Warm-up and Re-warm-up Insights into Resistance Training: Usual Practices among Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Athletes

Progression of Physiological Parameters Over Time in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in France.

This study investigated the warm-up practices implemented by strength and conditioning coaches in basketball prior to practices and games.Methods: A total of 88 strength and conditioning coaches from 19 countries, representing leagues such as the NBA, Women's NBA, Euroleague, and International Basketball Federation, completed a semistructured online survey comprising 15 questions. The survey explored various aspects of warm-up routines, including objectives, components, duration, methods, and equipment used. Data were stratified by team gender and competition level. The most frequently reported warm-up objectives were injury prevention (83%), general physical preparation (80.7%), and increasing body temperature (69.3%). Prepractice warm-ups most commonly lasted between 10 and 15minutes (48.9%), whereas pregame warm-ups lasting more than 30minutes were reported by 38.6% of coaches in men's teams and 44.4% in women's teams. Strengthening exercises were the most frequently included component, appearing in 93.2% of prepractice and 84.1% of pregame routines. Basketball-specific drills were predominantly used in pregame warm-ups (92%). A mixed approach combining individual and group exercises was the most commonly adopted format (80.7%). In addition, 82.6% of coaches reported using a variety of equipment including resistance bands and foam rollers. The findings highlight current warm-up practices employed in basketball settings, underlining the importance of developing structured and context-specific protocols that balance performance optimization and injury prevention. These results provide practical implications for strength and conditioning coaches and serve as a foundation for future research on warm-up strategies in basketball.

In this paper, the present situation of strength and conditioning coaches in China and the training status of domestic and overseas strength and conditioning coaches are analyzed, it is found that there are many problems about the training for strength and conditioning coaches, such as the insufficient system planning and imperfect training system and the inadequate scientific support; through learning s from internationally-advanced training concept and combining with the reality in China, the countermeasures and suggestions on the training for Chinese strength and conditioning coaches are proposed. Keywordsstrength and conditioning coaches; training status; countermeasure research After Beijing Olympic Games, General Secretary Hu Jintao proposed the objective of struggle for promoting China to stride forward from a great sporting country to a powerful sporting country; and the competitive sports are given more difficult tasks and glorious mission. In 2011, Party Central Committee proposed the strategic goal that China will be built into the powerful country with talents until 2020. The strategies of the country with powerful sports and talents can not be achieved without a large number of high-quality and high-level coaches with international vision, strategic thinking and innovation ability. Coaches are an important team for Chinese sports. They are not only the training designers, organizers and practitioners, but also the educators and director of the athletes, as well as the key talents of the competitive sports and the important human resources of competitive sports. Their quality level is an important factor to affect the development of competitive sports in China, and directly related to the implementation of the Program of striving for Olympic Glory and the development of sports cause. In order to promote the construction of high-quality coach team in China, the State Sport General Administration specially approved a project to focus on cultivating 100 coaches for professional team and 100 coaches for amateur training, and strive to build a leading coaching team. I. THE PRESENT SITUATION OF STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH COACHES IN CHINA In China, the strength and conditioning coach is an emerging profession. According to the present situation, parts of the national and professional teams can hire the foreign strength and conditioning coaches with high salary, but most coaches of other teams act as the guest performers from track and field events. Even so, not each team has the strength and conditioning coach. The director from Department of Science, Technology and Education of the State Sport General Administration Jiang Zhi expressed that the physical ability is not only the foundation of sports technique and the root of special training, but also the effective guarantee to prevent injuries and diseases. At present, the scarcest resources are strength and conditioning coaches. In the face of the present situation of the scarcest strength and conditioning professional talents in China, it is a top priority to cultivate a group of high-level strength and conditioning coaches. However, there is no institution or organization in our country to promote the professionalization process of strength and conditioning coaches; and all strength and conditioning coaches are appointed by the national teams and professional clubs according to their own needs and degree of recognition. The present strength and conditioning coaches are in fuzzy state with insufficient post staffing, appointment standard and management; due to the defects of mechanism, the strength and conditioning coaches are generally low in coaching level, so that the improvement of scientific level of Chinese physical training is troubled and hindered. Strength and conditioning coach is the key talent in competitive sports. The insufficient strength and conditioning coaches have direct influence on raising the level of competitive sports in China, and hindering the implementation of the Program of striving for Olympic Glory and the development of sports cause, even inconformity with the strategic policy of sports talents based on “invigorating country based on talents and enhancing sports cause based on talents”. II. THE TRAINING STATUS OF THE STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACHES AT HOME AND ABROAD In the United Kingdom, the Sports Conditioning and Coaching Course is taught in the University of The West of England, Bristol (Bristol UWE). In Australia, the Strength & Conditioning Course is also taught in the University of Canberra, Deakin University, the University of Queensland and Edith Cowan University; in Germany, other courses oriented with sports science will last four years, but the courses oriented with physical training will last five years. However, as the world’s first power of science& technology and sports, the United States attached more importance to cultivating strength and International Workshop on Computer Science in Sports (IWCSS 2013) © 2013. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 110

The purpose of this study was to examine whether male and female Division I team sport athletes prefer same-sex or opposite-sex strength and conditioning coaches. Participants included 476 (male = 275, female = 201) National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I collegiate football, soccer, and volleyball athletes; the men were from football programs and the women were from soccer and volleyball programs. The Attitudes of Athletes toward Male versus Female Coaches Questionnaire was used to assess the attitudes and feelings of male and female athletes toward the gender of their strength coach (29). The results of a 2 x 2 multivariate analysis of variance (athlete gender x coach gender) revealed that the male athletes (all football players) were less comfortable with a female strength coach in all regards and preferred to have a male strength coach (p < 0.05). Female athletes did not have a gender preference, nor did they have any negative attitudes toward a strength coach. The women would be productive training with any qualified strength coach, whereas the men would prefer working with a male strength coach no matter how qualified the female coach might be. As a result of this study, one suggestion is for male athletes to be exposed to female strength coaches much earlier in their sport experience. This might help reduce gender bias later in their athletic careers.

The evidence for neural mechanisms underpinning rapid strength increases has been investigated and discussed for over 30 years using indirect methods, such as surface electromyography, with inferences made toward the nervous system. Alternatively, electrical stimulation techniques such as the Hoffman reflex, volitional wave, and maximal wave have provided evidence of central nervous system changes at the spinal level. For 25 years, the technique of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has allowed for noninvasive supraspinal measurement of the human nervous system in a number of areas such as fatigue, skill acquisition, clinical neurophysiology, and neurology. However, it has only been within the last decade that this technique has been used to assess neural changes after strength training. The aim of this brief review is to provide an overview of TMS, discuss specific strength training studies that have investigated changes, after short-term strength training in healthy populations in upper and lower limbs, and conclude with further research suggestions and the application of this knowledge for the strength and conditioning coach.

Crowley, E, Harrison, AJ, and Lyons, M. Dry-land resistance training practices of elite swimming strength and conditioning coaches. J Strength Cond Res 32(9): 2592-2600, 2018-No research to date has investigated dry-land resistance (RT) training practices of elite swimming strength and conditioning coaches. This is the first comprehensive study exploring dry-land RT training practices in swimming. The aims of this study were to examine (a) the dry-land RT training practices and exercises used by elite swimming strength and conditioning coaches and (b) the rationale provided by coaches about their practices and prescription of specific dry-land RT training exercises. Twenty-three (n = 21 males, n = 2 females) elite swimming strength and conditioning coaches, from Ireland (n = 7), Great Britain (n = 5), Australia (n = 6), and the United States of America (n = 5) were recruited through their specific national governing bodies. Coaches completed an online questionnaire consisting of 7 sections; subject information, informed consent, coach's biography, coach education, current training commitments, dry-land RT training practices and exercises, and additional information. The results showed that coaches had varying levels of experience, education and worked with different level swimmers. A total of 95 dry-land RT training exercises were used by the coaches across 4 different dry-land RT training practices (warm-up, circuit training, traditional RT training and plyometrics). Traditional RT training (87%) was the most commonly practiced. The pull-up and squat were the most popular dry-land RT training exercises used by elite swimming strength and conditioning coaches. Future research needs to focus on exploring the specificity and the transfer of RT training exercises to swimming performance.

This study aimed to investigate the perception of soccer strength and conditioning (S&amp;C) coaches on the importance of upper body (UB) strength training for the performance of high-intensity actions (HIA) (i.e., sprinting, repeated sprint ability, change of direction, and jumping) in professional soccer players, and to identify current practices with regards to UB strength testing and training methodologies within this sport. Eighty-six S&amp;C coaches working with professional soccer players volunteered to complete the survey. Twenty-two fixed responses and three open-ended questions were grouped into three sections: (a) demographic information, (b) perspectives on the importance of UB strength and UB strength training for HIA, and (c) current practices of UB strength training in soccer. Frequency analysis was used to assess fixed response questions, and thematic analysis established clear and recognisable themes for open-ended questions. Relative to “not important” options, UB strength was perceived as important for all HIA, especially for jumping (89%) and acceleration (87%). Coaches strongly supported the idea that UB strength plays a role in enhancing HIA, with particular influence on jumping (100%), acceleration (97%) and COD (93%). This positive influence is believed to be realised via improved force transmissions (97%) and neural drive (94%). Notably, however, surveyed coaches overwhelmingly use moderate resistance in their sessions (100%) without substantial emphasis on high-velocity contractions (64%). In conclusion, S&amp;C practitioners value UB strength training for enhancing the performance of HIA in professional soccer players. Further research is needed to explore this link and provide clearer guidance on the implementation of UB strength training in professional soccer.

This epidemiological analysis of the pooled Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) cohort describes the equivalence of a 1-percentage point increase in HbA1c (such as from 7% to 8%) and years of additional age or duration of type 1 diabetes (T1D) relative to the risk of complications. Separate Cox proportional hazards models determined the number of additional years of age and/or duration of T1D that would result in the same increase in risk of microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and cardiovascular complications and mortality as a 1-percentage point increase in HbA1c. The risk of any cardiovascular disease associated with a 1-percentage point increase in HbA1c was equivalent to the risk associated with 4.3 (95% CI 2.7-5.9) additional years of age or 5.6 (95% CI 2.7-6.5) additional years' duration of T1D. The risk of estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and/or end-stage renal disease associated with a 1-percentage point increase in HbA1c was equivalent to the risk associated with 12.1 (95% CI 8.3-15.9) additional years of age or 18.0 (95% CI 4.3-31.7) additional years' duration of T1D. The proliferative diabetic retinopathy risk associated with a 1-percentage point increase in HbA1c was equivalent to the risk associated with 6.4 (95% CI 5.3-7.4) additional years' duration of T1D, while for mortality risk, it was equivalent to the risk associated with 12.9 (95% CI 6.6-19.3) additional years of age. Our results help evaluate the impact of glycemia on advanced complications in a way that may be more interpretable to health care providers and individuals with T1D.

This study used an online survey to investigate the practices and perspectives of strength and conditioning coaches (SCCs) across different high-performance sports in China. The survey comprised of the following sections: (a) background information, (b) muscular strength and power, (c) speed, (d) endurance, (e) plyometrics, (f) flexibility, (g) physical testing, (h) technology use, and (i) programming. In total, 93 SCCs from 44 high-performance sports across 25 provinces/municipalities participated in this study (age 31.5 ± 6.9 yrs, experience as a SCC 5.5 ± 4.4 yrs). Periodization strategies were used by 97% of SCCs. Clean and derivatives (37%) were deemed the most important exercises for strength and power development. Heart rate (85%) and repetition maximum (72%) were the most used methods for determining set loads in endurance and strength training, respectively. Box drills (91%) were the most prescribed plyometric exercise and dynamic stretching (91%) was the most prescribed flexibility exercise. All SCCs physically tested their athletes and 95% frequently used technology-based equipment. For open-ended questions, 30% of SCCs would change their programs by improving monitoring, testing, equipment, and facilities. Thirty-nine percent of SCCs believed digitization and monitoring will be prominent future trends. The results indicated that most practices of SCCs in Chinese high-performance sports were dissimilar to those of SCCs in other countries. SCCs generally prescribe training according to the needs of sports. However, the interferences of many external factors also affected the scientific nature of training prescription.

This study aimed to assess warm-up practices within professional and amateur Rugby League players, specifically to determine players’ perceptions why particular methods were used and discover whether any differences existed in warm-up practices and perceptions between the two separate standards. The study used a 10 question online questionnaire to investigate 30 professional and 53 amateur players warm-up protocols and their perceptions behind their practices. To provide a richer understanding regarding the practices and perceptions surrounding warm-up protocols, the questionnaire was followed by two focus groups (professionals and amateurs), which included four participants in each. Following analysis of the questionnaire responses, it was discovered that professional players warm-up protocols were significantly longer in duration than amateur players (P = 0.009). However, for all other variables assessed including; specific warm-up protocols, static stretch duration, and perceptions and beliefs concerning warm-up protocols, there were no significant differences between professionals and amateurs. Overall findings demonstrated the widespread use of static stretching within warm-up for both professionals and amateurs; 71 of 83 players (86%) reported usage. It was also highlighted that injury prevention was the most commonly perceived benefit from performing a warm-up across both standards [(Professional; 15 of 30, 50%) (Amateur; 27 of 53, 51%)]. Findings from the focus group generally supported questionnaire responses, and it was identified that the warm-up practices and protocols of Rugby League players were influenced by others such as coaches and strength and conditioning coaches which emphasises the importance of the role such practitioners.

Previous studies have explored people's perceptions of weight-related terminology; however, to date, limited data has explored the emotional response to weight-related terms used by healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study explored the preferences and emotional responses of terms used by HCPs to describe body weight and of parents to describe their children's weight. A total of 2911 adults completed an online cross-sectional survey, with 1693 living with overweight or obesity (mean age 49.2 years [SD 12.5], female (96%), median body mass index (BMI) 31.4kg/m2 [28.1, 36.5]). The survey explored preferences of 22 weight-related terms using a 5-point Likert scale and their emotional response to these terms (using 7-core emotions). Parents also indicated preferences and emotional responses to terms used to describe their children's weight. Respondents completed the modified weight bias internalization scale to examine how this may impacted preferences. 'Weight', "unhealthy weight" and "overweight" were the three preferred terms, while "super obese", "chubby", and "extra-large" were least preferred in people living with overweight and obesity. Parents preferred 'weight', "unhealthy weight" and "body mass index", and least preferred "fat", "extra-large" and "extremely obese" when describing their children's weight. All terms elicited a negative emotional response. The most commonly emotion was sadness for terms to describe adult's bodyweight, and anger for terms used to describe children's weight. All BMI categories reported disgust with terms incorporating "obese". Our results offer novel insight into the preferred terminology and emotional responses to terminology used by HCPs for both adults and parents to describe their children's weight.

Debates about strength training as a means of improving health and augmenting sport performances remain to this day a topic of popular conversation and scientific inquiry. How much muscle is too much muscle? Is augmenting strength to achieve maximum athletic performance through the use of performance-enhancing drugs safe and healthy? These are the types of questions that drive conversations online and throughout the pages of popular health-and-fitness magazines, documentaries, videos, and academic research journals.In the second half of the twentieth century, college athletic departments around the country placed an emphasis on strength conditioning programs to gain advantage. In Strength Coaching in America, the authors examine the historical, social, and scientific factors that led to the development of strength coaching within sports. They argue that the primary responsibility of this new profession was to improve an athlete's strength, power, and agility so that the athlete could achieve maximum performance during competition. The emphasis on strength conditioning by teams at all levels, the authors conclude, has transformed the landscape of sports and physical culture.The authors argue that, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, medical doctors expressed concern about heavy weight lifting and muscle-bound athletes. Medical doctors Arthur Steinhaus and Peter Karpovich cautioned the public during the 1930s on the desire to achieve too much muscle through weight lifting and stated that the place for a muscle-bound strong man was “in a circus” (39). Robert Hoffman's Strength and Health and Joe Weider's Your Physique magazines pushed back against this rhetoric by featuring personal stories from athletes testifying to the success they had achieved on the playing field after lifting weights. The magazines and scientific research during the 1950s and 1960s converted many to the idea that “research evidence is abundant to advocate the desirability of strength improvement as one essential for man activities and sport skills,” as expressed by physical education scholar John Piscapo in a 1967 article (95).Along with an emphasis on scientific and mathematical research, Cold War pressures converted many in the public and on college campuses to the idea that weight training as a part of “physical culture” was important when trying to keep up with the Russians. When former soldiers flooded college campuses after the passage of the GI Bill, the authors argue that they wanted to continue their weight training. Rudimentary weight rooms quickly became commonplace on campuses around the country for those looking to achieve greater strength, power, and speed through the use of strength training.Sports teams have a competitive and financial incentive to research and implement innovative methods and strategies that might help them gain an edge over their competition. College football programs, most often the highest revenue-generating athletic team on campus, played a vital role in promoting and developing weight training as a strategy. When the University of Nebraska decided in 1969 to place Boyd Epley in charge of the football training program, making him the nation's first full-time college strength coach, the hiring showed that college football programs were beginning to grasp how strength training would help them gain an advantage over their opponents on the football field. Epley's “Husker Power” program had immediate positive results on the field, and the authors argue that the program soon became the standard of strength training for athletic departments around the country.Epley went on to play a major role in the formation of organizations that served as a forum for those in the strength training and conditioning fields. In the 1970s, he formed the National Strength Coaches Association in an attempt to share the “Nebraska Way” with strength coaches across the country. The organization grew as a number of individuals outside the realm of strength coaching joined the ranks. The organization became the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) in 1981 to reflect this change. The organization advocated the use of strength-training machines and year-round training programs modeled after periodization training methods established by Professor Leo Pavlovic Matveyev. Strength training coaches soon split off from the NSCA and formed the College Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA) in 2000. The authors argue that Boyd Epley wanted to dissuade the split, but after being convinced, Epley became a member of the new group's board of directors. In the twenty-first century, the CSCCA advocates the use of functional training and has embraced the emerging CrossFit movements.

Diet and physical activity are two modifiable factors that can curtail the development of osteoporosis in the aging population. One purpose of this study was to assess the differences in dietary intake and bone mineral density (BMD) in a Masters athlete population (n=87, n=49 female; 41.06 ± 5.00 years of age) and examine sex- and sport-related differences in dietary and total calcium and vitamin K intake and BMD of the total body, lumbar spine, and dual femoral neck (TBBMD, LSBMD and DFBMD, respectively). Total calcium is defined as calcium intake from diet and supplements. Athletes were categorized as participating in an endurance or interval sport. BMD was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Data on dietary intake was collected from Block 2005 Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs). Dietary calcium, total calcium, or vitamin K intake did not differ between the female endurance and interval athletes. All three BMD sites were significantly different among the female endurance and interval athletes, with female interval athletes having higher BMD at each site (TBBMD: 1.26 ± 0.10 g/cm2, p&lt;0.05; LSBMD: 1.37 ± 0.14 g/cm2, p&lt;0.01; DFBMD: 1.11 ± 0.12 g/cm2, p&lt;0.05, for female interval athletes; TBBMD: 1.19 ± 0.09 g/cm2; LSBMD: 1.23 ± 0.16 g/cm2; DFBMD: 1.04 ± 0.10 g/cm2, for female endurance athletes). Male interval athletes had higher BMD at all three sites (TBBMD 1.44 ± 0.11 g/cm2, p&lt;0.05; LSBMD 1.42 ± 0.15 g/cm2, p=0.179; DFBMD 1.26 ± 0.14 g/cm2, p&lt;0.01, for male interval athletes; TBBMD 1.33 ± 0.11 g/cm2; LSBMD 1.33 ± 0.17 g/cm2; DFBMD 1.10 ± 0.12 g/cm2 for male endurance athletes). Dietary calcium, total daily calcium and vitamin K intake did not differ between the male endurance and interval athletes. This study evaluated the relationship between calcium intake and BMD. No relationship between dietary or total calcium intake and BMD was evident in all female athletes, female endurance athletes or female interval athletes. In all male athletes, there was no significant correlation between dietary or total calcium intake and BMD at any of the measured sites. However, the male interval athlete group had a negative relationship between dietary calcium intake and TBBMD (r=-0.738, p&lt;0.05) and LSBMD (r=-0.738, p&lt;0.05). The negative relationship persisted between total calcium intake and LSBMD (r=-0.714, p&lt;0.05), but not TBBMD, when calcium from supplements was included. The third purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between vitamin K intake (as phylloquinone) and BMD. In all female athletes, there was no significant correlation between vitamin K intake and BMD at any of the measured sites. No relationship between vitamin K and BMD was evident in female interval or female endurance athletes. Similarly, there was no relationship between vitamin K intake and BMD in the male endurance and interval groups. The final purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the Calcium-to-Vitamin K (Ca:K) ratio and BMD. A linear regression model established that the ratio predicted TBBMD in female athletes, F(1,47) = 4.652, p &lt;0.05, and the ratio accounted for 9% of the variability in TBBMD. The regression equation was: predicted TBBMD in a female athlete = 1.250 - 0.008 x (Ca:K). In conclusion, Masters interval athletes have higher BMD than Masters endurance athletes; however, neither dietary or supplemental calcium nor vitamin K were related to BMD in skeletal sites prone to fracture in older adulthood. We found that a Ca:K ratio could predict TBBMD in female athletes. Further research should consider the calcium-to-vitamin K relationship in conjunction with other modifiable, lifestyle factors associated with bone health in the investigation of methods to minimize the development and effect of osteoporosis in the older athlete population.

Because athletes often seek to enhance their performance and body composition through nutrition, researchers must continue to investigate the current dietary consumption and the relationship of diet to body composition to best individualize nutrition guidance for athletes. Exploration of sex differences and sport specific differences in dietary intake provides insight on possible nutrition trends in specific athlete populations and risks for deficiencies. Calcium, magnesium, and zinc affect physiological mechanisms and systems needed for athletic performance, such as calcium for bone health; magnesium for energy production; and, zinc for the function of hundreds of enzymes and proteins. One purpose of our research was to determine the dietary intake of calcium, magnesium, and zinc in female and male athletes, including runners, triathletes, rowers, CrossFit athletes, and General athletes, 18 years of age and older. We also investigated the presence of sex differences and sport specific differences in dietary intake of these minerals. Finally, we examined possible correlations among these mineral intakes and body composition (bone mineral density [BMD] and percent body fat) to determine the strongest predictors of body composition. We evaluated the dietary intake and body composition of 247 athletes, 129 women and 118 men, with a mean age of 34.86±11.38 years. The population included runners (n=90), General athletes (n=59), triathletes (n=43), rowers (n=34), and CrossFit athletes (n=21). Dietary intake was assessed via a 2005 Block Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), which analyzes one's annual macronutrient and micronutrient intake. Bone mineral density (total body, lumbar spine, and dual femoral neck) and percent body fat were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). One sample T-tests were used to compare the dietary intake of calcium, magnesium, and zinc to the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) in female and male athletes. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences in dietary intake between the sexes and among various sports. Multiple regression analyses were utilized to identify the strongest predictors for BMD and percent body fat. All data were analyzed using standard SPSS version 25 software, with the alpha a priori set at 0.05. We found that across all female athletes, dietary intake of calcium was significantly below the RDA of 1000 mg/day (801.3 mg/day ± 264.9, p &lt; 0.001). In addition, we found that General athletes (753.5 mg/day ± 262.9, p &lt; 0.001), female runners (860.1 mg/day ± 262.3, p = 0.001), female CrossFit athletes (690.9 mg/day ± 207.1, p = 0.001), and female rowers (748.1 mg/day ± 224.1, p &lt; 0.001) all consumed significantly lower calcium intakes below the RDA. Magnesium intake in all female athletes was significantly above the RDA of 310-320 mg/day (358.7 mg/day ± 110.9, p &lt; 0.001). Zinc intake in all female athletes was significantly above the RDA of 8 mg/day (10.3 mg/day ± 4.1, p &lt; 0.001), which was observed in female General athletes (9.7 mg/day ± 3, p = 0.001), female runners (11.5 mg/day ± 5.1, p &lt; 0.001), and female triathletes (10.9 mg/day ± 4.4, p &lt; 0.05). In male CrossFit athletes, we observed dietary intakes of calcium (680.9 mg/day ± 411.8, p &lt; 0.05) and magnesium (285.9 mg/day ± 78.9, p &lt; 0.001) below the RDAs of 1000 mg/day and 420 mg/day, respectively. We also found that zinc intake in all male athletes were significantly higher than the RDA of 11 mg/day (13.2 ± 5.7, p &lt; 0.001). Zinc intake above the RDA was observed in male triathletes (14.2 mg/day ± 5.8, p &lt; 0.01), and male rowers (16.3 mg/day ± 7.1, p &lt; 0.05). Male athletes in other specific sports (runners, general athletes, and rowers) were at or slightly above the RDA for calcium, magnesium, and zinc. We found a significant difference in dietary calcium (p&lt;0.01), magnesium (p&lt;0.05), and zinc (p&lt;0.001) intakes between sexes, with Bonferroni adjustment applied. We utilized a factorial ANOVA to determine significant correlations between sex and dietary intake, and sport type and dietary intake. Sport type had the strongest correlation to calcium intake (p=0.021), followed by sex (p = 0.03). Sex was also significantly correlated with magnesium intake (p = 0.039) and zinc intake (p &lt;0.001). Sex was significantly negatively correlated with total body BMD. Through multiple regression analysis, we determined sex, zinc intake, and magnesium intake (p&lt;0.001) were the three greatest predictors in that order for total body BMD in all athletes. Sex (p&lt;0.01) and sport type (p&lt;0.05) were significantly correlated to lumbar spine BMD. The greatest predictors of lumbar spine BMD were, in order, magnesium intake, sex, and zinc intake (p&lt;0.01). Sex was significantly negatively correlated with dual femur BMD. Magnesium intake, sex, and zinc intake (p&lt;0.001) in this order were the three strongest predictors for dual femoral neck BMD. Sex was positively correlated with percent body fat, while calcium, magnesium, and zinc intakes were all negatively correlated with percent body fat (p&lt;0.001). In female athletes, the strongest predictor of percent body fat was the combination of calcium, magnesium, and zinc intakes (p&lt;0.04). In male athletes, the strongest predictor of percent body fat was calcium intake (p&lt;0.01), followed by magnesium intake and sport type. Dietary intakes of calcium, magnesium, and zinc varied significantly between sexes and across sport types. In the female athlete population and some sports, such as CrossFit, more research is required to evaluate the effects of dietary intake on body composition in athletes.

Effective communication and rapport building with athletes are key tenets of coaching. As the majority of empirical evidence to date has adopted an androcentric view of strength and conditioning, a potential knowledge gap exists regarding sex-related differences in physical preparation and coaching approaches. Therefore, this study explored the attitudes, beliefs and practices of strength and conditioning coaches (n = 8; M/F, 6/2) in elite level (international) women’s rugby union using semi-structured interviews (mean ±standard deviation duration 59 ± 15 min). The interviews explored differences in coaching practices for elite female rugby players compared to males, with a specific focus on the interpersonal aspects of the athlete-coach relationship. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate a rich qualitative dataset. The analysis resulted in the identification of higher order themes: athlete engagement, and interpersonal approach. The coaches in this study consistently perceived important differences between male and female players in factors related to engagement and interpersonal approach. Coaches adopted differing coaching practices for male and female athletes. This study provides important contextual evidence for the understanding of differences in the interpersonal relationships of female rugby players compared to male athletes from the perspective of elite-level strength coaches.