This study analyses the changes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a cohort of boys and girls aged 11 (n = 50) and 14 (n = 50). Physical activity was assessed with Bodymedia ...SenseWear Pro Armband monitor for 6 days in October 2013 and October 2016, considering 90% of daily wear time (21h and 40min). The initial sample (n = 160) included the children who wore the monitors at age 11 but the final analyzed sample included only those children from the initial sample (n = 50), whose data fulfilled the inclusion criteria at age 11 and 14. Physical fitness and somatic characteristics of the final sample (n = 50) were compared to a representative sample of Slovenian schoolchildren at ages 11 (n = 385) and 14 (n = 236) to detect possible bias. Changes in MVPA were controlled for maturity using the timing of adolescent growth spurt as its indicator. The average MVPA decreased more than one quarter (34.96 min) from age 11 to age 14. Children were significantly more active at age 11 than at age 14 (p < 0.01, d = 0.39). The timing of puberty onset in girls was significantly earlier (12.01 ± 1.0 years) (p < 0.01) than in boys (13.2 ± 0.75 years) (p < 0.01, d = 1.35). There was a significant gender difference in moderate-to vigorous physical activity at age 14 (p < 0.05, η2 = 0.12) and between moderate-to vigorous physical activity at age 11 and 14 (η2 = 0.11). After controlling for the timing of adolescent growth spurt the girls at age 11 showed significantly higher level of physical activity than at age 14 (p < 0.01, η2 = 0.17). Early adolescence is crucial for the development of physical activity behaviours, which is especially pronounced in girls. The significant decline of MVPA between ages 11 and 14 in Slovenia are likely influenced by environmental changes since the timing of adolescent growth spurt did not prove as a factor underlying the decline of MVPA.
The aim of this study is to describe trends in overweight and obesity among Slovenian youth for the period 1989-2018. Nearly all schoolchildren in Slovenia had their height and weight measured ...annually, which lead to a total of 6,738,510 data-points during the 30-year period. The IOTF cut-off points and Joinpoint regression were used to examine annual percent change (APC) in overweight and obesity prevalence across 3 age groups (7-10, 11-14 and 15-18 years). Obesity approximately tripled, while overweight doubled between 1989 and late 2000s in both genders. Since then overweight has been steadily decreasing in all 3 age groups for boys and in 7-10-year-old girls. Obesity has also been declining since 2009, but only in the youngest boys and girls (APC = - 1.9, 95% CI = - 3.2 to - 0.6 and APC = - 1.6, 95% CI = - 3.0 to - 0.2, respectively). Unfavourable trends were noted only in 15-18-year-old girls, with obesity rising at an unchanged rate over the past 30 years (APC = 4.8, 95% CI = 4.5-5.1). Overweight and obesity among Slovenian youth has increased dramatically over the last 3 decades. Still, during the last decade this rise has been reversed or at least stopped. This reversal of trends was more marked in boys than in girls, and in young children compared to adolescents.
The aim of the study was to investigate how the relationship between resistance training-induced hypertrophy, strength, and passive contractile adaptations is affected by contraction duration. Twenty ...university students (11 males) were randomly assigned to either the fast eccentric/fast concentric phase group (F/F; 1 s both phases) or the slow eccentric/fast concentric phase group (S/F; 4 s and 1 s, respectively). Both experimental groups completed a 7-week biceps curl training programme with a total of 14 sessions (2 days/week). Elbow flexor muscle thickness (MT), one-repetition maximum (1RM), and tensiomyographic (TMG) parameters (radial displacement—
D
m
and contraction time—
T
c
) were assessed. The percentage change (∆) in MT correlated significantly with the ∆1RM only in the S/F group (
r
= 0.712,
p
< 0.05). Both groups demonstrated significant negative associations between ∆MT and ∆
D
m
(
r
= 0.717–0.760,
p
< 0.01). Conversely, no significance was found between ∆MT and ∆
T
c
(F/F:
r
= -0.398,
p
= 0.255; S/F:
r
= 0.410,
p
= 0.239), ∆1RM and ∆
T
c
(F/F:
r
= -0.278,
p
= 0.436; S/F:
r
= 0.223,
p
= 0.536), nor ∆1RM and ∆
D
m
(F/F:
r
= − 0.131,
p
= 0.719; S/F:
r
= − 0.351,
p
= 0.320). The main findings indicate that the relationship between hypertrophy and strength gains is significantly stronger when resistance training was paced with slower eccentric contractions comparing to fast ones. On the other hand, reduced
D
m
values indicate increase in MT regardless of contraction duration, while strength gains are not correlated with corresponding TMG changes.
Low physical fitness has been found to be associated with many chronic diseases and medical conditions. Knowledge of secular trends in physical fitness is important to initiate countermeasures for ...addressing negative trends. The aim of this study was to analyze secular trends in health‐related muscular fitness in Slovenian children and adolescents between 1983 and 2014. Data were collected as part of “The Analysis of Children's Development in Slovenia (ACDSi)” study in 1983, 1993/94, 2003/04, and 2013/14. Anthropometry (body weight, height, BMI, and triceps skinfold) and muscular fitness (standing long jump, bent‐arm hang, and sit‐ups 60 s test) of 18730 (9168 female) students from primary and secondary schools were recorded. The secular trend was analyzed considering anthropometry. The results showed that anthropometric measures had an increasing trend and overall muscular fitness had a decreasing trend. Leg muscle power decreased over the decades in all age groups (relative difference between −1.5% and −2.6%), being more pronounced in boys. Arm muscle strength decreased in two younger age groups (range −21.1% to −42.7%, 6–10, and 11–14 years), but not in the oldest group (15–19 years), where the increase occurred in both genders (0.4% to 9.3%). In terms of decades, the largest negative changes (−30.1%) occurred from 1993/94 to 2003/04 and the smallest changes (−4.2%) from 2003/04 to 2013/14. The overall trend in repetitive core strength surprisingly increased (1.1% to 18.3%). There is a need to promote healthy lifestyles, raise parental awareness and use all government resources to redirect the negative trend in physical fitness.
The two-point force-velocity model allows the assessment of the muscle mechanical capacities in fast, almost fatigue-free conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent validity ...of the two-point parameters with directly measured force and power and to examine the generalization of the two-point parameters across the different functional movement tests of leg muscles. Twelve physically active participants were tested performing three functional lower limb maximal tests under two different magnitudes of loads: countermovement jumps, maximal cycling sprint, and maximal force under isokinetic conditions of the knee extensors. The results showed that all values from the two-point model were higher than the values from the standard tests (
< 0.05). We also found strong correlations between the same variables from different tests (r ≥ 0.84;
< 0.01), except for force in maximal cycling sprint, where it was low and negligible (r = -0.24). The results regarding our second aim showed that the correlation coefficients between the same two-point parameters of different lower limb tests ranged from moderate to strong (r -0.47 to 0.72). In particular, the relationships were stronger between power variables than between force variables and somewhat stronger between standard tests and two-point parameters. We can conclude that mechanical capacities of the leg muscles can be partially generalized between different functional tests.
Health policies rely on physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior data collected through PA questionnaires (PAQs). Validity of international PAQs varies among countries. Therefore, it is ...important to know the validity of the national versions of the PAQs to properly evaluate the results. We conducted a validation study of the Slovenian versions of the International PAQ Short Form (IPAQ-SF), the Global PAQ (GPAQ), and the PAQ used in the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS-PAQ) on 306 healthy adults. The most valid and reliable constructs in all tested were sedentary behavior and vigorous PA (VPA), however the criterion validity of these constructs was low (Spearman's ρ 0.38-0.45 for sedentary behavior and 0.34-0.42 for VPA). Moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) had low validity (0.26-0.29) despite being used as a standard measure of PA behavior. Participants over-reported MVPA for 17 to 156 min and underreported the sedentary behavior for more than two hours. The test-retest study found high reliability for sedentary behavior (0.69-0.81) and low to moderate reliability for PA behavior (0.42-0.76). The Slovenian versions of the observed PAQs are a useful tool for national PA surveillance, but for qualitative assessment of individual health-related PA behavior they should be combined with accelerometer-based devices.
The aim of this study was to investigate the resistance-specific gains in muscle power and strength (1RM) following the training of maximum bench-press throws (BPT) against constant, inertial, and ...combined resistance. Forty-eight male participants (age 20.5 ± 2.0 years) were randomly assigned to the constant, inertial, combined resistance, or control group. Participants underwent 8 weeks of training of BPT against the loads that corresponded to the different effects of mass of 40 kg (∼50% of 1RM). The gains in average and maximum power, and 1RM were significant in all experimental groups (
< 0.01), but not in the control group (
> 0.1). Relative gains in the average (26.3 ± 9.8%) and maximum power (25.2 ± 9.8%) were larger than that in the 1RM (mean 7.2 ± 6.9%; both
< 0.001). The gains in the average (
= 6.0;
< 0.01) and maximum power (
= 4.7;
< 0.01) were higher when tested against the training-specific resistance than when tested against the remaining two resistance types. Differences in 1RM among experimental groups were not significant (
= 0.092). The most important and rather novel finding of the study is that the training against the weight and inertial resistance, and their combination results in resistance-specific gains in muscle power, although the overall gains muscle strength and power remain comparable across the training protocols.
It is vital from the public health and educational perspective to be familiar with changes in the fitness levels of individuals and populations since fitness is associated with several health ...outcomes and cognition. Skill-related physical fitness refers to performance in sports or occupation and is associated with motor skill performance. The aim of the present study was to examine secular trends in skill-related physical fitness of 16 678 participants in four youth generations of Slovenian children and adolescents in years 1983 (n = 3128), 1993/94 (n = 3413), 2003/04 (n = 5497), and 2013/14 (n = 4640). Using repeated cross-sectional design, we observed fitness level of all participants divided into three age groups: 6-10, 11-14, and 15-19 years. Skill-related physical performance was measured with seven fitness tests for speed, coordination, balance, and flexibility. Analysis of covariance was used to compare differences in fitness performance between decades in each age and sex group, adjusted for body height, body weight, and body mass index. Overall, large but inconsistent changes in coordination, a small improvement in speed, and a decline in flexibility were seen. The trends over the whole examined period were not linear throughout decades. Generally, positive trends were noticed in periods 1983-1993 (range 1.4%-17.9%; except flexibility) and 2003/04-2013/14 (range 0.2%-36.4%; except age group 15-19 years) while in the period 1993/94-2003/04 there are some particularities in secular trends according to individual components as well as age groups. In general, the secular trend showed a positive direction for both genders (p < 0.05), except for gross motor coordination, which demonstrated positive trends in 1993 and 2013 compared with a decade earlier (p < 0.05) and from 1983 to 2013/14, except for the youngest boys in 2003 and the youngest girls from 1993 to 2003 (p < 0.05). Our findings call for exercise programs aimed at improving speed and gross motor coordination in both sexes and all age groups, especially in the group of 15-19 years old.
The main objective of present study was to evaluate inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of Side Hop Test stopwatch vs. force plates timing, and to determine the number of sessions and ...trials required to minimize the effects of learning on Side Hop Test total time and limb symmetry index. Fifteen healthy male physical education students (mean ± SD: age, 23 ± 3 years; height, 181 ± 9 cm; and weight 72 ± 6 kg) participated. Side Hop Test total time (stopwatch and force plates) of left and right leg, and limb symmetry index (force plates) were obtained over seven sessions conducted 5–7 days apart. Time recordings of two raters were similar (
t
= −0.56,
p
> 0.05) with high reliability (all ICC >0.99 and CV% <0.1) and no systematic bias when compared to force plate data (
p
> 0.05; for rater 1 and 2, respectively). Total time improved across the Sessions (
F
= 25.87,
p
< 0.01,
ω
2
= 0.18) and Trials (
F
= 68.15,
p
< 0.01,
ω
2
= 0.10), with no significant interaction between factors. No between-leg differences were detected (
F
= 0.52,
p
> 0.05,
ω
2
= 0.001). Limb symmetry index ranged from 0.999 to 1.055 across all sessions and trials (all
p
> 0.05 and
ω
2
< 0.00). Due to low coefficient of correlation, high interclass correlation coefficient, and the lack in heteroscedasticity, stopwatch measurements are valid to measure total time in the Side Hop Test. Moreover, stopwatch measurements could be reliably used to measure total time in the Side Hop Test, while the test could be administrated with only one experienced rater. Unlike total times, findings on limb symmetry index suggest it could be reliably assessed after seven familiarization sessions.
There is a growing body of literature reporting the health benefits of active commuting to school. This study investigated barriers and determinants of active commuting in children in Slovenia living ...within walking or cycling distance to school, i.e., 3 km. The sample consisted of 339 children (163 girls) aged 11–14 years who reported their mode of commuting, as well as their parents who described the socioeconomic environment of the family. Every third child in this study traveled to school exclusively by car/public transport, while every fifth participant used a passive means of transport when returning home from school. Potential household poverty, education of the mother and parental encouragement for physical activity were not associated with the commuting mode. In addition, conformist family barriers dominated among reasons for not choosing active commuting. A distance to school that was perceived to be too long was the most frequently cited barrier (72% of participants who passively commuted in both directions), followed by concern about being late for school (38% of participants who passively commute in one direction). Parents from all social strata who drive their children to school in either one or both directions while living in a walking or cycling range are a promising target population for active commuting interventions.
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