Fabio Fontana

The Relative Age Effect among Female Brazilian Youth Volleyball Players.

In sports, the relative age effect (RAE) refers to performance disadvantages of children born late in the competition year compared to those with birthdays soon after the cutoff date. This effect is derived from age grouping, a strategy commonly used in youth sport programs. The purpose of age grouping is to decrease possible cognitive, physical, and emotional differences among sport participants. In spite of the efforts to equate playing conditions, youth athletes born early in the competitive age group are selected to be part of squads more often than late-born athletes, even within the same 1-year category. Most RAE studies have been conducted on professional male athletes, including hockey (Boucher & Mutimer, 1994), soccer (Helsen, Starkes, & Winckel, 1998), baseball (Grondin & Koren, 2000), and tennis (Edwards, 1994). Skewed distributions favoring athletes born early in the selection year were also found in youth sports. Several studies investigating soccer (Helsen et al., 1998; Helsen, Winckel, & Williams, 2005; Glamser & Vincent, 2004), hockey (Barnsley & Thompson, 1988), and basketball (Delorme & Raspaud, 2008) demonstrated a strong RAE among young male athletes. Not as many studies focused on female athletes. In fact, to our knowledge no studies have been conducted on adult female athletes and only a few on young female athletes. Among these studies, only one significant RAE was found (Delorme & Raspaud, 2008), in which youth basketball players ranging from 7 to 17 years of age participated. Although significant due to its large sample size (n = 107,101), differences in actual proportions of players born in different quarters of the year were small (Q1 = 26.1%, Q2 = 27.4%, Q3 = 24.6%, Q4 = 21.9%). In fact, the difference between the proportion of players born in the first and last 6 months of the year is probably not meaningful in applied settings. Nevertheless, it is the only indication in the literature of RAE among young female players. Helsen et al. (2005) did not find a significant RAE among female soccer players under the age of 18 years who were selected from national teams of 10 European countries. Although not statistically significant, a larger percentage of players were born early in the competition year. Approximately 31% were born in the first quarter compared to 17% in the last quarter, and 67% were born in the first 6 months of the competitive year. While 44 young female athletes took part in the experiment, it is possible a slightly larger sample size would have produced significant results. Vincent and Glamser (2006) also demonstrated a lack of an RAE for female athletes. Female soccer players, ages 17 and 18 years, participating in the youth U.S. Olympic program participated in this study. Their physical development and social expectations were strongly credited for the results. The authors stated that postpubescent girls generally have shorter legs and wider hips, a larger body mass index, and a more endomorphic body type; all of which are considered to be highly disadvantageous to perThe Relative Age Effect Among Female Brazilian Youth Volleyball Players

Effect of instruction, surface stability, and load intensity on trunk muscle activity

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of verbal instruction, surface stability, and load intensity on trunk muscle activity levels during the free weight squat exercise. Twelve trained males performed a free weight squat under four conditions: (1) standing on stable ground lifting 50% of their 1-repetition maximum (RM), (2) standing on a BOSU balance trainer lifting 50% of their 1-RM, (3) standing on stable ground lifting 75% of their 1-RM, and (4) receiving verbal instructions to activate the trunk muscles followed by lifting 50% of their 1-RM. Surface EMG activity from muscles rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), transversus abdominis/internal oblique (TA/IO), and erector spinae (ES) were recorded for each condition and normalized for comparisons. Muscles RA, EO, and TA/IO displayed greater peak activity (39-167%) during squats with instructions compared to the other squat conditions (P=0.04-0.007). Peak EMG activity of muscle ES was greater for the 75% 1-RM condition than squats with instructions or lifting 50% of 1-RM (P=0.04-0.02). The results indicate that if the goal is to enhance EMG activity of the abdominal muscles during a multi-joint squat exercise then verbal instructions may be more effective than increasing load intensity or lifting on an unstable surface. However, in light of other research, conscious co-activation of the trunk muscles during the squat exercise may lead to spinal instability and hazardous compression forces in the lumbar spine.

Strength increases in upper and lower body are larger with longer inter-set rest intervals in trained men

The purpose of the current study was to compare different rest interval durations on upper and lower body strength. Thirty-six recreationally trained men were randomly assigned to 1 min (G1; n=12), 3 min (G3; n=12) or 5 min (G5; n=12) rest interval groups. Each group performed the same resistance training program. Maximal strength was assessed at baseline, mid-point (8 weeks) and post-training (16 weeks) for the bench press and leg press exercises. For the bench press, significant increases were demonstrated within G3 and G5 at 8 weeks and at 16 weeks versus baseline (p<0.05). Additionally, for the bench press, G5 (98.2+/-3.7 kg) was significantly stronger than G1 (92.5+/-3.8 kg) at 16 weeks (p<0.05). For the leg press, significant increases were demonstrated within all groups at 8 weeks and at 16 weeks versus baseline (p<0.05). Additionally, for the leg press, G5 (290.8+/-23.5 kg) was significantly stronger than G1 (251.0+/-15.8 kg) at 8 weeks (p<0.01) and G3 (305.0+/-23.9 kg) and G5 (321.7+/-21.7 kg) were significantly stronger than G1 (276.7+/-10.7 kg) at 16 weeks (p<0.05). The findings of the current study indicate that utilising 3 or 5 min rest intervals between sets may result in significantly greater increases in upper and lower body strength beyond the initial weeks of training versus utilising 1-min rest intervals between sets.

A Comparison of Trunk Muscle Activation: Ab Circle vs. Traditional Modalities

Willardson, JM, Behm, DG, Huang, SY, Rehg, MD, Kattenbraker, MS, and Fontana, FE. A comparison of trunk muscle activation: Ab circle vs. traditional modalities. J Strength Cond Res 24(12): 3415-3421, 2010-The purpose of this study was to compare the activation of the rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique abdominis (EO), lower abdominal stabilizers (LASs), and lumbar erector spinae (LES) during performance of 3 traditional trunk exercises vs. exercise on the Ab Circle device. Surface electromyography was used to assess 12 subjects (6 men, 6 women) for 6 exercise conditions, including: abdominal crunch, side bridge, quadruped, and Ab Circle levels 1-3. For the RA, the abdominal crunch elicited significantly greater activity vs. the Ab Circle level 1, and the side bridge elicited significantly greater activity vs. the Ab Circle levels 1 and 2. For the EO, the side bridge elicited significantly greater activity vs. the quadruped. No significant differences were noted between conditions for the LASs. For the LES, the side bridge and quadruped elicited significantly greater activity vs. the abdominal crunch. The results of this study indicate that the anterior, posterior, and lateral trunk musculature can be activated to similar or even greater levels by performing the 3 traditional trunk exercises vs. the Ab Circle. This was particularly evident for the side bridge exercise, which elicited significantly greater activity of the RA vs. the Ab Circle levels 1 and 2, and elicited similar activity of the EO, LASs, and LES at all 3 Ab Circle levels.

An electromyographic comparison of a modified version of the plank with a long lever and posterior tilt versus the traditional plank exercise

The purpose of the study was to compare core muscle activation of the tradition prone plank with a modified version performed with a long-lever and posterior-tilt using surface electromyography. To further determine if a specific component of this modified plank was more effective than the other in enhancing muscle activity, the plank with a long lever and the plank with a posterior pelvic tilt were studied individually. Nineteen participants performed all four variations of the plank for 30 seconds in a randomized order with 5-minute rest between exercise bouts. Compared to the traditional prone plank, the long-lever posterior-tilt plank displayed a significantly increased activation of the upper rectus abdominis (p < 0.001), lower abdominal stabilizers (p < 0.001), and external oblique (p < 0.001). The long-lever plank showed significantly greater activity compared to the traditional plank in the upper rectus abdominis (p = 0.015) and lower abdominal stabilizers (p < 0.001), while the posterior tilt plank elicited greater activity in the external oblique (p = 0.028). In conclusion, the long-lever posterior-tilt plank significantly increases muscle activation compared to the traditional prone plank. The long-lever component tends to contribute more to these differences than the posterior-tilt component.

The effect of load reductions on repetition performance for commonly performed multijoint resistance exercises.

Abstract Willardson, JM, Simão, R, and Fontana, FE. The effect of load reductions on repetition performance for commonly performed multijoint resistance exercises. J Strength Cond Res 26(11): 2939–2945, 2012—The purpose of this study was to compare 4 different loading schemes for the free weight bench press, wide grip front lat pull-down, and free weight back squat to determine the extent of progressive load reductions necessary to maintain repetition performance. Thirty-two recreationally trained women (age = 29.34 ± 4.58 years, body mass = 59.61 ± 4.72 kg, height = 162.06 ± 4.04 cm) performed 4 resistance exercise sessions that involved 3 sets of the free weight bench press, wide grip front lat pull-down, and free weight back squat, performed in this exercise order during all 4 sessions. Each of the 4 sessions was conducted under different randomly ordered loading schemes, including (a) a constant 10 repetition maximum (RM) load for all 3 sets and for all 3 exercises, (b) a 5% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises, (c) a 10% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises, and (d) a 15% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises. The results indicated that for the wide grip front lat pull-down and free weight back squat, a 10% load reduction was necessary after the first and second sets to accomplish 10 repetitions on all the 3 sets. For the free weight bench press, a load reduction between 10 and 15% was necessary; specifically, a 10% reduction was insufficient and a 15% reduction was excessive, as evidenced by significantly >10 repetitions on the second and third sets for this exercise (p ⩽ 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that a resistance training prescription that involves 1-minute rest intervals between multiple 10RM sets does require load reductions to maintain repetition performance. Practitioners might apply these results by considering an approximate 10% load reduction after the first and second sets for the exercises examined, when training women of similar characteristics as in this study.

Research note: effect of load reductions over consecutive sets on repetition performance.

Willardson, JM, Kattenbraker, MS, Khairallah, M, and Fontana, FE. Research note: effect of load reductions over consecutive sets on repetition performance. J Strength Cond Res 24(3): 879-884, 2010-When performing consecutive sets of a resistance exercise, maintaining performance within a specified repetition range has been shown to be essential for achieving muscular adaptations conducive to different training goals. However, maintaining repetition performance can be difficult when using shorter rest intervals between sets (i.e., ≤1 min), which may require load reductions. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to compare repetition performance when keeping the load constant or reducing the load by different percentages during a lower-body workout. Ten repetition maximum (10RM) loads were established for the back squat, leg curl, and leg extension exercises. Subjects performed 4 workouts under the following load conditions: (a) constant load for all sets, (b) 5% load reduction after each set, (c) 10% load reduction after each set, and (d) 15% load reduction after each set. Pairwise comparisons indicated that, when averaged across sets, significantly fewer repetitions were accomplished for the back squat and leg curl within the constant condition vs. the 15% condition (p < 0.05). Conversely, for the leg extension, there were no significant differences in the repetitions accomplished between conditions (p > 0.05). Pairwise comparisons also indicated that, when averaged across exercises, significantly fewer repetitions were accomplished for set 3 within the constant, 5%, and 10% conditions vs. the 15% condition (p < 0.05). In summary, the back squat and leg curl required 15% load reductions per set to maintain repetition performance. Conversely, load reductions were not necessary for the leg extension.

Anti-Fat Bias by Professors Teaching Physical Education Majors.

Anti-fat bias by professors in physical education departments may interfere with the training provided to pre-service teachers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of professors in physical education departments toward obese individuals. Professors from randomly selected institutions across all four US regions participated in the study (N = 94). Participants took the Implicit Association Test and answered the Anti-Fat Attitude Scale and two questions specifically designed to measure their attitudes toward physical education teachers and majors who are obese. The participants exhibited implicit good–bad (p < .001) and lazy–motivated (p < .001) anti-fat biases. Professors favored accepting majors who are obese (p < .001), but they strongly disapproved of obese physical education teachers as role models to their students (p < .001). Explicit anti-fat bias was associated with a stronger disapproval of physical education teachers who are obese as role models to students (p < .001) and accepting majors who are obese (p < .001). Implicit good–bad anti-fat bias was associated with a stronger disapproval of obese physical education teachers as role models to students (p = .047). The anti-fat bias demonstrated by the professors may negatively affect the training of pre-service physical education teachers to work with students of all body sizes. Awareness programs may be necessary to diminish anti-fat bias among professors in physical education teacher education programs.

Upper body muscle activation during low-versus high-load resistance exercise in the bench press

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare activation of the upper body musculature during the barbell bench press at varying training intensities. METHODS: Twelve young, resistance-trained men performed sets of the bench press to momentary muscular failure with two different loads: a high-load (HIGH) set at 80% of 1RM and a low-load (LOW) set at 50% 1RM. Exercise order was counterbalanced so that half the subjects performed the LOW condition first and the other half performed the HIGH first. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to assess mean, peak, and iEMG muscle activation of the anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, and sternal and clavicular heads of the pectoralis major. RESULTS: The main effects for trials were significant for mean EMG ( p< 0.001) and iEMG matched ( p< 0.001) favoring HIGH and iEMG total favoring LOW (p = 0.001) across all muscle groups in both conditions with varying effect sizes. All other main effects and interactions were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Despite similaritiesin peak EMG amplitude, the greater results for mean and iEMG matched in HIGH suggests that heavier loads may produce greater muscle activation.

Should Schools Send BMI Report Cards to Parents? A Review of Literature

A body mass index (BMI) report card is a tool to inform parents about their childs weight status. Body mass index notifications could curb childhood obesity by prompting parents to encourage their children to be more physically active and make better dietary choices, but they could also lower childrens self-esteem and increase weight-related teasing. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively review existing evidence in order to determine the extent to which BMI report cards benefit and/or harm children and adolescents. The accuracy of BMI as an indicator of obesity, the positive and negative consequences of BMI notification programs, and suggestions for safer implementation of BMI report programs in schools are reviewed. Body mass index as a measure of weight-related disease risk in children has some limitations. Studies assessing the positive and negative consequences of BMI notification programs are limited in number and lack rigorous methodological procedures. Thus, the effects of sending BMI information to parents remain inconclusive. Yet, it cannot be ruled out that future carefully designed studies may find BMI notification effective. Until more research is available, practitioners are left to make their own conclusions about the implementation of school BMI report card programs. For schools and physical education teachers opting to report BMI information to parents, program safeguards are discussed.