Jane (2012) The influence of barefoot and barefoot inspired footwear on the kinetics and kinematics of running in comparison to conventional running shoes. Footwear Science, 5 (1).

Effect of postactivation potentiation (PAP) on fifty meters freestyle in national swimmers. 2013.-The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of PAP on 50m freestyle in national-level swimmers.Four warm-ups were compared: A traditional race-specific warm-up (RSWU), upper body PAP (UBPAP), lower body PAP (LBPAP) and combined PAP warm-up (CPAP). Eighteen (10 men, 8 women)national-level swimmers participated in this study, which included seven separate testing sessions.Participants' 3 repetition maximum (3RM) of the pull-up (PU) was established in session 1. In session 2, rest periods for muscle enhancement of the upper body were determined using a medicine-ballthrow test 4, 8 and 12 minutes post UBPAP stimulus (1 x 3RM of the PU). In session 3, swimmers performed a counter movement jump 4, 8 and 12 minutes post LBPAP stimulus (1x5 jumps to a box whilst carrying 10% of the participants' body weight). The 50m freestyle tests were performed on sessions 4 to 7, preceded by each warm-up protocol and corresponding rest periods. A repeated measures ANOVA (p<0.05) and Bonferroni post hoc test revealed that RSWU elicited faster swimming times than UBPAP (29.00 ± 2.05 vs. 29.36 ± 1.88s p=0.046). Additionally, when data were split into gender, in the male group the UBPAP elicited significantly slower times than RSWU (27.51 ± 1.06 vs. 28.01 ± 1.17s p=0.047) and CPAP (27.49 ± 1.12 vs. 28.01 ± 1.17s p=0.02). These findings suggest individualized PAP warm-up may be a valuable tool to enhance performance in sprint events, particularly in male swimmers. However, the PU may not be an appropriate PAP stimulus on its own.

Fencing is one of only a few sports that have featured at every modern Olympic games. Despite this, there is still much the sport science team does not know regarding competition demands and athlete physical characteristics. This review aims to undertake an analysis of the current literature to identify what is known, and questions that must be answered to optimize athlete support in this context. In summary, fencing is an explosive sport requiring energy production predominately from anaerobic sources. Lunging and change-of-direction speed seem vital to performance, and strength and power qualities underpin this. In the elimination rounds, fencers are likely to accumulate high levels of blood lactate, and so high-intensity interval training is recommended to reduce the intolerance to and the accumulation of hydrogen ions. Injury data report the hamstrings as a muscle group that should be strengthened and address imbalances caused by continuous fencing in an asymmetrical stance.

Biomechanical analysis requires the determination of specific foot contact events. This is typically achieved using force platform information; however, when force platforms are unavailable, alternative methods are necessary. A method was developed for the determination of gait events using an accelerometer mounted to the distal tibia, measuring axial accelerations. The aim of the investigation was to determine the efficacy of this method. Sixteen participants ran at 4.0 m/s ±5%. Synchronized tibial accelerations and vertical ground reaction forces were sampled at 1000 Hz as participants struck a force platform with their dominant foot. Events determined using the accelerometer, were compared with the corresponding events determined using the force platform. Mean errors of 1.68 and 5.46 ms for average and absolute errors were observed for heel strike and of –3.59 and 5.00 ms for toe-off. Mean and absolute errors of 5.18 and 11.47 ms were also found for the duration of the stance phase. Strong correlations (r= .96) were also observed between duration of stance obtained using the two different methods. The error values compare favorably to other alternative methods of predicting gait events. This suggests that shank-mounted accelerometers can be used to accurately and reliably detect gait events.