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Children’s physical fitness development and related moderating effects of age and sex are well documented, especially boys’ and girls’ divergence during puberty. The situation might be different during prepuberty. As girls mature approximately two years earlier than boys, we tested a possible convergence of performance with five tests representing four components of physical fitness in a large sample of 108,295 eight-year old third-graders. Within this single prepubertal year of life and irrespective of the test, performance increased linearly with chronological age, and boys outperformed girls to a larger extent in tests requiring muscle mass for successful performance. Tests differed in the magnitude of age effects (gains), but there was no evidence for an interaction between age and sex. Moreover, “physical fitness” of schools correlated at r = 0.48 with their age effect which might imply that "fit schools” promote larger gains; expected secular trends from 2011 to 2019 were replicated.
Timing of initial school enrollment may vary considerably for various reasons such as early or delayed enrollment, skipped or repeated school classes. Accordingly, the age range within school grades includes older-(OTK) and younger-than-keyage (YTK) children. Hardly any information is available on the impact of timing of school enrollment on physical fitness. There is evidence from a related research topic showing large differences in academic performance between OTK and YTK children versus keyage children. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare physical fitness of OTK (N = 26,540) and YTK (N = 2586) children versus keyage children (N = 108,295) in a representative sample of German third graders. Physical fitness tests comprised cardiorespiratory endurance, coordination, speed, lower, and upper limbs muscle power. Predictions of physical fitness performance for YTK and OTK children were estimated using data from keyage children by taking age, sex, school, and assessment year into account. Data were annually recorded between 2011 and 2019. The difference between observed and predicted z-scores yielded a delta z-score that was used as a dependent variable in the linear mixed models. Findings indicate that OTK children showed poorer performance compared to keyage children, especially in coordination, and that YTK children outperformed keyage children, especially in coordination. Teachers should be aware that OTK children show poorer physical fitness performance compared to keyage children.
Age-related decline in executive functions and postural control due to degenerative processes in the central nervous system have been related to increased fall-risk in old age. Many studies have shown cognitive-postural dual-task interference in old adults, but research on the role of specific executive functions in this context has just begun. In this study, we addressed the question whether postural control is impaired depending on the coordination of concurrent response-selection processes related to the compatibility of input and output modality mappings as compared to impairments related to working-memory load in the comparison of cognitive dual and single tasks. Specifically, we measured total center of pressure (CoP) displacements in healthy female participants aged 19–30 and 66–84 years while they performed different versions of a spatial one-back working memory task during semi-tandem stance on an unstable surface (i.e., balance pad) while standing on a force plate. The specific working-memory tasks comprised: (i) modality compatible single tasks (i.e., visual-manual or auditory-vocal tasks), (ii) modality compatible dual tasks (i.e., visual-manual and auditory-vocal tasks), (iii) modality incompatible single tasks (i.e., visual-vocal or auditory-manual tasks), and (iv) modality incompatible dual tasks (i.e., visual-vocal and auditory-manual tasks). In addition, participants performed the same tasks while sitting. As expected from previous research, old adults showed generally impaired performance under high working-memory load (i.e., dual vs. single one-back task). In addition, modality compatibility affected one-back performance in dual-task but not in single-task conditions with strikingly pronounced impairments in old adults. Notably, the modality incompatible dual task also resulted in a selective increase in total CoP displacements compared to the modality compatible dual task in the old but not in the young participants. These results suggest that in addition to effects of working-memory load, processes related to simultaneously overcoming special linkages between input- and output modalities interfere with postural control in old but not in young female adults. Our preliminary data provide further evidence for the involvement of cognitive control processes in postural tasks.
Effects of resistance training in youth athletes on muscular fitness and athletic performance
(2016)
During the stages of long-term athlete development (LTAD), resistance training (RT) is an important means for (i) stimulating athletic development, (ii) tolerating the demands of long-term training and competition, and (iii) inducing long-term health promoting effects that are robust over time and track into adulthood. However, there is a gap in the literature with regards to optimal RT methods during LTAD and how RT is linked to biological age. Thus, the aims of this scoping review were (i) to describe and discuss the effects of RT on muscular fitness and athletic performance in youth athletes, (ii) to introduce a conceptual model on how to appropriately implement different types of RT within LTAD stages, and (iii) to identify research gaps from the existing literature by deducing implications for future research. In general, RT produced small -to -moderate effects on muscular fitness and athletic performance in youth athletes with muscular strength showing the largest improvement. Free weight, complex, and plyometric training appear to be well -suited to improve muscular fitness and athletic performance. In addition, balance training appears to be an important preparatory (facilitating) training program during all stages of LTAD but particularly during the early stages. As youth athletes become more mature, specificity, and intensity of RT methods increase. This scoping review identified research gaps that are summarized in the following and that should be addressed in future studies: (i) to elucidate the influence of gender and biological age on the adaptive potential following RT in youth athletes (especially in females), (ii) to describe RT protocols in more detail (i.e., always report stress and strain based parameters), and (iii) to examine neuromuscular and tendomuscular adaptations following RT in youth athletes.
There is evidence for cortical contribution to the regulation of human postural control. Interference from concurrently performed cognitive tasks supports this notion, and the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) has been suggested to play a prominent role in the processing of purely cognitive as well as cognitive-postural dual tasks. The degree of cognitive-motor interference varies greatly between individuals, but it is unresolved whether individual differences in the recruitment of specific lPFC regions during cognitive dual tasking are associated with individual differences in cognitive-motor interference. Here, we investigated inter-individual variability in a cognitive-postural multitasking situation in healthy young adults (n = 29) in order to relate these to inter-individual variability in lPFC recruitment during cognitive multitasking. For this purpose, a oneback working memory task was performed either as single task or as dual task in order to vary cognitive load. Participants performed these cognitive single and dual tasks either during upright stance on a balance pad that was placed on top of a force plate or during fMRI measurement with little to no postural demands. We hypothesized dual one-back task performance to be associated with lPFC recruitment when compared to single one-back task performance. In addition, we expected individual variability in lPFC recruitment to be associated with postural performance costs during concurrent dual one-back performance. As expected, behavioral performance costs in postural sway during dual-one back performance largely varied between individuals and so did lPFC recruitment during dual one-back performance. Most importantly, individuals who recruited the right mid-lPFC to a larger degree during dual one-back performance also showed greater postural sway as measured by larger performance costs in total center of pressure displacements. This effect was selective to the high-load dual one-back task and suggests a crucial role of the right lPFC in allocating resources during cognitivemotor interference. Our study provides further insight into the mechanisms underlying cognitive-motor multitasking and its impairments.
Cognitive resources contribute to balance control. There is evidence that mental fatigue reduces cognitive resources and impairs balance performance, particularly in older adults and when balance tasks are complex, for example when trying to walk or stand while concurrently performing a secondary cognitive task.
We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science and Google Scholar to identify eligible studies and performed a random effects meta-analysis to quantify the effects of experimentally induced mental fatigue on balance performance in healthy adults. Subgroup analyses were computed for age (healthy young vs. healthy older adults) and balance task complexity (balance tasks with high complexity vs. balance tasks with low complexity) to examine the moderating effects of these factors on fatigue-mediated balance performance.
We identified 7 eligible studies with 9 study groups and 206 participants. Analysis revealed that performing a prolonged cognitive task had a small but significant effect (SMDwm = −0.38) on subsequent balance performance in healthy young and older adults. However, age- and task-related differences in balance responses to fatigue could not be confirmed statistically.
Overall, aggregation of the available literature indicates that mental fatigue generally reduces balance in healthy adults. However, interactions between cognitive resource reduction, aging and balance task complexity remain elusive.
The concurrent performance of cognitive and postural tasks is particularly impaired in old adults and associated with an increased risk of falls. Biological aging of the cognitive and postural control system appears to be responsible for increased cognitive-motor interference effects. We examined neural and behavioral markers of motor-cognitive dual-task performance in young and old adults performing spatial one-back working memory single and dual tasks during semitandem stance. On the neural level, we used EEG to test for age-related modulations in the frequency domain related to cognitive-postural task load. Twenty-eight healthy young and 30 old adults participated in this study. The tasks included a postural single task, a cognitive-postural dual task, and a cognitive-postural triple task (cognitive dual-task with postural demands). Postural sway (i.e., total center of pressure displacements) was recorded in semistance position on an unstable surface that was placed on top of a force plate while performing cognitive tasks. Neural activation was recorded using a 64-channel mobile EEG system. EEG frequencies were attenuated by the baseline postural single-task condition and demarcated in nine Regions-of-Interest (ROIs), i.e., anterior, central, posterior, over the cortical midline, and both hemispheres. Our findings revealed impaired cognitive dual-task performance in old compared to young participants in the form of significantly lower cognitive performance in the triple-task condition. Furthermore, old adults compared with young adults showed significantly larger postural sway, especially in cognitive-postural task conditions. With respect to EEG frequencies, young compared to old participants showed significantly lower alpha-band activity in cognitive-cognitive-postural triple-task conditions compared with cognitive-postural dual tasks. In addition, with increasing task difficulty, we observed synchronized theta and delta frequencies, irrespective of age. Taskdependent alterations of the alpha frequency band were most pronounced over frontal and central ROIs, while alterations of the theta and delta frequency bands were found in frontal, central, and posterior ROIs. Theta and delta synchronization exhibited a decrease from anterior to posterior regions. For old adults, task difficulty was reflected by theta synchronization in the posterior ROI. For young adults, it was reflected by alpha desynchronization in bilateral anterior ROIs. In addition, we could not identify any effects of task difficulty and age on the beta frequency band. Our results shed light on age-related cognitive and postural declines and how they interact. Modulated alpha frequencies during high cognitive-postural task demands in young but not old adults might be reflective of a constrained neural adaptive potential in old adults. Future studies are needed to elucidate associations between the identified age-related performance decrements with task difficulty and changes in brain activity.
The prevalence of obesity in the pediatric population has become a major public health issue. Indeed, the dramatic increase of this epidemic causes multiple and harmful consequences, Physical activity, particularly physical exercise, remains to be the cornerstone of interventions against childhood obesity. Given the conflicting findings with reference to the relevant literature addressing the effects of exercise on adiposity and physical fitness outcomes in obese children and adolescents, the effect of duration-matched concurrent training (CT) [50% resistance (RT) and 50% high-intensity-interval-training (HIIT)] on body composition and physical fitness in obese youth remains to be elucidated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 9-weeks of CT compared to RT or HIIT alone, on body composition and selected physical fitness components in healthy sedentary obese youth. Out of 73 participants, only 37; [14 males and 23 females; age 13.4 ± 0.9 years; body-mass-index (BMI): 31.2 ± 4.8 kg·m-2] were eligible and randomized into three groups: HIIT (n = 12): 3-4 sets×12 runs at 80–110% peak velocity, with 10-s passive recovery between bouts; RT (n = 12): 6 exercises; 3–4 sets × 10 repetition maximum (RM) and CT (n = 13): 50% serial completion of RT and HIIT. CT promoted significant greater gains compared to HIIT and RT on body composition (p < 0.01, d = large), 6-min-walking test distance (6 MWT-distance) and on 6 MWT-VO2max (p < 0.03, d = large). In addition, CT showed substantially greater improvements than HIIT in the medicine ball throw test (20.2 vs. 13.6%, p < 0.04, d = large). On the other hand, RT exhibited significantly greater gains in relative hand grip strength (p < 0.03, d = large) and CMJ (p < 0.01, d = large) than HIIT and CT. CT promoted greater benefits for fat, body mass loss and cardiorespiratory fitness than HIIT or RT modalities. This study provides important information for practitioners and therapists on the application of effective exercise regimes with obese youth to induce significant and beneficial body composition changes. The applied CT program and the respective programming parameters in terms of exercise intensity and volume can be used by practitioners as an effective exercise treatment to fight the pandemic overweight and obesity in youth.
Objectives
The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of a six-week in-season period of soccer training and games (congested period) on plasma volume variations (PV), hematological parameters, and physical fitness in elite players. In addition, we analyzed relationships between training load, hematological parameters and players’ physical fitness.
Methods
Eighteen elite players were evaluated before (T1) and after (T2) a six-week in-season period interspersed with 10 soccer matches. At T1 and T2, players performed the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (YYIR1), the repeated shuttle sprint ability test (RSSA), the countermovement jump test (CMJ), and the squat jump test (SJ). In addition, PV and hematological parameters (erythrocytes [M/mm3], hematocrit [%], hemoglobin [g/dl], mean corpuscular volume [fl], mean corpuscular hemoglobin content [pg], and mean hemoglobin concentration [%]) were assessed. Daily ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were monitored in order to quantify the internal training load.
Results
From T1 to T2, significant performance declines were found for the YYIR1 (p<0.001, effect size [ES] = 0.5), RSSA (p<0.01, ES = 0.6) and SJ tests (p< 0.046, ES = 0.7). However, no significant changes were found for the CMJ (p = 0.86, ES = 0.1). Post-exercise, RSSA blood lactate (p<0.012, ES = 0.2) and PV (p<0.01, ES = 0.7) increased significantly from T1 to T2. A significant decrease was found from T1 to T2 for the erythrocyte value (p<0.002, ES = 0.5) and the hemoglobin concentration (p<0.018, ES = 0.8). The hematocrit percentage rate was also significantly lower (p<0.001, ES = 0.6) at T2. The mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin content and the mean hemoglobin content values were not statistically different from T1 to T2. No significant relationships were detected between training load parameters and percentage changes of hematological parameters. However, a significant relationship was observed between training load and changes in RSSA performance (r = -0.60; p<0.003).
Conclusions
An intensive period of “congested match play” over 6 weeks significantly compromised players’ physical fitness. These changes were not related to hematological parameters, even though significant alterations were detected for selected measures.
How We Found Our IMU
(2020)
Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are commonly used for localization or movement tracking in pervasive healthcare-related studies, and gait analysis is one of the most often studied topics using IMUs. The increasing variety of commercially available IMU devices offers convenience by combining the sensor modalities and simplifies the data collection procedures. However, selecting the most suitable IMU device for a certain use case is increasingly challenging. In this study, guidelines for IMU selection are proposed. In particular, seven IMUs were compared in terms of their specifications, data collection procedures, and raw data quality. Data collected from the IMUs were then analyzed by a gait analysis algorithm. The difference in accuracy of the calculated gait parameters between the IMUs could be used to retrace the issues in raw data, such as acceleration range or sensor calibration. Based on our algorithm, we were able to identify the best-suited IMUs for our needs. This study provides an overview of how to select the IMUs based on the area of study with concrete examples, and gives insights into the features of seven commercial IMUs using real data.
Gait analysis is an important tool for the early detection of neurological diseases and for the assessment of risk of falling in elderly people. The availability of low-cost camera hardware on the market today and recent advances in Machine Learning enable a wide range of clinical and health-related applications, such as patient monitoring or exercise recognition at home. In this study, we evaluated the motion tracking performance of the latest generation of the Microsoft Kinect camera, Azure Kinect, compared to its predecessor Kinect v2 in terms of treadmill walking using a gold standard Vicon multi-camera motion capturing system and the 39 marker Plug-in Gait model. Five young and healthy subjects walked on a treadmill at three different velocities while data were recorded simultaneously with all three camera systems. An easy-to-administer camera calibration method developed here was used to spatially align the 3D skeleton data from both Kinect cameras and the Vicon system. With this calibration, the spatial agreement of joint positions between the two Kinect cameras and the reference system was evaluated. In addition, we compared the accuracy of certain spatio-temporal gait parameters, i.e., step length, step time, step width, and stride time calculated from the Kinect data, with the gold standard system. Our results showed that the improved hardware and the motion tracking algorithm of the Azure Kinect camera led to a significantly higher accuracy of the spatial gait parameters than the predecessor Kinect v2, while no significant differences were found between the temporal parameters. Furthermore, we explain in detail how this experimental setup could be used to continuously monitor the progress during gait rehabilitation in older people.
Inertial measurement units (IMUs) enable easy to operate and low-cost data recording for gait analysis. When combined with treadmill walking, a large number of steps can be collected in a controlled environment without the need of a dedicated gait analysis laboratory. In order to evaluate existing and novel IMU-based gait analysis algorithms for treadmill walking, a reference dataset that includes IMU data as well as reliable ground truth measurements for multiple participants and walking speeds is needed. This article provides a reference dataset consisting of 15 healthy young adults who walked on a treadmill at three different speeds. Data were acquired using seven IMUs placed on the lower body, two different reference systems (Zebris FDMT-HQ and OptoGait), and two RGB cameras. Additionally, in order to validate an existing IMU-based gait analysis algorithm using the dataset, an adaptable modular data analysis pipeline was built. Our results show agreement between the pressure-sensitive Zebris and the photoelectric OptoGait system (r = 0.99), demonstrating the quality of our reference data. As a use case, the performance of an algorithm originally designed for overground walking was tested on treadmill data using the data pipeline. The accuracy of stride length and stride time estimations was comparable to that reported in other studies with overground data, indicating that the algorithm is equally applicable to treadmill data. The Python source code of the data pipeline is publicly available, and the dataset will be provided by the authors upon request, enabling future evaluations of IMU gait analysis algorithms without the need of recording new data.