what does it mean to be a competitive athlete

Several of the most famous athletes in the earth all have one thing in mutual; they have achieved extraordinary sport performances, such as earning several Olympic and/or World championship titles and world records, inbound them in the very exclusive team of globe's best athletes.

On the other hand, despite of sharing this similarity, it is like shooting fish in a barrel to perceive that there are major differences among them. While some of these differences are quite obvious, such as sex, state of nativity, sports modality and age in which they peaked at their sports' career, while from a medical point of view, there are some relevant differences that are usually less commented on or perceived. While on top of their careers, these athletes varied considerably in relation to morphological and physiological profiles, which was probable reflected in their aerobic and not-aerobic (flexibility, muscle forcefulness/power, balance and body composition) concrete fitness. Indeed, each athlete presents very specific attributes, that when associated with several years of high-quality preparation, are closely related to their outstanding sport performances.

Even without knowing published data about formal fitness test results, it can be easily assumed that maximum oxygen uptake and alactic anaerobic power of long altitude runners would be substantially unlike than that of sprinters, and that swimmers and ice skaters would perform better in a flexibility test than basketball players at these peak tiers. As a affair of fact, it is not uncommon in athletes of some sports modalities to accept maximum oxygen uptakes that are simply slightly above or similar to salubrious not-athletes of the same age and sexual practice.

However, at that place is an fifty-fifty more important medical issue; while information technology is well-known that a regular lifelong exercise is clearly linked to a better health status and a longer life expectancy, athlete'southward overall health could likewise be quite variable. While athletes are supposed to be very fit and good for you as compared to related sex activity and historic period-group populations, this is not e'er the instance, and the human relationship between sport achievement or performance and overall wellness seems to be far from perfect. Ane does not demand to expect for those weight lifters or judoists competing at highest weight categories to sympathise this imperfect relationship between sports operation and overall health. Indeed, by studying coronary risk factors among 88 (62 men) Brazilian athletes from different sports evaluated a few weeks before to have part at Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, it was found that dyslipidemia was highly prevalent, with most i third of them showing LDL-cholesterol above 130 mg/dL.¹

So, practically saying, the first priority of an athlete is not to be healthy, simply rather to perform remarkably well and, if possible, to win the race/game/competition. In this context, athletes resemble artists, acrobats, actors, dancers, and musicians, placing the competitive sports equally one of the nearly important components of the entertainment industry. As a result, wellness promotion is usually placed in a lower position in the athlete's priority scale; the doping plague and sport injuries caused by overuse serve as a few examples of this relatively low priority for health in a fraction of athletes.

In this regard, information technology seems articulate that when health is an issue, the major betoken is non to be or not to be an "athlete," but rather the type and the characteristics, mainly volume (Frequency x Duration) and intensity, of the exercise performed in the last years or fifty-fifty during the lifetime. It is the exercise component rather than the sports participation itself that will determine virtually, if not all, of the physiological and morphological adaptations and that will likely take potential clinical implications.

So, if the stereotype of athletes as reference models of being outstandingly physically fit even when wellness could be challenged, it seems to be appropriate to analyze the term "athlete" in a new perspective. Although the term "athlete" appears in more than than 30,000 titles or abstracts amongst all PubMed-indexed papers, information technology remains unsure, where and when this term originated. Most likely, the term "athlete" comes from the Greek root "athlos" which ways achievement, and therefore information technology is related to perform exceedingly well and, equally previously discussed, not necessarily linked to health. Referring to a very popular, widely accessed source,ⁱⁱ it is stated that: "athlete is defined as a person who competes in one or more that involve physical forcefulness, speed and/or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs". However, this definition is not simply quite broad and unspecific, simply also brings the use of descriptors added to the term: professionals and amateurs. Are these terms still meaningful in the current world of sport? In truth, according to PubMed, at that place are dozens of descriptors often added to the term "athlete" such as recreational, amateur, master, competitive, high-level, elite, etc., making the interpretation of the term "athlete" even more circuitous and inaccurate.

Revising the publications of the major scientific societies of cardiology, there are several official documents from the American Heart Association (AHA)^3,4 and the American College of Cardiology (ACC)^five-7 discussing medical problems related to athletes and/or sports. Both old and new versions of "Bethesda briefing or guidelines" accept utilized the following definition for competitive athlete: "Ane who participates in an organized team or individual sport that requires regular contest against others as a central component, places a high premium on excellence and achievement, and requires some form of systematic (and usually intense) training". On the other side of the Atlantic Sea, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), in one of their specific recommendations regarding sports participation,⁷ defined competitive athletes, as "individuals of young and adult age, either amateur or professional, who are engaged in exercise preparation on a regular basis and participate in official sports competition. Official sports competition (local, regional, national, or international) is divers as an organized team or private sports issue that, placing a high premium on athletic excellence and accomplishment, is organized and scheduled in the agenda of a recognized Athletic Association". While there are some similarities betwixt the US and ESC athlete's definitions, ESC, differently from ACC, emphasizes the aspect of participation in competitions that are necessarily being organized by a recognized association or like organisation, and includes the outdated descriptors of apprentice and professionals.

In parallel, it is undisputable the impressive growth of the number of adults participating in both new sport modalities (due east.chiliad. stand up paddle boarding and mixed martial arts), and in modalities such as cycling, pond, and route/trail/adventure running mass events in recent years. Every bit an illustration of these recent trends, the last 3 editions of the New York Metropolis marathon have had almost l,000 finishers,^8,nine which is even more impressive when considering how hard is to obtain a take a chance to run this detail marathon. In add-on, some sports are obtaining more recognition and prestige in recent times, as evidenced by the incorporation of triathlon equally a new sport event in Sidney 2000 Olympic Games, and golf that volition render, later more than than 100 years, at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. On the other manus, it is remarkably surprising to annotation that the definition proposed for athlete by several editions of the "Bethesda guidelines" has remained unchanged in the last xxx years (1985 to 2015),^5-7 not incorporating these most recent trends in sports practice.

In order to address the need for modernization and to standardize the use of the term "athlete", Araújo & Scharhag¹⁰ have recently proposed a working definition for medical and health sciences inquiry for this term that may represent a step alee of the previous definitions. According to the proposal, to be considered as an athlete, four criteria should exist simultaneously fulfilled (Figure 1). Those individuals who do not run into these four criteria, but that are exercising or playing sports regularly, or even grooming and competing lone or with teammates and/or friends, should not be called athletes only rather exercisers. This would replace several other terms and descriptors, including the outdated expressions of apprentice or recreational athletes. Substantially different from athletes, exercisers typically place health promotion (body esthetics included) as their first goal rather than functioning, and may go a very interesting population to benefit from medical communication in social club to optimize their positive and healthy results. Fifty-fifty more of import, athletes represent a non-homogeneous and a very modest percentage of the total population (surely less than ane%), while everyone, despite age and sex activity, should be stimulated past health professionals to get or to remain an exerciser.

Figure i

In summary, sports competitions are a fantastic show played by talented subjects called athletes. These athletes evidence boggling functioning with loftier levels of i or more than components of physical fettle. On the other hand, if wellness promotion is the primary business organisation, exercisers should be considered equally the primary target of medical and biological research, and we should learn more than near the dose-effect relationship between exercise volume and health benefits that, within some still unknown upper limits, seems to be direct and practically linear. The growing interest shown by adults in sports and exercise will exist before long boosted past the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. It seems to be an optimal timing for the cardiologist to get a amend agreement of the terms athletes and exercisers and their health implications.

References

1. Miranda RF, Silva JA, Alves PM, Rose EH, Araujo CGS. Coronary hazard factors in high-rank athletes. Arq Bras Cardiol 1991;57:189-95.
2. Wikipedia. Athlete. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlete. Accessed March 04, 2016.
3. Maron BJ, Araujo CG, Thompson PD, , et al. Recommendations for preparticipation screening and the assessment of cardiovascular disease in masters athletes: an advisory for healthcare professionals from the working groups of the Earth Heart Federation, the International Federation of Sports Medicine, and the American Heart Association Committee on Exercise, Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Prevention. Circulation 2001;103:327-34.
4. Maron BJ, Chaitman BR, Ackerman MJ, , et al. Recommendations for physical activity and recreational sports participation for young patients with genetic cardiovascular diseases. Circulation 2004;109:2807-xvi.
5. Maron BJ, Zipes DP, Kovacs RJ. Eligibility and Disqualification Recommendations for Competitive Athletes With Cardiovascular Abnormalities: Preamble, Principles, and General Considerations: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Clan and American College of Cardiology. J Am Coll Cardiol 2015;66:2343-9.
6. Mitchell JH, Maron BJ, Epstein SE. 16th Bethesda Conference: Cardiovascular abnormalities in the athlete: recommendations regarding eligibility for competition. Oct 3-5, 1984. J Am Coll Cardiol 1985;6:1186-232.
7. Pelliccia A, Fagard R, Bjornstad HH, et al. Recommendations for competitive sports participation in athletes with cardiovascular disease: a consensus document from the Study Group of Sports Cardiology of the Working Group of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Do Physiology and the Working Grouping of Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur Middle J 2005;26:1422-45.
8. Marathon NYC. Available at: http://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/about-the-race/results/finisher-demographics. Accessed on March 04, 2016.
9. Races AoIMaD. Available at: http://aimsworldrunning.org/statistics/Earth's_Largest_Marathons.html#2014. Accessed on March 04, 2016.
10. Araujo CG, Scharhag J. Athlete: a working definition for medical and health sciences research. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2016;26:4-7.

Keywords: Achievement, American Heart Association, Athletes, Athletic Operation, Body Composition, Cholesterol, LDL, Dyslipidemias, Esthetics, Health Promotion, Life Expectancy, Muscle Strength, Concrete Fettle, Risk Factors, Sports

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Source: https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2016/06/27/07/06/the-terms-athlete-and-exercisers

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