Context: The evaluation of quadriceps muscle inhibition with the interpolated twitch technique is usually performed by stimulating the femoral nerve (FN). However, there are some problems related to the use of this stimulation site, which may be partially overcome by delivering the stimulation over the motor point (MP). This study sought to compare MP to FN stimulation at different joint angles for the evaluation of quadriceps muscle inhibition, resting peak torque, and discomfort in healthy women. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Sixteen healthy women (age: 28 [4] y; body mass: 60 [5] kg; height: 162 [5] cm) participated in this study. Supramaximal paired stimuli were delivered to the FN and to the rectus femoris MP before and during maximal voluntary contractions at different knee angles (15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90° of knee flexion) to assess muscle inhibition and resting peak torque. Discomfort was also recorded for each stimulation site and knee angle. Results: Muscle inhibition was similar between the 2 stimulation sites (P > .05) and was higher at 45° than at 90° (P = .03). MP stimulation evoked lower resting peak torque at 30° (P = .004), 60° (P = .006), and 90° (P = .006) and higher discomfort at 30° (P = .008) and 90° (P = .027) compared to FN stimulation. Conclusions: Despite lower resting peak torque and higher discomfort at some angles, MP stimulation provided similar muscle inhibition to FN stimulation at all knee angles and is therefore a valid method to evaluate quadriceps muscle inhibition in healthy women. MP stimulation can be used as an alternative to FN stimulation for the evaluation of quadriceps muscle inhibition with no added discomfort at the angles where muscle inhibition is the highest.
Motor Point as an Alternative to Femoral Nerve Stimulation for the Assessment of Quadriceps Muscle Inhibition in Healthy Women
Klauber D. Pompeo, Rodrigo Rabello, Anete B. Morales, Kelli D. Klein, Viviane B. Frasson, Nicola A. Maffiuletti, and Marco A. Vaz
Sensitivity of Minimally Invasive Protocols to Monitor Changes in Endurance Performance in Elite Junior Football (Soccer) Players
Jan Schimpchen, Paulo F. Correia, and Tim Meyer
Purpose: Adequate physical fitness is a key requirement for elite footballers. Maximal fitness tests are the standard for evaluating fitness but are often fatiguing and time consuming. This study investigated the ability of various minimally invasive protocols to reflect changes in standard parameters of football players’ physical fitness. Methods: Twenty-one elite junior footballers performed 2 standard fitness tests (stepwise incremental treadmill test with blood-lactate and heart-rate [HR] measurements and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery 1 test) and various proxy fitness evaluations (submaximal runs with measurement of exercise HR and HR recovery and external-to-internal load ratios with data collected during match play) 3 times over the course of 19 weeks. Changes in the standard parameters were compared with changes in proxy parameters. Results: Changes in maximal endurance performance showed small to moderate associations with HR-based proxy parameters (r = −.1 to −.46; P = .004–.56), whereas changes in the running velocity at anaerobic threshold had trivial to moderate associations (r = −.07 to −.39; P = .01–.67). Alterations in HR recovery following 2 short, submaximal runs were very largely correlated with changes in the running velocity corresponding to an HR of 170 beats·min−1 (r = −.74 and r = –.75; P < .001). Changes in external-to-internal load ratios derived from match play were not significantly correlated with changes in any of the standard parameters (r = −.03 to .31; P > .05). Conclusions: Parameters of maximal running performance and parameters describing physiological thresholds do not seem to be adequately captured by different minimally invasive protocols. In contrast, HR recovery following short, submaximal runs may be a valid tool to monitor changes in aerobic endurance adaptations.
Throwing Them Under the Bus: The Framing of a Critical Incident at the Tour de France
Ryan Snelgrove, Laura Wood, Larena Hoeber, and Orland Hoeber
In the context of sport events, several stakeholders’ reputations could be impacted by critical incidents, including event organizers, athletes, teams, countries represented by athletes, and sponsors. The purposes of this study were to develop an understanding of (a) how an event organizer, media, and the public framed a critical incident in a rhetorical arena and (b) how frames were connected with the reputations of event stakeholders immediately following a critical incident. A three-phase approach was employed that involved collecting and analyzing data from X/Twitter about a bus crash at the 2013 Tour de France. The critical incident was framed in nine different ways, many of which were emergent. Findings demonstrated that critical incidents at a sport event are interpreted and framed in multiple ways and can have an impact on the reputations of the event and other event stakeholders.
Toward a Comprehensive Professional Philosophy in Performance and Well-Being Psychology: Integrating Functional Contextualism and Relational Frame Theory for Esports and Other High-Performance Environments
George Horne and Laura Swettenham
Performance psychology practitioners use a wide range of theories and interventions to improve performance and well-being. Often, however, practitioners do not integrate these theories into a model of practice underpinned by a theory of behavior. Without this foundation, performance programs become patchwork approaches where it is often unclear whether different interventions within a performance program work together or contradict each other. To address this issue, we present a model of behavior based on functional contextualism and relational frame theory. We then use this model as a framework to integrate mainstream performance psychology and psychophysiology theory in line with acceptance-based third-wave cognitive behavioral approaches to improve performance alongside well-being, not at the expense of well-being. Specifically, this includes interventions which promote experiential acceptance, and excludes interventions which promote experiential avoidance. With this framework, we hope to support practitioners, students, and educators by illustrating how different theories can and cannot be integrated in their own practice. Examples are predominantly taken from esports literature. However, the model and philosophy presented is applicable to all high-performance domains. We end this article by proposing questions to develop performance psychology philosophy inside and outside of esports.
Effects of Stroboscopic Goggles on Standing Balance in the Spatiotemporal and Frequency Domains: An Exploratory Study
Madeleine E. McCreary, Chloe M. Lapish, Nora M. Lewis, Ryland D. Swearinger, Daniel P. Ferris, and Erika M. Pliner
Balance training paradigms have been shown to effectively reduce fall risk. Visual feedback is an important sensory mechanism for regulating postural control, promoting visual perturbations for balance training paradigms. Stroboscopic goggles, which oscillate from transparent to opaque, are a form of visual perturbation, but their effect on standing balance has not been assessed. In this study, 29 participants stood in bilateral and tandem stances as the center of pressure was recorded for 6 consecutive minutes wherein there were no stroboscopic perturbations in the first and last minutes. Spatial–temporal, frequency domain, and nonlinear standing balance parameters were calculated for each period. More differences in spatial–temporal parameters due to the strobe were found in the medial–lateral direction than the anterior–posterior direction. More differences in frequency domain parameters were observed in the anterior–posterior direction than the medial–lateral direction, but this did not occur for each variable. The nonlinear parameters were strongly affected by the strobe. Stroboscopic perturbations did not affect the bilateral and tandem stances equally. Spatial–temporal parameters for the tandem stance were greater in magnitude during the strobe period than the no strobe periods. This effect was not seen with the bilateral stance. This indicates that the efficacy of stroboscopic perturbations for challenging standing balance depends on task difficulty. Balance training paradigms that utilize stroboscopic perturbations will need to harmonize these perturbations with task difficulty.
Research Across the Female Life Cycle: Reframing the Narrative for Health and Performance in Athletic Females and Showcasing Solutions to Drive Advancements in Research and Translation
Kelly L. McNulty, Bernadette C. Taim, Jessica A. Freemas, Amal Hassan, Carly Lupton Brantner, Chimsom T. Oleka, Dawn Scott, Glyn Howatson, Isabel S. Moore, Kate K. Yung, Kirsty M. Hicks, Matthew Whalan, Ric Lovell, Sam R. Moore, Suzanna Russell, Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, and Georgie Bruinvels
Over the last few decades, there has been an unprecedented growth in the number of females in sport and exercise, including an exponential rise in female participation, alongside an increased interest and investment in female sport. This success in many aspects underscores the demand for and importance of female-specific research to optimize health, participation, and performance of athletic females. It has also brought awareness to the numerous inequities that exist between females and males. Indeed, the prevailing narrative within sport and exercise science focuses on the disparity of research in females compared with males, which has led to a lack of a critical mass of high-quality data on athletic females. While acknowledging the current gap and the need for further higher quality data, there is still a body of knowledge pertaining to athletic females spanning over a century. This existing literature, amid its criticisms, offers a valuable foundation to build upon for current translation and to inform future research. Thus, it is essential to acknowledge, interpret, and apply prior learnings from previous work, while also considering any limitations. This commentary proposes a reframing of the current narrative that there is an absence of useful data in athletic females, to one that recognizes both the strides made and how past findings can be integrated into practice today as well as inform future research directions. It also addresses the opportunities that remain, and how a more comprehensive and pragmatic body of knowledge can be developed and translated to better serve athletic females in the future.
Self-Compassion and Willingness to Adhere to Return-to-Play Protocol Following Sport-Related Concussions
Kiera Wortley and Benjamin J.I. Schellenberg
Context: Athletes who do not follow proper concussion recovery protocols are likely to experience their symptoms for longer while putting themselves at risk of further health issues. It is, therefore, critical to identify the types of athletes who may be more or less likely to follow the guidance of medical professionals following concussions. In this research, we tested the hypothesis that athletes with higher levels of self-compassion would be more willing to follow concussion recovery protocols. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: We collected data from 2 samples of combat sport athletes (sample 1, N = 173 and sample 2, N = 172). All participants completed online surveys assessing self-compassion, the likelihood that they would follow 10 recovery recommendations if they were to experience a concussion in their sport, and scales assessing 3 covariates: self-esteem, conscientiousness, and sport competitiveness. Results: After controlling for self-esteem, conscientiousness, and sport competitiveness, the results of multiple regression analyses in both samples showed that self-compassion was positively associated with willingness to follow concussion recovery recommendations (sample 1: β = 0.19, 1-tailed P = .039; sample 2: β = 0.20, 1-tailed P = .025). The results of a mini meta-analysis of these effects supported this positive association, Mean r = .144, Z = 2.666, 1-tailed P = .004. Conclusions: Athletes who are highly self-compassionate reported a greater willingness to follow the advice of medical professionals and adhere to return-to-play protocol. This finding has implications for the rehabilitation of sport concussions; it may be advantageous to encourage athletes to be kind and compassionate toward themselves throughout the concussion recovery process.
Driving Change? Field Containment of Gender Equality Committees in International Sports Governance
Lucie Schoch and Madeleine Pape
This study investigates the ability of Gender Equality Committees (GECs) to drive change in the governance of International Federations, particularly in the overrepresentation of men in leadership roles. We situate GECs within the gendered fields of strategic action, whose change efforts must engage diverse actors beyond the immediate organizational context of a given International Federation. In examining the GECs of two gender-progressive International Federations through semistructure interviews, we develop the concept of “field containment” and show that the political and material conditions of the GEC constrain its ability to perform impactful work and particularly to achieve field-wide change, ultimately resulting in the containment of the GEC. The article concludes with practical implications.
Standing Still or Standing Out: Distinguishing Passive and Active Standing Is a Step in the Right Direction
Madeline E. Shivgulam, Emily E. MacDonald, Jocelyn Waghorn, and Myles W. O’Brien
Standing is a solution to reduce or break-up sedentary time (sitting/reclining/lying while awake); however, the measurable health benefits of standing are conflicting. A recent article in the Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour has demonstrated that the thigh-worn activPAL inclinometer can distinguish between passive (no movement) and active (structured micromovements) standing using a machine learning model in lab-based and free-living environments. The predictive model extends beyond previous research by considering three-dimensional aspects of movement into the decision tree model. The ability to characterize these distinct postures is increasingly important to understand the physiological difference between passive and active standing. Notably, active standing, when stepping is not feasible, may be superior to passive standing for improving metabolic activity, reducing fatigue, and enhancing blood flow. Applied to free-living settings, active standing could help mitigate or attenuate some adverse cardiometabolic effects of stationary activity, thereby yielding positive cardiovascular outcomes. As standing gains recognition as a potentially important health behavior, distinguishing between passive and active standing offers a unique opportunity to clarify the health impacts of standing time, contributing to the evidence base. This evidence may contribute to more detailed activity guidelines and support public health initiatives to promote active standing. These advancements have the potential to enhance our understanding of standing behaviors’ health impacts and the possible divergent physiological effects of active versus passive standing.
Comparing the Effects of Aqua- and Land-Based Active Cooldown Exercises on Muscle Soreness and Sport Performance: A Randomized Crossover Study
Edwin Chun-Yip Chin, Steve Chung-Nam Lai, Sau-Fung Tsang, Sam Ho-Ngai Chung, Yik-Long Wong, Navjot Sran, Kwok-Keung Fung, and Fenghua Sun
Objective: Limited research has directly compared the effectiveness of aqua- and land-based exercises for postexercise recovery. This study aimed to fill this gap by comparing the effects of these 2 types of exercises on postexercise recovery. Methods: Sixteen male college athletes participated in an 8-day experimental study. The initial 2 days were dedicated to determining the intensity levels for the muscle-damaging exercise and recovery jogging. In a crossover design, participants underwent 2 sets of experimental trials. They were randomly assigned to either an aqua or land recovery intervention for days 3 to 5, and after a 1-week washout period they switched to the opposite intervention for days 6 to 8. Muscle soreness, creatine kinase, anaerobic performance, countermovement-jump height, and flexibility were assessed at different time points: baseline, immediately after downhill running, within 1 hour after jogging, and 24 hours and 48 hours after aqua or land jogging. Results: Significant group × time interaction effects were detected in the perceived soreness of the hamstring and quadriceps. However, the post hoc analysis showed no significant difference between aqua and land jogging groups. No significant group × time interaction effect was observed in creatine kinase, anaerobic performance, countermovement-jump height, or flexibility. Conclusion: Aqua and land jogging have similar recovery effects on muscle soreness and performance-based parameters.
