The use of near-infrared spectroscopy could be an interesting alternative to other invasive or expensive methods to estimate the second lactate threshold. Our objective was to compare the intensities of the muscle oxygen saturation breakpoint obtained with the Humon Hex and the second lactate threshold in elite cyclists. Ninety cyclists performed a maximal graded exercise test. Blood capillary lactate was obtained at the end of steps and muscle oxygenation was continuously monitored. There were no differences (p>0.05) between muscle oxygen oxygenation breakpoint and second lactate threshold neither in power nor in heart rate, nor when these values were relativized as a percentage of maximal aerobic power or maximum heart rate. There were also no differences when men and women were studied separately. Both methods showed a highly correlation in power (r=0.914), percentage of maximal aerobic power (r=0.752), heart rate (r=0.955), and percentage of maximum heart rate (r=0.903). Bland-Altman resulted in a mean difference of 0.05±0.27 W·kg–1, 0.91±4.93%, 0.63±3.25 bpm, and 0.32±1.69% for power, percentage of maximal aerobic power, heart rate and percentage of maximum heart rate respectively. These findings suggest that Humon may be a non-invasive and low-cost alternative to estimate the second lactate threshold intensity in elite cyclists.

A new method to monitor internal training load from muscle oxygen saturation using near-infrared spectroscopy could be of practical application for research and training purposes. This technology has been validated in different scientific fields, including sports science, and Humon Hex and Moxy are two leading brands. However, its relationship with hemoglobin has not been studied. Forty-eight professional cyclists, 19 men and 29 women, underwent a blood test to measure hemoglobin in the early morning. Immediately afterwards, hemoglobin and muscle oxygenation were monitored at rest by Moxy and Humon Hex on their right quadriceps (where the skinfold was measured). Venous blood hemoglobin was higher than the measurement for both devices (p<0.001). Both hemoglobin (p<0.001) and muscle oxygen saturation measurements (p<0.05) were higher in Humon Hex than for Moxy, and there was a reasonable reproducibility (ICC=0.35 for hemoglobin and 0.26 for muscle oxygen saturation). Skinfold had an inverse relationship with hemoglobin measurement (r=–0.85 p<0.001 for Humon Hex and r=–0.75 p<0.001 for Moxy). These findings suggest that resting hemoglobin data provided by these devices are not coincident with those of blood sample, and skinfold has an inverse relationship with blood hemoglobin measurement.

In Spain, students pursuing a career in athletic training, physical education, or scientific evaluation of sports enroll in a bachelor’s degree in sports sciences. This degree provides knowledge and skills in a broad array of sports settings and promotes research-based interdisciplinary knowledge. However, the student’s syllabus rarely includes specific academic training on anti-doping regulations or doping prevention. The purpose of this study was to assess the anti-doping knowledge of the students undertaking a bachelor’s degree in sports sciences in Spanish universities. One thousand two hundred and thirty-three bachelor students in sport science (907 males, 322 females, and 4 participants with non-binary sex) from 26 Spanish universities completed a validated questionnaire about general anti-doping knowledge. The questionnaire is an adapted version of the Play True Quiz of the World Anti-Doping Agency and contains 37 multiple-choice questions. The score obtained in the questionnaire was transformed into a 0–100-point scale. The questionnaire was distributed among students within each university by a faculty member and it was filled out online. Students obtained a score of 65.8 ± 10.10 points (range = 32–92 points). There was an effect of the course in the score obtained (p < 0.001). Students of the first course (63.6 ± 9.5 points) had lower scores than the remaining courses (p < 0.037) while the students of the fourth course obtained the highest scores (68.7 ± 9.5 points; p < 0.019). The students with an itinerary on sports performance were the respondents with the highest anti-doping knowledge (67.2 ± 10.2) points, followed by the students with an itinerary on health (66.7 ± 9.5 points). The knowledge of basic anti-doping rules and doping prevention strategies of the bachelor students in sports sciences in Spain was suboptimal. Increasing doping prevention information in the syllabus of the bachelor’s degree in sports sciences is essential as these future professionals will directly work with populations at risk of doping.

Currently, new technologies are integrated into society and are an important and significant part of the lives of the youngest. These new technologies are sometimes related to sedentary behaviour that has led to reduced levels of physical activity in children, a factor that is directly related to an increase in childhood obesity. It is intended to find a new approach in which new technologies do not imply a cessation of physical activity but increase it and help improve the motivation of students towards it. These are considered as an opportunity to include physical activity in the lives of students, so it is about taking advantage of the important part that these suppose in their day to day life and the levels of attention that they provoke to integrate them into the subject of Physical Education. Actualmente las nuevas tecnologías están integradas en la sociedad y son una parte importante y significativa en la vida de los más jóvenes. Estas nuevas tecnologías en algunas ocasiones están relacionadas con un comportamiento sedentario que ha desembocado en la reducción de los niveles de actividad física de los niños, factor que está directamente relacionado con un incremento de la obesidad infantil. Se pretende buscar un nuevo enfoque en el que las nuevas tecnologías no supongan un cese de la actividad física, sino que la incrementen y ayuden a mejorar la motivación del alumnado hacia esta. Éstas se consideran como una oportunidad para incluir la actividad física en la vida de los alumnos, por lo que se trata de aprovechar la parte tan importante que estas suponen en su día a día y los niveles de atención que les suscitan para integrarlos en la asignatura de Educación Física.

Workload is calculated from exercise volume and intensity. In endurance sports, intensity has been measured using heart rate or RPE, giving rise to load indexes such as sRPE or TRIMP. In cycling, the advent of power meters led to new indexes, such as TSS. All these indexes have limitations, especially for high intensity exercise. Therefore, a new index for cycling is proposed, the Power Profile Index (PPi), which includes a weighting factor obtained from the relative exercise intensity and stage type. Using power data from 67 WorldTour cyclists and fatigue records in different stage types from 102 road cyclists, weighting factors for intensity and stage type were determined. Subsequently, the PPi was computed and compared to current indexes using data from a WorldTour team during the 2018 Tour de France. The proposed index showed a strong correlation with perceived fatigue as a function of stage type (R² = 0.9996), as well as no differences in the load quantification in different types of stage profiles (p = 0.292), something that does not occur with other indexes such as TSS, RPE, or eTRIMP (p < 0.001). Therefore, PPi is a new index capable of quantifying the high intensity efforts that produce greater fatigue, as well as considering the stage type.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine how exercise intensity influences the amount of work required to induce changes in cyclists’ acute durability and to evaluate the suitability of using kilojoules (kJ) as a metric for fatigue monitoring. Methods: A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Web of Science, Medline, and Scopus were searched for studies assessing the relationship or effect between prior accumulated work and performance reductions in cyclists. Inclusion criteria required studies to measure power output after fatigue induced within a single session, with prior work quantified in kJ or other training load metrics. Results: Twenty-one studies were included in the systematic review. The primary finding was that high-intensity efforts (e.g., above critical power) led to greater power output reductions with lower accumulated work compared to low-to-moderate intensity efforts. Across studies, power output declines of 10–20% were observed after 2.5–15 kJ kg⁻ ¹ of prior high-intensity work, whereas similar or greater work volumes at lower intensities resulted in smaller performance decrements. While kJ was the most commonly used fatigue metric, it does not account for intensity, limiting its accuracy in durability assessments. Conclusions: Exercise intensity plays a crucial role in determining durability-related performance declines. The exclusive use of kJ as a fatigue metric may be insufficient, and alternative approaches incorporating intensity are needed. These findings have implications for training prescription and race strategies, emphasizing the need for intensity-specific workload quantification. Registration: OSF project no.: osf.io/kcg53.