This study determined the effect of 6 months of low-load very high-repetition resistance training on bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition in nonosteoporotic middle-aged and older women. Fifty healthy, active community-dwelling women aged 56-75 years took part in the two-group, repeated-measures randomized controlled trial. Participants either undertook 6 months of low-load very high-repetition resistance training in the form of BodyPump™ or served as control participants. Outcome measures included BMD at the lumbar spine, hip, and total body; total fat mass; fat-free soft tissue mass and maximal isotonic strength. Significant group-by-time interactions were found for lumbar spine BMD and maximal strength in favor of the BodyPump™ group. No favorable effects were found for hip BMD, total body BMD, total fat mass, or fat-free soft tissue mass. Three participants withdrew from the intervention group due to injury or fear of injury associated with training. Under the conditions used in this research, low-load very high-repetition resistance training is effective at attenuating losses in lumbar spine BMD compared to controls in healthy, active women aged over 55 years but did not influence hip and total body BMD or fat mass and fat-free soft tissue mass.

Six weeks of unsupervised Wii balance training is an effective modality for improving balance in independent older adults.

This study is the first to provide information on the age‐related trajectories of performance in Para swimmers with physical, vision and intellectual impairment. Race times from long‐course swim meets between 2009 and 2019 were obtained for Para swimmers with an eligible impairment. A subset of 10 661 times from 411 Para swimmers were included in linear mixed effects modelling to establish the relationship between age and performance expressed relative to personal best time and world record time. The main findings were: (a) age has the most noticeable influence on performance between the ages of 12‐20 years before performances stabilize and peak in the early to late twenties, (b) women have faster times relative to personal best and world record time than men during early adolescence and their performances stabilize, peak and decline at younger ages, and (c) Para swimmers from different sport classes show varying age‐related trajectories in performance after maturation and when training‐related factors are more likely to explain competitive swim performance. The results of this study can guide talent identification and development of Para swimmers at various stages of their career and help to inform decision‐making on the allocation of sport class and sport class status in Para swimming classification.

This study examined the validity of isometric strength tests for evidence-based classification in Para swimming. Thirty non-disabled participants and forty-two Para swimmers with physical impairment completed an isometric strength test battery designed to explain activity limitation in the freestyle discipline. Measures pertaining to dominant and non-dominant limb strength and symmetry were derived from four strength tests that were found to be reliable in a cohort of non-disabled participants (ICC = 0.85-0.97; CV = 6.4-9.1%). Para swimmers had lower scores in strength tests compared with non-disabled participants (d = 0.14-1.00) and the strength test battery successfully classified 95% of Para swimmers with physical impairment using random forest algorithm. Most of the strength measures had low to moderate correlations (r = 0.32 to 0.53; p ≤ 0.05) with maximal freestyle swim speed in Para swimmers. Although, fewer correlations were found when Para swimmers with hypertonia or impaired muscle power were analysed independently, highlighting the impairment-specific nature of activity limitation in Para swimming. Collectively, the strength test battery has utility in Para swimming classification to infer loss of strength in Para swimmers, guide minimum eligibility criteria, and to define the impact that strength impairment has on Para swimming performance.

Objectives: The International Paralympic Committee has mandated that International Sport Federations develop sport-specific classification systems that are evidence-based. This study examined the predictive and convergent validity of instrumented tapping tasks to classify motor coordination impairments in Para swimming. Design: Cross-sectional. Method: Thirty non-disabled participants and twenty-one Para swimmers with brain injury completed several instrumented tapping tasks as an assessment of upper and lower limb motor coordination. Para swimmers also completed a maximal freestyle swim to obtain a performance measure. The predictive and convergent validity of instrumented tapping tasks was examined by establishing differences in test measures between participants with and without brain injury and defining the strength of association between test measures and maximal freestyle swim speed in Para swimmers, respectively. Results: Random forest successfully classified 96% of participants with and without brain injury using test measures derived from instrumented tapping tasks. Most test measures had moderate to high correlations (r = 0.54 to 0.72; p < 0.01) with maximal freestyle swim speed and collectively explained up to 72% of the variance in maximal freestyle swim performance in Para swimmers with brain injury. Conclusions: The results of this study evidence the predictive and convergent validity of instrumented tapping tasks to classify motor coordination impairments in Para swimmers with brain injury. These tests can be included in revised Para swimming classification to improve the objectivity and transparency in determining athlete eligibility and sport class for these Para athletes.