Effect of 6 weeks of endurance training on the lactate minimum speed

The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity of the lactate minimum speed test to changes in endurance fitness resulting from a 6 week training intervention. Sixteen participants (mean +/- s :age 23 +/- 4 years;body mass 69.7 +/- 9.1 kg) completed 6 weeks of endurance training. Another eight participants (age 23 +/- 4 years; body mass 72.7 +/-12.5 kg) acted as non-training controls. Before and after the training intervention, all participants completed: (1) a standard multi-stage treadmill test for the assessment of VO 2max , running speed at the lactate threshold and running speed at a reference blood lactate concentration of 3 mmol.l -1 ; and (2) the lactate minimum speed test, which involved two supramaximal exercise bouts and an 8 min walking recovery period to increase blood lactate concentration before the completion of an incremental treadmill test. Additionally, a subgroup of eight participants from the training intervention completed a series of constant-speed runs for determination of running speed at the maximal lactate steady state. The test protocols were identical before and after the 6 week intervention. The control group showed no significant changes in VO 2max , running speed at the lactate threshold, running speed at a blood lactate concentration of 3 mmol.l -1 or the lactate minimum speed.In the training group, there was a significant increase in VO 2max (from 47.9 +/- 8.4 to 52.2 +/- 2.7 ml.kg -1 .min -1 ), running speed at the maximal lactate steady state (from 13.3 +/- 1.7 to 13.9 +/- 1.6 km.h -1 ), running speed at the lactate threshold (from 11.2 +/- 1.8 to 11.9 +/- 1.8 km.h -1 ) and running speed at a blood lactate concentration of 3 mmol.l -1 (from 12.5 +/- 2.2 to 13.2 +/- 2.1 km.h -1 ) (all P ? 0.05). Despite these clear improvements in aerobic fitness, there was no significant difference in lactate minimum speed after the training intervention (from 11.0 +/- 0.7 to 10.9 +/- 1.7 km.h -1 ). The results demonstrate that the lactate minimum speed,when assessed using the same exercise protocol before and after 6 weeks of aerobic exercise training, is not sensitive to changes in endurance capacity.     

Information recall of younger and older skilled athletes: The role of display complexity,attentional resources and visual exposure duration

This study was concerned with the interactive role of experience of athletic skill with other relevant environmental variables (display complexity, attentional resources, exposure time of stimuli) on perception (recall) of structured handball game situations. Nineteen experienced (older) and 19 less experienced (younger) handball players were assigned randomly either to ball‐bouncing (diverted attention) or to calm seated (focused attention) conditions. In each of the two conditions, the subjects were exposed to a total of 36 slides containing 2–3, 5–6 and 8–10 players. Eighteen slides were exposed for 0.5 s and 18 for 1.0 s. All the slides contained structured defence and offence situations. Recall scores were subjected to repeated‐measures ANOVA using attention condition and age as between‐subject factors and task complexity and exposure duration as within‐subject factors. The results showed that the recall of less experienced players deteriorated more than the recall of more experienced players following exposure to complex displays (≥ 8 players) while engaging in a secondary task (bouncing). The findings suggest that research paradigms should be applied in the field of sport which share both ecological validity and a potential to discover the cognitive substrates underlying experience and age in skilled motor performance.     

Reinventing artisanal knowledge and practice: a critical review of innovation in a craft-based industry

This paper presents a critical review of the ways in which the specialised knowledge and working practices of craft-based industries have been transformed in the context of broader processes of industrialisation and global competition. The opening section makes the case for artisanal knowledge as a ‘Cinderella’ subject that remains important yet largely uncharted territory for innovation researchers. It is followed by a critical review of existing empirical and theoretical studies that have examined the reproduction and reinvention of artisanal knowledge. The review concludes that valuable insights remain obscured because of the way in which this literature is distributed across discrete disciplines with little evidence of cross-fertilisation or integration. Several common themes emerge, which provide the basis for an outline theoretical framework. The central arguments are illustrated with reference to a case-based analysis of the technological and social innovations that have taken place in English farmhouse cheese-making over an extended period, from the pre-industrial era to the beginning of the present century. The concluding section considers how more nuanced understandings of artisanal knowledge and practice might enhance innovation theory and contribute to the continued flourishing of craft-based industries.     

Influence of a critically oriented methods course and early field experience on preservice teachers' conceptions of teaching

In recent years there has been a growing interest in arming physical education teachers with critical pedagogies. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of a critically oriented methods course and early field experience (EFE) on 20 preservice teachers' (PTs) conceptions of the teaching–learning process. Data were collected using the critical incident technique and a reflective questionnaire. They were analyzed by employing the analytic induction method. Results indicated that the inward focus of the methods course and EFE on the analysis of teaching had a considerable influence on the PTs. Conversely, the outward focus on curriculum studies as well as four permeating themes (elitism, racism, classism, and sexism) appeared to have virtually no impact on them at all. Possible reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Busy doing nothing? Physical education teachers' perceptions of young people's participation in leisure-sport

Within the substantial body of research examining the professional knowledge of physical education (PE) teachers one particular area remains relatively under-explored: namely, their understandings of young people's participation in leisure-sport and the implications of this, if any, for the practice of PE. There are grounds for thinking, however, that in this aspect of their professional knowledge PE teachers might not be as conversant with patterns of participation—among young people, generally, and their own pupils, in particular—as one might expect. In order to examine this tentative hypothesis, the present study involved focus groups with a total of 29 PE teachers at six secondary schools in England. A central finding of the study was that PE teachers' perceptions of their youngsters' leisure-sport lives tended to be characterized by a blend of myth and reality. Many teachers, for example, underestimated the levels of participation in leisure-sport both of their own pupils and the 15–16 years age group, generally. Nevertheless, the teachers' observations regarding what amounted to growing and diversifying sporting repertoires among their pupils were, to a greater or lesser degree, commensurate with the profiles reported by the pupils, and with wider trends associated with the changing lifestyles and preferences of young people. The paper concludes by briefly locating this study of professional knowledge within the sociology of knowledge, while observing that the content and form of PE for Year 11 pupils at the six schools in this study appeared to be informed by the common-sense, everyday knowledge of PE teachers rather than by evidence from national or local surveys of young people or studies of their own pupils.     

Relative shank to thigh length is associated with different mechanisms of power production during elite male ergometer rowing

The effect of anthropometric differences in shank to thigh length ratio upon timing and magnitude of joint power production during the drive phase of the rowing stroke was investigated in 14 elite male rowers. Rowers were tested on the RowPerfect ergometer which was instrumented at the handle and foot stretcher to measure force generation, and a nine segment inverse dynamics model used to calculate the rower's joint and overall power production. Rowers were divided into two groups according to relative shank thigh ratio. Time to half lumbar power generation was significantly earlier in shorter shank rowers (p = 0.028) compared to longer shank rowers, who showed no lumbar power generation during the same period of the drive phase. Rowers with a relatively shorter shank demonstrated earlier lumbar power generation during the drive phase resulting from restricted rotation of the pelvic segment requiring increased lumbar extension in these rowers. Earlier lumbar power generation and extension did not appear to directly affect performance measures of the short shank group, and so can be attributed to a technical adaptation developed to maximise rowing performance.     

Hitting the vault board: Implications for vaulting take‐off ‐ a preliminary investigation

Gymnastics vaulting relies on a specialized take‐off board for propulsion during the take‐off phase of the vault. There is little information on the vault board and its behaviour. The aim of this study was to characterize the behaviour of the vault board during handspring drill take‐offs of young male gymnasts (n = 36). The side of the top surface of the vault board and the wooden base were marked with three reflective markers, placed at the end of the vault board nearest the vault table and the centres of the two rearmost coil springs. The vault board surface was divided into two areas, rear and middle, based on marker location. The gymnasts’ groups were determined from the location of the gymnast's lateral malleolus at vault board contact. Landings with the malleolus directly above or behind the rearmost marker were considered rear landings; landings with the malleolus forward of the rearmost marker were considered middle landings. Marker movements were automatically digitized and the right malleolus was hand digitized at 120 Hz. The maximum vertical displacement, vertical deflection time, and vertical velocity at take‐off of the vault board markers did not differ statistically between board contact groups (all p > 0.05). The lateral malleolus velocity components also did not differ between board contact groups. Some low to moderately strong correlations were observed between the various marker displacements, durations and take‐off velocities. Modest correlations were obtained between board markers and right malleolus velocities. The results indicate that foot contact on the vault board, as defined here, did not result in differences in board marker behaviour or right lateral malleolus velocities. This information does not support the idea that vault board contacts at the rear of the vault board are worse than contacts near the middle of the vault board. More research is needed to ascertain the role of the vault board's vibration characteristics to whole body actions that are observed in the subsequent preflight phase.     

Greater lower limb flexion in gymnastic landings is associated with reduced landing force: a repeated measures study

High impact forces during gymnastic landings are thought to contribute to the high rate of injuries. Lower limb joint flexion is currently limited within gymnastic rules, yet might be an avenue for reduced force absorption. This study investigated whether lower limb flexion during three gymnastic landings was related to force. Differences between landings were also explored. Twenty-one elite women's artistic gymnasts performed three common gymnastic techniques: drop landing (DL), front and back somersaults. Ankle, knee, and hip angles, and vertical ground reaction force [(vGRF) magnitude and time to peak], were measured using three-dimensional motion analysis and force platform. The DL had significantly smaller peak vGRF, greater time to peak vGRF and larger lower limb flexion ranges than landing from either somersault. Peak vGRF and time to peak vGRF were inversely related. Peak vGRF was significantly reduced in gymnasts who landed with greater hip flexion, and time to peak was significantly increased with increasing ankle, knee, and hip flexion. Increased range of lower limb flexion should be encouraged during gymnastic landings to increase time to peak vGRF and reduce high impact force. For this purpose, judging criteria limitations on lower limb flexion should be reconsidered.     

Community Languages and Anti‐racist Education: the open battlefield

The shift from a multicultural to an anti‐racist perspective in education left the issue of community languages aside. There seem to be four reasons for the persisting marginal position of community languages within anti‐racist education in Britain: (1) the gap between the theoretical concept of anti‐racist education and its implementation in practice; (2) the prevalent mainstream doctrine; (3) the pervasive international hegemony of English language; and (4) the political devaluation of ethnicity approaches. The 1988 United Kingdom Education Reform Act, along with the European integration and its accompanying Eurocen‐trism, appears to marginalise the community languages even further.