High tempo music prolongs high intensity exercise.

Music has been shown to reduce rating of perceived exertion, increase exercise enjoyment and enhance exercise performance, mainly in low-moderate intensity exercises. However, the effects of music are less conclusive with high-intensity activities. The purpose of this with-participant design study was to compare the effects of high tempo music (130 bpm) to a no-music condition during repeated high intensity cycling bouts (80% of peak power output (PPO)) on the following measures: time to exercise end-point, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), heart rate (HR), breathing frequency, ventilatory kinetics and blood lactate (BL). Under the music condition, participants exercised 10.7% longer (p = 0.035; Effect size (ES) = 0.28) (increase of 1 min) and had higher HR (4%; p = 0.043; ES = 0.25), breathing frequency (11.6%; p < 0.001; ES = 0.57), and RER (7% at TTF; p = 0.021; ES = 1.1) during exercise, as measured at the exercise end-point. Trivial differences were observed between conditions in RPE and other ventilatory kinetics during exercise. Interestingly, 5 min post-exercise termination, HR recovery was 13.0% faster following the music condition (p < 0.05) despite that music was not played during this period. These results strengthen the notion that music can alter the association between central motor drive, central cardiovascular command and perceived exertion, and contribute to prolonged exercise durations at higher intensities along with a quicken HR recovery.

Lower-limb and trunk muscle activation with back squats and weighted sled apparatus.

The back squat is a traditional resistance training exercise, whereas the resisted sled exercise is a relatively new resistance exercise. However, as there are no studies comparing muscle activation between the exercises, the objective of this study was to examine activity of leg and trunk muscles for both exercises. Ten healthy resistance-trained men participated in a randomized crossover design study consisting of 2 preparation sessions and 2 testing sessions. Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the rectus femoris, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, lower erector spinae, and the transversus abdominis/internal obliques (TrA/IO) were monitored during a 20-step maximum push with the weighted sled apparatus and a 10 repetition maximum with a bilateral back squat. There were nonsignificant trends for the rectus femoris (p = 0.092: 8.6-16.7%) and biceps femoris (p = 0.09: 10.5-32.8%) to demonstrate higher activity with the sled and squat exercises, respectively. There were main effects for condition with 61.2% greater gastrocnemius EMG with the sled exercise (p = 0.01) and 74.5% greater erector spinae EMG activity with the squat (p = 0.002). There were no significant differences between the exercises for the TrA/IO. In summary, the sled and squat exercises provided similar EMG activity for the quadriceps, hamstrings, and TrA/IO. The squat provided higher lower erector spinae activation, whereas the sled had superior gastrocnemius activation. Depending on the movement-training specificity of the sport, either exercise may be used in a training program while acknowledging the differences in gastrocnemius and erector spinae activity.

A comparison of assisted and unassisted proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques and static stretching.

A comparison of assisted and unassisted proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques and static stretching. J Strength Cond Res 26(5): 1238-1244, 2012-Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching often requires a partner. Straps are available allowing an individual to perform PNF stretching alone. It is not known if a strap provides similar improvements in the range of motion (ROM) as partner-assisted PNF or static stretching. The purpose of this study was to compare assisted and unassisted (with a strap) PNF stretching and static stretching. Hip joint ROM, reaction time (RT), and movement time (MT) were measured prestretching and poststretching. Thirteen recreationally active adults participated in this study. The participants were subjected to 5 different stretch interventions in a random order on separate days. Stretch conditions included unassisted PNF stretching using (a) isometric, (b) concentric, and (c) eccentric contractions with a stretch strap, (d) partner-assisted isometric PNF, and (e) static stretching. The RT, MT, dynamic, active, passive hip flexion angle, and angular velocity with dynamic hip flexion were measured before and after the intervention. The ROM improved (p < 0.05) 2.6, 2.7, and 5.4%, respectively, with dynamic, active static, and passive static ROM, but there was no significant difference between the stretching protocols. There was a main effect for time (p < 0.05) with all stretching conditions negatively impacting dynamic angular velocity (9.2%). Although there was no significant effect on RT, MT showed a negative main effect for time (p < 0.05) slowing 3.4%. In conclusion, it was found that all 3 forms of active stretching provided similar improvements in the ROM and poststretching performance decrements in MT and angular velocity. Thus, individuals can implement PNF stretching techniques with a partner or alone with a strap to improve ROM, but athletes should not use these techniques before important competitions or training because of the impairment of limb velocity and MT.