Effect of workshops for coaches on the motor ability of balance in children practicing sports in late childhood.

BACKGROUND: The coach attitude impacts the whole mind and body system of a child athlete from emotional and motivational aspects to motor skills like motor coordination. It translates into the ability to control and stabilize posture. The vestibular system plays an important role in this regulation. This system, next to the visual system and mechanoreceptors, is responsible for balance and control during posture transition. Moreover, the vestibular system is influenced by emotional factors. Therefore the authors of this study focused on the changes in the balance stability of children practicing sport after the implementation of the psychological workshops for coaches. METHODS: Fifty-nine children at the age of 9-12 practicing soccer, art gymnastic and sport gymnastic were divided into two groups. The experimental group consisted of 31 participants and 28 in the control group. Experimental group children were under the influence of the 3 coaches who attended three workshops over 12 weeks period. Control group children were coached by 5 coaches who attended no workshops. Postural stability tests were performed on children before and after the workshops. RESULTS: The statistically significant changes were observed in selected parameters of children's balance stability after the experiment. The significant difference between the experimental and control group in Overall Stability Index (OSI) (p < 0.0002), Anterior-Posterior Stability Index (AP) (p < 0.01), Medial-Lateral Stability Index (ML) (p < 0.01) with eyes open were observed after the experiment. The results show a significant deterioration in control group contrary to the experimental group where the improvement trend was observed. Moreover, the difference between the groups was observed in OSI parameter (p < 0.005) with eyes closed after the experiment. CONCLUSION: The results obtained by the authors of the current study may support the thesis that educating coaches allows for better results in postural stability of child's athletes. Nevertheless, this thesis requires further research, with particular emphasis on the age and gender of young athletes.

Improvement of cognitive functions in response to a regular Nordic walking training in elderly women - A change dependent on the training experience.

Although regular physical activity is known to benefit health of aging populations, there are still many factors, which regulate exercise-induced adaptive changes. Among many vitamin D and myokines are under consideration. We, therefore, evaluated the influence of a single session of and regular Nordic Walking (NW) training combined with vitamin D supplementation on cognitive functions and muscle strength and some elements of the amino-acid profile. Thirty-five healthy elderly women (68 ±â€¯5 years old) from health promotion programmes took part in the study. At baseline they were divided into two groups: women, who participated in NW training for the first time (Beginners Group: BG) and women, who continued regular NW training longer than four years (Advance Group: AG). All women had a similar concentration of vitamin D (above 20 ng·ml-1) at baseline. The 12 weeks of NW training was supported by supplementation of vitamin D3 (4000 IU/day). Muscle strength, serum concentrations of myokines (irisin and IL-6), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), inflammation marker, glucose, branched amino acids and tryptophan were all assessed at baseline, 1 h after the first single training session and adequately at the end of the training programme. In addition, iron and ferritin were measured. The concentration of vitamin D3 as well as psychological (Quality-of-Life Assessment, The Beck Depression Inventory-2) and cognitive evaluations (D2 test of attention, Trial Making Test A&B) were also performed before and after the 12-week training programme. Data were interpreted using magnitude-based inferences. According to data obtained in this study, regular NW training resulted in improvement of cognitive functions in aged women. These positive changes were accompanied by an increase of irisin and BDNF concentration (adjusted effect moderate and likely). Our data also revealed that observed reductions of glucose and tryptophan concentrations might have positively contributed to the amelioration of cognitive functions. Still, obtained results indicated that it was not the level vitamin D that modulated exercise-induced changes, but rather the long-lasting experience and being more advanced in training.

Physical activity among other health-related behaviors in treatment of alcoholism.

AIM: Objective of the paper was to verify an association between the locus of control (LOC) and the level of physical activity (PA) in the group of alcohol addicts. METHODS: The study included 136 individuals (Females=53; Males=83; mean age 39.02±9.01 years) with established alcohol dependence, and an age- and education-matched control group (N.=289; Females=170; Females=119). Both groups were examined using Health Behavior Inventory by Juczynski, Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and an inventory of physical activity objectives (IPAO) by Lipowski and Zaleski. RESULTS: The alcoholics and the controls were characterized by similar average number of hours spent weekly for PA, but the former group declared slightly higher variability in its forms. Compared to males, female alcoholics spent significantly more time exercising. The alcoholics with various educational levels differed in terms of the PA form number: better educated males preferred greater variability in this matter (F=4.70; P=0.011). An opposite phenomenon was documented in the case of the locus of control (LOC): the level of LOC turned out to be lower among worse educated men (F=4.70; P=0.011). In contrast, female alcoholics with various educational levels did not differ significantly in terms of PA, health-seeking behavior, or LOC levels. Analysis of the control group revealed that educational level exerted significant effect on the number of hours spent on PA; the latter parameter was the highest among better educated respondents (F=6.50; P=0.002). CONCLUSION: Increased level of internal control can regulate health-related behaviors of alcoholics. The association between LOC and the role of PA is modulated by such sociodemographic factors as the level of education and gender.