ECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP17
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the YMCA step test is suitable to determine aerobic fitness in individuals with vision loss. METHODS: 52 males between the ages of 19-36 participated in the study voluntarily. 15 of the participants were goalball players (age: 27.20±4.07 years; height: 181.36±7.18 cm; body weight: 84.54±9.09 kg) and 20 of them were athletes without vision loss (age: 26.85±4.04 years; height: 176.07±6.00 cm; body weight: 77.11±7.64 kg). As a control group, 17 male sedentary individuals with visual loss (age: 27.23±5.00 years; height: 176.11±5.63 cm; body weight: 82.21±7.89 kg) were included in the study. Initially, physical characteristics were determined and PAR-Q questionnaire was applied. Afterwards, YMCA step test was applied to assess the aerobic fitness of the participants. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the differences in physical characteristics (age (years), height (cm), body weight (kg), body mass index (kg/m2), body fat percentage (%), body fat mass (kg), fat-free mass (kg)) and physiological responses (maximal heart rate (HRmax), RPE, recovery heart rate (HRrecovery)) to YMCA step test among the three groups. If overall statistical difference was observed for the dependent variable (p<0.05), the Bonferroni post hoc test was used to identify the location of pairwise differences. RESULTS: The results revealed significant differences in height (cm) (F (2,49)=3.78, p=0.03), body weight (kg) (F (2,49)=3.86, p=0.02), body fat percentage (%) (F (2,49)=30.85, p=0.00), body fat mass (kg) (F (2,49)=21.33, p=0.00), fat-free mass (kg) (F (2,49)=39.11, p=0.00) whereas no statistically significant difference was found in the variables of age (F (2,49)= 0.04, p=0.95) and BMI (F (2,49)= 2.00, p=0.14). A statistically significant difference was found in HRmax (bpm) (F (2,49)=4.55, p=0.01), RPE (F (2,49)=26.62, p=0.00) and HRrecovery (bpm) (F (2,49)=38.12, p=0.00) as physical responses to YMCA step test (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed that the YMCA step test can be applied in individuals with vision loss to determine aerobic fitness.
Read CV Ece ErvuzECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP17
INTRODUCTION: Team handball requires multiple physical attributes including strength, speed, and agility for competitive success. However, the relationship between specific performance tests and playing experience levels remains incompletely understood, particularly when comparing experienced versus less-experienced players. METHODS: This cross-sectional study examined thirty-one male handball players divided into experienced (EP; n=14; age: 27.9±4.3 years; playing experience: 8.4±2.1 years) and less-experienced (LEP; n=17; age: 29.4±4.1 years; playing experience: 3.2±1.4 years) groups. A comprehensive testing battery assessed: (1) lower-limb power: squat jumps (SJ) and countermovement jumps (CMJ), (2) sprint capacity over 15m and 30m, (3) change-of-direction ability via T-Half test, (4) throwing performance using medicine ball throw, (5) aerobic fitness through Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test, and (6) muscle volume measurements of upper and lower limbs. RESULTS: EP demonstrated significantly superior performance in agility (T-Half test: EP: 5.91±0.15s; LEP: 5.56±0.40s, p=0.002, ηp2=0.28), explosive power (CMJ: EP: 42.3±4.8 cm; LEP: 36.7±4.2 cm, p=0.002, ηp2=0.28), and throwing ability (medicine ball throw: EP: 12.8±1.4 m; LEP: 10.9±1.2 m, p=0.009, ηp2=0.21). Linear sprint performance showed no significant differences (30m sprint: EP: 4.20±0.17s; LEP: 4.21±0.14s; p=0.662, ηp2=0.01). Muscle volume measurements revealed similar values between groups for both upper (EP: 2856±423 cm3; LEP: 2789±398 cm3, p=0.724) and lower limbs (EP: 6234±856 cm3; LEP: 6198±812 cm3, p=0.892). CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate that handball-specific movements requiring complex motor control and power production (agility, jumping, sprinting) better differentiate experience levels than linear sprinting or muscle volume. This aligns with recent research showing sport-specific testing batteries are more sensitive to playing level than general athletic measures. The similar sprint times between groups likely reflect the limited occurrence of maximum-speed linear running in handball compared to multidirectional movements. Practitioners should prioritize specialized training regimens targeting these discriminating performance markers while considering experience level in training prescription.
Read CV abdulla alneamaECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP17
INTRODUCTION: In Handball, athletic performance is closely tied to the execution of technical movements, like throwing the ball. Two key aspects contribute to an effective throw: accuracy and ball speed. Our aim was to evaluate if throwing speed can be predicted by upper-limb strength and power assessed as Ballistic Push-ups (BPU), bench press one repetition maximum (1RM) and power at different intensities (30, 60 and 90% RM). METHODS: Nine handball athletes with strength training experience (five men and four women; age: 21.5 ± 2.2 years; height: 1.7 ± 0.1 m; body mass: 75.2 ± 12.1 kg; body mass index: 24.8 ± 1.8; fat-free mass: 57.8 ± 13.4 kg; fat mass: 23.9 ± 6.2 kg) participated in the study. Following two familiarization sessions, they attended four laboratory visits. During the first visit, body composition was assessed, followed by the 1RM test for the bench press. The second visit involved the submaximal acceleration test in the bench press (with loads of 30%, 60% and 90% of 1RM). On the third day, they performed the BPU test and on the fourth day, they completed the specific handball throwing tests, consisting of ball speed (BS) in standing throw (ST) and jump throw (JT). All sessions were preceded by a warm-up (stationary bike, mobility exercises, and horizontal arm abduction using an elastic band). On days involving the bench press, participants also performed two sets of twelve and eight repetitions at 50% and 75% respectively of their one-repetition maximum (1RM). Correlation analyses were conducted aiming to analyze associations between the weight lifted in the 1RM test and the power generated in the acceleration and BPU tests with ball speed during ST and JT. Correlation coefficients were considered as strong, very strong and nearly perfect according to the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient (r = 0.5-0.69, 0.7-0.89, and 0.9-0.99, respectively). Additionally, a simple linear regression technique was used to evaluate the prediction level of the tests. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Strong associations were observed between ST together with 1RM (r = 0.67) along with BPU and ST (r = 0.60). Very strong associations were observed between ST and 30%1RM (r = 0.712) and 90% 1RM (r = 0.817), and between JT and 90% 1RM (r = 0.704). Linear regression analyses revealed that all the loads in the acceleration test can predict BS for ST: 30%1RM [F(1,7) = 7,212, p < 0,05; R² = 0,363]; 60%1RM [F(1,7) = 6,818, p < 0,05; R² = 0,493]; 90%1RM [F(1,7) = 14,008, p < 0,05; R² = 0,667]. Furthermore only the 90%1RM load was able to predict BS for JT [F(1,7) = 6,860, p < 0,05; R² = 0,495]. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that it is possible to predict handball throwing performance by employing general tests aiming to assess upper-limb strength and power. Considering that these tests are highly reproducible, they can be used as assessment tools for athletes, thereby enabling the development of parameters for training, which can be useful for all coaches.
Read CV Maraysa Spagnollo da SilvaECSS Paris 2023: CP-AP17