Post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) is a key objective following regular warm-up routines, especially in sports that rely heavily on sprinting speed and power. Rugby is a team sport characterized by a range of repeated high-intensity efforts, irrespective of positional roles or match demands. In this study, we examined and compared the effects of two different conditioning activities (CAs) on the power- and speed-related abilities of National Team rugby players. Thirteen male rugby union players sequentially performed countermovement jump (CMJ), 30 m sprint, and change-of-direction (COD) tests (pre-testing session) 5 min before executing either one set of six repetitions of 45 cm drop jumps or one set of six repetitions of flywheel eccentric-overload squats. In addition to the sport-specific tests, the muscle mechanical properties of the athletes were also assessed through the use of tensiomyography (TMG).

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The aging process induces neural and morphological changes in the human musculoskeletal system, leading to a decline in muscle mass, strength and quality. These alterations, coupled with shifts in muscle metabolism, underscore the essential role of physical exercise in maintaining and improving muscle quality in older adults. Muscle quality’s morphological domain encompasses direct assessments of muscle microscopic and macroscopic aspects of muscle architecture and composition. Tensiomyography is one of the methods evaluated in this systematic review.

 

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Canoeists’ contractile properties and ROM differ little between males and females and international medalists and non-medalists; however, strength and dynamometry performance show significant sex differences. Male canoeists had greater Fmax in the Leg Press, Pm and Pmax in the canoe-position cable row, and a greater 1RM in the bench press and bench Pull. Furthermore, male canoeists achieved greater Fm and Fpeak than female canoeists in the canoe-specific isometric FEMD test and greater Nstrokes, Fpeak, and Pmax in the incremental FEMD test. International medalists in major events showed lower Tvmax and Tpmax values in the Leg Press on both sides and greater Nstrokes and Fpeak in the maximal incremental FEMD test than finalists in major events. From a practical point of view, these results will allow us to create a performance profile for high-level canoeists. This profile will help coaches base their training programs on improving performance or even their assessments to detect talented athletes in the canoe modality, in both men and women.

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Feasible, non-invasive techniques that reliably evaluate metrics including muscle pain, dynamic structure, contractility, circulatory function, body composition, and emerging biomarkers are imperative to unraveling the complexities of skeletal muscle. Our concise review highlights innovative or overlooked approaches for comprehensively assessing skeletal muscle in vivo. We summarize recent advances in leveraging dynamic ultrasound imaging, muscle echogenicity, tensiomyography, blood flow restriction protocols, molecular techniques, body composition, and pain assessments to gain novel insight into muscle physiology from cellular to whole-body perspectives.

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The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the acute effects of four different short-term recovery methods on the neuromechanical contractile muscle properties, i.e., contraction time and the maximum displacement of the rectus femoris muscle using the TMG method after isometrically induced muscle fatigue. The most important finding of this study was that manual massage could cause immediate positive changes in Dm by reducing muscle stiffness. In addition, vibro-mechanical and manual massage improved muscle tissue by rapidly returning Dm and Tc values to baseline at the PRT measurement. Moreover, the results of our study indicate that muscle fatigue affected both Dm and Tc parameters.

 

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The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a fatiguing swimming protocol on shoulder muscles TMG parameters and isometric strength in competitive swimmers. This study provides preliminary evidence for the usefulness of TMG to detect fatigue-induced changes in contractile properties of the shoulder muscles in swimmers, in particular the latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major and lower trapezius.

 

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Excessive amounts of intense training, without adequate recovery time, can overload the musculoskeletal, immune, and metabolic systems, resulting in a potentially negative effects on later exercise performance. During the competitive period, the ability to recover after intense training and competition is an important factor of success in soccer. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hamstring foam rolling on the knee muscle contractile properties in soccer players, after a sports-specific load.

 

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Although early inpatient and post-hospital rehabilitation is recognized as necessary, not all COVID-19 patients have access to rehabilitation. There are no published reports in the literature that investigate the outcomes of patients who do not receive rehabilitation after COVID-19. Our aim was to evaluate possible improvements in determinate functional and psychological parameters in COVID-19 patients two months after their hospital discharge.

On both time points various motor, cognitive, and clinical measurements such as body composition, tensiomyography, blood pressure, spirometry, grip strength test, Timed Up and Go test, gait speed, 30-second chair-stand test, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment, were performed. Additionally, questionnaires such as the SARC-CalF test, Edmonton frail scale, International Physical Activity questionnaire andThe Mediterranean Lifestyle index were conducted to assess lifestyle characteristics.

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The first aim of this study was to investigate the within and between-day reliability of the five most frequently used Vc concepts. The second aim was to investigate the effect of different inter-stimuli intervals on Vc.

All Vc concepts displayed good to excellent relative (ICC 0.87–0.99) and generally good absolute within- and between-day reliability for both muscles. Across Vc-concepts, absolute reliability was higher for the rectus femoris (CV% 1.3–7.95%) compared to the biceps femoris (CV% 6.06–15.30%). In both muscles, Vc was generally not affected by different inter-stimuli intervals. For most Vc concepts, repeated stimulation induced an increase regardless of the inter-stimuli interval, but this effect was mainly trivial and small at most.

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