Muscular Christianity and its makers: sporting monks and churchmen in Anglo‐Norman society, 1000–1300

This research focuses on the (scientific) interaction between civil and military institutions of physical education during the interwar period in Belgium. Based on experimental scientific research, Albert Govaerts, the Research Director of the Military Institute of Physical Education (MIPE), concluded that the Danish gymnastics method of Niels Bukh was more efficient and suitable than the traditional Swedish gymnastics method, which had become institutionalised at an academic level in Belgium since 1908. Based on Govaerts' research results, Danish gymnastics was introduced in 1934 into the entire Belgian Army as the official method of practice and, a few years later, the Danish method was also adopted ‘externally’ in a few Belgian civil institutions. A chronological transition of Scandinavian methods as a result of the modernisations that were implemented did not therefore appear to proceed so naturally in Belgium. The MIPE was to carry out a similar role as a professional profile keeper in the field of physical education in Belgium up to 1947. From a sports historiographical perspective, these Belgian results form a starting point for further international comparative research into early interaction between military and civil institutions of physical education and the associated processes of discipline building, scientification and profile keeping.     

Discriminant analysis of the physiques of schoolboy rugby players,hurlers and non‐team members

The subjects were 31 successful schoolboy rugby players and 25 successful schoolboy hurlers; 34 non‐team members acted as controls. Thirty‐one anthropometric measurements were taken on each subject: height, weight, sitting height, five skeletal lengths, six skeletal diameters, 13 muscle circumferences and four skinfolds. The non‐players were significantly smaller than both the rugby players and the hurlers in weight, biacromial diameter, bideltoid, neck, chest, flexed arm, upper and lower thigh and calf circumferences. The non‐players were significantly smaller than the rugby players in arm length, femur diameter and waist, hip and relaxed arm circumferences. The non‐players were significantly smaller than the hurlers in femur length, biiliac and ankle diameters. There were no statistically significant differences between the rugby players and hurlers. Discriminant analysis produced a function containing terms for height, weight, fat free weight, humerus diameter and neck, bideltoid, forearm and calf circumferences which correctly assigned 83 (92%) of the subjects to ‘player’ and ‘non‐player’ categories. When the function was applied to the 15 members of the rugby team of a different school, 14 were placed in the ‘player’ category and one subject was given a borderline classification. It is concluded that there were differences in physique between the team members and non‐members and that the techniques used in the study were effective in quantifying them.     

Maximal isometric force and muscle cross‐sectional area of the forearm in fencers

The maximal isometric force (MIF) of a muscle is directly related to its cross‐sectional area (CSA). Strength training produces an increase in muscular force while muscular hypertrophy becomes appreciable at a later time; in asymmetric sports, training causes significant increases in force and muscular mass of the dominant limb of the athlete. The aim of this study was to analyse the differences in muscular force and trophism between the dominant and non‐dominant forearms in fencers and in controls.

The data of 17 male distance runners (age 21.4±2.4 years, body mass 74.0±5.0 kg, height 180 ± 6 cm) were compared with those of 58 male fencers (age 23.0 ± 6.7 years, body mass 71.9±9.3 kg, height 178 ± 7 cm) drawn from the ranking lists of the National Fencing Committee. They trained for a mean of 11.4±6.0 (range 2–36) years, commencing at 10.7 ± 4.5 years of age.

Cross‐sectional area (muscle plus bone) was estimated in the dominant and non‐dominant forearm using a simplified anthropometric method. Maximal isometric force was determined using a mechanical handgrip dynamometer. The differences in CSA and isometric force between the two limbs and between fencers and controls were tested using paired and unpaired Student's i‐tests, respectively. Significant differences in CSA and maximal force were observed between the dominant and non‐dominant forearm in fencers (both P<0.001) and in controls (P<0.005 and P<0.001, respectively). The fencers showed a greater CSA (P<0.001) and force (P< 0.001) in the dominant forearm compared with the control group. Furthermore, the differences between the dominant and non‐dominant limb of the fencers were significantly greater than the differences between the dominant and non‐dominant limb of the controls (P<0.001 for CSA and P<0.05 for force). No significant differences in stress ratio (force/CSA) were obtained in either group.

The results of this study suggest that asymmetric sports training at submaximal intensities produces significant asymmetries in force and CSA which are independent of technical level and years of training. Despite this, the force/CSA ratio is constant and independent of training.     

Influence of single‐leg training on muscle metabolism and endurance during exercise with the trained limb and the untrained limb

We have previously shown that single‐leg training results in improved endurance for exercise with the untrained leg (UTL) as well as for exercise with the trained leg (TL). The purpose of this study was to see whether the improved endurance of the untrained leg could be explained on the basis of changes in muscle metabolism. Exercise time to exhaustion at 80% of maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂ max) was determined for each leg separately, pre‐ and post‐training. Muscle metabolite concentrations were measured pre‐ and post‐training in biopsy samples obtained immediately before this endurance test and at the pre‐training point of exhaustion (END1). After six weeks of single‐leg training endurance time was increased for both the UTL and the TL (UTL 34.0+16.4 min vs 97.9±26.3 min, P<0.01; TL 28.3 + 10.1 min vs 169.0 + 32.6 min, P < 0.01). No changes in muscle metabolite concentrations were found in resting muscle. Training increased muscle ATP (P <0.05) and glycogen (P <0.01) concentrations and decreased muscle lactate concentration (P<0.05) in the TL at END1. No significant changes in muscle metabolite concentrations were found for the UTL. The improved endurance of the contralateral limb after single‐leg training could not be explained on the basis of changes in muscle metabolism.     

A history of rowing in the north‐west of England

Open-boat sailing boomed in Sydney, Australia, during the 1890s, as a number of new sailing clubs emerged in the city's working waterfront suburbs. Open boats have since been remembered as ‘typically Australian’, radically opposed to the forms and ceremonies of the yachting establishment, and even as sharing the characteristics of the bushman, an archetype of Australian national identity. This article traces the rise of open-boat sailing as a working-class spectator sport and the associated image of an ‘open boat legend’. It argues that open-boat sailing remained a Sydney legend in the 1890s. However, links to working traditions and place have made it possible for popular histories of sailing and yachting to present the open boats and sailors of the period with identifiably Australian characteristics.     

The effect of video‐feedback on the learning of the tennis service by intermediate players

Effects of video‐feedback on improvement of the tennis service were investigated in subjects having at least 2 years of playing experience in tennis. The experiment was carried out in an indoor tennis hall under normal training conditions.

Subjects were randomly divided into three groups: a video‐feedback training (VFT) group, a traditional training (TT) group and a control group, each consisting of 22 subjects. While the subjects of the control group received no training at all, subjects in both the VFT and TT groups were trained twice weekly during 5 consecutive weeks. Each training session lasted 40 min, of which 30 min was spent on actual practice in training of the service. The remaining 10 min was spent on watching, analysing and discussing video recordings of either their own service performed during the training session (VFT group), or ground strokes and volleys of top level players (TT group). Both the VFT and TT group showed significantly greater improvements in both achievement scores and form (technique) scores than did the control group. No differences, however, could be demonstrated between the VFT and TT group, indicating that the subjects of the former group did not benefit from the video‐feedback they received.

While form scores correlated significantly (P < 0.001) with the velocity of the served ball, no such relation between form scores and spatial accuracy was apparent.     

A three‐dimensional cinematographical analysis of the volleyball spike

The objectives of this study were to describe the volleyball spiking actions used by players in top‐level competition, and also to examine the interrelationships between upper limb, lower limb and whole body kinematic variables, and post‐impact ball speed in the spiking technique. Two Photosonics Biomechanics 500 cine‐cameras operating at a nominal frame rate of 100 Hz were used to film the spiking actions of 10 male senior international volleyball players at the XVI Universiade (1991 World Student Games). Three‐dimensional object space co‐ordinates of digitized image co‐ordinates were obtained using a DLT algorithm and an array of calibration points in the filmed volume. Relationships between lower limb angular kinematics at take‐off, centre of mass vertical velocity at take‐off and centre of mass vertical displacement (jump height) were examined. Relationships between angular kinematics of the hitting arm and post‐impact ball speed were also determined. The mean (± S.E.) centre of mass vertical velocity at take‐off was 3.59 ± 0.05 m s‐¹ and the mean height jumped was 0.62 ± 0.02 m. As expected, a significant correlation was found between the square of the centre of mass vertical velocity at take‐off and jump height (r = 0.78; P <0.01). No significant correlations were found between lower limb angular kinematics and centre of mass vertical velocity at take‐off or jump height. The mean post‐impact ball speed was 27.0 ± 0.9 m s‐¹, and this was significantly correlated to maximum right humerus angular velocity (r=0.75; P< 0.01). Trunk rotation angular kinematics and right elbow angular velocity did not correlate significantly with post‐impact ball speed. It was also noted that the majority of players filmed did not fit into any of the spiking categories identified in earlier studies.