Overtraining : mito o realt\ue0 ?

Negli ultimi decenni lo sport sta diventando un settore sempre pi\uf9 specializzato, nel quale si cerca di dare sempre di pi\uf9, al fine di raggiungere la prestazione pi\uf9 elevata. L\u2019incremento di volumi ed intensit\ue0 di allenamento pu\uf2 creare il rischio di fermare l\u2019allenamento per stress, infortuni, stati d\u2019animo non ottimali etc. Da questi presupposti prende origine il problema del sovrallenamento nello sport. Scopo dell\u2019articolo \ue8 di affrontare in maniera critica la tematica dell\u2019Overtraining, partendo dall\u2019analisi della letteratura scientifica pi\uf9 aggiornata e sulla base delle applicazioni pratiche per atleti e tecnici. Nella prima parte si affrontano gli elementi teorici di base dell\u2019overtraining, come, per esempio, le differenti definizioni ed interpretazioni, gli aspetti cardine dell\u2019adattamento all\u2019allenamento ed i fattori principali che possono condurre verso questa sindrome. Si passa poi all\u2019analisi dei cosiddetti \u201cmarkers dell\u2019overtraining\u201d, cio\ue8 tutti i segnali che rivelano alterazioni di carattere fisiologico, psicologico, biochimico ed immunologico da tenere sotto osservazione per prevenire questo fenomeno. Vengono anche trattati i singoli elementi, con un cenno sulle teorie che hanno condotto alla loro individuazione. Nell\u2019ultima parte vengono forniti alcuni consigli pratici per prevenire ed individuare i sintomi che portano ad overtraining, cercando di capire quanto si \ue8 studiato e quanto bisogna ancora studiare per stabilire l\u2019esistenza dell\u2019OT

Heart rate and blood lactate evaluation in bouldering elite athletes

Aim. Bouldering contests consist of a series of short routes, called "problems", which shall be climbed without ropes. The purpose of this study was to determine blood lactate [Lac] concentration and heart rate (HR) adaptations both during an official bouldering competition and a simulated contest. Methods. Eleven Italian elite climbers (6 males, 5 females) were tested from two bouldering national competitions (BNC). [Lac] assessments were done before and 2, 4, 6, 8 min after the contest. On a separate occasion, 9 different elite climbers (6 males, 3 females), matched for anthropometric features and ranking, were assessed in a simulated bouldering contest (SBC), under conditions and difficulties comparable to BNC. HR was measured through the whole performance; [Lac] was assessed before and 3 min after the achievement of each problem. Results. The ascending time in both BNC and SBC was 391 85 s and 551 +/- 96 s (P<0.001), respectively. During SBC the mean H R peak of each problem was 93 +/- 8% of the subjects' age-predicted maximal HR (HRmax), and HR showed a full recovery after each problem, but in males only. Peak [Lac] after last problem was 6.6 +/- 1.1 mmol/L, and 5.6 +/- 1.1 mmol/L, during BNC and SBC, respectively. A regression analysis showed that temporal changes in [Lac] depend on the attempts duration, with a critical cut-off time of 20 s. Conclusion. Bouldering contest requires an intense intermittent effort. The high HR may be due to the repeated isometric contractions, particularly of arm and forearm muscles. The net lactate production may depend on the attempts duration

Forza e prestazioni di resistenza : allenamento di forza per le discipline di endurance

5nonenoneA. La Torre; L. Agnello; A. Dotti; G. Merati; F.R. SerpielloLa Torre, A.; Agnello, L.; Dotti, A.; Merati, G.; Serpiello, F. R

Fitness and health effects of other team sports: ‘Recreational team sports - the motivational medicine’

The wide spectrum of health benefits of recreational football have been extensively documented. The intermittent high-intensity stochastic nature and the intrinsic social interactions of recreational football is deemed to be the cause of the positive effects on players’ health and wellness, and it is therefore of interest to investigate other team sports. Descriptive and training studies confirmed the interest of team sports played at recreational level in the quest for novel motivating exercise models to improve health and to promote active lifestyles of sedentary individuals of different age, sex, experience level and health status. Training studies suggest recreational team handball, floorball, basketball and rugby union as viable alternatives or complements to football in improving physical fitness and health markers in different populations. These encouraging results warrant investigations replicating those for recreational football, aiming at prompting the implementation of team sports as health-enhancing interventions worldwide. The potential audience for the recreational team sports participation is amazing, with an estimated 100 million basketball players and 70 million team handball players that potentially add to the 500 million football players. With even bigger numbers, if the implementation of other structured and unstructured ball-games are added. In this chapter, the available published literature on recreational team sports will be scrutinised and lines for future studies will be proposed. © Designs and Patents Act 1988

Different training modalities improve energy cost and performance in master runners

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of continuous moderate-intensity and discontinuous high-intensity training on running performance in master runners. Methods: Thirty-four male master runners (47.2 ± 7.4 years) were assigned to three different groups: continuous moderate-intensity training (CMIT), discontinuous high-intensity training (DHIT), and control group (CON). CMIT and DHIT performed 8-week of supervised training (3 session·wk-1; ~35 km·wk-1) while CON maintained their normal training habits (3-4 session·wk-1; ~50 km·wk-1). Peak oxygen consumption (V·O2peak) and peak running speed (vpeak) during incremental treadmill exercise, gas exchange threshold (GET), speed at GET, energy cost of running (Cr), and 5-km performance were evaluated before and after training. Results: Following the training period, both CMIT and DHIT significantly reduced Cr (-4.4 and -4.9%, respectively, P < 0.05), increased speed at GET (3.4 and 5.7%, P < 0.05) and improved 5-km time-trial performance (3.1 and 2.2%, P < 0.05) whereas no differences were found for V·O2peak and GET (as %V·O2peak). After training, vpeak improved only for DHIT (6%, P < 0.05). No differences were found in any variable for CON. Conclusions: This study indicates that both CMIT and DHIT may positively affect running performance in middle-aged master runners. This improvement was achieved despite a significant reduction of the amount of weekly training volume

Futsal and continuous exercise induce similar changes in specific skeletal muscle signalling proteins.

Exercise elicits skeletal-muscle adaptations which are important for improved health outcomes. We compared the effects of a futsal game (FUT) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MOD), on the skeletal-muscle protein signalling responses in young, healthy individuals. 16 men undertook an incremental exercise test and a resting muscle biopsy performed >48\u2009h apart. They were then randomly allocated to either FUT (n=12) consisting of 2\u2009x\u200920\u2009min halves, or MOD (n=8) consisting of a work-matched running bout performed at an intensity corresponding to the individual ventilatory threshold 1. Work matching was achieved by means of triaxial accelerometers. Immediately after FUT and MOD, participants underwent a second biopsy to assess exercise-induced changes in protein signalling. Total and phosphorylated protein abundance was assessed via western blotting. Both FUT and MOD altered signalling responses in skeletal muscle. FUT increased total ATF2 protein abundance (p=0.048) and phosphorylation (p=0.029), while no changes occurred with MOD. Both exercise regimes increased ACC phosphorylation (p=0.01) and returned a trend for increased p38MAPK phosphorylation. Futsal may be employed as an alternative to continuous exercise to elicit muscle adaptations which may be associated with improved health outcomes. As only FUT increased ATF2 activation, this protein might be a target of future investigation on exercise-induced signalling