Earticle

Water polo (WP) is a high-intensity intermittent aquatic sport, with a predominance of swimming skills and nonswimming activities and in-complete recovery periods. Consequently, recovery after exercise is a fundamental part of sports performance. The main purpose of this sys-tematic review was to evaluate the effects of different recovery strate-gies in WP performance. The studies were found by searching in the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed in accordance with the Cochrane Collaboration Guidelines samples. A summary of results including five studies was followed. The results show that supplementation with cherry juice before training does not imply improvements in recovery; the full-body photobiomodulation therapy reduces muscle damage; re-ducing training load during the season increased the natural logarithm of the root mean square of successive differences and perceived state of recovery, and the heart rate variability stabilizes and could progres-sively increase at the end of a tournament; and when an increase in in-ternal training load is less than 60%–70% autonomic cardiac disturbanc-es during preseason training do not occur. Recovery in WP is a very lim-ited field of study that needs future research in active recovery, hydro-therapy, massage, rest and sleep to help coaches formulate recommen-dations.

In this study, the effect of chronic alcohol intake for 4 weeks on the muscular atrophy factors of rat skeletal muscle was studied using 6-week-old growing Sprague-Dawley rats. Experimental animals were classified into a control group and an alcohol intake group. The alcohol intake group consumed alcohol orally at a concentration of 3-g/kg body weight every day for 4 weeks. The control group consumed tap water in the same way. After 4 weeks alcohol ingestion, glucose, total choles-terol, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum lev-els were measured. Western blot was performed to detect the expres-sions of muscle RING-finger protein-1 (MuRF1), protein kinase B (Akt), phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), forkhead box O (FoxO), phosphorylated FoxO (p-FoxO), p38, and phosphorylated p38 (p-p38). Results of this experiment showed that chronic alcohol intake enhanced triglyceride concentra-tion. Chronic alcohol intake increased MuRF1 expression to promote muscle proteolysis and decreased p-Akt/Akt ratio and p-FoxO/FoxO ra-tio to inhibit skeletal muscle growth. Therefore, alcohol consumption has been shown to cause muscle atrophy.

Scoliosis is defined as a deviation from the normal vertical line of the spine and consists of a lateral curvature in which the spine rotates within the curvature. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common form of scoliosis and the cause is unknown. In this study, it was investigated whether conservative treatment for adolescent idio-pathic scoliosis (CONTRAIS) reduced the patient’s Cobb angle, and the effect of CONTRAIS according to the severity of idiopathic scoliosis and the efficacy of CONTRAIS by spinal region were also verified. Idiopathic scoliosis patients with a Cobb angle of 10° or more were recruited and classified into mild, moderate, and severe groups according to the Cobb angle (°). Cobb angle was measured radiographically before and after 10 weeks of treatment. A combination of CONTRAIS, including physical therapy, exercise therapy, manual therapy, and home exercise was prescribed for all patients. The patients visited the hospital 3 times a week for 10 weeks for treatment, and exercised at home for 20 min ev-ery day. In this study, the effect of reducing Cobb angle of CONTRAIS did not differ according to the spinal region. Also, the Cobb angle reduc-tion effect of CONTRAIS was more effective in severe group. This study may suggest that early detection and treatment through CONTRAIS en-ables successful correction of AIS.

The aim of this study was to carry out a comparative analysis of the ef-fectiveness of coping strategies among female track-and-field students of the first-third study years with different aggressiveness levels on the back of the coronavirus disease 2019-provoked self-isolation. The total sample of respondents comprised 360 female students majoring in Physical Education and Sports. All of them were enrolled in an online survey using the Anxiety, Frustration, Aggressiveness, and Rigidity methodology and Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced invento-ry. The study revealed that first-year students with high levels of ag-gressiveness focused on emotions and their expression under stress more often than first-years with moderate aggressiveness levels. Simi-larly, an increased concentration on negative emotions display was in-herent to respondents of the second study year. The transition from the first to the third study year was marked with consolidation and strength-ening of negative coping strategies used by female track-and-field ath-letes. This represents one of the central reasons for the deterioration of their psycho-emotional state during the quarantine. The most widely applied stress response tactics of female students of all 3 study years were associated with positive thinking, active coping, and planning (P≤0.05 with other coping strategies). Resort to psychoactive substanc-es was noted less frequently (P≤0.01 with other strategies). As for the emotional component, increased attention to emotions’ expression and seeking of instrumental and emotional support were also chosen rela-tively often. The problematic issue needs further investigation in order to analyze whether stressful conditions persist or have decreased.

This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between locomo-tive syndrome and sarcopenia in the old people using a functional eval-uation tool. In this study, 237 Korean old people selected from the Mi-raeseum Seongnam Senior Complex and the Misa Riverside Welfare Center were diagnosed with the two diseases and the Berg balance scale was performed to confirm the deterioration of dynamic balance sensory. Through the diagnostic evaluation of the two diseases, the lo-comotive group (n=180) and the sarcopenia group (n=34) were classi-fied and statistically analyzed. As a result of the study, a significant dif-ference in dynamic balance sensory between the two diseases was confirmed, and a significant negative correlation was confirmed with 25-question geriatric locomotive function scale and grip strength among the diagnostic evaluation items of the two diseases. These results sug-gest that gradual deterioration of locomotive syndrome and sarcopenia occurs in the deterioration of physical performance in the old people, suggesting that the evaluation of locomotive syndrome can be used as a screening test for sarcopenia.

Draw-in is a promising intervention for regaining isolated control of the transverse abdominis (TrA). Exercises to stimulate isolated contractions are needed; however, the appropriate methods are unclear. The objec-tives of this study were to examine how the muscle activity and muscle activity ratio of abdominal muscles change with various verbal instruc-tions and to determine the onset of the abdominal muscles during draw-in. The participants were 21 healthy men. TrA electromyography was performed using fine-wire electrodes, and the internal oblique (IO), ex-ternal oblique (EO), and rectus abdominis (RA) were determined using surface electrodes. The participants performed seven abdominal exer-cises according to verbal instructions and isolated voluntary contrac-tion of the TrA for more than 5 sec. The TrA showed higher activity in bracing. IO and EO activities were highest in bracing, whereas RA showed the highest activity in maximum bracing. TrA/IO and TrA/EO were not significantly different between conditions. The results of the onset activity analysis of the abdominal muscles during the draw-in maneuver showed that the TrA was significantly earlier than the other muscles. The activity ratios of TrA to IO and EO were highly individual-ized and did not differ according to the verbal instruction. Maximum draw-in showed more significant IO activity, and bracing showed co-contraction of the superficial and deep abdominal muscles. During draw-in, the TrA initiated the earliest activity among the abdominal muscles and then isolated activity for 1.1 sec.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of adherence to mat Pilates training on lower and upper body strength and flexibility in breast cancer survivors. Breast cancer survivors (≥40 years) with cancer stages 0–III undergoing hormone therapy participated in this study. For this secondary investigation only the intervention group was analyzed, divided into low and high training adherence. Participants performed a 60-min session of mat Pilates, 3 times/wk, for 24 weeks. Concentric, ec-centric, and isometric hip flexor-extensor muscle peak torque, and iso-metric maximal strength parameters of the shoulder abductors, trunk extensors, and handgrip were assessed. Physical activity level was an-alyzed as a control variable. The results showed that high training ad-herence improved (P<0.05) left shoulder abductor strength parameters and lower and upper body flexibility compared to baseline. The low training adherence group improved (P<0.05) trunk extensors, right and left shoulder abductor strength parameters, handgrip strength, and ex-tensor-flexor peak torque compared to baseline. There were no differ-ences (P>0.05) between high and low adherence for physical activity level before and after the intervention. Therefore, it appears that higher training adherence most influences some strength parameters and flexibility, while fewer sessions enable the achievement of significant results for shoulder abductor and hip extensor-flexor muscle strength parameters.