Jacob K. Gardner

The purpose of this study was to determine if muscle activity of upper extremity muscles differed depending on the involvement of the legs during a bench press. The study included 15 male and 12 female recreationally trained, college age participants. There were 2 testing sessions. Session 1: Participants performed a 1-repetition maximum in a standard bench press followed by a leg-drive familiarization. For the familiarization, participants were instructed in the leg-drive technique (buttocks remained on the bench) and given ample time to practice until comfortable and which satisfied the researchers. Leg-drive pressing force was verified by measuring anterior-posterior and vertical ground reaction forces measured by a force plate. Session 2: Outfitted with surface electromyography (EMG), participants performed 3 repetitions in the bench press with 75% of the standard bench press 1-repetition maximum (1RM) under three conditions: 1) standard 2) leg-drive, 3) legs-in-the-air. The normalized average of the peaks of the three reps for each muscle were analyzed using a 2 x 3 (gender x condition) ANOVA. The ANOVA revealed no significant differences across groups or conditions (pectoralis major p = 0.405, anterior deltoid p = 0.297, triceps brachii p = 0.092). When comparing a standard bench press to leg-drive, our results indicate that similar amounts of muscle activation are required for the task regardless of the leg involvement. This work indicates that using a leg-drive technique that does not allow the buttocks to rise from the bench, does not result in a change in upper extremity muscle activity compared to a standard bench press. Due to lack of differences across conditions, athletes and strength coaches should base their decision on the use of leg-drive on their personal preference.

Physical activity (PA) is decreasing, with the work environment being particularly influential on reduction in PA. However, physically active lifestyles meeting or exceeding 150 minutes/week have been linked to reductions in multiple deleterious chronic health conditions. University educators are inundated with University work as well as promotional challenges that may act as barriers to achieving recommended daily levels of PA. Currently, very few research studies have evaluated PA among University faculty. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory investigation was to evaluate self-reported levels of PA among faculty members at Biola University. Eligible survey respondents (N = 138) were men (n = 72, 48.7 ± 11.7 years of age, 179.3 ± 8.5 centimeters in height, 86.3 ± 16.1 kilograms in weight, and an average body mass index (BMI) of 26.8 ± 4.6 kg/m2) and women (n = 66, 44.8 ± 11.7 years of age, 166.2 ± 8.2 centimeters in height, 69.3 ± 13.2 kilograms in weight, and an average body mass index (BMI) of 25.1 ± 4.8 kg/m2) faculty members from Biola University. Participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), using the SurveyMonkey® platform. Total daily sitting time and metabolic equivalent (MET) minute activity-specific (leisure, household, occupational, and transport) were calculated. One way ANOVAs revealed significant (p = 0.02) main effects for job title and total minutes of PA per week. The post-hoc analysis revealed that adjuncts were significantly more physically active than full professors. Although the only statistically significant differences were between adjuncts and full professors, we observed a downward trend in median physical activity. Independent measures t-tests revealed a significant (p = 0.004) difference between men and women for total minutes of PA per week. Women were significantly more physically active than men. Only 5.1% of faculty reported below 150 min of cumulative PA within a week. Total median PA for faculty was 3,133.5 MET*min/week. 52.9% of faculty reported a high categorical score above 3,000.0 MET*min/week of activity with a median of 4,757.0 MET*min/week. Of the four domains, leisure activity had the greatest median at 1,169.5 MET*min/week and active transport had the least at 462.0 MET*min/week. Faculty surveyed in this study exceeded the ACSM minimum weekly recommendations for PA and lower faculty ranks were the most active.

Although effects of workload and cadence on sagittal plane knee biomechanics in cycling have been widely studied, few studies have examined their impact on the frontal plane. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different workloads and cadences on knee sagittal and frontal plane biomechanics. Eighteen healthy participants (age, 55.7 ± 11.0 yr) volunteered for this study. A motion analysis system and a custom instrumented pedal were used to collect five cycles of three-dimensional kinematics (240 Hz) and pedal reaction force (PRF, 1200 Hz) during 2 min of cycling in each of eight testing conditions, including five workload conditions of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 kg at 60 rpm, and three cadence conditions of 70, 80, and 90 rpm with 1-kg workload. Two one-way repeated measures analyses of variance were used to examine the influence of cadence and workload on selected variables (P < 0.05). Increased workloads with constant rpm caused an increased peak knee abduction moment from 5.82 to 14.36 N · m and peak knee extension moment from 11.61 to 37.16 N · m. Increased workloads also significantly increased peak medial and vertical PRF. Increased cadences at the constant workload had no effects on peak knee abduction moment but caused increased peak anterior and vertical PRF and peak knee flexion moment. The findings of this study indicate that increasing workload at constant cadence significantly increased peak knee abduction moment. Further study may be needed to demonstrate the efficacy of appropriate levels of workload and cadence in knee osteoarthritis and other populations with knee problems.

The recent popularity of unstable shoes has sparked much interest in the efficacy of the shoe design. Anecdotal evidence suggests that earlier designs appear bulky and less aesthetically appealing for everyday use. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of a second generation unstable shoe on center of pressure (COP), ground reaction force (GRF), kinematics, and kinetics of the ankle joint during level walking at normal and fast speeds. In addition, findings were compared with results from the first generation shoe. Fourteen healthy males performed five successful level walking trials in four testing conditions: walking in unstable and control shoes at normal (1.3 m/s) and fast (1.8 m/s) speeds. The unstable shoe resulted in an increase in mediolateral COP displacement, first peak vertical GRF loading rate, braking GRF, ankle eversion range of motion (ROM), and inversion moment; as well as a decrease in anteroposterior COP displacement, second peak vertical GRF, ankle plantarflexion ROM, and dorsiflexion moment. Only minor differences were found between the shoe generations. Results of the generational comparisons suggest that the lower-profile second generation shoe may be as effective at achieving the desired unstable effects while promoting a smoother transition from heel contact through toe off compared with the first generation shoe.