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This special issue of Kinesiology Review celebrates the 40th anniversary of the publication of George Brooks’s Perspectives on the Academic Discipline of Physical Education: A Tribute to G. Lawrence Rarick (1981). Written by many of the luminaries within kinesiology, the papers in this special issue highlight the tremendous growth of knowledge that has occurred in the subdisciplines of kinesiology over the last 40 years and the breadth of contexts in which new knowledge is now being applied. Kinesiology has rapidly become an influential discipline, and its breadth, depth, and influence continue to grow. Though not without challenges, there is much to be optimistic about concerning kinesiology’s future.

This study examined the effectiveness of a longitudinal 5C coaching intervention (Harwood, 2008), focused on promoting behavioral responses associated with commitment, communication, concentration, control, and confidence in youth soccer players. Five players, their parents and a youth academy soccer coach participated in a single-case multiple-baseline across individuals design with multiple treatments. Following baseline, the coach received sequential education in the principles of each C subsequent to integrating relevant strategies in their coaching sessions. During the five intervention phases, players completed assessments of their behavior in training associated with each C, triangulated with observationbased assessments by the coach and the players’ parents. Results indicated psychosocial improvements with cumulative increases in positive psychosocial responses across the intervention for selected players. Changes in player behavior were also corroborated by parent and coach data in conjunction with postintervention social validation. Findings are discussed with respect to the processes engaged in the intervention, and the implications for practitioners and applied researchers.

This study assessed the effects of resistive training (RT) with or without chromium picolinate (Cr-pic) supplementation on the 24-h urinary excretions of myo-inositol, D-chiro-inositol, and pinitol, as well as clinical indices of kidney and liver functions. Thirty-two nondiabetic subjects, age 62 ± 4 y, performed RT twice weekly for 12 wk and consumed either 924 μg Cr/d as Cr-pic (n = 17) or a placebo (n = 15). Whole-body strength increased in all subjects by 20% and urinary chromium excretion increased 47-fold in the Cr-pic group. Urinary myo-inositol, D-chiro-inositol, and pinitol were not changed with RT or influenced by Cr-pic. Serum indices of kidney and liver functions were within clinically normal ranges at baseline and the end of the study. These results suggest that RT did not influence the urinary excretions of inositols. High dose Cr-pic did not influence the urinary excretion of inositols and the selected indices of kidney and liver functions in conjunction with RT

As the biologically active component of glucose tolerance factor (GTF), the essential trace mineral chromium is now being marketed to athletes. GTF potentiates insulin activity and is responsible for normal insulin function. Thus, insulin's effects on carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism are dependent upon the maintenance of adequate chromium stores. Due to excessive chromium loss and marginal chromium intake, athletes may have an increased requirement for chromium. Therefore, in some circumstances the dietary supplementation of a chromium compound may be efficacious. The restoration and maintenance of chromium stores via supplementation would promote optimal insulin efficiency, necessary for high-level athletic performance. However, potential anabolic effects of enhanced insulin function would likely be marginal, and reports of short-term anabolic increases from the supplementation of an organic chromium compound need to be confirmed.

This study assessed the effect of resistive training (RT), with or without high-dose chromium picolinate (Cr-pic) supplementation, on body composition and skeletal muscle size of older women. Seventeen sedentary women, age range 54-71 years. BMI 28.8±2.4 kg/m². were randomly assigned (double-blind) to groups (Cr-pic. n = 9; Placebo, n = 8) that consumed either 924 μg Cr/d as Cr-pic or a low-Cr placebo (<0.2 μg Cr/d) during a 12-week RT program (2 day/ week, 3 sets · exercise⁻¹ · d¹,80% of 1 repetition maximum). Urinary chromium excretion was 60-fold higher in the Cr-pic group, compared to the Placebo group (p < .001), during the intervention. Resistive training increased maximal strength of the muscle groups trained by 8 to 34% (p < .001), and these responses were not influenced by Cr-pic supplementation. Percent body fat and fat-free mass were unchanged with RT in these weight-stable women, independent of Cr-pic supplementation. Type I and type II muscle fiber areas of the m. vastus lateralis were not changed over time and were not influenced by Cr-pic supplementation. These data demonstrate that high-dose Cr-pic supplementation did not increase maximal strength above that of resistive training alone in older women. Further, these data show that, under these experimental conditions, whole body composition and skeletal muscle size were not significantly changed due to resistive training and were not influenced by supplemental chromium picolinate.