Physical activity can be performed across several domains, including leisure, occupation, household, and transportation, but physical activity research, measurement, and surveillance have historically been focused on leisure-time physical activity. Emerging evidence suggests differential health effects across these domains. In particular, occupational physical activity may be associated with adverse health outcomes. We argue that to adequately consider and evaluate such impacts, physical activity researchers and public health practitioners engaging in measurement, surveillance, and guideline creation should measure and consider all relevant physical activity domains where possible. We describe why physical activity science is often limited to the leisure-time domain and provide a rationale for expanding research and public health efforts to include all physical activity domains.
Tyler D. Quinn and Bethany Barone Gibbs
Megan C. Piché, Erik L. Lachance, and Shannon Kerwin
This teaching case study tasks students with creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy. The teaching case study’s context is a fictional community sport organization (CSO; i.e., Niagara Falls Thundering River Volleyball Club) located in the Niagara Region in Ontario, Canada. To develop such a policy, students learn about the emerging pressures and market conditions surrounding the fictional CSO. Students are also made aware of key policy principles as well as management by values to consider ethical standards within diversity, equity, and inclusion. Finally, students are introduced to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies within the Canadian sport system to inform their policy development process for the purposes of this teaching case study.
Maxime Caru, Pierre Dubois, Daniel Curnier, Gregor Andelfinger, Maja Krajinovic, Caroline Laverdière, Daniel Sinnett, and Delphine Périé
Background: Children’s exposure to chemotherapeutic agents causes several long-term adverse effects but physical activity has been evidenced to be an effective strategy to improve cardiac function. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the association between physical activity levels, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiac parameters measured by echocardiography. Methods: Participants were 216n childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors who underwent a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test and self-reported their daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. They underwent a complete transthoracic echocardiographic assessment. Systolic and diastolic function analysis and strain images analysis were performed. The associations were studied through the preventive fraction (examined with univariate crude and adjusted logistic regression models) of regular physical activity (≥150 min·wk−1) and adequate cardiorespiratory fitness levels (above the median ≥ 32.0 mL·kg−1·min−1) on cardiac parameters. Results: Crude analysis shows that regular physical activity was associated with a significant preventive fraction in mitral E/A ratio (56%; P = .013), while adjusted analyses highlighted a nonsignificant reduction of 74% to 37% in the prevalence of cardiac parameters associated with physical activity. Similar associations of adequate cardiorespiratory fitness on cardiac parameters were observed. Adjusted analyses revealed a nonsignificant reduction of 7% to 86% in the prevalence of cardiac parameters associated with cardiorespiratory fitness. Conclusion: This study reports that regular physical activity and adequate cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with a higher preventive fraction. Thus, engaging in physical activity prevents childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors’ cardiac dysfunctions. These findings are novel and clinically relevant in pediatric cardiooncology and provide additional evidence to strengthen the benefits of exercise as long-term care in childhood cancer survivors.
Saidan Shetty, Y.V. Raghava Neelapala, and Prateek Srivastava
The objective of this review was to systematically summarize the existing literature on the effect of core muscle training on measures of balance and agility in athletes. A search was conducted to identify the eligible articles on core muscle training, balance, agility, and athletes in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database that were published from inception to April 15, 2022. The literature search retrieved 3,299 articles, of which 17 randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria of the review. Two reviewers independently performed study selection and assessed the quality of included studies using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale, and a third reviewer was consulted in case of disagreements. The quality of the studies was mixed. Core muscle training can be used to target balance and agility in athletes. Furthermore, core training of variable frequency, intensity, and type can be incorporated in athletic programs to improve balance and agility.
Sho Nagayoshi, Harukaze Yatsugi, Xin Liu, Takafumi Saito, Koji Yamatsu, and Hiro Kishimoto
Background: Several previous studies investigated physical activity of older adults using wearable devices, but more studies need to develop normative values for chronic disease conditions. This study aimed to investigate physical activity using a triaxial activity monitor in community-dwelling older Japanese adults with and without lifestyle-related diseases. Methods: Data from a total of 732 community-dwelling older Japanese men and women were collected and analyzed in a cross-sectional study. The participants’ physical activity was assessed for seven consecutive days by a triaxial accelerometer. Physical activity was assessed by number of lifestyle-related diseases and six lifestyle-related diseases categories by gender. Physical activity was assessed separately for total, locomotive, and nonlocomotive physical activity. Results: Participants with multiple (two or more) diseases had significantly lower total light-intensity physical activity (LPA; 278.5 ± 8.4 min/day) and nonlocomotive LPA (226.4 ± 7.0 min/day) versus without diseases in men. Compared in each disease category, total LPA and nonlocomotive LPA was significantly lower in men with hypertension and diabetes. Total sedentary time was significantly higher in men with hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. Locomotive LPA was significantly lower in men with diabetes. In women, locomotive moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly higher in women with diabetes, and nonlocomotive moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly lower in women with heart disease. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that older Japanese men with multiple lifestyle-related diseases had lower physical activity. In each disease category, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease affected lower physical activity, especially in men.
Tyler S. Harris, Alan L. Smith, and Ian Boardley
The purpose of this study was to examine whether subgroups of disability-sport athletes exist on morality- and norm-based doping cognitions and whether these groups differ in anticipated guilt or doping intentions. A survey was completed by 186 athletes (M age = 37.5 years, 78.0% male, 45.1% wheelchair basketball) assessing norms, doping moral disengagement, anticipated guilt, and intentions to dope. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct subgroups of athletes, including one potentially high-risk subgroup characterized by relatively high scores on doping moral disengagement, subjective norms, and descriptive norms. One-way analysis of variance revealed significantly lower anticipated guilt in two athlete subgroups characterized by relatively higher doping moral disengagement than the other two subgroups. Moreover, the potentially high-risk group had a greater proportion of athletes showing some presence of intention to dope. This study suggests there is a small subgroup of disability-sport athletes at elevated risk of doping who might benefit from targeted antidoping interventions.
Jill Kochanek
Inclusive learning environments are necessary for all students to thrive. Such environments require that teachers and students engage in a critical praxis: iterative reflection and action that attend to social identity, power/privilege, and oppression for social justice promotion. In this conceptual paper, I overview my efforts as a program director to engage in a critical praxis and embed diversity, inclusion, and equity values into the fabric of an athletic leadership master’s program at a teaching-focused college. Strategic efforts described include creating a mission statement, conducting a needs assessment, developing a curriculum to promote critical capacity building in tandem with supporting sport–social justice student research, and recruitment of students with minoritized identities and nontraditional backgrounds. I conclude with future directions aimed at ensuring that graduate students have an inclusive and empowering educational experience that helps them develop as inclusive, equity-minded leaders.
Hannah Kilpatrick, Emily Bush, Carly Lockard, Xingyu Zhou, Crystal Coolbaugh, and Bruce Damon
A muscle’s architecture, defined as the geometric arrangement of its fibers with respect to its mechanical line of action, impacts its abilities to produce force and shorten or lengthen under load. Ultrasound and other noninvasive imaging methods have contributed significantly to our understanding of these structure–function relationships. The goal of this work was to develop a MATLAB toolbox for tracking and mathematically representing muscle architecture at the fascicle scale, based on brightness-mode ultrasound imaging data. The MuscleUS_Toolbox allows user-performed segmentation of a region of interest and automated modeling of local fascicle orientation; calculation of streamlines between aponeuroses of origin and insertion; and quantification of fascicle length, pennation angle, and curvature. A method is described for optimizing the fascicle orientation modeling process, and the capabilities of the toolbox for quantifying and visualizing fascicle architecture are illustrated in the human tibialis anterior muscle. The toolbox is freely available.
