Relationship between shoulder complex strength and throwing velocity in club cricketers

Cricket is a game of immense physical prowess requiring high levels of fitness and skill. Purpose: The aim of this study focused on examining the relationship between shoulder concentric strength and throwing velocity amongst club cricketers. Method: The study used a quantitative, cross-sectional design. A convenient sample of 40 male university cricketers was tested. Shoulder concentric strength was measured at 60º•sec-1 and 90º•sec-1 using an isokinetic dynamometer. Throwing velocity was measured using a Speed Gun. Results: Significant correlations were found between peak torque during concentric internal rotation at 60º•sec-1 and maximal throwing velocity for the first team (r = 0.72; p = 0.01), second team (r = 0.67; p = 0.03), third team (r = 0.73; p = 0.01) and fourth team (r = 0.69; p = 0.02). The correlation between strength ratio at 60º•sec-1 and maximal throwing velocity was also significant for the first team (r = 0.76; p = 0.01), second team (r = 0.83; p = 0.002), third team (r = 0.70; p = 0.02) and fourth team (r = 0.94; p = 0.0001)

Development of a context-sensitive physical activity intervention for persons living with HIV and AIDS of low socioeconomic status using the behaviour change whee

: Regular physical activity (PA) has been recommended for the management of HIV and AIDS. The purpose of this study was to develop a contextualised intervention for promoting PA among women living with HIV and AIDS (WLWHA) of low socioeconomic status (SES). A secondary aim of the study was to optimise the PA intervention using behavioural theory/ frameworks derived from preliminary studies and the literature.The Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) for designing behaviour change interventions was used. This method was further supplemented by evidence from the literature, systematic literature review (SLR), a concurrent mixed methods study and two cross-sectional studies. The SLR aided in determining the theoretical frameworks to inform the intervention, the specific PA behaviours to be targeted by the intervention, the intervention functions, the intervention policy category and the mode of delivery of the intervention. The concurrent mixed methods study was used to identify key factors that needed to change in order for participants to engage in regular PA. The first cross-sectional study was used to determine the gender to be targeted by the study. The second crosssectional study was used to determine the domain and intensity of PA to target in the interventio

A systematic review of the effects of exercise interventions on body composition in HIV+ adults

Over the years, physical activity and exercise have been used to positively impact the health and quality of life of persons infected with HIV and, more recently, has been associated with a spectrum of body composition changes. The aim of this review was to examine the effects of various exercise interventions on body composition in HIV positive adults, using a search strategy of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs). A systematic review was performed by five independent reviewers using a predetermined protocol adapted from previous research for assessing the articles for inclusion, the extracted data, and methodological quality. Eight RCTs involving 430 (26% female) HIV positive adults performing exercise a minimum of thrice weekly for at least six weeks were finally selected: Four were progressive resistance training (PRT) studies, three were aerobic training (AT) studies, and one involved yoga. In the PRT studies, there were significant increases in three anthropometric measures, namely, body mass, sum of skinfolds and sum of limb girths. In the AT studies, significant decreases were found in seven anthropometric measures, namely, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, body mass, triceps skinfold, waist circumference and sum of skinfolds. With yoga, the changes were nonsignificant. Exercise contributes to improved body composition and, when applied safely, appears to be beneficial for adults living with HIV/AIDS. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the relatively few RCTs published to date. Future studies would benefit from increased attention to sample size, female participants, participant follow-up, complete statistical analysis and intention-to-treat analysis.Scopu

Demographic and socio-economic predictors of physical activity among people living with HIV of low socio-economic status

Background: Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for the health of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA). Aim: The aim of this study was to determine if age, body weight, height, gender, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), educational attainment, employment status, CD4+ cell count and body mass index (BMI) can predict overall PA among PLWHA of low socio-economic status (SES). Setting: Participants in this study were HIV-infected patients on first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen offered by the South African National Department of Health, and those not on ART. Participants were conveniently sampled from a list at a community health care centre in Cape Town. Methods: This study sample consisted of 978 HIV-infected South Africans. Physical activity data were collected using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Backward multiple linear regression modelling was used to determine the relative influence of variables (age, body weight, height, gender, WHR, educational attainment, employment status, CD4+ count and BMI) on total moderate-to-vigorous PA. Alpha level was set at 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 38.2 (standard deviation [SD] = 8.76) years for men and 33.9 (SD = 8.53) years for women. Physical activity was significantly higher in men (480.2 [SD = 582.9] min/week) than among women (369.35 [SD = 222.53] min/week). The results of the multiple linear regression showed that educational attainment (β = 0.127; p = 0.00), employment (β = −0.087; p = 0.01) and gender (β = 0.235; p = 0.00) significantly predicted total moderate-to-vigorous PA. Gender had the greatest effect, followed by educational attainment and employment status. Conclusion: There is a need for PA programmes that are designed to (1) target women, (2) strengthen programmes for education and promotion of PA and (3) engage the unemployed into PA for PLWHA. Physical activity interventions for this particular group should be tailored for persons of low SES

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape : A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age-and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to similar to 2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men 50y, women 50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR= 50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may providefurther insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape.Peer reviewe

Physical activity among HIV positive women of low socioeconomic status: Benefits and barriers

Physical activity (PA) is beneficial for people living with HIV. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits and barriers of PA for HIV-positive women of low socioeconomic status (SES). A concurrent mixed methods study design was used, wherein focus group discussions were conducted with 21 participants to explore the participants’ barriers to engaging in PA and exercise preferences; and determine improvements that could be added to the content and delivery of a planned, contextualised PA intervention programme for HIV positive women of low SES. The exercise benefits/barriers (EBBS) questionnaire was also used to assess participants’ perceived benefits and barriers to exercise. The results of the study show that the participants’ barriers to PA were associated with HIV-related symptoms and medications, depression, aging, finances, time-constraints, personal living environments, a lack of knowledge about the value of PA, and a lack of motivation to engage in PA. Participants had higher perceived benefits [M (SD) =3.16(0.74)] than barriers [M (SD) =2.68(0.96)] to exercise. In terms of barriers, the participants agreed most on the item: ‘there are too few places for me to exercise,’ and disagreed most on the item: ‘I am too embarrassed to exercise’. In terms of benefits, the participants agreed most on the item: ‘exercise improves the way my body looks,’ and disagreed most on the items: ‘exercise allows me to carry out normal activities without becoming tired’ and ‘exercise improves the quality of my work’. Exercise preferences included aerobic exercises, calisthenics and chair exercises. Participants preferred group classes, with monitoring and tracking of exercise. In conclusion, the intervention should consider the barriers to PA that relate specifically to HIVinduced symptoms and medications. Also, the study highlights the importance of including participants’ preferred exercises with monitoring and tracking of exercise.Keywords: Physical activity, HIV/AIDS, benefits, barriers