Objectifying Tactics: Athlete and Race Variability in Elite Short-Track Speed Skating

Purpose: To objectively capture and understand tactical considerations in a race, the authors explored whether race-to-race variation of an athlete and the variation of competitors within a race could provide insight into how and when athletes modify their pacing decisions in response to other competitors. Methods: Lap times of elite 500-, 1000-, and 1500-m short-track speed-skating competitions from 2011 to 2016 (N = 6965 races) were collected. Log-transformed lap and finishing times were analyzed with mixed linear models. To determine within-athlete race-to-race variability, athlete identity (between-athletes differences) and the residual (within-athlete race-to-race variation) were added as random effects. To determine race variability, race identity (between-races differences) and the residual (within-race variation) were added as random effects. Separate analyses were performed for each event. Results: Within-athlete race-to-race variability of the finishing times increased with prolonged distance of the event (500-m, CV = 1.6%; 1000-m, CV = 2.8%; 1500-m, CV = 4.1%), mainly due to higher within-athlete race-to-race variability in the initial phase of 1000-m (3.3–6.9%) and 1500-m competitions (8.7–12.2%). During these early stages, within-race variability is relatively low in 1000-m (1.1–1.4%) and 1500-m (1.3–2.8%) competitions. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated how analyses of athlete and race variability could provide insight into tactical pacing decisions in sports where finishing position is emphasized over finishing time. The high variability of short-track skaters is a result of the decision to alter initial pacing behavior based on the behavior of other competitors in their race, emphasizing the importance of athlete–environment interactions in the context of pacing

Pacing Decision Making in Sport and the Effects of Interpersonal Competition: A Critical Review

An athlete’s pacing strategy is widely recognised as an essential determinant for performance during individual events. Previous research focussed on the importance of internal bodily state feedback, revealed optimal pacing strategies in time-trial exercise, and explored concepts such as teleoanticipation and template formation. Recently, human–environment interactions have additionally been emphasized as a crucial determinant for pacing, yet how they affect pacing is not well understood. Therefore, this literature review focussed on exploring one of the most important human–environment interactions in sport competitions: the interaction among competitors. The existing literature regarding the regulation of exercise intensity and the effect of competition on pacing and performance is critically reviewed in this paper. The PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science electronic databases were searched for studies about pacing in sports and (interpersonal) competition between January 2000 to October 2017, using the following combination of terms: (1) Sports AND (2) Pacing, resulting in 75 included papers. The behaviour of opponents was shown to be an essential determinant in the regulation of exercise intensity, based on both observational (N = 59) and experimental (N = 16) studies. However, adjustment in the pacing response related to other competitors appears to depend on the competitive situation and the current internal state of the athlete. The findings of this review emphasize the importance of what is happening around the athlete for the outcome of the decision-making process involved in pacing, and highlight the necessity to incorporate human–environment interactions into models that attempt to explain the regulation of exercise intensity in sports and exercise

Biomechanics in Paralympics: Implications for Performance

Purpose: To provide an overview of biomechanical studies in Paralympic research and their relevance for performance in Paralympic sports. Methods: The search terms paralympic biomechanics, paralympic sport performance, paralympic athlete performance, and paralympic athlete were entered into the electronic database PubMed. Results: Thirty-four studies were found. Biomechanical studies in Paralympics mainly contributed to performance enhancement by technical optimization (n = 32) and/or injury prevention (n = 6). In addition, biomechanics was found to be important in understanding activity limitation caused by various impairments, which is relevant for evidence-based classification in Paralympic sports (n = 6). Distinctions were made between biomechanical studies in sitting (41%), standing (38%), and swimming athletes (21%). In sitting athletes, mostly kinematics and kinetics in wheelchair propulsion were studied, mainly in athletes with spinal-cord injuries. In addition, kinetics and/or kinematics in wheelchair basketball, seated discus throwing, stationary shot-putting, hand-cycling, sit-skiing, and ice sledge hockey received attention. In standing sports, primarily kinematics of athletes with amputations performing jump sports and running and the optimization of prosthetic devices were investigated. No studies were reported on other standing sports. In swimming, mainly kick rate and resistance training were studied. Conclusions: Biomechanical research is important for performance by gaining insight into technical optimization, injury prevention, and evidence-based classification in Paralympic sports. In future studies it is advised to also include physiological and biomechanical measures, allowing the assessment of the capability of the human body, as well as the resulting movement

Factors Influencing Walking and Exercise Adherence in Healthy Older Adults Using Monitoring and Interfacing Technology: Preliminary Evidence

Background: Monitoring and interfacing technologies may increase physical activity (PA) program adherence in older adults, but they should account for aspects influencing older adults’ PA behavior. This study aimed at gathering preliminary wrist-based PA adherence data in free-living and relate these to the influencing factors. Methods: Ten healthy older adults (4 females, aged 70–78 years) provided health, fatigue, activity levels, attitude towards pacing, and self-efficacy information and performed a 6 min-walk test to assess their fitness. After a baseline week they followed a two-week walking and exercise intervention. Participants saw their progress via a purposely designed mobile application. Results: Walking and exercise adherence did not increase during the intervention (p = 0.38, p = 0.65). Self-efficacy decreased (p = 0.024). The baseline physical component of the Short Form Health Survey was the most predictive variable of walking adherence. Baseline perceived risk of over-activity and resting heart rate (HRrest) were the most predictive variables of exercise adherence. When the latter two were used to cluster participants according to their exercise adherence, the fitness gap between exercise-adherent and non-adherent increased after the intervention (p = 0.004). Conclusions: Risk of over-activity and HRrest profiled short-term exercise adherence in older adults. If confirmed in a larger and longer study, these could personalize interventions aimed at increasing adherence

Influence of intellectual disability on exercise regulation: exploring verbal, auditory and visual guidance to contribute to promote inclusive exercise environments.

Objective: The role of intellectual disability (ID) in exercise regulation has remained largely unexplored, yet recent studies have indicated cognitive-related impaired pacing skills in people with ID. In a well-controlled laboratory environment, this study aims to (1) establish the role of ID in pacing and explore the ability of people with and without ID to maintain a steady pace; (2) to investigate if verbal feedback and/or (3) the presence of a pacer can improve the ability of people with ID to maintain a preplanned submaximal velocity. Methods: Participants with (n=10) and without ID (n=10) were recruited and performed 7 min submaximal trials on a cycle ergometer (Velotron). Participants with ID also performed a cycling trial with a pacer (virtual avatar). Results: The non-parametric tests for repeated measures data (p≤0.05) showed that (1) people with ID deviated more from the targeted pace compared with people without ID, (2) the verbal feedback did not influence their ability to keep a steady pace and (3) they deviated less from the targeted pace when a visual pacer was introduced. Conclusion: The results revealed the difficulties of people with ID in planning and monitoring their exercise and the difficulties in appropriately responding to auditory and verbal feedback. Coaches and stakeholders who want to offer inclusive exercise pathways should consider that people with ID perform and pace themselves better when supported by intuitive, visual and personally meaningful stimuli such as other cyclists (avatars)

The role of technology on adherence to physical activity programs in patients with chronic diseases experiencing fatigue: a systematic review

Background The beneficial role of physical activity (PA) to manage the health condition of patients with chronic diseases is well known. However, adherence to PA guidelines in this group is still low. Monitoring and user-interface technology could represent a significant tool to increase exercise adherence to those particular groups who experience difficulties in adhering to regular and substantial physical activity, and could be supportive in increasing the success of PA programs and interventions. This systematic review aimed at evaluating the effect of physical activity monitoring technology in improving adherence to a PA program in patients with chronic diseases experiencing fatigue. Methods This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. The literature search was performed in Embase, Medline, Biosis, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus. We filtered the literature according to the question: “Does monitoring technology affect adherence to physical activity and exercise programs in patients with chronic diseases perceiving fatigue?”. Results The search resulted in 1790 hits; finally, eight studies were included, with a total number of 205 patients. Study quality was moderate except for one study of high quality. Only three disease types emerged, COPD, HF, and cancer. PA programs were rather short (from 8 to 13 weeks) except for one 3-year-long study. Five studies employed pedometers and two an activity monitor. Three studies based their adherence on steps, the remaining studies focused on active minutes. Adherence was explicitly reported in two studies, and otherwise derived. Four studies showed high adherence levels (85% week-10, 89% week-8, 81% week-13, 105% week-13, 83% average week-1–12) and three low levels (56% week-12, 41% year-2, 14 year-3). Conclusion The small number of studies identified did not allow to establish whether the use of monitoring technology could improve adherence to PA programs in patients with chronic diseases experiencing fatigue, but the current evidence seems to suggest that this is a field warranting further study, particularly into how monitoring technology can help to engage patients to adhere to PA programs

The behavior of an opponent alters pacing decisions in 4-km cycling time trials

Introduction: The present study aimed to explore how athletes respond to different behaviors of their opponents. Methods: Twelve moderately to highly physically active participants with at least two years of cycling experience completed four 4-km time trials on a Velotron cycle ergometer. After a familiarization time trial (FAM), participants performed three experimental time trials in randomized order with no opponent (NO), a virtual opponent who started slower and finished faster compared to FAM (OP-SLOWFAST), or a virtual opponent who started faster and finished slower compared to FAM (OP-FASTSLOW). Repeated-measures ANOVAs (P < 0.05) were used to examine differences in pacing and performance related to power output, velocity and RPE. Results: OP-SLOWFAST and OP-FASTSLOW were completed faster compared to NO (385.5 ± 27.5, 385.0 ± 28.6, and 390.6 ± 29.3 s, respectively). An interaction effect for condition × distance (F = 3.944, P < 0.001) indicated differences in pacing profiles between conditions. Post-hoc analysis revealed that a less aggressive starting strategy was adopted in NO compared to OP-FASTSLOW and OP-SLOWFAST during the initial 1000 m. Finally, a faster starting opponent evokes higher power outputs by the participants in the initial 750 m compared to a slower starting opponent. Conclusion: The present study is the first to show that the behavior of an opponent affects pacing-related decisions in laboratory-controlled conditions. Our findings support the recently proposed interdependence of perception and action, and emphasize the interaction with the environment as an important determinant for an athlete's pacing decisions, especially during the initial stages of a race