Peak muscle activation, joint kinematics, and kinetics during elliptical and stepping movement pattern on a Precor Adaptive Motion Trainer

Kinematic, kinetic, and electromyography data were collected from the biceps femoris, rectus femoris (RF), gluteus maximus, and erector spinae (ES) during a step and elliptical exercise at a standardized workload with no hand use. Findings depicted 95% greater ankle plantar flexion (p = .01), 29% more knee extension (p = .003), 101% higher peak knee flexor moments (p < .001) 54% greater hip extensor moments (p < .001), 268% greater anterior joint reaction force (p = .009), 37% more RF activation (p < .001), and 200 % more ES activation (p <. 001) for the elliptical motion. Sixteen percent more hip flexion (p < .001), 42% higher knee extensor moments (p < .001), and 54% greater hip flexor moments (p = .041) occurred during the step motion. Biomechanical differences between motions should be considered when planning an exercise regimen.     

What price politics? Scientists and political controversy

There is a long tradition within scientific communities that encourages governments, patrons and citizens to enlist scientific expertise in the service of the public good. However, since the 17th century, scientists who have engaged in public political controversy have often been judged harshly by scientific colleagues, as well as by political adversaries. Some prominent scientists were politically active in Germany, France and England during the 1920s and 1930s; controversial stands were taken by the British physicist P.M.S. Blackett and the American chemist Linus C. Pauling against their countries' nuclear weapons policy following the Second World War.     

Practical precooling: effect on cycling time trial performance in warm conditions

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two practical precooling techniques (skin cooling vs. skin + core cooling) on cycling time trial performance in warm conditions. Six trained cyclists completed one maximal graded exercise test (VO2(peak) 71.4 +/- 3.2 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)) and four approximately 40 min laboratory cycling time trials in a heat chamber (34.3 degrees C +/- 1.1 degrees C; 41.2% +/- 3.0% rh) using a fixed-power/variable-power format. Cyclists prepared for the time trial using three techniques administered in a randomised order prior to the warm-up: (1) no cooling (control), (2) cooling jacket for 40 min (jacket) or (3) 30-min water immersion followed by a cooling jacket application for 40 min (combined). Rectal temperature prior to the time trial was 37.8 degrees C +/- 0.1 degrees C in control, similar in jacket (37.8 degrees C +/- 0.3 degrees C) and lower in combined (37.1 degrees C +/- 0.2 degrees C, P < 0.01). Compared with the control trial, time trial performance was not different for jacket precooling (-16 +/- 36 s, -0.7%; P = 0.35) but was faster for combined precooling (-42 +/- 25 s, - .8%; P = 0.009). In conclusion, a practical combined precooling strategy that involves immersion in cool water followed by the use of a cooling jacket can produce decrease in rectal temperature that persist throughout a warm-up and improve laboratory cycling time trial performance in warm conditions.     

Red shirt colour is associated with long-term team success in English football

The colour of sportswear has been shown to influence the outcome of bouts for several different combat sports. The generality of these effects, and whether they extend to collaborative forms of contests (team sports), is uncertain. Since 1947, English football teams wearing red shirts have been champions more often than expected on the basis of the proportion of clubs playing in red. To investigate whether this indicates an enhancement of long-term performance in red-wearing teams, we analysed the relative league positions of teams wearing different hues. Across all league divisions, red teams had the best home record, with significant differences in both percentage of maximum points achieved and mean position in the home league table. The effects were not due simply to a difference between teams playing in a colour and those playing in a predominantly white uniform, as the latter performed better than teams in yellow hues. No significant differences were found for performance in matches away from home, when teams commonly do not wear their "home" colours. A matched-pairs analysis of red and non-red wearing teams in eight English cities shows significantly better performance of red teams over a 55-year period. These effects on long-term success have consequences for colour selection in team sports, confirm that wearing red enhances performance in a variety of competitive contexts, and provide further impetus for studies of the mechanisms underlying these effects.     

Techniques and considerations for determining isoinertial upper-body power

Power is an integral aspect of many sports. Although power output of the lower body is often measured during jumping and cycling movements, much less is known about power as pertains to the upper body musculature. Recently, isoinertial methods--with constant gravitational load--of power testing have become common, but little is known of the reliability and criterion validity of these tests as they pertain to sport performance. In addition, the varied methodology makes a lucid model more evasive. The aims of this review are to examine the various methods of assessing upper body power, to establish its role in predicting athletic performance, and to assess the body of literature that has assessed power output of the upper extremities by isoinertial methods. To our knowledge, only two studies on isoinertial upper-body power have shown a direct correlation to sporting ability (Baker, 2001; Baker et al., 2001); therefore, many unanswered questions exist as to the efficacy of these tests as predictors of athletic ability or as a method to track athletes' training over time. From this review we hope to allow the sport coach to assess the overall utility of these tests in terms of availability, safety and external validity.