Andrea Nicolò

• PhD
• Foro Italico University of Rome

Purpose : This study investigated the relationship between training-load (TL) metrics and the acute performance decrement (APD) measured immediately after 4 training sessions performed by well-trained runners. Methods : On a treadmill, 12 well-trained runners (10 men and 2 women) performed an incremental test, a baseline time-to-exhaustion (TTE) te...

This study evaluates the performance of a 32-marker motion capture (MoCap) system in estimating respiratory frequency (fR) and tidal volume (VT) during cycling exercise. Fourteen well-trained cyclists performed an incremental step test on a cycle ergometer, while simultaneously recording a raw flow signal with a reference metabolic cart (COSMED) an...

Growing evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (fR) is a valid marker of effort during high-intensity exercise, including sports of an intermittent nature, like soccer. However, very few attempts have been made so far to monitor fR in soccer with unobtrusive devices. This study assessed the validity of three strain-based commercial wearable d...

The detrimental impacts of postprandial hyperglycemia on health are a critical concern, and exercise is recognized a pivotal tool in enhancing glycemic control after a meal. However, current exercise recommendations for managing postprandial glucose levels remain fairly broad and require deeper clarification. This review examines the existing liter...

The breath-by-breath measurement of respiratory rate (RR) plays a pivotal role in sports and exercise. The accurate estimation of RR values on a breath-by-breath basis with wearable sensors has several open challenges during training, including motion artefacts and other breathingunrelated events. This paper presents a novel method based on a signa...

Introduction: Several whole-body vibration (WBV) effects on performance have been related to potential changes in the neural drive, motor unit firing rate, and sensorimotor integration. In the present paper, motor unit coherence analysis was performed to detect the source of neural modulation based on the frequency domain. Methods: Thirteen men [25...

Purpose: Growing evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (f R) is a marker of physical effort and a variable sensitive to changes in exercise tolerance. The comparison between arm+leg cycling (Arm+leg) and leg cycling (Leg) has the potential to further test this notion because a greater exercise tolerance is expected in the Arm+leg modality. W...

Emerging evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (fR) is a valid marker of physical effort. This has stimulated interest in developing devices that allow athletes and exercise practitioners to monitor this vital sign. The numerous technical challenges posed by breathing monitoring in sporting scenarios (e.g., motion artifacts) require careful...

Given the importance of respiratory frequency (fR) as a valid marker of physical effort, there is a growing interest in developing wearable devices measuring f R in applied exercise settings. Biosensors measuring chest wall movements are attracting attention as they can be integrated into textiles, but their susceptibility to motion artefacts may l...

Introduction: several studies have reported improved neuromuscular parameters in response to whole-body vibration (WBV). This is likely achieved by modulation of the central nervous system (CNS). Reduced recruitment threshold (RT), which is the % of Maximal Voluntary Force (%MVF) at which a given Motor Unit (MU) is recruited, may be responsible for...

We evaluated the effects of different exercise types suitable for a home/work setting on the postprandial glucose response. Twenty-three healthy, active, young individuals performed one of two studies (12 in Study 1 and 11 in Study 2), with four randomized protocols each. After a meal high in carbohydrate content (1 g of carbohydrate per kg of body...

The lack of a testable model explaining how ventilation is regulated in different exercise conditions has been repeatedly acknowledged in the field of exercise physiology. Yet, this issue contrasts with the abundance of insightful findings produced over the last century and calls for the adoption of new integrative perspectives. In this review, we...

Music is an invaluable tool to improve affective valence during exercise, with the potential contribution of a mechanism called rhythmic entrainment. However, several methodological limitations impair our current understanding of the effect of music on relevant psychophysiological responses to exercise, including breathing variables. This study pre...

Training load (TL) is a widely used concept in training prescription and monitoring and is also recognized as as an important tool for avoiding athlete injury, illness, and overtraining. With the widespread adoption of wearable devices, TL metrics are used increasingly by researchers and practitioners worldwide. Conceptually, TL was proposed as a m...

We evaluated the effect of postprandial walking on the post-meal glycemic response after meals with different characteristics. Twenty-one healthy young volunteers participated in one of two randomized repeated measures studies. Study 1 (10 participants) assessed the effects of 30 min of brisk walking after meals with different carbohydrate (CHO) co...

PurposeExercise plays an important role in preventing and treating postprandial dysmetabolism. We investigated the postprandial metabolic responses to a standard lunch when a session of aerobic exercise is performed in the early postprandial phase or divided between the pre- and postprandial period.Methods Nine healthy volunteers consumed a standar...

Purpose: To examine the effect of continuous (CON) and intermittent (INT) running training sessions of different durations and intensities on subsequent performance and calculated training load (TL). Methods: Runners (N = 11) performed a 1500-m time trial as a baseline and after completing 4 different running training sessions. The training sess...

Postprandial exercise represents an important tool for improving the glycemic response to a meal. This study evaluates the effects of the combination and sequence of different exercise types on the postprandial glycemic response in patients with type 2 diabetes. In this repeated-measures crossover study, eight patients with type 2 diabetes performe...

Purpose: Pedalling cadence influences respiratory frequency (fR) during exercise, with group III/IV muscle afferents possibly mediating its effect. However, it is unclear how exercise intensity affects the link between cadence and fR. We aimed to test the hypothesis that the effect of cadence on fR is moderated by exercise intensity, with interest...

Purpose: We systematically investigated the effects of different exercise strategies on postprandial glycemia. Methods: Six randomized repeated-measures crossover studies were performed. Study 1 compared the effects of 60 min of brisk walking started at 30, 60 or 90 min after breakfast on post-breakfast and post-lunch glycemic responses. Study 2...

Respiratory rate is a fundamental vital sign that is sensitive to different pathological conditions (e.g., adverse cardiac events, pneumonia, and clinical deterioration) and stressors, including emotional stress, cognitive load, heat, cold, physical effort, and exercise-induced fatigue. The sensitivity of respiratory rate to these conditions is sup...

Purpose: To examine the effect of cycling exercise intensity and duration on subsequent performance and to compare the resulting acute performance decrement (APD) with total work done (TWD) and corresponding training-load (TL) metrics. Methods: A total of 14 male cyclists performed a 5-minute time trial (TT) as a baseline and after 4 initial exe...

Recent advances in understanding the importance of respiratory frequency (fR) as a sensitive marker of a variety of physiopathological stressors are fostering growing interest in respiratory monitoring. This interest is further stimulated by the everincreasing efforts that companies are devoting to the development of systems measuring fR. There are...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented need for remote patient monitoring. At the time of writing this article, the majority of countries worldwide are on lockdown to minimize the spread of the virus, and most of the patients who tested (or are suspected to be) positive for COVID-19 are in self-isolation at home. Even robust healthcare...

Systems for cardiorespiratory monitoring hold tremendous promise for many applications in clinical settings, harsh environments, sports science and telemonitoring. However, the translation in the real world is challenging because it is difficult to develop unobtrusive and comfortable systems with high metrological performance. Recent advances in fi...

Purpose Despite their widespread use in exercise physiology, time-to-exhaustion (TTE) tests present an often-overlooked challenge to researchers, which is how to computationally deal with between- and within-subject differences in exercise duration. We aimed to verify the best analysis method to overcome this problem. Methods Eleven cyclists perfo...

Purpose Variables currently used in soccer training monitoring fail to represent the physiological demand of the player during movements like accelerations, decelerations and directional changes performed at high intensity. We tested the hypothesis that respiratory frequency ( fR ) is a marker of physical effort during soccer-related high-intensity...

There is an ever-growing demand for measuring respiratory variables during a variety of applications, including monitoring in clinical and occupational settings, and during sporting activities and exercise. Special attention is devoted to the monitoring of respiratory rate because it is a vital sign, which responds to a variety of stressors. There...

This paper investigates the performances of a headmounted wearable device for the breath-by-breath monitoring of respiratory frequency (fR) during exercise. The device exploits a new algorithm to estimate fR from the breathing-related pressure drops (ΔP) recorded at the nostrils level. Performances of the wearable device in measuring breathby- brea...

The aim of the present study was to test the effectiveness of carbohydrate (CHO) feeding supplemented every 2.5-km, as in official races, on the performance, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and glycaemia during a 10-km intermittent training workout in elite open-water swimmers. A randomized crossover design was used. Participants completed two...

Differentiating between respiratory frequency (fR ) and tidal volume (VT ) may improve our understanding of exercise hyperpnoea because fR and VT seem to be regulated by different inputs. We designed a series of exercise manipulations to improve our understanding of how fR and VT are regulated during exercise. Twelve cyclists performed an increment...

Over the last decades, wearable systems have gained interest for monitoring of physiological variables, promoting health, and improving exercise adherence in different populations ranging from elite athletes to patients. In this paper, we present a wearable system for the continuous real-time monitoring of respiratory frequency ( fR ), heart rate (...

Commentaries on Viewpoint: Resistance training and exercise tolerance during high-intensity exercise: moving beyond just running economy and muscle strength

The use of wearable sensor technology for athlete training monitoring is growing exponentially, but some important measures and related wearable devices have received little attention so far. Respiratory frequency (fR), for example, is emerging as a valuable measurement for training monitoring. Despite the availability of unobtrusive wearable devic...

We read with great interest the review paper by Tipton et al. (2017). The authors examined the ventilatory response to a wide range of stressors, with a special interest in the differential regulation of respiratory frequency (fR ) and tidal volume (VT ). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

New Findings What is the central question of this study? By manipulating recovery intensity and exercise duration during high‐intensity interval training (HIIT), we tested the hypothesis that fast inputs contribute more than metabolic stimuli to respiratory frequency ( f R ) regulation. What is the main finding and its importance? Respiratory frequ...

Purpose: To determine whether repeated CHO mouth rinsing would improve neuromuscular performance during high intensity fatiguing contractions. Methods: 18 young men (26.1±5.0 yr; 22.9±1,9 BMI) performed 3 maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICPRE). Immediately after, they completed 10 s mouth rinse with either 6.4% maltodextrine solution...

Purpose: To verify the accuracy of predicting performance in the severe-intensity domain by means of the end-test power output (EP) and the work performed above EP (WEP) obtained from a 3-min all-out test in competitive cyclists. Methods: Ten well-trained cyclists performed a ramp incremental test and a 3-min all-out familiarization test. Subseq...

Background: The bulk of research investigating soccer player's performance has been concentrated on the metabolic demand, while only few studies focused on the neuromuscular activation. The present study aimed at investigating the activation profile of the leg muscles throughout a 90- minute soccer match. Methods: Fifteen football players (18.3±...

In order to provide further insight into the link between respiratory frequency (fR) and the rating of perceived exertion (RPE), the present study investigated the effect of exercise duration on perceptual and physiological responses during self-paced exercise. Nine well-trained competitive male cyclists (23 ± 3 years) performed a preliminary incre...

Baldassarre R, Piacentini MF, Patrizio F, Nicolò A, Scotto di Palumbo A, Sacchetti M. University of Rome Foro Italico, Rome, Italy Introduction For exercise lasting more than 2h, it is well established that carbohydrate (CHO) ingestion during exercise can improve exercise performance by preventing hypoglycemia, maintaining high rates of CHO oxida...

The present study proposes an alternative way of comparing performance and acute physiological responses to continuous exercise with those of intermittent exercise, ensuring similar between-protocol overall effort (isoeffort) and the same total duration of exercise (isotime). This approach was expected to overcome some drawbacks of traditional meth...

Purpose: To investigate the effects of work-to-rest-ratio manipulation on neuromuscular and metabolic responses during 2 high-intensity intermittent training (HIT) protocols to exhaustion. Since different exercise durations were expected, the authors hypothesized that the protocol registering a longer duration would have a more pronounced effect o...

The aim of this study was to compare muscle activation and cardio-respiratory response during ergometer and on-water rowing. Nine internationally competitive rowers (five Olympic Games medal winners, age 25.6 ± 4.8 years), were requested to perform a 1000m race simulation test in the two conditions. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals from tra...