Background Physical literacy (PL), given as a multidimensional construct, is considered a person’s capacity and commitment to a physically active lifestyle. We investigated the effect of a holistic physical exercise training on PL among physically inactive adults. Methods A non-randomised controlled study was conducted. Thirty-one physically inactive adults in the intervention group (IG; 81% females, 44 ± 16 years) participated in a holistic physical exercise training intervention once weekly for 15 weeks. A matched, non-exercising control group (CG) consisted of 30 physically inactive adults (80% female, 45 ± 11 years). PL, compliance and sociodemographic parameters were measured. PL was evaluated by a questionnaire, covering five domains: physical activity behaviour, attitude towards a physically active lifestyle, exercise motivation, knowledge and self-confidence/self-efficacy. Data were analysed using ANCOVA models, adjusted for age, gender and BMI at baseline. Results At post-training intervention, the IG showed significant improvements in PL ( p = 0.001) and in the domains physical activity behaviour ( p = 0.02) and exercise self-confidence/self-efficacy (p = 0.001), with no changes overserved for the CG regarding PL and those domains. No intervention effect were found for the other three domains, i.e. attitude, knowledge and motivation. Additionally, for the IG baseline BMI was identified to be positively correlated with physical exercise-induced improvements in PL (β = 0.51, p = 0.01). Conclusions The results from this study are very useful for further public health activities, which aim at helping physically inactive adults to adopt a physically active lifestyle as well as for the development of further PL intervention strategies. This pilot-study was a first attempt to measure PL in inactive adults. Yet, a validated measurement tool is still not available. Further research is necessary to determine the psychometric properties for this PL questionnaire. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), DRKS00013991 , date of registration: 09.02.2018, retrospectively registered. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6719-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The results showed that AESIT with 10-s work phases alternating with 20 s of passive rest and a running speed close to vVO(2max) gave a systemic aerobic metabolic profile similar to slow continuous runs.

The multidimensional concept of physical literacy is fundamental for lifelong physical activity engagement. However, physical literacy-based interventions are in their infancy, especially among adults. Therefore, the purpose of this pilot study was to assess the association of a physical literacy-based intervention with changes in self-reported physical literacy among inactive adults. A non-randomized controlled study (2 × 2 design) was conducted, comparing pre- vs. postintervention. Twenty-eight inactive healthy participants in the intervention group (89% female, 53 ± 10 years) entered a physical literacy-based intervention once weekly for 14 weeks. The non-treated control group consisted of 22 inactive adults (96% female, 50 ± 11 years). Physical literacy was evaluated with a questionnaire encompassing five domains: physical activity behavior, attitude/understanding, motivation, knowledge, and self-efficacy/confidence. ANOVA models were applied to evaluate changes by time and condition. Following the intervention, significant improvements were seen for overall physical literacy and in four out of five physical literacy domains, including physical activity behavior, attitude/understanding, knowledge, and self-efficacy/confidence (all p < 0.01, Cohen’s d = 0.38–0.83). No changes by time x condition were found for motivation. The physical literacy-based intervention applied in this study may be a promising approach to help inactive adults to adopt an active lifestyle.

The Institute of Sport Science at the University of West-Hungary, and the FH-Joanneum -together with students majoring in sport science -started a collaborative international research aimed at assessing the sport-specific skills of football players. The study closely monitored football players -from leagues at different levels -in terms of choice reaction time, short and long pass skills and agility skills with and without a ball. The most modern device available, the SmartSpeed -a photoelectric stopwatch system -was used for the measurements. The data obtained by the applied internationally standardized tests can be compared in terms of players from leagues at different levels. The study occurred using correlation analysis (p<0.05), and we used linear regression to compare laterality. The hypothesis that teams playing in higher league are significantly more successful in terms of the evaluated technical parameters has not been verified in all cases. There are interesting results regarding the differences between moving to the opposite side with and without ball. The results of the Hungarian team (N=97 players) can be compared to those of the Austrian and international players.

First responders engage in highly stressful situations at the emergency site that may induce stress, fear, panic and a collapse of clear thinking. Staying cognitively under control under these circumstances is a necessary condition to avoid useless risk-taking and particularly to provide accurate situation reports to remote units to be able to organize appropriate support in time. This work applied a flexible virtual reality (VR) training environment with the purpose to investigate the performance of reporting under rather realistically simulated mission conditions. In a pilot study, representative emergency forces of the Austrian volunteer fire brigade and paramedics of the Johanniter organization were subjected to a test program that tested a formalized reporting schema (LEDVV), inducing equivalent strain in both, real environment and VR-based training scenarios. Wearable psychophysiological measuring technology was applied to estimate the cognitive-emotional stress level under both training conditions. The results indicate that both situation reports achieve a rather high level of cognitive-emotional stress and should be thoroughly trained. Furthermore, the results motivate the use of VR environments for the training of stress-resilient decision-making behavior of emergency forces.