Search results for "athletes"

Psychological tools used for monitoring training responses of athletes

2017

Monitoring athletes’ responses to training and other life stressors is crucial for implementing favourable training routines and achieving optimal performances. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview and evaluation of current psychological tools used in training contexts among athletes. The instruments discussed include the Profile of Mood States (POMS), the Emotional Recovery Questionnaire (EmRecQ), the Total Quality Recovery (TQR) scale, the Daily Analyses of Life Demands for Athletes (DALDA), the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport), the Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS), the Short Recovery and Stress Scale (SRSS), and the Multi-Component Training D…

The representation of athletes during Paralympic and Olympic Games: a Foucauldian analysis of the construction of difference in newspapers

2021

Our first aim was to evaluate the representation of athletes in the top newspapers in a continental European country during two editions of the Paralympics and Olympics Games (London 2012 and Rio 2...

Resting the mind – A novel topic with scarce insights. Considering potential mental recovery strategies for short rest periods in sports

2019

Abstract Both meticulously structured trainig routine as well as specific characteristics of various sports (e.g., swimming, shooting, modern pentathlon) with multiple competition bouts in a single day appear to be mentally demanding and may result in a state of mental fatigue. Due to these multidimensional demands, adequate training and competition recovery is essential. Consequently, the idea of mental recovery embraces the spotlight of research. On training and competition days, short rest periods implemented as a vital part, can be used for mental recovery and can help in assisting athletes to return to baseline levels of mental abilites (e.g., concentration, attention). Sport-specific …

Nutrition Knowledge Is Associated with Energy Availability and Carbohydrate Intake in Young Female Cross-Country Skiers

2021

The aim of this study was to provide information on energy availability (EA), macronutrient intake, nutritional periodization practices, and nutrition knowledge in young female cross-country skiers. A total of 19 skiers filled in weighted food and training logs before and during a training camp. Nutrition knowledge was assessed via a validated questionnaire. EA was optimal in 11% of athletes at home (mean 33.7 ± 9.6 kcal·kgFFM−1·d−1) and in 42% at camp (mean 40.3 ± 17.3 kcal·kgFFM−1·d−1). Most athletes (74%) failed to meet recommendations for carbohydrate intake at home (mean 5.0 ± 1.2 g·kg−1·d−1) and 63% failed to do so at camp (mean 7.1 ± 1.6 g·kg−1·d−1). The lower threshold of the pre-ex…

Effectiveness of a screening program for HBV, HCV, and HIV infections in African migrants to Sicily

2021

BACKGROUND Migrants from Africa are vulnerable to viral infections during their journey. METHODS Migrants who arrived in western Sicily were offered early screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A questionnaire was administered to evaluate risk factors, and antiviral therapy was offered to subjects with active infection. A multiple regression analysis and adjusted odds ratio were obtained to evaluate risk factors. RESULTS Overall, 2,639 of 2,751 (95.9%) migrants who arrived between 2015 and 2017 accepted screening and 1,911 (72.4%) completed the questionnaire. HBsAg was positive in 257 (9.7%) migrants, 24 (0.9%) were …

High Performance Athletes' Dual Career Possibilities in Latvian Higher Educational Institutions

2013

2016

Purpose This study assessed the prevalence of physical and cognitive doping in recreational triathletes with two different randomized response models, that is, the Cheater Detection Model (CDM) and the Unrelated Question Model (UQM). Since both models have been employed in assessing doping, the major objective of this study was to investigate whether the estimates of these two models converge. Material and Methods An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 2,967 athletes at two triathlon events (Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany). Doping behavior was assessed either with the CDM (Frankfurt sample, one Wiesbaden subsample) or the UQM (one Wiesbaden subsample). A generalized likelihood-rati…

Why Did the ‘Flying Finns’ Walk? A Footnote to the History of Athletics Training

2012

In the twenty-first century, distance runners invariably train by running. A few generations ago, however, virtually all elite runners were dedicated walkers; they sought to improve their running prowess by vigorous walking exercises. As idiosyncratic as their training philosophy retrospectively sounds, it needs to be assessed in its original context. Of all modern sports, distance running seemed a particularly suspicious activity to contemporary observers, as suggested by evidence from Finland and other leading sporting nations. A grown-up person dashing about in skimpy clothes easily ended up being classified as a mental case. Serious athletes therefore chose walking work-outs over unabas…

Idiosyncratic description of anger states in skilled Spanish karate athletes: an application of the IZOF model

2004

This study examined content and intensity of anger prior to, during, and after best ever and worst ever performances in 43 high-level Spanish karate athletes using individualized anger profiling. Optimal and dysfunctional anger intensities were assessed using a modified version of Borg’s Category Ratio (CR-10) scale. Anger profiling was supplemented with positive and negative emotion profiling. As expected, content of anger descriptors was highly idiosyncratic. Moreover, great variability in optimal and dysfunctional anger intensities was found at individual and group levels. In best performances, anger was related to the generation of additional energy, whereas in worst performances, anger…

Narrative and discursive perspectives on athletic identity : Past, present, and future

2016

Abstract Objectives The dominant role-based conceptualisations of athletic identity have recently been challenged in favour of theoretical perspectives that view identity as a complex cultural construction. In the present study, we analysed empirical studies on athletic identity positioned in narrative and discursive approaches to gain an insight into the use and subsequent contribution of these approaches to knowledge production in this research topic. Design and method A total of 23 articles, of which 18 narrative studies and five discursive studies, were identified in a systematic literature search. We used the meta-study method to analyse these studies in terms of basic assumptions, met…