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Evidence suggests reports describing the reliability of leg-spring (k_leg) and joint stiffness (k_joint) measures are contaminated by artifacts originating from digital filtering procedures. In addition, the intraday reliability of k_leg and k_joint requires investigation. This study examined the effects of experimental procedures on the inter- and intraday reliability of k_leg and k_joint. Thirty-two participants completed 2 trials of single-legged hopping at 1.5, 2.2, and 3.0 Hz at the same time of day across 3 days. On the final test day a fourth experimental bout took place 6 hours before or after participants’ typical testing time. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected throughout. Stiffness was calculated using models of k_leg and k_joint. Classifications of measurement agreement were established using thresholds for absolute and relative reliability statistics. Results illustrated that k_leg and k_ankle exhibited strong agreement. In contrast, k_knee and k_hip demonstrated weak-to-moderate consistency. Results suggest limits in k_joint reliability persist despite employment of appropriate filtering procedures. Furthermore, diurnal fluctuations in lower-limb muscle-tendon stiffness exhibit little effect on intraday reliability. The present findings support the existence of k_leg as an attractor state during hopping, achieved through fluctuations in k_joint variables. Limits to k_joint reliability appear to represent biological function rather than measurement artifact.

The purpose of this study was to determine the pitching effects of buoyancy during all competitive swimming strokes—freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and breaststroke. Laser body scans of national-level athletes and synchronized multiangle swimming footage were used in a novel markerless motion capture process to produce three-dimensional biomechanical models of the swimming athletes. The deforming surface meshes were then used to calculate swimmer center-of-mass (CoM) positions, center-of-buoyancy (CoB) positions, pitch buoyancy torques, and sagittal plane moments of inertia (MoI) throughout each stroke cycle. In all cases the mean buoyancy torque tended to raise the legs and lower the head; however, during part of the butterfly stroke the instantaneous buoyancy torque had the opposite effect. The swimming strokes that use opposing arm and leg strokes (freestyle and backstroke) had smaller variations in CoM positions, CoB positions, and buoyancy torques. Strokes with synchronized left-right arm and leg movement (butterfly and breaststroke) had larger variations in buoyancy torques, which impacts the swimmer’s ability to maintain a horizontal body pitch for these strokes. The methodology outlined in this paper enables the rotational effects of buoyancy to be better understood by swimmers, allowing better control of streamlined horizontal body positioning during swimming to improve performance.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to map responses over 32 hours following high-load (HL) and moderate-load (ML) half-squat priming. Methods: Fifteen participants completed control, HL (87% 1RM), and ML (65% 1RM) activities in randomized, counterbalanced order. Countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), saliva testosterone, saliva cortisol, and perceptual measures were assessed before and 5 minutes, 8 hours, 24 hours, and 32 hours after each activity. Results are presented as percentage change from baseline and 95% confidence interval (CI). Cliff delta was used to determine threshold for group changes. Results: SJ height increased by 4.5% (CI = 2.2–6.8, Cliff delta = 0.20) 8 hours following HL. CMJ and SJ improved by 6.1% (CI = 2.1–7.8, Cliff delta = 0.27) and 6.5% (CI = 1.2–11.8, Cliff delta = 0.30), respectively, 32 hours after ML. No clear diurnal changes in CMJ or SJ occurred 8 hours following control; however, increases of 3.9% (CI = 2.9–9.2, Cliff delta = 0.26) and 4.5% (CI = 0.9–8.1, Cliff delta = 0.24), respectively, were observed after 32 hours. Although diurnal changes in saliva hormone concentration occurred (Cliff delta = 0.37–0.92), the influence of priming was unclear. Perceived “physical feeling” was greater 8 hours following HL (Cliff delta = 0.36) and 32 hours after ML and control (Cliff delta = 0.17–0.34). Conclusions: HL priming in the morning may result in small improvements in jump output and psychophysiological state in the afternoon. Similar improvements were observed in the afternoon the day after ML priming.