This is a quick blog article to provide an update on some recent work I have done, hoping it is of interest for the readers.
First of all, with my Italian colleagues we have completed the ‘triplete‘ (as Mourinho would say) of publications analysing talent in athletics understanding and documenting transitions from youth to senior.
This was a big project that started few years ago after I presented some work on tracking athlete’s trajectories and the importance of learning and development in talent identification and support in Italy at the Atleticamente conference in Abano Terme. With my colleague Dr Gennaro Boccia from Torino we started to talk and planned the first study with the Italian database.
Since then, in total between Italian Athletes and World Competitors we have analysed 26,836 athletes (males and females) and have shown typical transition rates and progressions. The last effort was published last month on elite Throwers:
Elite Junior Throwers Unlikely to Remain at the Top Level in the Senior Category. Boccia G, Cardinale M, Brustio PR.Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2021 Mar 1:1-7. doi: 10.1123/ijspp.2020-0699. Online ahead of print.PMID: 33647881
Sleep analysis and understanding of sleep patterns in young football players of Aspire was conducted as part of the routine sports science support but also to start developing performance optimisation strategies also targeting sleep in this cohort. This was part of an ongoing research project based on documenting the support work and the growth and maturation observations conducted in Aspire Academy in Doha.
An objective description of routine sleep habits in elite youth football players from the Middle-East.Lolli L, Cardinale M, Lopez E, Maasar MF, Marthinussen J, Bonanno D, Gregson W, Di Salvo V.Sleep Med. 2021 Apr;80:96-99. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.01.029. Epub 2021 Jan 23.PMID: 33588263
Finally, only few weeks ago, the first work of the big study conducted during the Doha 2019 World Athletics Championships was published on the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The paper is open access and can be downloaded below. It has already attracted a lot of interest and it represents on of the rare observations performed in real athletes at a major championship. More papers will be hopefully accepted in the next few months on more aspects of this work.
Hydration and cooling in elite athletes: relationship with performance, body mass loss and body temperatures during the Doha 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships.Racinais S, Ihsan M, Taylor L, Cardinale M, Adami PE, Alonso JM, Bouscaren N, Buitrago S, Esh CJ, Gomez-Ezeiza J, Garrandes F, Havenith G, Labidi M, Lange G, Lloyd A, Moussay S, Mtibaa K, Townsend N, Wilson MG, Bermon S.Br J Sports Med. 2021 Feb 12:bjsports-2020-103613. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-103613. Online ahead of print.PMID: 33579722
Papers and research projects have not been the only activity here in Aspetar. We have a lot going on with daily clinical services as well. Also we do a lot of educational activities.
I have been hosting a Forum on “Training Methods and Assessment” for our Sports Medicine Collection Series where we had more than 800 online live attendees.
Had the pleasure to moderate an excellent webinar on the use of supplements in sport:
Quite a busy last few months with more to come.
Sports & Fitness Science 