Asian Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume:12 Issue: 2, Jun 2021

Obesity is currently one of the most dominating diseases affecting younger adults in South Africa. This is commonly caused by a poor lifestyle, which may lead to an increased risk of non-communicable diseases.

The aim of the study was to examine if a six-week concurrent resistance and aerobic training program could elicit body composition and cardiorespiratory changes in rural black college women.

Forty sedentary black females (aged 18 - 25 years) were randomly assigned to a combined resistance and aerobic training (COM) group (n = 20) or a control group (n = 20). The COM group participated in four times weekly aerobic and resistance training. Aerobic training consisted of 30 minutes a session (week 1 - 3: cycling for 3 minutes at 60% heart rate reserve (HRR), followed by 2 minutes at 50% HRR; week 4 - 6: 3 minutes at 70% HRR, followed by 2 minutes at 60% HRR). Resistance training consisted of participants training at 50% of their one-repetition maximum (1-RM) for week 1 - 3, doing 3 sets of 15 repetitions; for week 4 - 6 at 60% 1-RM, doing 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

Following the intervention, the COM group significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased their body fat percentage when compared to the control group (P = 0.006; d = 0.9), while no significant changes were observed in waist-to-hip ratio (P = 0.223) and cardiorespiratory endurance (P = 0.260) in either group.

Although body composition (especially waist circumference and body fat percentage) and cardiorespiratory fitness are recommended as the main targets of physical activity programs aimed at preventing CVD in college students, this study demonstrated that a six-week concurrent program improved body fat percentage, and not WHR and cardiorespiratory fitness, in sedentary rural college-aged females. Further, these findings suggest that one method of program design does not fit all populations and that exercise prescription should be targeted and not generalized.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of introducing a new activity-based balance index using a triaxial accelerometer during activity.

Twenty seven soccer players (age: 14.5 ± 0.4 years old, body mass: 58.3 ± 9.3 kg, height: 172 ± 8 cm) who participated in the national premier league were recruited. The participants were tested for their balance, activity, and skill in four tests: (I) one leg stance; (II) dynamic Y balance; (III) running; and (IV) dribbling slalom. The acceleration of the body was recorded using an accelerometer during those tests. By processing acceleration data, a new activity-based balance index (ABI) was calculated based on the velocity, acceleration, and position index of soccer players. Using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), reliability was calculated.

Reliability was high (ICC = 0.87 - 0.89; 95% CI = 0.77 - 0.93) in calculating ABI for the three activities performed in the tests. A significant positive correlation between ABI and both static and dynamic balance scores (r = 0.62, P = 0.002) was observed. Furthermore, negative correlation was found significantly between ABI and dribbling scores (r = -0.61, P = 0.026) and Y Balance test (r = 0.6, P = 0.002).

In conclusion, the introduced ABI demonstrates great potential to determine balance and skill scores based on accelerometer-based measures.

Functional ankle instability (FAI) is a common consequence of ankle sprain injury, especially in high-impact sports.

To investigate the effect of six weeks of suspension training with total resistance exercises (TRX) on proprioception and muscle strength in female athletes with FAI.

Thirty female athletes with FAI (age: 21.9 ± 2.2 years, height: 169.3 ± 4.2 cm, and weight: 59.8 ± 6.1 kg) were randomly assigned to two equally numbered groups: TRX training and controls based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. In the pre-test, the anthropometric variables and also proprioception accuracy and muscle strength of subjects were evaluated by joint angle reset test (JART) and manual muscle testing (MMT) in both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion motions. The training group completed three sessions per week with progressive load for six weeks, and each training session lasted 15 - 20 minutes, whilst control subjects continued with their normal activity without special sport activities. After six weeks of training, all tests performed in the pre-test phase were also performed in the post-test phase. The t-test was used for statistic analysis (α ≤ 0.05).

The findings showed that TRX training significantly improved the proprioception accuracy (P≤0.001) and muscle strength (P ≤ 0.001) in the training group rather than the control group. No statistically significant difference was found in any of the tests between pre-test and post-test for the control group (P > 0.05).

Six weeks of TRX suspension training had a positive effect on strength and proprioception accuracy in female athletes with FAI.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) exemplifies a major medical problem as it is the most considerable cause of morbidity and mortality. While sport conditioning specialists understand and differentiate the different benefits of resistance training (RT) subtypes on athletic performance, this distinction is less clear for health professionals when designing CVD risk reduction programs.

This study attempted to investigate and compare the effects of hypertrophy and muscular endurance RT on CVD risk in sedentary males.

Sedentary male smokers were randomly assigned to either an eight-week hypertrophy RT group (HTG) (n = 15), muscular endurance RT groups (METG) (n = 15), or a non-exercising control group (CON) (n = 15) to assess their impact on smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol, and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) variables associated with the four most prominent CVD risk factors. Data were analyzed using SPSS-25 software using a paired sample t-test and ANOVA.

Significant (P ≤ 0.05) improvements were found in three of the 15 measured variables in the HTG (resting mean arterial pressure (RMAP) (P = 0.024); total cholesterol (TC): HDL-C ratio (P = 0.009), and HDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ratio (P = 0.038), with a deleterious decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (P = 0.027). In turn, significant improvements were found in theMETG in 10 of the 15measured variables, namely; cigarettes smoked per day (P = 0.037), resting systolic blood pressure (RSBP) (P = 0.002), resting diastolic blood pressure (RDBP) (P = 0.006), RMAP (P = 0.000), TC (P = 0.010), triglycerides (TG) (P = 0.010), LDL-C (P = 0.007), HDL-C: LDL-C (P = 0.018), non-HDL-C (n-HDL-C) (P = 0.010), and VO2max (P = 0.001), and a deleterious decrease in HDL-C (P = 0.026).

While the oversimplification of RT design for CVD reduction has resulted in cardio-centric CVD training programs, this study demonstrates that some subtypes of RT (i.e. muscular endurance training)may provemore useful than others in reducing multiple CVD risk factors simultaneously.

Visual skills play a pivotal role in athletic performance. However, in a professional setting, visual assessment is limited to a brief examination of visual acuity by the Snellen chart. This is while visual skills in sport comprise several other components.

This study aimed to evaluate the potential relationship between visual skills and sports injuries in professional soccer players.

Through a prospective cohort study between September 2017 and October 2018, professional soccer league players were recruited for a complete eye examination including visual acuity, field of vision, and color discrimination as pre-competition examination. Any possible relationship between an abnormal eye finding and sports injury during the upcoming season was investigated.

A total of 386 male soccer players in 4 different playing positions were recruited from 16 league teams. Myopia, visual field defects, and green/blue/red color blindness were the most common visual impairments. Overall, there was no significant relationship between abnormal visual skills and the incidence of low back and upper extremity injuries among soccer players. However, a logistic regression model showed that the odds of quadriceps injury is 1.92 times higher (P-value: 0.005) for one diopter increase in both eyes’ sum of refractive error. There is also an increased risk of concussion in players who have visual field defects (P-value < 0.005).

Visual field defects can put soccer players at a higher risk for concussion. Moreover, uncorrected refractive eye errors will increase the incidence of lower limb injuries, mostly quadriceps injuries.

Rugby is a contact sport, and the frequency of injuries is high. In our clinical experience with patients diagnosed arthroscopically with lateral meniscus tears in the middle segment, rugby players are more prevalent than players of other sports. We hypothesized that a meniscus tear in the middle segment is a common injury in rugby players and is associated with specific positions in rugby.

This study aimed to describe a series of lateral meniscus tears in rugby players.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of cases with an arthroscopically confirmed isolated lateral meniscus tear in the middle segment associated with rugby players in our center between 2006 and 2020. We investigated the epidemiology of injury, including the player position and phase of play, the symptoms; as well as imaging and arthroscopic findings.

Of 4452 cases (4666 knees) diagnosed arthroscopically with meniscus tears, 27 cases (28 knees) were isolated radial lateral meniscus tears in the middle segment, 26 of which were sports-associated, including 11 cases related to rugby. Among the 11 rugby players, 10 were forwards, 5 of whom were in the front row. The injury was associated with a tackle in 4 patients, while the phase of play of injury was unknown in 6 patients. In the clinical manual examination, tenderness and a positive hyperextension test had a relatively high sensitivity. In imaging examination, MRI depicted a characteristic image of a partial meniscal defect in the sagittal view. All patients underwent arthroscopic partial meniscectomy. The postoperative course was favorable. All patients returned to play rugby at the pre-injury competition level.

In this study, radial lateral meniscus tears involving the middle segment frequently occurred in rugby players, mostly in forward positions. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy achieved a return to play in all players.

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is an effective and relatively safe method for crushing urinary tract stones

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of running on treadmill and rope jumping exercises on the excretion of mass-like urinary stones following ESWL in the patients referred to the Asia clinic in the city of Ilam.

This was a quasi-experimental study. The subjects were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into three groups, including control, treadmill running, and rope jumping (n = 50 per group). Data were collected by a questionnaire to record the sonographic characteristics of the stones before and after lithotripsy and analyzed by SPSS software version 24 using Chi-square, unpaired t-test, and one-way ANOVA at the significance level of 5%. Benieman-Hashberg method was used to correct multiple comparisons.

There was a significant difference in the number of excreted stones comparing the control, treadmill running, and rope jumping groups (F = 8.851, P = 0.002). There were significant differences between the control and both treadmill running (P = 0.038) and rope jumping (P = 0.002) groups regarding the rate of stone excretion. However, there was no significant difference between the treadmill running and rope jumping groups regarding the rate of stone excretion (P = 0.293).

Rope jumping and treadmill running exercises can help to better and faster expel kidney stones, depending on their location, after lithotripsy

Transmittable skin infections in sport are a concern, especially for wrestlers. Current methods for limiting tinea gladiatorum transmission in United States high school wrestling include a required skin inspection protocol. Tinea prevalence before and after the skin inspection protocol was instituted is not widely known. We prospectively determined tinea prevalence among a Minnesota high school wrestler cohort over their 12-week season and compared this to point-in-time incidences reported in wrestlers not subject to a skin inspection protocol. Wrestlers having a suspicious rash at the skin inspection (raised, red, > 5 mm diameter, and with dry flaky scale) were recruited. Among suspicious rashes, tinea gladiatorum infection was determined using direct microscopy with chlorazol black staining. Thirty-eight of 510 wrestlers (7%) developed a rash suspicious for tinea. Thirty-four wrestlers that had rash(s) were enrolled and their rash was tested. Twenty-two of 510 wrestlers developed tinea gladiatorum throughout the season. Tinea gladiatorum prevalence was 4.3% (95% CI 2.5-6.1%). Four wrestlers with rash were not available for testing (unable to obtain timely consent (two) or obtain adequate sample(two)). Prevalence was less than suggested by the incidences previously reported in wrestling populations.

Context: 

Our goal was to review the current literature regarding the ability of substances that have recently been included in the WADA prohibited list (i.e., meldonium, trimetazidine, xenon, and cobalt) or in the monitoring program (i.e., ecdysterone and bemethyl) to enhance performance in athletes or cause adverse effects.

Evidence Acquisition:

 To find out which studies led to the prohibition of the substances mentioned, we searched the PubMed database using keywords including the substances’ or methods’ names, as well as phrases related to various aspects of sports activities and health assessments of athletes.

 The results obtained during our systematic literature search clearly indicate that there is a lack of scientific evidence supporting the impact of several substances prohibited by WADA (i.e., meldonium, trimetazidine, xenon, and cobalt) on athletic performance or on health in athletes.

 There is insufficient evidence that the previously mentioned substances have any performance enhancing potential. If left on the list, meldonium may be classified as a “specified substance” because of its wide availability and due to the fact that this drug that can be easily bought over the counter without a prescription.

Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) refers to any kind of damage caused by direct or indirect damage to the brain and its related elements. It is estimated that about 60% of brain injury victims have a permanent disorder. The consequences of CVA include reduced movement speed, weakness, functional impairment, reduced power, and balance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a 12-week selected training protocol on motor function following brain injury. In a semi-experimental study, 30 male subjects with a mean and standard deviation of 52.2 ± 5.4 years, weight 173.2 ± 4.2 kg, and height of 78.8 ± 5.3 cm were selected purposefully and accessible with inclusion and exclusion criteria. The participants were randomly divided into experimental (n = 15) and control groups (n = 15). In order to evaluate the physical-motor performance, 10-meter walking tests, get up and go tests, and climbing stairs tests were used. The training program lasted for 12 weeks, three sessions per week, and each session for 30 - 60 minutes. Data were analyzed by independent t-test and dependent t-test using SPSS-21 software at P ≤ 0.05 level. Based on dependent t-test and covariance test, there were significant differences in all three components of motor function (10 m walk time tests, get up and go test, and stair climbing test), there was a significant increase after training in men with CVA (P = 0.00). From the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the special exercises of the present study have a positive effect on motor function parameters of male patients with CVA, so it can be recommended as one of the most important rehabilitation strategies for these patients.