Objectives: The health-enhancing benefits or regular physical activity (PA) reach into old age. With the emergence of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the associated national lockdowns and restrictions, nursing home residents were restrained from being physically active. In our study, we aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19-related restrictions on PA promotion in nursing homes from an organizational-sociological lens. Methods: We collected data in eight nursing homes in Germany. Data collection included (i) semistructured interviews focusing on COVID-19-related restrictions and their effects on nursing homes from the home administrators' perspectives; (ii) open-ended surveys with nursing home staff and relatives focusing on daily routines and contact restrictions; and (iii) collection of documents such as care concepts, mission statements, and weekly activity plans. We analyzed all data with a reflexive thematic analysis approach. Results: We identified three stages of COVID-19-related changes in nursing homes that impacted PA promotion, as follows: (1) external closure and search for emergency control, (2) organizational adaptations to create a livable daily life in the internal environment, and (3) slow reintegration of interactions with the external organizational environment. Document analysis revealed that PA promotion was not part of decision programs or internal staff work descriptions. Rather, PA promotion was delegated to external service providers. The assignment of PA promotion to external providers was not structurally anchored in decision programs, which makes PA promotion not sustainable, particularly during unforeseen events that limit access to the organization. During the pandemic, executive staff believed in internal staff to buffer competencies with regard to PA promotion. Thus, executive staff often considered PA promotion relevant, even during the pandemic, but thought that PA promotion is a task that can be fulfilled by unqualified but motivated internal staff. Frahsa et al. COVID-19: PA in Nursing Homes Conclusion: While our study participants showed a high level of coping-capacity belief, it remains unclear which long-term impacts of COVID-19 on PA promotion in nursing homes are to be expected. At the practice level, executive staff in nursing homes that aim to promote PA within their organization should become aware that PA promotion needs to be incorporated into organizational structures to be implemented and continued in challenging times such as in a pandemic.

Mountain bike Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) has an intermittent performance profile, underlining the importance of anaerobic metabolism. Traditional performance tests in cycling primarily quantify aerobic metabolism and inadequately meet the demands in XCO. The aim was therefore to validate a specific test that quantifies these requirements by means of an XCO race.Twenty-three competitive XCO athletes (17.9±3.6 years) performed a previously developed performance test and an XCO race within one week. Correlations between individual anaerobic threshold (IAT), 4 mmol lactate threshold (LT4), maximal aerobic power (MAP), maximal effort time trials (TT) for 10–300 s and mean power output of the race (POR) were calculated. In addition, a multiple regression model of the predictive value of the test was calculated.Variables correlated significantly (p<.01) with POR: IAT (r=.81), LT4 (r=0.79), MAP (r=0.91), TT10 (r=0.75), TT30 (r=0.85), TT60 (r=0.84) and TT300 (r=0.86). In the regression model, sex and body mass were set influencing variables (R²adj.=0.70), whereby MAP had the highest correlation with POR and significantly improved the predictive value of the model (R²adj.=0.86).The high correlation of collected performance variables with POR indicated the MTB-PT’s additional benefit for performance testing in XCO because it is specific but very feasible.

Introduction Physical activity (PA) is a major contributor to healthy aging. However, physical inactivity is prevalent among the elderly in Germany, particularly in institutionalized settings such as nursing homes. This paper aims to describe the study objectives, design, methods, assessment types, collection schedules and considerations for analyzing the data within the BaSAlt study on facilitators and barriers for PA promotion in nursing homes. Methods We designed the BaSAlt study as a participatory intervention study with multiple measurement points in six to eight nursing homes with a total of approx. 200 residents using four main modules: (1) setting-level analysis of physical activity patterns, physical activity-related climate and physical activity-related interaction with ‘significant others,’ and organizational facilitators and barriers to physical activity, (2) physical-activity related individual-level analysis of objective and self-reported physical activity and sedentary behavior, a geriatric assessment with established procedures, assessment of people's activity and health biographies (biographical mapping) as well as their motivational, subjective well-being and distress status, and (3) a counseling module that integrates counseling at the setting level as well as individual physical activity counseling for residents. In module (4) evaluation, the effects of integrated counseling with regard to the implementation of PA promotion strategies are analyzed. Discussion This study will extend our knowledge of physical activity promotion in German nursing homes. Its findings will inform governmental authorities, care professionals, and academics on how to reach a particular group, characterized by inactivity, multimorbidity, and a high prevalence of dementia, residing in nursing homes, a setting that will gain further relevance in the future.