30-Second Takeaway
- Endurance cardiac remodeling tracks total low–moderate training time more than intensity, supporting higher-volume easy work.
- Persistent low back pain in elite athletes is heavily shaped by identity, culture, and validation, not just nociception.
- Chronic e‑cigarette use impairs exercise responses in young adults despite normal resting lung tests—relevant to athlete vaping counseling.
- Heavy gym strength work improves anaerobic cycling power more than on-bike strength in young off-road cyclists.
- Travel, mental fatigue, and CBD all measurably influence perceived exertion and match or race performance contexts.
Week ending January 10, 2026
Training load, cardiopulmonary risk behaviors, and performance context in endurance and team-sport athletes
Cardiac remodeling in endurance athletes is driven mainly by training volume at low–moderate intensity
In male endurance athletes, larger LV and RV volumes were more strongly related to total training duration than to intensity metrics. Time accumulated in low–moderate heart-rate zones (zones 1–2) correlated better with ventricular size than time in higher zones. Edwards training impulse also associated with cardiac dimensions, but duration consistently outperformed intensity as a determinant. Findings suggest clinicians should prioritize discussion of overall volume, especially easy work, when counseling on cardiac adaptation and safety.
Elite athletes with persistent low back pain emphasize identity threat, culture, and validation needs
Elite athletes with persistent low back pain described major disruption to identity, self-confidence, and sense of worth. Sport culture amplified psychosocial contributors to pain, including pressure to perform, stigma, and constrained help-seeking. Validation of pain, clear explanations, and collaborative management fostered agency and more adaptive coping. Relationships with coaches, staff, and supports outside sport strongly influenced mental health and recovery trajectories. Clinicians are positioned to normalize pain, address cultural pressures, and integrate psychological and social strategies into spine care.
Young chronic e-cigarette users show abnormal exercise responses despite normal resting lung function
Young adults who chronically used e-cigarettes had normal resting spirometry but showed reduced V˙O2peak during exercise testing. Compared with matched controls, they demonstrated higher V˙E/V˙CO2 nadir and greater exertional dyspnea at similar workloads. E-cigarette users had blunted recruitment of diffusing capacity with postural change, independent of V˙O2peak. Results indicate early cardiopulmonary impairment and probable pulmonary vascular dysfunction in otherwise healthy e-cigarette users. Clinicians should explicitly ask about vaping and consider exercise-based testing or counseling even when resting tests are normal.
References
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Additional Reads
Optional additional studies from this edition.