Montenegrin Journal of Sports Science and Medicine

5-10

Authors: Marko D. Stojanovic, Julio Calleja-Gonzalez, Mladen Mikic, Dejan M. Madic, Patrik Drid, Igor Vuckovic, and Sergej M. Ostojic

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the specificity of a 20-m shuttle run test (SRT) as a measure of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) in young well-trained basketball players. Thirty-four volunteers (mean ± SD; age 15.74 ± 1.23 years, height 187.61 ± 7.95 cm, body mass 74.09 ± 11.61 kg; training experience 6.30 ± 2.15 years) participated in the study. The 20-m shuttle run test was performed wearing a portable gas analyzer (K4b2, Cosmed) to measure VO2max during the test. SRT-derived VO2max underestimated directly measured values (48.91 ± 4,11 vs 55.45 ± 4.98). Mean bias was 6.54 ± 3.89 ml kg-1 min-1 (95% CI- 5.18 to 7.90 ml kg-1 min-1 ). Typical error of the estimate was 3.85 ml/kg/min-1 (95% CI- 3.10 to 5.10 ml kg-1 min-1 ; ES= 0,77). There was a moderate correlation between VO2max directly measured and estimated by SRT (r= 0.65; 95% CI- 0.40 to 0.81, power = 0.84, p < 0.01). Although very popular among coaches, it seems that SRT is not an appropriate field test to measure maximal oxygen consumption in young well-trained basketball players.

17-23

Authors: Hamid Arazi, Abbas Asadi, and Jabar Chegini

Although a few studies examined the effects of plyometric exercise on cardiovascular responses and symptoms of muscle damage, the data about the different types of plyometric exercise such as eccentric-based vs. concentric-based exercise is scarce. The purpose of the present investigation was to compare the effects of eccentric and concentric-based plyometric exercises on post-exercise systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR) and symptoms of muscle damage. Nineteen healthy men volunteered to participate in this study and were randomly assigned to two groups: Depth jump group (DJG; N=9; Eccentric) and Box jump group (BJG; N=10; Concentric). After plyometric exercise SBP, DBP and HR were measured every 10 min for a period of 90 min post-exercise. Also, muscle soreness, vertical jump and 10-m sprint were assessed at 24, 48, and 72 h post-exercise. There were no significant changes in SBP and DBP, and no significant differences between groups in SBP and DBP, whereas the DJG showed greater increases in HR when compared with BJG. Both the groups indicated significant differences in muscle soreness, vertical jump and 10-m sprint at 24, 48 and 72 h post-exercise without significant differences between them. The findings of this study demonstrated that there were no differences in SBP and DBP between groups and both groups showed increases in symptoms of muscle damage following plyometric exercise.

33-38

Authors: Dario Novak, Ivana Milanovic, Snezana Radisavljevic Janic, Lovro Štefan, and Tomislav Kristicevic

Social capital has been shown as a positive asset for improving overall health in children and youth. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to determine the associations between family, neighborhood and school social capital with self-rated health among Serbian high-school students. This cross-sectional study on 1220 high-school students (539 males and 681 females) was carried out in the school year 2015/2016. Main outcome was defined as self-rated health, measured by one question: "How would you rate your health?" with five possible answers: (1) very poor; (2) poor, (3) fair, (4) good and (5) excellent. We binarised the outcome, where answers "very poor", "poor" and "fair" represented "poor health" and "good" and "excellent" "good health". Multiple logistic regression was used to determine the associations between social capital domains and self-rated health. Adjusted by gender, body-mass index, self-perceived socioeconomic status, psychological distress and physical activity, good self-rated health was positively associated only with high family social capital (OR 2.29; 95% CI 1.62 to 3.24). When all the social capital variables were entered simultaneously, self-rated health remained associated with family social capital (OR 2.28; 95% CI 1.61 to 3.24). Family social capital was the only domain strongly associated with self-rated health. Since neighborhood and school social capital represent key support and empathy for children and youth, neighborhood and school-based strategies and policies should be implemented within the system to increase overall physical and mental health.