The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different mixed training programs (optimum power load [OPL] + resisted sprints [RS] and OPL + vertical/horizontal plyometrics [PL]) on neuromuscular performance of elite soccer players during a short-term training preseason. Eighteen male professional soccer players took part in this study. The athletes were pair-matched in two training gr...

BACKGROUND The power function relationship, MR = a.m(b), between metabolic rate (MR) and body mass m has been the source of much controversy amongst biologists for many years. Various studies have reported mass exponents (b) greater than the anticipated 'surface-area' exponent 0.67, often closer to 0.75 originally identified by Kleiber. AIM The study aimed to provide a biological explanation ...

Aim: This study aimed to monitor the behavior of overtraining and motivations dimensions, as well verify whether these dimensions correlate in preparatory competitive periods over season. Methods: Professional soccer players (n = 32) answered Stress Recovery Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport 76) Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) during periods. Results: Intrinsic amotivation sport-specific rec...

Anthropometric and fitness observations were made on 32 members of a top level Gaelic football squad that reached the All Ireland final in the year in which these measurements were taken. The subjects were found to be large and well muscled with a mean somatotype of 2.6:5.6:3.1 (endomorphy:mesomorphy:ectomorphy). Body fat content of the whole squad averaged 15.0% but the most successful group o...

OBJECTIVE To examine the changes in aerobic endurance performance of professional youth soccer players throughout the soccer season. METHODS Nine youth soccer players were tested at six different time points throughout the soccer season by sub-maximal blood lactate assessment, using an incremental treadmill protocol. Whole blood lactate concentration and heart frequency (Hf) were determined a...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to establish a national methodological model for epidemiological studies on professional soccer player injuries and to describe the numerous relevant studies previously published on this topic. INTRODUCTION The risk of injury in professional soccer is high. However, previous studies of injury risk in Brazil and other countries have been characterized by large variati...

Background Achieving a symmetrical power performance (difference <15%) between lower limbs is generally recommended during sports rehabilitation. However, athletes in single-leg-dominant sports, such as professional soccer players, could develop significant asymmetry between their dominant and nondominant legs, such that symmetry does not act as a viable comparison. Purpose To (1) compare max...

Recently, many meta-heuristic algorithms are proposed for optimization of various problems. Some of them originally are presented for continuous optimization problems and some others are just applicable for discrete ones. In the literature, sizing optimization of truss structures is one of the discrete optimization problems which is solved by many meta-heuristic algorithms. In this paper, in or...