Jatin G. Burniston

1 Introduction Rugby has a high injury incidence rate compared to other team contact sports and players are regularly exposed to collision injuries, including blunt trauma to the upper body, head and neck. Sport-related concussion (SRC) is the most common (20% of all match injuries) injury in Rugby Football Union in England [1] and SRC incidence rates are rigorously monitored.

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a life-saving intervention for many critically ill patients. Unfortunately, prolonged MV results in the rapid development of diaphragmatic atrophy and weakness. Importantly, endurance exercise training results in a diaphragmatic phenotype that is protected against ventilator-induced diaphragmatic atrophy and weakness. The mechanisms responsible for this exercise-induced protection against ventilator-induced diaphragmatic atrophy remain unknown.