Context: A number of comprehensive injury-prevention programs have demonstrated injury risk-reduction effects but have had limited adoption across athletic settings. This may be due to program noncompliance, minimal exercise supervision, lack of exercise progression, and sport specificity. A soccerspecific program described as the F-MARC 11þ was developed by an expert group in association with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) to require minimal equipment and implementation as part of regular soccer training. The F-MARC 11þ has been shown to reduce injury risk in youth female soccer players but has not been evaluated in an American male collegiate population.Objective: To investigate the effects of a soccer-specific warm-up program (F-MARC 11þ) on lower extremity injury incidence in male collegiate soccer players.Design: Cohort study. Setting: One American collegiate soccer team followed for 2 seasons.Patients or Other Participants: Forty-one male collegiate athletes aged 18-25 years. Intervention(s):The F-MARC 11þ program is a comprehensive warm-up program targeting muscular strength, body kinesthetic awareness, and neuromuscular control during static and dynamic movements. Training sessions and program progression were monitored by a certified athletic trainer.Main Outcome Measure(s): Lower extremity injury risk and time lost to lower extremity injury.Results: The injury rate in the referent season was 8.1 injuries per 1000 exposures with 291 days lost and 2.2 injuries per 1000 exposures and 52 days lost in the intervention season. The intervention season had reductions in the relative risk (RR) of lower extremity injury of 72% (RR ¼ 0.28, 95% confidence interval ¼ 0.09, 0.85) and time lost to lower extremity injury (P , .01).Conclusions: This F-MARC 11þ program reduced overall risk and severity of lower extremity injury compared with controls in collegiate-aged male soccer athletes.

Law enforcement officers (LEOs) on university campuses are required to perform a variety of physical occupational tasks. Identifying which physical fitness characteristics are associated with these occupational tasks will assist in the development of appropriate exercise programs and physical fitness assessments. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify physical fitness and demographic characteristics that were correlated with occupational tasks commonly performed by campus LEOs. The occupational assessment was conducted using an Officer Physical Ability Test (OPAT), which simulated a foot chase of a suspect. Sixteen male LEOs (age: 33.1 ± 8.7 years; body mass: 87.2 ± 11.2 kg; height: 179.0 ± 7.9 cm) performed the OPAT. A battery of physical fitness tests were used to assess aerobic capacity, muscular endurance, strength, power, flexibility, agility, and body composition. Bivariate correlations were performed to identify significant (p ≤ 0.05) correlations between physical fitness characteristics and OPAT time. The officers' age was significantly correlated to the majority of OPAT tasks, physical fitness, and anthropometric assessments. Therefore, partial correlations were used to control for the confounding effects of age. After controlling for the officers' age, the overall OPAT time was significantly correlated with agility (r = 0.57) and aerobic endurance (r = -0.65). Furthermore, push-up, curl-up, body mass, waist circumference, and abdominal circumference were significantly correlated to individual OPAT tasks. In conclusion, exercise programs and fitness assessments should be used for campus LEOs that address a variety of physical fitness characteristics associated with occupational performance. In addition, exercise programs should focus on body composition management and fitness for older LEOs.

Structural firefighting is a dangerous and physically demanding profession. Thus, it is critical that firefighters exercise regularly to maintain optimal physical fitness levels. However, little is known about optimal training methods for firefighters, and exercise equipment is often not available to on-duty firefighters. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a novel supervised on-duty physical training program on the physical fitness and occupational performance of structural firefighters. Twenty professional male firefighters were divided into a supervised exercise group (SEG; n = 11) and a control group (CG; n = 9). The SEG participated in a 12-week circuit training intervention. The SEG exercised for 1 hour on 2 d·wk. At baseline and after the intervention, subjects performed a battery of physical fitness tests and a simulated fire ground test (SFGT). At baseline, there were no significant differences (p = 0.822) in the completion rate of the SFGT in the SEG (82%) vs. the CG (78%). After the intervention, a significantly greater proportion of the firefighters in the SEG completed the SFGT compared with the CG (SEG = 100% vs. CG = 56%; p < 0.013). In addition, the SEG demonstrated significant improvements in body mass, fat mass, and body mass index (p ≤ 0.05). The findings of this study indicate that training with firefighter equipment improved occupational performance and anthropometric outcomes in incumbent firefighters. Furthermore, implementing a supervised exercise program using firefighter equipment can be done so in a safe and feasible manner.

Context: Assessment techniques used to measure functional tasks involving active trunk control are restricted to linear movements that lack the explosive movements and dynamic tasks associated with activities of daily living and sport. Reliable clinical methods used to assess the diagonal and ballistic movements about the trunk are lacking.Objective: To assess the interday reliability of peak muscular power outputs while participants performed diagonal chop and lift tests and maintained a stable trunk.Design: Controlled laboratory study. Setting: University research laboratory.Patients or Other Participants: Eighteen healthy individuals (10 men and 8 women; age 5 32 6 11 years, height 5 168 6 12 cm, mass 5 80 6 19 kg) from the general population participated.Intervention(s): Participants performed 2 power tests (chop, lift) using an isotonic dynamometer and 3 endurance tests (Biering-Sørensen, side-plank left, side-plank right) to assess active trunk control. Testing was performed on 3 different days separated by at least 1 week. Reliability was compared between days 1 and 2 and between days 2 and 3. Correlations between the power and endurance tests were evaluated to determine the degree of similarity.Main Outcome Measure(s): Peak muscular power outputs (watts) derived from a 1-repetition maximum protocol for the chop and lift tests were collected for both the right and left sides.Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients for peak muscular power were highly reliable for the chop (range, 0.87-0. Conclusions: The diagonal chop and lift power protocol generated reliable data and appears to be a dynamic test that simulates functional tasks, which require dynamic trunk control.Key Words: trunk stability, anaerobic peak muscular power, assessment, diagonal movement patterns Key Points N Peak muscular power outputs (measured in watts) obtained from the chop and lift tests were highly reliable across different test days separated by at least 1 week.N The chop and lift tests were novel but reliable measurements for dynamic, multiplanar functional activities that have low to moderate correlation with traditional muscular endurance tests, indicating that these tests provide unique information about function compared with traditional measures.N Performing diagonal power movements about a stable trunk can offer clinicians alternate tests that simulate activities of daily living and sport in a dynamic nature.

Saddle height is one of the most researched areas of bike fit. The current accepted method for adjusting saddle height involves the use of a goniometer to adjust saddle height so that a knee angle between 25° and 35° is obtained. This measurement is taken while the cyclist maintains a static position with the pedal at the 6-o'-clock position. However, the act of pedaling is dynamic, and angles may alter during movement. The purpose of this study was to examine the alterations to knee and ankle angle occurring from static measures to active pedaling across intensities experienced by cyclists during a graded exercise protocol. Thirty-four recreational to highly trained cyclists were evaluated using 2D analysis of stationary position and 3 active levels (level 1, respiratory exchange ratio of 1.00, and max). Dependent measures were compared using repeated measures analysis of variance (p = 0.05). When examining the results, it is evident that significant alterations to pedal stroke occur from stationary measures to active pedaling and as intensity increases toward maximal. Plantar flexion increased when moving from stationary measures to active pedaling, which resulted in an increase in knee angle. Although still greater than stationary measures, less plantar flexion occurred at higher intensities when compared with lower intensity cycling. Less plantar flexion at higher intensities is most likely a result of application of a larger downward torque occurring because of greater power requirements at higher intensities. There appeared to be greater variability in angle when examining novice cyclists in relation to more experienced cyclists. Although stationary measures are where a bike fit session will begin, observation during the pedal cycle may be needed to fine-tune the riders' fit.