Sports Health & Fitness – Page 8

Who Are the Undergraduate Equestrians in the Intercollegiate Horseshows Association, and What Are Their Lifestyle Habits?

Authors: Jessie Bitler, Amanda J. Sandroni, Shelby Yeager, Helen Batisti, Diane M. DellaValle^*

Nutrition, Athletic Training and Exercise Science Department (NATES), Marywood University, Scranton, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:
Diane M. DellaValle, PhD, RDN, LDN
Marywood University
2300 Adams Ave
Scranton, PA 18509
Ph: 570-348-6211
Fax: 570-340-6029
Email: ddellavalle@marywood.edu

Jessie M. Bitler, MS was a graduate student at the time this study was conducted, and this was her thesis research.

Amanda J. Sandroni is a graduate student and dietetic intern at Marywood University. Her research interests focus on food allergies and intuitive eating in college students.

Shelby W. Yeager MEd, ATC, LAT, FMSC, NASM-CPT, PES, CES is an Associate Clinical Professor of Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Marywood University. Her interests focus on functional movement screening and injury prevention in athletes.

Helen E. Battisti, PhD, RDN, CDN was an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at the time this study was conducted. Her research interests include the use of the horse in psychosocial therapy.

Diane M. DellaValle, PhD, RDN, LDN is an Associate Professor of Nutrition. Her research interests include improving nutrition status and performance of collegiate athletes.

Who Are the Undergraduate Equestrians in the Intercollegiate Horseshows Association, and What Are Their Lifestyle Habits?

ABSTRACT

As there is currently little research available on collegiate equestrians, the purpose of the current study was to describe the health and lifestyle habits of undergraduate members of the Intercollegiate Horseshows Association (IHSA). This cross-sectional study consisted of an online survey of demographic, riding, health, and academic characteristics. Participants (n=528, 20.3±1.4 years old, 96% female, 91.7% white; BMI 23.2±3.7 kg/m²) reported 11.7±4.5 years of riding experience. Most reported very little to no alcohol consumption, and not smoking. Eighty-three percent reported 1-3 servings/day of both fruits and vegetables, and 84.6% reported sleeping 6-8 h/night. GPA was negatively related to the number of naps reported (r=-0.19, p<0.001), and alcohol servings (r=-0.15, p=0.001). Work hours per week was negatively related to hours of sleep per night (r=-0.14, p=0.006), and positively related to alcohol servings (r=0.12, p=0.03). Greater physical activity (PA) time within sport was related to more experience (r=0.13, p=0.003), horse ownership (r=0.30, p<0.001), greater vigorous PA time outside of sport (r=0.25, p<0.001), and more fruit consumed per day (r=0.16, p<0.001). While our results did show that these equestrians engaged in healthy lifestyle habits, we found that taking more naps and drinking more alcohol were both negatively related to student GPA, and that working more hours was negatively related to hours of sleep per night and was positively related to drinking more alcohol. It is important to describe the characteristics of this group due to their uniqueness in order for College and University Services to develop health and nutrition programs appropriate to serve their unique needs.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-08-12T11:28:37-05:00November 27th, 2020|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Nutrition status of female division I college gymnasts: a descriptive study

Authors: Hilary Green¹, Ruth Litchfield¹, and Ulrike Genschel²

¹Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
²Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames Iowa

Corresponding Author:
Hilary L. Green, MS, RDN
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
2312 Food Sciences Building
536 Farm House Lane
Ames, IA 50011-1061
hilarygreen2014@outlook.com
910-728-7063

Hilary L. Green, MS, RDN is a BS/MS graduate of Iowa State University in Diet and Exercise who performed research under the guidance of Dr. Ruth Litchfield. Her research interests focused on nutrition, inflammation, and the recovery status of division I collegiate female gymnasts.

Ruth Litchfield, PhD, RD, LD is currently a faculty member and Nutrition Extension State Specialist at Iowa State University. Her research interests include nutrition education, health promotion, sports nutrition, educational technology, and school nutrition.

Ulrike Genschel, PhD is an associate professor of statistics. Her research interests are in the areas of statistics education, education research methodology, general statistical methodology, and robust statistics.

Nutrition status of female division I college gymnasts: a descriptive study

ABSTRACT

Research has shown the female athlete triad to be prevalent among aesthetic sports like gymnastics, where decreased energy intake can increase the risk of one or more components of the triad. The importance of nutrition in recovery for elite athletes, including collegiate gymnasts, has also been noted. The purpose of this paper is to examine anthropometric measures and dietary intake during the pre-season and competitive season among division I collegiate female gymnasts. Variable measures were collected in August, December, and April and analyzed using descriptive statistics via SPSS (v25) and SAS (v9.4). Results suggest a decrease in body fat from August to December. Energy, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, vitamins (folate, K, D) and choline intakes did not meet current recommendations and diet quality was fair. This study demonstrated suboptimal dietary intake, indicating the need for nutrition interventions to improve nutrient intake and diet quality in collegiate female gymnasts.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-12-03T16:08:01-06:00November 20th, 2020|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

How They Play: Studying a Pick-Up Basketball Game

Authors: Diane Ketelle¹, Lucas Ketelle²

¹School of Education, Mills College, Oakland, CA
²Professional freelance sports writer

Corresponding Author:
Diane Ketelle
395 Camelback Rd #22
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
dpketelle@gmail.com
925.914.0366

Diane Ketelle, D.P.A., is a Professor Emerita of Educational Leadership at Mills College. Her research focuses on leadership studies and narrative inquiry. She has conducted many large scale story projects including a three year project at San Quentin State Prison that supported students in writing stories from their lives.

Lucas Ketelle, Ed.D., is a professional sports writer who covers primarily amateur and professional boxing. He is the Editor in Chief of Inside the Ropes.

How They Play: A Study of a Pick-Up basketball Game

ABSTRACT

This two month study focused on a community pick-up basketball game that brought a group of strangers together weekly to play ball and recreate. The game provided a safe place to create belonging and the group formed a sense of community and kinship through this activity.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-08-12T09:57:07-05:00November 6th, 2020|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

The Impact of Gender on Perception of Risk During Exercise

Authors: Dr. Alexia Franzidis and Dr. Lindsey H. Schroeder

Corresponding Author:
Lindsey H. Schroeder Ed.D., LAT, ATC, CES
601 S. College Rd.
Wilmington NC, 28403-5956
schroederl@uncw.edu
910-962-7188

Dr. Franzidis is an associate professor and program coordinator at the University of North Carolina Wilmington for the Recreation, Sport Leadership, and Tourism Management Program.

Dr. Schroeder is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the Athletic Training Program. She is a licensed and certified athletic trainer and an alumnus of the United States Sports Academy.

The impact of gender on perception of risk during exercise

ABSTRACT

An individual’s decision to engage in physical activity is driven by perceived benefits and risks. Activities that are considered risky may have limited involvement or participation. As such, understanding risk perceptions of specific physical activities is important, specifically for college students, whose engagement in physical activity decreases during their transition from high school to college. The purpose of this study was to identify college students’ preferred exercise areas within the recreation center, their exercise frequency, and their perceptions of risk and injury. The participants in the study comprised 232 college students enrolled at a mid-sized public university located in southeastern North Carolina. Students completed a survey with three sections, focusing on demographics, workout behavior, and perceived exercise risks, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Most of the participants were 18 years old (32.8%) and identified as female (56.9%). Significant gender differences were found. Gender influenced the number of hours students spent working out per week, the area of the recreation center utilized, and the exercise activities conducted, the perceptions of how injuries occur, and the number of supervisors present during their workout. The findings indicate a need for further educational programming in recreation centers regarding the proper use of all fitness equipment. Such education could increase usage in all areas, as well as decrease the perceived risks of using specific pieces of equipment, especially amongst women.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-07-15T09:56:02-05:00September 25th, 2020|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Normative Fitness Values: Among Teenage Male Competitive Hockey Players

Authors: Jordan Bent, Mark DeBeliso

Southern Utah University Department of Kinesiology and Outdoor Recreation
351 West University Blvd.
Cedar City, UT 84720

Corresponding Author:
Jordan Bent
10 Harry Street
Petawawa, ON, CA. K8H 2A4
Email: bent@hdtstrength.com
289-407-7238

Jordan Bent is a graduate student at Southern Utah University in Sports Conditioning and Performance.

Normative Fitness Values: An Analysis of Strength Based Characteristics in Teenage Male Competitive Hockey Players

ABSTRACT

Muscular strength, endurance and power are important attributes in many sports. Fitness testing norms are published for a variety of sports across a range of age groups and playing levels, however they do not currently exist for competitive high school aged hockey players. Purpose: This study reported lower body power (standing long jump-SLJ), upper body muscular endurance (bench press-BP and pull ups-PU), and lower body strength (3RM back squat-3RM-BSQ) data collected over three years at the beginning of each hockey season for the purpose establishing an initial set of fitness norms for competitive high school aged hockey players. Methods: Ninety-eight Canadian (U17AAA = 55; U18AAA = 43) high school male participants competing in midget AAA hockey were tested prior to the beginning of each season in September during the 2015-2017 hockey seasons with a host of fitness tests. Means, standard deviations and percentile ranks were calculated for the SLJ, maximum BP repetitions at 75% of body weight (BP-75%), PU, and 3-RM BSQ for both U17AAA and U18AAA hockey players. Results: Means, standard deviations for each player grouping were as follows. U17AAA (SLJ=234.7±15.7, BP-75%= 9.2±5.4, PU= 9.5±4.5, 3-RM-BSQ=108.0±15.4) and U18AAA (SLJ=235.7±16.6, BP-75%=13.0±6.7, PU=10.0±5.2, 3-RM-BSQ=120.4±21.0). Conclusion: The data presented provides a preliminary set of physical performance benchmarks for coaches and players to utilize in order to develop an athletic profile for athletes aspiring to compete in hockey at the AAA level and beyond.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-07-15T09:45:57-05:00September 18th, 2020|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off