Protocol Standardization May Improve Precision Error of InBody 720 Body Composition Analysis.

Background: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a popular technique which can be used to track longitudinal changes in body composition. However, precision of the technique has been questioned, especially among athletic populations where small but meaningful changes are often observed. Guidelines exist which attempt to optimize precision of the technique but fail to account for potentially important variables.

Froude Efficiency and Velocity Fluctuation in Forearm-Amputee Front Crawl: Implications for Para Swimming Classification.

Purpose: The impact of physical impairment on Froude efficiency and intracyclic velocity fluctuation in Para swimmers is not well documented. Identification of differences in these variables between disabled and nondisabled swimmers could help develop a more objective system for assigning Para swimmers to classes for competition. This study quantifies Froude efficiency and intracyclic velocity fluctuation in unilateral forearm-amputee front crawl swimmers and evaluates associations between these variables and performance.

Passive Heating Increases Bench-Pull Power Output in Highly Trained Swimmers.

Purpose: Determine the effects of skin temperature change on bench-pull power following a passive warm-up intervention with highly trained swimmers using multiple heated clothing garments.

Methods: Using a crossover design, 8 high-performance swimmers (mean [SD]; age, 22.4 [4.

Impact of 24-Hr Diet and Physical Activity Control on Short-Term Precision Error of Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Physique Assessment.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a popular technique used to quantify physique in athletic populations. Due to biological variation, DXA precision error (PE) may be higher than desired. Adherence to standardized presentation for testing has shown improvement in consecutive-day PE.

Swimming performance, physiology, and post-activation performance enhancement following dryland transition phase warmup: A systematic review.

Background: In swimming, the period between the end of the swimming warmup and the beginning of competition is critical to performance, here termed the transition phase. Several options are available during this phase, necessitating a systematic review to understand if optimal strategies exist.

Objectives: To synthesise and critically evaluate the current literature investigating land-based warmup interventions on subsequent performance in competitive swimmers.

Peak Age and Performance Trajectories in Para Powerlifters.

Objective: This study established the age-related performance trajectories in Para powerlifters, thereby presenting valuable information for athlete development.

Design: Data on athlete date of birth, body mass, and weight lifted in competition were analyzed for 2079 athletes between 1994 and 2019.

Results: Age-related performance trajectories showed that men and women lift their heaviest weights in competition at 36 and 41 yrs of age, respectively.

Passive drag in Para swimmers with physical impairments: Implications for evidence-based classification in Para swimming.

The inherent hydrodynamic resistance force, or passive drag, of a swimmer directly influences how they move through the water. For swimmers with physical impairments, the strength of association between passive drag and swimming performance is unknown. Knowledge on this factor could improve the World Para Swimming classification process.

The effect of COVID-19 lockdown on psychiatric admissions: role of gender.

Background: The UK went into nationwide lockdown on 24 March 2020, in response to COVID-19. The direct psychiatric effects of this are relatively unknown.

Aims: We examined whether the first UK lockdown changed the demographics of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals (to include gender, legality, route of admission and diagnoses), independent of seasonal variation.

Establishing the reliability of instrumented trunk impairment assessment methods to enable evidence-based classification in Para swimming.

This study examined the reliability of instrumented trunk assessment methods across two experiments to develop and improve evidence-based classification in Para swimming. Trunk coordination, range of motion (ROM), and strength were assessed in 38 non-disabled participants. Each test battery was completed on two occasions to determine inter-session reliability.

Improving the objectivity of the current World Para Swimming motor coordination test for swimmers with hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis using measures of movement smoothness, rhythm and accuracy.

The current protocol for classifying Para swimmers with hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis involves a physical assessment where the individual's ability to coordinate their limbs is scored by subjective clinical judgment. The lack of objective measurement renders the current test unsuitable for evidence-based classification. This study evaluated a revised version of the Para swimming assessment for motor coordination, incorporating practical, objective measures of movement smoothness, rhythm error and accuracy.

Body composition in professional female netball players within and between seasons: a cohort study.

Background: There is limited information on the physique attributes of female netball players from the highest playing standards and the typical body composition changes that occur with training and competition in these athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the body composition of professional female netball players and changes that occur within and between national premier netball seasons.

Methods: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) assessments were conducted in 20 female netball players (age = 26.

Seasonal Changes in Breathing Pattern, Trunk Stabilization, and Muscular Power in Paralympic Swimmers.

The purpose of this study was to monitor the changes in breathing pattern, trunk muscle stabilization, and upper-body muscular power in Paralympic swimmers throughout a competitive season over three time points: October (T1), March (T2), and August (T3). Six top-level Paralympic swimmers voluntarily participated in this study. The Friedman test, the Bonferroni-Dunn multiple comparison post hoc analysis, and Kendall's W concordance coefficient for the measure of effect were used.

Utility of an Isometric Midthigh Pull Test to Assess Lower Body Muscular Strength in Professional Netball Players.

Purpose: This study established the relationship between isometric midthigh pull (IMTP) peak force and court-based jumping, sprinting, and change of direction (COD) performance in professional netball players. The change in IMTP peak force in response to sport-specific training was also examined.

Methods: IMTP peak force and court-based jumping, sprinting, and COD were collected in 18 female athletes contracted to a Suncorp Super Netball team.

Designing success: Applying Cognitive Work Analysis to optimise a para sport system.

Within the last decade, Para sport has experienced increased growth, global popularity, and scientific research. Likewise, there is increasing application of systems ergonomics methods to optimise sports performance. Despite this, few studies have attempted to analyse Para sport as a complex system.

Modelling the age-related trajectory of performance in Para swimmers with physical, vision and intellectual impairment.

This study is the first to provide information on the age-related trajectories of performance in Para swimmers with physical, vision and intellectual impairment. Race times from long-course swim meets between 2009 and 2019 were obtained for Para swimmers with an eligible impairment. A subset of 10 661 times from 411 Para swimmers were included in linear mixed effects modelling to establish the relationship between age and performance expressed relative to personal best time and world record time.

The impact of limb deficiency impairment on Para swimming performance.

Swimmers with limb deficiency are a core population within Para Swimming, accordingly this study examined the contribution of limb segments to race performance in these swimmers. Data were obtained for 174 male Para swimmers with limb deficiency. Ensemble partial least squares regression showed accurate predictions when using relative limb segment lengths to estimate Para swimmers' personal best race performances.

Maximal Fully Tethered Swim Performance in Para Swimmers With Physical Impairment.

Unlabelled: The assessment of swimming propulsion should be a cornerstone of Paralympic swimming classification. However, current methods do not objectively account for this component.

Purpose: To evaluate the swimming propulsion of swimmers with and without physical impairment using a 30-second maximal fully tethered freestyle swim test.

Active Drag as a Criterion for Evidence-based Classification in Para Swimming.

Introduction: Paralympic classification should provide athletes with an equitable starting point for competition by minimizing the impact their impairment has on the outcome of the event. As swimming is an event conducted in water, the ability to overcome drag (active and passive) is an important performance determinant. It is plausible that the ability to do this is affected by the type and severity of the physical impairment, but the current World Para Swimming classification system does not objectively account for this component.

Interdisciplinary spinal pain clinics in primary care: Outcomes from one service.

Background And Objectives: Management of spinal pain in Australia is a common problem that often requires input from a range of health providers. Interdisciplinary care can be difficult to access, and care can easily become fragmented. A novel approach of setting up an interdisciplinary clinic in a primary care setting was analysed in this study.

Classifying motor coordination impairment in Para swimmers with brain injury.

Objectives: The International Paralympic Committee has mandated that International Sport Federations develop sport-specific classification systems that are evidence-based. This study examined the predictive and convergent validity of instrumented tapping tasks to classify motor coordination impairments in Para swimming.

Design: Cross-sectional.

A battery of strength tests for evidence-based classification in Para swimming.

This study examined the validity of isometric strength tests for evidence-based classification in Para swimming. Thirty non-disabled participants and forty-two Para swimmers with physical impairment completed an isometric strength test battery designed to explain activity limitation in the freestyle discipline. Measures pertaining to dominant and non-dominant limb strength and symmetry were derived from four strength tests that were found to be reliable in a cohort of non-disabled participants (ICC = 0.

Establishing the reliability of a novel battery of range of motion tests to enable evidence-based classification in Para Swimming.

Objectives: To evaluate the reliability of swimming-specific range of movement tests developed in order to permit evidenced-based classification in the sport of para swimming.

Design: Test-retest intra- and inter-examiner reliability.

Setting: International Swimming training camps and university exercise science departments.

Performance Characteristics of Para Swimmers: How Effective Is the Swimming Classification System?

Swimming is one of the inaugural sports within the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the key difference between the Olympic and Paralympic games being the classification system. The aim of this study was to investigate how effective the current classification system creates clearly differentiated Paralympic competition classes, based on performance time for all swimming strokes and events. Based on the performance characteristics of swimmers within the current classification system, the relationship between impairment and swimming performance is inconsistent, potentially disadvantaging some athletes.

The Impact of an Assistive Pole, Seat Configuration, and Strength in Paralympic Seated Throwing.

Purpose: To quantify the influence of the assistive pole, seat configuration, and upper-body and trunk strength on seated-throwing performance in athletes with a spinal-cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Ten Paralympic athletes competing in wheelchair rugby, basketball, or athletics (seated throws) participated in 2 randomized sessions: seated throwing and strength tests. Participants threw a club from a custom-built throwing chair, with and without a pole.

Activity Profiles and Physiological Responses of Representative Tag Football Players in Relation to Playing Position and Physical Fitness.

This study determined the physical fitness, match-activity profiles and physiological responses of representative tag football players and examined the relationship between physical fitness and the match-activity profile. Microtechnology devices and heart rate (HR) chest straps were used to determine the match-activity profiles of sixteen tag football players for five matches during the 2014 Australian National Championships. The relationships between lower body muscular power, straight line running speed and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 2 (Yo-Yo IR2) and the match-activity profile were examined using Pearson's correlation coefficients.