José Afonso

University of Porto | UP · Faculty of Sports

Background: Post-exercise (i.e., cool-down) stretching is commonly prescribed for improving recovery of strength and range of motion (ROM) and diminishing delayed onset muscular soreness (DOMS) after physical exertion. However, the question remains if post-exercise stretching is better for recovery than other post-exercise modalities. Objective:...

(1) Background: asymmetry is ubiquitous in nature and humans have well-established bilateral asymmetries in structure and function. However, there are (mostly unsubstantiated) claims that bilateral asymmetries may impair sports performance or increase injury risk. (2) Objective: to critically review the evidence of the occurrence and effects of asy...

Background: Hamstrings injuries are common in sports and the reinjury risk is high. Despite the extensive literature on hamstrings injuries, the effectiveness of the different conservative (i.e., non-surgical) interventions (i.e., modalities and doses) for the rehabilitation of athletes with acute hamstrings injuries is unclear. Objective: We aime...

The warm-up is considered beneficial for increasing body temperature, stimulating the neuromuscular system and overall preparing the athletes for the demands of training sessions and competitions. Even when warm-up–derived benefits are slight and transient, they may still benefit preparedness for subsequent efforts. However, sports training and com...

Publication bias refers to a systematic deviation from the truth in the results of a meta-analysis due to the higher likelihood for published studies to be included in meta-analyses than unpublished studies. Publication bias can lead to misleading recommendations for decision- and policy-making. In this education review, we introduce, explain, and...

This descriptive study aimed to investigate the current practices of Portuguese and Brazilian soccer coaches in the design and implementation of small-sided games (SSGs) in soccer. A total of 187 male coaches participated in the online survey, consisting of 82 Portuguese and 105 Brazilian individuals. These coaches held various positions within the...

This systematic scoping review aimed to comprehensively identify and analyze the available evidence pertaining to the effects of plyometric training interventions on handball players. The search for relevant literature was conducted across prominent databases, including PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science Core Collection. The eligibilit...

This study aimed to contrast the impacts of an exercise intervention using either bounce drop jump (DJ; fast stretch-shortening cycle [SSC] exercise) or countermovement jump (CMJ; slow-SSC exercise) on measures of physical fitness in young females. A total of twenty-three young females (age: 19.7±1.0 years, height: 159.8±4.2 cm, body mass: 54.3±14....

Objectives We aimed to assess the available evidence on the biophysics of the tennis serve, mapping the populations, interventions, contexts and other relevant information to highlight what is already known and to identify gaps in the literature. Design Systematic scoping review with evidence gap map. Methods The protocol was designed according t...

Background Upper-body plyometric training (UBPT) is a commonly used training method, yet its effects on physical fitness are inconsistent and there is a lack of comprehensive reviews on the topic. Objective To examine the effects of UBPT on physical fitness in healthy youth and young adult participants compared to active, specific-active, and pass...

We systematically reviewed the effect of ambient temperature on football players’ performance during a football-specific fatigue protocol. Data sources: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science. Eligibility criteria followed the P.I.C.O.S. approach: (i) Healthy football players regardless of sex, age, or competitive level; (ii)...

The objective of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to compare the endurance performance chronic adaptations induced by running-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT), small-sided games (SSGs), and combined HIIT+SSGs in male and female youth and adult soccer players. The studies included in this review followed the PICOS criteria:...

Volleyball performance depends partially on lower limb strength. The phase angle (PhA) is a marker of functional muscle mass and a surrogate measure of athletic muscle performance. This study aimed to verify the correlation between PhA (bioimpedance) and lower limb muscle strength in young volleyball athletes. The sample included 38 young male voll...

Dear Editor, Due to the relevance of plyometric training for the strength and conditioning community and the exponential rise in the number of original research and systematic reviews on the topic, an umbrella review is needed, as it summarises findings from published meta-analyses which could meaningfully advance knowledge in this field of resear...

Elite athletes are reportedly more resistant to mental fatigue and are less negatively influenced by pre-induced mental fatigue. However, such evidence has not been verified in the context of open sports, such as football. This study investigated the effects of pre-induced mental fatigue on tactical behaviour and performance among Brazilian male el...

The increase in the economic value of soccer occurred in parallel with an increase in competing demands. Therefore, clubs and federations evolved to greater specialization (e.g., state-of-the-art facilities and high-profile expertise staff) to support players’ performance and health. Currently, player preparation is far from exclusively club or nat...

Lower limbs muscle injuries (LLMI) are the most common sports-related injuries during practice and/or competition. The most affected muscle groups are the adductors, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles. These injuries generate a considerable competitive and economic burden, justifying a comprehensive investment in strategies focused on reducin...

Objective: To compare the physical demands among training and match activities in women beach volleyball players. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: World top-level beach volleyball team. Patients or Other Participants: One defender (24 years-old, and 8 years of professional experience) and one blocker (25 years-old, and, 9 years of profession...

The phase angle (PhA) of bioelectrical impedance determines primary factors such as age, body mass index and sex. The researchers’ interest in applying PhA to better understand the skeletal muscle property and ability has grown, but the results are still heterogeneous. This systematic review with a meta-analysis aimed to examine the existence of re...

The stereotyped sequence of volleyball actions allows organising them into six game complexes (K), each with specific dynamics. The purpose of this study was to verify the game flow in high-level women’s volleyball through the sequencing of game complexes, their relative importance within the game and their relationship to attack efficacy. Seven ma...

BACKGROUND/AIM The 2014 World Cup at Brazil exposed players to high temperatures, drawing attention to the need to study and understand the effect that heat has on physical, physiological and anticipatory performance of players [1]. This systematic review examined the effect of ambient temperature on football players who followed an assessment of t...

This study characterised the sport participation patterns of 546 male youth team sport players. A retrospective questionnaire was used to identify the sport starting age (general sports and main sport) and the quantity and type of sports undertaken during the early years of development. A mixed-ANOVA and Chi-square tests were implemented. All parti...

Abstract Background Among youth, plyometric-jump training (PJT) may provide a safe, accessible, and time-efficient training method. Less is known on PJT effectiveness according to the maturity status. Objective This systematic review with meta-analysis set out to analyse the body of peer-reviewed articles assessing the effects of PJT on measures of...

Background: The reactive strength index (RSI) is meaningfully associated with independent markers of athletic (e.g., linear sprint speed) and neuromuscular performance (e.g., stretch-shortening-cycle [SSC]). Plyometric jump training (PJT) is particularly suitable to improve the RSI due to exercises performed in the SSC. However, no literature revie...

Intracycle velocity variation is a swimming relevant research topic, focusing on understanding the interaction between hydrodynamic propulsive and drag forces. We have performed a systematic scoping review to map the main concepts, sources and types of evidence accomplished. Searches were conducted in the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases...

Case-based learning (CBL) is a teaching method centered on active student learning that can overcome the limitations of traditional teaching methods used in undergraduate medical education. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the effectiveness of CBL against other teaching methodologies in terms of academic performance and perceptions...

Aim: The aims of this scoping review were (i) to characterize the main methodological approaches to assessing individualized running speed thresholds in team sports players; (ii) to assess the use of traditional arbitrary (absolute) thresholds compared to individualized running speed thresholds in team sports players; (iii) to provide an evidence g...

One of the most often-used task constraints in designing small-sided games (SSGs) is the manipulation of pitch size to promote increases or decreases in the relative area per player. Such adjustments cause changes in the acute responses during SSGs. This systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to compare the effects of smaller vs. larger pitch s...

According to the Quality Education and Gender Equality ambitions established at the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, we aimed to test the feasibility of a flexible planning and assessment process, using ongoing, bidirectional feedback between planning and assessment. Eighteen players (11.5 ± 0.5 years of age) from a U13 female volleyb...

Background: Field-based tests occupy an important space since they aim to guarantee ecological validity. Although most such tests are designed to assess physical fitness, tactical and technical dimensions are also determinants in a full battery of tests. Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was two-fold: (a) summarize the criterion validit...

Background A growing body of literature is available regarding the effects of plyometric jump training (PJT) on measures of physical fitness (PF) and sport-specific performance (SSP) in-water sports athletes (WSA, i.e. those competing in sports that are practiced on [e.g. rowing] or in [e.g. swimming; water polo] water). Indeed, incoherent findings...

Background Match analysis has evolved exponentially over the past decades in team sports resulting in a significant number of published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. An umbrella review of the available literature is needed to provide an integrated overview of current knowledge and contribute to more robust theoretical explanations of team p...

Metformin, a drug widely used to treat insulin resistance, and training that combines aerobic and strength exercise modalities (i.e., concurrent training) may improve insulin sensitivity. However, there is a paucity of clinical trials investigating the effects of concurrent training, particularly on insulin resistance and fat oxidation in overweigh...

Athletes born closer to an arbitrary cutoff date are more likely to reach an elite level in sport, which is supported by a phenomenon called the relative age effect (RAE). It is important to determine whether this phenomenon is present in a sport to minimize this selection bias. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of RAE in elite volleyb...

The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to assess the available body of published peer-reviewed articles related on the effects of jump rope training (JRT) compared with active/passive controls on health- and sport-related physical fitness outcomes. Searches were conducted in three databases, including studies that satisfied the fo...

Purpose: Microdosing of exercise aims to deliver smaller daily training doses but at a higher weekly frequency, adding up to a similar weekly volume as in nonmicrodosed training. This commentary critically discusses this concept, which appears to be a rebranding of the "old" distributed practice of motor learning. Development: We propose that mi...

Quality in education is one of the 17 goals in the United Nations' sustainable agenda for 2030, presupposing careful planning and assessment of learning. Traditional planning in sports education (either in training or school settings) largely adopts predetermined learning sequences and temporal milestones that, in theory, enhance the learning proce...

Background For a long time, in sports, researchers have tried to understand an expert by comparing them with novices, raising the doubts if the visual search characteristics distinguish experts from novices. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to review and conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the differences in visual search behavior betwee...

This study aimed to verify the influence of applying the Pendular Model of Tactical-Technical Training (Pendular Model) on decision-making and tactical-technical performance of U18 male volleyball athletes. A total of 44 U18 volleyball athletes participated in the study, divided into two groups: experimental group ( n = 23) and control group ( n =...

Introduction. This systematic review was conducted to (1) characterize the main elements of studies of velocity-based training (VBT) (e.g., training protocols) conducted in soccer, (2) summarize the main physiological and physical effects of VBT on soccer players, and (3) provide future directions for research. Methods: A systematic review of Cochr...

Background: A growing body of literature is available regarding the effects of plyometric jump training (PJT) on measures of physical fitness (PF) and sport-specific performance (SSP) in water sports athletes (WSA, i.e., those competing in sports that are practiced on [e.g., rowing] or in [e.g., swimming; water polo] water). Indeed, incoherent find...

We have read Anatomy, biomechanics and loads of the wrist joint [1] with great interest, and have found that it is an important contribution on the field of anatomy, biomechanics and kinesiology. In their 17-page article, Eschweiler et al. [1] present successfully and concisely information about the bones of the wrist joint, the way they articulate...

We aimed to compare the visual search strategies of young soccer players with different positional roles. Data was collected with the Mobile Eye Tracking-XG to verify gaze behaviour through visual focus. At the laboratory, an 11-aside match play video-based soccer simulation from a third-person perspective was presented to the participants. Players...

In sports, there may be multiple players for the same positional status (e.g., in volleyball, there are two outside hitters, one near the setter and the other away from the setter), and there may be relevant differences within the same positional status. We analyzed inter-player variability within the same positional status in high-level men’s voll...

While the benefits of nutrition and physical exercise are commonly studied separately, their concomitant integration has the potential to produce greater benefits in women than strategies focusing only on one or the other [...]

Objective: The number of people suffering from depression and/or anxiety has increased steadily due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this context, web-based exercise interventions have emerged as a potential treatment strategy. The objective of this study was to synthetize evidence from randomized controlled trials regarding...

The purpose of this study was to describe weekly variations in the type and duration of training, as well as wellness-related parameters, in elite volleyball players. Twenty-four youth elite volleyball players from the French national team (age: 17.8 ± 1.0 y.o.) were monitored daily, and the type of training, training duration, participation in mat...

Football (soccer) is a high-intensity intermittent sport with large energy demands. In a repeated-measures design, we analysed the nutritional intake and training load of fourteen female football players (22.50 ± 4.38 y; 57.23 ± 8.61 kg; 164 ± 6.00 cm; 18.33 ± 2.48% of fat mass and 23.71 ± 2.51 kg of muscle mass) competing in the highest female Foo...

This book systematically summarizes the accuracy, precision, and repeatability levels of field-based tests applied in soccer. It considers such details as the effectiveness of tests for different age categories and sexes. In this book, the readers will be able to check all the field-based tests conceived for fitness assessment in soccer through a l...

Athletes born closer to an arbitrary cutoff date are more likely to reach an elite level in sport, which is supported by a phenomenon called the relative age effect (RAE). It is important to determine whether this phenomenon is present in a sport to minimize this selection bias. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of RAE in elite volleyb...

Studies on small-sided games (SSG) in team sports have increased in recent decades. However, the literature concerning this training strategy in volleyball is sparse. This study aims to summarize and analyse the scientific evidence on SSG in volleyball. For this purpose, electronic searches were conducted in August 2021 in PubMed, Scielo, ScienceDi...

Background: Postural balance represents a fundamental movement skill for the successful performance of everyday and sport-related activities. There is ample evidence on the effectiveness of balance training on balance performance in athletic and non-athletic population. However, less is known on potential transfer effects of other training types, s...

Background Hamstrings injuries are a major concern in football (soccer), affecting both recreational players and professional athletes. Although being a recognized issue within the football community, its incidence has been increasing over the last years and still poses a challenge to all practitioners involved. Study objectives and rationale The...

ue to the growing engagement of youth in water polo practice, we aimed to characterize age-grouped players across anthropometric, general and specific motor abilities and contextual domains. We have also examined the associations of players’ specific skills with their anthropometric and general motor characteristics. One-hundred-and-one male water...

Background: Combined training (CT) simultaneously associates aerobic and strength exercises. Worldwide, studies on CT´s on Police officers' physical fitness are scarce. This study aims to measure a 4-month CT program's impact in the Close Protection Unit of the Portuguese Elite Police. Methods: A pre-and post-test study included 32 participants...

The theory and methodology of training combine different factors that support the coach’s intervention for maximizing the athlete’s performance. Among these factors can be included the testing and monitoring, the definition of targets and structure of intervention, the planning, and the intervention itself or in a larger concept a hybrid model fact...

Background: Post-exercise (i.e., cool-down) stretching is commonly prescribed for improving recovery of strength and range of motion (ROM) and diminishing delayed onset muscular soreness (DOMS) after physical exertion. However, the question remains if post-exercise stretching is better for recovery than other post-exercise modalities. Objective: T...

The incidence and recurrence of hamstrings injuries are very high in sports, posing elevated performance and financial-related costs. Attempts to identify the risk factors involved in predicting vulnerability to hamstrings injury is important for designing exercise-based programs that aim to mitigate the rate and severity of hamstrings injuries and...

Purpose: Although emerging research has explored the development of coach education curricula, coach learning and how a deep learning approach can be made accessible to aspiring coaches, the study of coach educators’ scaffolding of micro-pedagogies in action remains a missing link in the field. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore sc...

ABSTRACT Purpose: Although emerging research has explored the development of coach education curricula, coach learning and how a deep learning approach can be made accessible to aspiring coaches, the study of coach educators’ scaffolding of micro-pedagogies in action remains a missing link in the field. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to e...

The theory and methodology of training combine different factors that support the coach’s intervention for maximizing the athlete’s performance. Among these factors can be included the testing and monitoring, the definition of targets and structure of intervention, the planning, and the intervention itself or in a larger concept a hybrid model fact...

The purpose of this narrative review was to evaluate the game patterns variability in team sports, that is, how game patterns differ across and within different performance levels. We synthesized match analysis-derived knowledge addressing variability in game patterns and conceptually organized the findings into an umbrella framework to help resear...

The initial assessment of physical fitness (PF) is associated with daily duty tasks/performance, and health-indicators (risk of injury/illnesses) of police officers. This research aimed to characterize the demographic, sports practice, PF, and metabolic profile of Elite Portuguese Public Security Police recruits. This cross-sectional study included...