Quantifying training load and its relationship to heart rate recovery

Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-218).Scientific research is playing an increasingly important role in the development of optimal exercise training programmes that meet specific goals within specified times. Improving the accuracy of training prescription first involves quantifying what the athlete is currently doing. Secondly, it needs to be established whether or not the athlete is adapting favourably to the training programme. This thesis investigated current methods of quantifying training load, and proposed the use of heart rate recovery to monitor the physiological response to training. The quantification of exercise training may involve athletes self-reporting their exercise

Youth experiences of a sport development programme in a rural South African context

Sport is a powerful development tool and social connector. Sport development programmes are often perceived as an effective means of encouraging youth development and teaching positive values, as well as providing opportunities for developmental experiences. This study was set out to understand youth experiences of a rural South African sport development programme and to identify the factors which contributed to the youth experiences. Thus, the study aimed to construct authentic knowledge and respond to tensions and debates about youth development and rurality in an African context. This study followed a qualitative, descriptive research design. Purposive sampling was applied and arts-informed methods such as drawings and photovoice, combined with semi-structured interviews, were used for data construction. Qualitative data analysis computer software ATLAS.ti (v.8.4.15) was used, and semiotic visual data analysis, photovoice data analysis strategies, thematic data analysis and member reflection were used as methods for data analysis. The results of this study highlighted multiple perspectives of the participants’ experiences and complexities of relationships within the social context of the youth participants in the study. Therefore, youth experiences and perspectives cannot be viewed in isolation. The sports development programmes need to consider working with schools, parents, teachers and coaches. It emerged from the results that social interaction, a sense of family, the desire for positive relationships and a conducive sports environment were considered critical aspects that promoted positive experiences in the sport development programme.http://www.jaspe.ac.mehj2023Humanities EducationPhysiologySports Medicin

Poor cardiorespiratory fitness in first year medical students at a South African University

The personal health behaviours, including physical activity, of healthcare professionals influence their counselling practices as they relate to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, despite the importance of producing healthy, physically active graduates, there are limited data on the physical fitness of future healthcare professionals. This cross-sectional observational study determined the prevalence of below-average fitness in the four components of fitness in first-year university medical students. 152 participants (46 male, 106 female, 20.16 ± 2.69 years) completed cardiorespiratory fitness tests (submaximal step test), flexibility (sit-and-reach test), muscle strength (handgrip), and muscle endurance tests (sit-ups, push-ups). Sex differences were reported using one-way ANOVA or Chi square test and significance was set at p < 0.05. The prevalence (%) of below-average fitness was 69.54% for cardiorespiratory, 25.66% for handgrip strength, 65.79% for sit-ups, 23.03% for push-ups and 7.24% for flexibility. Physical fitness parameters (mean±standard deviation (SD)) were compared between sexes, where it was found that females were more flexible than males (40.61 ± 8.40 cm vs 36.70 ± 9.31 cm, p = 0.012). Males had better handgrip strength (88.96 ± 12.04 kg vs 59.34 ± 10.36 kg, p < 0.001), muscle endurance sit-ups (33.46 ± 9.04 vs 24.48 ± 12.18, p < 0.001) and push-ups (30.28 ± 13.95 vs 24.27 ± 12.35, p = 0.009). First-year medical students have poor physical fitness, notably cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength, which are important markers for NCD risk assessment. Tertiary institutions training healthcare professionals should consider developing interventions to improve students’ physical fitness thereby influencing their health, wellbeing, academic performance and future counselling practices.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Participation in fitness-related activities of an incentive-based health promotion program and hospital costs: a retrospective longitudinal study

Purpose. A retrospective, longitudinal study examined changes in participation in fitness-related activities and hospital claims over 5 years amongst members of an incentivized health promotion program offered by a private health insurer. Design. A 3-year retrospective observational analysis measuring gym visits and participation in documented fitness-related activities, probability of hospital admission, and associated costs of admission. Setting. A South African private health plan, Discovery Health and the Vitality health promotion program. Participants. 304,054 adult members of the Discovery medical plan, 192,467 of whom registered for the health promotion program and 111,587 members who were not on the program. Intervention. Members were incentivised for fitness-related activities on the basis of the frequency of gym visits. Measures. Changes in electronically documented gym visits and registered participation in fitness-related activities over 3 years and measures of association between changes in participation (years 1–3) and subsequent probability and costs of hospital admission (years 4–5). Hospital admissions and associated costs are based on claims extracted from the health insurer database. Analysis. The probability of a claim modeled by using linear logistic regression and costs of claims examined by using general linear models. Propensity scores were estimated and included age, gender, registration for chronic disease benefits, plan type, and the presence of a claim during the transition period, and these were used as covariates in the final model. Results. There was a significant decrease in the prevalence of inactive members (76% to 68%) over 5 years. Members who remained highly active (years 1–3) had a lower probability (p, .05) of hospital admission in years 4 to 5 (20.7%) compared with those who remained inactive (22.2%). The odds of admission were 13% lower for two additional gym visits per week (odds ratio, .87; 95% confidence interval [CI], .801–.949). Conclusion. We observed an increase in fitness-related activities over time amongst members of this incentivebased health promotion program, which was associated with a lower probability of hospital admission and lower hospital costs in the subsequent 2 years. (Am J Health Promot 2011;25[5]:341–348.

Medical encounters (including injury and illness) at mass community-based endurance sports events : an international consensus statement on definitions and methods of data recording and reporting

Mass participation endurance sports events are popular but a large number of participants are older and may be at risk of medical complications during events. Medical encounters (defined fully in the statement) include those traditionally considered ‘musculoskeletal’ (eg, strains) and those due to ‘illness’ (eg, cardiac, respiratory, endocrine). The rate of sudden death during mass endurance events (running, cycling and triathlon) is between 0.4 and 3.3 per 100 000 entrants. The rate of other serious medical encounters (eg, exertional heat stroke, hyponatraemia) is rarely reported; in runners it can be up to 100 times higher than that of sudden death, that is, between 16 and 155 per 100 000 race entrants. This consensus statement has two goals. It (1) defines terms for injury and illness-related medical encounters, severity and timing of medical encounters, and diagnostic categories of medical encounters, and (2) describes the methods for recording data at mass participation endurance sports events and reporting results to authorities and for publication. This unifying consensus statement will allow data from various events to be compared and aggregated. This will inform athlete/patient management, and thus make endurance events safer.Supplementary Table 1: Methodology to identify the source information used by the consensus groupSupplementary Table 2: Additional comments and examples related to Table 1: Definitions of medical encounters and medical problemsSupplementary Table 3: Diagnostic categories of illness-related medical encounters by main organ system and more common specific types / diagnosis of medical encounters (modified from OSCIS 10.1)Supplementary Table 4: Illness-Related Race Medical Encounter Data (R-MED) Form - Endurance Sport EventsSupplementary Table 5: Diagnostic categories of injury-related medical encounters by main anatomical region and more common injury types / diagnosis (modified from OSICS 10.1)Supplementary Table 6: Injury-Related Race Medical Encounter Data (R-MED) Form - Endurance Sport EventsIOC Research Center grant to the University of Pretoria and (IOC Grant for study entitled: ’Reducing Medical Complications and Injuries at Endurance Sports Events: A 20-year Longitudinal Study (2008–2027). INTERNATIONAL MILLION+ ATHLETE PROJECT-SAFER (IMAPS)'.http://bjsm.bmj.comhj2020Sports Medicin