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This study assessed the relationship between foot anthropometry with countermovement jump (CMJ) and squat jump (SJ) performance among university-level male athletes. A total of 51 male athletes were selected from different sports. Various gross and acute anthropometric measurements were conducted. Each participant performed three CMJs and SJs each. Standing height has a moderate positive correlation with CMJ force (ρ = .368, p = .008) and power (ρ = .326, p = .019). Body mass demonstrated a high positive association with CMJ force (ρ = .568, p = .001) and a moderate positive correlation with power (ρ = .446, p = .001). The lower leg length was moderately positively correlated with CMJ flight time (ρ = .316, p = .024) (ρ = .311, p = .026), velocity (ρ = .304, p = .030), and power and showed a weak positive correlation with CMJ height (ρ = .290), p = .039). Foot length had a moderate positive correlation with CMJ force (ρ = .419, p = .002) and power (ρ = .377, p = .002). Conversely, a weak negative correlation was observed between foot arch height and both CMJ height (ρ = -.286, p = .042) and CMJ velocity (ρ = -.285, p = .043). These findings suggest the significant relationships between specific anthropometric characteristics with CMJ and SJ performance. However, the correlations showed moderate or lower strengths, underscoring the importance of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Most body composition research in individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) has focused on overweight and obesity. Although limited research has shown muscle mass indexes and physical performance levels of adults with DS are similar to or lower than older adults with sarcopenia, there is still a large gap in the literature regarding sarcopenia. Objective: This brief report provides a comprehensive descriptive analysis of sarcopenia and obesity markers in individuals with DS. Methods: Fourteen young adults (age = 26 ± 9 yrs.) with DS (males: n = 6; females: n = 8) had appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) measured with bioimpedance analysis and handgrip strength (HGS) measured with a hand dynamometer (dominant hand). Sarcopenia was computed using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People revised definition (EWGSOP2). Results: The BMI for the entire group was 24.41 ± 4.01 kg/m2, ranging from 16.21 to 31.31 kg/m2, with one participant classified as obese. ASM ranged from 11.33 to 24.41 kg (17.49 ± 4.71 kg), and 64 % of participants fell below the EWGSOP2 criteria for muscle mass. HGS ranged from 8 to 31 kg (20 ± 7 kg), and 57 % of participants fell below the EWGSOP2 criteria for muscular strength. Lastly, 5 of 14 participants (approximately 36 %) had sarcopenia according to the EWGSOP2 definition. Conclusion: An alarming number of young adults with DS had sarcopenia, and low HGS and ASM when using the EWGSOP2 definition. Health professionals are encouraged to screen for sarcopenia in young adulthood rather than deferring it to a later stage in life for individuals with DS.

Introduction: There is currently little research relating specifically to the muscular strength and endurance requirements of the upper body such as lifts at varying heights, ground floor contact with the hands and inversions such as handstands. Enhanced understanding of muscular demands can inform training program design to build physical tolerance to meet the demand of the activity. The aim of this study was to ascertain the frequency of upper body muscular skills in contemporary and ballet dance performance. Methods: Analysis of 46 individual ballet performers (F = 23, M = 23) from 12 performances (duration 63.5 ± 44.5 minutes) and 44 individual contemporary performers (F = 21, M = 23) from 12 performances (duration 35.7 ± 4.3 minutes) was carried out. Frequency of upper body skills was recorded using Dartfish Easytag-Note and converted to mean frequency per minute of total performance and per performance by genre and by sex. Differences in frequency between genre were analyzed via Mann-Whitney U . Phase two analyzed differences between sex via Mann-Whitney U . Finally, analysis of differences between sex within dance genre was carried out via Wilcoxon signed rank test. Significance was accepted at P  < .05. Results: A significant difference was apparent between ballet and contemporary dance for holding own weight ( P  < .05) with a greater total mean frequency within contemporary performances of 8.50 ± 9.03 compared to a total mean frequency of 1.51 ± 3.13 within ballet performances. Additionally, there was a significant difference for above shoulder assisted lift ( P  < .05) when comparing male dancers, with male contemporary dancers carrying out significantly more (9.82 ± 8.56) per performance than male ballet dancers (2.33 ± 4.66). A higher mean frequency of below shoulder lifts than above shoulder lifts was also noted, with the majority of above shoulder lifts remaining at eye level. Conclusion: Training programs must prepare dancers for upper body movements that consider differing biomechanical demands of a variety of lifts and inversions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Children's physical inactivity and increasing sedentary behaviour have become major public health concerns, with a concurrent decline in muscular fitness (MF) contributing to poor physical outcomes during childhood and adolescence, highlighting the importance of developing resistance training (RT) programs. Furthermore, several educational strategies such as gamification seem to increase students' motivation which can produce an increase in performance outcomes. This study describes the rationale and protocol of a school-based randomized controlled trial called "RETRAGAM" (REsistance TRAining based on GAMification). For this investigation, a total of ≃180 children (grades 5 and 6; 10-12 years of age) from 6 randomly selected schools in Valencia (Spain) will be enrolled for 8 weeks in one of the experimental groups: EG (15 min of RT Functional HIIT circuit program), EG + G (the same EG program but with a gamification approach) or CG (Control Group). Outcomes will include physical activity profile, MF, anthropometry and body composition, as well as the enjoyment and motivation during Physical Education (PE). An interactive app for digital devices will be used for gamified storytelling, earning points for personalized children's avatars, and implementing a flipped classroom learning model. We conclude that the RETRAGAM will provide information about the effectiveness and implementation of a school-based RT intervention during PE with and without gamification in students' MF, body composition, motivation and enjoyment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Amount of serial sitting and standing movements has been employed in clinical and research settings to assess legs' muscular strength. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to test the correlation between the 30-s sit-to-stand power test (30STSp) outcome and body balance in older adults. We evaluated physically active male and female (n = 51) individuals with an age range of 60-80 years (M = 69.29). Participants were assessed on the maximum number of repetitions for 30STSp and on the performance of balance tasks, as follows: quiet standing in unipedal support, unipedal support while alternately touching two targets on the ground with the toe of the nonsupporting foot in either the anteroposterior (AP) or mediolateral (ML) direction, and paced sit-to-stand supported on a narrow bipedal support base. Performance on the balance tasks was measured through smartphone-based triaxial trunk accelerometry (meters per second squared), with analysis made through root mean square for the AP and ML axes. Analysis indicated significant negative correlation coefficients of 30STSp outcome with trunk acceleration on unipedal quiet stance tasks both in the ML (rs = -.46) and AP (rs = -.40) directions and with the AP alternate target touching task for ML trunk acceleration (rs = -.34) and the ML alternate target touching task for AP trunk acceleration (rs = -.31). These results suggest that in active older adults, the 30STSp outcome is associated with balance in unipedal quiet standing and dynamic tasks. Our findings indicate the contribution of balance control in the performance of 30STSp.