Isokinetic dynamometry is the gold standard for testing maximal strength in elite sport and rehabilitation settings. To be clinically useful, such tests should be valid and reliable. Despite some ...evidence regarding the relative test vs retest reliability of knee dynamometry, there is still a paucity of research regarding the absolute reliability parameters. The purpose of this study was to assess the absolute and relative intra-device reproducibility of isokinetic knee flexion and extension using the novel SMM iMoment dynamometer. A total of 19 participants (13 males and 6 females, aged 24 (2) years, height 178 (9) cm and weight 76 (11) kg) performed two identical knee isokinetic tests with at least a week of rest between measurements. Peak torque of knee extension and flexion were determined at 60°/s. Moderate (0.892) to excellent (0.988) relative reliability using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was obtained for peak knee torque. Absolute reliability assessed with a standard error of measurement (SEM %) was low, ranging from 2.54% to 6.93%, whereas the smallest real difference (SRD %) was moderate, ranging from 7.04% to 19.22%. Furthermore, there were no significant correlations between means and differences of two measurements, and Bland-Altman plots also showed no signs of heteroscedasticity. Our measurement protocol established the moderate to excellent reliability of the novel SMM iMoment isokinetic dynamometer. Therefore, this dynamometer can be applied in sport rehabilitation settings to measure maximal knee strength.
Wearable sensor systems are a emerging tools for the evaluation of the sport's activity and can be used to quantify the external workload of the athlete. The main goal of this paper was to evaluate ...the validity and reliability of the "Armbeep inertial measurement unit" (IMU) sensor both in a closed tennis exercise and in open matchplay. Twentyfour junior tennis players performed a baseline drill and played matches, during which they wore a combined accelerometer and gyroscope sensor. Video footage was concomitantly recorded using a digital video camera. The agreement between the measurements was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the standard error of measurement (SEM). A simple linear regression was used to predict the number of shots registered from the video and from the Armbeep IMU sensor's data. The number of total forehand and backhand shots during the drill repetitions showed an excellent test and re-test reproducibility (ICCgreater than or equal to0.90). There was a significant relationship between the Armbeep IMU sensor's number of contacts and the total number of shots (R.sup.2 = 0.938) which indicated the excellent reliability of the tested Armbeep IMU sensor for those parameters. Considering the accuracy of the total tennis shots and the small magnitude of error for wrist speed and acceleration, the Armbeep IMU sensor appears to be an appropriate on-court tool that can be used to monitor the hitting load during tennis practice and matches.
The purpose was to evaluate the intra- and inter-session reliability of hip isometric strength assessment using a frame-stabilized dynamometer (FSD) and to compare the results in the hip adduction ...(ADD) and abduction (ABD) strength assessment using handheld dynamometer (HHD). Twenty participants (24.2 2.6 years, 69.3 10.0 kg) underwent testing on an FSD (ADD and ABD short and long-lever, internal IR and external rotation ER tests) and using an HHD (ADD and ABD long-lever tests). Analysis revealed excellent (ICC
2.k
> 0.90) relative intra-set and inter-set reliability for two visits and good reliability for test-retest results (ICC
2.1
0.79-0.90), regardless of the test. Among the tests, SEM and MDC were the highest for the IR and ER results. In comparison with HHD, long-lever ADD strength was higher and long-lever ABD strength was lower when measured using FSD. Although both measurements have been shown to be highly reliable, the discrepancy between the devices exists.
Low-load resistance exercise (LL-RE) is recommended as an adjunct therapy to aerobic exercise during cardiac rehabilitation in patients with coronary artery disease. The safety and hemodynamic ...response to high-load (HL) RE remain unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hemodynamic response during both HL-RE and LL-RE prior to cardiac rehabilitation. Forty-three patients with coronary artery disease and/or percutaneous coronary intervention performed three sets of leg-press exercise using HL-RE (eight repetitions at the intensity of 80% of one repetition maximum (1-RM)) and LL-RE (16 repetitions at the intensity of 40% 1-RM) in a randomized crossover sequence. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and rating of perceived exertion were measured at baseline, after each set of RE and post-exercise. No clinically relevant changes in HR and BP or in patient-reported symptoms were recorded during HL-RE or LL-RE. Compared with baseline, HR and SBP increased during LL-RE (from 66 bpm to 86 bpm, time effect:
< 0.001; from 129 mmHg to 146 mmHg, time effect:
< 0.001) and HL-RE (from 68 bpm to 86 bpm, time effect:
< 0.001; from 130 mmHg to 146 mmHg, time effect:
< 0.001). Compared with HL-RE, the increase in HR was greater after the final set of LL-RE (32% vs. 28%,
= 0.015), without significant differences in SBP and DBP between LL-RE and HL-RE. Rating of perceived exertion was higher after the 1st set of HL-RE compared with LL-RE (median (interquartile range): 6 (5-7) vs. 6 (5-6),
= 0.010). In patients with coronary artery disease, both HL-RE and LL-RE were safe and well-tolerated. Hemodynamic changes were similar and within the physiological response to RE.
This study was designed to perform isokinetic knee testing of male judokas competing in the under 73 kg category. The main aims were: to establish the concentric (CON) and eccentric (ECC) strength ...profile of hamstrings (H) and CON profile of quadriceps (Q) muscles; to evaluate the differences in CON and ECC peak torques (PT) with various strength ratios and their bilateral asymmetries; the calculation of the dynamic control ratio (DCR) and H ECC to CON ratio (HEC); Methods: 12 judokas competing on a national and international levels with a mean age of 19 ± 4 years, a weight of 75 ± 2 kg and with a height of 176 ± 5 cm were tested. All the subjects were right-hand dominant. Isokinetic testing was performed on iMOMENT, SMM isokinetic machine (SMM, Maribor, Slovenia). The paired
-test was used to determine the difference between paired variables. The level of significance was set at
≤ 0.05; Results: Statistical differences between left (L) and right (R) Q PT (L 266; R 241 Nm), H ECC PT (L 145; R 169 Nm), HQR (L 0.54; R 0.63), DCR (L 0.55; R 0.70), HEC (L 1.02; R 1.14) and PTQ/BW (L 3.57; R 3.23 Nm/kg) were shown. Bilateral strength asymmetries in CON contraction of 13.52% ± 10.04 % for Q, 10.86% ± 7.67 % for H and 22.04% ± 12.13% for H ECC contraction were shown.
This study reports the isokinetic strength values of judokas in the under 73 kg category, emphasising eccentric hamstring strength and eccentric derived strength ratios DCR and HEC. It was shown that asymmetries are better detected using eccentric testing and that the dominant leg in judokas had stronger eccentric hamstring strength resulting in higher DCR and HEC.
Intradialytic cycling is a widely used workout mode, whereas added benefit of other exercise modalities remains unknown. This is the first randomised controlled trial on the effects and ...sustainability of functional training and counselling in addition to intradialytic cycling. Patients were randomly assigned to a kinesiologist-guided functional training in addition to intradialytic cycling (n = 20, experimental group) or intradialytic cycling only (n = 20, control group) over 16 weeks. The experimental group attended predialysis functional exercise in the first eight weeks and afterward performed functional training at home for the next eight weeks. The primary study endpoint was 10-repetition-sit-to-stand test time at eight weeks: at this test, the experimental group improved significantly better than controls (-4.5 ± 1.9 s, 95%CI -8.4 to -0.7; P = 0.021), which was maintained at week 16 (-4.7 ± 2.1 s, 95%CI -9.0 to -0.3; P = 0.037). At week 8, the experimental group significantly outperformed controls also at handgrip strength (P = 0.004), lower body flexibility test (P < 0.001), balance test (P < 0.001), and upper body flexibility test (P = 0.003). At week 16, superior results of the experimental group in secondary end-points remained preserved for handgrip strength, balance, and upper body flexibility tests. Functional training with exercise counselling meaningfully improves physical performance and successfully prepares patients for sustainable home exercise.
Šimenko, J, Kovčan, B, Pori, P, Vodičar, J, Vodičar, M, and Hadžić, V. The Relationship between army physical fitness and functional capacities in infantry members of the Slovenian Armed Forces. J ...Strength Cond Res 35(12): 3506-3512, 2021-The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between traditional army physical fitness test (APFT) and a novel functional testing battery that included countermovement jump (CMJ) testing, stork balANce test, pUll-ups, single leg hAmstring bridge test, and loaded prone pLank test-MANUAL battery. The secondary purpose was to explore additional baseline fitness aspects traditionally not covered by APFT. This cross-sectional study involved 181 Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) infantry members (age 31.4 ± 6.1 years) that were tested using both the regular annual APFT and the MANUAL battery (testing was conducted 2 weeks apart). At the significance level of p ≤ 0.05, significant but weak associations between the MANUAL testing battery and APFT battery (0.2 ≤ r < 0.5; p ≤ 0.05) were observed. The MANUAL battery has highlighted possible hamstring (less than 20 repetitions on a single leg bridge test in 26% of SAF infantry members) and posterior shoulder pull-up muscle weakness (mean score 5 ± 4 pull-ups). Functional predictors from the MANUAL explained only 33.6% of the APFT score (R2 = 0.336). Significant predictors of APFT score were single leg hamstring left (p = 0.048), loaded plank (p = 0.049), number of pull-ups (p < 0.001), CMJ (p = 0.01), and loaded CMJ (p = 0.026). The findings suggest that higher APFT marks are associated with better performance on the MANUAL tests and indicate the problem of hamstring and pull-up muscle weakness. The general recommendation is that the physical condition military programs should include more exercises to strengthen those muscle groups.
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