Intervention programs are often sought to strengthen the Achilles tendon (AT) due to its high injury rate. Long rest periods between loading cycles have been found to increase collagen synthesis by tenocytes, suggesting rest duration may be important for tendon adaptation in vivo; however, exercise programs comparing long and short rest duration have not been directly compared. Fourteen adults completed a 12-week progressive training intervention; training sessions consisted of 5×10 isometric plantarflexion contractions each of 3-s duration performed at 90% of MVC three times weekly. Each leg was randomly allocated to long (LRT, 10-s rest) or short rest training (SRT, 3-s rest). We hypothesized that the leg allocated to LRT would demonstrate superior AT collagen organization compared to the leg receiving SRT, which would be related to improved biomechanical function. AT collagen organization and morphology were measured using ultrasound tissue characterization. AT properties were assessed before and after the intervention using a combination of dynamometry, ultrasound imaging, EMG, and motion capture. Contrary to our hypothesis, collagen organization did not improve following either training protocol; conversely, an unexpected decrease in echotype I proportion was seen after SRT (P<.001) but not LRT (P=.58), indicating an apparent protective effect of rest on collagen organization during isometric training. In contrast, AT adaptation was not appreciably enhanced by increasing intercycle rest duration; both protocols were equally effective at inducing significant strength gains and AT mechanical and material adaptation (P≤.001). Further research is necessary to identify optimal loading characteristics for injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Physical efficiency tests were performed on urban school boys drawn from higher socio-economic status in comparison to rural school boys. The height and weight records of the subjects indicating growth process showed that the rural boys attained less physical growth than their urban counterparts. The Vital Capacity and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate data expressed either per unit of height or body surface area were significantly lower in rural boys. These findings indicated a poor development of the thorax in the rural group. However, the determined grip strengths for both the groups were similar. The grip test might reflect improvement of muscle mass in case of rural boys as a result of regular physical activity employing the arm muscles.
The participants of inter-university "Kabaddi" competition showed higher values of height, weight and surface area than average Indian population, indicating better attainment of growth in them. Further, the values of respiratory efficiency tests like, FEVy, MEFR and PEFR were also observed to be more in these players, probably due to training effect. The grip strength values were high in comparison to those of Indian football goalkeepers and hockey players.
Ten smoker sportsmen and 17 non-smoker sportsmen and 41 smoker non-sportsmen were studied. Lung function was assessed by means of Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEVj), the ratio of FEV1 to FVC (FEV,%) and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR). For the smokers, all the tests were conducted before smoking (BS) and 30 min after smoking (AS) two cigarettes consecutively to observe the acute effect of smoking. In the smoker sportsmen there was no significant difference between BS and AS measures of lung function. Before smoking smoker sportsmen had lower values for FEV1, FEV1% and PEFR than non-smoker sportsmen (p < 0.05). However, smoker sportsmen show higher BS values of FEV1 (p < 0.01), FEV1% (p < 0.01) and PEFR (p < 0.05) compared with those of smoker non-sportsmen who had similar smoking indices. These results indicated that the smoker sportsmen, despite exhibiting some degree of lung function impairment in relation to non-smoker sportsmen, still maintained rather better lung function status than the smoker non-sportsmen.
Simple anthropometric measurements and physical efficiency tests were conducted on 21 Football Goalkeepers from West Bengal India. The age of the subjects varied between 18-24 years (av. 21.1). The Vital Capacity (total ml/cm of height, L/m of surface area) and the Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (total, L/cm of height, L/kg of body weight, L/m2 of surface area, L/age) were noted to be higher in the subjects of the present study than those reported for average healthy Indian population, but lower than values from top Indian athletes. The values of grip strength observed in this study could not be compared because of unavailability of Indian norms. The higher values of physical efficiency tests observed in these subjects in comparison to those of average Indian populations were probably due to training effects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.