Getting Out of the Laboratory to Make Experiments Real: Can Sports Fans Influence Muay Thai Judges?

To find out if one thing actually causes another, carefully controlled experiments are needed. Experiments usually take place in a laboratory. However, to examine how people respond to things that happen in real life, in particular places at particular times, it can also be important to step outside the laboratory. This article discusses how to have enough control in an experiment to be confident that something caused something else to happen, yet to also be confident the same effect would happen with other people, at other times, and in other places. This article will explain why it can be important to conduct experiments in real-life settings and will illustrate this using an experiment that a colleague and I conducted on the effect of crowd noise on the judges during a sport called Muay Thai. However, it will begin by exploring how experiments are used to find cause and effect

Barriers to Physical Activity: A Comparison of Afghans Living in the UK and Afghanistan

It is important to understand barriers to Physical Activity (PA), particularly for under researched populations. While a lack of PA has been acknowledged as an important issue for those living in Afghanistan, there have been no published studies exploring barriers to PA within this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore barriers to PA for Afghans and how these differ depending on where they reside: UK or Afghanistan. 930 participants, 578 (291 males; 287 females) were recruited from Afghanistan and 352 (267 males; 85 females) from the UK. A culturally nuanced questionnaire exploring barriers to PA was developed and used to collect data via an online survey software programme. Bayesian ordinal models explored differences between population groups, with results suggesting some barriers are shared across populations but others more pertinent for a particular group. Lack of time and being too tired were barriers for both populations, but were rated higher by those living in Afghanistan; as was a lack of confidence and being uncomfortable with exercise clothing. Afghan females perceived a lack of single- sex facilities, not being able to participate in PA with males, and having to be fully covered outside of the home as important barriers to their PA, but these were more of a barrier for those residing in the UK. The findings highligh

The Relationship between Training Load Measures and Next-Day Well-Being in Rugby Union Players

The aim of this study is to identify the relationship between different internal and external load measures and next day subjective wellbeing. With institutional ethics approval, ten academy rugby union players (Five forwards, and five backs) with a local National League One club agreed to participate in the study (aged; 18.4 ± 1.0 years, height; 181.3 ± 5.9 cm, body mass 85.9 ± 13.0 kg, VO2max 56.2 ± 6.8 mL·kg−1·min−1). Before the 6-week in-season data collection period, participants completed an incremental treadmill test to determine lactate thresholds at 2 mmol·L−1 (LT) and 4 mmol·L−1 and the heart rate blood lactate (HR-BLa) profile for individualized training impulse (iTRIMP) calculations. Internal training load was quantified using Banister’s TRIMP, Edward’s TRIMP, Lucia’s TRIMP, individualised TRIMP and session-RPE. External training load was reported using total distance, PlayerLoadTM, high-speed distances (HSD) > 18 km∙h−1 and >15 km∙h−1, and individualized high-speed distance (iHSD) based on each player’s velocity at OBLA. On arrival and prior to all training sessions players completed a well-being questionnaire (WB). Bayesian linear mixed model analysis identified that a range of internal and external load measures explained between 30% and 37% of next-day total wellbeing and between 65% and 67% of next-day perceived stress. All other internal and external load measures demonstrated very weak to moderate relationships (R2 = 0.08 to 0.39) with all other wellbeing components. Internal sRPE, iTRIMP and bTRIMP loads alongside external HSD loads provide coaches with the most practical measures to influence players’ perceived wellbeing

The ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived physical activity, physical function and mood of older adults in the U.K:A follow-up study (March 2020-June 2021)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its variants, continue to spread globally more than two years after the discovery of the wild-type virus in Wuhan, China. Following the onset of COVID-19, fluctuating restrictions have likely impacted the daily lives of older adults living in the United Kingdom (UK). Subsequently, the longer term effects of COVID-19 on physical activity levels, perceived physical function and mood of older adults are unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to follow a group of older adult's living in the UK for one year, to monitor physical activity levels, perceived physical function and mood. A longitudinal, mixed-methods, observational study was conducted using self-administered, online surveys at 3-month intervals between March 2020 and June 2021. A total of 100 participants (46 males [age: 76 ± 5 years] and 54 females [age:74 ± 4 years]) completed all surveys. Bayesian analysis allowed calculation of direct probabilities whilst incorporating our prior knowledge. Throughout this period, older adults maintained or increased their pre-lockdown physical activity levels despite a decrease in intensity of effort of physical activity tasks, whilst sitting time increased at two of the follow-up time-points. Furthermore, perceived physical function decreased (ps = 91.78%;>1.21 AU) and mood undu�lated in a pattern that reflected the tightening and easing of restrictions. Despite total physical activity being maintained, perceived physical function decreased by a small but clinically meaningful margin

The Influence of Recruitment Age and Anthropometric and Physical Characteristics on the Development Pathway of English Academy Football Players

Purpose: This study aims firstly to investigate the influence of recruitment age on retention and release across the development pathway. Secondly, the study aims to explore the influence of anthropometric and physical characteristics on retention and release at different ages throughout the development pathway and the likelihood of obtaining a professional contract. Methods: Following ethics approval, a cross-sectional study tracking 4 cohorts of players over 5 years assessed 76 male youth football players (11-16 years) from an English football academy on three occasions annually in anthropometry, countermovement jump height, linear (30m and 15m) and multidirectional sprint time. Players were categorised based on their start and release date. Results: Starting early (i.e. before U12) in an academy was a key indicator of obtaining a professional contract, representing 87% of the players signed. Bayesian regression models suggest that the majority of differences in physical characteristics between players that were released and retained are trivial, small and / or uncertain. Players who attained a professional contract at 18 had slower 15m and 30m sprint times at U13-U15 (P>0=0.87–0.99), slower multidirectional sprint times at U14 (P>0=0.99) and a lower countermovement jump height at U13-U16 (P>0=0.88-0.99) compared with players who did not gain a contract. Conclusion: Players recruited early have an increased likelihood of gaining a professional contract. Physical assessments lack utility when used in isolation as a talent identification tool

BMI is dead; long live waist-circumference indices: But which index should we choose to predict cardio-metabolic risk?

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2022.04.003Background and Aims There is growing evidence that Body Mass Index (BMI) is unfit for purpose. Waist circumference (WC) indices appear to be the preferred alternative, although it is not clear which WC index is optimal at predicting cardio-metabolic risk (CMR) and associated health outcomes. Methods and Results We obtained a stratified random probability sample of 53,390 participants from the Health Survey for England (HSE), 2008-2018. The four available CMR factors were; high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Strength of association between the four cardio-metabolic risk factors and competing anthropometric indicators of weight status [BMI, Waist-to-height ratio (WHTR), unadjusted WC, and a new WC index independent of height, WHT∙5R=WC/height0.5] was assessed separately, using simple correlations and ANCOVAs, and together (combined) using MANCOVA, controlling for age, sex and ethnicity. Centile curves for the new index WHT∙5R=WC/height0.5were also provided. Conclusions Waist-circumference indices were superior to BMI when explaining/predicting our CMR factors, before and after controlling for age, sex and ethnicity. No single WC index was consistently superior. Results suggest that WHTR is the strongest predictor of HbA1c, confirming that shorter individuals are at great risk of diabetes. The most appropriate WC index associated with blood pressure was WHT∙5R for DBP, or unadjusted WC for SBP. Given HDL cholesterol is independent of height, the best predictor of HDL was WHT.5R. Clearly, “no one size fits all!”. MANCOVA identified WHT∙5R to be the best single WC index associated with a composite of all four CMR factors.Published versio

A Cross-Sectional Study Exploring the Physical Activity Levels of Afghans and Other South Asian Youth in the UK

: Introduction: Participating in regular physical activity (PA) has numerous benefits, such as reducing obesity, chronic degenerative conditions, and depression. Despite many health-related benefits, physical inactivity is increasing in young people worldwide, especially in ethnic minority groups, such as British South Asians (BSAs). The aim of this study was to explore the PA levels of BSAs, specifically focusing on youth from Afghan, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indian groups. Methods: A total of 191 (Afghans N = 44; Bangladeshi N = 39; Indian N = 56, Pakistani N = 52) youth from the West Midlands (UK) participated in this study (mean age 15.4 ± 0.5). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form was used to measure PA levels. Data were modelled using a Bayesian approach to determine differences in PA levels. Results: The results indicated that 88.5% Afghans, 80% Bangladeshi, 78.6% Indians and 63% Pakistani reported engaging in <30 min of PA per day. Additionally, boys were more active than girls across all ethnic groups. Discussion: This study highlighted an alarmingly low proportion of young people from each BSA ethnic group meeting the PA guidelines. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore and compare PA levels of the young British Afghan population, thus contributing novel findings to the area of BSA PA. Conclusion: Overall, the vast majority of BSA young people failed to meet the recommended PA guidelines of 60 min per day. Future research could utilise objective methods, such as Global Positioning System, pedometers and accelerometery to track and monitor PA levels, and could adopt an ecological approach to explore determinants of PA within each ethnic and gender group

Discerning excellence from mediocrity in swimming: new insights using Bayesian quantile regression

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Sport Science on 10/08/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1808080 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published versionPurpose: Previous research has captured point estimates for population means of somatic variables associated with swimming speed across strokes, but have not determined if predictors of swimming speed operate the same at the upper tails of the distribution (τ =0.9) as they do at the median levels (τ =0.5) and lower levels (τ =0.1). Method: Three hundred sixty-three competitive-level swimmers (male [n=202]; female [n=161]) participated in the study. To identify key somatic variables associated with 100-m swimming across and between strokes controlling for age, we used a Bayesian allometric quantile regression model, refined using Bayes Factors and Leave-one-out cross validation. Results: High probabilities (>99%) were found for arm-span, seated-height and shoulder-breadth being the strongest somatic predictors across strokes. For individual strokes, Bayesian quantile regression demonstrated that the relative importance of predictors differs across quantiles. For swimmers in the 0.9 quartile, shoulder-breadth is a more important than height for front-crawl, wide shoulders are important for breaststroke swimmers but can be detrimental when combined with narrow hips, seated-height and hip-width are important for backstroke swimming speed, and calf girth for butterfly. Conclusion: These results highlight the importance of considering key somatic variables for talent identification in swimming and ensure young swimmers focus on strokes compatible with their somatic structure. The most important new insight is that predictors differ for the best swimmers compared to average or poorer swimmers. This has implications beyond swimming, pointing to the importance of considering the upper tails of distributions in performance and talent identification contexts.Published onlin

Key somatic variables associated with, and differences between the 4 swimming strokes

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sports Sciences on 04/03/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1734311 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.This study identified key somatic and demographic characteristics that benefit all swimmers and, at the same time, identified further characteristics that benefit only specific swimming strokes. Three hundred sixty-three competitive-level swimmers (male [n = 202]; female [n = 161]) participated in the study. We adopted a multiplicative, allometric regression model to identify the key characteristics associated with 100 m swimming speeds (controlling for age). The model was refined using backward elimination. Characteristics that benefited some but not all strokes were identified by introducing stroke-by-predictor variable interactions. The regression analysis revealed 7 "common" characteristics that benefited all swimmers suggesting that all swimmers benefit from having less body fat, broad shoulders and hips, a greater arm span (but shorter lower arms) and greater forearm girths with smaller relaxed arm girths. The 4 stroke-specific characteristics reveal that backstroke swimmers benefit from longer backs, a finding that can be likened to boats with longer hulls also travel faster through the water. Other stroke-by-predictor variable interactions (taken together) identified that butterfly swimmers are characterized by greater muscularity in the lower legs. These results highlight the importance of considering somatic and demographic characteristics of young swimmers for talent identification purposes (i.e., to ensure that swimmers realize their most appropriate strokes).Published versio

Evaluation of a walking-track intervention to increase children's physical activity during primary school break times

Despite the known benefits of engaging in daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), only 22% of children in England are meeting the recommended guidelines. School break times have been advocated as a key part of children's daily routines in which their MVPA can be increased. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of installing a walking-track on children's MVPA during school break times. A mixed method design was employed which allowed for the quantitative measurement of children's PA at three time points (baseline, mid-intervention (1⁻5 weeks) and follow-up (6⁻9 weeks)), using pedometers (n = 81, 5⁻9 years) and systematic observation (n = 23, 7⁻9 years). A semi-structured interview (n = 1) was also conducted at 10 weeks' follow-up. The installation of the walking-track was grounded in a unique set of theoretical constructs to aid the behaviour change of the teachers. Short term positive increases in girls' and boys' MVPA and longer term increases in boys' vigorous PA (VPA) were found. Qualitative data highlighted that boys dominated the walking-track and the inconsistent behaviour of school staff negatively impacted upon children's MVPA. A set of principles to guide the installment of walking-tracks in school playgrounds are recommended.Published versio