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Stone, Michael H. "What is Sport Science?" Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2009. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4578.
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Stone, Michael H. "What Is Sport Science." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2010. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4536.
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Stone, Michael H. "What Is Sport Science?" Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4543.
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Hill, Rebecca Joanne. "Stable isotopes and their use in sports science /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2002. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe17053.pdf.
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Stone, Michael H., Brian D. Johnston, and R. J. Elbin. "American Football: Lessons Learned from Sport Science and Sports Medicine: Strength and Conditioning for American Football: A Brief Overview." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2010. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4534.
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Gentles, Jeremy A. "Game Performance of NCAA Division I Teams With & Without Integrated Sport Science Support." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2012. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3981.
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Bernards, Jake R., Kimitake Sato, G. Gregory Haff, and Caleb D. Bazyler. "Current Research and Statistical Practices in Sport Science and a Need for Change." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/3789.
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Current research ideologies in sport science allow for the possibility of investigators producing statistically significant results to help fit the outcome into a predetermined theory. Additionally, under the current Neyman-Pearson statistical structure, some argue that null hypothesis significant testing (NHST) under the frequentist approach is flawed, regardless. For example, a p-value is unable to measure the probability that the studied hypothesis is true, unable to measure the size of an effect or the importance of a result, and unable to provide a good measure of evidence regarding a model or hypothesis. Many of these downfalls are key questions researchers strive to answer following an investigation. Therefore, a shift towards a magnitude-based inference model, and eventually a fully Bayesian framework, is thought to be a better fit from a statistical standpoint and may be an improved way to address biases within the literature. The goal of this article is to shed light on the current research and statistical shortcomings the field of sport science faces today, and offer potential solutions to help guide future research practices.
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Baker, Catherine Elizabeth. "An ethnographic enquiry into the use of sports science and technologies in professional rugby." Thesis, Durham University, 2012. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4926/.
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Sports Science and Sports Medicine are becoming an inherent part of the landscape of high performance sports environments. Such is their visibility, that there are currently over 25,000 students training as sports scientists alone; a number greater than the other classical sciences combined. Through an ethnographic study of two professional rugby teams over the course of 12 months, it is shown that the ways in which these technologies and knowledge are deployed in the field differ substantially from their academic and philosophical basis. Drawing upon the work of Foucault, Goffman and Bourdieu, it is suggested that the use of science and technologies within the Medical and Strength and Conditioning departments alters in light of the physical location, the staff involved and the perceived attachment of these tools to higher order knowledge structures derived from beyond the immediate field of enquiry. Moreover, it is argued that the justification for the adoption of ‘science’ in these specific subcultural domains more often relates to social, political and operative means rather than the theoretical bases cited. A typology of use is presented in an effort to clarify the factors affecting the use of Sports Science and Sports Medicine in elite sport, and the implications that these have for the staff, athletes and serving knowledge bases. Notions of identity, surveillance and self governance are central in understanding the relative ease with which technologies of performance have managed to infiltrate the studied environments, and it is posited that similarities may exist in other cultures synonymous with elite sport. This is an ethnography of ‘science in action’.
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Billew, Barrett Slade. "Flow-Acting: Modern Sports Science and the Preparation of Actors." VCU Scholars Compass, 2008. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/775.
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Theatre artists and acting teachers throughout history have sought to find and create presence. By combining modern sports science with an understanding of systems of actor training I have suggested an approach that makes presence a trainable skill. My coach Dr. Scott Sonnon, developer of the Circular Strength Training System, has refined modern sports science to emphasize the development and maintenance of flow-state. This state allows the athlete to respond openly and freely within a constantly changing situation.By combining my life long study of acting with my eight years of work with Coach Sonnon I am developing a system to teach actors the skill of cultivating flow. This work will enhance the actor's presence and ability to handle the stress of performance while developing a strong, supple, and coordinated psychophysical instrument. Video of examples of the exercises can be found in the accompanying materials.This work was created in Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac.
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Garrett, Richard. "Changing their game? : the institutional effects of Sport England's lottery fund on voluntary sports clubs." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2003. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14755/.
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This thesis investigates the expectations placed on voluntary sports clubs (VSCs) in exchange for Lottery funding awarded by Sport England. the resulting effects of those pressures on VSCs' organisational structures and VSCs' responses to these pressures. Using institutional theory as a framework. it is argued that receipt of funding from Sport England's Lottery Fund exposes VSCs to the normative prescriptions of the sports policy sector to a greater extent than they ever were before applying to the Fund. These normative pressures are reinforced by Sport England through coercion and the provision of legitimate models for VSCs to mimic resulting in a more bureaucratic structure for VSCs in receipt of funding.· The research was conducted in three phases. Phase one constituted the identification of institutional pressures exerted by Sport England through its Lottery Fund on VSCs through semi-structured interviews with Sport England staff and analysis of Lottery Fund documents. A survey of VSCs in receipt of Lottery funding from Sport England was conducted in phase two to establish any change in the VSCs' structures since receiving funding. Finally. in phase three. six case studies of VSCs were selected from phase two. Pairs of VSCs from three sports were selected for qualitative investigation. One of the pair exhibited an increased level of structure while the other demonstrated no change or a reduction in its level of structure. The majority of VSCs surveyed in phase two experienced an increase in structure to some degree after receiving Lottery funding. However. the case studies in phase three demonstrate that the changes in VSCs' level of structure cannot be attributed only to receipt of Lottery funding from Sport England. Two of the six case studies also made resistant responses to the institutional pressures of Sport England's Lottery Fund.
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Reed, Jacob P. "Coach and Athlete Perceptions of an Athlete Monitoring and Strength and Conditioning Program." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2014. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2399.
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Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to assess athlete perceptions of an athlete monitoring program throughout an academic year and coach perceptions throughout a competitive season. The secondary purpose was to develop a questionnaire designed to assess coach and athlete perceptions of the monitoring program. Methods: Athletes and coaches participating in the athlete monitoring program at East Tennessee State University’s (ETSU) Sport Performance Enhancement Consortium (SPEC) were invited to participate. Reliability for the coach and athlete questionnaires and principle components analysis (PCA) of the athlete questionnaire was completed after initial development of the questionnaire (11 questions for athletes and 20 for coaches) in the spring of 2013. To analyze changes throughout the academic year, 4 additional questionnaires were administered at the beginning and end of the fall 2013 and spring 2014 semesters. Results: Both athlete and coach questionnaires were considered reliable (athletes = 0.842, coaches = 0.919). PCA revealed a 3 component model (KMO = 0.798, Bartlett’s test of Sphericity = p < 0.001) with eigenvalues over one explaining 68.88% of total variance. Statistical differences between the pre and all other time points were noted for athlete’s perceptions of the SPEC programs influence on overall performance, skill, strength, speed, power, and understanding of the SPEC monitoring protocols. Coachs’ perceptions were statistically different from pre-to postseason only for skill. Conclusion: The questionnaire was shown reliable and can be considered for future use. The first component of the PCA revealed that perceptions of overall performance are influenced by perceptions of strength, skill, and power and agreement that testing data reflects performance, while the second showed that aerobic and anaerobic endurance as well as speed are all highly correlated and, finally, the third revealed that athletes’ understanding of the SPEC program monitoring increased with return of data. Overall, perceptions of the SPEC programs ability to influence the components assessed by the questionnaire were positive ranging from no different to much better for coaches and athletes. In conclusion, the SPEC athlete monitoring program seems to be a beneficial model for enhancing athletes’ and coaches’ perceptions of certain aspects of performance.
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Sheppard, Jeremy Matthew. "The competitive, physiological and trainable aspects of vertical jump performance : a series of studies on the strength and conditioning of elite volleyball players." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2009. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1905.
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This is a thesis 'by publication' that comprises 11 manuscripts (Chapters 2- 12) that have passed the peer-reviewed process and have been accepted for publication. The 11 manuscripts have been published or are in press in 4 different journals, and are in general presented in this thesis in the format of the particular journal, with the exception of referencing, which has been formatted to a uniform style. Of the 11 manuscripts, 7 are full papers, and 4 are case-studies/brief research notes. The references relevant to this thesis are outlined below.
Manuscripts:
Sheppard, J.M., J. Cronin, T. J. Gabbett, M. R. McGuigan, N. Extebarria, and R. U. Newton. Relative importance of strength and power qualities to jump performance in elite male volleyball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 22:758-765, 2007.
Sheppard, J. M., T. J. Gabbett, K. L. Taylor, J. Dorman, A. J. Lebedew, and B. R. Development of a repeated-effort test for elite men's volleyball. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2:292-304, 2007.
Sheppard, J. M., M. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. The effect of accentuated eccentric load on vertical jump kinetics kinematics in elite male athletes. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. 2:267-273, 2007.
Sheppard, J. M., S. Cormack, K. L. Taylor, M. R. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. Assessing the force-velocity characteristics of well trained athletes: the incremental load power profile. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 22: 1320-1326, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M. and T. L. Doyle. Increasing compliance to instructions in the squat jump. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 22:648-651, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M. and R. Borgeaud. Influence of stature on movement speed and repeated efforts in elite volleyball players. Jo11111al of Australian Strength and Conditioning. 16:12- 14, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M., T. L. Doyle, and K. L. Taylor. A methodological and performance comparison of Smith-machine and free weight jump squats. Jou111al of Australian Strength and Conditioning. 16:5-9, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M., T. Gabbett, and R. Borgeaud. Training repeated effort ability in national team male volleyball players. lnternational Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 3:397-400, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M., S. Hobson, D. Chapman, K. L. Taylor, M. McGuigan, and R. U. Newtqn. The effect of training with accentuated eccentric load counter-movement jumps on strength and power characteristics of high-performance volleyball players. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. 3:355-363, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M., D. Chapman, C. Gough, M. R. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. Twelve month training induced changes in elite international volleyball players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, In press.
Sheppard, J. M., M. R. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. The effects of depth-jumping on vertical jump performance of elite volleyball players: an examination of the transfer of increased stretch-load tolerance to spike jump performance. Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning, In Press.
Conference Presentations & Posters
Sheppard, J.M., J. Cronin, N. Extebarria, T. Gabbett, M. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. The relative importance of strength and power for vertical jumping in elite male volleyball players. In National Strength and Conditioning Association Annual Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, 2007.
Sheppard, J. M., R. U. Newton, and M. McGuigan. The effects of accentuated eccentric load on kinetic and kinematic factors in vertical jump performance of elite male athletes. In 2nd Annual Sports Innovation Summit. Vancouver, Canada, 2007.
Sheppard, J. M. and T. Gabbett. The development and evaluation of a repeated effort test for volleyball. In National Strength and Conditioning Association Annual Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, 2007.
Sheppard, J. M., D. Chapman, C. Gough, M. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. The association between changes in vertical jump and changes in strength and power qualities in elite volleyball players over 1 year. In National Strength and Conditioning Association Annual Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada, 2008.
Sheppard, J. M., M. McGuigan, and R. U. Newton. The effect of increased stretch load tolerance on vertical jump ability in elite male volleyball players. In National Strength and Conditioning Association Annual Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada, 2008.
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Chang, Lawrence. "The Universal Sports Database." Thesis, Boston College, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/538.
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Thesis advisor: David R. MartinWith vast amounts of data in the world, organization becomes a challenge. The success of data driven web services (IMDb, YouTube, Google Maps, Wikipedia, et cetera) all hinge on their ability to present information in an intuitive manner with user friendly interfaces. One area that fails to have such a service is sports statistics. With the ubiquitous appeal of sports, having a solution to this problem can be universally beneficial. Many sites exist that have statistics of different sports, but there are limitations to all of them. Since there is very little continuity among all sports, statistics are represented disparately.There are several problems with this approach. Any time there needs to be a change to the informational structure, the entire database and interface need to change. In addition, there can never be a single interface if there are different schemas for different sports, leading to a user unfriendly interface.My system uses a unique schema that is capable of representing statistics from any sport, no matter how unique. Adding new statistics to a sport to reflect rule changes or adding a new sport altogether are seamless. In addition, the web interface is structured by Rails, which changes automatically with the schema.Challenges included developing a universal sports schema and testing it sufficiently enough to prove its generality. Finding and extracting the data to populate the database also presented difficulties
Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2008
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Computer Science
Discipline: College Honors Program
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Foreman, Sean Daniel. "The politics of professional sports facility subsidies in Florida." FIU Digital Commons, 2003. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3338.
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Political leaders in urban settings regularly confront difficult decisions over how to distribute public funds. Those decisions may be even more controversial when they involve public subsidies of professional sports facilities. Yet, state and local governments in the United States have granted billions of dollars in financial and land-based subsidies for professional sports facilities over the past two decades, raising questions about how these types of corporate welfare decisions are made by local leaders. Scholarship on urban politics and community power suggests a number of theories to explain political influence. They include elitism, pluralism, political economy and growth machines, urban regimes, coalition theory, and minority empowerment. My hypothesis is that coalition theory, a theory that argues that public policy decisions are made by shifting, ad hoc alliances within a community, best describes these subsidy decisions.
To test this hypothesis I employ a public policy process model and develop a framework of variables that is used to methodically examine four sports facilities funding decisions in two Florida counties between 1977 and 1998: Joe Robbie Stadium and the American Airlines Arena in Miami-Dade, and the Ice Palace Arena and the Raymond James Stadium in Hillsborough County. The framework includes six variables that permit a rigorous examination of the actors involved in the decision, their interactions, and the political environment within which they operate. The variables are formal political structure, informal sector, subsidy proponents, subsidy opponents, public policy options, and public opinion.
This research rests on qualitative data gathered from interviews of public and private officials involved in subsidy decisions, public records, and media reports Employing a case study analysis, I offer a rich description of the decision making process to publicly fond sports stadiums and arenas in Florida. My findings confirm that the best theory to explain decisions to subsidize sports facilities is one in which short term, temporary coalitions are formed to accomplish policy goals.
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Nimphius, Sophia. "Performance characteristics of elite softball players: Changes and determinants of performance related to the lower body." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2009. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2091.
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Study 1: Relationship between ground reaction force and ball velocity during windmill softball pitching The purpose of this research was to (1) determine the reliability of measuring ground reaction force (GRF) in multiple pitching trials and (2) investigate the relationship between ground reaction forces and pitch velocity in elite fastpitch softball pitchers. Seven female softball pitchers (19.6 ± 3.9 years; 167.4 ± 7.2 cm; 77.3 ± 7.6 kg) from the state, national and international level pitched six fastballs for maximal velocity and the fastest three pitches were used for analysis. Vertical peak forces (Fz1, Fz2), anterior-posterior peak forces (FAP1, FAP2), resultant peak forces (FR1, FR2) and maximal pitch velocity (PV) were measured using a force plate (Type 9287BA, Kistler) and a JUGS radar gun. Intraclass correlation (ICC) and coefficient of variance (CV) was determined for all variables and the relationship between PV and GRF was evaluated by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Statistical significance was set at α level of p < 0.05. The ICC for all GRF variables (0.922-0.985) and PV (0.914) were high. CV for GRF variables ranged from 2.2% to 4.9% and 2.4% for PV. Fz2 and PV were significantly correlated (r = 0.89; p < 0.01). Fz2 relative to bodyweight (Fz2/BW) was also significantly correlated to PV (r = .801, p < 0.05). No other GRF measures were significantly correlated to PV. A high ICC and low CV across the variables support the reliability of GRF and PV over multiple trials. The strong correlation between Fz2 and PV provides evidence that a transfer of force to the lower body has a large contribution to windmill pitching performance. This supports prescription of lower body strength exercises to improve the ability of pitchers to effectively transmit forces through the lower body for improved PV.
Study 2: Relationship between strength, power, speed and change of direction performance of female softball players The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the cross-sectional relationship of strength, power, and performance variables in trained female athletes and (2) determine if the relationship between these variables changes over the course of a season. Ten female softball players (age = 18.1 ± 1.6 years, height = 166.5 ± 8.9 cm, weight = 72.4 ± 10.8 kg) from a state Australian Institute of Sport softball team were tested for maximal lower body strength (1RM), peak force (PF), peak velocity (PV), and peak power (PP) during jump squats unloaded and loaded, unloaded countermovement vertical jump height (VJH) one base (1B) and two base (2B) sprint performance and change of direction performance on dominant (505 D) and non-dominant sides (505 ND). The testing sessions occurred pre, mid and post a 20 week pre/in-season training period. Relationship between body weight (BW), relative strength (1RM/BW), VJH, relative PP, relative PF, PV, speed and change of direction variables were assessed by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient at each testing session. Significant relationships were found across all time points with BW, speed and change of direction measures (r = 0.70 to 0.93) and relative strength and measures of speed and change of direction ability (r = -0.73 to -0.85). There were no significant relationships between VJH and any measure of performance at any time point. In conclusion, body weight and relative strength have strong to very strong correlations with speed and change of direction ability and these correlations remain consistent over the course of the season. However, it seems as if many relationships vary with time and their relationships should therefore be investigated longitudinally to better determine if these cross-sectional relationships truly reflect a deterministic relationship.
Study 3: Changes in muscle architecture and performance during a competitive season in female softball players The purpose of this research was to (1) examine the performance changes that occur in elite female softball players during 20 weeks of concurrent softball training and (2) examine the relationship between percentage change in muscle architecture variables and percentage change in strength, speed and change of direction performance. Ten female softball players (age = 18.1 ± 1.6 years, height = 166.5 ± 8.9 cm, weight = 72.4 ± 10.8 kg) from a state Australian Institute of Sport softball team were tested for maximal lower body strength (1RM), peak force (PF), peak velocity (PV), and peak power (PP) during jump squats unloaded and loaded, one base (1B) and two base (2B) sprint performance, change of direction (505) on dominant (D) and non-dominant (ND) sides, aerobic capacity and vastus lateralis (VL) muscle architecture characteristics including muscle thickness (MT), fascicle length (FL) and pennation angle (θp). The testing sessions occurred pre, mid and post a 20 week pre/in-season training period. Changes over time were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA. Relationship between percentage (%) change in muscle architecture variables and strength, speed and change of direction variables from pre to post were assessed by PPM correlation coefficient. Significant improvements in PV and PP occurred at all JS loads pre-mid and pre-post. Significant increases occurred pre-post in absolute 1RM, relative 1RM, 505 ND and 2B sprint. The strongest relationships were found between % change in VL MT and 1B sprint (r = -0.800, p = 0.06), % change in VL FL and 2B sprint (r = -0.835, p = 0.02), and % change in relative 1RM and 505 D (r = -0.702, p = 0.04). In conclusion, gains in strength, power and performance can occur through the season in elite softball players and are correlated to changes in muscle architecture.
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Collard, Luc. "Risques sportifs, prises de risques et science de l'action motrice : aspects sociologiques." Paris 5, 1997. http://www.theses.fr/1997PA05H008.
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Les risques sportifs peuvent servir d'indicateur des risques tels qu'ils sont consentis par leur société d'accueil. Aujourd'hui, la majorité des sports ne présente plus que des enjeux compétitifs. Dans les règles, il est interdit de porter atteinte à l'intégrité corporelle. Dans les faits, les écueils physiques sont mineurs. Ces pratiques, consacrées dans les duels d'équipes ou de personnes, traduisent une <> des conduites interpersonnelles. Leur risque se réduit à l'incertitude du résultat. Et son étude relève plus de la théorie des jeux que de la traumatologie. A cette campagne générale "d'aseptisation" de la motricité répliquent des jeux sportifs sans enjeu compétitif, mais avec enjeux corporels. Bien que restes jusqu'ici minoritaires, ils bénéficient depuis les quinze dernières années d'un engouement significatif. Il s'agit de quasi-jeux de pleine nature, pratiques seul ou avec partenaire(s) et utilisant des technologies d'avant-garde pour la locomotion. Leur forte dangerosité tolérée est sans doute le signe d'une accoutumance moderne aux dysfonctionnements de l'interface "homme/machine". Les joueurs qui s'y adonnent rejettent pourtant le trait "risque" au dernier rang de leurs motivations. Preuve que les façons de s'exposer à des risques ne sont pas réductibles a des pulsions organiques ou à des tendances psychologiques. Ils sont d'abord le produit d'un <> que les acteurs peuvent subir "à leur corps défendant"The risks of sports may be used as an indicator of the risks such as their society consents to them. Today, most of the sports present no more than competitive stakes. According to the rules, it is forbidden to inflict corporeal injuries. In actual fact, physical injuries are minor. These practices used in teams or individuals duels show a <> of the interpersonnal behaviours. Their risk is reduced to the incertainty of the result. And its study is more in the field of the theory of games than of traumatology. Facing this general campaign of diminution of motricity violence appearsports with no competitive but corporeal stakes. Although they have remained a minority up to present, they have benefied during the last fifteen years of an important increase. They are, in fact, "quasi-games" in the open spaces that are practised alone or with one or several partners using technologies of the future concerning the locomotion. Their high level of risk which is tolerated, is certainly the sign of a modern habit with the disfunctions of the interface "human/machine". The players who take on the quasi-games, however, put the risk factor in last position of their motivations. Proof that the ways to expose oneself to risks are not reductible to organic instincts or to psychological tendencies. They are firstly the result of a <> that the players can endure "in self-defence"
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Tate, Wilbur Hopkins. "American sports: the exploitation of Afro-American athletes?" DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 1989. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/1823.
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The purpose of this thesis was to conduct a preliminary investigation to analyze the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) relationship to the treatment of the black athlete. Exploitation is described for the purposes of this paper as a system that facilitates the economic use of students by contracting with them to play sports for the university or college, in return for a "possible education" (which the athlete presumes is guaranteed to him and will be maintained until he receives his baccalaureate degree). This behavior among most colleges and universities is reprehensible and it promotes among these athletes an illusion that they are amateur athletes. Furthermore, most colleges and universities perpetuate the illusion that their athletes have a high probability of becoming professional ball players when in reality approximately 1 percent of all amateurs make the pros. Also, the NCAA Proposition 48 rule is briefly discussed·. and how it affects the black student athlete.
To answer some of the researcher's questions and concerns, the researcher conducted a survey in which he interviewed thirty (30) former black male collegiate athletes who participated in the NCAA. These athletes were black males between the ages of 30 to 65 years old. This survey also assessed the attitudes, experiences and successful/unsuccessful outcomes of their collegiate career. The results of this preliminary investigation generally concluded that indeed, the black college athlete has been exploited by the NCAA and the university or college which he attended. Recommendations were provided that pertain to advocacy, information and creating other career options for college/university athletes.
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Dosumu, Adekunle A. "The environmental impacts and wellbeing benefits of sport : assessing spectator and participant dominated sports in England." Thesis, University of Essex, 2016. http://repository.essex.ac.uk/16441/.
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Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste and transportation are of environmental concern. Globally, every year, waste contributes an estimated 5% and transport approximately 23% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions. Sport contributes to GHG emissions by spectators and participants travelling to/from sporting venues and generating waste. Whilst a small reduction in an individual’s travel and waste may be perceived as having negligible impact, if these are aggregated over a population, the resultant GHG emissions can be significant. Although there is scientific evidence of the environmental impact of major sporting events there is limited research on it at the grassroots level. In addition watching and participating in sport results in wellbeing benefits such as improved self-esteem and mood. This research quantitatively examined both the environmental impacts and wellbeing benefits of sport at the grassroots level focusing on both spectator-dominated and participant-dominated sports in England. Three studies were conducted examining spectator-dominated sport: 1) GHG emissions relating to travel to and from football games; 2) GHG emissions relating to waste at football games and 3) the effects of watching football on mental wellbeing. Two further studies were also conducted assessing participant-dominated sport: 4) GHG emissions from travel to and from running location; and the effects of sport (running) on mental wellbeing and connection with nature and 5) the effects of running outdoors on mental wellbeing (pre and post study). The research showed that both spectators and participants’ sport considerably generated GHG emissions from travel and waste when extrapolated nationally. However, engaging in spectator-dominated or participant-dominated sports resulted in wellbeing benefits. Watching football resulted in better mental wellbeing, while running particularly outdoors resulted in improvements in wellbeing such as improved mood and increase in self-esteem after participating in sport. This research suggests that participating in sport can initiate a positive change in a person’s relationship with the natural world. These findings on the environmental impact and wellbeing benefits of both spectator-dominated and participant-dominated sports have implications for individuals, private sectors, sporting organisations, policy makers and government authorities.
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Lee, Yue-kong Martin. "The institute of sports, HKUST." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1995. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25949342.
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Appleton, Paul Richard. "Examining perfectionism in elite junior athletes : measurement and development issues." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/133570.
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The major theme of the current thesis was the definition, measurement, and development of perfectionism in elite junior sport. The first purpose was to examine the psychometric properties associated with Hewitt and Flett’s (1991) Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS-HF) when complete by a sample of elite junior athletes. In study one, a confirmatory factor analysis failed to support the original structure of 45-item MPS-HF. Subsequent exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a more parsimonious 15-item factor structure representing self-oriented (SOP), socially prescribed (SPP), and other-oriented perfectionism (OOP). Having established a reconstituted version of the MPS-HF, a second purpose of the research programme was to consider the origins of perfectionism in elite junior athletes using a cross-sectional design. Initially, in study two a social learning model was supported, with 18%-26% of variance in athletes’ perfectionism predicted by parents’ perfectionism. Building upon this finding in study three, a structural equation model revealed that parenting styles, including empathy and psychological control, mediated the parent-athletic child SPP relationship. In study four, a significant pathway emerged between parents’ achievement goals and athletes’ dispositional perfectionism, offering support for a social expectations model of perfectionism development. Specifically, parents’ task and ego orientations were positively associated with athletes’ SOP. In contrast, athletes’ SPP was predicted by parents’ ego orientation. Study four also demonstrated the nature and form of motivational regulation associated with athletes’ SOP and SPP. That is, a pathway emerged between athletes’ SPP and controlled forms of regulation, while athletes’ SOP was correlated with self-determined and controlled motivation. Finally, in study five, the coach-created motivational climate accounted for approximately 19% of variance in athletes’ perfectionistic cognitions, highlighting the role of additional social agents in the development of athletes’ perfectionism. The results of this research programme contribute to existing knowledge of perfectionism by forwarding reliable measures of SOP and SPP for employment in sport, and revealing a complex array of pathways that underpin the development of perfectionism in elite junior athletes. Ultimately, by preventing the occurrence of such pathways, athletic children may be protected from the perils of perfectionism.
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Carroll, Kevin M., John P. Wagle, Kimitake Sato, Brad H. DeWeese, Satoshi Mizuguchi, and Michael H. Stone. "Reliability of a Commercially Available and Algorithm-Based Kinetic Analysis Software Compared to Manual-Based Software." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4654.
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There is a need for reliable analysis techniques for kinetic data for coaches and sport scientists who employ athlete monitoring practices. The purpose of the study was: (1) to determine intra- and inter-rater reliability within a manual-based kinetic analysis program; and (2) to determine test-retest reliability of an algorithm-based kinetic analysis program. Five independent raters used a manual analysis program to analyse 100 isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) trials obtained from previously collected data. Each trial was analysed three times. The same IMTP trials were analysed using an algorithm-based analysis software. Variables measured were peak force, rate of force development from 0 to 50 ms (RFD50) and RFD from 0 to 200 ms (RFD200). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV) were used to assess intra- and inter-rater reliability. Nearly perfect reliability was observed for the manual-based (ICC > 0.92). However, poor intra- and inter-rater CV was observed for RFD (CV > 16.25% and CV > 32.27%, respectively). The algorithm-based method resulted in perfect reliability in all measurements (ICC = 1.0, CV = 0%). While manual methods of kinetic analysis may provide sufficient reliability, the perfect reliability observed within the algorithm-based method in the current study suggest it is a superior method for use in athlete monitoring programs.
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Gentles, Jeremy. "Cell Free DNA as a Monitoring Tool in a Long-Term Athlete Monitoring Program." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1192.
Full textAbstract:
The objectives of this dissertation were to investigate the utility of cf-DNA as a marker of systemic inflammation, fatigue, and training status in a long-term athlete monitoring program (LTAMP). In study one, cf-DNA, other biochemical markers, volume load, and training intensity were measured in weightlifters over 20 weeks. The changes and relationships between these variables were investigated in order to determine which variables may be indicative of an athlete’s training status. In study two, cf-DNA, other biochemical markers, and session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) were measured over the course of a 15-week soccer season in order investigate the utility of cf-DNA as an indicator of systemic inflammation and fatigue. In study one, CK was statistically greater T2 than T4, T5, and T6 at p = 0.015, 0.025, and 0.030 respectively. cf-DNA %Δ was correlated with CRP percent change and BF% (r = 0.86 and r = 0.91 respectively). The correlation between cf-DNA and CRP suggests that cf-DNA may be a valuable indicator of inflammation. Upon further visual inspection, cf-DNA and CRP also appeared to rise and fall with changes in volume load with displacement (VLwD). In study 2, G1, cf-DNA (P = 0.001), CRP (P = 0.000), CK (P = 0.003), cf-DNA %Δ (P = 0.002), CRP %Δ (P = 0.002), and CK %Δ (P = 0.002) were all significantly higher than T1 at T2 and T3. In G2, CRP (P = 0.057) and CRP %Δ (P = 0.039) were significantly higher at T2 than T1. Despite the lack of statistically significant differences across all 3 testing times, cf-DNA %Δ, CRP %Δ, and CK %Δ increased throughout the season in G1. In G2, cf-DNA %Δ, CRP %Δ, and CK %Δ were all higher at T2 and T3 than T1 but fewer significant differences were present, potentially a result of the lower sRPE values in G2 versus G1.These results suggest that cf-DNA may a useful marker to reflect accumulated training and competitive stressors. The correlation between cf-DNA and CRP in study 1 suggests that cf-DNA may be a valuable indicator of inflammation.
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Brewer, John. "The evolution of sports nutrition and its application to human performance." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/593072.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis summarises a series of academic publications that make a contribution to the field of sports nutrition over a period of 30 years. It begins with research in the field of carbohydrate and endurance sport reflecting the early era of research into carbohydrate and endurance performance, and evolves into studies investigating the impact of sports nutrition and hydration on team sports. It presents papers and other peer reviewed outputs that focus on the application of scientific knowledge to enhance human performance, whilst demonstrating the increasing awareness of the relative importance of carbohydrate and hydration in a range of both female and male team and individual sports. The thesis also highlights the challenge faced by the manufacturers of sports nutrition products in making use of advances in science to develop new and innovative products. The thematic nature of this thesis shows how sports nutrition continues to evolve. As science identifies new and legal means of enhancing human performance, so sport, athletes and coaches will demand more advanced and specialised approaches to refuelling and hydration. This thesis draws together findings from a series of publications which demonstrate how scientists, coaches, athletes and sports nutrition manufacturers need to work closely together to research, identify and interpret the next stages in an exciting and demanding area of research. It also reflects the scientific advancement in the field of sports nutrition over a thirty year period, identifies possible areas for future research, and the continued application of hydration and nutrition strategies to enhance male and female endurance and team sports.
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Williams, Stephen John, and n/a. "A case study of the relationship between sports science research practice and elite coaches' perceived needs." University of Canberra. Health Sciences, 2005. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20060530.101909.
Full textAbstract:
Elite coaches consider aspects of sports science when preparing athletes for
competition. Sports scientists conduct applied research and a fundamental purpose of
sports science research is to produce knowledge that helps improve the performance of
elite athletes. In view of the considerable resources being directed toward research and
coaching at the elite level, there is a need to conduct research to identify the relationship
between research and coaching practice at the elite level.
Australia has an institute of sport or academy of sport in each state and territory
dedicated to the development of team and individual sports, both Olympic and non-
Olympic. In the area of elite athlete performance, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)
has gained an international reputation for excellence, and the AIS Research Centre has
achieved international recognition for the quality of research projects directed toward
the performance of elite athletes. Sports scientists at Australian universities also
undertake research related to elite coaching, some of which has occurred in partnership
with researchers at Australian institutes of sport.
The purpose of the study was to identify the relationship between sports science
research at Australian institutes of sport and post-graduate sports science research in
Australian universities, and how elite coaches in Australia perceive sports science
research practice meeting the needs of elite coaching.
A case study method was selected for this thesis, which involved the following data
gathering instruments: a survey of 225 elite coaches and 125 sports science researchers,
follow-up interviews of elite coaches and sports science researchers, and document
analysis of 725 research projects conducted at Australian institutes of sport and postgraduate
theses at Master and Doctoral level at Australian universities. An analysis was
also conducted to assess the sports science content contained in the National Coaching
Accreditation Scheme's Level Three course material. A schedule was developed for the
document analysis called the "Williams Sports Science Research Schedule". Interviews
were conducted with elite key informants to validate a model that was developed fiom
the study.
Results of the study revealed a degree of congruence between the perceptions of elite
coaches and sports science researchers regarding the research needs of elite coaches and
the research activity of sports science researchers. A model, called the "Elite Sports
Research Model" was developed to describe that relationship. The Elite Sports Research
Model contains four components, namely: coach knowledge, information seeking/dissemination strategies, qualities valued in an elite coach and a sports science
researcher, and application of research. Within the model, particular perspectives of
elite coaches and particular perspectives of sports science researchers were identified.
Some differences were found between elite coaches of team sports and elite coaches of
individual sports, as well as some differences between researchers at institutes of sports
and researchers at universities. At the elite level in Australia a relationship was found
between sports science research activity and the research needs of elite coaches.
With the increase in support for elite coaching and sports science research in Australia
and internationally, the results of this study should help to inform improvement in
sports science research programs that support elite coaching practice.
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Ireson-Howells, Tristan. "Redemptive failure in contemporary American sports literature." Thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University, 2018. http://create.canterbury.ac.uk/17597/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores America’s fascination with its own sports as purveyors of national identity. American literature has found unique inspiration in sporting competition, not only depicting professional athletes, but drawing from the experiences of fans and amateurs. While the athlete’s heroism and eventual fall has been analysed in previous discussions of this topic, my route of inquiry positions decline and defeat as more central and complex concepts. The focus of this thesis is on the remarkably diverse ways in which contemporary writers reimagine aspects of sporting failure both for their characters and within their own creative process. The centrality of failure seems an affront to the United States’ celebration of success and victory. However, the common strand in the most ambitious contemporary sports writing is to portray experiences of loss and failure as paradoxical routes to self-affirmation. Postmodern writing on sports has taken from the drama and narrative implicit in sporting contest, but uses this framework to question ideas of masculinity, ethnicity, memory and myth. The writers I discuss incorporate failure into these themes to arrive at points of redemptive discovery.
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Asamoah, Benjamin. "The role of mental toughness, psychological skills and team cohesion in soccer performance." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/85729.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (MScSportSc)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There is a relative lack of information in sport psychology research literature about the role of psychological dimensions in team sport – especially in soccer (Reilly et al., 2000). It is consequently not surprising that research on applied strategies in soccer has concentrated mainly on technical, tactical and physiological aspects. This defies anecdotal evidence and literature reports alluding to the importance of psychological and team factors in achieving sport excellence. This study examined the role of mental toughness, psychological skills and team cohesion in soccer performance. It also considered differences between individuals from different playing positions regarding these modalities. A total of 263 male soccer players aged between 17 and 32 years from 16 South African tertiary institutions participated in the study. A cross-sectional study design was used to determine the players’ mental toughness, psychological skills and team cohesion by means of the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ); the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28); and the Group Environmental Questionnaire (GEQ). The final log standings at the 2012 University Sport South Africa (USSA) Soccer Championship were used as an indication of team performance. The results yielded differences between successful and less successful teams with regard to age, previous tournament experience, and the time players had been part of their respective teams. There were no significant differences between the teams for any of the mental toughness and psychological skills scores. However, group cohesion did play a role in team performance. The more successful teams scored better than their less successful counterparts in the following subscales of the GEQ: Individual attraction to group-social and individual attraction to group-task. However, the less successful teams scored better than their more successful counterparts regarding group integration-task, and group integration-social. Practical significant differences of moderate magnitude were observed for five of the 96 player positional comparisons. Midfielders scored higher than the defenders and forwards on the control subscale of the SMTQ. The forwards recorded higher scores than midfielders with regard to the GEQ subscale of group integration-task, whereas goalkeepers yielded higher scores than midfielders on the group integration-task subscale. There was a difference between the scores on the constancy subscale of the SMTQ where the defenders outscored the midfielders. No positional differences were recorded for any of the psychological skills. The overall results revealed that at the developmental level of the study sample, team cohesion and other moderating variables might be the key to enhanced performance of soccer teams. In addition, the results supported the general assumption that a relationship exists between playing positions in team sports and various psychological variables.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar is ’n relatiewe gebrek aan navorsingsliteratuur in sportsielkunde oor die rol van sielkundige dimensies in spansoorte – veral in sokker (Reilly et al., 2000). Dit is gevolglik logies dat navorsing oor toegepaste strategieë in sokker hoofsaaklik fokus op tegniese, taktiese en fisiologiese aspekte. Dit druis in teen anekdotiese getuienis en opvattings wat dui op die belangrikheid van sielkundige en spanfaktore in die bereiking van sportuitnemendheid. Hierdie studie ondersoek die rol van geestelike taaiheid, sielkundige vaardighede en spankohesie in sokkerprestasie. Dit bestudeer ook die verskille tussen individue van verskillende speelposisies met betrekking tot hierdie modaliteite. ’n Totaal van 263 manlike sokkerspelers tussen die ouderdom van 17 en 32 jaar, van 16 Suid-Afrikaanse tersiêre inrigtings, het aan hierdie ondersoek deelgeneem. ’n Dwarsdeursnitstudie-ontwerp is gebruik om spelers se geestelike taaiheid, sielkundige vaardighede en spankohesie te bepaal deur middel van die Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ); die Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28); en die Group Environmental Questionnaire (GEQ). Die finale posisies van spanne op die punteleer na afloop van die 2012 Universiteit Sport Suid-Afrika (USSA) sokkertoernooi is gebruik as aanduiding van hul prestasie. Die resultate het verskille opgelewer tussen suksesvolle-en minder-suksesvolle spanne met betrekking tot ouderdom, vorige toernooi-ervaring, en die tydperk wat spelers lede van hul onderskeie spanne was. Daar was geen beduidende tellingverskille tussen spanne rakende enige van die geestelike taaiheid en sielkundige vaardighede nie. Groepkohesie het egter ’n rol in spanprestasie gespeel. Die meer-suksesvolle spanne het beter gevaar as die minder-suksesvolle spanne in die volgende subskale van die GEQ: Individuele aantreklikheid van die groep-sosiaal; Individuele aantreklikheid van die groep-taak. Die minder-suksevolle spanne het egter beter gevaar as die meer-suksesvolle spanne met betrekking tot: Groepintegrasie-taak, en Groepintegrasie-sosiaal. Prakties beduidende verskille is waargeneem vir vyf van die 96 speelposisie-vergelykings. Middelveldspelers het hoër tellings behaal as verdedigers en voorspelers op die beheer-subskaal van die SMTQ. Voorspelers het beter tellings aangeteken as middelveldspelers op die GEQ subskaal groepintegrasie-taak; terwyl doelwagters hoër tellings as middelveldspelers op die subskaal groepintegrasie-taak aangeteken het. Daar was ’n verskil in die konstantheid-subskaal van die SMTQ waar verdedigers beter as middelveldspelers gevaar het. Daar was geen beduidende verskille tussen speelposisies rakend enige van die sielkundige vaardighede nie. Die oorkoepelende bevindinge dui daarop dat op die ontwikkelingsvlak van die studiesteekproef, spankohesie, en ander prestasiedimensies moontlik die sleutel bevat vir verhoogde prestasie-uitkomste van sokkerspanne. Verder ondersteun die resultate die algemene aanname dat daar ’n verband bestaan tussen speelposisies in spansportsoorte en verskeie sielkundige veranderlikes.
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Hill, Andrew P. "Multidimensional perfectionism and motivation in sport : potential mediating and moderating variables." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/131898.
Full textAbstract:
Recent research has found that self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism have distinct consequences for athletes. The purpose of the thesis was to extend this research by further examining their motivational consequences for athletes and identifying the psychological mechanisms that explain their divergent consequences. The first two studies suggested that the positive relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and athlete burnout was mediated by the tendency to engage in validation-seeking and utilise avoidant coping, whereas the inverse relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and athlete burnout was mediated by the tendency to utilise problem-focused coping and eschew avoidant coping. Because these initial studies provided little evidence to suggest that self-oriented perfectionism has negative psychological consequences for athletes, the nature of self-oriented perfectionism and its consequences were examined more closely in two subsequent studies. A comparative study examining similarities and differences in the correlates of selforiented perfectionism and conscientious achievement striving found that while both include a commitment to high standards, self-oriented perfectionism also includes a concern over mistakes, fear of failure and negative reactions to imperfection. An experimental study examining the response of student-athletes II higher in this dimension of perfectionism to successive failures further suggested that, in comparison to those with lower levels of self-oriented perfectionism, those with higher levels of self-oriented perfectionism experienced a more pronounced increase in threat following an initial failure and reported withdrawing effort from the subsequent performance. The final two studies suggest that the divergent consequences of these two dimensions of perfectionism may also be explained by differences in the controllability of sources of self-worth and evaluative standards. In addition, in some instances, perceptions of the achievement climate may influence the self-criticism experienced by perfectionists. Collectively, this series of studies suggest that socially prescribed perfectionism will invariably lead to motivational and psychological difficulties for athletes. In contrast, such difficulties may not be inevitable for those with higher levels of self-oriented perfectionism; however, it may render athletes vulnerable to psychological difficulties when personal standards are not meet.
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Alexanders, Jenny. "Physiotherapy goal setting in anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation : an exploration of training, practice and beliefs." Thesis, University of Hull, 2018. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:16888.
Full textAbstract:
Despite the growing interest into the role of physiotherapists providing psychological interventions within anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), literature surrounding goal setting practices within this field is minimal. The main purpose of this research was to explore physiotherapists' approaches, training and beliefs into goal setting practices used within ACL rehabilitation. The thesis consisted of seven chapters, two of which were empirical studies. The empirical chapters aimed to gain further insight into physiotherapists understanding on the psychological aspects of patients following ACL surgery, theoretical knowledge of goal setting, experiences of implementing goals, training received on goal setting and future training needs. Study four involved a UK cross sectional online survey of one hundred and twenty four physiotherapists (N=124). The survey provided an insight of perceptions and goal setting approaches used within ACL rehabilitation. These findings were further explored in study five which involved a UK semi-structured interview study including twenty four physiotherapists (N=24), using an inductive approach. Study five provided a much deeper understanding in to physiotherapist's goal setting practices, training and experiences within ACL rehabilitation and also revealed issues surrounding the initial consultation process. The research findings were conceptualised into a theoretical, innovative goal setting model. The goal of this model is to outline a multi-phase conceptual model of an appropriate ACL rehabilitation goal setting strategy for physiotherapists in an attempt to guide both practice, teaching and research.
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O'Doherty, Alasdair Fraser. "The effects of acute exercise and nutritional interventions on postprandial lipid metabolism." Thesis, University of Hull, 2017. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:17126.
Full textAbstract:
Raised postprandial triglycerides (TG) is an independent risk factor for cardio-metabolic disorders. This is due, in part, to the increases in circulating remnant lipoproteins after TG have been transported for storage or hydrolysis. Raised TG, are also associated with an atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype (High TG, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and small, dense low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles). In addition, elevated TG contribute to ectopic storage of fatty acids in liver, adipose and muscle tissues, contributing to insulin resistance in all three tissues and consequent metabolic dysregulation. It is therefore paramount to prevent frequent and prolonged exposure to raised TG in the postprandial period, particularly in groups who are at increased risk of cardio-metabolic disease. The dyslipidaemic component of cardio-metabolic health can be inferred by assessing the capacity to breakdown and clear TG from circulation after high fat ingestion using an oral fat tolerance test (OFTT). The OFTT can also be used to assess the efficacy of interventions targeting reductions in postprandial TG. Exercise and nutritional interventions have been shown to alter postprandial TG excursions and provide insight in to underlying mechanisms of postprandial lipid metabolism. However, there are several topics within this area of research that require further clarification. These topics have been addressed within this thesis. The first experimental chapter of this thesis (chapter 3) aimed to investigate the repeatability of an OFTT (75g fat, 22g carbohydrate, 14g protein) designed to meet recommendations from an expert panel statement. This study also aimed to evaluate the repeatability of the postprandial response to an OFTT preceded by 1 hour of acute moderate intensity exercise (cycling at a work rate eliciting 90% oxygen consumption anaerobic threshold). After an overnight fast, 11 healthy adult male participants consumed OFTT meals on 4 separate occasions; 2 preceded by rest and 2 preceded by exercise. TG area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for each test and compared to the repeat condition using non-parametric Bland-Altman analysis. The 4-hour OFTT was repeatable in the rest condition, with 9 of 10 repeat measurements falling within ±15% of the median TG AUC (predefined as the upper limit of acceptable error). However, in the exercise condition repeatability was poor with only 2 of 11 repeat measurements falling within 15% of the median TG AUC. Adult offspring of type 2 diabetics (OT2D) show irregular TG responses to OFTT with high or low carbohydrate content, compared to healthy controls. Prior acute aerobic exercise may favourably influence these postprandial responses in OT2D. This feasibility study (Chapter 4) aimed to investigate the effects of carbohydrate content and acute exercise on TG AUC after OFTT in OT2D. On 4 separate days, 8 adult male OT2D ingested OFTTs with low (HFLC; 75g fat, 22g carbohydrate, 14g protein) or high (HFHC; 75g fat, 95g carbohydrate, 14 g protein) carbohydrate content. Participants rested or exercised (1-hour moderate intensity; 90% oxygen consumption at anaerobic threshold) the day before each OFTT. Recruitment to the single centre was slow, but participant adherence to the study was good. There were large effect sizes for lower TG AUC and incremental AUC (iAUC) in the HFHC with prior exercise. Insulin AUC was higher in HFHC conditions and there was a large effect size for lower insulin AUC in the exercise conditions. Given the large effect sizes observed for the effects of prior acute exercise on postprandial TGs, an adequately powered multi-centre study was deemed to be relevant and feasible. Consumption of strawberries appears to be beneficial in attenuating the postprandial lipaemic response to OFTT due to the high polyphenol content within strawberries. The mechanisms of this attenuation in postprandial lipaemia appear to be different from the mechanisms involved in exercise induced reductions in postprandial lipaemia. However, the combined effects of exercise and strawberry interventions in reducing postprandial lipaemic responses to OFTT has not been investigated. The final experimental chapter (Chapter 5) aimed to evaluate the combined effects of acute exercise and strawberry consumption on postprandial responses to OFTT (73g to 74g fat, 32g to 33g carbohydrate, 11g to 12g protein). On 4 separate days, ten overweight/obese males ingested OFTTs with 25g freeze dried strawberries or a placebo. Participants rested or exercised (40 minutes submaximal high intensity exercise, HIIE) the day before each OFTT. There was a 20% reduction in TG AUC in the exercise conditions and no differences in TG AUC in the strawberry conditions. This thesis offers key contributions to postprandial lipid metabolism research. First, the OFTT recommended by an expert panel statement is repeatable. Second, the variability observed in postprandial responses to OFTT with immediate prior exercise may explain the inconsistencies within the literature. Third, acute exercise showed a substantive effect in reducing TG AUC and iAUC with high carbohydrate OFTT in adult OT2D. These improvements could be explained by acute improvements in insulin sensitivity, however, a further adequately powered study is required to support the findings of this feasibility study. Finally, acute HIIE appears to be an effective strategy to reduce postprandial TG, but strawberry intake does not appear to improve postprandial TG.
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Barrett, Stephen Mark. "The utility of PlayerLoad™ in soccer : an examination of the reliability, validity, determinants and the within match patterns." Thesis, University of Hull, 2016. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:17128.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of the thesis was to examine the utility of tri-axial accelerometer data (PlayerLoad™) during soccer, including its reliability, validity, and determinants, with special reference to potential implications for fatigue management and injury risk. The aims of the first experimental study (chapter 3) were to: 1) establish the test-retest reliability oftri-axial accelerometer data during a standardized bout of treadmill running; 2) examine the effect of accelerometer location upon PlayerLoad™ data; and 3) investigate the convergent validity of Player Load™ using heart rate and rate of pulmonary oxygen uptake (V0₂) as criterion measures of exercise intensity. Forty-four team-sports players performed two standardized incremental treadmill running tests (7-16 km·h⁻¹) 7 d apart. Players' V0₂ (n=20), heart rate (n=44), and tri-axial accelerometer data (n=44) were measured at both the scapulae (SCAP) and at the centre of mass (COM). A cumulative vector magnitude (PlayerLoad™ [PLvM]) together with individual-component planes of PlayerLoad™ (anterior-posterior PlayerLoad™ [PLAP ], medial-lateral PlayerLoad™ [PLML] and vertical Player Load™ [PLv]) were examined. PlayerLoad™ and its individual planes showed moderate to high test-retest reliability (ICC: 0.80-0.97; CV: 4.2-14.8%) at both unit locations. PlayerLoad™ was significantly higher at COM versus scapulae (223.4 ± 42.6 vs. 185.5 ± 26.3 au; p = 0.001). The percentage contributions of individual planes to PlayerLoad™ were higher for PLML at the COM (scapulae: 20.4 ± 3.8%; COM: 26.5 ± 4.9%; p = 0.001), but lower for PLv (scapulae: 55.7 ± 5.3%; COM: 49.5 ± 6.9%; p = 0.001). Between-subject correlations between PlayerLoad™ and V0₂, and between PlayerLoad™ and heart rate, were trivial to moderate (r = -0.43 to 0.33), whereas within-subject correlations were nearly perfect (r = 0.92 to 0.98). PlayerLoad™ had a moderate to high degree of test-retest reliability and demonstrated convergent validity with measures of exercise intensity on an individual basis. However, caution should be applied in making between-athlete contrasts in loading, and when using recordings from the scapulae to identify lower-limb movement patterns. Further research is required to investigate if multidirectional movements observed in team sports, such as soccer, effect the reliability of PlayerLoad™ Experimental study 2 (Chapter 4) aimed to examine the PLvM and the individual planars response to a 90-min laboratory controlled soccer match-play simulation. Five semi-professional and 15 university soccer players completed three trials (one familiarisation, two experimental) of SAFT⁹⁰ PlayerLoad™ and its individual planes were measured continuously using micromechanical-electrical systems (MEMS) positioned at the scapulae (SCAP) and near the centre of mass (COM). PlayerLoad™ and its individual planars showed moderate and high test-retest reliability at both locations (ICC: 0.80-0.99). No between-half differences in PLvM were observed; however, within-half increases were recorded at the COM, but only during the first half at the SCAP. Greater contributions to PLvM were provided by PLv and PLML when derived from the SCAP and COM, respectively. PLvM (COM: 1451 ± 168; SCAP: 1029 ± 113), PLAr (COM: 503 ± 99; SCAP: 345 ± 61), PLML (COM: 712 ± 124; SCAP: 348 ± 61) and PLv (COM: 797 ± 184; SCAP: 688 ± 124) were significantly greater at the COM compared to the SCAP. Player Load™ and its individual planes are reliable measures during SAFT⁹⁰ and detected within-match changes in movement strategy when the unit was placed at the COM, which may have implications for fatigue management. Inferring alterations in lower-limb movement strategies from MEMS units positioned at the SCAP should be undertaken with caution. Further research is warranted to examine the between-match variability of PlayerLoad™ and its individual planes during actual soccer match play. The principle aim of the third experimental study (Chapter 5) was to examine the within-match patterns of locomotor efficiency in professional soccer, determined as the ratio between tri-axial accelerometer data (PlayerLoad™) and locomotor activities. Secondary aims were to assess the between match variability and determinants of PlayerLoad™ during soccer match play. PlayerLoad™ and its individual planes were recorded during 86 competitive soccer matches in 63 English Championship players (574 match observations). PlayerLoad™, together with the locomotor activity (total distance covered [TDC]) were determined in 15-min segments. Locomotor efficiency was calculated using the ratio of PLvM and TDC (Player Load™ per metre). The proportion of variance explaining the within-match trends in PLvM, PLAr, PLML, PLv, and TDC was determined owing to matches, individual players, and positional role. PLvM, PLAr, PLML, PLv and TDC decreased after the initial 15-min match period (P=0.001; ƞ²=0.22-0.43, large effects). PL: TDC increased in the last 15 minutes of each half (P=0.001; ƞ²= 0.25, large effect). The variance in PLvM during soccer match-play was explained by individual players (63.9%; P=0.001) and between-match variation (21.6%; P=0.001), but not positional role (14.1 %; P= 0.36). Locomotor efficiency is lower during the latter stages of each half of competitive soccer match-play, a trend synonymous with observations of increased injury incidence and fatigue in these periods. Locomotor efficiency may be a valuable metric to identify fatigue and heightened injury risk during soccer training and match-play. In summary, Player Load™ has a moderate to high degree of test-retest reliability and near perfect convergent validity in comparison to HR and V02 at both the SCAP and COM during incremental treadmill running. Moderate to high test-retest reliability was further observed during SAFT⁹⁰ For both treadmill running and SAFT⁹⁰ , PlayerLoad™ was underestimated when worn at the SCAP in comparison to the COM, with different loading contributions observed in the three planes. Caution should be applied in making between-athlete contrasts in loading, and when using recordings from the SCAP to identify lower-limb movement patterns due to this underestimation. However, locomotor efficiency was lower during the latter stages of each half of SAFT⁹⁰ and competitive soccer match-play, a trend synonymous with observations of increased injury incidence and fatigue in these periods. Hence, locomotor efficiency may be a valuable metric to identify fatigue and heightened injury risk during soccer training and match-play.
31
Clark, David Rodney. "A 12 week pre-season fitnes training programme for senior male high school rugby players : the effect of supervision on anthropometric, physiological and physical performance variables." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26975.
Full textAbstract:
The study comprises of two sections; i) a survey to determine the attitude towards fitness training for rugby and the current fitness training habits of elite high school rugby players in their penultimate year at school, ii) a training study on a sample of the same population group, to measure the effect of a 12 week fitness training programme, based on scientific principles, on anthropometric, physiological and performance variables. The training study also measured the efficacy of training supervision compared no supervision on these variables.
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Sanders, Barry. "The effects of sodium chloride ingestion on fluid balance and body fluid distribution during exercise." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/27124.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of the first experiment of this thesis was to determine whether the ingestion of a concentrated sodium chloride solution (100mEq/1) during exercise would expand the plasma volume when fluid was ingested at approximately half the rate at which it was being lost as sweat. Six male cyclists exercised for 90 minutes in the heat (32 ± 1 °C, 55 ± 5% RH) at 66 ± 1 % of VO₂ₘₐₓ while ingesting either no fluid CNF), water (W), or a saline CS) solution (100mEq/1). In the Wand S trials, subjects drank 400ml of the fluid immediately prior to commencing exercise, and 100ml of fluid every 10 minutes during exercise until 80 minutes. In the S trial sodium chloride was ingested in capsules. One capsule containing 0.585g of sodium chloride was ingested with every 100ml of water. At the end of the 90 minute exercise bout they rested in a sitting position for one hour in cool conditions (22 ± 1 °C and 70 ± 5% RH). After the initial drop in plasma volume due to the onset of exercise. plasma volume decreased progressively during the NF trial and was significantly less than the 10 minute value at 80 and 90 minutes (p<0.0033). At 40, 60, 80 and 90 minutes of exercise, the plasma volume in the NF trial was significantly less than in the W and the S trials (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the W and the S trials at any time. Further, after the initial drop in plasma volume due to the onset of exercise. plasma volume did not decrease any further in either the W or the S trial. Plasma sodium concentrations in the NF and the S trial were significantly elevated at 40, 60, 80 and 90 minutes (p<0.0033). Plasma sodium concentration in the NF and the S trials were also significantly higher than in the W trial at 80 and 90 minutes of exercise (p<0.05). Since the ingestion of a sodium chloride solution containing 100mEq/1 did not have a beneficial effect on plasma volume and plasma sodium concentration, when fluid ingestion rates were approximately half of the rate of sweat loss, it is concluded the under these conditions, the ingestion of a concentrated sodium chloride beverage has no advantage over the ingestion of water. The aim of the second experiment of this thesis was to determine the effect of varying concentrations of sodium chloride ingestion on fluid balance, when the rate of fluid ingestion matched the sweat rate. Six male cyclists cycled for 4 hours at 55% of VO₂ₘₐₓ in mild conditions (20 ± 1°c and 70 ± 5% RH), while ingesting either a low salt (LS) (4.6 mEq/1), a medium salt (MS) (50 mEq/1) or a high salt (HS) (100 mEq/1) beverage. Each beverage also contained a glucose polymer in an 8% concentration (8g/100ml). The subjects ingested 400ml of beverage immediately prior to commencement of exercise, and 150ml of fluid every 10 minutes during exercise until 220 minutes. Sodium chloride in the MS and HS trials was given to the subjects as supplemental gel capsules so that the drink was palatable. At the end of exercise, subjects recovered in a sitting position for 30 minutes. At the end of the 4 hours of exercise, fluid loss via the urine was significantly greater in the LS and the MS trials than in the HS trial (p<0.05). As a result, the fluid deficits in the LS and the MS trials were significantly greater than the fluid deficit in the HS trial. There was no significant difference between the MS and the LS trials for urinary fluid loss. During the 4 hour exercise bout, plasma sodium concentrations in the LS, the MS and the HS trials were not significantly different from one another, nor were they significantly different from resting values. There was no significant difference in the rectal temperature response to exercise in the three trials. It can therefore be concluded that in conditions where fluid ingestion matches sweat rate, attenuation of urinary fluid loss to optimise fluid replacement, relies on the ingestion of sodium chloride in quantities greater than that lost in the sweat. Therefore, for the ingestion of sodium chloride in excess of that which is currently available in sports drinks to beneficial, fluid must be ingested in volumes matching sweat loss.
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Gillies, Hunter Campbell. "The effects of amlodipine on exercise performance in mild to moderate essential hypertensives." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26977.
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The effect of the long acting dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, amlodipine, on the exercise performance of hypertensive patients is not known. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of amlodipine on maximal (MAX), prolonged submaximal (PSX) and on skeletal muscle function (SMF) in patients with mild hypertension. In a double-blind randomised crossover trial, ten physically active hypertensive patients performed i) graded exercise to exhaustion for determination of maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂ₘₐₓ), peak heart rate (HR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP); ii) PSX at 75% VO₂ₘₐₓ to determine, cardiorespiratory responses, cardiac output (Q), blood lactate [La], free fatty acid [FFA], glucose [G] concentrations and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and iii) tests of isometric SMF including maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and time to fatigue (TTF) during repetitve isometric MVC's. Tests were performed following two week ingestion of amlodipine (5 mg daily) or placebo seperated by a two week washout period. Resting SBP was decreased following ingestion of amlodipine (142 ± 13 vs l33 ± 12 mmHg; vs placebo: [mean± SD]; P<0.05). However, VO₂ₘₐₓ ( 31 ± 5 vs 33 ± 5 mlO₂.kg.min⁻¹ ; amlodipine vs placebo), peak heart rate ( 167 ± 12 vs 165 ± l6b.min⁻¹;amlodipine vs placebo)and peak SBP(l8l ±21 vs 170± 16mmHg; amlodipine vs placebo) were not reduced following ingestion of amlodipine. Submaximal cycling time. VO₂, Q, BP, HR, ventilation, RPE, [FFA], [La] and [G] during PSX were unaltered following ingestion of amlodipine. Similarly ingestion of amlodipine did not alter tests of isometric SMF. These data suggest that: i) ingestion of amlodipine lowers resting SBP but does not alter the normal haemodynamic response during exercise; ii) MAX, PSX exercise performance and SMF are unaltered following ingestion of amlodipine in athletic hypertensive patients. These findings suggest that the regulatory mechanisms which maintain haemodynamic homeostasis during maximal and submaximal exercise are not influenced by ingestion of amlodipine in athletic hypertensive patients.
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Upton, Patrick Anthony Howard. "Epidemiology and prevention of rugby injuries amongst schoolboy, senior club and provincial rugby players in the Western Cape." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26754.
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This thesis comprises a series of independent investigations examining rugby injuries occurring to players from under 14 to senior provincial level in the Cape Province (now the Western Cape). The first two studies report data aimed at gaining a more detailed understanding of rugby injuries in specific populations or under specific conditions, whilst the remainder of the thesis reports injury data from both a retrospective and a prospective epidemiological survey involving the same 3990 boys from 25 high schools. Following publication of data showing a progressive rise in the number of spinal cord injuries in the Western Cape, coupled with a sustained media attack on the attitudes of the (then) South African Rugby Board, certain experimental law changes were introduced to South African schoolboy rugby in 1990 and 1991. The purpose of the law changes was either to make the game safer or to make it more open and flowing, or both. Accordingly, the studies described in chapters 4 -8 set out to analyse the effects of these law changes on the incidence and nature of rugby injuries. This was accomplished by comparing data with a similar study conducted in 1983 and 1984 in the same 25 schools (Roux, 1992). The study reported in chapter 2 determined whether the use of neoprene (thermal) pants might reduce the risk of hamstring injury amongst 60 senior club rugby players, all of whom had previously sustained a hamstring muscle tear. The rationale was that the few seasons prior to this 1992 study had been characterised by an increasing use by rugby players of thermal or neoprene pants; a practice which seemed to have evolved spontaneously and without any scientific assessment of its value. We concluded that the wearing of thermal pants can reduce the risk of hamstring injury during rugby. However, other risk factors for injury are probably more important. These include levels of preseason physical fitness, correct warm up and stretching procedures before activity and adequate rehabilitation before returning to activity following injury. The objective of the study reported in chapter 3 was to determine the influence of preseason strength and endurance training on risk of injury in rugby players from two South African provincial teams during the 1992 rugby season. Players from one province followed a supervised scientifically-designed physical training programme, while those from the other did not follow a structured programme. The findings of the study, the first study to prove the relationship between pre-season preparation and early season injury, showed that inadequate pre-season endurance training is a major contributor to the high injury rate at the beginning of the season amongst provincial rugby players. Further, strength and endurance training are interrelated as risk factors. Thus, compared to players with adequate strength and endurance training, those with adequate strength training and insufficient endurance training are at greatest risk of injury, followed by players with insufficient strength and endurance training. It was also shown that contact practices 2 days after inter-provincial match contributed more to an increased number of injuries than to success; that "niggling" injuries may develop into more serious injury if players attempt to "play through" them; and that the lack of structured treatment and rehabilitation of an injury places players at risk of being re-injured.
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Markwick, William. "Training load quantification in professional Australian basketball and the use of the reactive strength index as a monitoring tool." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1709.
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Study 1: The intraday reliability of the reactive strength index (RSI) calculated from a drop jump in professional men’s basketball.
Purpose: To evaluate the reliability of the reactive strength index (RSI) and jump height (JH) performance from multiple drop heights with elite basketball players. Methods: Thirteen professional basketball players (mean ±SD: age 25.8 ± 3.5 y, height 1.96 ± 0.07 m, mass 94.8 ± 8.2 kg) completed 3 maximal drop jump attempts on to a jump mat at 4 randomly assigned box heights and 3 counter movement jump (CMJ) trials. Results: No statistical difference was observed between three trials for both the RSI and JH variable at all the tested drop heights. The RSI for drop jump heights from 20 cm resulted in a coefficient of variation (CV) = 3.1% and an intraclass correlation (ICCα) =0.96, 40 cm resulted in a CV = 3.0% and an ICCα = 0.95, 50 cm resulted in a CV = 2.1% and an ICCα = 0.99. The JH variable at the 40 cm drop jump height resulted in the highest reliability CV = 2.8% and an ICCα = 0.98. Conclusion: When assessing the RSI the 20, 40 and 50 cm drop heights are recommended with this population. When assessing large groups it appears that only one tria
Study 2: Does session RPE relate with reactive strength qualities? A case study investigation within the National Basketball League
This investigation aimed to establish the relationship between training loads derived from the sessional rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) and the reactive strength index (RSI) over a 27-week competitive season in elite basketball players. Fourteen professional male basketball players (26 ± 3.6 years; 95.8 ± 9.0 kg; 197.3 ± 7.3 cm) participated in this study. Training load data were modeled against the RSI over a 27-week competitive season with the use of a linear mixed model. The relationship between RSI and training load was only significantly different from baseline (Week 1) at Week 24 (p < 0.05) and Week 26 (p < 0.01). These primarily findings suggest that sRPE and RSI have a weak relationship, whilst the RSI does not appear to accurately reflect the changes in training load that occur during an in-season periodized training program in professional male basketball.
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Brooks, Joel David. "Using machine learning to derive insights from sports location data." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118080.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 95-100).
Historically, much of sports analytics has aimed to find relationships between discrete events and outcomes. The availability of high-resolution event location and tracking data has led to many new opportunities in sports research. However, it is often challenging to apply machine learning to understand a particular aspect of a sport. These tasks typically require learning on high-dimensional data, scarce labels, and multiple interacting agents. In this thesis, we present applications of machine learning to derive insights from location data in soccer and basketball. In each case, we chose a data representation that allows the models to discover the importance of particular features and patterns. We demonstrate how new quantitive metrics can be derived from predictive models. We built a model that uses the location of passes in soccer to predict shots with an AUROC of 0.79. From this model we defined a novel metric that can evaluate the value of any pass. We also trained a model for predicting shot quality using non-shooting player trajectories in basketball. This allows us to calculate offensive contributions by player movement alone. We also developed an encoder-decoder architecture for learning a low-dimensional encoding of player and ball trajectories. When trained in an unsupervised setting, the model learned a representation that lends itself well to possession querying and clustering. We show that these clusters characterize different team styles on offense. Additionally, we trained this same architecture in a semi-supervised setting for set play classification. Compared to only training on labeled data, this framework improved six-way classification accuracy from 69% to 78%. While we chose specific applications of machine learning to sports data for this thesis, the methods described could generalize to other sports-related tasks or other real-world domains with tracking or multi-agent data.
by Joel Brooks.
Ph. D.
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Stewart, Alex. "The boxer's point of view : an ethnography of cultural production and athletic development among amateur and professional boxers in England." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/336227.
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Since the late nineteenth century boxing in England has been socially organised into two ideologically distinctive versions - amateur and professional boxing – that to this day are practiced in spatially segregated social universes. Nonetheless, both amateur and professional boxing-practitioners understandings and lived experiences in and through boxing are necessarily grounded in the wider social and cultural contexts through which they interpret meaning and construct worldviews and identity. Thus despite the institutional, ideological and spatial boundaries demarcating either code, on a rather more subtle yet incredibly powerful cultural level, amateur and professional boxing are both symbolically and practically deeply intertwined. Over a five year period, I conducted ‘insider’ ethnographic research among distinct cohorts of amateur and professional boxers based in Luton and London to investigate the lived experiences and socially constructed worldviews, values and identities developed by practitioners immersed in either code. The overriding aim of this research was to critically evaluate the limits and possibilities of boxing-practitioners association with and development through ‘boxing’ henceforth. The findings of this ethnography reveal that it was common for the amateur and professional boxing-practitioners studied to cultivate empowering identities through intersubjective and socially validating instances of purposefulness, expressivity, creativity, fellowship and aspiration. These lived dimensions were grounded in sensuous, symbolic and emotional attachments respective to the social organization defining the social practice of either code of boxing. Equally, the research reveals that under the veneer of collective passion for and consequent fellowship experienced through boxing, an undercurrent yet ever-present sense of dubiety, tension and intra-personal conflict was in evidence among both the amateur and professional boxing-practitioners studied. It is suggested, therefore, that as a consequence of an array of both micro and macro post-industrial societal reconfigurations defining the structural principles of amateurism and professionalism in the practice of ‘boxing’, contemporary boxers are increasingly predisposed to developing athletic identities predisposed towards patterns of meaning production “…dominated by market-mediated consumer choice and the power of individualism” (Jarvie 2006 p. 327). Thus through complex, historically dynamic and seemingly paradoxical social processes of cultural (re)production and transformation - dialectically fusing individualistic aspirations geared towards self-interested gain, acts of group and subcultural fellowship and social resistance to measures of institutionalised control - it is argued that the role of boxing as an agent for humanistic personal and social development in the contemporary late-modern era of structural reconfiguration is progressively rendered impotent.
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Doherty, Michael. "The effects of caffeine on short-term, high-intensity exercise." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/292660.
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The aim of this series of studies was to investigate the effects of oral caffeine ingestion (5 mg . kg-1) on whole-body, short-term, high-intensity exercise (ST; representing an exercise intensity of between 100% -150% V02 max), an area that has received scant attention in the past. It was found that, in common with other 'open-ended' tests, one ST assessment, the maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD), appeared to lack both validity and reliability. Although traditional reliability markers of MAOD were favourable, the 95% limits of agreement were unacceptably large. In addition, the validity of MAOD was also found to be questionable because a study of elite runners revealed that a large proportion were unable to accomplish a plateau in the V02 -exercise intensity relationship. A follow-up study developed an original bespoke 'preloaded' ST cycling protocol that combined constant-rate exercise with an 'all-out' effort. This protocol appears to have several features that make it a more appropriate assessment to use in ergogenic studies than the MAOD. The work also considered the original, and as yet, undeveloped potential, for the assessment of rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during ST. It was shown for the first time that RPE (Borg scale; 6-20) could be used reliably during constant-rate ST. Three of the ten studies demonstrated that caffeine can be ergogenic during ST, with improvements averaging 11 % (95% GI, 7.4% -14.5%) above placebo treatment. In addition, the caffeine studies contributed to a meta-analysis of the effects of caffeine on test outcome that resulted in an effect size greater than zero, with 95% confidence intervals not crossing zero. The studies have examined potential physiological and metabolic mechanisms of action that may help explain caffeine's impact on ST. These suggest that there is some evidence that caffeine both stimulates anaerobic glycolysis and reduces electrolyte disturbance during ST. Finally this work has demonstrated for the first time that the perceptual response during constant-rate ST, as measured by RPE, is blunted following caffeine ingestion. It is concluded that caffeine is ergogenic during ST, and that while the exact mechanism(s) of action remains unknown, one consistent test outcome is a reduction in RPE during constant-rate ST.
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King, Stephanie Louise. "Adaptations in plantarflexor muscle-tendon properties and their impact on gait in claudicants with peripheral arterial disease." Thesis, University of Hull, 2015. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:13627.
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Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a chronic atherosclerotic disease, primarily affecting the lower limbs. The associated intermittent claudication (IC) is a muscle pain/cramping sensation in the legs, primarily brought on by physical activity, such as walking, which can negatively affect daily function and quality of life. Poorer levels of lower-limb muscle strength are strong predictors for mortality and the plantarflexor muscles in particular are a frequent site of claudication pain, with previous literature also indicating their dysfunction during level gait. However, little is known about the size and architecture of these muscles, the quality of the in-series Achilles tendon or the factors that contribute to voluntary joint moments and how these relate to physical function in this population. The aim of this thesis was to determine the functional properties of the gastrocnemii muscles and Achilles tendon in order to make evidence-based clinical recommendations for specific exercise interventions for claudicants. A total of 23 participants (13 claudicants and 10 controls) took part in the study. Muscle-tendon dimensions and architecture, tendon properties, activation patterns and muscle strength, power and quality (specific tension) were assessed be integrating ultrasound imaging, electromyography and dynamometry. Stair gait biomechanics were analysed using 3D motion capture as indicators of whole body physical function. Within the claudicant cohort, disease severity was determined using the ankle brachial pressure index and walking performance assessed by a modified six-minute walk test. Average post-exercise ankle brachial pressure index of the claudicating-limbs were 0.55±0.21 with initial (onset of claudication pain) and absolute (maximal claudication pain) walking distances of 105±45m and 265±136m, respectively. The first study investigated the relationships between the resting architecture of the gastrocnemii and functional properties of the Achilles tendon with disease severity and walking endurance. Worse disease severity was significantly associated with longer fascicle: tendon length ratios in both lateral (R=-.789, P=.001) and medial (R = -.828, P = < .001) gastrocnemius, and increased tendon hysteresis (R=-.740, P=.006). This suggests that the Achilles tendon has undergone deleterious changes and the muscle has adopted a structure designed to compensate for this. However, the concomitant associations with poorer walking endurance indicate this mechanism is not effective. Walking endurance could also be explained by lateral and medial gastrocnemius pennation angle, maximum tendon force, tendon hysteresis and disease severity (R2=~0.6). The direction of coefficients within these models suggests that improving tendon properties and increasing strength, but without increasing pennation angle, would be beneficial for walking endurance. Thus, eccentric resistance training may be an effective exercise intervention. The second study investigated relationships between static and dynamic muscle quality with disease severity and walking endurance. The power-producing capabilities of claudicants’ plantarflexors (both the claudicating/painful limb and asymptomatic limb) were impaired compared to healthy controls, particularly at high contraction velocities (24% difference at 180°/s). This could be explained by some reduction in gastrocnemii muscle quality and a greater reliance on the prominently type I fibred soleus muscle. As reduced dynamic capability of the plantarflexor muscles was associated with disease severity (R=.541, P=.037) and walking endurance (R=.689, P=.006), high velocity resistance training of the plantarflexor muscles appears important to maintain functional performance. The third and fourth studies investigated the functionally challenging daily tasks of stair ascent and stair descent, respectively. During stair ascent, plantarflexor moments were similar in claudicants compared to healthy controls, indicating the muscle could meet the strength demands of this task. We also observed that ankle angular velocity at the instant of peak moment, peak ankle power generation, as well as propulsive and vertical forces, were all reduced during forward continuance in the claudicating-limb group. It seems that claudicants possess adequate levels of strength when moving more slowly but are unable to remain strong when moving more quickly, therefore it could be suggested that the slower walking speed is a means to allow claudicants to operate within safer limits relative to their maximal strength capacity. This provides further evidence, in a functional context, of the velocity-dependent limitations of the plantarflexors detected in study two. During stair descent we hypothesised that the task demands would be redistributed away from the affected plantarflexors towards the muscles surrounding the hips and knees. Instead, the claudicants placed a greater reliance on the plantarflexors compared to healthy controls (40% vs 28% of plantarflexor contribution to peak support moment). Additionally, a unique hip extensor strategy was exposed during weight acceptance that was adopted by 73% of the claudicating-limb group, which was also associated with increased disease severity. However this was not a mechanism to reduce the functional demands on the plantarflexors but rather to reduce demands on the knee musculature. These data indicate the claudicants were relying heavily on the functionally limited plantarflexors to absorb the falling body mass during weight acceptance in stair descent, which may pose an increased risk of falling. This thesis has identified important changes in the structure and quality of the gastrocnemii muscles and the properties and function of the Achilles tendon, that appear to influence whole body function during demanding and risky physical activities (stair negotiation) that necessitate alternate strategies. Taken as a whole, it is clear that high-velocity and eccentric resistance training would likely improve the musculoskeletal characteristics of claudicants, increase walking endurance and facilitate safe stair negotiation.
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Nichols, Simon J. "The cardiorespiratory and vascular adaptations to a routine UK exercise based cardiac rehabilitation programme." Thesis, University of Hull, 2015. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:13749.
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Introduction: Recent data suggests that UK cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes do not substantially improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) or patient survival. The exercise dose prescribed as part of a routine CR programme may be insufficient. The aims of the thesis were to (i) investigate whether a routine UK CR exercise training programme could improve peak oxygen consumption (VO₂peak) and, (ii) reduce carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) progression in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and, (iii) determine whether higher exercise training doses prescribed to patients with CHD through a tele-monitoring system elicit superior VO₂peak improvements compared to routine CR alone. Study One: We recruited n=34 patients (85.3% male; age 62.1 ± 8.8 years; body mass index [BMI] 29.5 ± 4.5 Kg·m⁻²) who had recently been diagnosed with CHD. n=22 patients formed an exercise training group (TG) and undertook an eight week (16 session) low to moderate intensity (40-70% peak heart rate reserve), routine CR exercise training programme. n=12 patients declined routine CR and were assigned to a non- exercise control group (CG). Patients in the training group were followed up after completing their exercise training programme. Controls were followed up approximately 8 to 10 weeks after their initial visit (visit 2). Both groups were followed up 12 months later. VO₂peak change was determined in all patients via “gold standard” maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) using the modified Bruce treadmill protocol. C-IMT progression was also determined using B-mode ultrasound. In the UK, submaximal exercise tests such as cycle ergometry are typically used to assess CRF change following CR. Submaximal cycle ergometry (intensities up to 70% heart rate reserve) was used to estimate changes in CRF. Submaximal cycle ergometry showed a mean improvement of 1.64 METs (95% CI 1.20 to 2.09 METs; p<0.001). However, “gold standard” maximal CPET showed that this equated to no significant change in VO₂peak (Δ change: 0.12 ml·kg⁻¹·min-1; 95% CI -1.00 to 1.24 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹). No VO₂peak improvement was detected in controls (Δ change: 0.15ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; 95% CI -1.37 to 1.66 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; p=0.978). VO₂peak remained unchanged after 12 months amongst patients in the TG (Δ -0.94 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; range -6.09 to 2.10 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; p=0.846). Controls experienced C-IMT progression in the right lateral aspect of their common carotid artery (CCA) at the end of the eight week CR period (Δ change: 0.070 mm; range -0.060 to 0.200 mm; p=0.038). Patients in the TG experienced C-IMT reduction in the left lateral aspect of their CCA between CR programme completion and their 12 month follow-up (Δ change: 0.054 mm; range -0.160 to 0.020 mm; p=0.015). Study Two: We recruited n=50 healthy volunteers (60% male; age 26.2 ± 5.0 years; BMI 24.6 kg·m⁻² ) to examine the intra and inter-operator variability of automated c-IMT measurements when taken by novice operators. Two novice operators performed serial bilateral C-IMT ultrasound measurements using the CardioHealth Station (Panasonic Biomedical Sales Europe BV, Leicestershire, UK). Immediate inter-operator variability was determined by comparing operators’ initial measurements. Immediate retest variability was determined by comparing consecutive measurements (<10 minutes apart). Longer-term variability was determined by comparing operators’ initial measurements to a third set of measurements conducted one week later. Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlations were conducted. The limits of agreement (LoA) for immediate inter-operator variability were -0.063 to 0.056 mm (mean bias -0.003 mm). Operator 1’s immediate retest intra-operator LoA were -0.057 to 0.046 mm (mean bias was -0.005 mm). Operator 1’s intra-operator LoA at one week were -0.057 to 0.050 mm (mean bias -0.003 mm). Operator 2’s LoA were similar to those of operator 1. Novice operators produce acceptable short-term and one week inter- and intra-operator C-IMT measurement variability in healthy, young to middle aged adults using the Panasonic CardioHealth Station. Study Three: We recruited n=27 patients with a diagnosis of CHD (88.9% male; age 59.5 ± 10.0 years; BMI 29.6 ± 3.8 kg·m⁻²). VO₂peak change was quantified in n=10 patients receiving routine CR plus personalised exercise training based on maximal CPET data delivered via a bespoke tele-monitoring device. VO₂peak change was also determined in n=17 patients receiving routine CR only. CPET was performed using a 25W stepped cycle ergometry protocol. The combination of routine CR and a bespoke exercise training programme significantly increase VO₂peak (Δ change: 2.08 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; 95% CI 1.88 to 3.97 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; p=0.014) compared to routine CR alone (Δ change: -0.29 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; 95% CI -1.75 to 1.16 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; p=0.841). Conclusions: An eight week (16 session) low to moderate intensity (40-70% peak heart rate reserve) CR exercise training programme, typical of many programmes in the UK, does not improve direct measurements of VO₂peak on treadmill or cycle ergometer protocols. Current assessment methods utilising submaximal exercise testing may be overstating the effect of CR exercise interventions on CRF. Current UK recommendations for exercise training doses may also be inadequate. Data within study three indicates that a minimum of 13 sessions over a 12 week period may be required to improve VO₂peak. Limited evidence indicates that routine CR with structured exercise training may attenuate C-IMT progression compared with usual care control participants. This anti-atherosclerotic effect may be related to lower coronary risk factors and better adherence to other secondary prevention measures. Overall, higher exercise training doses and personalised exercise prescription derived from maximal CPET data appeared necessary for attaining significant CRF improvements in patients with CHD.
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Lauder, Michael Andrew. "Accuracy and reliability of propulsive force estimation in swimming." Thesis, Brunel University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286818.
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Vanicek, Natalie Katja. "Biomechanical and psychological factors that distinguish fallers from non-fallers : a comparative study of transtibial amputees and able bodied individuals." Thesis, University of Hull, 2009. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:2575.
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Transtibial amputees are at a higher risk of falling than age-matched able-bodied individuals. In order to make recommendations for falls prevention and treatment programmes, it is important to have a sound understanding of the underlying biomechanical function in persons at high risk of falling. While biomechanical differences between fallers and non-fallers have been identified in older adults, no research to date has specifically compared amputee fallers and non-fallers. The aim of this thesis was to undertake a biomechanical comparison of amputee and able-bodied fallers and non-fallers performing activities of daily living. A secondary aim was to investigate the effect of falls on balance confidence and quality of life and to determine whether a relationship existed between functional and psychological measures according to a person’s falls history. Twenty participants (11 transtibial amputees and 9 controls) took part in several studies including a kinematic and kinetic analysis of level walking, stair ascent and descent using a 3-step staircase. They also completed the Sensory Organisation Test (SOT) and Motor Control Test (MCT) on the NeuroCom EquiTest and their postural control was measured in static and dynamic conditions. Participants completed the MFES and SF-36 psychological instruments aimed at quantifying balance confidence and perceived quality of life, respectively. The first study investigated how falls were monitored by physiotherapists and the use of outcome measures in amputee rehabilitation in England. Shortcomings were identified in amputee rehabilitation in that physiotherapists did not monitor falls incidence regularly among their amputee patients and that there was no consensus on the types of recommended outcome measures. The second study explored the biomechanical differences between fallers and non-fallers during level walking and the findings indicated that the amputee fallers had a significantly larger vertical GRF with respect to body weight during loading on the affected limb (p=0.01) and consequently loaded their affected limb significantly more than the non-fallers (p = 0.03). The opposite finding was reported in the control group, where the non-fallers had significantly greater load rates compared to the fallers (p=0.02). The amputee fallers also had significantly different power profiles at the hip (power absorption in stance, p=0.01) and the ankle (power generation in pre-swing, p=0.04) during the transition from double to single support on the affected leg. In the third study, biomechanical differences were examined during stair ascent revealing that the fallers walked significantly faster up stairs than the non-fallers (p=0.05) in the amputee groups, while the opposite was observed in the control groups (p=0.03). Kinematic differences were revealed, such as significantly increased knee ROM in both groups of fallers when compared to their non faller counterparts (p=0.04 and p=0.05 for the amputee and control groups, respectively). The amputee fallers had significantly larger vertical GRF peaks (p=0.01 and p=0.00, respectively), decay rate (p=0.01), ankle plantarflexor moment (p=0.01) and knee joint powers (power absorption in pre- and mid-swing, p=0.00 and p=0.01, respectively) on the intact limb compared to the non-fallers. A forth study exploring gait patterns during stair descent revealed that some amputees used a modified stepping strategy during stair locomotion by adopting a ‘step to’ pattern. The fifth study used computerised dynamic posturography with the Neurocom Equitest to understand how fallers and non-fallers maintained postural control under static and dynamic conditions. The results demonstrated that the amputee fallers scored significantly better on the equilibrium score on the SOT when visual and somatosensory input was inaccurate (p=0.05) (indicating less postural sway). The amputee fallers also bore significantly more weight through their affected limb during destabilising backwards and forwards translations, while the amputee non-fallers bore more weight through their intact limb (p
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Thomas, Kevin. "Regulation of power output during self-paced cycling exercise." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2013. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/15122/.
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Fatigue is a universal phenomenon with functional and perceptual consequences. The study of fatigue in the exercise sciences has historically focussed on factors that limit performance during exercise. More recent proposals have shifted the focus of this understanding to examine how intensity is regulated during exercise through the study of the pacing strategy, which has both physiological and practical consequences. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the biological basis of self-pacing and the optimum pacing strategy for endurance time-trial events. Study 1 assessed the reproducibility of the pacing strategy and the consistency of the performance, perceptual and physiological response during self-paced time-trial exercise in well-trained cyclists. This study demonstrated the existence of a global pacing strategy that was reproducible on repeat 20 km cycling time-trials (TTs), and consistent between 4, 20 and 40 km TTs. The performance, perceptual and physiological response was also reproducible, confirming the feasibility of studying manipulations of the self-pacing strategy and the subsequent impact on these variables. Studies 2 and 3 adopted a model whereby participant’s best self-paced TT performance was used to set time- and work-matched exercise bouts to study the effect of even- and variable-pacing. These studies revealed that a variable-pacing strategy that contains frequent periods of high-intensity exercise resulted in an augmented physiological response and higher perception of exertion compared to time- and work-matched even- and self-paced exercise. Conversely, even-pacing resulted in attenuation in the metabolic and perceptual cost of the bout, but only when the self-selected pacing strategy was sub-optimal. When self-pacing was optimal, time- and work-matched even-pacing resulted in cumulative metabolic stress that caused early exercise termination. In study 4 the biological basis to fatigue during 4, 20 and 40 km TTs was assessed. This study demonstrated that the contribution of central and peripheral mechanisms of fatigue during self-paced exercise is task-dependent. Specifically, the shorter, higher intensity 4 km time-trials were characterised by a greater degree of peripheral fatigue and less central fatigue compared to longer, lower intensity 20 and 40 km time-trials where less peripheral and more central fatigue was observed. The supraspinal contribution to fatigue was alsomgreater during longer TT exercise. These studies have provided novel insight in to the biological factors that underpin the regulation of self-paced exercise, and the optimum pacing strategy for endurance TT events.
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Chalari, Eleanna. "The effect of high-intensity intermittent exercise on biomarkers of oxidative stress." Thesis, University of Hull, 2017. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:16424.
Full textAbstract:
There are evidence that high-intensity acute exercise can promote oxidative stress. High-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) is a type of structured physical training characterised by repeated bouts of high-intensity exercise interspersed by recovery periods. As the impact of intermittency during acute HIIE has not been extensively studied, it is possible that the repeated intensive bouts within HIIE could induce oxidative stress levels. Plasma biomarkers, including lipid hydroperoxides and markers of DNA damage, have been increasingly applied within acute exercise physiology research to measure oxidative stress. This thesis presents the experimental outcomes of research into the effect of different forms of HIIE on established and novel biomarkers of oxidative stress. For the 1st study (chapter 3) a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) method was developed and optimised to measure DNA oxidation in plasma samples. Implementing a range of progressive analytical techniques, the method developed had a sensitivity to detect 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-Oxo-dG) in human plasma samples in the range of 5 – 500 nM. The implementation of this LC-MS method along with other oxidative stress biomarkers was thereafter applied to a randomised investigation of different high-intensity intermittent exercise protocols. The 2nd (chapter 4) and 3rd (chapter 5) studies considered the effect of different forms of intermittent exercise undertaken by 9 healthy, regularly active male participants (aged 21.0 ± 3.0 years). Each intermittent exercise session was performed for a total duration of 45 minutes. Each 45 minute exercise protocol consisted of 4 minute stages of high-intensity intermittent running at a mean 75% v!O2max, followed by 1 minute of passive recovery (halt of running). The experimental protocol was specifically designed to match for average speed, duration and distance but varied in either the intermittency (chapter 4) or the acceleration/deceleration (chapter 5). The effects of different forms of intermittent exercise (high, moderate, low) or different acceleration/deceleration components (high, moderate, low) in relation to oxidative stress biomarkers were determined. Results showed the absence of significant increases in all the biomarkers examined. However, significant variation in individual oxidative stress responses was observed. Within a final study, the 8-Oxo-dG method developed was compared to a widely used ELISA method, as there are indications in the literature that ELISA may overestimate 8-Oxo-dG. Determination of 8-Oxo-dG was undertaken on blood plasma samples from 30 chronic heart failure patients (males = 23, females = 7) recruited from the Academic Cardiology department at Castle Hill hospital, Hull, UK, as previous studies have characterised the heart failure syndrome to be associated with higher levels of oxidative stress. Results showed that the LC-MS method developed found no detectable levels of 8-Oxo-dG in plasma samples whereas ELISA showed quantifiable amounts of 8-Oxo-dG. Thus, this thesis presented that the impact of intermittency or acceleration/deceleration following acute HIIE does not induce significant oxidative stress as determined by plasma and serum biomarkers, including plasma 8-Oxo-dG.
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Kirk, Richard James Thompson. "Endothelial function response to different modes of acute and chronic exercise in both health and diseased populations." Thesis, University of Hull, 2014. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:16454.
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Endothelial microparticles (EMP) offer an insight into the state of the endothelium and are known to be elevated in diseases characterised by endothelial dysfunction (ED) (Horstman et al., 2004; Vince et al., 2009a). EMP have also been shown to increase after exercise/endothelial stress in healthy individuals (Sossdorf et al., 2011; Vince et al, 2009) but this area remains relatively novel. The purpose of the first experiment was to quantify the effects of an acute bout of strenuous exercise on the circulating levels of EMP and to assess if this effect is different after the ingestion of an extensively researched ergogenic aid (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3). Seven physically active and apparently healthy males volunteered to perform 10 x 15 second (s) cycle sprints after the ingestion of either 0.03 g.kg.BW−1 NaHCO3 or 0.045 g.kg.BW−1 of a placebo (sodium chloride, NaCl) in capsules. The ingestion of NaHCO3 induced a pre exercise alkalosis as evidenced by a significantly altered resting acid base status, but had no influence on levels of EMP in healthy males. As a result, the data was combined for the two experimental groups, and the exercise produced a significantly increased level of CD105+ MP (MP; microparticles) at 90 minutes (min) and 180 min when compared with resting levels (p = 0.010, p = 0.043 respectively). The observed peak value at 90 min was also significantly greater compared to immediately post exercise (p = 0.019). CD106+ MP also increased significantly to 90 min from immediately post exercise (p = 0.020) and this was still greater at 180 min compared to post exercise (p = 0.015). It was concluded that exercise of this nature was sufficient to elicit ED, although the endothelium shows signs of endothelial repair within a matter of hours (hr). Also, it appears that pre exercise alkalosis has no effect on the attenuation of EMP quantity. Additional work was completed to verify the novel finding that CD105+ MP and CD106+ MP appear markers of endothelial function (EF), and to further examine the quantification of EMP, this time in healthy females. There was also an additional blood draw in order to assess where the maximum level of endothelial stress was occurring post exercise. In the second experiment, 10 healthy females completed the identical repeated sprints protocol as the first experiment, this time without the ingestion of NaHCO3. CD105+ MP were increased 90 min post exercise compared to immediately after exercise (p = 0.042). There was again a decline in both markers from 90 min to 180 min, although this was not significant. Furthermore, with the addition of a blood draw at 45 min post exercise, it was suggested that EMP levels appear to be rising between 45 min and 90 min post exercise, speculating this is the time point of greatest endothelial damage. Finally, shear stress was suggested as a key reason behind the increase in endothelial damage as a result of exercise, as indicated by significant changes in variables such as heart rate (HR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). The third experiment employed a longer 90 min interval cycling protocol with the purpose of quantifying EF over a greater period of time, allowing investigation into whether the markers of EF were altered in the same way as the previous two experiments. It was also an aim to further assess the possible influence of shear stress factors on ED. Fourteen healthy males completed 90 min of high intensity aerobic exercise, and there were several changes in both CD105+ MP and CD106+ MP. CD105+ MP rose significantly from rest to an observed peak at 90 min (p = 0.019). Both of these markers indicated a significant restoration of the endothelium as indicated by a fall from peak values during recovery to 180 min post exercise (CD105+ MP, p = 0.009; CD106+ MP, p = 0.022). This experiment concluded that the endothelium is greatly affected by highly intense exercise over a prolonged period of time, but is recovered fully in a time period of 3 hr. The effects of shear stress again appear to be largely influential, but future work must now be conducted in order to build on the findings from this research and examine shear stress closely during exercise and its relationship with EMP quantification. It was the aim of the next experiment to investigate two separate methods of assessing EF (EMP and EndoPAT-2000), this time in a group of sedentary, but otherwise healthy individuals, in order to monitor the changes as a result of an acute bout of moderate intensity acute exercise. There were no significant differences found in EF as a result of exercise. This was indicated by no significant changes in CD105+ MP concentrations from pre to post exercise (p = 0.84) or pre to 60 min post exercise (p = 0.612). CD106+ MP concentrations showed a decrease from resting values (2513 CD106+ MP per μl platelet free plasma; PFP) to immediately post exercise (1368 CD106+ MP per μl PFP, p = 0.09), and again at 60 min post exercise (1293 CD106+ MP per μl PFP, p = 0.073) compared to resting values. Additionally, EndoPAT scores were unaffected by exercise, with values of reactive hyperaemia index (RHI) changing from rest (2.43) to post exercise (2.57), but this was not significant (p = 0.35). Correlations were carried out in order to determine and comparisons that may have existed between EMP and EndoPAT score using RHI. Although there was a slight trend for the higher numbers of CD105+ MP to correlate with the lower scores of RHI (r = 0.327) this was not significant (p = 0.171). CD106+ MP showed no correlations with RHI (r = -0.087, p = 0.717). This chapter suggested that exercise was not strenuous enough to see any significant changes in EF, and EMP continue to appear efficient markers of EF in a population of sedentary, healthy individuals. The final experimental chapter investigated the effects of a supervised 8 week moderate intensity exercise programme on women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and control women free from any known disease. The aim was to assess if this type of exercise could improve EF in this population, and if there was a relationship with EMP (CD105+ MP and CD106+ MP) to other factors, such as body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness. EF was improved from baseline values to post exercise programme, with CD105+ MP concentrations reducing from 2113 CD105+ MP per μl PFP to 424 CD105+ MP per μl PFP (p = 0.025). Furthermore, control women showed no significant change from pre to post exercise programme in CD105+ MP (p = 0.25), or CD106+ MP (p = 0.99). Further analysis was performed to look for any associations with the changes in EMP compared to body composition changes as a result of exercise, but no significant correlations existed. This study concluded that supervised, moderate intensity exercise independent of substantial weight loss was enough to elicit an00 improvement in EF in women with PCOS compared to healthy control women. Additionally, EMP concentrations appear to be able to effectively map changes in EF across a long period of time in diseased states, adding to the notion that EMP may account for EF. Future work must now build on these findings from this research and examine this response in a larger cohort involving PCOS women with varied phenotypes and body composition.
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Bray, James William. "Quantification of training load, neuromuscular fatigue, biochemical and endocrine responses to fast bowling in cricket." Thesis, University of Hull, 2017. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:16447.
Full textAbstract:
Recent professionalization, the emergence of, and ever-increasing popularity of limited overs cricket, have resulted in traditional playing schedules evolving and expanding. Consequently, players now compete for much of the year, experiencing periods of condensed fixtures. To meet these increased demands, the aforementioned contribute to effecting team performance and player health. Thus, the prevalence of injuries, especially amongst fast bowlers, has been shown and attributed to rises in competition workloads. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis was to explore the application of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) to quantify the training load of fast bowlers. Furthermore, I sought to assess relationships between both internal and external training load variables and proposed markers of fatigue and recovery. The first preliminary descriptive research study (Chapter 4) aimed to prospectively quantify fast bowling workloads during a typical season of professional domestic county cricket (April – September). Data were collected from fixture scorebooks, with descriptive bowling workloads determined by calculating frequencies of overs and deliveries bowled. This was further calculated dependant on both bowler classification (opening [O-B; n = 2] or support [S-B; n = 6]) and competition format (multiday [MD], One-day [OD] or Twenty20 [T20]), respectively. Significant differences were found in total number of overs (296.1 overs; 95% CI 37.8 to 554.4; P = 0.03) and deliveries (1764.8 balls; 95% CI 183.0 to 3346.7; P = 0.03) bowled between O-B and S-B, respectively. Multiday cricket was the only format where, significant differences between bowlers were found; total number of overs (289.9 overs; 95% CI 88.2 to 491.6; P = 0.01) and deliveries (1739.3 balls; 95% CI 529.3 to 2949.3; P = 0.01) bowled. The aim of experimental study one (Chapter 5) was to assess the between-match and within-match between-over variability of external training load measures during T20 cricket competition. MEMS data were collected from eight fast bowlers in 17 matches of domestic T20 competition, spanning two seasons. MEMS variables were categorised into total distance (TD), low- (≤ 14.4 km.h-1) and high- (≥ 14.4 km.h-1) speed running distance, total sprint distance (≥18 km.h-1), number of sprint efforts and PlayerLoadTM ([PL] arbitrary units; AU). Data were log-transformed to provide the coefficient of variation (CV; expressed as percentages). The between-match variability was greatest in high-speed running distance (32.9% CV), total sprint distance (49.0% CV) and number of sprint efforts (48.0% CV). Similarly, within-match between-over high-speed running distance (12.8% CV), total sprint distance (17.1% CV) and number of sprint efforts (12.3% CV) elicited the greatest variability, yet, this was markedly reduced compared to between-match observations. However, TD and PL were found to be relatively stable measures of external training load (range; 5.5–13.3% CV), both between-match and within-match between-over. Experimental study two (Chapter 6) investigated short-term neuromuscular fatigue (NMF) of fast bowlers and relationships to match performance during a typical season of professional academy OD limited overs cricket. Baseline measures of lower body NMF were assessed via flight time (ms) from a countermovement jump (CMJ). These measures were repeated every morning of competition; NMF was additionally assessed within 30-min after the cessation of the bowling innings (CMJ-FIRST or CMJ-SECOND). MEMS data were collected from six fast bowlers, with supplementary descriptive fast bowling workloads classifications (LOW, MODERATE and HIGH). There were significant reductions in flight time pre to post bowling innings (Δ 19 ms; P = 0.008). Moreover, similar reductions in flight time were found in LOW – MODERATE (Δ 30 ms; P = 0.03) and LOW – HIGH bowling workload groups (Δ 43 ms; P = 0.003), respectively. Finally, experimental study three (Chapter 7) investigated neuromuscular, biochemical and endocrine markers of fatigue after four spells of simulated fast bowling. Eleven fast bowlers completed differing spells of simulated fast bowling based on the Cricket Australia-Australian Institute of Sport (CA-AIS) fast bowling skills test. NMF were assessed via flight-time from a CMJ; pre (-0.5-h) and post (+0.5 and +24-h) simulation, with blood (Creatine kinase; CK) and saliva (Cortisol; sCort) samples collected in parallel. During each simulated fast bowling trial (4-, 6-, RANDOM- & 10-overs), internal (heart rate exertion index [HREI]) and external (PL) training load was quantified using MEMS. There were small, significant reductions in CMJ flight time pre to post (Δ 21 ms; P < 0.01) and pre to 24-h post (Δ 8 ms; P = 0.001) simulation, respectively. Overs bowled appeared to significantly affect NMF for up to 24-h post simulation. Furthermore, changes in CK were found to best correlate with estimated TD (r = 0.48; P = 0.002) rating of perceived exertion (RPE r = 0.47; P = 0.002) session-RPE (r = 0.48; P = 0.002), HREI (r = 0.45; P = 0.003) and PL (r = 0.41; P = 0.009) 24-h post simulation, respectively. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that during limited overs cricket, high-speed locomotive activity is highly variable amongst fast bowlers. Furthermore, fast bowlers are shown to experience short-term NMF, which appears to be magnified based on descriptive fast bowling workload characteristics. Collectively, these findings have importance for practitioners, who seek to facilitate performance by informed training prescription based on replicating match and training demands.
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Montgomery, Gallin John Hodgshon. "The effects of continuous, intermittent and mode of exercise on mechanical bone remodelling." Thesis, University of Hull, 2017. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:16592.
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Bone health is known to deteriorate with age, which can increase the risk of osteoporotic fractures and subsequently all-cause mortality. Current life expectancies are higher than ever before and with our ageing population, osteoporosis and low bone density levels are an ever growing problem that command a lot of medical attention and resources. Women are at a greater risk than men due to increased rates of bone loss that occur in the early years following the menopause. Mechanical loading in the form of exercise is known to reduce the rates of postmenopausal bone loss although an optimal exercise programme is yet to be established. Furthermore, investigations conducted with animals have found intermittent mechanical loading to provide a greater stimulus for bone adaptation than continuous mechanical loading, this has not been investigated in human populations to date. The aim of this thesis was to establish a sufficient exercise mode for stimulating bone adaptation in postmenopausal women and investigate the effects of continuous and intermittent exercise on postmenopausal bone loss. This was attempted with a 12 month randomised controlled trial with postmenopausal women. The first study gave a systematic review of the current literature that investigated continuous or intermittent exercise. The review found that as the studies were not designed to specifically analyse continuous or intermittent exercise, there were numerous problems regarding the control of previous exercise programmes with regards to defined exercise and rest intervals. This was due to the design of the included studies, as many of them were not specifically designed to analyse the different effects of continuous and intermittent exercise on bone mineral density (BMD). In addition, BMD outcomes were not reported in a standardized manner, which complicated the comparisons drawn. From this investigation, it was evident that well-controlled exercise interventions (using a single exercise), are required for the comparison of the effect of continuous and intermittent exercise on BMD in human populations. The second study investigated the feasibility of developing a non-motorised treadmill exercise intervention that included both continuous and intermittent exercise groups. Non-motorised treadmill (NMT) locomotion allows for the instantaneous quantification of ground reaction forces (GRF) and is well suited to both continuous exercise and intermittent exercise with the potential for the use of a range of intermittent running based protocols. In order to establish the osteogenic potential of this mode of exercise, it was necessary to quantify the mechanical loading parameters. This study found that loading parameters showed large reductions during NMT locomotion when compared to overground or motorised treadmill locomotion (24 to 29 %), which could potentially compromise the level of bone adaptation if this mode of exercise was used for intervention purposes. The third study investigated the loading parameters of more traditional high impact exercises in a population of postmenopausal women. All exercises were performed under both continuous and intermittent conditions to assess for consistency during the two conditions. This project showed that countermovement jumps (CMJ) and box drops (BD) produced the highest loading parameters when compared to heel drops (HD) and stamping (STP) (d = 0.83 – 2.38), along with no statistical differences between continuous and intermittent conditions (continuous: 10.7 ± 4.8 g for CMJ, 9.6 ± 4.1 g for BD; intermittent 10.0 ± 5.0 g for CMJ, 9.5 ± 4.0 g for BD). CMJ, BD and HD exercises all appeared to generate a sufficient level of peak acceleration and acceleration gradient for osteogenic adaptation however. For consistency purposes and the fact that no equipment was required, CMJs were selected as the most appropriate home-based exercise for use in a 12 month intervention to reduce postmenopausal bone loss. The fourth study investigated the effects of continuous and intermittent exercise on BMD in early postmenopausal women over the course of a 12 month randomised control trial. Unfortunately the study was underpowered and in addition, the findings showed no statistically significant differences in the bone response between groups. Only the control group experienced a statistically significant loss in both lumbar spine (-2.7% [95%CI: -3.9 to -1.4]) and femoral neck (-3.0% [95%CI: -5.1 to -0.8]) BMD, which exceeded the 95% least significant change at the lumbar spine and femoral neck in 57% of control group participants. There appeared to be no beneficial effect of continuous or intermittent exercise on BMD, hip structural analysis (HSA) parameters or muscular force characteristics when compared to a control group however. In conclusion, this thesis has identified that future research should further investigate the effects of continuous and intermittent exercise on BMD with appropriately controlled randomised control trials, with greater participant numbers. Whilst CMJ and BD provide adequate loading parameters, this does not translate into BMD adaptations. Continuous and intermittent CMJ exercises had no effect on reducing postmenopausal BMD loss at the lumbar spine and the femoral neck, although further investigation is required in an adequately powered study.
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Carson, Fraser. "The psychology of anterior cruciate ligament injury rehabilitation amongst professional rugby union players." Thesis, University of Hull, 2012. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:8442.
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[From the introduction:] Within professional contact sports, injury has been reported frequently by athletes as causing stress (Anshel, 2001; Noblet & Gifford, 2002). Particularly within rugby union where injury has been reported as one of the top four stressors experienced by elite adolescent players (Nicholls & Polman, 2007), and the most frequent stressor by adult professional players (Nicholls Holt, Polman, & Bloomfield, 2006). A variety of coping strategies are utilized to manage these stressors, with the effectiveness varying per player (Nicholls et al., 2006). Although to date no research has found a causal relationship between injury as a source of stress and the actual incidence of injury such research suggest that injury can significantly increase the stress experienced by athletes. This is supported by the findings that following serious sports injury, elite athletes have reported this to be a stressful experience (Gould, Udry, Bridges, & Beck, 1997a) which is manifested by concerns related to career, physical rehabilitation, social interactions, further injury, and return to prior performance levels (Gould et al., 1997; Tracey, 2003).
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Gale, Laura. "Understanding community coaches' experiences of everyday coaching practice : a narrative-biographical study." Thesis, University of Hull, 2013. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:10424.
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Northgraves, Matthew James. "Exercise prehabilitation in colorectal cancer surgery patients : the effects on physical functioning, health related quality of life and markers of cellular protection." Thesis, University of Hull, 2016. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:15398.
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Since being introduced in the late 1990’s, enhancing recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols have been promoted for inclusion in the care pathway for colorectal cancer patients scheduled for resection surgery (Gustaffson et al., 2012). This multimodal approach to stress management is thought to reduce the amount of surgical stress encountered; attenuating the debilitating effect surgery has on the patient and aiding subsequent recovery with a reduction in hospital length of stay reported (Lv et al., 2012). Although not currently included in ERAS, a period of pre-operative exercise training, known as PREHAB, has been proposed as a potential mechanism of improving the patient’s pre- operative fitness ahead of surgery (Carli & Zavorsky, 2005). As no research currently exists into how feasible it would be to incorporate a period of PREHAB into the current NHS colorectal cancer care pathway in the United Kingdom, this thesis aimed to address this gap in the literature as well as investigate whether participation in PREHAB would alter physical functioning and health related quality of life (HRQOL) prior to surgery and improve post-operative recovery. The impact of PREHAB on upregulating the body’s heat shock protein (Hsp) and glutathione defence systems was also explored. The purpose of the first experimental chapter was to investigate through a questionnaire-based approach whether an interest in the potential use of PREHAB existed in the Hull and East Riding area and what were the perceived benefits and barriers to participation. Over 75% of respondents indicated they would be interested in PREHAB if awaiting surgery although a lack of time (62% of respondents), cost (46%) and work responsibilities (43%) were identified as the main barriers to participation. Having established an interest existed in PREHAB, the test-retest reliability and measurement error of the five tests of physical functioning (Timed up and go [TUG], five times sit to stand [FTSTS], 5 step stair climb [SCT], handgrip dynamometry [HGD] and 6 minute walk test [6MWT]) that would be used to assess the effectiveness of the PREHAB intervention was investigated. All five tests displayed excellent test-retest reliability (all ICCs: >0.90) with the standard error of measurement and minimum detectable changes at 95% as a percentage of the mean ranging from 2.3% to 5.2% and 6.3% to 16.1% respectively. In the third experimental chapter, a randomised controlled pilot trial investigating a novel PREHAB intervention based on the joint-by-joint approach to training was conducted in colorectal cancer patients. The ineligibility of 43% (84 out of 198) of patients due to insufficient time to scheduled surgery (< 2 weeks) and subsequent poor consent rate of eligible patients (18.4%; 21 out of 114 patients) indicates implementing PREHAB into the current colorectal care pathway would be difficult. However, improvements in TUG, SCT and 6MWT performance were observed in all nine patients randomised to PREHAB (all p < 0.05), a result not replicated in the control group (improved performance at reassessment: TUG: 2 out of 9; SCT: 3 out of 9; 6MWT: 4 out of 9). This suggested that despite the limited time from recruitment to surgery (median PREHAB period: 23 [IQR: 14] days), the PREHAB programme was sufficient to improve physical functioning in these patients. There was however no significant difference in length of hospital between the two group (Control: 8 [5] days; PREHAB: 10 [7] days). In the final two experimental chapters, the effects of the PREHAB intervention on basal Hsp72 and Hsp32 expression and the glutathione defence system was explored although the low recruitment rates previously described limited the results. No changes were evident in Hsp32 or Hsp72 expression; or in total glutathione or GSH/GSSH ratio for either group during the pre-operative period. There was a potential time of day effect for monocyte Hsp72 as expression decreased in 13 out of 16 at pre-operative reassessment (p < 0.05) thus potentially masking any adaptations to have taken place. Furthermore, attempts to establish whether PREHAB altered Hsp72 inducibility were not possible due to inadequate viable samples being available. Given the limited sample size, definite conclusions were difficult to make although it was plausible the absence of change in Hsp72, Hsp32 and glutathione following PREHAB was due to insufficient stimulus being present given the often low to moderate intensity of the intervention. The findings of this thesis highlighted the issues regarding the limited time available in the pre-operative period that would need to be overcome in order to practically implement a PREHAB intervention into the current NHS colorectal cancer care pathway. Despite this, the improvements observed in physical functioning following PREHAB suggests if the intervention could be adapted to a cost-effective home-based programme it may be a viable addition to the ERAS programme.