Compression garments have gained popularity in the sports world as a means to enhance athletic performance and accelerate recovery. This study investigates the effectiveness of upper-body compression garments and their impact on the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during maximal isometric contractions. Eight adult males, students of a Master's degree program in Sports Sciences, participated in the study, conducting tests in controlled conditions at the University of Salerno. The subjects performed maximal isometric contractions in three separate sessions, wearing compression garments (CG), traditional sportswear (noCG), and a tight-fitting garment without compression effect, to minimize the placebo effect (Placebo), respectively. Perceived exertion was assessed using the modified CR-10 scale. Statistical analysis revealed a significant reduction in RPE when athletes wore compression garments compared to other conditions, suggesting a benefit in the use of such clothing. The findings indicate that compression garments can attenuate the perception of exertion during intense physical activities, with potential implications for performance, comfort, and recovery. This study contributes to the existing literature by expanding the understanding of the effects of compression clothing and highlighting the importance of further research to optimize the use of these garments in enhancing athletic performance.

The present study aims to investigate the influence of structured physical activity (SPA) and unstructured physical activity (UPA) environments on the development of locomotor skills in primary school children. The sample consisted of 148 pupils (mean age = 8.7 ± 0.7 years; 77 girls and 71 boys) attending the third and fourth grades of a primary school located in a rural municipality in southern Italy. Motor skills were assessed by means of the locomotion subtest of the Test of Gross Motor Development – Third Edition (TGMD-3). The results show that 86.5 % of the participants (n = 128) engage in UPA during their leisure time. The mean scaled score for the entire sample was 8.23 points (± 2.68), with 64.2 % of the pupils falling within the “Average” level. Children who participate in SPA obtained significantly higher scores than their peers who do not practise structured activity: 8.64 (± 2.74) vs 7.73 (± 2.53) points; p = .038; Cohen’s d = 0.34. Multifactorial analysis confirmed a positive main effect of SPA but did not reveal significant interactions between SPA and UPA. Although the data confirm the influence of structured activity on locomotion test outcomes, the non-significance of UPA may be attributable to the characteristics of the subtest items, as these tasks are widespread in sporting practice. The findings highlight the role of rural contexts in promoting unstructured physical activity among school-age children and the contribution of structured physical activity to the development of motor skills. Future research should consider enlarging the sample, including the object-control subtest of the TGMD-3, and further exploring the qualitative relationships between SPA, UPA, and motor development.

Background: In recent years, the use of compression garments has expanded into sports contexts to enhance performance and optimize post-exercise recovery. One of the most investigated physiological variables for evaluating their effectiveness has been peripheral muscle oxygenation, a crucial indicator of physical performance. However, studies regarding the effects of compression on the upper limbs remain limited and the topic is insufficiently explored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of compression garments on muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) recovery in the biceps brachii after brief maximal isometric contractions. Specifically, physiological responses were compared between two conditions (with and without compression garments), hypothesizing that compression would promote faster and more efficient muscle reoxygenation compared to traditional clothing. Methods: Fourteen male participants (mean age: 24.4 years; mean height: 176.75 cm; mean body mass: 73 kg) performed three 10 s isometric contractions separated by 180 s passive recovery periods under compression (CG) and non-compression (noCG) conditions. SmO₂ was monitored using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), assessing Half-Recovery Time (HRT), Overshoot Amplitude, Initial Slope, and the time constant τ. Results: The compression garment significantly reduced HRT (CG 8.52 s vs. noCG 10.21 s; p = 0.035), significantly increased Overshoot Amplitude (CG 21.40% vs. noCG 7.92%; p = 0.0014), resulted in a greater Initial Slope (CG 2.43%/s vs. noCG 2.09%/s; p = 0.027), and significantly reduced the time constant τ (CG 11.68 s vs. noCG 21.04 s; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The use of compression garments demonstrated significant improvements in post-exercise muscle oxygen saturation, suggesting potential advantages for muscle recovery and positive implications for athletic performance.

Background/Objectives: In recent years, the use of compression garments has expanded into sports contexts to enhance performance and optimize post-exercise recovery. One of the most investigated physiological variables for evaluating their effectiveness has been peripheral muscle oxygenation, a crucial indicator of physical performance. However, studies regarding the effects of compression on the upper limbs remain limited and insufficiently explored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of compression garments on muscle oxygen saturation (SmO₂) recovery in the biceps brachii after brief maximal isometric contractions. Specifically, physiological responses were compared between two conditions (with and without compression garments), hypothesizing that compression would promote faster and more efficient muscle reoxygenation compared to traditional clothing. Methods: Fourteen male participants (mean age: 24.4 years; mean height: 176.75 cm; mean body mass: 73 kg) performed three 10-second isometric contractions separated by 180-second passive recovery periods under compression (CG) and non-compression (noCG) conditions. SmO₂ was monitored using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), assessing Half-Recovery Time (HRT), Overshoot Amplitude, Initial Slope, and the time constant τ. Results: The compression garment significantly reduced HRT (CG 8.52 s vs. noCG 10.21 s; p=0.035), significantly increased Overshoot Amplitude (CG 21.40% vs. noCG 7.92%; p=0.0014), resulted in a greater Initial Slope (CG 2.43 %/s vs. noCG 2.09 %/s; p=0.027), and significantly reduced the time constant τ (CG 11.68 s vs. noCG 21.04 s; p<0.001). Conclusions: The use of compression garments demonstrated significant improvements in post-exercise muscle oxygen saturation, suggesting potential advantages for muscle recovery and positive implications for athletic performance.

In football, limited research has considered both the processes underlying collective behavior and its functional outcomes, constraining its practical applicability. In this study, we developed and validated an eco-physical variable, Team Functional Degrees of Freedom (TfDoF), to quantify how off-ball players dynamically coordinate their movements with teammates, opponents, and the ball to afford functional passing opportunities for a team in football. TfDoF was developed through a “glocal” spatial framework integrating centroid dynamics, Voronoi diagrams, dynamic pitch zoning, and a rule-based degrees-of-freedom approach. Validation comprised two complementary stages. First, expert-based validation involved seven football experts who evaluated the computational framework and identified passing opportunities in 30 match clips at the instant of passing. TfDoF showed a very strong correlation with expert-perceived passing opportunities (r = .98, p < .001), while all content validity indices exceeded .86, providing preliminary evidence of its content and convergent validity. Second, performance-based validation examined the relationship between TfDoF and pass outcomes using synchronized tracking and event data from 35 Italian Serie A matches (20,531 passes). Among six machine learning algorithms, XGBoost achieved the best classification performance (AUC = 0.909). SHAP analysis identified TfDoF as the most influential predictor of pass success (FI = 1.453), providing evidence of its predictive validity. Notably, TfDoF’s contribution to pass success was non-linear, with the greatest marginal effect occurring between TfDoF values of 5 and 7. Finally, we proposed a multi-timescale analytical framework demonstrating how TfDoF can support tactical analysis and coaching practice.

Muscle synergies can be conceptualized, within ecological dynamics, as a self-organizing process. Studying muscle synergies in rhythmic gymnastics (RG) jumps may provide insight into how intermuscular coordination is organized in response to interacting constraints. Ankle weights are frequently used in RG training with the aim of improving jumping performance, although they may influence lower-limb coordination. Evidence on muscle synergies during RG jumps remains limited; therefore, this exploratory study aimed to examine how intermuscular coordination is organized during split leaps performed with and without 0.5 kg ankle weights, while also assessing selected biomechanical outcomes. The sample included six competitive RG gymnasts (16.5 ± 2.7 years). Data were collected using an integrated multifactorial optoelectronic system. In both conditions, two muscle synergy modules were extracted, showing similar muscle contribution patterns, whereas temporal activation profiles showed inter-individual variability. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated strong correlations between conditions for both muscle contributions (|r| > .90) and temporal activations (.70 < |r| < .97). S2 vertical displacement and flight time showed no clear systematic differences between conditions. These preliminary findings suggest relative preservation of the recorded lower-limb coordination structure under the additional load, which may be compatible with functional robustness in response to the task constraint.