Sports Medicine

Acute and chronic exercise can boost esports cognitive and motor metrics

Systematic review of 12 experimental studies found acute exercise bouts (6–30 minutes) consistently improved executive function, reaction time, aiming accuracy, and elimination rate. Chronic programs (mostly 8–10 weeks, ~30 min thrice weekly) showed mixed esports-performance effects but often improved executive function and coordination. Rest intervals up to 30 minutes between exercise and play did not reduce acute benefits, supporting integration of short workouts into esports routines. 1

Higher adolescent fitness: small early AF signal but net long-term cardiovascular benefit

In 1,124,049 Swedish men (mean age 18.3), highest fitness decile had a small excess atrial fibrillation risk in early adulthood. Non-AF cardiovascular events were reduced and that benefit grew with age, becoming larger than AF excess from mid-adulthood onward. Full-sibling analyses nullified the AF excess while preserving non-AF CVD risk reductions, suggesting familial factors explain the early AF signal. 2

No overall BMI trend 2010–2024 among Estonian youth athletes; risk varies by sex, age, sport

Retrospective analysis of 40,077 preparticipation exams found combined overweight/obesity prevalence ~19–22% in boys and ~12–15% in girls, without a secular trend. Obesity was highest in younger boys and overweight/obesity rose through mid-adolescence in girls. Weekly training hours negatively correlated with BMI category and exercise tolerance inversely correlated with BMI in both sexes, identifying sport- and age-specific risk groups. 3