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Kontou, EI, Berberidou, FT, Pilianidis, TC, Mantzouranis, NI, and Methenitis, SK. Acute effect of upper and lower body postactivation exercises on shot put performance. J Strength Cond Res 32(4): 970-982, 2018-The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different types of upper and lower' extremities exercises on acute increase of shot put performance, in moderate experienced throwers. Eight (n = 8) males and 9 (n = 9) female throwers participated in this study. Their bench press and squat maximum strength were measured while their shot put performance from power position was evaluated before and after 4 interventions: (a) plyometric push-ups (Plyo), (b) 6 s isometric push-ups (Iso), (c) 3 countermovement jumps (CMJs) and (d) 10 reps. of skipping (Skip). Interventions were performed in counterbalanced order with a 48-hour interval. Significant increase (p < 0.05) of shot put performances was observed after Plyo, Iso, and CMJ (range: 2.30 ± 1.82%-5.72 ± 4.32%). In addition, Iso induced the highest increase while Skip did not induce any improvement of throwing performance. The highest increases were recorded in men's performance after CMJ (5.72 ± 4.32%) while in women's performance after Iso (3.59 ± 2.7%). Javelin and discus throwers increase higher their performance after CMJs while shot putters after Iso. Significant correlations were found between training experience, maximum/relative strength, shot put performance and increase of throwing performance (%) after the interventions (r: 0.519-0.991, p < 0.05). Percentage increase of performance between Iso and Plyo have negative correlations (r: -0.569, p < 0.05) in contrast of those between Skip and CMJ (r: 0.710, p < 0.05). These results suggest that upper or lower body postactivation interventions may acutely increase the throwing performance. However, experience and strength are significant determinant of this increase.

the purpose of this study was to evaluate the heart rate responses of the 2 Multiball table tennis interval training protocols during the competitive period on young table tennis players. Fourteen (n=14) players, aged 12±2yrs participated in this study. participants were randomly divided into 2 training duration groups (15s vs. 30s) and were trained under the 2 interval protocols for 6 weeks (3 sessions. w -1 ). heart rate (hr) data was electronically recorded by using the Polar Team System at the completion of each exercise at the 1 st and 5 th set in the 1 st and 6 th week. the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied in order to compare the repeated measurements, whereas spearman's rank correlation (ρ) analysis was employed to determine whether the testing parameters are significantly related. From the results it is shown that regarding to the hr both training protocols can simulate the match conditions. In both groups participants' the footwork exercises with Forehand and Backhand strokes recorded the higher hr (190-210 b.min -1 ). additionally, significant hr differences were recorded in group a (z=-2.023, p=0.043) in Footwork Forehand Backhand (FtFB). In conclusion, both Multiball protocols can generally simulate match conditions supporting the weekly training program of young table tennis players.

tors of obesity in 272 boys and 242 girls who were aged 3 to 5 years. METHODS: Bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to calculate percentage fat mass (%FM) and FMI (fat mass/stature 2 ). Boys and girls were considered obese when %FM was Ն 25 and Ն 30, respectively. Cutoffs of BMI (weight/stature 2 ) and FMI were tested at 90th, 95th, and 97th percentiles. RESULTS: There were strong, significant correlations between BMI or FMI and %FM, but there was no significant correlation between BMI or FMI and stature; therefore, both BMI and FMI are useful indexes to assess fatness and obesity. With the use of %FM as the criterion for obesity, however, the highest prevalence of obesity was found at the 90th percentile for both genders. BMI and FMI had high specificities and lower but variable sensitivities. FMI is associated with a level of sensitivity that is somewhat higher than that of BMI. Almost all children who were not obese were classified correctly, whereas many obese children were not correctly identified. CONCLUSIONS: FMI is a specific indicator of childhood obesity, and at 90th percentile, it has moderately high sensitivity. BMI should be used with caution as an indicator of childhood obesity. COMPARISON OF INTERNATIONAL OBESITY TASKFORCE CUTOFFS, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION GROWTH CHARTS, AND BODY MASS INDEX Z-SCORE VALUES IN THE PREVALENCE OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY: THE GREEK OBESITY AND LIFESTYLE STUDY Submitted by Nikolaos MantzouranisNikolaos Mantzouranis, Theofilos Pilianidis, Helen Douda, Savvas Tokmakidis Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece OBJECTIVE: Few epidemiologic studies have compared classification methods of childhood obesity. The aim of the Greek Obesity and Lifestyle Study (GOALS) was to assess the prevalence of childhood obesity by comparing 3 classification methods. METHODS: The GOALS was conducted on a representative sample of 2056 students (1148 boys and 908 girls), aged to 13 years. Body mass and height were measured, and the BMI (kg/m 2 ) was calculated. The comparisons of obesity prevalence were based on International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) cutoffs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts and BMI-for-age z scores (overweight Ն1 SD, obese Ն2 SD). RESULTS: The higher prevalence of obesity (including overweight) in GOALS was found by using the CDC growth charts (37.6%), whereas the obesity prevalence classified according to the IOTF cutoffs was recorded 1% lower (36.6%). In relation to CDC and IOTF classifications, significant lower prevalence was reported when obesity was estimated as BMI-for-age z scores (15.2%). Adjusted by gender, the Analysis of variance results showed that the obesity prevalence was significantly higher in boys in both CDC and IOTF classifications compared with BMI-for-age z scores. CONCLUSIONS:The comparison among studies in Greece shows that the prevalence of childhood obesity in GOALS, based on both IOTF and CDC classifications, is the highest ever recorded in Greece and almost similar with the obesity prevalence...