The paper addresses relations between the characteristics of body composition in international sprint swimmers and sprint performance. The research included 82 swimmers of international level (N = 46 male and N = 36 female athletes) from 8 countries. We measured body composition using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance methods with “InBody 720” device. In the case of male swimmers, it was established that the most important statistically significant correlation with sprint performance is seen in variables, which define the quantitative relationship between their fat and muscle with the contractile potential of the body (Protein-Fat Index, r = 0.392, p = 0.007; Index of Body Composition, r = 0.392, p = 0.007; Percent of Skeletal Muscle Mass, r = 0.392, p = 0.016). In the case of female athletes, statistically significant relations with sprint performance were established for variables that define the absolute and relative amount of a contractile component in the body, but also with the variables that define the structure of body fat characteristics (Percent of Skeletal Muscle Mass, r = 0.732, p = 0.000; Free Fat Mass, r = 0.702, p = 0.000; Fat Mass Index, r = −0.642, p = 0.000; Percent of Body Fat, r = −0.621, p = 0.000). Using Multiple Regression Analysis, we managed to predict swimming performance of sprint swimmers with the help of body composition variables, where the models defined explained 35.1 and 75.1% of the mutual variability of performance, for male and female swimmers, respectively. This data clearly demonstrate the importance of body composition control in sprint swimmers as a valuable method for monitoring the efficiency of body adaptation to training process in order to optimize competitive performance.

Measurement of energy expenditure is an important tool in sport science and medicine, especially when trying to estimate the extent and intensity of physical activity. However, most approaches still rely on sensors or markers, placed directly on the body. In this paper, we present a novel approach using a fully contact-less, fully automatic method, that relies on computer vision algorithms and widely available and inexpensive imaging sensors. We rely on the estimation of the optical and scene flow to calculate Histograms of Oriented Optical Flow (HOOF) descriptors, which we subsequently augment with the Histograms of Absolute Flow Amplitude (HAFA). Descriptors are fed into regression model, which allows us to estimate energy consumption, and to a lesser extent, the heart rate. Our method has been tested both in lab environment and in realistic conditions of a sport match. Results confirm that these energy expenditures could be derived from purely contact-less observations. The proposed method can be used with different modalities, including near infrared imagery, which extends its future potential.

Judo elements rely on lower and upper body muscle power, supported by the ATP-PCr energy system, which is crucial in high-intensity tasks. This study aims to assess the anaerobic status of young male competitive judokas using the upper body Wingate test and explore associations with competition performance and individual morphological characteristics. A total of 29 male judokas from the U18 and U20 age categories were tested, all actively participating in top-tier national and international competitions. Anthropometric characteristics and body composition measurements were obtained for all participants through bioelectrical impedance analysis. Anaerobic testing was conducted using the upper body Wingate test with a hand ergometer. Competition performance was recorded from the final national cup ranking list. The results presented no statistically significant correlations between morphological and anaerobic variables and competitive performance among selected participants. This highlights the importance of the necessity of updated training programs to increase the anaerobic performance of young Slovenian judokas. Additionally, it shows that in these age groups, anaerobic performance is not the crucial factor but just one piece of the puzzle in young judokas’ successful competition performance; therefore other variables should be further researched.