Eccentric exercise is defined as a type of exercise in which the muscle produces power by extending. In contrast to isometric and concentric exercises, eccentric muscle activity is much more effective mechanically; however, it may expose the muscle to soreness. Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) emerges a couple of hours after an eccentric activity, especially in individuals who are not used to this kind of exercise, and causes a temporary decrease in muscle performance, joint movement angle and muscle power, and also a temporary increase in the blood creatine kinase (CK) activity. This study investigates the effect of DOMS on the upper extremities motor performance by conducting an eccentric exercise load on the elbow flexor muscles. Cross sectional study. The study included 10 wheelchair basketball players. First, the participants underwent blood CK activity, positioning sense, muscle pain, shooting performance measurements tests at the base, and after 30 minutes and 24 and 48 hours. Then, one week later, the one-repetition-maximums of biceps curls were determined in order to define the intensity of the eccentric exercise. An eccentric exercise protocol which would cause DOMS was applied to all players. All tests were replaced with acute exhaustive eccentric exercise; the same tests were repeated in the same order after the exercise. Blood CK activity was measured by taking an earlobe capillary blood sample. The muscle pain level was measured by using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Positioning sense loss was assessed via goniometer at 30º, 60° and 90° degrees horizontally. The study found a statistically significant increase in blood CK activity and positioning sense loss, and a decrease in the pressure-pain threshold, as well as the shooting percentages in the exercise group when compared with the control. These findings suggest that DOMS negatively affects the upper extremities motor performance of wheelchair basketball players at least 48 hours after eccentric exercise.

& Redlich, 2018) and used as a defensive strategy by coaches that interfere in attacks. Karastergios, Skandalis, Zapartidis, and Hatzimanouil (2017) found that significantly higher fouls occur in the defense of winning teams in comparison to losing teams. However, injury-risked unsportsmanlike fouls such as hitting face, neck, and throat or pulling from the throwing arm and shirt require a punishment known as 2-min suspension (IHF, 2016; rule 8:4). A penalized players' team must play with numerical inferiority within the 2-min period which leads to disadvantages in both attack and defense. Šibila (2001) observed that teams played one of four attacks with numerical inferiority or superiority in international events. Handball players' tactical behaviors (offensive and defensive playing patterns) are affected by this numerical imbalance (Schrapf, Alsaied, & Tilp, 2017). Currently, players' exclusion-depended numerical asymmetry situations have increased in men's handball (Pueo & Espina-Agullo, 2017). After the exclusion of a player resulted in playing with numerical inferiority for 2 mins, the offensive performances

Background. It is well known that overarm throwing is one of the most performed activities in the handball. Shoulder and glenohumeral injuries incidence are high in handball because of both pass, and shooting activity was executed repeatedly in high angular speed. Objectives. This study set out to investigate the usefulness ...

Background: Congested tournament schedules impose substantial physiological stress in team sports; however, the integrated endocrine and inflammatory responses to real competitive match load in female handball players remain insufficiently characterized. Objective: This study aimed to characterize the acute biochemical responses, including hormonal, inflammatory, muscle damage, and bone metabolism markers, elicited by competitive tournament load in female handball players and to provide practical insights for optimizing recovery strategies and load management during short-term competitive periods. Methods: In a pre–post study design, venous blood samples were collected from competitive female athletes (n = 8; age 20.83 ± 2.93 years) before the first match and after the fourth consecutive match of an official university qualification tournament. Biochemical analyses included cortisol, insulin, IL-6, creatine kinase (CK), IGF-1, irisin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), osteocalcin, and testosterone. Pre-to-post changes were assessed using paired t-tests and effect sizes. Results: Tournament load induced substantial multisystem physiological perturbations. Significant increases were observed in cortisol (p < 0.001), insulin (p = 0.044), IL-6 (p < 0.001), CK (p < 0.001), and osteocalcin (p = 0.005), indicating activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, systemic inflammation, muscle membrane disruption, and enhanced bone turnover. Conversely, IGF-1 (p < 0.001) and testosterone (p = 0.004) significantly decreased, reflecting suppression of anabolic signaling and a shift toward a catabolic hormonal environment under cumulative match stress. LDH significantly decreased (p = 0.002), while irisin showed no significant change (p > 0.05). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that congested tournament schedules provoke an integrated endocrine–inflammatory stress response in female handball players. Importantly, the observed anabolic–catabolic imbalance highlights the need for individualized recovery strategies, optimized load management, and adequate recovery periods to mitigate maladaptation and reduce injury risk during short-term competitive tournaments.

Objective:Bilateral plyometric training of the lower extremities has been shown to provide improvement in vertical force production. However, designing a proper plyometric training program and choosing the appropriate surface is critical, otherwise the risk of injury and lower extremity joint pathologies increases. The aim of this study was to compare biomechanical parameters between mini-trampoline and noncompliant surface during drop jumping.Materials and Methods:Thirty-four male adults participated in the study. Active markers were placed on the left knee, ankle and hip joints of the participants. Also, a force sensing resistor was placed under the participants’ left shoes. During drop jumping, the knee joint angles were recorded by the camera while adataset of reaction forces and loading rates were collected using a force sensing resistor. Data were compared with paired samples T-test. The level of significance was set atp≤ 0.05.Results:The mean values of maximum reaction forces and loading rates were greater on the noncompliant surface (p< 0.001). Mean knee joint angles for frame at which the knee angle is minimum and the frames one before and one after the frame at which the minimum value is obtained were similar between surfaces, however, were found to be smaller on noncompliant surface for the remaining eight frames (p< 0.05).Conclusion:This study indicates that the range of bending values in the knee joint is greater on noncompliant surface compared to mini-trampoline during drop jump. Since the mini-trampoline resulted in lower reaction forces and loading rates, it can be used as an exercise equipment to minimize the injury risk of plyometric training.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the daily lifestyle and habits around the worldwide. Besides the impact of coronavirus on social life and canceling of gyms limited physical activity and exercise. The aim of this study was to analysis of tweet numbers and attitudes related with physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the timeline of Turkey outbreak. Methods: Twitter query performed in Turkish tweets between 1st of January and 14th of May 2020 including keywords "exercise" or "physical or activity" or "fitness" or "plates" or "gymnastics" or "inactive". Collected tweet data sent to Google cloud natural language API for estimation of sentiment score. Tweets assigned as non-COVID period (1st of Jan-14th Mar; n=74 days) and COVID period (14th Mar-14th May; n=61 days) according to the prognosis of the pandemic in Turkey. Results: The number of tweets and both positive and negative sentiments score of tweets significantly increased in the COVID period in comparison to the non-COVID period. There was a significant decreased sentiment scores in COVID period when compared to non-COVID period however, during the COVID period, no significant differences found between forced isolation days and non-forced isolation days. Discussion: These results suggest that people had more leisure time and realized the importance of being active for a healthy lifestyle during this lockdown period in Turkey then both performed exercises and posted to Twitter more often. Current findings also showed that social media is a platform for promoting physical activity and exercise via peoples' necessity to share and get interaction.