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Upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) are a common complaint in competitive swimmers and can adversely affect performance. No intervention has yet been shown to reduce URI incidence in intensively trained athletes. The University of Virginia varsity swim team received three weeks of training in qigong for the purpose of reducing stress and improving health. Our primary objective was to assess the relationship between qigong practice and symptoms of URI during a time when swimmers would be at high URI risk. Secondary objectives were to assess degree of compliance with a qigong practice regimen, to evaluate differences between qigong practitioners and non-practitioners, and to determine the response-rate and reliability of a newly developed internet-based, self-report survey. The design was observational, cross-sectional, and prospective. Weekly data on cold and flu symptoms, concurrent health problems and medication use, and qigong practice were gathered for seven weeks. Retrospective information on health and qigong training response was also collected. Participants were 27 of the 55 members of the University of Virginia Swim Team in the Virginia Athletic Department. Main outcomes were measures of aggregated cold/flu symptoms and Qigong practice. Survey completion was 100%, with no missing data, and reliability of the instrument was acceptable. Cold and flu symptoms showed a significant non-linear association with frequency of qigong practice (R² = 0.33, p < 0.01), with a strong, inverse relationship between practice frequency and symptom scores in swimmers who practised qigong at least once per week (R² = 0.70, p < 0.01). Qigong practitioners did not differ from non-practitioners in demographic or lifestyle characteristics, medical history, supplement or medication use, or belief in qigong. These preliminary findings suggest that qigong practice may be protective against URIs among elite swimmers who practice at least once per week.

The purpose of this study was twofold: (i) to review the existing literature on electromyographic (EMG) analysis of the upper limb muscles of present overhead-throwing (OT) athletes during throwing and of cricket bowlers (CBs) during cricket bowling (CB) and, (ii) to discuss the importance of and generate recommendations for the EMG assessment of the muscle activity of CBs with respect to previous studies of OT athletes. A literature search of the PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar electronic databases was performed to identify relevant articles published up to December 2012. This search was performed to evaluate the following areas, (i) what are the upper limb muscles that should be evaluated during OT sports and cricket bowling? (ii) what types of EMG methodologies have been used? (iii) what are the anthropometric, performance and physical functional variables that are usually selected? and (iv) what recommendations can be made for the assessment of the muscle activity of CBs? The search identifies 32 publications on OT athletes and 4 on CBs. The results note the following conclusions: (i) there are relatively few CB-related papers that utilize EMG, particularly for the assessment of muscle activity and coordination, (ii) a total of 22 upper limb muscles were investigated using EMG (from both criteria), (iii) surface electrodes are used more frequently than needle electrodes, (iv) most of the article normalized and analyzed the EMG amplitudes than the frequency, and the data was more often analyzed through a descriptive statistical analysis and (v) the majority of the studies analyzed the right limb of physically normal (uninjured) male's both the amateur and professional athletes that were 20 to 29 years of age. Finally, the published evidence on CBs is inadequate to validate a sound recommendation for the assessment of the muscles of CBs using EMG. However, the studies on OT athletes do provide guidelines that can be used to analyze CBs. The overall conclusion of this review show that, further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of EMG for the assessment of the upper limb muscle of CBs to ultimately identify and prevent injury which is still a matter of discussion in the sports medicine community.

False tendons (FT) are additional chord-like structures in left ventricle (LV) cavity considered as a phenotypic feature of the connective tissue dysplasia (CTD) syndrome. The search for a range of heart adaptability to exercise loads of young athletes with FT in LV is the aim of the proposed study. Sixty six members of student basketball and indoor soccer teams (mean age: 19.8$\pm$3.9 years) underwent treadmill stress-test and heart ultrasound transthoracic examination. Further, image processing to perform the tendons mapping within LV 3D-reconstructed model was applied. The number of FT located in different parts of LV varied from 1 to 6 units per LV. Based on the comparative and correlation analyses of data obtained, we found that the more the number of FT per LV, the less is a range of the heart adaptation to increased exercise loads. In accordance with the results of two-way multivariate analysis of variance, we concluded that the FT, located in basal and median LV zones, connecting interventricular septum and posterior-lateral parts of LV wall mainly affect the ability of the heart to adapt to exercise loads. Therefore, athletes with certain number and types of FT in the LV critically need individual prescription for exercise loads.

The asymmetrical loading applied to legs was proposed as a risk factor for low back pain development. However, this proposed mechanical risk factor was not investigated in the athletes with LBP engaged in rotational demand activities. The aim of the present study was to examine symmetry of weight-bearing in patients with rotational demand activities compared to that in healthy people during gait. In total, 35 subjects, 15 males with LBP and 20 males without LBP, participated in the study. The participants were asked to walk 12 trials in gait lab. Forces applied to legs were recorded by a force plate. Then, the peaks of anteroposterior, mediolateral, and vertical forces were measured. Next, the asymmetrical loads applied to the legs were calculated. The results of our study demonstrated that people with LBP exhibit more asymmetry of vertical peak forces in heel strike and mid-stance. They also exhibited more asymmetry of loading in the anterior direction. But the mean values of ASI of mediolateral and posterior forces in these participants were not significantly different compared to those in the control group. It can be concluded that, in comparison to the healthy subjects, patients with LBP walk with a greater magnitude of asymmetrical weight-bearing at a comfortable speed.

Object: In this paper, eight male basketball players were tested for physical fitness using the method of sports biology. The content of the physical examination is the isokinetic muscle strength of the shoulder joint. This paper aims to investigate the effect of shoulder isokinetic muscle strength on athletic performance. Methods: This paper uses the principles of sports biology and the isokinetic muscle strength test system to measure the shoulder torque and fatigue index of eight basketball players. At the same time, this paper analyzes the obtained data using the method of mathematical statistics. Results: There were significant differences in the test data of eight male basketball players (P < 0.05). The fatigue of basketball players is mainly in the middle and late stages of sports. At average speed, the fatigue index of the shoulder is the lowest at 180°/s. Conclusion: Basketball players have stronger shoulder extensors than flexors. The balance of strength in the shoulder flexors is greater than the balance in the extensors.