Leonor Gallardo’s research while affiliated with University of Castilla-La Mancha and other places

El crecimiento de los esports ha generado preocupación sobre la salud física de sus jugadores. Esta revisión sistemática tiene como objetivo sintetizar la evidencia sobre la composición corporal y los parámetros de salud de jugadores de esports, un grupo potencialmente en riesgo debido a su estilo de vida sedentario. Se siguieron las directrices PRISMA-P, se consideraron las bases: PubMed, SCOPUS y Web of Science. La calidad de los estudios incluidos se evaluó utilizando la Lista de Verificación de Evaluación Crítica de JBI. De los 711 estudios inicialmente identificados, 32 estudios cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión. Estos estudios mostraron resultados de salud variados entre los jugadores de esports, con problemas comunes como un alto porcentaje de grasa corporal y patrones de sueño irregulares. Sin embargo, algunos jugadores demostraron niveles de aptitud física comparables a los controles no esports, sugiriendo un perfil de salud complejo. Los resultados sugieren la necesidad de intervenciones de salud específicas en los jugadores esports, enfatizando la importancia de abordar los hábitos nutricionales y los niveles de actividad física. A pesar de que algunos jugadores mantienen una buena salud, la tendencia general sugiere la necesidad de mejorar las elecciones de estilo de vida dentro de esta población. Esta revisión nos ofrece un panorama sobre la salud de los jugadores de esports, caracterizado por riesgos para la salud y oportunidades de intervención. Futuras investigaciones deberían explorar los impactos de salud a largo plazo y la efectividad de estrategias específicas de promoción de la salud para los atletas de esports.

The aim was to analyse the consequences of a congested schedule (due to the COVID-19 lockdown) on creatine kinase (CK) in elite football players using GPS tracking technology. A total of 17 elite football players were monitored in training and competition with a global positioning system. Variables including total distance, high-intensity distance, and distance acceleration and deceleration were analysed. Different measurements of serum creatine kinase (CK) concentration were performed on match day (MD) and at 24 h (MD+1), 48 h (MD+2), and 72 h (MD+3) after each match to study the muscle damage of each individual player caused during the match. The results showed a significant increase in physical demands in training (in relative terms regarding the match) atMD+3 compared to MD+1 andMD+2. Furthermore, at +72 h, CK decreases to a value almost the same as that beforeMD. On the other hand, the players with lower demands for high-intensity actions in the match showed a higher reduction in the concentration of CK at MD+3 compared to MD+1 and MD+2 (p < 0.05). It became evident that players with high-intensity demand and a high number of accelerations and decelerations need more time to assimilate the match load and can remain in a state of muscle fatigue for up to 3 days. In addition, a congested schedule can lead to a state of chronic fatigue in elite football players, limiting physical performance and possibly increasing the potential risk of injury for football players.

This study aimed to analyze whether the physical demands on elite football referees during matches are influenced by both the physical intensity of the game and the technical-tactical context, to assess the impact of elite experience on the physical demands of referees, and to compare the physical performance of the referees with the performance of the players divided by positions in each match analyzed. Physical demands were recorded on 20 Spanish male football referees during the 2020/21, 2021/22, and 2022/23 seasons over a total of 73 official matches, using Global Positioning Systems for physical demands (total distance [TD], high-speed running [HSR], sprint, and high-intensity acceleration [HI ACC] and deceleration) and WyScout for technical-tactical actions (ball circulation, possession, shot, passes, total turnovers, quick turnovers, and long passes). Referees showed lower values for all variables except in TD (p , 0.05). No significant differences (p. 0.05) were found in referees' physical demands based on experience. Low-experience referees correlated HSR and sprint distances with high-intensity decelerations distances in matches. Medium-experience referees linked HSR, sprinting, and HI ACC distances with greater sprint distances in matches. High-experience referees correlated HSR distance with HSR, sprint, and HI ACC distances match demands. Low-experience referees positively correlated HSR and sprint distances with ball circulation, passes, quick turnovers, and forward passes. In conclusion, referees' experience influenced the adaptation of their physical demands to the technical-tactical and physical factors of competitive matches. This information will help professionals working with referees to develop training programs that better prepare referees for specific challenges.

Elite football requires comprehensive monitoring to optimize player performance and minimize injury risk. In this sense, thermography is a validated way to monitor football players’ load, when using this technology is essential to realize an acclimatization for assessing thermal asymmetry, a crucial variable for injuries. This study aimed to investigate the impact of acclimatization on thermal patterns in elite junior football players. For this purpose, a four-week study was conducted with an elite youth team, involving thermography sessions at three distinct stages: immediately upon arrival, after 5 min, and after 10 min in a room with temperature and humidity set at the same values (20°C and 50%). Results indicated that while temperature decreased over time, significant differences in thermal asymmetry were observed only in some muscles; the most significant ones were in the hamstrings. This discrepancy in hamstring asymmetry may be attributed to uneven sedentary postures preceding the first thermographic photograph and players arriving either by running or by walking briskly to the test. In conclusion, while acclimatization may be crucial for hamstrings evaluation, it might not be as significant for other muscle groups or joints. The potential acclimatization difference for each muscle underscores the need for future investigations.

La industria deportiva se enfrenta al reto de la transforma- ción digital. Sin embargo, se desconoce cuál es el grado de digitalización y transformación tecnológica de esta industria. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la percepción del uso de la tecnología digital, las competencias digitales en las orga- nizaciones deportivas europeas y conocer su estructura tec- nológica. Partiendo de planteamientos de la teoría económi- ca, organizativa y el management, se diseñó y administró un cuestionario a una muestra 569 responsables de organizacio- nes de diferentes modalidades deportivas y países europeos (Austria: 9.0%; Chipre: 5.8%; Irlanda y Reino Unido: 8.8%; Ita- lia: 9.7; Portugal: 51.8%; España: 14.9%). Se empleó una esca- la tipo Likert de cinco puntos. Los resultados mostraron que prácticamente no usan esta tecnología (2.45), que el 43.2% no disponen de tecnologías para el análisis de datos y el 48.85% para la evaluación del rendimiento físico técnico táctico. Ade- más, que esta es algo importante (3.73), medianamente com- plicada de usar (3.05) y muy cara (2.79). Tampoco tienen muy desarrolladas las competencias digitales (2.95). Este análisis pone de manifiesto la necesidad de implantar la cultura orga- nizativa digital, planificando estrategias de inversión en digita- lización y de formación en competencias digitales.

The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between sport modalities practiced, physical fitness, body composition, and healthy habits in an active young population, using a statistical model for prediction. A total of 2255 (1528 boys and 727 girls) children and adolescents aged 6–17 years old who were involved in extracurricular sports from rural areas of Spain participated. Physical fitness was assessed through validated field test and, body composition was determinated using bioelectrical impedance analysis. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed by KIDMED questionnaire. The general sport variable was significant in VO2max when comparing the invasion and combat modalities to the reference level (court/net). The sex and age variables revealed significant differences in all physical fitness and body composition parameters. Health parameters, such as hours of additional practice, adherence to the Mediterranean diet, and previous experience, showed significant differences. The study concludes that the sport modality variables of training, sex, age, and maturational period have an impact on body composition and fitness parameters in this population. Therefore, by focusing on factors associated with lower values in health indicators, we can prevent health problems during adulthood, such as cardiorespiratory deficits.

Rugby is a close-contact sport in which players occasionally fall headfirst to the ground during scrums and tackles. Because head impacts represent an obvious threat to players’ integrity and safety, World Rugby, Rugby’s International Governing Body, developed a test method named Test Method 01 to evaluate the capacity of the playing surface to mitigate head impacts by determining the critical fall height (CFH). The aim of this study is to analyse World Rugby’s current Test Method 01 head injury criteria (HIC), which consider a field as unsafe if the CFH is below 1.3 m. To make this analysis, a pilot study was performed on seven artificial turf rugby fields. At each field, a three-drop procedure was performed to estimate the initial CFH (CFH 0 ). Subsequently, the procedure was repeated on each surface at 50-mm intervals, from 0.6 m below to 0.6 m above CFH 0 . All possible combinations of four height–HIC data pairs with two height values below and above 1000 HIC were obtained. A comparison was performed between the linear adjustment, currently prescribed in Test Method 01 to calculate the CFH 0 , and the quadratic adjustment. In particular, the percentage of outliers obtained when applying both the linear and quadratic adjustment and the robustness of the regressions were investigated. The results show that the current Test Method 01 can be improved by applying two main modifications: first, replacing the linear adjustment with a quadratic adjustment, and second, adapting the current test restrictions by maintaining the maximum difference between the highest and the lowest drop heights in 1.00 m, increasing the minimum difference between consecutive drop heights from 0.15 to 0.20 m and removing the current prohibition on obtaining HIC values close to 1000.

La transformación digital en el deporte ha llegado para quedarse. La adaptación dela práctica deportiva, el entretenimiento y su gestión, requieren de líderes capaces dedetectar, aprovechar y adaptar las herramientas existentes, así como desarrollar otrasnuevas. El objetivo de este artículo es sintetizar los resultados de tres proyectos realizadosen el sector de entidades deportivas español en materia de implementación de nuevastecnologías, importancia de la digitalización y desarrollo de competencias digitales, através de encuestas a perfiles directivos. El proyecto de herramientas y tendencias degestión analiza la importancia-valoración del uso de herramientas de gestión. En el proyectoNASME se analizaba el desarrollo e importancia de competencias de gestión. Porúltimo, en el proyecto Digi-Sporting se analizaba el nivel de uso e importancia de aplicaciónde utilidades tecnológicas. La digitalización y la tecnología no son vistas comouna barrera, sino como una oportunidad. Sin embargo. No obstante, las competenciasdigitales son las que presentan un mayor gap respecto a la situación actual y la percibidacomo necesaria.

Fitness equipment nowadays represent something common in human beings daily life routines. For this reason, the number of sector professionals and human resources are quantitatively and significantly increasing worldwide. This paper provides a comprehensive systematic review of the current status of scientific research on field workers in relation to the usage of fitness products and resources. The performed thematic synthesis allowed to define and sort contents into three pyramidal categories and selected keywords offered about 49 articles that have been extensively analysed: (1) owners / directors; (2) personal trainers; and (3) instructors. Discussions of each category and all the existing relationships with fitness equipment are advanced and defined. Health and sport workers must recognise the relevant contribution of these stakeholders’ characteristics in the way to maximise the role of fitness equipment in promoting leisure and healthy habits inside societies. In addition, practitioners and researchers could take advantage in deepening knowledge and education on these kinds of resources. Due to the current importance of the sector, standardization and regulation of each fitness industry work category is ready to be strengthened also under these scientific to practice points of view. Keywords: fitness directors, fitness equipment, fitness professionals, fitness workers, personal trainers

The aim of this study is to analyze the worst-case scenarios of professional futsal referees during the first and second half of official matches in the Spanish Futsal Cup using a Local Positioning System (LPS) for monitoring their movement patterns. Eight professional futsal referees (40 ± 3.43 years; 1.80 ± 0.03 m; 72.84 ± 4.01 kg) participated in the study. The external load (total distance, high-speed running distance and efforts, sprint distance and efforts, and accelerations and decelerations distances) of the referees was monitored and collected using an LPS. The results revealed significant differences in the worst-case scenarios of the futsal referees during the match according to the time window analyzed (p < 0.05). The longest time windows (120 s, 180 s, and 300 s) showed lower relative total distances in the worst-case scenarios (p < 0.05). The high-speed running distances were significatively higher in the first half for the 120 s (+2.65 m·min−1; ES: 1.25), 180 s (+1.55 m·min−1; ES: 1.28), and 300 s (+0.95 m·min−1; ES: 1.14) time windows (p < 0.05). No differences were found between the first and second half for the high-intensity deceleration distance (p > 0.05). These results will serve to prepare the referees in the best conditions for the competition and adapt the training plans to the worst-case scenarios.