Sports Health & Fitness – Page 13

Comparison of BMI-based equations and plethysmography for estimating body fat in female collegiate gymnasts

Authors: Jason C. Casey¹, Robert L. Herron², and Michael R. Esco³

¹Department of Kinesiology, University of North Georgia, Oakwood, GA, USA
²Department of Sports Management, United States Sports Academy, Daphne, AL, USA
³Department of Kinesiology, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Corresponding Author:
Robert L. Herron, MA, CSCS*D, ACSM-RCEP
1 Academy Drive
Daphne Al, 36526
rherron@ussa.edu
251-626-3303

Jason C. Casey, PhD, CSCS*D, EP-C is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the University of North Georgia in Oakwood, GA. His research interests focus on fatigue and recovery associated with exercise, athlete monitoring, and sport-related measurement issues.

Robert L. Herron, MA, CSCS*D, ACSM-RECP is currently faculty member and Sport Management doctoral student at the United States Sports Academy. Robert’s areas of research interest include: measurement and evaluation in sport-related research and recovery from exercise stressors or sport injuries.

Michael R. Esco, PhD, CSCS*D, FACSM is an associate professor of exercise physiology in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Alabama. His research interests are in the areas of heart rate variability, body composition, athletic monitoring, and cardiovascular physiology.

Comparison of BMI-based equations and plethysmography for estimating body fat in female collegiate gymnasts

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of using BMI-based equations (BEQ) to estimate body-fat percentage (BF%) in female-collegiate gymnasts. As such, the agreement between BF% estimates with BEQ and air-displacement plethysmography (AP) were compared in twenty-two gymnasts (n = 22). Body mass, height, and BF% were assessed via AP and BEQ [Jackson et al. (J_BMI), Deurenberg et al. (D_BMI), and Womersley & Durnin (W_BMI)]. Results: The assessments produced the following estimated BF%: AP = 20.3 ± 3.6%; J_BMI = 26.9 ± 3.9%; D_BMI = 26.4 ± 2.2%; and W_BMI = 27.9 ± 2.5%. BF% estimated via AP was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than each BEQ. Weak correlations were found between AP and BEQ (J_BMI, r = 0.12; D_BMI, r = 0.07; W_BMI, r = 0.12). The limits of agreement (constant error ± 1.96 SD) for each BEQ compared to AP were: J_BMI = 6.6 ± 9.5%; D_BMI = 6.1 ± 7.8%; and W_BMI = 7.6 ± 8.0%. These results suggest a wide range of individual differences existed between BEQ and AP. Furthermore, BEQ significantly overestimated BF% relative to AP in this gymnastics population. Coaches and sport practitioners are in need of a quick, practical, inexpensive, and accurate method of body composition assessment. Based on this study, BEQ does not meet the needs of the practitioner when compared to AP. As a result, practitioners in the field need to consider other field methods of predicting BF% in collegiate female gymnasts.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-02T13:45:30-05:00November 8th, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Physical performance of youth football (soccer) players playing in European and National Leagues’ matches

Authors: Emmanouil Smpokos, Antonios Tsikakis, Ricardo Peres, Vangelis Lappas, Pedro Caravela, Paulo Oliveira, Manolis Linardakis and the ‘Olympiacos FC Academy Research Group’

Corresponding Author:
Emmanouil Smpokos
E-mail: msbokos@edu.med.uoc.gr or manosmpok@yahoo.gr (Dr. E. Sbokos)
Phone number: 0030 6945233315
Fax number: 0030 2155308859

Emmanouil Smpokos, PhD/MSc, is the senior physiologist at the Research and Development Department, Olympiacos Academy Football Club, Piraeus, Greece and fitness coach of the U-19; Antonios Tsikakis is the fitness coach at the Department in U-17 ; Ricardo Peres is the Technical Director and the Head coach of the U-19 of Olympiacos FC Academy ; Vangelis Lappas is the head of Goalkeepers’ Department and the Goalkeeper coach of the U-19 team of Olympiacos FC Academy; Pedro Caravela is the Head of the Scouting Department and assistant coach of U-19 team of Olympiacos FC Academy; Paulo Oliveira is assistant coach of Olympiacos FC Academy ; Manolis Linardakis, PhD/MSc, is Biostatistician at Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.

Physical performance of youth football (soccer) players playing in European and National Leagues’ matches

ABSTRACT

The current study assessed the physical performance of youth Greek football (soccer) players between the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Youth and National Leagues’ matches. This effort was based on 271 measurements of nine physical/motor activities recruited from 25 players with a mean age of 18.4 (±1.2 years) during August 2017 and January 2018 from official-matches of UEFA Youth (n=6) and National Leagues (n=16). Measurements were recruited using Global-Positioning-System Technology-(GPS) and differences were assessed through analysis of covariance. 56.0% of the players were 18.0+ years old, 52.0% were midfielders, and 56.5% of players’ participations were recorded in full time (90.0+ minutes). Between the two competitions of UEFA Youth and National Leagues’ matches, it has been found that there is significant difference only in mean number of decelerations (71.4 vs. 61.7, respectively, p=0.010). High mean levels of total distance-(TD), very high-intensity-speed-running-distance-(VHS), maximal-sprinting-speed-distance-(MS), high-speed-running-(HSR), distance/time-(D/T), sprints, number of accelerations and maximum-velocity-(Vmax) were noticed as well as in UEFA Youth Leagues’ matches but did not differed significantly in relation to counterparts (p>0.05). The researchers observed that youth football players displayed similar efforts in all matches maintaining a high level of physical performance, without separating the matches according to the competition, due to the educational behavior adopted within the football academy of the club.

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U.S. Sports Academy2019-07-24T09:03:50-05:00August 1st, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Physical Exam Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Abnormalities in College Sport Athletes: A Systematic Review

Authors: Rose Uzoma Elekanachi

Corresponding Author:
Rose Uzoma Elekanachi. BPT, MSc, mMRTB
29 Shaw Road,
Bridgewater, MA, 02324
elekanachirose@gmail.com
5087141508

Rose Uzoma Elekanachi is a Nigerian Physical therapist and a recent Graduate of Bridgewater State University with a Masters in Physical Education with a concentration in Exercise Science. She is also a member of the Medical Rehabilitation Therapist Board in Nigeria.

Physical Exam Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Abnormalities in College Sport Athletes: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

The preparticipation physical examination (PPE) is an important area of the care and safety of any active athletic individuals. The evaluation involves a process that brings about the discovery of life threatening or disabling conditions that could prevent athletes’ participation from sporting activities or predispose them to injuries or death.

The preparticipation evaluation was not made to prevent or exclude athletes from participation, rather to help athletes practice safe sport participation. There has been a long ongoing debate on the inclusion and importance of cardiovascular analysis as a part of the PPE as cardiovascular abnormalities is a risk factor that predisposes collegiate athlete to sport injuries or even death. The objective of the proposed project was to identify the clinical methods that most effectively assess cardiovascular abnormalities in intercollegiate athletes through a systematic review of existing published research studies in which cardiovascular abnormalities in intercollegiate athletes were included as measurement variables.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-02T13:47:17-05:00June 20th, 2019|Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Endurance masters athletes: A model of successful ageing with clinically superior BMI?

Authors: Mike Climstein, PhD, FASMF, FACSM, FAAESS, Joe Walsh, MSc, Ian Timothy Heazlewood, PhD, Mark DeBeliso, PhD, FACSM

Corresponding Author:
Dr. Mike Climstein
Clinical Exercise Physiology, School of Health and Human Sciences
Southern Cross University (Gold Coast Campus)
Bilinga, Qld 4225
Australia
michael.climstein@scu.edu.au
+617 5509 3330

Dr. Mike Climstein (FASMF, FACSM, FAAESS, AEP) is with Clinical Exercise Physiology, Southern Cross University, School of Health and Human Sciences, Bilinga, Queensland, Australia; Adjunct Associate Professor with The University of Sydney, Exercise, Health and Performance Faculty Research Group, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Joe Walsh is affiliated with the Faculty of Engineering, Health, Science and the Environment, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Ian Timothy Heazlewood is Associate Professor and Theme Leader Exercise and Sport Science in The College of Health and Human Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Mark DeBeliso is Professor, Department of Physical Education and Human Performance, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, USA

Endurance masters athletes: A model of successful ageing with clinically superior BMI?

ABSTRACT

Master athletes (30yrs and older) are aged individuals who exercise regularly and compete in organized competitive sport. The long-term physical activity/exercise should afford these individuals health benefits, one of which should be apparent in body mass index (BMI), a simple index for identifying overweight and obese athletes.

Purpose: To investigate the BMI of endurance masters athletes and determine if this cohort demonstrated clinically favourable BMI as compared to sedentary controls or the general population. A systematic review of electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science) for studies where BMI was measured in either masters athletes, World Masters Games athletes or veteran athletes.

Results: Database searches identified 7,465 studies, of which nine met our inclusion criteria. The mean BMI of all the studies was found to be significantly (p<0.001) lower in masters athletes as compared to controls (23.4 kg/m² (±0.97) versus 26.3 kg/m² (±1.68)). Additionally, for all studies mean masters athlete BMI was classified as normal (BMI >18.5 to <25.0 kg/m²) whereas the majority (77.8%) of the controls BMIs were classified as overweight (BMI >25.0 to < 30 kg/m2). In all studies, masters athletes had lower BMI compared to controls, this difference was found to be significant in 44.4% of the studies, where significance was not found masters athlete BMI was -2.6% to -18.6% lower than controls. In all studies, the mean BMI was lower in masters athletes (as compared to controls) and this favourable BMI would afford masters athletes reduced risk with regard to the development of a number of cardiometabolic diseases, osteoarthritis and certain types of cancer.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-02T13:47:38-05:00April 25th, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Biomechanical Comparison of “Dead” and “New” Pointe Shoes in Female Professional Ballet Dancers

Authors: Jessica Aquino, MS and Tal Amasay, PhD

Corresponding Author:
Tal Amasay, PhD, CSCS, EPC
11300 NE 2^nd Ave
Miami Shores, FL 33161
tamasay@barry.edu
305-899-4893

Jessica Aquino has a master degree in movement sciences, is a certified athletic trainer, and work with professional Ballet dancers. Tal Amasay is associate professor at Barry University and the head of the Motion Analysis Center. He is a certified exercise physiologist and certified strength and conditioning coach

Biomechanical Comparison of “Dead” and “New” Pointe Shoe in Female Professional Ballet Dancers

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Available research on pointe shoes often compare pointe shoes to other dance footwear, however there is a lack of studies comparing dancers’ biomechanics when using “new” pointe shoes and pointe shoes that have worn down, “dead”. The aim of this study was to examine the biomechanical differences exhibited by professional ballet dancers while performing relevé, sous-sus, and pirouette in “dead” and “new” pointe shoes. Methods: Thirteen female (20.9 ± 1.9 years old) professional ballet dancers were asked to perform three trials of relevé, sous-sus, and pirouette in “new” pointe shoes and “dead” pointe shoes. Center of pressure sway area and ground reaction forces in the anterior-posterior, medial-lateral, and vertical directions were recorded using one AMTI force plate. Results: The “dead” pointe shoe condition had significantly higher sway area during relevé, sous-sus, and single pirouette (103 ± 95 mm²; 256 ± 133 mm²; 178 ±129 mm², respectively) than the “new” pointe shoe condition (50 ± 65 mm²; 110 ± 64 mm²; 77 ± 39 mm², respectively), p-value < 0.05. In addition, peak ground reaction force in the anterior-posterior direction during relevé movement was higher in “new” pointe shoes (35 ± 6% body weight) than in “dead” pointe shoes (32 ± 6% body weight), p-value = 0.019. No significant differences were observed for the other dependent variables. Conclusions: A larger sway area was observed in “dead” pointe shoes compared to “new” pointe shoes, which indicates that the participant had less balance in the “dead” pointe shoes than in the “new” pointe shoes. The larger sway area in “dead” pointe shoes may indicate that decrease in shoe integrity may contribute to decrease in the support and stability of the pointe shoe while the ballet dancer maintains the ‘en pointe’ position. Moreover, higher forces in the anterior direction state that the dancers can apply more forces in the “new” point shoe. Application in sport: These results can educate ballet teachers and ballet dancers about the mechanical changes in “dead” pointe shoes, which may lead to injury and reduce in performance. Furthermore, these results may lead to enhancements in footwear design.

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U.S. Sports Academy2019-02-13T08:47:53-06:00February 14th, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off