Markel Rico-González

• PhD in Sport Sciences
• University of the Basque Country

Background and Objectives: Soccer is a sport characterized by various unpredictable situations in which physical abilities are associated with athletic performance. There are several capabilities that young soccer players must develop to adapt to the needs of the competition. This study analyzes the physical characteristics, tactical knowledge, emo...

The aim of this review was to systematically summarize the literature about physical education (PE) programs and their effects on preschool children’s physical activity levels and motor, cognitive, and social competences. A systematic search of relevant articles was carried out using four electronic databases up until February 16, 2022. The main fi...

Objective Physical activity (PA) is essential to promote both optimal physical and emotional health in preschool children. Hence, well-founded PA guidelines are essential. 24-hour Movement Guidelines (which include PA, recreational screen time and sleep) have been established. Thus, this study aimed to explore preschool-aged children’s adherence to...

Among the many factors that can affect women’s futsal performance, technical and tactical actions can obscure relevant game data, even affecting specialists in both the programming and design of training tasks. This study describes the technical and tactical actions in elite futsal teams, analysing performance measures according to the playing grou...

This systematic review aims to summarize relevant studies that have evaluated an intervention to prevent bullying and its consequences, in order to highlight main strategies to prevent these episodes. A systematic review of PubMed, ERIC, Education Database, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and FECYT databases was performed until April 20, 2022. From a total of...

Early childhood is a critical period for physical and motor development with implications for long-term health. This systematic review examined the relationship between anthropometric characteristics and measures of physical fitness and motor skills in preschool-aged children (typically 2-6 years). The search strategy was applied in four databases...

The popularity of surfing has increased exponentially, reaching its recent debut in the Olympic Games. However, surfing suffers from a relative immature technological market, while in other sports some technologies such as global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) have become an essential work material for strength and conditioning and head coach...

Featured Application This research deepens the knowledge about the load demands of kinematic variable accelerations and decelerations of young basketball players during competition. After a first description of these demands by periods of play and playing positions, three ranges of acceleration and deceleration are established. In addition, this st...

Sports data analysis can revolutionize how coaches and athletes train, leading to enhanced skills and improved team outcomes by providing valuable insights into performance metrics, enabling personalized training programs, and fostering a data-driven approach to decision-making. Sports data analysis has evolved in tandem with the increasing availab...

A healthy lifestyle from early childhood is a crucial factor that influences bone-related factors in adulthood. In this context, physical education or psychomotricity from early childhood is an important opportunity to face this problem. The present article aims to systematically summarize school-based interventions, evaluated through randomized co...

Background: Flipped learning (FL) is being considered, in terms of new educational trends, a beneficial pedagogical model in the classroom. In particular, FL and intrinsic motivation (IM) are key components to the model since they can be crucial to a high-quality education. FL for the development of IM in higher education, as well as searches for p...

Specific physical qualities such as sprint running, change-of-direction or jump height are determinants of sports performance. Photocell systems are practical and easy to use systems to assess the time from point A to point B. In addition, these photoelectric systems are also used to obtain the time of vertically displaced movements. Knowing the ac...

Background: The 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the 2030 Agenda is supported by new educational trends that consider game-based learning as a pedagogical method in the classroom. In particular, simulation games and motivation are relevant elements since they can play a significant role in quality education. As a result, during the last fe...

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an innovative approach that integrates language learning with content-based instruction in a variety of subjects including physical education and tactical learning of sport. This paper aims to explore the benefits of combining these two subjects in the classroom and how it can lead to a more dynami...

The present article aims to systematically summarize the effects of free-play (FP) on preschool-aged children´s physical activity (PA) level, and motor (MC), cognitive (CC), and socioemotional competence evaluated through randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. A systematic review of relevant articles was carried out using two electronic database...

Sampling frequency of microsensors that measure the position of the players in team sports is a variable that could affect the accuracy of the measurement. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of the sampling frequency on the measurement of a collective tactical behaviour variable: the total area (TA). Sixteen young U16 male soccer...

Acute: chronic workload ratio (ACWR) and training monotony have been criticized as injury risk predictors. Therefore, the use of intensity measures should be oriented to understand the variations of intensity across the season. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the main evidence about the ACWR and training monotony variations over t...

Fostering Emotional Intelligence (EI) has gained importance to provide a new generation of citizens aimed to improve the human mindset. With this aim, developing EI from early childhood is a great opportunity. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the effects of physical activity (PA) on preschoolers' EI. A review of relevant articles wa...

El objetivo es realizar una revisión sistemática para encontrar estudios que platean evaluar los efectos de programas basados en la educación física en estudiantes de educación infantil con necesidades especiales. La búsqueda se realizó en cuatro bases de datos electrónicas (Web of Sciences, ERIC, Education Database, and PubMed) el 16 de febrero de...

El objetivo de la revisión sistemática fue encontrar aquellos estudios que, siguiendo el diseño de estudios controlados aleatorios (ECA), evaluaran los efectos de programas de intervención de educación física (EF) realizados con estudiantes de educación primaria que pertenecieran a escuelas con bajo nivel de ingresos. La revisión sistemática fue re...

Interest in investigating the use of minimalist footwear (MF) has grown exponentially in recent years. This article systematically reviews the benefits of minimalist footwear for physical fitness, biomechanical factors, and injury incidence in middle- and long-distance runners. A systematic review of PubMed and FECYT (Web of Sciences, CCC, DIIDW, K...

The present article aimed to systematically summarize primary school-based intervention programs and their effects evaluated through randomized-controlled trial design. A systematic review of relevant articles was carried out using 4 electronic databases. From a total of 193 studies initially found, 30 were included in the qualitative synthesis. Ma...

This study assessed the effects of playing freely and introducing artificial rules on individual tactical behaviour during the team-possession game phase in two youth soccer categories. Thirty-two developmental players from U-14 and U-16 teams participated in the study, which consisted of four identical training sessions and two test sessions perfo...

The development of Emotional Intelligence (EI) has gained importance in the context of goals to spur a new generation of people intent upon improving human health. Physical education (PE) is a suitable curriculum subject in which to train EI. Therefore, our aim in this review is to summarize existing literature pertaining to EI within PE, while see...

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...

Due to the chaotic nature of soccer, the predictive statistical models have become in a current challenge to decision-making based on scientific evidence. The aim of the present study was to systematically identify original studies that applied machine learning (ML) to soccer data, highlighting current possibilities in ML and future applications. A...

The objectives of this study are: (1) to compare match load demands through load indicators between starters and substitutes, and (2) analyze the degree of correlation in the variables analyzed in this investigation. Twenty-two semi-professional soccer players were analyzed during a full season’s 38 official matches. Participants were assigned to t...

Background: Velocity and acceleration have been highlighted as the most critical variables in soccer. However, there is a consensus gap in defining different levels of effort. Aim: The purpose of this systematic review is to identify if it is a consensus in those articles that proposed a threshold to establish (i) movement intensity at different ve...

Dear Colleagues, In the words of the World Health Organization, citizens with severe mental health conditions on average die as much as two decades earlier than other people. Moreover, it is stated that suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29-years-olds. Mental health has since been included among the 17 Sustainable Development Go...

Goalball has been highlighted as a reference disabled sport from educational levels to its participation in the Paralympic Games, where the effects of this sport on balance and its relevance have been investigated. The aim of the systematic review was to systematically review those studies that evaluated the effects of goalball on balance in goalba...

The present study aimed to determine which of the neuromuscular status (NMS) monitoring tests (1: Counter-movement jump, CMJ; 2: back squat with additional load) is the most sensitive and effective for evaluating the state of fatigue in futsal players during the preseason. Seventeen professional futsal players were recruited for this study (age: 23...

Aim: Grip strength has been a limiting factor in resistance training. Given its relevance, the main objective of this study was to test whether: (i) a deadlift (DL) training entails sufficient stimulus for the development of grip strength and/or (ii) whether a specific exercise program complementary to deadlift (DL) training could induce improvemen...

The limitation of tracking systems to assess short high intensity efforts has led to an exponential growth of inertial measurement units (IMU), capable of recording jumps at a very high sampling rate. However, the validity and reliability of each of them should be tested. This study aimed to assess the criterion validity and reliability of a new al...

Background The range values of different training and match intensity measures obtained to define benchmarks in female soccer players are needed. Usually, cohort studies analyse only one team with a relatively small sample size, which brings forth the need for a systematic review to generalise training and match intensity evidence. Objectives This...

Monitoring a Soccer's load impact is essential for sporting performance. There are numerous methods of quantifying training load, both for internal and external loading is a key factor to improve the performance of soccer player. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no previous studies investigating soccer wellness with questionnaires a...

Since training/competition loads must be quickly assessed and interpreted to inform exercise prescription, big data should be simplified through multivariate data analysis. Our aim in the present research was to highlight which variables from big data analyses provided the most relevant information for describing the behavior of top-level futsal pl...

Team-lines structures are particular subsystems determined strategically by the formation chosen by the team coach, and despite its relevance, no study has analyzed training effects on tactical behavior based on team lines. This study aimed to assess the effects of modified games playing freely and introducing artificial rules on tactical behavior...

Since acute:chronic workload ratio and training monotony have been criticized as injury risk predictors, the use of intensity measures should be more oriented to understand the variations of intensity across the season. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the main evidence about the acute:chronic workload ratio and training monotony v...

The objective of the study was to assess the impact of the sampling frequency on the outcomes of collective tactical variables during an official women’s soccer match. To do this, the first half (lasting 46 min) of an official league match of a semi-professional soccer team belonging to the Women’s Second Division of Spain (Reto Iberdrola) was anal...

The quantification of training load has become mandatory for coaches and team staff. Within the analyzed variables, distance covered at different speed zones is one of the most studied. However, there is no consensus in the definition of speed zones in the published articles about each team sport, so it makes difficult a comparison between them. Th...

The use of valid, accurate and reliable systems is decisive for ensuring optimal data collection and correct interpretation of values. Among other factors, it seems that sampling rate and the number of nodes determine data accuracy using LPS. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess and compare the accuracy of two UWB configurations (i.e. UWB6_18H...

This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and the level of agreement of the ADR encoder to measure the mean propulsive velocity (MPV) of the bar in the bench press (BP) exercise on the Smith machine. Eleven males (21.6 ± 1.5 years; body mass 76.05 ± 9.73 kg) performed the protocol with isometric phase prior to concentric muscle action (PP) and t...

Training intensity (TI) monitoring has become a necessary aspect of professional soccer training. This study systematically reviewed the original investigations that have reported values regarding TI across macrocycles, mesocycles, and one-, two-, and three-match day (MD) microcycles in professional soccer, to analyze TI variations among months, we...

One of the possibilities for organising different studies and providing some reference values or benchmarks is to summarise all information. Such a possibility could help coaches and practitioners identify typical values based on specific conditions and eventually use benchmark values to compare players against The current systematic review was car...

The contextual factors related to training task can play an important role in how player performs, and subsequently, in how player´s train to face the competition. To date, no study has investigated the most demanding exercise in different training tasks in fe-male futsal. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the most demanding efforts during d...

The aims of this study were: (1) to analyze how the periodization of workloads can induce states of accumulated fatigue in the short, medium and long term in indoor team sports and (2) to identify these periods of fatigue through the interpretation internal and external performance variables. This systematic review was carried out under PRISMA guid...

Since the analysis of worst-case scenarios (WCS) has been increasing knowledge about match demands and possible impacts for the training process, it seems important to summarize the evidence to provide useful information for the soccer community. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence about WCS in professional soc...

This study aimed to identify the most important variables of male and female beach handball workload demands and compare them by sex. A total of 92 elite Brazilian beach handball players (54 male: age 22.1 ± 2.6 years, height 1.8 ± 0.5 m, weight 77.6 ± 13.4 kg; and 38 female: age 24.4 ± 5.5 years, height 1.7 ± 0.5 m, weight 67.5 ± 6.5 kg) were anal...

Novel viewpoints have led to an understanding that good soccer performers are capable of continuous decision-making and performing excellent motor skills in a well-conditioned mental state. Our aims in this review were to (a) summarize the effects of different conditions and constraints on a soccer player’s response and (b) identify potential train...

Background: Small-sided games (SSGs) are widely used in soccer training. However, some of the typical outcomes related to human responses during these games (namely internal and external load) may vary between sessions for similar practice conditions. Thus, the study of intra- and inter-bout variability in response to SSGs is progressively growing....

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) have been extensively used for measuring human motion. One particular outcome of interest in sports is vertical jump height, which is assessed in specific performance tests or actions occurring in training or match scenarios. This systematic review aimed to (1) identify and summarize studies that have examined the...

Background: Consistent evidence suggests that exercise improves cognition and decision making, with preliminary evidence suggesting that brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNFs) may mediate these effects on high-intensity interval activities, such as in football playing. We conducted a systematic review of studies on football players or football...

Inertial measurement units (IMUs) have been extensively used for measuring human motion. One particular outcome of interest in sports is vertical jump height, which is assessed in specific performance tests or actions occurring in training or match scenarios. This systematic review aimed to (1) identify and summarize studies that have examined the...

The aim of this systematic review was (a) to identify the articles that have differentiated muscle action duration (MAD) in the eccentric (ECC) and concentric (CON) muscle action regimen during resistance training (RT) programs and (b) to analyze how MAD affects strength, power, and muscle hypertrophy adaptations. Twenty-four studies were included...

This systematic review aimed to summarise and analyse the evidence on the reliability and validity of linear tranducers (LTs) in exercises of different nature and different modes of execution. This systematic review was carried out under PRISMA guidelines, and was carried out using three databases (PubMed, Web of Sciences, and Scopus). Of the 351 i...

Citation: Oliveira, R.; Brito, J.P.; Moreno-Villanueva, A.; Nalha, M.; Rico-González, M.; Clemente, F.M. Reference Values for External and Internal Training Intensity Monitoring in Young Male Soccer Players: A Systematic Review. Healthcare 2021, 9, 1567. https:// doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111567 Abstract: Training intensity monitoring is a daily p...

Background Velocity and accelerations have been highlighted as the most important variables in soccer. However, there is a consensus gap to define different levels of effort. The purpose of this systematic review is to identify those articles that purposed a threshold to establish (i) movement intensity at different velocities using tracking system...

Due to the high number of variables reported from tracking systems, the interest in data reduction techniques has grown. To date, principal component analysis (PCA) has been performed in soccer, but since the results depend on the variables included, a lack of objectivity continues to be of concern. The aim of this study was to highlight the variab...

Ultra-wide band (UWB) technology has become one of the most promising technologies of the future. It seems that the positioning of the antenna set influences the accuracy of the player's performance. This study was aimed to assess the influence of two different antenna positioning system shapes: (i) octagonal installation and (ii) circular installa...

Wearable and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in sports open a new era in athlete’s training, not only for performance monitoring and evaluation but also for fitness assessment. These technologies rely on sensor systems that collect, process and transmit relevant data, such as biomarkers and/or other performance indicators that are crucial to...

The aims of this study were to identify the key external and internal load variables in professional futsal through principal components analysis (PCA), and analyse the physical performance required by the players in official matches. Data were collected from 14 female players during 10 matches using WIMU PROTM. The PCA selected a total of 22 varia...

The use of technology within sport is well established, most professional sport teams engage with the use of Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems. This book is the first to offer a dep and structured examination of these technologies and how they are used in a team sport setting. The Use of Applied Technology in Team Sport describes and ass...

Several sport performance analysis systems now exist on the commercial market providing different features of player tracking capacity. In this chapter, examples of semi-automatic camera systems will be introduced, and their common limitations will be summarized. In addition, scientific publications regarding the validity and reliability of these s...

The use of technology within sport is well established, most professional sport teams engage with the use of Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems. This book is the first to offer a dep and structured examination of these technologies and how they are used in a team sport setting. The Use of Applied Technology in Team Sport describes and ass...

The use of valid, accurate, and reliable systems is important for ensuring accurate data collection and the correct interpretation of values. Thus, the aim of this chapter was to summarize the evidence about the validity and reliability of local positioning systems (LPSs) to measure movement patterns in sports. Descriptions of the data are determin...

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are the most widely used tracking technology for sports monitoring in outdoor conditions. Knowledge of the different aspects that can influence the measurement through GNSS is essential to obtain the best signal quality during monitorization. To do this, the different mathematical calculations and their in...

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have recently been incorporated into sports monitoring. Electronic Performance Tracking Devices (EPTS) have incorporated microsensors for quantification of external load such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers because they are more reliable, valid and accurate than tracking technologies. This chapt...

Due to technological developments and permission from federations such as FIFA, radio-frequency based technology (i.e. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) or Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Local Positioning Systems (LPS)) has become popular in team sports. Today, real-time feedback is available due to the development of WBAN (Wireless...

The neuromuscular variables most used for the quantification of load in team sports are discussed. First of all, the external load is defined, and it is explained its division into the kinematical and neuromuscular load . The neuromuscular load is defined as the force executed by the athlete, as a result of the interaction with gravity and the team...

The accelerated growth of new technologies has led to the availability of a huge amount of data obtained during training and competition. The concept of Big Data refers to the treatment and analysis of the large amount of data, aiming to distinguish the relevant information from the general information, which offers reference recommendations on mat...

With the creation of new technology, a series of hardware and software have been developed that allow the capture, processing, and analysis, in some cases in real- time, of a large amount of information in different settings. the collected data can be up to a thousand data per second in an amount of up to 100-–1000 variables that are usually captur...

Heart rate variability (HRV) is becoming one of the most commonly used tools for tracking the time course of training adaptation/maladaptation of athletes and setting optimal training loads, leading to improved performance. The aim of this study was to compare Realtrack Systems manufacturer software (sPRO) with the Kubios HRV Standard. R-R interval...

Immunoglobulin A (IgA), which is the main effector against upper respiratory tract viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been related to training load management. The aim of this systematic review was to establish the relationship between training load and salivary IgA based on current evidence in order t...

Most of the reviews carried out in sports science have used the general items suggested by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). Due to the specific requirements of each knowledge area, several modifications of the PRISMA are necessary to optimize the process of the systematic reviews and, in consequence, the...

The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize available evidence regarding the relationships between sleep and (i) athletic and match performance, (ii) training load, and (iii) injuries in soccer players. A systematic review of EBSCOhost (SPORTDiscus), PubMed, Cochrane Library , FECYT (Web of Sciences, CCC, DIIDW, KJD, MEDLINE, RSCI, and S...

Implementing ketogenic diets (KDs) in endurance athletes is currently an interesting topic. This article aimed to systematically review the effects of KDs on anthropometric, metabolic, and performance parameters in endurance sport athletes, highlighting the recommendations about how they should be used. This systematic review was performed under Pr...

Background: Plyometric jump training (PJT) can be used for improving balance through bilateral and unilateral jump-landing drills. Since the increased number of articles testing the effects of PJT on dynamic and static balance, it is relevant to summarize the evidence and determine the effects across different original articles. Objective: This sys...

The use of technology within sport is well established, most professional sport teams engage in the use of electronic performance and tracking systems. This book is the first to offer a deep and structured examination of these technologies and how they are used in a team sport setting. The Use of Applied Technology in Team Sport describes and assis...

This study aimed to explore the main determinants of repeated-sprint ability (RSA) in women soccer players considering aerobic capacity, sprinting performance, change-of-direction, vertical height jump, and hip adductor/abductor isometric strength. Twenty-two women soccer players from the same team participating in the first Portuguese league were...

Background The measurement of step count and distance covered are of interest in healthcare and rehabilitation medicine, so fitness trackers and smartwatches have incorporated these metrics. In 2014, the introduction of new brands of these devices peaked, although the highest number of new devices was introduced in 2015. Even though Mi Band Xiaomi...

This systematic review aimed to (1) identify and summarize studies that have examined the validity of apps for measuring human strength, power, velocity, and change-of-direction, and (2) identify and summarize studies that have examined the reliability of apps for measuring human strength, power, velocity, and change-of-direction. A systematic revi...

The use of inertial measurement unit (IMU) has become popular in sports assessment. In the case of velocity-based training (VBT), there is a need to measure barbell velocity in each repetition. The use of IMUs may make the monitoring process easier; however, its validity and reliability should be established. Thus, this systematic review aimed to (...

Ultra-wide band (UWB) based local positioning systems (LPS) are based on devices and a portable antenna set. The optimal installation height of the antennae is crucial to ensure data accuracy. Collective variables are metrics that consider at least two pairs of coordinates, which may lead to lower precision than an individual one. Therefore, the ai...

The aim of this study was to assess the principal components (PC) of women’s field hockey players´ TL distinguishing by playing positions (i.e., back, midfielder, forward). Data were collected from sixteen players belonging to the Spanish National women’s field hockey team during 13 official matches from the European Championship, World Series, and...

Background and purpose: Historically, sports training methodology, including soccer coaching, has been influenced by the pedagogic tend dominant in each epoch. Of late, the literature has espoused the idea that human learning is individual, nonlinear, and complex. Nonlinear Pedagogy (NLP) takes into account such nonlinearity and complex phenomena a...

Immunoglobulin A (IgA), which is the first line of defense against upper respiratory tract viruses, has been related with training load management. This article aimed to systematically identify and summarize (1) the studies that have found a relationship between training load and salivary IgA in team sports, and (2) the studies that have highlighte...

Rico-González, M, Pino-Ortega, J, Rojas-Valverde, D, and Los Arcos, A. Comparing sampling frequencies to measure collective tactical variables during soccer training. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000–000, 2021—The sampling frequency of microsensors that measure the position of the players in team sports is a variable that could affect the accuracy of...

Match collective tactical behaviours can be used as a reference to design and select training strategies to improve individual and team performance in professional football. The aim of the systematic review was to cluster the collective tactical variables used to highlight and compare male soccer teams’ collective behaviour during professional offi...

Since the accelerating development of technology applied to team sports and its subsequent high amount of information available, the need for data mining leads to the use of data reduction techniques such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This systematic review aims to identify determinant variables in soccer, basketball and rugby using explor...