ECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP09
INTRODUCTION: Exploratory research is well established in the literature (Kimmelman et al 2014). It involves exploring a dataset, freely and without existing hypotheses or research questions in mind, to detect patterns and associations that may look interesting and even unexpected, with the aim of generating new hypotheses. A confirmatory study should then support or question these hypotheses using a new dataset. This implies a logical sequence of events, with an exploratory study occurring first, i.e. the background work that enables a researcher to properly plan their hypothesis testing analyses in a subsequent confirmatory study (Ditroilo et al 2024). It is however important to emphasise that in exploratory studies the error rate of statistical tests is not controlled, therefore no scientific claims should be made, as the probability that these claims are misleading cannot be controlled. Yet in the sport and exercise sciences we contend that many exploratory studies are passed off as being confirmatory. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to review the literature to examine if sport and exercise science studies described as exploratory are truly exploratory. METHODS: PubMed was searched for sport and exercise science papers that described their study as exploratory (Jan 2025) using: "exploratory stud*" or "exploratory research" or “exploratory anal*” and ("sport science*" or "exercise science"). Inclusion criteria: quantitative original studies; studies published in one of the 127 Sport Sciences journals (Clarivate Journal Citation Reports); studies stating somewhere in the paper that it is an exploratory study or that used methods of exploratory research or that used exploratory analyses. Exclusion criteria: non original studies (e.g. review papers); unable to source full text. A study to be exploratory must: 1) have no pre-specified hypothesis to be tested; 2) have no a-priori power analysis and sample size calculation; 3) make no claims about their results. A study with a mix of confirmatory and exploratory analyses would still be selected if the exploratory section met the criteria (Ditroilo et al 2024). RESULTS: A total of 247 papers were retrieved and 43 were selected based on inclusion/exclusion criteria (sample size: 9-1139). While 20 studies had no pre-specified hypotheses and 38 studies had no sample size calculation and power analysis, only 3 studies were classified as exploratory as they made no claims and highlighted their hypothesis generation role. CONCLUSION: Although several studies reported as exploratory did have some elements of exploratory research, most of them made claims as if they were confirmatory studies. Often the word ‘exploratory’ is used as a synonym of preliminary, first attempt at investigating a topic, pilot, feasibility, study with small sample size, etc. It appears most researchers do not know how to properly carry out and present this type of research. REFERENCES: Ditroilo et al (2024). SportRχiv Kimmelman et al (2014). PLoS biology, 12(5), e10018
Read CV Massimiliano DitroiloECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP09
INTRODUCTION: Wearable devices, GPS and other technologies have led to an explosion in the volume of data available to Sports Scientists. But there is now a mismatch between the amount of data available and the skills required to make sense of it. METHODS: The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has identified enhancing data science literacy in sport scientists as a strategic priority area. In collaboration with the AIS, La Trobe University have developed an online learning platform written in the R statistical programming language to improve data exploration and visualisation skills within sport and exercise scientists called the SPEEDS (Sport and Exercise Science Excellence Through Data Science) project. This project aims to enhance data exploratory data analysis, data visualisation, and statistical modelling skills within sport and exercise scientists. RESULTS: We hope the SPEEDS project can help address the lack of specificity of existing data science resources with sport and exercise science, which tend to focus on and provide examples from other disciplines which practitioners often find difficult to apply to the high-performance sports arena. CONCLUSION: We aim to expand the resources over the next few years and encourage contributions from sport and exercise scientists and data scientists, which will then be reviewed by our team for quality and then published on the website. Quantitative and qualitative data about the reach and significance of the impact of the site will be gathered towards the end of 2025. The SPEEDS Project: https://speeds.quarto.pub/speeds/about.html
Read CV Andrew GovusECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP09
INTRODUCTION: Muscle and tendon respond differently to mechano-metabolic stimuli, with tendons requiring high-strain loading (4.5–6.5%) for optimal adaptation, while muscles increase force and mechanical power-generating capacity even at moderate mechanical loads when exposed to high metabolic stress [1]. Given that tendon stiffness influences contractile dynamics during locomotion [2], we aimed to assess whether a mechano-metabolic exercise-induced increase in triceps surae (TS) strength, with and without changes in Achilles tendon (AT) stiffness, result in distinct muscle-tendon unit (MTU) kinetics during maximal unilateral forward jumps. METHODS: Nine healthy males completed 12 weeks of resistance training with cyclic fatiguing isometric isometric plantarflexion contractions (3 sets at 80% MVC) to induce high metabolic stress. One leg trained in dorsiflexion (DF: high mechanical loading), the other in plantarflexion (PF: moderate loading). Pre- and post-exercise TS biomechanical properties were assessed via MRI, dynamometry, and ultrasonography. Motion capture and ultrasonography analyzed TS MTU kinetics during unilateral forward jumps. AT strain was measured from the curved displacement between the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) myotendinous junction and calcaneal tuberosity [3], and AT force was estimated using pre-calibrated force-strain relationships during MVC. RESULTS: After training, both legs showed comparable increases in TS muscle volume (~6%) and strength (~20%). However, AT stiffness increased only in DF (p<.05), while muscle fascicle length remained unchanged in both legs. During the ground contact phase of horizontal jumps, the DF leg exhibited higher average AT velocity, leading to greater mechanical AT power during push-off (on average, -133 vs. -227 W). There were no exercise-related effects on MTU kinetics in the PF leg, while the relative change (post/pre) in GM mechanical power during push-off was 20% greater in DF compared to PF. CONCLUSION: Our data confirm that an exercise-related increase in TS muscle strength and AT stiffness in the DF leg led to altered MTU kinetics during horizontal jumps, increasing AT mechanical power during ankle push-off. However, an exercise-induced enhancement in TS muscle force and maximal mechanical power generation capacity in the PF leg, without changes in AT stiffness, did not affect MTU kinetics during jumping. Given that our analysis showed that the GM belly exhibited a stretch-isometric-shortening cycle during ground contact, with up to ~8cm/s shortening velocities and ~800°/s joint angular velocities, we might suggest that the adaptive changes in TS muscle biomechanical properties (higher muscle volume without any changes in fascicle length) were insufficient to improve MTU kinetics during maximal unilateral horizontal jumps. This highlights the relevance of tendon mechanical properties for plyometric tasks. References: 1)Lambrianides et al., J Strength Cond Res,2022 2)Kubo et al., J Appl Physiol,2010 3)Kharazi et al., Sci Rep,2021
Read CV Mohamadreza KharaziECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP09