Computational and Complex Network Modeling for Analysis of Sprinter Athletes’ Performance in Track Field Tests

Sports and exercise today are popular for both amateurs and athletes. However, we continue to seek the best ways to analyze best athlete performances and develop specific tools that may help scientists and people in general to analyze athletic achievement. Standard statistics and cause-and-effect research, when applied in isolation, typically do not answer most scientific questions. The human body is a complex holistic system exchanging data during activities, as has been shown in the emerging field of network physiology. However, the literature lacks studies regarding sports performance, running, exercise, and more specifically, sprinter athletes analyzed mathematically through complex network modeling. Here, we propose complex models to jointly analyze distinct tests and variables from track sprinter athletes in an untargeted manner. Through complex propositions, we have incorporated mathematical and computational modeling to analyze anthropometric, biomechanics, and physiological interactions in running exercise conditions. Exercise testing associated with complex network and mathematical outputs make it possible to identify which responses may be critical during running. The physiological basis, aerobic, and biomechanics variables together may play a crucial role in performance. Coaches, trainers, and runners can focus on improving specific outputs that together help toward individuals’ goals. Moreover, our type of analysis can inspire the study and analysis of other complex sport scenarios.

[1]  Antonio Scala,et al.  Networks of Networks: The Last Frontier of Complexity , 2014 .

[2]  Plamen Ch. Ivanov,et al.  Major component analysis of dynamic networks of physiologic organ interactions , 2015, Journal of physics. Conference series.

[3]  A. Weltman,et al.  Effects of Training Specificity on the Lactate Threshold and V̇O2 Peak , 1990, International journal of sports medicine.

[4]  A. Barabasi,et al.  Network medicine : a network-based approach to human disease , 2010 .

[5]  L. R. Altimari,et al.  Improving Cycling Performance: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Increases Time to Exhaustion in Cycling , 2015, PloS one.

[6]  J. Medbø,et al.  Relative importance of aerobic and anaerobic energy release during short-lasting exhausting bicycle exercise. , 1989, Journal of applied physiology.

[7]  P. Gastin Quantification of anaerobic capacity , 1994 .

[8]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Structural and Functional Brain Networks: From Connections to Cognition , 2013, Science.

[9]  M. Saunders,et al.  Carbohydrate Mouth Rinsing Enhances High Intensity Time Trial Performance Following Prolonged Cycling , 2016, Nutrients.

[10]  Kang K. L. Liu,et al.  Network Physiology: How Organ Systems Dynamically Interact , 2015, PloS one.

[11]  D R Bassett,et al.  Limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance. , 2000, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[12]  Diane J. Burgess,et al.  Continuous Metabolic Monitoring Based on Multi-Analyte Biomarkers to Predict Exhaustion , 2015, Scientific reports.

[13]  M. Juárez-Oropeza,et al.  The Respiratory Exchange Ratio is Associated with Fitness Indicators Both in Trained and Untrained Men: A Possible Application for People with Reduced Exercise Tolerance , 2008, Clinical medicine. Circulatory, respiratory and pulmonary medicine.

[14]  David R Bassett,et al.  Test of the classic model for predicting endurance running performance. , 2010, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[15]  Kang K. L. Liu,et al.  Focus on the emerging new fields of network physiology and network medicine , 2016, New journal of physics.

[16]  D. Araújo,et al.  Networks as a novel tool for studying team ball sports as complex social systems. , 2011, Journal of science and medicine in sport.

[17]  L. Mcnaughton,et al.  Challenging a Dogma of Exercise Physiology , 2008 .

[18]  L. Martins,et al.  Specific Measurement of Tethered Running Kinetics and its Relationship to Repeated Sprint Ability , 2015, Journal of human kinetics.

[19]  G. Havenith,et al.  Interaction between environmental temperature and hypoxia on central and peripheral fatigue during high-intensity dynamic knee extension. , 2016, Journal of applied physiology.

[20]  Santanu Saha Ray,et al.  Numerical Analysis with Algorithms and Programming , 2016 .

[21]  Jean-Benoit Morin,et al.  Resisted Sled Sprint Training to Improve Sprint Performance: A Systematic Review , 2016, Sports Medicine.

[22]  Dieter Armbruster,et al.  Basketball Teams as Strategic Networks , 2012, PloS one.

[23]  J. Dekerle,et al.  Maximal lactate steady state, respiratory compensation threshold and critical power , 2003, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[24]  F Cottin,et al.  Ventilatory thresholds assessment from heart rate variability during an incremental exhaustive running test. , 2007, International journal of sports medicine.

[25]  D. Pyne,et al.  Factors Affecting Running Economy in Trained Distance Runners , 2004, Sports medicine.

[26]  Ted G. Lewis,et al.  Network Science: Theory and Applications , 2009 .

[27]  B. Whipp,et al.  Role of the carotid bodies in the respiratory compensation for the metabolic acidosis of exercise in humans. , 1991, The Journal of physiology.

[28]  P. Alcaraz,et al.  Kinematic, strength, and stiffness adaptations after a short‐term sled towing training in athletes , 2014, Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports.

[29]  J. Medbø,et al.  Effect of training on the anaerobic capacity. , 1990, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[30]  O Vaage,et al.  Anaerobic capacity determined by maximal accumulated O2 deficit. , 1988, Journal of applied physiology.

[31]  A. Harrison,et al.  The effect of resisted sprint training on speed and strength performance in male rugby players. , 2008, Journal of strength and conditioning research.

[32]  P. Bale,et al.  Anthropometric and training variables related to 10km running performance. , 1986, British journal of sports medicine.

[33]  T. Astorino,et al.  Assessment of anaerobic power to verify VO2max attainment , 2010, Clinical physiology and functional imaging.

[34]  T. Noakes,et al.  Fatigue is a Brain-Derived Emotion that Regulates the Exercise Behavior to Ensure the Protection of Whole Body Homeostasis , 2012, Front. Physio..

[35]  C. Rice,et al.  The slow component of pulmonary O2 uptake accompanies peripheral muscle fatigue during high-intensity exercise. , 2016, Journal of applied physiology.

[36]  A. Hackney,et al.  Anthropometrics and Body Composition in East African Runners: Potential Impact on Performance. , 2017, International journal of sports physiology and performance.

[37]  B. Egan,et al.  Fueling Performance: Ketones Enter the Mix. , 2016, Cell metabolism.

[38]  S. Green,et al.  A definition and systems view of anaerobic capacity , 2004, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

[39]  Jeanne G. Harris,et al.  Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning , 2007 .

[40]  S. Cunha,et al.  A semi-tethered test for power assessment in running. , 2011, International journal of sports medicine.

[41]  T. Noakes,et al.  Determinants of the variability in respiratory exchange ratio at rest and during exercise in trained athletes. , 2000, American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism.

[42]  David J Stearne,et al.  The Longitudinal Effects of Resisted Sprint Training Using Weighted Sleds vs. Weighted Vests , 2010, Journal of strength and conditioning research.

[43]  T. Noakes,et al.  Central Regulation and Neuromuscular Fatigue during Exercise of Different Durations. , 2016, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[44]  T. Astorino,et al.  Recommendations for Improved Data Processing from Expired Gas Analysis Indirect Calorimetry , 2010, Sports medicine.

[45]  E. Wherry,et al.  Molecular and cellular insights into T cell exhaustion , 2015, Nature Reviews Immunology.

[46]  Helen Thompson Performance enhancement: Superhuman athletes , 2012, Nature.

[47]  M. Margaglione,et al.  Gene polymorphisms and sport attitude in Italian athletes. , 2011, Genetic testing and molecular biomarkers.

[48]  Virgílio A. F. Almeida,et al.  Can complex network metrics predict the behavior of NBA teams? , 2008, KDD.

[49]  Amir Bashan,et al.  Network physiology reveals relations between network topology and physiological function , 2012, Nature Communications.

[50]  Claudio Alexandre Gobatto,et al.  Complex network models reveal correlations among network metrics, exercise intensity and role of body changes in the fatigue process , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[51]  L. Mcnaughton,et al.  Challenging a dogma of exercise physiology: does an incremental exercise test for valid VO 2 max determination really need to last between 8 and 12 minutes? , 2008, Sports medicine.