EFFECT OF PILATES BASED EXERCISE ON BODY SWAY AND SHOOTING PERFORMANCE OF BRAZILIANS POLICE

This study investigated the effect of a 10-week Pilates practice on core stability, shooting performance and body sway in fifteen policemen (25.3 ± 3 years; 171 ± 9 cm; 71.6 ± 12.1 kg). The policeman performed 10 pistol shots and had the three dimensional ground reaction forces data (AMTI-OR-06, USA and gun target fluctuation point (SCATT USB Professional Trainer) registered during 5s prior shooting. Shooting score was also determined. Core stability was accessed by the double lowering limb (DLL) test. Although the Mann- Whitney U test showed that the Pilates practice significantly improve the core stability, no changes was observed on body sway or shooting performance. Ten weeks of Pilates practice was effective to improve core stability in policemen, but it was not able to decrease body sway during shooting or the ability of the shooter hit the target

Excess adiposity and low physical fitness hamper Supine-to-Stand test performance among sedentary adolescents

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between body adiposity and physical fitness with performance in the Supine-to-Stand test (STS-test) in sedentary adolescents. Methods: Sixty-two adolescents, of both sexes, between 10 and 16 years old, participated in the study. Body mass (BM), height, waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), right and left handgrip strength (HGS-right, HGS-left), abdominal resistance (ABDO), flexibility (FLEX), and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak) were measured. Body mass index (BMI), z-score BMI (BMI-z), tri-ponderal mass index (TMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. The STS-test was applied to evaluate the STS-MC by the movement patterns in the execution of the test. The STS-time in seconds (s) was categorized into terciles: fast (FG  2.6 s). One-way ANOVA, Chi-square, Spearman's correlation coefficient as well as non-parametric tests were used, with significance p ≤ 0.05. Results: The SG presented higher BMI, BMI-z, TMI, WHtR, FM, %FM, as well as lower averages for %FFM, HGS-right, HGS-left, FLEX, ABDO, VO2peak, VO2peak relative to BM (VO2peakBM) in relation to GF. The BMI, BMI-z, TMI, WC, WHtR and FM showed moderate and direct correlations with STS-time and inverse with STS-MC (p < 0.01). HGS-right, HGS-left, ABDO, and VO2peakBM showed moderate and an inverse correlation with STS-time (p < 0.05). The VO2peakBM was moderate and with direct correlations to STS-MC (p < 0.01). Conclusion: It is concluded that excess fat and low physical fitness hamper STS-test performance. Therefore, the STS-test can be used for screening students to assess MC

Front Crawl Swimming Performance and Bi-Lateral Force Asymmetry during Land-Based and Tethered Swimming Tests

The aims of this study were to investigate whether land-based and tethered swimming strength tests can explain swimming performance in 200-meter front crawl and, whether these tests were able to identify bilateral symmetry in force production. In the first session, eighteen swimmers completed a maximum effort 200 m front crawl swim (swimming performance) and 15 seconds maximal effort tethered front crawl swim. In the second session, participants performed the upper extremity isometric strength test. Peak force production of tethered swimming and isometric strength tests were significantly correlated for the strongest and weakest sides (r = 0.58 and r = 0.63, respectively; p < 0.05), but only peak force production during tethered swimming correlated with 200 m swimming performance time (r = -0.55, p < 0.05). Bilateral asymmetries in peak force and rate of force development were similar between the tethered swimming and isometric strength tests (peak force: 13%, p = 0.24; rate of force development: 15%, p = 0.88) However, both tests detected significant difference of peak force and rate of force development between body sides. The tethered swimming test can partially explain the 200 m front crawl swimming performance. In addition, the land-based and tethered swimming tests may be used to identify bilateral asymmetry of swimmin

Características da marcha de mulheres com fibromialgia: um padrão prematuro de envelhecimento

Introdu&#231;&#227;o: Fibromialgia &#233; uma condi&#231;&#227;o que envolve dor cr&#244;nica generalizada. Al&#233;m disso, mulheres de meia idade com fibromialgia apresentam altera&#231;&#245;es no padr&#227;o de marcha, expondo-se prematuramente a um padr&#227;o de marcha semelhante ao encontrado na popula&#231;&#227;o idosa. Objetivo: Determinar os par&#226;metros espaciais (linear e angular) da marcha de mulheres com fibromialgia e compar&#225;-los com idosas sem essa condi&#231;&#227;o. M&#233;todos: 25 mulheres (10 no grupo com fibromialgia e 15 no grupo de idosas) se qualificaram como volunt&#225;rias para participar do estudo. A an&#225;lise cinem&#225;tica foi realizada por meio de um sistema optoeletr&#244;nico, e as vari&#225;veis lineares e angulares foram determinadas. Resultados: Ambos os grupos apresentaram similaridades na velocidade da marcha, tamanho da passada, cad&#234;ncia e amplitude de movimento do quadril, joelho e tornozelo (p > 0,05), exceto para a rota&#231;&#227;o da pelve, na qual o grupo com fibromialgia apresentou maior rota&#231;&#227;o de quadril (p < 0,05) quando comparado ao grupo de idosas. Al&#233;m disso, houve correla&#231;&#227;o negativa no grupo com fibromialgia entre rota&#231;&#227;o do quadril e dor no gl&#250;teo (r = -0,69; p < 0,05), e entre obliquidade da pelve e dor na regi&#227;o do trocanter maior (r = -0,69; p < 0,05). Conclus&#227;o: Mulheres de meia idade com fibromialgia apresentaram um padr&#227;o de marcha similar ao de idosas, o qual &#233; caracterizado por amplitude de movimento, tamanho da passada e velocidade da marcha reduzidos