The nutrition of soccer players is an important topic and its knowledge may help to increase the quality of this popular game and prevent possible health problems and injuries in players. This meta-analysis aims to estimate the current dietary trends of three basic macronutrients in junior and senior soccer players during the first two decades of the 21st century. We analyzed data from 647 junior players (mean age 10.0–19.3) from 27 groups, and 277 senior (mean age 20.7–27.1) players from 8 groups from altogether 21 papers in this meta-analysis. Weighted averages were calculated for each macronutrients. Protein intake is higher than recommended in both juniors, 1.9 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8–2.0 g/kg/day, and seniors 1.8 95% CI 1.6–2.0 g/kg/day. However, carbohydrate intake is still below the recommended values in both groups (5.7 95% CI 5.5–5.9 g/kg/day in junior and 4.7 95% CI 4.3–5.0 g/kg/day in senior players). The proportion of fat as total energy intake is in concordance with the recommendations (31.5 95% CI 32.0–35.9% in junior and 33.1 95% CI 29.9–36.2% in senior players). In particular, due to possible health complications, the small carbohydrate intake should be alarming for coaches, nutritional experts, and parents.

Human physical activities may bring potential health benefits. The aim of our study was to compare body composition, lung function and aerobic fitness as a function of age in a cross-sectional study of 277 recreational cyclists (men: n = 163, women: n = 114) and 377 recreational runners (men: n = 239, women: n = 138) aged 20 to 60 years, with a training volume of about 2000 to 4000 km per year for cyclists and 25 to 60 km per week for runners. The survey focused on comparing the values of body composition, lung function and aerobic fitness in dependence on age. The results suggest that recreational cycling and running is associated with a favorable body composition and increased physical fitness, where the percentage of body fat in athletes corresponds to about 70–90% of the population norm, while physical fitness indices, maximum oxygen consumption and maximum exercise performance corresponded at about 140 to 150% of the population norms. The study confirms the assumption that the decrease in physiological functions and/or physical condition with age is much slower in those who participate in recreational sports than in the general nonsports population.

This study was aimed at comparing the force–velocity relationship during cycling and arm cranking in males and females. Thirty-two male and twenty-two female healthy volunteers performed a force–velocity test on a cycle ergometer and a cranking ergometer in a randomly selected order. The theoretical values of the maximum force at zero speed (F₀) and the maximum velocity at zero braking force (v₀) for the lower and upper limbs were determined, and the maximum anaerobic power (Pmax) was calculated from the individual force–velocity relationship. The Pmax and F₀ of the upper limbs related to the lower limbs correspond to 78.2 ± 14.3% and 80.1 ± 17.3% in men and 65.5 ± 12.5% and 74.5 ± 6.5% in women, respectively. The theoretical maximum velocity v₀ of the upper limbs to the lower limbs attained 129.1 ± 29.0% in men and 127.4 ± 26.4% in women. The results of the study can serve as reference data for the force–velocity characteristics of the upper and lower limbs of male and female athletes. The results can be used both in training and rehabilitation programs, where the starting point is the objectification of possible strength deficits in various areas of the force–velocity characteristic spectrum of the muscles of the upper and lower limbs.

Tables for calculating the energy expenditure of the physical activities of the general population cannot be used due to the different paralysis of the upper or lower limbs in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this review is to compare the differences in the values of basal metabolic rate (BMR), basal energy expenditure (BEE), resting energy expenditure (REE) and resting metabolic rate (RMR) the values evidenced in the literature, observed values vs predicted values using the Harris-Benedict equation. We realized the background research from the time period from 1985 to 2018. We searched in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases for articles addressing the relationship between BMR and people with SCI. We compared the parameters of BMR, BEE, REE and RMR according to Harris-Benedict (HB) equation for persons with SCI. The study confirmed that the energy expenditure of persons with SCI could not be evaluated correctly by the Harris-Benedict equation.