Yann Le Meur

AS Monaco Football Club

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the validity and the reliability of the Stages power meter crank system (Boulder, United States) during several laboratory cycling tasks. Methods: Eleven trained participants completed laboratory cycling trials on an indoor cycle fitted with SRM Professional and Stages systems. The trials consisted of an in...

Purpose: We sought to determine the effect of high- vs. low-intensity training in the heat and ensuing taper period in the heat on endurance performance. Methods: Nineteen well-trained triathletes undertook 5 days of normal training and a 1-week taper, including either low- (HA-L, n=10) or high-intensity (HA-H, n=9) training sessions in the heat...

Despite the predominance of research on physical performance in the heat, many activities require high cognitive functioning for optimal performance (i.e. decision making) and/or health purposes (i.e. injury risk). Prolonged periods of demanding cognitive activity or exercise-induced fatigue will incur altered cognitive functioning. The addition of...

Purpose: Peaking for major competition is considered critical for maximizing team sports performance. However, there is little scientific information available to guide coaches in prescribing efficient tapering strategies for team sports players. The aim of this study was to monitor the changes in physical performance in elite team sports players...

Purpose: Faster heart rate recovery (HRR) following high-to-maximal exercise (≥90% HRmax) has been reported in athletes suspected of functional overreaching (f-OR). This study investigated whether this response would also occur at lower exercise intensity. Methods and results: HRR and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) responses were compared duri...

Introduction Appropriate tapering is considered to be critical for maximizing team sports performance. However, there is relatively little scientific information that can be used to guide coaches in prescribing appropriate tapering strategies for team sports players. The aim of this study was to monitor the changes in physical performance in elite...

Elite synchronized swimmers follow high-volume training regimen that result in elevated rates of exercise energy expenditure (ExEE). While adequate energy intake (EI) is important to optimize recovery, a number of sport-specific constraints may lead to chronically low energy availability (EA = EI-ExEE). This study aimed to quantify changes in EA, e...

PURPOSE: To compare the sensitivity of a sprint versus a countermovement (CMJ) test after an intense training session in international rugby Sevens players, as well as to analyze the effects of fatigue on sprint acceleration. METHODS: Thirteen international rugby sevens players completed two 30-meter sprints and a set of four repetitions of CMJ bef...

Purpose: This study describes the effect of the initial perceptual experience from heat-familiarisation on the pacing profile during free-paced endurance time-trial (TT) compared to temperate conditions. Methods: Two groups of well-trained triathletes performed two 20-km TT's either in hot (35°C and 50% RH, N = 12) or temperate (21°C and 50% RH,...

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate whether heart rate recovery (HRR) may represent an effective marker of functional overreaching (f-OR) in endurance athletes. Methods and results: Thirty-one experienced male triathletes were tested (10 control and 21 overload subjects) before (Pre), and immediately after an overload training perio...

Recent research on whole-body cryotherapy has hypothesized a major responsibility of head cooling in the physiological changes classically reported after a cryostimulation session. The aim of this experiment was to verify this hypothesis by studying the influence of exposing the head to cold during whole-body cryostimulation sessions, on the therma...

Introduction: Elite athletes frequently undergo periods of intensified training (IT) within their normal training program. These periods can lead athletes into functional overreaching, characterized by high perceived fatigue, impaired sleep and performance. As whole body cryostimulation (WBC) has been proven an effective recovery method in the shor...

Background: Functional overreaching (F-OR) induced by heavy load endurance training programs has been associated with reduced heart rate values both at rest and during exercise. Because this phenomenon may reflect an impairment of cardiac response, this research was conducted to test this hypothesis. Methods and Results: Thirty-five experienced mal...

Purpose: To examine whether i) objective markers of sleep quantity and quality are altered in endurance athletes experiencing overreaching in response to an overload training program and ii) whether potential reduced sleep quality would be accompanied with higher prevalence of upper respiratory tract infections in this population. Methods: Twenty s...

Purpose: To examine whether performance supercompensation during taper is maximized in endurance athletes after experiencing overreaching during an overload training period. Methods: Thirty three trained male triathletes were assigned to either overload training (n=23) or normal training groups (n=10, CTL) during 8 weeks. Cycling performance and ma...

The aim of this study was to establish the minimum number of days that HRV (i.e., the natural logarithm of square root of the mean sum of the squared differences between R-R intervals, Ln rMSSD) data should be averaged in order to achieve correspondingly equivalent results as data averaged over a 1-week period. Standardised changes in Ln rMSSD betw...

We analyzed HR variability (HRV) to detect alterations in autonomic function that may be associated with functional overreaching (F-OR) in endurance athletes. Twenty-one trained male triathletes were randomly assigned to either intensified training (n = 13) or normal training (n = 8) groups during 5 wk. HRV measures were taken daily during a 1-wk m...

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a single whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) and a partial-body cryostimulation (PBC) (i.e., not exposing the head to cold) on indices of parasympathetic activity and blood catecholamines. Two groups of 15 participants were assigned either to a 3-min WBC or PBC session, while 10 participants constitu...

This study investigated the effect of whole-body cryostimulation (WBC), contrast-water therapy (CWT), active recovery (ACT), and passive condition (PAS) protocols on the parasympathetic reactivation and metabolic parameters of recovery in elite synchronized swimmers who performed 2 simulated competition ballets (B1 and B2) separated by 70 min. Afte...

We investigated the changes in step temporal parameters and spring-mass behaviour during the running phase of a major international triathlon competition. 73 elite triathletes were followed during the 2011 World Championships Grand Final. The running speed, ground contact and flight times were assessed over a 30 m flat section at the beginning of t...

In sport, high training load required to reach peak performance push human adaptation to their limits. In that process, athletes may experience general fatigue, impaired performance and may be identified as overreached (OR). When this state lasts for several months, an overtraining syndrome is diagnosed (OT). Until now, no variable per se can detec...

The taper is a progressive nonlinear reduction of the training load during a variable period of time, in an attempt to reduce the physiological and psychological stress of daily training and optimize sports performance. Existing research has defined the taper, identified various forms used in contemporary sport, and examined the prescription of tra...

To evaluate the physiological demands and effects of different pacing strategies on performance during the new combined event (CE) of the modern pentathlon (consisting of three pistol shooting sessions interspersed by three 1-km running legs). Nine elite pentathletes realised five tests: a free-paced CE during an international competition; an incre...

Gender-based differences in the physiological response to exercise have been studied extensively for the last four decades, and yet the study of postexercise, gender-specific recovery has only been developing in more recent years. This review of the literature aims to present the current state of knowledge in this field, focusing on some of the mos...

The purpose of the present study was to examine relationships between athlete's pacing strategies and running performance during an international triathlon competition. Running split times for each of the 107 finishers of the 2009 European Triathlon Championships (42 females and 65 males) were determined with the use of a digital synchronized video...

The aims of this study were to determine (1) the individual tactics employed by elite modern pentathletes within each discipline of the new combined running-shooting event, and (2) the consequences of these strategies on overall performance. For 36 male pentathletes competing in a World Cup event, we measured running velocity, transition time, shoo...

The aim of the present study was to determine the best pacing strategy to adopt during the initial phase of a short distance triathlon run for highly trained triathletes. Ten highly trained male triathletes completed an incremental running test to determine maximal oxygen uptake, a 10-km control run at free pace and three individual time-trial tria...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the power output (PO) during the cycle phase of the Beijing World Cup test event of the Olympic triathlon in China 2008. Ten elite triathletes (5 females, 5 males) performed two laboratory tests: an incremental cycling test during which PO, HR at ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2), and maximal aerobic power (...

This study investigated the effects of a combined endurance and strength training on the physiological and neuromuscular parameters during a 2-h cycling test. Fourteen triathletes were assigned to an endurance-strength training group and an endurance-only training group. They performed three experimental trials before and after training: an increme...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and the repeatability of a new running computer system (RS800sd, Polar, Kempele, Finland) which included the measurement of running speed (RS) and stride rate (SR). Eight well-trained triathletes participated in this study. First, they completed an incremental continuous maximum test on a tread...

The aim of this study was to compare the pacing strategies adopted by women and men during a World Cup ITU triathlon. Twelve elite triathletes (6 females, 6 males) competed in a World Cup Olympic distance competition where speed and heart rate (HR) were measured in the three events. The power output (PO) was recorded in cycling to determine the tim...