Petr Stastny

Charles University in Prague | CUNI · Department of Sport Games

Objectives: The relationship between isokinetic maximal strength of internal or external shoulder rotation and serve speed in tennis is well-established, yet the influence of segmental mass, height, and high-speed shoulder rotation strength on serve performance in junior players remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship betw...

This study aimed to investigate the effects of performing either eccentric‐only (ECC) or eccentric‐concentric (ECC‐CON) back squats (BS) with a supramaximal load on countermovement jump (CMJ) performance. Changes in front thigh skin surface temperature and mechanical properties (oscillation frequency and stiffness) of the vastus lateralis were also...

Purpose This study aims to fill a significant gap in sports science research by examining the underexplored effects of asymmetric load training on the deep stabilisation system (DSS), strength, and maximal power in female softball players. Methods Fourteen participants were divided into two groups: a control group (CON), which exercised with a sym...

The strike force in combat sports strongly depends on the protective material's mechanical properties and energy absorption capacity. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the effect of the protective layer thickness and repeated loading on the net force in a falling weight impact test. A falling 8-kg weight dropped from 15 cm, 25 cm, and 50 cm w...

Abstract: Introduction: The immersive virtual reality (VR) might bring a new reliable approach to diagnosing motor abilities. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to check the intertrial reli-ability and diagnostic possibility (reaction time, movement time, lateral differences) of VR for upper limb movements in a group of mixed martial art...

This study aimed to determine the effect of complex training (CT) on post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) effect magnitude, 5- and 30-m linear sprint, 5-0-5 change-of-direction (COD), back squat (BS) and hip thrust (HT) one-repetition maximum [1RM], and jumping performance (countermovement jump [CMJ], drop jump [DJ], and broad jump [BJ])....

Despite the recognized influence of body mass on combat techniques, the relationship between body segment mass (BSM) and combat moves remains unexplored. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the striking arm mass (SAM), kicking leg mass (KLM), and body mass (BM) and the dynamic forces of direct punch (DP), palm strike (PS), elbow st...

Introduction: Ice hockey is a physically demanding sport that requires a combination of aerobic and anaerobic capacities, as well as specific on-ice skills. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of individualized interval training on a slide board with training on a cyclo-ergometer, focusing on aerobic capacity and specific fitness in elite...

Despite the recognized influence of body mass on combat techniques, the relationship between body segment mass (BSM) and combat moves remains unexplored. This study aimed to examine the relationship between striking arm mass (SAM), kicking leg mass (KLM), and body mass (BM) with the dynamic forces of the direct punches (DP), palm strikes (PS), elbo...

Ice hockey requires two levels of specific agility, involving different abilities, where the level of agility and their constraints might vary by the performance level. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the relationship level between on-ice and off-ice change of directional speed (COD) of youth hockey players at two performance levels. The stu...

400-m races are based on anaerobic energy metabolism, they induce significant muscle fatigue, muscle fiber damage, and high blood lactate (LA) concentration. Despite extensive research on sprint training, our understanding of the training process that leads to world-class sprint performance is rather limited. This study aimed to determine differenc...

The phenomenon of post-activation performance enhancement plays an unidentified role in movement eccentric speed and individual muscle group responses. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether the loaded front squat (FSq) speed of the eccentric phase would influence the post-activation performance enhancement effect and whether the FSq woul...

Research on the external physical load on elite youth soccer players during the weekly training microcycle in competitive periods and official matches is limited. The aims of this study were twofold: a) investigate possible differences in external physical load (PL) across player positions in U17 elite youth soccer players during official matches;...

The bench press (BP) is a widely used exercise in strength training. Despite numerous studies on muscle activation during BP, little is known about individual muscle frequency changes during the sticking region (SR). This study aimed to evaluate muscle activation during 1 repetition maximum (RM) and 4RM BP in 24 male participants experienced with B...

This study aimed to examine whether a conditioning activity (CA) performed by the legs (barbell back squat) may cause postactivation performance enhancement (PAPE) on muscle groups other than leg extensors in isokinetic (eccentric [ECC] and concentric [CON]) and dynamic movement. Twelve male basketball players (age: 21.3 6 3.2, body mass: 89.6 6 14...

Introduction: Deep stabilization system (DSS) strength and endurance are crucial for injury prevention and athletic performance. Training surfaces can influence training outcomes; therefore, this study aimed to compare the impact of performing strength trunk exercises on unstable and stable surfaces with conventional trunk exercises. Materials and...

This study investigated the impact of active rest intervals within a lower body complex training session on post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) response in amateur soccer players. Twelve soccer players took part in four different experimental conditions. These sessions included 2 sets of lower body complex-paired exercises, each involvin...

Introduction: The hip muscle strength plays an important role in sprinting and non-contact in-juries, where their role in soccer players needs to be recognized. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the strength of hip abductor (Abd), hip adductor (Add) and linear sprint performance (5 m and 35 m). Sixteen professional soccer players...

Effects of Complex Training on Jumping and Abstract: Exercise order is one of the significant factors modulating training effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of an 8-week complex (CPX) training program utilizing intra-CPX active recovery with compound training (CMP) on bilateral and single-leg jumping performa...

Introduction: In the majority of the available source materials, research on the level of physical capacity of athletes concerns members of sports clubs and national teams, in a word, professional athletes. Does this mean that such research should not be conducted on recreational athletes? Of course not. The main aim of this article was to assess p...

Knowledge about the acute effects of supramaximal-loaded resistance exercises on muscle mechanical properties is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to examine changes in dominant limb biceps femoris and vastus lateralis oscillation frequency and stiffness before and after high-and supramaximal-loaded front squats. Nineteen male handball players pa...

Impact force and maximum velocity are important indicators of kick efficiency. Therefore, this systematic review compared the front kick (FK) and roundhouse kick (RK), including their impact force, maximum velocity, angular velocity, and execution time, considering various target types and experience levels. Following PRISMA guidelines, the Web of...

PURPOSE Handball popularity is rising up in a past decades and a number of changes are related to this. Throwing and agility are an important skill for invasion sports which is also handball. Playing handball is becoming much faster and more dynamic than previous years, also thanks to the modification of the rules with throw off, which places incre...

Skating is a fundamental movement and predictor of success in ice hockey. Requires fitness components for skating are strength, speed, power, acceleration, endurance, or agility. These skating skills are developed at a young age with on-ice and off-ice trainings. Developing straight speed in ice hockey is crucial, because the game is constantly acc...

Performance in the 400-meter sprint is largely determined by the capacity of the anaerobic system and the tolerance to lactate accumulation. Anaerobic performance consists of several parameters, such as peak power, power drop, and total work done. Each of these parameters represents a different training approach. Therefore, the aim of this study wa...

The effectiveness of high-load and plyometric exercises as conditioning activity (CA) is not well described in the level of performance enhancement and muscle-tendon properties. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of high-loaded back squats and body mass tuck jumps among amateur soccer players on the height of countermovement j...

The effects of conditioning activity (CA) on muscle stiffness are currently unknown, suggesting that maximum CA effort can increase or decrease the stiffness of involved muscle groups. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of maximal isometric half-squats on the viscoelastic properties of muscles and postactivation performance enhan...

Intensity, movement velocity, and volume are the principal factors to successfully use postactivation performance enhancement. Therefore, 15 resistance-trained volleyball players completed 3 different back squat configurations as a conditioning activity (CA) in randomized order: (a) 3 sets of 3 repetitions at 85% 1RM (HL); (b) a single set of back...

Impact force and maximum velocity are important indicators of kick efficiency in fighting activities. Therefore, this systematic review compared the front kick (FK) and roundhouse kick (RK), including maximal and impact force, maximum velocity, maximum angular velocity, and execution time, at different target types and experience levels. The Web of...

Background This study aimed to determine the acute effect of agonist and antagonist conditioning activities (CA) on medicine ball throw performance among female softball players. Methods Thirteen national-level female softball players (age 22.2 ± 3.1 years; body mass 68.3 ± 11.3 kg; softball experience 7.3 ± 2.4 years) performed 3 medicine ball ch...

Since the flat serve (FS) minimizes the ball spin and kick serve (KS) combined topspin and sidespin, this systematic review aimed to explore the ball impact location (BI) within the FS and KS at the professional men, junior men, and women tennis players. The PRISMA guideline was used, and the original articles were searched in Scopus, Web of Scienc...

Ball throwing velocity is essential for scoring goals in handball; the crucial question is how to develop throwing velocity in highly trained handball players. Therefore, this systematic review aims to summarize effective conditioning strategies to improve throwing velocity in elite male players and to perform a meta-analysis on which training syst...

Still rings are a unique gymnastics apparatus allowing for a combination of dynamic and static elements in a specific technique. This review aimed to compile the dynamic, kinematic, and EMG characteristics of swing, dismount, handstand, strength, and hold elements on still rings. This systematic review was conducted in concordance with PRISMA in Pu...

Ice-hockey requires high acceleration and speed sprint abilities, but it is unclear what the distance characteristic is for measuring these capabilities. Therefore, this systematic meta-analysis aims to summarize the sprint reference values for different sprint distances and suggest the appropriate use of ice-hockey straight sprint testing protocol...

The factors that influence the on-ice change of directional speed (COD) of ice hockey players remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to determine which off-ice and anthropometric variables determine hockey COD with and without a puck. Thirty-two elite ice hockey players (age: 17.64 ± 1.02 years, body height: 180 ± 7.5 cm, body mass: 76.4 ± 7.8...

Body composition (BC) and inter-limb anthropometric asymmetries (LA) may influence the physical performance of soccer players. This study aimed to determine differences in BC and LA among soccer across four performance levels. The study involved 110 male soccer players participating in Czech senior teams who were grouped into four different perform...

The evaluation of strike impact is important for optimal training, conditioning and tactical use. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate ground and pound strikes, in terms of net force variability, across genders and performance levels. Eighty-one participants, professional men (n = 8, 37 ± 6 years, 195 ± 7 cm, 113 ± 27 kg), advanced men...

Contemporary descriptions of motor control suggest that variability in movement can be indicative of skilled or unskilled performance. Here we used principal component analysis to study the kicking performance of elite and sub-elite soldiers who were highly familiar with the skill in order to compare the variability in the first and second principa...

This review aimed to summarize the reported effects of unilateral conditioning activity (CA) on unilateral performance, bilateral performance, and the contribution of activated body limb to bilateral performance. A systematic search on MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and Google Scholar was conducted on February 2022. Twenty-three studies met the incl...

This study aimed to compare the effects of bilateral and unilateral conditioning activities (CA; combined isometric and plyometric) on countermovement jump performance, modified t-agility test, Achilles tendon stiffness and skin surface temperature. Thirteen female semi-professional volleyball players performed two CAs in random order: 1) bilateral...

Objective. To determine the net effect of different physical activity intervention components on step counts in addition to self-monitoring. Design. A systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression. Data sources. Five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest and Discus) were searched from inception to May 2022. The database sea...

Introduction: Mixed martial arts (MMA) have become a highly popular full-contact sport discipline in recent years. This work aims to estimate forces developed in three strike techniques during ground and pound tactics often used in MMA. Methods: Ninety-one volunteers practicing self-defense were enrolled in the study. Each volunteer delivered 15 s...

Performance in strike combat sports is mostly evaluated through the values of the net force, acceleration, or speed to improve efficient training procedures and/or to assess the injury. There are limited data on the upper limb striking area, which can be a useful variable for contact pressure assessment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to dete...

Background: This study aimed to determine the acute effect of agonist and antagonist conditioning activities (CA) on medicine ball throw performance among female softball players. Methods: Thirteen national level female softball players (age 22.2 ± 3.1 years; body mass 68.3 ± 11.3 kg; softball experience 7.3 ± 2.4 years) performed 3 medicine ball c...

With the development of new wearable technologies, the use of exoskeletons is gradually gaining ground in the world's advanced militaries. The aim of this paper is to explore the current status of exoskeletons and describe the requirements of exoskeletons for military use towards the specifics of use. The most important movement of a soldier in the...

A method of load variability is a common way of developing specific skills in various sports, however, not explored considering the use of different ice-hockey pucks. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare shooting speed, shooting accuracy, and handgrip strength changes after training with variable training loads (lighter 60g pucks and...

Manufacturers recommend that linear position transducers (LPTs) should be placed on the side of a barbell (or wooden dowel) to measure countermovement jump (CMJ) height, but the validity and reliability of this placement have not been compared to other attachment sites. Since this recommended attachment site is far from the centre of mass, a belt a...

Background Self-monitoring is a cornerstone of many complex physical activity interventions and is a powerful behaviour change technique leading to substantial physical activity increases. Whether additional intervention components, such as counselling or incentives, yield further benefits over self-monitoring is not known. We aimed to determine wh...

Although velocity control in resistance training is widely studied, its utilization in eliciting post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) responses receives little attention. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of heavy-loaded barbell squats (BS) with velocity loss control conditioning activity (CA) on PAPE in subsequent...

The intrathoracic pressure and breathing strategy on bench press (BP) performance is highly discussed in strength competition practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze whether different breathing techniques can influence the time and track characteristics of the sticking region (SR) during the 1RM BP exercise. 24 healthy, male a...

Kicking is an essential skill for combat athletes and military personnel. Therefore, the aim of this article is to present evidence-based training principles to achieve beneficial changes in technique and performance through functional training. The profile of subelite and elite kickers is presented and is used as a foundation for exercise prescrip...

Background and Study Aim: The general fitness requirements for any combat activity include flexibility, speed, power, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, muscular strength, agility, balance, coordination, and body composition. In addition, the development of these fitness components should support and not disrupt the development and practice of c...

Resistance training (RT) and exercise is useful for preventing cardiovascular disease, systolic hypertension and stroke, which are associated with the stiffening of the larger central arterial system. The aim of this systematic review was to (a) understand the changes in arterial stiffness (AS) in various parts of the body measurement after acute R...

The aim of this study was to find the effect of holographic sight (HS) on short-distance shooting accuracy and precision during static and high-intensity dynamic actions. Twenty policemen (31 ± 2.2 years, 85.6 ± 6.1 kg, and 181.9 ± 4.4 cm) performed five shots in the 10-s limit under the static condition for 20 m and dynamic condition 15–5 m, and a...

Background: Resistance training is a significant part of ice-hockey players’ conditioning, where optimal loading should ensure strength development and proper recovery. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the acute physiological responses to fast and medium movement tempo resistance exercises in ice-hockey players. Methods: Fourteen ice-hockey p...

The main goal of the present study was to evaluate the effects of different blood flow restriction (BFR) protocols (continuous and intermittent) on peak bar velocity (PV) and mean bar velocity (MV) during the squat exercise at progressive loads, from 40 to 90% 1RM. Eleven healthy men (age = 23.4 ± 3.1 years; body mass = 88.5 ± 12.1 kg; squat 1RM =...

This study aimed to evaluate the putting skills of amateur players and the relationship between these skills and long-term and actual performance. The participants (n = 34) performed tests from different distances (1 m, 3 m, 5 m) and slopes (uphill, downhill, right-left, left-right). Based on these tests, the accuracy and success of their putting w...

Heritability studies on sport-related traits accepted that endurance, speed, power, and strength abilities include an active genetic predisposition to elite soccer participation. This study evaluates the influence of selected genetic variants on performance in speed, power, and strength laboratory tests on a group of elite soccer players, including...

Drinking alkaline water after intense anaerobic exercise may enhance both cognitive and physical performance. This study aimed to investigate the effect of high mineral alkaline water consumed over three consecutive days on reaction time after anaerobic exercise in twelve healthy young males (aged 21.1 ± 1.3 years) with a valid sports medical exami...

Abstract This study examined the effects of a nine-week intervention of four different high-intensity training modalities [high-intensity functional training (HIFT), high-intensity interval training (HIIT), high-intensity power training (HIPT), and high-intensity endurance training (HIET)] on the resting concentration of brain-derived neurotropic f...

Background: ‪Injuries are considered worldwide to be the most significant health problem, especially in childhood. In the Czech Republic, injuries are the most common cause of death among children and young adults. The aim of the study was to provide more insight in school accidents in the Czech Republic from 2008 to 2018 and to estimate future tre...

Type-2-diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global problem of medical, social and economic consequences. Physical activity is a vital therapy in patients with T2DM, but some of them cannot exercise for various reasons. The purpose of our pilot study was to determine whether a combination of neuromuscular electrostimulation (NMES) and insulin therapy could...

Purpose The main goal of this study was to assess the acute effects of 3 and 6 mg of caffeine intake per kg of body mass (b.m.) on maximal strength and strength-endurance in women habituated to caffeine. Methods Twenty-one healthy resistance-trained female students (23.0 ± 0.9 years, body mass: 59.0 ± 6.6 kg), with a daily caffeine intake of 5.8 ±...

In the original article as published in the "Materials and Methods" and the "Experimental Sessions" section, the slow movement tempo description was incorrectly written as "5/0/5/0". The correct description should be written as "5/0/X/0".