Articles

Ultrasound assessment of fascial connectivity in the lower limb during maximal cervical flexion: technical aspects and practical application of automatic tracking

The fascia provides and transmits forces for connective tissues, thereby regulating human posture and movement. One way to assess the myofascial interaction is a fascia ultrasound recording. Ultrasound can fol...

Authors: Carlos Cruz-Montecinos, Mauricio Cerda, Rodolfo Sanzana-Cuche, Jaime Martín-Martín and Antonio Cuesta-Vargas

The effectiveness of physiotherapy treatment on balance dysfunction and postural instability in persons with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Balance dysfunction and postural instability in Parkinson’s disease are among the most relevant determinants of an impaired quality of life. Physiotherapy interventions are essential to reduce the level of dis...

Authors: Asmare Yitayeh and Amare Teshome

Pre-pubertal males practising Taekwondo exhibit favourable postural and neuromuscular performance

The postural and neuromuscular performances in healthy children taekwondo (TKD) practitioners in comparison with control children were examined.

Authors: Mohamed Chedly Jlid, Nicola Maffulli, Nisar Souissi, Mohamed Souheil Chelly and Thierry Paillard

A systematic review of financial incentives given in the healthcare setting; do they effectively improve physical activity levels?

According to current physical activity guidelines, a substantial percentage of the population in high-income countries is inactive, and inactivity is an important risk factor for chronic conditions and mortali...

Authors: Claudia C. M. Molema, G. C. Wanda Wendel-Vos, Lisanne Puijk, Jørgen Dejgaard Jensen, A. Jantine Schuit and G. Ardine de Wit

The feasibility of progressive resistance training in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a pilot randomized controlled trial

To evaluate the feasibility of executing a randomized controlled trial of progressive resistance training (PRT) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Authors: Lisa Vizza, Caroline A. Smith, Soji Swaraj, Kingsley Agho and Birinder S. Cheema

Effect of fatigue caused by a simulated handball game on ball throwing velocity, shoulder muscle strength and balance ratio: a prospective study

Arm throwing represents a deciding element in handball. Ball velocity, aim accuracy, and dynamic stability of the shoulder are factors that influence throwing effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to ex...

Authors: Marília Santos Andrade, Fabiana de Carvalho Koffes, Ana Amélia Benedito-Silva, Antonio Carlos da Silva and Claudio Andre Barbosa de Lira

Muscle strength differences in healthy young adults with and without generalized joint hypermobility: a cross-sectional study

Generalized joint hypermobility (GJH), in the absence of symptoms, is a common clinical finding. The joint instability present due to excessive musculoskeletal flexibility in hypermobile joints impairs the ext...

Authors: Pranay Jindal, Amitesh Narayan, Sailakshami Ganesan and Joy C. MacDermid

Development of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Achilles Tendon Total Rupture Score (ATRS BrP): a cross-cultural adaptation with reliability and construct validity evaluation

There is a need for a patient-relevant instrument to evaluate outcome after treatment in patients with a total Achilles tendon rupture. The purpose of this study was to undertake a cross-cultural adaptation of...

Authors: Roberto Zambelli, Rafael Z. Pinto, João Murilo Brandão Magalhães, Fernando Araujo Silva Lopes, Rodrigo Simões Castilho, Daniel Baumfeld, Thiago Ribeiro Teles dos Santos and Nicola Maffulli

Cancer patients participating in a lifestyle intervention during chemotherapy greatly over-report their physical activity level: a validation study

The short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-sf) is a validated questionnaire used to assess physical activity (PA) in healthy adults and commonly used in both apparently healthy a...

Authors: Karianne Vassbakk-Brovold, Christian Kersten, Liv Fegran, Odd Mjåland, Svein Mjåland, Stephen Seiler and Sveinung Berntsen

Relationship of post-exercise muscle oxygenation and duration of cycling exercise

Aerobic adaptations following interval training are supposed to be mediated by increased local blood supply. However, knowledge is scarce on the detailed relationship between exercise duration and local post-e...

Authors: Fabian Stöcker, Christoph Von Oldershausen, Florian Kurt Paternoster, Thorsten Schulz and Renate Oberhoffer

Joint torque variability and repeatability during cyclic flexion-extension of the elbow

Joint torques are generally of primary importance for clinicians to analyze the effect of a surgery and to obtain an indicator of functional capability to perform a motion. Given the current need to standardiz...

Authors: Laurent Ballaz, Maxime Raison, Christine Detrembleur, Guillaume Gaudet and Martin Lemay

Maximal strength training as physical rehabilitation for patients with substance use disorder; a randomized controlled trial

Patients with substance use disorder (SUD) suffer from multiple health and psychosocial problems. Because poor physical capacities following an inactive lifestyle may indeed contribute to these problems, physi...

Authors: Runar Unhjem, Grete Flemmen, Jan Hoff and Eivind Wang

Age profiles of sport participants

Participation in sport has many health benefits, and is popular amongst children. However participation decreases with age. While the membership records of peak sports organisations have improved markedly in r...

Authors: Rochelle M. Eime, Jack T. Harvey, Melanie J. Charity, Meghan M. Casey, Hans Westerbeek and Warren R. Payne

A pilot study on biomarkers for tendinopathy: lower levels of serum TNF-α and other cytokines in females but not males with Achilles tendinopathy

Achilles tendinopathy is a painful musculoskeletal condition that is common among athletes, and which limits training capacity and competitive performance. The lack of biomarkers for tendinopathy limits resear...

Authors: James E. Gaida, Håkan Alfredson, Sture Forsgren and Jill L. Cook

Reliability of the Q Force; a mobile instrument for measuring isometric quadriceps muscle strength

The ability to generate muscle strength is a pre-requisite for all human movement. Decreased quadriceps muscle strength is frequently observed in older adults and is associated with a decreased performance and...

Authors: K. W. Douma, G. R. H. Regterschot, W.P. Krijnen, G. E. C. Slager, C. P. van der Schans and W. Zijlstra

BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation reviewer acknowledgement 2015

The editors of BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation would like to thank all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 7 (2015).

Authors: Clare Partridge

Comparison of three activity monitors for estimating sedentary time among children

Time spent sedentary appears to be associated with several health outcomes in adults, but findings are inconsistent in children. Further, the assessment of sedentary time represents a major challenge. The obje...

Authors: Jarle Stålesen, Frøydis Nordgård Vik, Bjørge Herman Hansen and Sveinung Berntsen

Effects of conditioning hops on drop jump and sprint performance: a randomized crossover pilot study in elite athletes

It has previously been shown that conditioning activities consisting of repetitive hops have the potential to induce better drop jump (DJ) performance in recreationally active individuals. In the present pilot...

Authors: Jakob Kümmel, Julian Bergmann, Olaf Prieske, Andreas Kramer, Urs Granacher and Markus Gruber

Effects of a home-exercise therapy programme on cervical and lumbar range of motion among nurses with neck and lower back pain: a quasi-experimental study

Cervical and lumbar range of motion limitations are usually associated with musculoskeletal pain in the neck and lower back, and are a major health problem among nurses. Physical exercise has been evaluated as...

Authors: Tiina Freimann, Eda Merisalu and Mati Pääsuke

Can previously sedentary females use the feeling scale to regulate exercise intensity in a gym environment? an observational study

Recent research suggests that the Feeling Scale (FS) can be used as a method of exercise intensity regulation to maintain a positive affective response during exercise. However, research to date has been carri...

Authors: Charlotte C. Hamlyn-Williams, Gavin Tempest, Sarah Coombs and Gaynor Parfitt

Validity of treadmill- and track-based individual calibration methods for estimating free-living walking speed and VO₂ using the Actigraph accelerometer

For many patients clinical prescription of walking will be beneficial to health and accelerometers can be used to monitor their walking intensity, frequency and duration over many days. Walking intensity shoul...

Authors: Anthony Barnett, Ester Cerin, Corneel Vandelanotte, Aya Matsumoto and David Jenkins

Erratum to: Smartphone apps for orthopaedic sports medicine – a smart move?

Authors: Seng Juong Wong, Greg A. Robertson, Katie L. Connor, Richard R. Brady and Alexander M. Wood

Differences in ball speed and three-dimensional kinematics between male and female handball players during a standing throw with run-up

The purpose of this paper was to examine differences in ball release speed and throwing kinematics between male and female team-handball players in a standing throw with run-up. Other research has shown that t...

Authors: Ben Serrien, Ron Clijsen, Jonathan Blondeel, Maggy Goossens and Jean-Pierre Baeyens

Does the frequency and intensity of physical activity in adolescence have an impact on bone? The Tromsø Study, Fit Futures

Optimization of the genetic potential for bone accrual in early life may prevent future fractures. Possible modification factors include lifestyle factors such as nutrition and physical activity. Measured leve...

Authors: Tore Christoffersen, Anne Winther, Ole Andreas Nilsen, Luai Awad Ahmed, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Guri Grimnes, Elaine Dennison and Nina Emaus

Cognitive-motor integration deficits in young adult athletes following concussion

The ability to perform visually-guided motor tasks requires the transformation of visual information into programmed motor outputs. When the guiding visual information does not align spatially with the motor o...

Authors: Jeffrey A. Brown, Marc Dalecki, Cindy Hughes, Alison K. Macpherson and Lauren E. Sergio

Reliability and validity of ten consumer activity trackers

Activity trackers can potentially stimulate users to increase their physical activity behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of ten consumer activity trackers for measuring...

Authors: Thea J. M. Kooiman, Manon L. Dontje, Siska R. Sprenger, Wim P. Krijnen, Cees P. van der Schans and Martijn de Groot

Smartphone apps for orthopaedic sports medicine – a smart move?

With the advent of smartphones together with their downloadable applications (apps), there is increasing opportunities for doctors, including orthopaedic sports surgeons, to integrate such technology into clin...

Authors: Seng Juong Wong, Greg A. Robertson, Katie L. Connor, Richard R. Brady and Alexander M. Wood

Sport-2-Stay-Fit study: Health effects of after-school sport participation in children and adolescents with a chronic disease or physical disability

Children and adolescents with a chronic disease or physical disability have lower fitness levels compared to their non-disabled peers. Low physical fitness is associated with reduced physical activity, increas...

Authors: Maremka Zwinkels, Olaf Verschuren, Kristel Lankhorst, Karin van der Ende-Kastelijn, Janke de Groot, Frank Backx, Anne Visser-Meily and Tim Takken

Deep soft-tissue massage applied to healthy calf muscle has no effect on passive mechanical properties: a randomized, single-blind, cross-over study

Massage is often applied with the intention of improving flexibility or reducing stiffness in musculotendinous tissue. There is, however, a lack of supporting evidence that such mechanical effects occur. The p...

Authors: Daniel Thomson, Amitabh Gupta, Jesica Arundell and Jack Crosbie

Ice swimming – ‘Ice Mile’ and ‘1 km Ice event’

Ice swimming for 1 mile and 1 km is a new discipline in open-water swimming since 2009. This study examined female and male performances in swimming 1 mile (‘Ice Mile’) and 1 km (‘1 km Ice event’) in water of ...

Authors: Beat Knechtle, Thomas Rosemann and Christoph A. Rüst

The effect of the stay active advice on physical activity and on the course of acute severe low back pain

Disability due to acute low back pain (ALBP) runs parallel with distress and physical inactivity. If low back pain persists, this may lead to long-term sick leave and chronic back pain. This prospective random...

Authors: Patricia Olaya-Contreras, Jorma Styf, Daniel Arvidsson, Karin Frennered and Tommy Hansson

Prevalence of low back pain among elite Australian senior rowers

Authors: Kellie Wilkie, Larissa Trease and Miranda Wallis

ECG findings in competitive rowers: normative data and the prevalence of abnormalities using contemporary screening recommendations.

Authors: MM Wasfy, J DeLuca, F Wang, B Berkstresser, KE Ackerman, A Eisman, GD Lewis, AM Hutter, RB Weiner and AL Baggish

Rib stress fractures in rowers

Authors: Anders Vinther

High incidence of hyponatremia in trained rowers during a four-week training camp

Authors: Gunnar Treff, Constantin Ulrich Mayer, Wiebke Kristin Fenske, Katja Blouin, Jürgen Michael Steinacker and Bruno Allolio

Training in extreme hot and cold

Authors: Mike Tipton Professor

Monitoring rowers to determine under-performance

Authors: Jürgen Michael Steinacker, Martina Zügel, Uwe Schumann, Katja Machus, Marion Schneider, Hohmann Harald, Mahdi Sareban and Gunnar Treff

Characteristic of acute and overuse injuries among junior, senior and master rowers

Authors: Tomislav Smoljanovic, Ivan Bojanic, Jo A Hannafin, Darko Hren, Oliver Terborg, Ivan Bohacek and Henning Bay Nielsen

Endurance sport and cardiovascular health

Authors: Sanjay Sharma

150 years of rowing faster: what are the sources of more and more speed?

Authors: Stephen Seiler

Sweat rate of highly trained junior rowers during a session of low intensity endurance training

Authors: Ilka Popp, Gunnar Treff and Jürgen M Steinacker

Rowing: extreme physiology and possibility for injury

Authors: Henning Bay Nielsen

Increasing lean muscle mass: nutritional and periodization strategies

Authors: James P Morton

Analytics… what’s it all about?

Authors: Laurie Miles PhD

Injury prevention and performance – are they mutually exclusive? What does science tell us?

Authors: Alison McGregor

The effect of real-time feedback on velocity fluctuations in steady state rowing

Authors: Lotte L Lintmeijer, Mathijs J Hofmijster, Knoek J Van Soest and Peter J Beek

Monitoring training status using novel submaximal test

Authors: M J Hofmijster, G J J van de Plasse, A M C van Beijsterveldt and J H Stubbe

Development of a new guideline to facilitate diagnosis and management of rib stress injuries in rowers

Authors: Guy Evans and Ann Redgrave

Protecting the clean athlete, protecting health

Authors: Richard Budgett Dr

Training load and health problems in freshman rowers

Authors: Anne-Marie van Beijsterveldt, Mark de Jong, Koen Lemmink and Janine Stubbe