The ActivPAL physical activity monitor has been previously reported as a reliable and valid tool to measure everyday physical activities. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the ActivPAL during typical office-based activities. A convenient sample of 10 adults participated in this study with two ActivPAL units attached to the participant's right thigh. Participants completed 6 minutes of specific office-based tasks such as typing an email, writing on a whiteboard, collecting printing and running a small errand with instructions provided through an audio recording. Each bout was filmed with time of sitting, standing and walking visually assessed using the same categories provided by the ActivPAL analysis. Reliability between ActivPAL recordings was assessed via Wilcoxon comparisons and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Relative error was calculated as the difference between visual observations and ActivPAL recordings. Validity was assessed via Wilcoxon comparisons between ActivPAL recordings and video observations. There were no significant differences between ActivPAL units for sitting (196.2+/-5.0 vs. 195.9+/-5.1 seconds), standing (121.8+/-4.8 vs. 122.3+/-6.9 seconds) or walking (42.0+/-6.1 vs. 41.9+/-7.1 seconds) activities. Significant ICC were detected for sitting (0.928), standing (0.849) and walking (0.849) time. In contrast, the ActivPAL recordings for sitting, standing and walking time were significantly different to visual observations (p 3.8%, >24.5% and >54.1%, respectively. The current study has identified ActivPAL units as reliable tools to document physical activity. However, the ActivPAL underestimated sitting and walking time, and overestimated standing time during office-based tasks.
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the face-to-face delivery of exercise with social distancing restrictions preventing close contact between clients and exercise professionals. Additionally, exercise physiology students have had to adapt to these changes and use telehealth to achieve their learning outcomes. This study aimed to explore client and student perspectives of their experience with face-to-face exercise delivery prior to COVID-19 restrictions and telehealth during restrictions. Methods: Clients and students were invited to complete an online survey exploring their experience with student-led exercise services prior to COVID-19 restrictions and during restrictions. Likert-scale questions were compared using a Wilcoxon test and open-ended responses were thematically analysed. Results: Prior to COVID-19 restrictions, all students (n = 7) reported that providing face-to-face exercise physiology services resulted in positive learning experiences and clients (n = 12) were satisfied with their experience. During the restrictions, the client satisfaction with exercise delivery via telehealth remained high, however, students’ learning experience was hindered by the restrictions. Discussion and conclusion: For clients, satisfaction with the exercise delivery remained high and the convenience of telehealth were useful during a pandemic. For students, their exercise prescription and ability to assess and monitor their clients were impacted by using telehealth.
Abstract Introduction Early development of fundamental movement skills (FMS) has various health, social, emotional, cognitive, and physical benefits. However, reports indicate children’s motor skill proficiencies are diminishing. Therefore, the early childhood years and early childhood educators are vital for providing opportunities for FMS development, which may enable children to acquire a lifelong positive relationship with physical activity (PA). Methods Educators at early learning centres (ELC) in a regional city were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews and complete a FMS diary. Following the initial data collection, a university student-led FMS focused PA program was delivered. After the completion of the program, educators were invited to participate in a follow-up interview and to complete another FMS diary. The interviews were thematically analysed and the FMS diaries were descriptively reported. Results From pre-program interviews, three themes were identified including “educator training and recall”, “environmental moderators”, and “expanding knowledge”. Educators indicated they had some formal training regarding physical education, but their knowledge was limited or difficult to recall. Educators suggested increasing their knowledge would be a valuable future enabler to advance FMS outcomes. After the completion of the program, interviews with the educators identified “program impact on practices” as another surfacing theme and is indicative the program elicited reflection of educators about their practices. Conclusion A university student-led FMS focused program provoked reflective practices of educators about FMS proficiency and programming. Educators identified challenges, enablers, and opportunities for facilitating FMS activities at ELC.
The aim of the current study was to examine the influence of exercise intensity on systemic oxidative stress (OS) and endogenous antioxidant capacity. Non-smoking, sedentary healthy adult males (n = 14) participated in two exercise sessions using an electronically braked cycle ergometer. The first session consisted of a graded exercise test to determine maximal power output and oxygen consumption (VO(2max)). One week later, participants undertook 5-min cycling bouts at 40%, 55%, 70%, 85% and 100% of VO(2max), with passive 12-min rest between stages. Measures of systemic OS reactive oxygen metabolites (dROM), biological antioxidant potential (BAP), heart rate (HR), VO(2), blood lactate and rating of perceived exertion were assessed at rest and immediately following each exercise stage. Significant (P<0·05) differences between exercise bouts were examined via repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni correction. Increasing exercise intensity significantly augmented HR (P<0·001), VO(2) (P<0·001), blood lactate (P<0·001) and perceived exertion (P<0·001) with no significant effect on dROM levels compared with resting values. In contrast, increasing exercise intensity resulted in significantly (P<0·01) greater BAP at 70% (2427 ± 106), 85% (2625 ± 121) and 100% (2651 ± 92) of VO(2max) compared with resting levels (2105 ± 57 μmol Fe(2+)/L). The current results indicate that brief, moderate-to-high-intensity exercise significantly elevates endogenous antioxidant defences, possibly to counteract increased levels of exercise-induced reactive oxygen species. Regular moderate-to-high-intensity exercise may protect against chronic OS associated diseases via activation, and subsequent upregulation of the endogenous antioxidant defence system.
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a learning strategy that is implemented in higher education to facilitate the translation of knowledge to real-life practical situations. Time and resource availability may restrict the implementation of PBL techniques into curricula; however, group-based case studies offer a time and resource efficient applied learning alternative. Indeed, the use of case studies in a learning environment is common practice within medical education and other health professions, such as sport and exercise science (Schmidt, 1983; Wood, 2003). Case studies allow students to problem solve in a scenario-based setting (Strandridge, 2000), and in the subject of sport and exercise nutrition, it is important to be able to relate knowledge acquired in a lecture into a real-life situation to enhance the workforce readiness of students. A workshop using case studies was introduced into a first-year subject in sport and exercise science. The intent of the workshop was to encourage students to engage with a real-life situation and to develop their teamwork and public speaking skills.
Introduction: Occupational sedentary behaviour is an emerging public health concern. Office-based workplaces provide an ideal setting to implement an intervention due to the large proportion of sitting time reported during work hours. Previous sedentary behaviour interventions have included goal-setting as a behaviour change strategy with promising results. The aim of the current study was to explore the most and least effective goals as perceived by office-based workers for reducing occupational sedentary behaviour.
Methods: Twenty-Seven University-based office workers participated in the study. Participants were invited to participate in an interview after the completion of a 6-week intervention where participants self-determined six incremental goals. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Following this, the data was thematically analysed.
Results: As a collective group, the goals which were considered to be the most effective included walking further or up/down stairs to attend amenities, standing when the phone rang and/or standing for the duration of the phone call, walking further to fill water bottle, walking during a break or walking to visit colleagues or to a specific area. Coincidentally, the least effective goals included standing while on the phone and walking during the day.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that the same goal can be considered to be the most or least effective for an individual. This indicated that sedentary behaviour goal-setting interventions need to account for individual preference and match the level of willingness of the participant as a 'one size fits all' approach is unlikely to be effective.
Occupational sedentary behaviour is a growing health concern with occupational sitting accounting for almost half of overall sedentary behaviour. Workers undertaking jobs that require minimal standing or physical activity are at higher risk of accumulating larger amounts of sedentary behaviour compared to blue-collar workers, which highlights the need to reduce sedentary behaviour in predominantly desk-based roles. The explicit use of theoretical frameworks to guide sedentary behaviour change interventions is limited; additionally, followup of multi-component sedentary behaviour interventions is rare thus producing a gap in sedentary behaviour research. A mixed-method embedded intervention design was implemented in order to investigate occupational sedentary behaviour. The first aspect of the thesis was to explore the perceptions of office-based workers prior to a sedentary behaviour change intervention (Chapter 2 & Chapter 3). Based on the initial findings, qualitative and quantitative data were collected to explore the outcomes of a low-cost, multi-component, theory-informed, individually-tailored, six week intervention to reduce occupational sitting time (Chapter 4). Finally, a six month follow-up including quantitative and qualitative data were incorporated to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the intervention (Chapter 5).
The first study (Chapter 2) aimed to explore office workers' perceptions of sedentary behaviour, identify potential behavioural strategies to reduce sedentary behaviour in the workplace, and identify barriers which may hamper behaviour change. Office-based workers from a higher education institution were recruited for the study. The perceptions were explored via an online survey and focus groups which were thematically analysed. One hundred and forty office workers were recruited and surveyed from the same workplace. Following the survey, 12 employees also participated in focus groups. One hundred employees perceived a negative association between sitting time and their health. The most prominent theme identified was musculoskeletal complaints, followed by poor general health, and weight gain. The focus groups identified that interventions (behaviour change strategies) targeting reducing sitting time should include education, supportive and knowledgeable managers. These behaviour change strategies should all be offered to address individual preferences and barriers.
The second study (Chapter 3) aimed to explore the perceptions of office-based workers who have successfully modified their occupational sedentary behaviour without a formal intervention. In particular, the study explored the employees' stage of change, strategies used to reduce sedentary behaviour in the workplace, and barriers, which prevented behaviour change from occurring. A qualitative in-depth interview design was used for this study. Participants who regularly undertook office-based tasks during work hours were recruited from a higher education institution. Participants were invited to participate in a…
To examine the repeated bout effect (RBE) following two identical resistance bouts and its effect on bowling-specific performance in male cricketers. Male cricket pace bowlers (N = 10), who had not undertaken resistance exercises in the past six months, were invited to complete a familiarisation and resistance maximum testing, before participating in the study protocol. The study protocol involved the collection of muscle damage markers, a battery of anaerobic (jump and sprint), and a bowling-specific performance test at baseline, followed by a resistance training bout, and a retest of physical and bowling-specific performance at 24 h (T24) and 48 h (T48) post-training. The study protocol was repeated 7–10 days thereafter. Indirect markers of muscle damage were lower (creatine kinase: 318.7 ± 164.3 U·L−1; muscle soreness: 3 ± 1), whilst drop jump was improved (~47.5 ± 8.1 cm) following the second resistance training bout when compared to the first resistance training bout (creatine kinase: 550.9 ± 242.3 U·L−1; muscle soreness: 4 ± 2; drop jump: ~43.0 ± 9.7 cm). However, sport-specific performance via bowling speed declined (Bout 1: −2.55 ± 3.43%; Bout 2: 2.67 ± 2.41%) whilst run-up time increased (2.34 ± 3.61%; Bout 2: 3.84 ± 4.06%) after each bout of resistance training. Findings suggest that while an initial resistance training bout reduced muscle damage indicators and improved drop jump performance following a second resistance training bout, this RBE trend was not observed for bowling-specific performance. It was suggested that pace bowlers with limited exposure to resistance training should minimise bowling-specific practice for 1–2 days following the initial bouts of their resistance training program.
Abstract The current study explored the effects of short haul air travel within the same country on elite Australian rugby league (RL) players ( n =12) during two away and two home games of elite competition. Physiological tests of handgrip strength and leg power were assessed along with psychological tests and perceptions of leg soreness and tiredness on the day before the game (Time 1 and Time 2) and on game day (Time 3). Game statistics of tackles and metres gained were assessed for the games analysed. Significant differences were found for daily analyses of life demands for athletes (DALDA) worse than normal responses at Time 2 (2.50±3.23 vs. 3.50±3.93; P =0.04), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) at Time 2 (2.88±1.51 vs. 3.71±1.37; P =0.011) and leg tiredness at Time 3 (3.38±1.66 vs. 2.35±1.70; P =0.004) between home and away games. The analysis of game statistics identified that more metres were gained during home games (83.6±49.1 vs. 63.0±30.1; P =0.02) and more tackles made while playing away (18.4±9.2 vs. 14.3±6.7; P =0.016). The results suggest that short haul air travel without crossing time zones results in symptoms of travel fatigue but does not appear to negatively impact on elite RL players ability to perform strength and power tasks. Different game tactics (attacking vs. defensive) occurred between home and away games however, it is unclear whether travel fatigue or a home advantage (HA) is associated with this finding.
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