Musculoskeletal conditions affect millions of people globally; however, conventional treatments pose challenges concerning price, accessibility, and convenience. Many telerehabilitation solutions offer an engaging alternative but rely on complex hardware for body tracking. This work explores the feasibility of a model for 3D Human Pose Estimation (HPE) from monocular 2D videos (MediaPipe Pose) in a physiotherapy context, by comparing its performance to ground truth measurements. MediaPipe Pose was investigated in eight exercises typically performed in musculoskeletal physiotherapy sessions, where the Range of Motion (ROM) of the human joints was the evaluated parameter. This model showed the best performance for shoulder abduction, shoulder press, elbow flexion, and squat exercises. Results have shown a MAPE ranging between 14.9% and 25.0%, Pearson’s coefficient ranging between 0.963 and 0.996, and cosine similarity ranging between 0.987 and 0.999. Some exercises (e.g., seated knee extension and shoulder flexion) posed challenges due to unusual poses, occlusions, and depth ambiguities, possibly related to a lack of training data. This study demonstrates the potential of HPE from monocular 2D videos, as a markerless, affordable, and accessible solution for musculoskeletal telerehabilitation approaches. Future work should focus on exploring variations of the 3D HPE models trained on physiotherapy-related datasets, such as the Fit3D dataset, and post-preprocessing techniques to enhance the model’s performance.

Objective. To review the influence of cleats-surface interaction on the performance and risk of injury in soccer athletes. Design. Systematic review. Data Sources. Scopus, Web of science, PubMed, and B-on. Eligibility Criteria. Full experimental and original papers, written in English that studied the influence of soccer cleats on sports performance and injury risk in artificial or natural grass. Results. Twenty-three articles were included in this review: nine related to performance and fourteen to injury risk. On artificial grass, the soft ground model on dry and wet conditions and the turf model in wet conditions are related to worse performance. Compared to rounded studs, bladed ones improve performance during changes of directions in both natural and synthetic grass. Cleat models presenting better traction on the stance leg improve ball velocity while those presenting a homogeneous pressure across the foot promote better kicking accuracy. Bladed studs can be considered less secure by increasing plantar pressure on lateral border. The turf model decrease peak plantar pressure compared to other studded models. Conclusion. The soft ground model provides lower performance especially on artificial grass, while the turf model provides a high protective effect in both fields.

Objective: To determine whether high-level athletes with patellar tendinopathy have diminished knee proprioceptive acuity. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: University research laboratory (institutional). Participants: Twenty-one basketball and volleyball players with patellar tendinopathy (13 men and 8 women; mean age 24.5 ± 3.6; body mass index = 22.5 ± 2.0 kg/m²) and an equal number of athletes without symptoms of patellar tendinopathy injury were included in this study. Assessments: Participants underwent knee proprioception assessments on a single day. Furthermore, age, sex, height, weight, VISA-P (Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment) questionnaire sports participation, medical history, knee injuries, previous treatment, and medication were obtained. Main Outcome Measures: Knee proprioception was evaluated by assessing sense of resistance, using a weight discrimination protocol, and joint position sense (JPS). Results: No significant differences were observed in JPS at 30 and 60 degrees of knee flexion between groups (P = 0.165 and 0.481, respectively). In regard to the ability to discriminate weight, significant differences between the 2 groups were found with the tendinopathy group showing a higher percentage of error (P = 0.009), namely when the set of incremental weights varied by 10% from the standard weight. Conclusions: Athletes with patellar tendinopathy have a diminished perception of force signals required for weight discrimination, whereas JPS remains unaffected in these athletes.

Lateral ankle sprain is the most prevalent injury in soccer athletes. Enhanced by the variety of soccer cleats and by increased use of artificial turf, the interaction between the ground and the footwear has taken high importance as a lateral ankle sprain risk factor. The higher incidence of injuries in the second half of the match reflects the need of studying this interaction during tasks involving muscle fatigue. To evaluate the influence of different soccer cleats on kinetic, kinematic and neuromuscular ankle variables in artificial turf under two conditions: with and without fatigue of lateral ankle dynamic stabilizers. Study design: Experimental study within-subjects design. Twenty-four healthy athletes participated in this study. All subjects performed three sets of five medial-lateral unipodal jumps, each one with one of three models of cleats (Turf, Hard and Firm ground) on two conditions: with and without fatigue induced by the isokinetic dynamometer. The electromyographic activity of long and short peroneal heads, ground reaction forces and the movement of the rear-foot were collected and used to calculate kinematic (ankle eversion/inversion, centre of pressure displacement and velocity), kinetic (loading rate of the ground reaction forces) and neuromuscular variables (activation time of peroneal muscles). With the exception of decreased peroneal activation time with the Hard ground model (without fatigue vs. with fatigue), no statistically significant differences were identified in the ankle variables, between cleats, neither between the two evaluated conditions. In healthy soccer athletes, the contributor variables for ankle sprain were not influenced by the kind of soccer cleat in a functional test on a third generation artificial turf.

BACKGROUND: Whey protein is consumed worldwide by athletes due to its alleged benefits on muscle mass and strength. Because of its rich branched chain amino acids content, namely leucine, whey appears to favor muscle protein synthesis through the mTOR pathway in combination with resistance training, when taken after exercise in sufficient amounts. METHODS: In the present study resistance trained (>= 3 months) participants (men and women) between the age of 18 and 30 years old were randomized in a blinded fashion to whey protein isolate (N.=4) and an isocaloric placebo (N.=4) groups. Both groups were subjected to a 12-week RT protocol designed to increase muscle mass and strength. Muscle thickness of the biceps brachii (BB) at 67% of its length and quadriceps muscles, vastus lateralis (VL); vastus intermidius (VI) and rectus femoris (R.F.) at 30% and 50% of its length were assessed using ultrasound technique. Muscle strength was assessed using an isokinetic protocol at angular velocities of 60 degrees.s(-1) (5 repetitions) and 180 degrees.s(-1) (10 repetitions) with a range of motion of 0 degrees to 100 degrees on a dynamometer to determine peak torque (PT). Lean body mass (LBM) and body fat percentage (%BF) were assessed using a body composition analyzer through segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance method. All variables were assessed before and after interventions. RESULTS: Results show an increase in muscle thickness of all muscles from RT except for V.L. and RF at 30% (P>0.05) with an increase in VI at 50% (P=0.045) and a trend in VI at 30% (P=0.075) related to whey protein intake. PT increased with RT for all knee flexors/extensors (P<0.05) and for elbow flexors/extensors at 60 degrees extension and 180 degrees flexion (P0.05). No interactions were found between training and supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation with whey protein, combined with RT can increase muscle mass with no effects on muscle strength. Whey protein supplementation may alter body composition in favor of additional fat free mass with no significant changes in body fat.

The cleats-surface interaction has been described as a possible risk factor for lateral ankle sprain. However, their interaction is still unknown in individuals with chronic ankle instability. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of different soccer cleats on kinematic, kinetic and neuromuscular ankle variables on artificial grass in soccer players with and without chronic ankle instability. Eighty-two amateur athletes divided in two groups: 40 with chronic ankle instability and 42 without chronic ankle instability. All subjects performed 2 series of 6 consecutive crossover jumps with dominant foot, each one with one of the four models of cleats (Turf, Artificial grass, Hard and Firm ground). Cleat and group main effect and interactions of kinematic, kinetic and neuromuscular variables were analyzed according to factorial repeated measures ANOVA. No statistically significant cleat and group main effect and interactions were identified in kinematic, kinetic and electromyographic magnitude of the peroneal muscles. A main effect of the group was observed for peroneus longus activation time for TF model (p = 0.010). In soccer players, the contributor variables for ankle sprain were not influenced by the kind of soccer cleat used in a functional jump test on artificial grass. However, players with chronic ankle instability present delayed postural adjustments in peroneus longus with the TF model compared to players without chronic ankle instability.