Exercise indexes have been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its related restrictions among athletes. In the present study, we investigated the exercise frequency and intensity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also current exercise dependency and mood state among non-contact individual, contact individual, and team sports athletes. A total of 1353 athletes from non-contact individual sports athletes (NCISA), contact individual sports athletes (CISA) and team sport athletes (TSA) participated; 45.4% of them were females that completed a series of self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information, former and current exercise patterns, exercise dependency and mood states. NCISA had less exercise frequency than CISA, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and NCISA had less exercise frequency than TSA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding exercise intensity, CISA had higher scores than NCISA and TSA before the COVID-19 pandemic, and CISA had more exercise intensity than TSA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequency and intensity were reduced from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic in the three groups, except for TSA intensity. In addition, positive and negative mood states were correlated with exercise dependency. CISA were more discouraged and vigorous than NCISA and TSA, respectively. For NCISA, CISA, and TSA, ordinal regressions separately showed that adherence to quarantine and exercise dependency were better predictors of exercise indexes. Finally, exercise dependency subscales were different among sports, but it was not in exercise dependency itself. Although the decrease in exercise indexes was noticeable, there was no consistent pattern of change in exercise behavior in all sports. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, negative moods were predominant among all athletes. The results discussed are based on exercise nonparticipating, sport type, and affect regulation hypothesis.

The present study aimed to investigate the potential effect of different aerobic fitness levels on substrate oxidation in trained taekwondo athletes. 57 male athletes (age 21.10±7.79 years; VO_2max 50.67±6.67 ml/kg/min) with regular weekly taekwondo training and training experience of at least three years completed a graded exercise test to exhaustion on a treadmill. Maximal fat oxidation (MFO), the exercise intensity related to MFO (Fat_max), and carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation rate were measured using indirect calorimetry methods. The athletes then were divided into a low (50 ml/kg/min, n=39) VO_2max group. The average MFO was higher in the high VO_2max group than in the low VO_2max group (0.46±0.19 vs 0.28±0.11 g/min; P<0.001). Although Fat_max tended toward higher values in the high VO_2max group, no difference was observed between the groups (49.15±15.22 vs 42.42±12.37% of VO_2max; P=0.18). It was also shown that the high VO_2max group had a lower CHO oxidation rate and a higher fat oxidation rate at given exercise intensities. In conclusion, it seems that MFO and substrate oxidation rates in taekwondo athletes can be influenced by aerobic fitness level such that the athletes with higher VO_2max appeared to use more fat as a fuel source for energy supply during a given exercise.

RESUMO Introduction: In recent years, there was an increased interest on the effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation on skeletal muscle due to its anti-catabolic effects. Objectives: To investigate the effect of HMB supplementation on body composition, muscular strength and anabolic-catabolic hormones after resistance training. Methods: Twenty amateur male athletes were randomly assigned to supplement and control groups in a double-blind crossover design and participated in four weeks resistance training. Before and after the test period fasting blood samples were obtained to determine anabolic (the growth hormone and testosterone) and catabolic (cortisol) hormones, and fat mass, lean body mass (LBM) and muscular strength were measured. Dependent and independent t-tests were used to analyze data. Results: After the training period, there were no significant differen-ces between the groups with respect to fat mass, LBM and anabolic-catabolic hormones. HMB supplementation resulted in a significantly greater strength gain (p≤0.05). Conclusion: Greater increase in strength for HMB group was not accompanied by body composition and basal circulating anabolic-catabolic hormonal changes. It seems that HMB supplementation may have beneficial effects on neurological adaptations of strength gain.