Mean power of the propulsive phase was assessed for each load (cf

Mean power of the propulsive phase was assessed for each load (cf. figure 1) and maximum value obtained was registered for each test: squat (MPPsq); bench press (MPPbp) and lat pull down back (MPPlpd). Figure 1 Load-power inhibitor Regorafenib relationships for one representative subject, for each test. Statistical analysis Standard statistical methods were used for the calculation of means and standard deviations (SD) from all dependent variables. The Shapiro-Wilk test was applied to determine the nature of the data distribution. Since the reduce sample size (N < 30) and the rejection of the null hypothesis in the normality assessment, non-parametric procedures were adopted. Spearman correlation coefficients (��) were calculated between in water and dry land parameters assessed. Significance was accepted at the p<0.

05 level. Results The mean �� SD value for the 50 m sprint test was 1.69 �� 0.04 m.s?1. The mean �� SD values of mean force production in tethered swimming tests were 95.16 �� 11.66 N for whole body; 80.33 �� 11.58 N for arms only; and 33.63 �� 7.53 N for legs only. The height assessed in the CMJ was 0.37 �� 0.05 m, being calculated the correspondent work of 219.30 �� 33.16 J. The maximum mean propulsive power in the squat, bench press and lat pull down back were 381.76 �� 49.70 W; 221.77 �� 58.57; and 271.30 �� 47.60 W, respectively. The Table 1 presents the correlation coefficients (��) between swimming velocities and average force in tethered tests with dry land variables assessed. It was found significant associations between in water and dry land tests.

Concerning the CMJ, work during the jump revealed to be more associated with in water variables, than the height. Both tests that involve the lower limbs musculature (CMJ and squat) presented significant relationship with force production in water with the whole body and legs only, but not with swimming velocity. In bench press and lat pull down back, significant correlations were observed with force production in water with the whole body and arms only, and with swimming velocity for the lat pull down back. Added to that, in the tethered swimming tests, arms only presented a moderate correlation with swimming performance (�� = 0.68, p = 0.03). Table 1 Correlation coefficients (��) between in water and dry land tests variables Discussion The aim of this study was to analyze the associations between dry land and in water tests.

The mean power of the propulsive phase in the lat pull down back was the only parameter that correlated significantly with swimming performance. Additionally, there were significant associations between dry land tests and force exerted in water through tethered swimming. Concerning in water tests, velocity and mean force in tethered swimming seem to present descriptive data similar to other papers in the literature for the same age and gender (Rohrs and Stager, 1991; Brefeldin_A Taylor et al., 2003b).

Subjects were

Subjects were selleck inhibitor measured wearing shorts and t-shirts (shoes and socks were asked to be removed). Overhead Medicine Ball Throwing An overhead medicine ball throw was used to evaluate the upper body ability to generate muscular actions at a high rate of speed. Prior to baseline tests, each subject underwent one familiarization session and was counselled on proper overhead throwing with different weighted balls. Pre-tests, post-tests and de-training measurements were taken on maximal throwing velocity using medicine balls weighing 1kg (perimeter 0.72m) and 3kg (perimeter 0.78m). A general warm-up period of 10 minutes, which included throwing the different weighted balls, was allowed. While standing, subjects held medicine balls with 1 and 3kg in both hands in front of the body with arms relaxed.

The students were instructed to throw the ball over their heads as far as possible. A counter movement was allowed during the action. Five trials were performed with a one-minute rest between each trial. Only the best throw was used for analysis. The ball throwing distance (BTd) was recorded to the closest cm as proposed by van Den Tillaar & Marques (2009). This was possible as polyvinyl chloride medicine balls were used and when they fall on the Copolymer Polypropylene floor they make a visible mark. The ICC of data for 1kg and 3 kg medicine ball throwing was 0.94 and 0.93, respectively. Counter Movement Vertical Jump (CMVJ) The standing vertical jump is a popular test of leg power and is routinely used to monitor the effectiveness of an athlete’s conditioning program.

The students were asked to perform a counter movement jump (with hands on pelvic girth) for maximum height. The jumper starts from an upright standing position, making a preliminary downward movement by flexing at the knees and hips; then immediately extends the knees and hips again to jump vertically up off the ground. Such movement makes use of the stretch-shorten cycle, where the muscles are pre-stretched before shortening in the desired direction (0). It was considered only the best performance from the three jump attempts allowed. The counter movement vertical jump has shown an ICC of 0.89. Counter Movement Standing Long Jump (CMSLJ) Each participant completed three trials with a 1-min recovery between trials using a standardised jumping protocol to reduce inter-individual variability.

From a standing position, with the feet shoulder-width apart and the hands placed on the pelvic girth, the girls produced a counter movement with the legs before jumping horizontally as far as possible. The greatest distance (meters) of the two jumps was taken as the test score, measured from the heel of the rear foot. A fiber-glass tape measure (Vinex, MST-50M, Meerut, India) was extended across the floor and used to measure the horizontal distance. The counter GSK-3 movement standing long jump has shown an ICC of 0.96.

Recently, the spa has helped to treat respiratory system diseases

Recently, the spa has helped to treat respiratory system diseases, such as bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic sinusitis and pneumoconiosis (Report on the state of the environment of Lower Silesia, 1998�C2003). The difference MG132 in altitude above sea level between Polkowice (150 m) and Jedlina Zdroj (500 m) is relatively small and according to published studies (Weitz et al., 2002), should not have a significant influence on the development of the respiratory system. Lung-Function Tests Evaluation of lung function was performed using a commercial spirometer (Flowscreen, Jaeger). The following respiratory parameters were chosen for analysis: vital capacity (VC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), Tiffeneau-index (FEV1%VC), peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximal expiratory flow rate at 50% of FVC (MEF50) and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV).

The spirometric testing was conducted only in the sitting position. Each subject was asked to perform three satisfactory blows, defined as FVC and FEV1 agreeing within 5%, FEV1 extrapolation volume less than 100 ml or 5% of FVC, less than 50 ml expired in the final 2 s, and forced expiratory time exceeding 3 s. The best of the three blows by each child was chosen by the spirometer program, according to the guidelines of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) modified for children (American Thoracic Society, 1978; American Thoracic Society, 1996). Volume and gas calibrations were performed before each test with a 1-L syringe (3% variability was acceptable), and the results were corrected to BTPS conditions.

The recommended reference values of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) gave predictions for lung variables in children (Quanjer et al., 1993; Quanjer et al., 1995). A trained person performed the spirometric testing in all subjects. Motor Abilities Tests Motor abilities were measured with selected European Personal Fitness Tests in the following order: plate tapping test, sit and reach, standing broad jump, handgrip, and shuttle run (Eurofit 1993). All tests were performed in a gym. A non-slip surface and sport shoes were used for the running and jumping tests. The participants rested between each test. The battery of tests included the following: -Plate tapping test, which measured the speed of upper limb movements.

Participants were asked to pass, as quickly and as many times as possible, a plastic disc held by one hand over to the other, with the disc touching the flat surface of a table. -Sit-and-reach test, which measured flexibility and included reaching as far as possible from a sitting position. -Standing broad jump test, which measured explosive strength by jumping for a distance from AV-951 a standing start. -Handgrip test to measure static strength. This was achieved by squeezing a calibrated hydraulic hand dynamometer (Jamar) as forcefully as possible with the dominant hand.

001) and plasma ET-1 at the end of exercise (p<0 01) in all subje

001) and plasma ET-1 at the end of exercise (p<0.01) in all subjects. The values of ADM, NA, and A obtained at the 6th minute of exercise were significantly higher than those at the 3rd minute (p<0.001). At the 5th min of the recovery period, plasma ADM was significantly higher than that before exercise whereas CHIR99021 mw plasma NA, A and ET-1 concentrations did not differ significantly from the resting values (Fig. 2). Figure 2 The plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin, noradrenaline, adrenaline and endothelin-1 at rest, during handgrip (3�� and 6��) and at the 5thmin of the recovery period (rec). Values are means �� SEM; * p<0.05, ** p<0.01 ... Significant positive relationships were ascertained between baseline values of plasma ADM and NA concentrations (r= 0.650, p<0.

001), and between the exercise-induced increases in plasma ADM (expressed as percentage of baseline values) and those in NA and ET-1 concentrations (r= 0.710, p<0.001; r= 0.680, p<0.001; respectively). The exercise-evoked increases in plasma ET-1 concentrations (expressed as percentage of baseline values) correlated positively with those in plasma NA (r= 0.598, p<0.001). Heart rate, and blood pressure The resting values of heart rate (HR), systolic (BPs) and diastolic (BPd) arterial blood pressures were within normal limits. The handgrip caused significant increases in HR, BPs and BPd (p<0.001) already at the 3rd min of exercise in all subjects. The values obtained at the 6th min were significantly higher than those at the 3rd minute of exercise (p<0.001). After 5 min recovery period, HR, BPs and BPd returned to the resting values (Fig.

1). Figure 1 Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, peak velocity and mean acceleration of blood flow in the ascending aorta at rest, during handgrip (3�� and 6��) and at the 5th min of the recovery period (rec.). Values are means �� … Significant positive correlations were ascertained between the exercise-induced increases in BPs (expressed as percentage of baseline values) and those in plasma ET-1 (r= 0.697, p<0.001) as well as between the exercise-induced increases in BPd and those in plasma ADM (r= 0.789, p<0.001). Doppler echocardiographic indices of left ventricular systolic function The resting values of PV and MA were within normal limits. The static handgrip caused declines in PV (p<0.001) and MA (p<0.01) in all subjects.

The decreases in PV and MA during the second bout of exercise were significantly lower than those during the first bout (p<0.05). After 5 min recovery period, PV and MA did not differ significantly from the resting values (Fig. 1). Significant relationships were found between the exercise-induced decreases in both PV and MA (expressed as percentage of baseline values) and increases in plasma Cilengitide ADM (r=?0.679, p<0.001 and r=?0.619, p<0.001; respectively) and ET-1 (r=?0.665, p<0.001 and r=?0.599, p<0.001; respectively; Fig. 3).

, 2000 ) From a control perspective, it can be stated that chang

, 2000 ). From a control perspective, it can be stated that changes in central commands did selleck kinase inhibitor not lead to changes in APA time in the analyzed motor task. Therefore, one should remember that it was a rapid movement which differs from cyclic ones. However, Winstein et al. (1997) found that in classical tapping tasks, when more precise targeting independent of task difficulty was required, a cortical-subcortical loop composed of the contralateral motor cortex, intraparietal sulcus and caudate was much more activated. They showed, with a use of positron emission tomography (PET), that greater effort in performing a difficult task (smaller targets) recruits more motor planning areas. Recent studies showed that there is a specific modulation of neural network associated with the availability of time to plan the upcoming movement and motor difficulty.

One of them used brain-imaging (fMRI) to examine a simple motor task – moving a mouse cursor on a screen ( Boyd et al., 2009 ). Another examined step initiation in patients with Parkinson��s disease ( Jacobs et al., 2009 ). The same concerns the study by Bartucco and Cesari (2010) described earlier, which focused on motion capture experiments on ballet movements. It looks like in these experiments subjects used distinct control of APA duration and APA magnitude according to Fitts�� law. It is one of the limitation of our study that we did not observe changes in the central nervous system. An additional limitation is that we did not record muscle activity.

It is hard to estimate information processing but it can be guessed that the commands do not concern speed manifested in the velocity of a dart but the accuracy of aiming. Concentrating on accuracy does not have to lead to changes in force recruitment. That hypothesis is partly supported by Smits-Engelsman et al. (2002) who suggest fundamental differences in cyclic and discrete movements. They also claim that cyclic movements make a more cost-effective use of the recruited force, use less information-processing capacity and less change in force, then discrete ( Smits-Engelsman et al., 2002 ). This interesting hypothesis is worth considering and examining in future research. Whenever we optimize the speed-accuracy trade-off in specific movement by repetitions we can create a motor skill and perform the movement better and better. Then we start to act effortless and automatic.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of data concerning some applications of Fitts�� law in sports training. It is simply impossible to say if it is better to Carfilzomib differentiate a distance or a target size during the process of gradual mastering of specific motor skills with repeated performance. From a physics point of view, controlling velocity seems to be the simplest way to perform a motor task. It may be more effective to change spatial constraints to achieve better results in high-performance sport.

To that end, we considered an angle of 0�� as the angle between t

To that end, we considered an angle of 0�� as the angle between the defender and the attacker when they form a line perpendicular to the goal, being the defender closer to it. The way the angle increases or decreases follows the basic principles of the unit circle where the origin of the referential is the defender. This means that when the attacker overtakes Tubacin microtubule the defender, i.e., when the attacker is closer to the goal, the angle will be situated on the 2nd or 3rd quadrant, i.e., 90o<|��|��180��. The mapping allowed the construction of frequency histograms based on the spatial distribution of the attacker. Each heat map refers to a condition of practice for each player, i.e., each heat map represents 10 trials of each player in each condition of practice.

For this purpose, the whole scene was split in a 20 �� 20 matrix resulting in a resolution lower than 1 m2, thus obtaining a histogram representative of the most occupied zones of the field by a given player in a given practice condition. Figure 3 (left) illustrates an example of an obtained histogram. Figure 3 Illustrative image of a histogram (left) and its heat map (right) representative of the most occupied zones of the field by a player in a practice condition To support the analysis of the occupied zones we proceeded to the design of heat maps (Figure 3 right). These heat maps consist of a graphical representation of the data in which the frequency values obtained by the spatial distribution histograms are represented in a two-dimensional table with different colors.

The darker colors represent a higher occupation frequency in a certain zone of the field. This graphical representation allows a quick view of the data, giving a potential to analyze possible trends of spatial occupation of attackers. In addition, to analyze the traveled distance, we also proceeded to the statistical analysis of required time the attackers needs to complete the offensive attempt in each practice condition. This analysis allows to verify if different instructions provided by the coach results in differences while achieving the task. Thus, in each trial, the time spent by the attacker to complete the offensive process was also collected. The one-way ANOVA was used to establish the statistically significant differences between football players, in each practice condition.

The assumption of normality distribution Cilengitide of one-way ANOVA in the three practice conditions (i.e., conservative, neutral and risk) was investigated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test with correction Lillefors. It was found that the distributions are not normal in the dependent variable. Although it was not normal, since n = 110, using the Central Limit Theorem we assumed the assumption of normality (Akritas and Papadatos, 2004). The analysis of homogeneity was carried out using the Levene test. It was found that there is no uniformity of practice under the previously mentioned conditions.