Correlation between the results of three physical fitness tests (endurance, strength, speed) and the output measured during a bicycle ergometer test in a cohort of military servicemen

Causes and Preventive Measures of Sports Injuries in Physical Fitness Tests in Colleges and Universities Based on Biological Characteristics

Biological characteristics refer to the morphological and physiological characteristics exhibited by individual organisms. The indicators of individual biological characteristics mainly include physical indicators such as height, weight, chest circumference, and health-related physical indicators such as blood pressure, grip strength, and vital capacity. This article mainly introduces the cause analysis and preventive measures of a physical fitness test in colleges and universities based on biological characteristics and intends to provide ideas and directions for the cause analysis and preventive measures of a physical fitness test in colleges and universities. This paper proposes a research method for the cause analysis and preventive measures of sports injuries in college physical fitness tests based on biological characteristics. Research experiments on the cause analysis and preventive measures of sports injuries in the physical fitness test of colleges and universities. The experimental results in this paper show that the most frequent cause of sports injuries among boys is lack of self-protection awareness, with a probability of 24.24%; among girls, the most frequent cause of sports injuries is insufficient flexibility, with a probability of 22.86%.

Exploring the impact of physical factors on the overweight and obese physical therapy students

Objective

Physical fitness is a fundamental pillar for physical therapy students in promoting their physical health. Obese and overweight students might have limited physical capabilities. Therefore, we investigated the effect of overweight and obesity on the mobility, strength, and agility of physical therapy students.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, we collected data from a sample of 13 overweight and 9 obese physical therapy students, aged between 19 and 24 years. We measured spinal, upper, and lower limb mobility; upper body strength (using the flexed-arm hang test), and agility (using the 11 × 10 shuttle sprint test).

Results

The independent sample t test comparing the mean values of overweight and obese participants showed no significant difference [t(20) = -0.16, p > 0.05] for the 11 × 10 shuttle sprint test. However, there was significant difference [t (15.2) = 3.79, p < 0.05] for the flexed-arm hang test. The Pearson's correlation test showed a moderate negative correlation between the body mass index and flexed arm hang [r(20) = -0.62, p < 0.005)], indicating that the participants with higher body mass index tended to hold on for less time during the flexed-arm hang test. The correlation assessment showed weak positive correlation between body mass index and the 11 × 10 shuttle sprint test.

Conclusions

In our study, the obese college students tended to have poor physical factors, especially upper body strength and lower limb mobility, compared with the overweight participants. The obese and overweight college students demonstrate lower physical and functional capabilities.

Can Whole-Body Vibration Exercises in Different Positions Change Muscular Activity of Upper Limbs? A Randomized Trial

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of whole-body vibration exercises (WBVE) in different positions on muscular activity of flexor digitorum superficialis (FD), wrist extensor (ED), and handgrip strength (HG) of healthy men. Fifteen participants have performed 5 test sets each one consisting of HG strength measurement and 1-minute WBVE intervention (frequency: 50 Hz, amplitude: 1.53 mm, synchronous tri-planar oscillating/vibratory platform), that could be control (no exposition to vibration), squat (30 seconds of rest and 30 seconds of WBVE in squat position), or push-up (30 seconds of rest, and 30 seconds of WBVE in push-up position). After testing, participants had 2 minutes of rest and then were encouraged to keep themselves on a pull-up bar for 30 seconds. During all procedures, muscular activity of FD and ED was measured by surface electromyography (EMG). Statistical analysis has revealed that the EMG measured in the FD during the static pull-up bar exercise after SQUAT condition was significantly higher (P = .004) than the CONTROL and PUSH-UP conditions. Whole-body vibration exercises in squat position increase acutely muscle activation of the FD during isometric exercises of longer duration, while muscle activation of ED and HG strength are not affected by WBVE.

EFFECTS OF WHOLE BODY VIBRATION INTERVENTION ON HANDGRIP STRENGTH OF BRAZILIAN HEALTHY SOLDIERS

Background:

Whole body vibration (WBV) exercises have been investigated as an alternative and complementary method to traditional resistance programs for fitness improvements in healthy subjects. Active militaries must have a high fitness level and have to improve some physical abilities to accomplish some specific tasks in Army, as climb ropes, climb walls and pull up.

Materials and methods:

Seven young and healthy soldiers from Brazilian Army were exposed to mechanical vibration in a push-up position, with different frequencies, as 25 (first session), 30 (second session), 35 (third session), 40 (fourth session) and 45 Hz (fifth session). The WBV intervention consisted of five WBV sessions over a consecutive two and a half-weeks period of time. A WBV session consisted of twenty bouts, each one with 10- second vibration, interspersed with 10 seconds of passive rest and 4 minutes pause after the first 10 bouts. Handgrip strength was measured, as proposed by American Society of Hand Therapists – ASHT, before and after the session using 25 Hz of frequency and 45 Hz of frequency (1^st and 5^th sessions).

Results:

No significant results were found between groups.

Conclusion:

Intervention of WBV exercises with 25 and 45 Hz of frequency applied by hands of healthy and young soldiers had no significant results. Further investigations should focus on the efficacy of WBV in the improvement of handgrip strength of young and healthy people.

A review of the physiological and psychological health and wellbeing of naval service personnel and the modalities used for monitoring

Naval cohorts rely heavily on personnel to ensure the efficient running of naval organisations. As such, the wellbeing of personnel is essential. In an occupational setting, naval service personnel experience a variety of physiological and psychological stressors. Most naval services arrange annual physical fitness and body composition tests to ensure the physical readiness of personnel. However, these tests only evaluate a small amount of physiological capabilities. Components such as aerobic and strength capabilities are assessed, however, other components of physical fitness such as speed, agility, anaerobic capacity and flexibility are not. In addition to the physical capabilities, personnel are impacted by fatigue, nutrition and psychological stressors such as copping in stressful situations or dealing with time away from family and friends. This review will discuss the physiological and psychological factors that affect personnel's wellbeing. In addition to this, it will also evaluate the methods that are used to assess both physiological and psychological wellbeing.