The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted professional football in the 2019/2020 season, and football experts anticipate that the consequences of lockdown measures will negatively affect the physical performance of players once competition restarts. This study aimed to evaluate position-specific match running performance (MRP) to determine the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on the physical performance of professional football players. Players’ MRPs (n = 124) were observed in matches before and after the COVID-19 lockdown in the 2019/2020 season of the highest level of national competition in Croatia and were classified according to player position: central defenders (CD; n = 42), fullbacks (FB; n = 20), midfielders (MF; n = 46), and forwards (FW; n = 16). The MRPs were measured using Global Positioning System, and included the total distance covered, low-intensity running (≤14.3 km/h), running (14.4–19.7 km/h), high-intensity running (≥19.8 km/h), total accelerations (>0.5 m/s²), high-intensity accelerations (>3 m/s²), total decelerations (less than –0.5 m/s²), and high-intensity decelerations (less than –3 m/s²). The results indicated that, in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown, (i) CDs and FBs featured lower running and high-intensity running (t-value: from 2.05 to 3.51; all p < 0.05; moderate to large effect sizes), (ii) MFs covered a greater distance in low-intensity running and achieved a lower number of total accelerations, and total and high-intensity decelerations (t-value: from –3.54 to 2.46; all p < 0.05, moderate to large effect sizes), and (iii) FWs featured lower high-intensity running (t-value = 2.66, p = 0.02, large effect size). These findings demonstrate that the physical performances of football players from the Croatian first division significantly decreased in matches after the COVID-19 lockdown. A combination of inadequate adaptation to football-specific match demands and a crowded schedule after the competition was restarted most likely resulted in such an effect.

Background and Objectives: Preliminary studies indicate that dihydrogen (H₂) may affect molecular pathways involved in appetite regulation; however, its role in influencing patient-reported appetite outcomes in individuals with obesity remains uncertain. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial aimed to evaluate the effects of H₂ supplementation on appetite, body composition, sleep quality, obesity-specific quality of life, and related biomarkers in obese men and women. Materials and Methods: The study included 36 participants (24 females; age 42.1 ± 13.2 years; BMI 30.8 ± 4.2 kg/m²) randomized to receive either 1.0 L of hydrogen-rich water (15 mg of H₂) or 1.0 L of control water (0 mg of H₂) daily for eight weeks. Results: The results demonstrated that hydrogen-rich water significantly mitigated cravings (p = 0.05), improved subjective sleep quality (p = 0.05), reduced total cholesterol (p = 0.02) and LDL cholesterol (p = 0.04), and increased plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 levels (p = 0.05) compared to the control. No severe adverse effects were reported throughout the trial. Conclusions: These findings suggest that hydrogen-rich water may serve as a safe and effective dietary strategy to address appetite regulation and related metabolic indices in individuals with obesity. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06722326).

The aim of this paper is to establish the effects of an experimental treatment, so calledìRussian complexî on explosive leg power of the basketball players belonging to theexperimental group. Explosive leg power was measured on the sample consisting of 40basketball players from the Serbian league: 20 basketball players from the experimental groupand 20 from the control group, all aged between 16 and 18. The experimental group was thesubject of the experimental treatment, so called ìRussian complexî, which included gymexercises and took place twice a week during the period of ten weeks. The results of theunivariate analysis of covariance indicated that the experimental programme led to astatistically significant improvement of all three motor variables used for the evaluation ofexplosive leg power (Sargent Jump Test, Standing Triple Jump and Standing Jump) in theexperimental group of examinees, in comparison to the control group. 

Background and Aims: Preliminary studies indicate that dihydrogen (H₂) may affect molecular pathways involved in appetite regulation; however, its role in influencing patient-reported appetite outcomes in individuals with obesity remains uncertain. This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial aimed to evaluate the effects of H₂ supplementation on appetite, body composition, sleep quality, obesity-specific quality of life, and related biomarkers in obese men and women. Methods and Results: The study included 36 participants (24 females; age 42.1 ± 13.2 years, BMI 30.8 ± 4.2 kg/m²) randomized to receive either 1.0 L of hydrogen-rich water (15 mg of H₂) or 1.0 L of control water (0 mg of H₂) daily for eight weeks. Results demonstrated that hydrogen-rich water significantly mitigated cravings (P = 0.05), improved subjective sleep quality (P = 0.05), reduced total cholesterol (P = 0.02) and LDL cholesterol (P = 0.04), and increased plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 levels (P = 0.05) compared to the control. No severe adverse effects were reported throughout the trial. Conclusions: These findings suggest that hydrogen-rich water may serve as a safe and effective dietary strategy to address appetite regulation and related metabolic indices in individuals with obesity. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06722326).

The aim of this study was to identify achievements in motor tests and dietary habits as predictors of cardiovascular endurance among Medical rehabilitation students. The sample included 159 Medical rehabilitation students from Novi Sad, Serbia (37 males, 122 females) who attended physical education classes twice a week. The battery of tests from the applicable protocol and dietary questionnaire was used. The exploratory factor analysis and multiple linear regression were applied. The multiple regression analysis determined a statistically significant relationship between specific motor tests and the Shuttle Run Test (R=0.828, p=0.000), but no significant differences between the factors obtained for dietary and the Shuttle Run Test. The findings highlight the importance of tailored exercise and nutrition plans and education on healthy lifestyles and emphasize the need for further research to support overall health.

Molecular hydrogen (H₂) exerts pleiotropic bioactive effects via redox modulation, cell signaling, and anti-inflammatory pathways, enhancing cellular adaptability through hormetic mechanisms. Although increasingly studied, its dynamic behavior in response to acute physiological stressors remains insufficiently characterized. This pilot study investigated post-exercise breath H₂ kinetics as a potential non-invasive proxy for metabolic and redox shifts during recovery. Thirty healthy adults (mean age: 23.5 ± 3.8 years) completed an incremental treadmill test to voluntary exhaustion. Breath H₂ concentrations, assessed via electrochemical fuel cell analysis, declined sharply at 5 minutes post-exercise (36.37 ± 32.12 to 16.20 ± 16.22 ppm; Z = -4.352, p < 0.001), followed by partial recovery at 15 minutes (28.47 ± 33.76 ppm; p = 0.003) and near-baseline levels at 30 minutes (30.10 ± 37.20 ppm; p = 0.027). A secondary decrease emerged at 60 minutes (29.23 ± 36.55 ppm; p = 0.01). These temporal dynamics implicate breath H₂ as a sensitive marker of exercise-induced redox perturbations and microbial-host metabolic interplay.