Padel: a quantitative study of the shots and movements in the high-performance.

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of different bike positions on the perception of fatigue, pain and comfort. Twenty cyclists underwent three tests that involved cycling for 45 min at their individual 50% peak aerobic power output while adopting different positions on the bike. Participants performed the cycling tests adopting three positions defined by two parameters (knee flexion angle [20°, 30°, 40°] and trunk flexion angle [35°, 45°, 55°]) in random order. Angles were measured using a 2D motion analysis system during cycling and applying Fonda’s correction factor. Perceptions of comfort, fatigue and pain were reported before the end of each test. The combination of 40° knee flexion and 35° trunk flexion was perceived as the most uncomfortable position. Moreover, greater knee flexion had a negative effect on trunk comfort, accompanied by greater levels of fatigue and pain perception in the anterior part of the thigh and knee. In conclusion, cyclists perceived the most comfortable position to be when the saddle height was within the recommended knee angle (30° calculated from the offset position or 40 ± 4.0° of absolute value). Upright trunk was found to be the most comfortable position for recreational cyclists, where aerodynamics is not so important. Cyclists’ bike perceptions should be taken into account when it comes to choosing the most beneficial position, since this can play a role in injury prevention and enhance cycling performance.

Over the last few years, portable Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) technology has been suggested for determining metabolic/ventilator thresholds. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the reliability of a portable muscle oxygenation monitor for determining thresholds during exercise testing. The proposed PICO question was: Is the exercise intensity of muscle oxygenation thresholds, using portable NIRS, reliable compared with lactate and ventilatory thresholds for exercise intensity determined in athletes? A search of Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science was undertaken and the review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Fifteen articles were included. The domains which presented the highest biases were confounders (93% with moderate or high risk) and participant selection (100% with moderate or high risk). The intra-class correlation coefficient between exercise intensity of the first ventilatory or lactate threshold and the first muscle oxygenation threshold was 0.53 (obtained with data from only 3 studies), whereas the second threshold was 0.80. The present work shows that although a portable muscle oxygenation monitor has moderate to good reliability for determining the second ventilatory and lactate thresholds, further research is necessary to investigate the mathematical methods of detection, the capacity to detect the first threshold, the detection in multiple regions, and the effect of sex, performance level and adipose tissue in determining thresholds.