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This study aimed to examine the effects of substitute player allowance per match on running performance in Japanese professional football over three consecutive seasons with different numbers of maximum substitutes. Match running performance was obtained from all outfield players in the official matches of the 1st Division of the Japan Professional Football League over three seasons (2019/2020/2021; 22291 player files) by a 4th generation TRACAB® system which provided the total distance covered (TD) and the number of sprinting runs (SP; ≥24.0 km/h for≥1.0 s). The players were divided according to play time: full match (STA), replaced during match (REP), and substitutes during match (SUB). The number of SUBs increased significantly from 2019 to 2021 (p < 0.05). SUB had a significantly higher average speed than STA and REP. The analysis of covariance with the number of recovery days, ambient temperature, and relative humidity as covariates revealed that the TD and SP significantly differed based on the number of SUBs (p < 0.05). Stepwise regression analysis showed that the number of SUBs significantly contributed to the TD and SP. These results suggest that the new law, which increased the maximum SUB allowance from three to five, improved the match running performance in Japanese professional football. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the time series relationships between the peak musculotendon length and electromyography (EMG) activation during overground sprinting to clarify the risk of muscle strain injury incidence in each hamstring muscle. Full-body kinematics and EMG of the right biceps femoris long head (BFlh) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles were recorded in 13 male sprinters during overground sprinting at maximum effort. The hamstring musculotendon lengths during sprinting were computed using a three-dimensional musculoskeletal model. The time of the peak musculotendon length, in terms of the percentage of the running gait cycle, was measured and compared with that of the peak EMG activity. The maximum length of the hamstring muscles was noted during the late swing phase of sprinting. The peak musculotendon length was synchronous with the peak EMG activation in the BFlh muscle, while the time of peak musculotendon length in the ST muscle occurred significantly later than the peak level of EMG activation (p < 0.05). These results suggest that the BFlh muscle is exposed to an instantaneous high tensile force during the late swing phase of sprinting, indicating a higher risk for muscle strain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) demonstrated the benefit of achieving strict blood pressure control with a lower target blood pressure level in high-risk patients with hypertension. The aim of this post hoc analysis was to investigate the relationship between the 2-year average on-treatment home blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk in subgroups stratified by risk status using data from the HONEST study (Home Blood Pressure Measurement With Olmesartan Naive Patients to Establish Standard Target Blood Pressure). Participants in the HONEST study (n=21 591) were stratified according to risk level as follows: SPRINT population (n=5823)-patients (≥50 years of age) without diabetes mellitus or prior stroke, with SPRINT-defined cardiovascular risk and systolic blood pressure (SBP) of ≥130 mm Hg; SPRINT-excluded high-risk population (n=5481)-patients with diabetes mellitus or prior stroke; and non-SPRINT low-risk population-all other patients in the HONEST study (n=10 287). Cardiovascular disease event risk was 6.32 events per 1000 person-years in the SPRINT population, which was higher than in the non-SPRINT low-risk (3.39; P<0.001) and lower than the SPRINT-excluded high-risk (12.41; P<0.001) populations. In the SPRINT and the SPRINT-excluded high-risk populations, a lower home SBP achieved was associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk, with the lowest risk in patients with a home SBP <125 mm Hg. The non-SPRINT low-risk population showed a J-curve association between on-treatment home SBP and cardiovascular disease risk with the lowest risk at a home SBP of 135 to <145 mm Hg. Intensive therapy targeting home SBP of <125 mm Hg would be beneficial for high-risk hypertensive patients. Clinical Trial Registration- URL: http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/index.htm . UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, trial no.: UMIN000002567.