In recent years, fitness practitioners have increasingly recommended core stability exercises in sports conditioning programs. Greater core stability may benefit sports performance by providing a foundation for greater force production in the upper and lower extremities. Traditional resistance exercises have been modified to emphasize core stability. Such modifications have included performing ...

This series of reviews focuses on the most important neuromuscular function in many sport performances: the ability to generate maximal muscular power. Part 1, published in an earlier issue of Sports Medicine, focused on the factors that affect maximal power production while part 2 explores the practical application of these findings by reviewing the scientific literature relevant to the develo...

Our hypothesis was that the addition of an 8-week lower limb plyometric training program (hurdle and depth jumping) to normal in-season conditioning would enhance measures of competitive potential (peak power output [PP], jump force, jump height, and lower limb muscle volume) in junior soccer players. The subjects (23 men, age 19 ± 0.7 years, body mass 70.5 ± 4.7 kg, height 1.75 ± 0.06 m, body ...

There is an evident lack of studies on the effectiveness of plyometricand skill-based-conditioning in volleyball. This study aimed to evaluate effects of 12-week plyometricand volleyball-skill-based training on specific conditioning abilities in female volleyball players. The sample included 41 high-level female volleyball players (21.8 ± 2.1 years of age; 1.76 ± 0.06 cm; 60.8 ± 7.0 kg), who pa...

Leptin and osteocalcin play a role in the regulation of the fat-bone axis and may be altered by exercise. To determine whether osteocalcin reduces fat mass in humans fed ad libitum and if there is a sex dimorphism in the serum osteocalcin and leptin responses to strength training, we studied 43 male (age 23.9 2.4 yr, mean +/- SD) and 23 female physical education students (age 23.2 +/- 2.7 yr). ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a short-term novel multidimensional aquatic exercise program on functional abilities of healthy older adults. Twenty-six men and women (mean age 76.33 ± 5.55 years) were recruited and assigned to an aquatic- (n = 15) or land-based (n = 11) training group. The aquatic training group completed a multidimensional water exercise program that...

Purpose: Despite the widespread use of cryotherapy in sports, there is no specific evidence its impact on muscle activation, especially following fatigue-induced exercises. This study aimed to assess alone and after plyometric exercises knee activation during drop jump task. Methods: A total 35 active female subjects (mean±SD age 22.74±2.10 years, mean body mass index [BMI] 20.02±2.55 kg/m2) pa...

BACKGROUND Aquatic plyometric programs are becoming increasingly popular because they provide a less stressful alternative to land-based programs. Buoyancy reduces the impact forces experienced in water. PURPOSE To quantify the landing kinetics during a range of typical lower limb plyometric exercises performed on land and in water. STUDY DESIGN Crossover design. METHODS Eighteen male par...