Instrumented Treadmill for Cross-Country Skiing Enhanced Training

In order to meet the need for indoor training, Rodby has developed a special ski-skating treadmill that allows cross-country skiers to test their physical performance under laboratory conditions, using classical and freestyle techniques on roller skis by adjusting both the inclination of the slope as well as its speed. However, both inclination and speed are adjusted manually by an operator or set at the beginning of the test thus making it very difficult to recreate real skiing conditions. Thanks to the cooperation with the Italian national ski team, the treadmill was equipped with some additional sensors that allowed to continuously adjust the slope to simulate a real track of cross-country skiing as well as the speed to account for the different skiing performances of the athletes under test. Both the design of the additional measurement system as well as of the control algorithm is presented

Instrumented Rowing Machine for Optimized Training

Indoor training of rowers is mainly carried out on rowing machines. Modern rowing machines are equipped with a small computer that allows to register both the effort done by the athlete and the covered distance. However, the effort is measured indirectly and it is not possible to determine, within the rowing movement, how this effort is distributed. Moreover, no information is provided on the forces exerted on the footrests, thus preventing trainers to determine the configuration that maximizes performances. The present work deals with the re-design of a rowing machine able to accommodate force sensors for measuring the time histories of the traction force at the handlebar, the two force components on the footrest (taken directly form the boat so that settings can be ported immediately), the vertical force and the displacement of the seat. Preliminary tests for assessing the athletes’ performances are also presented

The contribution of the Italian Sport Sciences Institute in the preparation to the Vancouver Olympic Games

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Students’ online purchasing behavior in Malaysia: Understanding online shopping attitude

Studies examining the factors that affect the online purchasing behavior of consumers are rare, despite the prospective advance of e-commerce in Malaysia. The present study examines particular factors that influence the attitude of potential consumers to purchase online by using the attributes from the diffusion of innovations theory of Rogers, the attribute of perception of risk, and the subjective norms toward online purchasing. Consumers’ perceived risks of online shopping have become a vital subject in research because they directly influence users’ attitude toward online purchasing. The structural equation modeling method was used to analyze the data gathered on students using e-commerce, and, thus, to validate the model. According to the results, consumers’ attitude toward online purchasing affects the intention toward online purchasing. The other influential factors are compatibility, relative advantage, and subjective norm