly any studies deal with dermatoses in competitive athletes among multiple disciplines. This review displays the occurrence of infectious, allergic, traumatic, UV-induced, and sebaceous dermatoses in competitive athletes by taking different disciplines into account.Discussion: Depending on the training environment, flow of movement, climatic influences and other factors, certain skin diseases occur frequently in athletes of specific disciplines.Key Words: High-Performance Athlete, Skin Disease, Training, Specific Disciplines

Purpose: The aim of the present investigation was to compare the blood lactate concentration (BLC) vs. heart rate (HR) relationship of incremental treadmill (ITR) vs. prolonged field running (PFR) in order to provide a mathematical equation allowing to adjust HR-based intensity zones, derived from non-steady state ITR-exercise, to ensure their transposition to -and application for prolonged field running.Methods: Sixteen junior elite cross-country (XC) skiers were examined in ITR and PFR, where subjects were instructed to complete four consecutive self-paced 2.500 m-runs in undulating terrain at different exercise intensities. BLC obtained from both settings were compared at given HR, obtained from each of the four loops during PFR.Results: A two-way 4 x 2 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a statistically significant main effect of stage (p< .001) and test protocol (p< .001), as well as a significant interaction effect between these two factors (p

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the reactions of oxygen consumption (VO2), heart rate (HR) and lactate accumulation (La) when running on lower body positive pressure treadmills (LBPPT).Methods: 15 well-trained male athletes (VO2peak: 60.23.8ml kg-1 min-1) completed in randomized order three analogous maximal incremental treadmill tests,recording spiroergometrical data using breath-by-breath analysis. Two tests were held on a LBPPT, with 80% and 60% body weight (80% BWSet and 60% BWSet), respectively. The third test was completed on a conventional treadmill (100% BWSet).Results: Average of all running speed stages from 10 to 18 kmh-1, VO2 decreased significantly from 48.18.4 via 39.76.8 to 33.57.3ml kg-1 min-1 at 100%, 80% and 60% BWSet (p

Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) represent ahazard with highrelevance for elite athletes of all disciplines. They can lead to a reduction in performance and/or the necessity of a training/competition break. On average, each athlete experiences 3 URTIs per year with symptoms lasting for a mean of five days. Therefore, the intention of this review is to summarize the risk factors for URTIs, deduce preventive measures and give recommendations for return to sports to reduce re-infections and to avoid serious complications.The influence of training and competitive load on the risk of illness has been discussed controversially. There are indications that the frequency of infections seems to be increased shortly after a competition (open window-theory). URTIs occur more frequently in the winter months like in the general population. International air travelling was identified as the single biggest circumstantial risk factor for infections.An instrumental task of sports medicine is education of athletes about measures for infection prophylaxis and supervision of their implementation. A significant infection reduction is reached through compliance to general hygiene recommendations and a minimization of the contact with people outside the team in the hours after competition. Moreover, URTIs are prevented by an optimized planning of exercise load and travel as well as through vaccinations.Return to sports should not be allowed before a medical examination indicates the absence of generalized symptoms. This should typically include a determination of laboratory parameters and other organ-specific parameters (e.g. resting ECG). KEY WORDS: URTI, Physical Activity, Influential Factors, Illness Precautions, Infection Management

Jan C Wuestenfeld,1,2 Bernd Wolfarth1,21Department of Preventive and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine, Technical University Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany; 2Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT), Leipzig, GermanyAbstract: Asthma is defined as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways with bronchial hyperresponsiveness and variable bronchoconstriction, and is one of the most common diseases in childhood and adolescence. Exercise-induced asthma-like symptoms and asthma are also frequently seen in highly trained athletes. Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) are found in 8%–10% of healthy school-aged children and in 35% of children with asthma. Highly increased ventilation, inhalation of cold, dry air and air pollutants (eg, chlorine) are thought to be important triggers for EIA and EIB. EIA is often experienced concurrently with vocal cord dysfunction, which needs to be considered during the differential diagnosis. The pharmacological treatment of EIA is similar to the treatment of asthma in nonexercising adolescents. The therapy is based on anti-inflammatory drugs (eg, inhaled glucocorticosteroids) and bronchodilators (eg, β2-agonists). The treatment of EIB is comparable to the treatment of EIA and leukotriene modifiers offer a new and promising treatment option, particularly in EIB. Generally, athletes may not use β2-agonists according to the prohibited list of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, the WADA list contains specific β2-agonistic substances that are permitted to be used by inhalation.Keywords: exercise-induced asthma, exercise-induced bronchospasm, adolescents, asthma, athletes