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It is well known that IDEA (the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) is overdue for reauthorization and, borrowing from Block and colleagues, it is important to consider what evidence we have to support adapted physical activity as a field in the United States beyond this federal mandate. We believe that these questions have gained further importance in the current geopolitical climate in the United States. With that, we use this editorial to reflect on the evidence and direction of our field, with the hope of sparking dialogue and encouraging others to think about the future of adapted physical activity. In this editorial, we discuss the importance of adapted physical activity as it relates to health and physical activity and school-based physical education, as well as philosophical/moral arguments for the field. We conclude the editorial by inviting others to join the conversation about other unique aspects of importance to the field of adapted physical activity in the United States.

Background: Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with freezing of gait (FoG) exhibit difficulty with changes in sensory input, indicating a potential sensorimotor integration deficit. Understanding how levodopa impacts balance particularly in FoG, is critical. As traditional postural sway measures may not fully capture the complexity of balance control, rambling and trembling decomposition of the center of pressure allows a more detailed assessment of postural control by distinguishing between supraspinal and spinal contributions, offering insights into sensorimotor integration deficits. This study aims to analyze the effects of medication and FoG on rambling and trembling in quiet standing in individuals with PD. Methods: We analyzed 13 individuals with PD with FoG (PD freezers) and 19 individuals with PD without FoG (PD nonfreezers) while quiet standing on a rigid and malleable surface under (ON) and without (OFF) dopaminergic medication. Area, root mean square, and mean velocity were calculated for rambling and trembling trajectory. Results: For the rambling, all variables were significantly higher on the malleable compared with the rigid surface. For trembling, (a) all variables were higher on the malleable compared with the rigid surface (p < .001), and (b) area and medial–lateral root mean square were significantly higher ON compared with OFF medication for both groups of participants similarly. Conclusion: Our results strengthen the evidence that PD freezers have the same postural sway in quiet posture as PD nonfreezers, using similar mechanisms to control the posture. In addition, levodopa influences spinal mechanisms more than supraspinal ones in individuals with PD in quiet standing.

Task difficulty is a major factor that affects postural control and stability. However, there is little information about the effects of task difficulty on postural control during gait termination in combination with a manual task. The present study investigated postural control during combined gait termination and a manual task with different levels of manual task difficulty. Right-handed, healthy young adults (n = 15) performed five trials of combined gait termination with a manual fitting task for each of four different manual task conditions, varying target size (large and small) and distance (short and long). Average time-to-contact of the center of pressure and upper body (sternum) was assessed in three separate phases of the combined task: preparation, reaching, and stabilization phases. Longer reaching distance reduced time-to-contact not only in the reaching phase but also in both the preparation and stabilization phases. However, there were no effects of target size on time-to-contact. These results indicate that increasing manual task demands requires integration throughout gait termination and can impact postural stabilization after task completion even in young healthy adults.

Background: Increased sway within a stationary base of support (BoS) is often interpreted as worse postural control. However, larger persons may have larger feet, facilitating broader sway patterns within their wider/longer base. Time to boundary (TtB) incorporates foot placement dimensions into the calculation and, thus, may not be confounded by dissimilar anthropometric features. Methods: Ninety-seven healthy adults stood quietly on a force platform for 150 s with their feet together while barefoot. BoS characteristics, center of pressure motion, and TtB were calculated and correlated with body height for eyes open and closed conditions. Results: BoS width, length, and total area positively correlated with body height. Path length and sway area were positively correlated with height for both vision conditions, with stronger correlations observed with eyes closed. At the same time, TtB was not correlated with height in either visual condition. Consequently, the tallest 20 individuals in the sample displayed greater path length and sway areas but equal TtB as the shortest 20 persons. Conclusion: Observed differences in position-based center of pressure measures could be an artifact of body size inequality not postural (in)stability. Meanwhile, TtB is normalized to BoS and is, therefore, not confounded by anthropometric differences.

This study explored how athletes with psychiatric impairment in Japan perceived the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Data from 15 interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis; consequently, three themes were generated: (1) The Paralympics: “A Story of Another World”—the participants viewed the Paralympics only as a movement and not directly related to them; (2) “Do I Really Have to Work That Hard?”—“supercrip” representations through the Paralympics led to the disempowerment and disablement of people with psychiatric impairment, exacerbating their symptoms; (3) “A Futsal That Really Isn't Very Good”—the privileged status of the Paralympics presents only a facet of disability sport, which has resulted in other sports for people with psychiatric impairment, such as football, not being properly valued. This study adds to the literature regarding the legacy of the Paralympics and emphasizes moving beyond using the Paralympics as a vehicle for a more inclusive world.

Purpose: Trunk function is not only related to physical fitness performance, but also important for the balance, and stability of the whole body. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 2 training methods on trunk stability and athletic performance in adolescent female basketball players. Methods: Fifty-one healthy elite female basketball players (age: 14.76 [1.84] y, body mass index: 21.41 [1.96] kg/m²) were assigned to TRX training (n = 17), Swiss ball training (n = 17), or control groups (n = 17). Participants performed a progressive program of unstable core muscle training consisting of 8 different exercises, with each exercise performed in 3 sets, twice a week for 8 weeks. The outcome measures were a plank test, the modified double leg lowering task, and athletic performance including jumping, speed, agility, cardiopulmonary endurance, and the ankle proprioception. Results: Significant group and time interaction were identified in the modified double leg lowering task (P = .032, η ² = .134), with post hoc comparisons revealing improvements in the TRX group (P = .014). The TRX group (8.6%) improved significantly more than the Swiss ball group (2.9%) when it comes to the modified double leg lowering average change percentage. The plank test also exhibited a significant group and time interaction (P = .033, partial η ² = .133), with notable improvements in both the Swiss ball (P = .001) and the TRX groups (P = .001). Athletic performance measures showed no significant differences among groups. Conclusions: The results indicate that both TRX and Swiss ball training can increase core muscle strength and stability without compromising athletic performance after 8 weeks of training. Furthermore, incorporating core muscle training enhances power transmission capabilities. Nevertheless, considering the goal was to improve speed and ankle proprioception during preseason training, careful consideration must be given to the timing and intensity of any intervention involving unstable core muscle training.

Context: With the rise in distance running, there is an increasing interest in reducing running-related injuries and improving performance. Foot strike patterns (FSP) and step rate (SR) are key factors in managing the external forces generated during foot contact in running. Adjusting SR may help alter FSP and improve running economy (RE), yet its effects on recreational runners are not fully understood. Thus, this study aimed to examine if SR manipulations are sufficient to shift FSP and whether the manipulations change the RE. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Eighteen healthy recreational runners’ (age: 30.2 [7.6] y) foot strike angle was calculated using 2D video motion analysis, and submaximal VO₂ was measured while running on a treadmill during preferred and adjusted (±5% and ±10%) SR conditions. Foot strike angle was used to predict strike index and quantify FSP, and submaximal VO₂ was analyzed to determine RE. Results: Predicted strike index was significantly different between preferred SR and the −10% (P = .002), −5% (P = .002), and +10% (P < .001) SR conditions. Submaximal VO₂ was significantly increased in the −10% (P < .001) and −5% (P = .002) SR conditions. Conclusion: SR manipulations were sufficient to alter foot strike angle and predicted strike index in recreational runners, leading to moderate to significant changes in RE. These findings suggest that SR manipulation can be a useful tool for influencing FSPs and optimizing RE to enhance performance and reduce injury risk.

To increase understanding in development of running injuries, the biomechanical load over time should be studied. Ground reaction force (GRF) is an important parameter for biomechanical analyses and is typically measured in a controlled lab environment. GRF can be estimated outdoors, however, the repeatability of this estimation is unknown. Repeatability is a crucial aspect if a measurement is repeated over prolonged periods of time. This study investigates the repeatability of a GRF estimation algorithm using inertial measurement units during outdoor running. Twelve well-trained participants completed 3 running sessions on different days, on an athletics track, instrumented with inertial measurement units on the lower legs and pelvis. Vertical accelerations were used to estimate the GRF. The goal was to assess the algorithm’s repeatability across 3 sessions in a real-world setting, aiming to bridge the gap between laboratory and outdoor measurements. Results showed a good level of repeatability, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (2, k) of .86 for peak GRF, root mean square error of .08 times body weight (3.5%) and Pearson correlation coefficients exceeding .99 between the days. This is the first study looking into the day-to-day repeatability of the estimation of GRF, showing the potential to use this algorithm daily.