Background: Tightness of hip flexor muscles has been recognized as a risk factor for various musculoskeletal injuries in the lower extremities. Purpose:The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of two hip flexor stretching techniques (dynamic and hold-relax proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, HR-PNF) on hip extension (ROM), knee joint position sense (JPS) and balance in healthy college age students who exhibit tightness in hip flexor muscles.Study Design: Pretest-posttest randomized experimental groups.Methods: Thirty-six healthy college age students (mean = 22.37 years) with tight hip flexors participated in this study. Hip extension ROM, knee joint position sense and dynamic balance were tested pre-and post-stretching using a digital inclinometer, an iPod touch and the Y-Balance test, respectively. Subjects were randomly divided into dynamic and HR-PNF stretching groups. Three-way mixed analysis of variance was utilized to explore if an interaction existed between the groups in tested variables.Results: There was a significant effect of time on hip extension ROM in both groups (p < 0.001). There was also a significant effect of stretch type on hip extension ROM (p = 0.004) favoring hold-relax over dynamic stretching group. There was a non-significant effect of time on mean knee joint position replication error in both groups. There was a significant main effect of time on the Y-Balance test's mean distance of reach to posteromedial and posterolateral directions (p < 0.001). There was also a significant main effect of directions of reach on distances achieved (p < 0.001) favoring posterolateral over posteromedial, and the latter over anterior direction. Conclusions:The results of this study demonstrated the effectiveness of both HR-PNF and dynamic stretching techniques which resulted in a significant acute improvement in hip extension ROM and dynamic balance measures, with HR-PNF being more effective than dynamic stretch. However, there were no significant improvements in knee joint position replication over time in either stretching group.

During walking older adults rely less on ankle and more on hip work than young adults. Disproportionate declines in plantarflexor strength may be a mechanism underlying this proximal work redistribution. We tested the hypothesis that proximal redistribution is more apparent in older compared to young adults and in sedentary compared to active individuals over multiple walking speeds. We recruited 18 young (18-35 yrs) and 17 older (65-80 yrs) physically active and sedentary adults. Participants completed five trials at four walking speeds as marker positions and ground reaction forces were collected. Sagittal plane net joint moments were computed using inverse dynamics. Instantaneous joint powers for the ankle, knee, and hip were computed as products of net joint moments and joint angular velocities. Positive joint work was computed by integrating hip, knee, and ankle joint powers over time in early, mid, and late stance, respectively. Relative joint work was expressed as a percentage of total work. Isokinetic strength of lower limb flexor and extensor muscles was measured. Older adults had lower relative ankle (p=0.005) and higher relative hip (p=0.007) work than young adults for multiple speeds. Non-significant trends (p<0.10) indicating sedentary participants had lower relative ankle (p=0.068) and higher relative hip work (p=0.087) than active adults were observed. Age-related differences in plantarflexor strength were not disproportionate compared to strength differences in knee and hip musculature. Age influenced proximal work redistribution over multiple walking speeds. Physical activity status showed a similar trend for proximal work redistribution, but failed to reach statistical significance.

BackgroundCreatine supplementation is recommended as an ergogenic aid to improve repeated sprint cycling performance. Furthermore, creatine uptake is increased in the presence of electrolytes. Prior research examining the effect of a creatine-electrolyte (CE) supplement on repeated sprint cycling performance, however, did not show post-supplementation improvement. The purpose of this double blind randomized control study was to investigate the effect of a six-week CE supplementation intervention on overall and repeated peak and mean power output during repeated cycling sprints with recovery periods of 2 min between sprints.MethodsPeak and mean power generated by 23 male recreational cyclists (CE group: n = 12; 24.0 ± 4.2 years; placebo (P) group: n = 11; 23.3 ± 3.1 years) were measured on a Velotron ergometer as they completed five 15-s cycling sprints, with 2 min of recovery between sprints, pre- and post-supplementation. Mixed-model ANOVAs were used for statistical analyses.ResultsA supplement-time interaction showed a 4% increase in overall peak power (pre: 734 ± 75 W; post: 765 ± 71 W; p = 0.040; ηp2 = 0.187) and a 5% increase in overall mean power (pre: 586 ± 72 W; post: 615 ± 74 W; p = 0.019; ηp2 = 0.234) from pre- to post-supplementation for the CE group. For the P group, no differences were observed in overall peak (pre: 768 ± 95 W; post: 772 ± 108 W; p = 0.735) and overall mean power (pre: 638 ± 77 W; post: 643 ± 92 W; p = 0.435) from pre- to post-testing. For repeated sprint analysis, peak (pre: 737 ± 88 W; post: 767 ± 92 W; p = 0.002; ηp2 = 0.380) and mean (pre: 650 ± 92 W; post: 694 ± 87 W; p < 0.001; ηp2 = 0.578) power output were significantly increased only in the first sprint effort in CE group from pre- to post-supplementation testing. For the P group, no differences were observed for repeated sprint performance.ConclusionA CE supplement improves overall and repeated short duration sprint cycling performance when sprints are interspersed with adequate recovery periods.

Postexercise ethanol ingestion affects the hormonal milieu including testosterone concentration and bioavailability during recovery from resistance exercise.

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Background Creatine supplementation aids the Phosphagen system by increasing the amount of free creatine and phosphocreatine available to replenish adenosine triphosphate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a creatine and electrolyte formulated multi-ingredient performance supplement (MIPS) on strength and power performance compared to a placebo. Maximal strength along with total concentric work, mean rate of force development (mRFD), mean power, peak power, and peak force for both bench press and back squat were determined at pre-test and post-test separated by 6 weeks of supplementation. Methods Twenty-two subjects (6 females, 21 ± 2 yrs., 72.46 ± 11.18 kg, 1.72 ± 0.09 m) performed a one-repetition maximum (1RM) for back squat and bench press. Eighty percent of the subject’s pre-test 1RM was used for a maximal repetition test to assess performance variables. Testing was separated by 6 weeks of supplementation of a MIPS dose per day in a double-blind fashion for comparison. A two-way mixed analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was applied with an alpha level of 0.05. Results For their back squat 1RM, the MIPS group displayed significant increase of 13.4% (95% CI: 2.77, 23.8%) while placebo displayed a decrease of − 0.2% (95% CI: − 1.46, 2.87%) ( p = 0.047, η p 2 = 0.201). The MIPS displayed a significant increase of 5.9% (95% CI: 2.5, 10.1%) and placebo displayed a non-significant increase of 0.7% (95% CI: − 3.49, 3.9%) in bench press maximal strength ( p = 0.033,0.217). The MIPS group displayed a significant increase as well in total concentric work (26.5, 95% CI: 6.07, 46.87%, p = 0.008, η p 2 = 0.330) and mean power (17.9, 95% CI: 3.42, 32.46%, p = 0.003, η p 2 = 0.402) for the maximal repetition bench press test at 80% of their 1RM. Conclusions The MIPS was found to be beneficial to recreationally trained individuals compared to a placebo. The greatest benefits are seen in bench press and back squat maximal strength as well as multiple repetition tests to fatigue during the bench press exercise.

Cycling is commonly prescribed for physical rehabilitation of individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Despite the known therapeutic benefits, no research has examined interlimb symmetry of power output during cycling in these individuals. We investigated the effects of external workload and cadence on interlimb symmetry of crank power output in individuals with knee OA versus healthy controls. A total of 12 older participants with knee OA and 12 healthy sex- and age-matched controls were recruited. Participants performed 2-minute bouts of stationary cycling at 4 workload-cadence conditions (75 W at 60 rpm, 75 W at 90 rpm, 100 W at 60 rpm, and 100 W at 90 rpm). Power output contribution of each limb toward total crank power output was computed over 60 crank cycles from the effective component of pedal force, which was perpendicular to the crank arm. Across the workload-cadence conditions, the knee OA group generated significantly higher power output with the severely affected leg compared with the less affected leg (10% difference; P = .02). Healthy controls did not show interlimb asymmetry in power output (0.1% difference; P > .99). For both groups, interlimb asymmetry was unaffected by external workload and cadence. Our results indicate that individuals with knee OA demonstrate interlimb asymmetry in crank power output during stationary cycling.