{"id":2691,"date":"2025-03-07T08:57:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T08:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/?p=2691"},"modified":"2025-03-18T09:01:27","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T09:01:27","slug":"how-footballers-fingers-and-height-can-predict-their-exercise-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/03\/07\/how-footballers-fingers-and-height-can-predict-their-exercise-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"How footballers\u2019 fingers and height can predict their exercise performance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>With the\u00a0UEFA Women&#8217;s Euro just a few months away, attention continues to grow around women\u2019s football. Now new research involving <a href=\"http:\/\/swansea.ac.uk\">Swansea University<\/a> is focusing on female professional footballers and the levels of lactate they produce during exercise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarded as the preferred fuel for nerve and muscle cells, vigorous exercise results in the release of lactate into the blood stream but high levels may indicate that the body is in a state of stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scientists are trying to find out if it is possible to predict just how much lactate a person will produce based on the physical attributes of finger length and height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The relationship between the length of a person\u2019s index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio, has already been correlated with their performance in distance running, age at heart attack and severity of Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now<strong>&nbsp;Professor John Manning<\/strong>, of Swansea\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.swansea.ac.uk\/sport-exercise-sciences\/astem\/\">Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM)<\/a>&nbsp;research team, has been working with colleagues in Cyprus, Poland and Spain to monitor the performance of male and female professional footballers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two recent studies have shown a rapid accumulation of lactate in both male and female players during treadmill tests with running speeds up to 16 Km\/h.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team\u2019s latest findings highlighting the females\u2019 results have just been published by journal&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0378378225000349\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>Early Human Development<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/a>and follow on from last year\u2019s paper&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S037837822400063X?via%3Dihub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">examining male players<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some footballers showed very small increases in lactate while others registered a rapid increase. In males, digit ratio or 2D:4D &#8211; the relative length of the index (or second finger) and ring finger (4<sup>th<\/sup>) &#8211; was the strongest predictor of lactate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Professor Manning said:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cMen with a long ring finger relative to their index finger produced little in the way of lactate. For women, there were two predictors, height and 2D:4D. Lactate levels were low for tall women and women with a long ring finger relative to their index finger. The link here is thought to be testosterone-oestrogen balance in the womb and at puberty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A long ring finger is a marker of higher levels of prenatal testosterone, and a long index finger is a marker of higher levels of prenatal oestrogen. Generally, in comparison to women, men have longer ring fingers, whereas in comparison to men, women have longer index fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>He said:<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201cMen who have experienced high testosterone and low oestrogen (long ring fingers) before birth and women who have experienced high testosterone and low oestrogen before birth (long ring fingers) and at puberty (tall women) produced low levels of lactate in an incremental treadmill test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese results have implications beyond football &#8211; in sports including distance running as well as in clinical settings in which high lactate is found in serious medical conditions such as following heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Professor Manning has pioneered work investigating relationships of 2D:4D with various measures of fertility, health, and behaviour. His most recent research has examined the connection between&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.swansea.ac.uk\/press-office\/news-events\/news\/2024\/02\/new-study-analyses-link-between-digit-ratio-and-oxygen-consumption-in-footballers.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">digit ratio and footballers\u2019 oxygen consumption<\/a>&nbsp;and also looked at the link between&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.swansea.ac.uk\/press-office\/news-events\/news\/2024\/11\/how-long-ring-fingers-can-point-to-a-love-of-alcohol.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">finger length and a person\u2019s drinking habits.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the\u00a0UEFA Women&#8217;s Euro just a few months away, attention continues to grow around women\u2019s football. Now new research involving Swansea University is focusing on female professional footballers and the levels of lactate they produce during exercise. Regarded as the preferred fuel for nerve and muscle cells, vigorous exercise results in the release of lactate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190346150,"featured_media":2693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[1366],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wordpress-5.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfwlnl-Hp","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":635,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2024\/02\/15\/new-study-analyses-link-between-digit-radio-and-oxygen-consumption-in-footballers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2691,"position":0},"title":"New Study Analyses Link Between Digit Radio and Oxygen Consumption in Footballers","author":"meganchick1","date":"15th February 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The efficiency of oxygen supply to tissues is a factor in the severity of important diseases such as Covid-19 and heart conditions. Scientists already know that the relationship between the length of a person\u2019s index and ring fingers, known as the 2D:4D ratio is correlated with performance in distance running,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Human__Health_Sciences_727-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C861&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Human__Health_Sciences_727-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C861&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Human__Health_Sciences_727-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C861&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Human__Health_Sciences_727-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C861&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Human__Health_Sciences_727-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C861&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3752,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/11\/05\/exercise-and-diabetes-moving-from-fear-to-empowerment\/","url_meta":{"origin":2691,"position":1},"title":"Exercise and Diabetes: Moving from Fear to Empowerment","author":"meganchick1","date":"5th November 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Written for World Diabetes Day, this blog is written by Professor Richard Bracken, a leading researcher in exercise physiology at Swansea University. His work focuses on understanding how lifestyle, physical activity, and technology can improve health outcomes for people living with diabetes. Regular physical activity is one of the most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wordpress-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wordpress-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wordpress-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wordpress-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Wordpress-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":589,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2024\/04\/16\/swansea-university-and-swansea-city-football-club-msc-sports-science-placement-announced\/","url_meta":{"origin":2691,"position":2},"title":"Swansea University and Swansea City Football Club MSc Sports Science Placement Announced","author":"meganchick1","date":"16th April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Swansea City Football Club and Swansea University have announced an MSc programme in Advanced Sport Performance Science. In this unique opportunity the successful candidate will work closely with Swansea City Football Club to support the sports science department under the supervision of the Head of Sports Science. This will include\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sport_28.webp?fit=1200%2C351&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sport_28.webp?fit=1200%2C351&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sport_28.webp?fit=1200%2C351&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sport_28.webp?fit=1200%2C351&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Sport_28.webp?fit=1200%2C351&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3110,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/06\/06\/swansea-university-sport-science-graduates-lead-elite-performance-teams-at-premier-league-clubs\/","url_meta":{"origin":2691,"position":3},"title":"Swansea University Sport Science Graduates Lead Elite Performance Teams at Premier League Clubs","author":"meganchick1","date":"6th June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Two outstanding Swansea University graduates are now heading performance teams within top-tier English football clubs: Chelsea FC and West Ham United FC. Tom Taylor and Jordan Smith both studied for a BSc in\u00a0Sport and Exercise Science\u00a0at Swansea University, followed by a Masters by Research in Sports Science. Tom Taylor has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-3.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-3.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-3.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-3.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-3.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3186,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2025\/06\/24\/real-world-science-real-world-impact-sport-exercise-science-at-swansea-uni\/","url_meta":{"origin":2691,"position":4},"title":"Real-World Science, Real-World Impact: Sport &amp; Exercise Science at Swansea Uni","author":"meganchick1","date":"24th June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Swansea University's Sport and Exercise Science department offers a range of undergraduate and post-graduate courses that blend cutting-edge science with real-world application. If you're passionate about sport, performance, and health, Swansea University\u2019s Sport and Exercise Science programmes offer a world-class foundation using cutting-edge science with real-world application. Ranked 9th in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-2-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-2-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-2-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-2-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wordpress-2-1.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":576,"url":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/2024\/04\/16\/swansea-university-and-scarlets-rugby-announce-phd-scholarship-to-research-in-game-statistics-in-professional-rugby-union\/","url_meta":{"origin":2691,"position":5},"title":"Swansea University and Scarlets Rugby Announce PhD Scholarship to Research In-Game Statistics in Professional Rugby Union","author":"meganchick1","date":"16th April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Swansea University, in collaboration with Scarlets Rugby, has unveiled an innovative Sports Science PhD Scholarship to explore in-game statistics and their association with match outcomes in professional rugby. This pioneering initiative represents a concerted effort to push the boundaries of sports analytics and enhance the understanding of performance dynamics within\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/6746-Varsity_2019_%C2%A9jamesdavies_064.jpg?fit=1200%2C589&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/6746-Varsity_2019_%C2%A9jamesdavies_064.jpg?fit=1200%2C589&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/6746-Varsity_2019_%C2%A9jamesdavies_064.jpg?fit=1200%2C589&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/6746-Varsity_2019_%C2%A9jamesdavies_064.jpg?fit=1200%2C589&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nish.wales\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/6746-Varsity_2019_%C2%A9jamesdavies_064.jpg?fit=1200%2C589&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190346150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2694,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691\/revisions\/2694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nish.wales\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}