Effects of experience and opponents on pacing behavior and 2-km cycling performance of novice youths

Purpose: To study the pacing behavior and performance of novice youth exercisers in a controlled laboratory setting. Method: Ten healthy participants (seven male, three female, 15.8 ± 1.0 years) completed four, 2-km trials on a Velotron cycling ergometer. Visit 1 was a familiarization trial. Visits 2 to 4 involved the following conditions, in randomized order: no opponent (NO), a virtual opponent (starting slow and finishing fast) (OP-SLOWFAST), and a virtual opponent (starting fast and finishing slow) (OP-FASTSLOW). Repeated measurement ANOVAs (p < .05) were used to examine differences in both pacing behavior and also performance related to power output, finishing- and split times, and RPE between the four successive visits and the three conditions. Expected performance outcome was measured using a questionnaire. Results: Power output increased (F3,27 = 5.651, p = .004, η2p = .386) and finishing time decreased (F3,27 = 9.972, p .05). Conclusion: Performance was improved by an increase in experience after one visit, parallel with the ability to anticipate future workload

Professionals' perceptions of factors affecting implementation and continuation of a physical activity promotion programme in rehabilitation: A qualitative study

Objective: To describe professionals’ perceptions of factors that facilitate or hamper the implementation and continuation of a physical activity promotion programme in rehabilitation. Design: This study used a qualitative design. Methods: Semi-structured interviews (n = 22) were conducted with rehabilitation professionals (n = 28) involved in the implementation of a physical activity promotion programme. Two additional interviews were conducted with the programme coordinators (n = 2). The study involved 18 rehabilitation organizations implementing the programme that targets people with disabilities or chronic diseases. Organizations were supported in the implementation process by the programme coordinators. Results: Commonly perceived facilitating factors were: involvement of committed and enthusiastic professionals; agreement with their organizations’ vision/wishes; the perceived additional value of the programme; and opportunities to share knowledge and experience with professionals from other organizations. Commonly perceived hampering factors were: uncertainty about continuing the programme; limited flexibility; and lack of support from physicians and therapists to implement the programme. Conclusion: Professionals perceived a heterogeneous set of factors that facilitate and/or hamper the implementation and continuation of a physical activity promotion programme in rehabilitation. Based on these findings, recommendations were formulated to enhance embedding of physical activity promotion during and after rehabilitation

Practical and clinical approaches using pacing to improve selfregulation in special populations such as children and people with mental health or learning disabilities

For special populations such as people with a mental health issue or learning disability, a disconnect between the ability to accurately monitor and regulate exercise behaviour can lead to reduced levels of physical activity, which, in turn, is associated with additional physical or mental health problems. Activity pacing is a strategy used in clinical settings to address issues of pain amelioration, while self-pacing research is now well addressed in sport and exercise science literature. It has been proposed recently that these overlapping areas of investigation collectively support the development of self-regulatory, lifestyle exercise skills across broad population groups. Activity pacing appears to have substantial application in numerous development and rehabilitation settings and, therefore, the purpose of this short communication is to articulate how an activity pacing approach could be utilized among population groups in whom self-regulatory skills may require development. This paper provides specific examples of exercise practice across 2 discrete populations: children, and people with mental health and learning difficulties. In these cases, homeostatic regulatory processes may either be altered, or the individual may require extrinsic support to appropriately self-regulate exercise performance. A support-based exercise environment or approach such as programmatic activity (lifestyle) pacing would be beneficial to facilitate supervised and education-based self-regulation until such time as fully self-regulated exercise is feasible. [Abstract copyright: Journal Compilation © 2021 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information.

Handcycling: training effects of a specific dose of upper body endurance training in females

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate a handcycling training protocol based on ACSM guidelines in a well-controlled laboratory setting. Training responses of a specific dose of handcycling training were quantified in a homogeneous female subject population to obtain a more in depth understanding of physiological mechanisms underlying adaptations in upper body training. Methods: 22 female able-bodied participants were randomly divided in a training (T) and control group (C). T received 7-weeks of handcycling training, 3 × 30 min/week at 65 % heart rate reserve (HRR). An incremental handcycling test was used to determine local, exercise-specific adaptations. An incremental cycling test was performed to determine non-exercise-specific central/cardiovascular adaptations. Peak oxygen uptake (peakVO2), heart rate (peakHR) and power output (peakPO) were compared between T and C before and after training. Results: T completed the training sessions at 65 ± 3 % HRR, at increasing power output (59.4 ± 8.2 to 69.5 ± 8.9 W) over the training program. T improved on handcycling peakVO2 (+18.1 %), peakPO (+31.9 %), and peakHR (+4.0 %). No improvements were found in cycling parameters. Conclusion: Handcycling training led to local, exercise-specific improvements in upper body parameters. Results could provide input for the design of effective evidence-based training programs specifically aimed at upper body endurance exercise in females

The role of the social environment in inclusive sports participation—Identifying similarities and challenges in athletes with and without Intellectual Disabilities through coaches’ eyes: A qualitative inquiry

Despite the efforts of mainstreaming in sports, inclusive participation of people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) in sports remains challenging. In sports settings, the social environment may influence the motivation of athletes and promote (or restrict) inclusive sports participation of athletes with ID. Thus, this study aims to explore the motivations of athletes and coaches and to investigate the role of the social environment in sports participation of athletes with and without ID. Coaches who coach athletes with ID (n = 11), athletes without ID (n = 13) and both groups (n = 2) were involved in semi-structured interviews. From the inductive thematic analysis three themes were identified for the sports motivations of athletes with ID (Sport-related Progression, Social Interaction, Positive Emotions), two for their coaches’ motivations (Help others, Personal and Professional Development) and four for coaching practices toward athletes with ID (Psychological and Life skills development, Building Meaningful Relationships, Behaviour adaptations and Participation-focused). Moreover, ‘Teammates and Opponents’ and ‘Family’ were classified as social agents that influence the sport participation of athletes with ID. Coaches of athletes without ID reported additional themes about their athletes’ motivations (Health-related Reasons), their coaching motivations (Career aspirations) and their coaching practices towards athletes without ID (Performance-focused). The motivations of athletes and the practices of coaches could promote sports participation of athletes with ID, but more work is needed to address athletes’ sports motivations and overcome the able-ist attitudes and the social oppression that may make their inclusion in sports more challenging. These sports participation barriers and facilitators could provide direction to stakeholders for developing inclusive sports pathways to people with ID