DXA assessment

Accurate assessment of body composition is an important issue among athletes. Different methodologies generate controversial results, leading to a deep uncertainty on individual exercise prescriptions. Thus, this study aims to identify the differences between field methods, such as bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and skinfold assessment, with a clinical method, highly accurate, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), among elite young football players. Thirty-eight male football players with a mean (sd) age of 16.7 (0.87) years, involved in the Portuguese national competition of U16 (n = 13) and U19 (n = 25), were evaluated and objective measures of body composition, muscle strength and football skills were collected by trained specialists. Body composition was assessed using BIA (Tanita BC-418, Tanita Corp., Tokyo, Japan), in agreement with all the evaluation premises. Additionally, all athletes were evaluated using the clinical method DXA (Hologic Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). Among the U19 athletes, three skinfold sites (SKF) were assessed: chest, abdomin and thigh. The Spearman correlation coefficients and the mean difference between methods were calculated. The agreement between both methods was analyzed using Bland-Altman plots. Among the evaluated athletes, lower mean values of body fat % were found using BIA as a method of body composition assessment compared with DXA (12.05 vs. 15.58 for U16; 11.97 vs. 14.16 for U19). Despite the moderate correlation between methods (r = 0.33) to estimate the percentage of total fat, the median of the difference (DXA vs. BIA) was relevant in clinical terms, with 2.90% and 1.47% for U16 and U19 athletes, respectively. Stronger correlations were found between the sum of the SKF and DXA fat estimation (r = 0.68). The Bland-Altman plots showed a clear underestimation in the evaluations using the BIA, namely among athletes with better body composition profiles (8%?12% of fat). Using BIA, an underestimation of body fat assessment was observed among 94.5% of the athletes with less than 12% body fat mass. Among the evaluated athletes, fat mass was underestimated at a median value of 2.21% using BIA in comparison with DXA. The sum of the SKF showed a stronger correlation with the reference method (DXA) (r = 0.68) than BIA.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

Relationship between power condition, agility, and speed performance among young roller hockey elite players

Purpose. The study was intended to describe the correlations between speed performance (11 m, 22 m, and 33 m) and agility test in skates with determinants of muscular power (squat jump, countermovement jump) in young Portuguese roller hockey athletes involved in a regional selection. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 10 male roller hockey players with mean (? SD) age of 14.20 (0.57) years, involved in the Portuguese national competition of under-15, making part of the final Oporto district selection of players to participate in inter-regional selections competition. Their mean (? SD) weight, height, body mass index, and sum of the skinfolds were 58.62 (8.78) kg, 165.72 (8.45) cm, 21.26 (1.52) kg/m2, 51.80 (14.91) mm, respectively. Furthermore, it strength was measured with squat jump and countermovement jump; sprinting time at 11 m, 22 m, and 33 m was determined, as well as time in an agility t-test, conducted in roller skating. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to test the associations. Results. Significant inverse correlations between vertical jumps, a practical method of power training monitoring, and linear velocity in skating (countermovement jump vs. speed, ?0.78) were found. Despite the increasing complexity of the agility test, a moderate inverse correlation with strength was observed, too (?0.48). Conclusions. Lower limbs explosive strength turned out a strong predictor of skating linear speed and agility among young roller hockey players, providing a simple evaluation tool of important determinants of performance.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

Anthropometric profile of soccer players as a determinant of position specificity and methodological issues of body composition estimation

The aim of the present study was (a) to describe the anthropometric profile of a large group of soccer players based on different age groups and their playing positions on the field, and (b) to examine the variations of body composition among adult soccer players using diverse equations based on skinfold thickness. A total of 618 Greek soccer players who were grouped by age (i.e.,12?14, 14?16, 16?18, and 18?37 years) and playing position (i.e., goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward) were evaluated for weight, height, and skinfolds. The Pa?r?zkov? formula was used to estimate the percentage of body fat. Furthermore, for players who were 18 years or older the Reilly and Evans formulas was used to estimate the percentage of body fat. Independent of the age, in this large sample, goalkeepers presented higher values for weight, height and the percentage of body fat estimation as compared with other field positions. An anthropometric pattern was observed in each tactical position, namely, across a specific age of increasing maturation process (14?16 years). With the Pa?r?zkov? formula, we found a mean (SD) range of variation in the percentage of body fat estimation between 4.87 ? 1.46 and 5.51 ? 1.46 as compared with the Evans formula. The same pattern of differences was found when the Reilly equation was considered. In conclusion, we observed a position specificity of anthropometric characteristics across different age categories. Additionally, the same data supported different validated equations which resulted in large differences in the final outcome estimations.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

effects of the pre-season period

Study aim: To assess changes in physical fitness of amateur soccer players after a pre-season training period and baseline fitness dependencies. Material and methods: Twenty-one amateur soccer players were assessed during the pre-season. The following physical vari ables were assessed before and after a two-month pre-season training period: (i) cardiorespiratory fitness, (ii) strength and power, and (iii) change of direction (COD). Results: Significant decreases were found for countermovement jump (CMJ) (p < 0.001; d = 1.161), drop jump (DJ) (p = 0.014; d = 0.958), and horizontal jump (HJ) (p = 0.042; d = 0.640), while no significant changes were found for the overall variables from the beginning to the end of pre-season. Fit players revealed significant decreases for CMJ (p = 0.002; d = ?2.495), DJ (p = 0.004; d = ?1.760), HJ (p = 0.028; d = ?1.005), COD deficit (p = 0.034; d = 1.013), and maximal aerobic speed (MAS) (p = 0.026; d = ?4.053). No significant changes were found for unfit players. Conclusions: Amateur soccer coaches should consider assessing physical qualities at the beginning of pre-season and use the free-of-charge monitoring tools such as session-rate of perceived exertion (s-RPE) during the training process.D915-7373-ED16 | Cesar LeaoN/

Normative values of the motor competence assessment (MCA) from 3 to 23 years of age

Objectives: Growing evidence of the importance of motor competence for developing a healthy lifestyle has been established in the last decade. Nonetheless, no single instrument or observation tool have been able to fully measure this construct, particularly because most were built for the diagnosis of children in risk for motor impairment; are limited to a few years of the developmental span; lack objectivity in the assessment protocols; or do not include the locomotor, stability, and manipulative components. This led to the difficulty of comparing researches, and longitudinally follow children into adulthood. Recently, a novel proposal to assess motor competence was presented - the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) - and this study aims to present the MCA normative data from 3-to-23 years. Design and methods: Two thousand and eighty-seven participants (1102 boys) between 3 and 23 years of age were evaluated in the MCA (standing long jump, 10 m shuttle run,throwing velocity, kicking velocity, lateral jumps, shifting platforms). Results for each test were introduced in the LMS Chartmaker 2.3. The best model for test and sex was used, resulting in normative curves and percentile values. Results: Final norms showed a good fit to the instrument developmental expectations, allowing to differ entiate and classify performances along the age interval. Conclusions: The MCA age- and sex- normative values allow to assess motor competence from childhood to early adulthood. Future directions will include obtaining a total MCA score and the normative scores for the MCA components (stability, locomotion, object control), and to expand the norms to adulthood and old age4811-99FE-2ECD | Luis Paulo Rodriguesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The value of open-source clinical science in pandemic response: lessons from ISARIC

International audienc