Male Physical Education Students Research Articles

Validity of ratings of perceived exertion as an index of exercise intensity in swimming training.

The validity of ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), proposed by Borg (1962), as an index of exercise intensity in swimming training was discussed based on the following four experiments. Experiment I: VO2 and heart rate (HR) were measured and RPE was asked in ten female and seven male physical education students with different levels of swimming skill performing submaximal and maximal work in tethered swimming. The increases in HR and RPE with increase in %VO2max were fitted well by straight lines with high correlation coefficients of r = 0.957-0.999 and r = 0.893-0.988, respectively. RPE was increased in a linear fashion with increase in HR except for a few subjects. The correlation coefficients for linear regression for individuals were 0.862-0.987. Experiment II: Swimming velocity and HR were measured in four groups with different levels of swimming skill. The breast stroke in a 50-m pool for 5 min at three RPE ratings, i.e., very light (RPE 9), somewhat hard (RPE 13) and very hard (RPE 17) was requested of these groups. In good skilled well trained college swimmers, %HRmax was fairly higher than the RPE at the RPE 9 and RPE 13 levels but coincided with the RPE at the RPE 17 level. In skilled trained physical education students, the HR increased with a corresponding increase in RPE. But in the group with low or lower levels of swimming skill, the HR kept about the same values in spite of the increase in RPE. Experiment III: Two male and six female low skilled physical education students took the swimming training in the swimming pool for 2.0-2.5 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 2 weeks. The students also received the swimming training in the sea which lasted for 2 hours each in the morning and in the afternoon for 6 days. The same RPE test, as mentioned in Experiment II, was done before, during and after swimming training. Mean swimming velocity during and after training was slightly higher than that before training at the RPE 9 and RPE 13 levels, and was much higher at the RPE 17 level. Before training, the HR was fairly higher than the RPE at the RPE 9 and RPE 13 level. But during and after training, the HR was much closer to the RPE at the RPE 9 and RPE 13 levels. Experiment IV: Two male and three female lower skilled middle-aged swimmers performed the same RPE test as mentioned in Experiment II.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Relationship between record time and maximal oxygen consumption in middle-distance running.

The relationship between record time (tr) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) has been examined in 69 male physical education students who had taken part in 800-m and 1500-m footraces. It was found that tr and VO2max were inversely related. The relationships tr = f(VO2max) have been fitted by two exponential equations: tr (1500 m) = 698e-0.0145VO2max; tr (800 m) = 272e-0.011VO2max; P less than 0.001. A mathematical formulation of the energy conservation principle in supramaximal running, based on the exponential increase of the oxygen uptake as a function of time with a rate constant of 0.025 s-1 has been applied to the tr calculation from VO2max. As calculated tr were highly correlated to measured tr (P less than 0.001), it was concluded that the relationships tr = f(VO2max) can be interpreted on the basis of the model described in this study.

Electrocardiographic Findings according to Sex in Athletes and Controls

We have previously compared the electrocardiogram of 1,299 male and female students of physical education and sports with 151 age- and sex-matched sedentary controls and found that the former had lower heart rate, longer conduction times and increased voltages. The same material of 1,450 young adult subjects was split according to sex into 617 females and 833 males in order to analyze the influence of gender on the resting 12-lead electrocardiogram. We found that females had a significant higher heart rate, shortened conduction times (PQ, Q, ventricular activation time and QRS) and a prolonged repolarization time (QTc), decreased P, Q and T amplitudes as well as indices of right, septal and left hypertrophy, and ST elevation in precordial leads were lower in females than in males. These differences were highly significant with p values less than 0.0001 for almost all parameters. Sinus bradycardia was more common in men and sinus tachycardia in women. The prevalence of other rhythms and supraventricular and ventricular premature beats was low in both sexes. AV block grade I was found in 1% of females and 3% of males (p less than 0.02). Notching of R/S in V1-V2 and incomplete right bundle branch block were less common in females (p less than 0.0001). The differences in ECG parameters between the two sexes in the total material persisted also when the athletic and control groups were investigated separately. Gender seems to be highly important for most ECG parameters in the resting ECG. This points to the necessity of discussing different upper normal limits for ECG parameters according to gender.

Increase in the proportion of fast‐twitch muscle fibres by sprint training in males

Fifteen male physical education students were studied. The subjects trained for 4-6 weeks, 2-3 days per week, on a mechanically braked bicycle ergometer. A training session consisted of repeated 30-s 'all-out' sprints on a Wingate bicycle ergometer, on which the brake band of the flywheel was loaded with 75 g kg-1 body wt, with rest periods of 15-20 min between consecutive sprints. Thigh muscle biopsies were taken before and after the training period and were analysed for fibre types using a myofibrillar ATPase stain. The proportion of type I fibres decreased from 57 to 48% (P less than 0.05) and type IIA fibres increased from 32 to 38% (P less than 0.05). This study indicates that it is possible to achieve a fibre type transformation with high-intensity training. The effect of two-legged 'sprint' training on muscle fibre type composition may be related to a changed pattern of muscle fibre activation (e.g. an increased stimulation frequency). A change in fibre activation frequency may induce an increased synthesis of type II fibre myosin (fast myosin). Hormonal influences such as enhanced adrenergic stimulation of the muscle fibres cannot be excluded as a contributing factor, however.

The relationship between muscle kinetic parameters and kinematic variables in a complex movement.

Kinematic variables of the vertical jump (jumping height, jump phase durations and joint angles) were measured on 39 male physical education students. In addition, kinetic parameters of the hip and knee extensors, and of the plantar flexors (maxima voluntary force and its rate of development) were recorded on the same subjects, in isometric conditions. The results demonstrated significant positive correlations between kinetic parameters of the active muscle groups and jumping height (r = 0.217-0.464). The dominant effect on these correlations was due to the knee extensors. Correlations between these parameters and the duration of the jump phases were much weaker. Correlation coefficients between kinetic parameters and limb angles in the lowest body position showed that fast force production in one muscle group was related to a significant decrease in the joint angles of distant body segments. Multiple correlation coefficients between leg extensor parameters and kinematic variables (ranging between 0.256 for the duration of the counter-movement phase and 0.616 for jump height) suggested that kinetic parameters could explain more than a quarter of the variability of this complex human movement. Therefore, the conclusion was drawn that an extended set of measurements of the relevant musculo-skeletal system parameters could predict a considerable amount of the variability of human movement. However, high correlation coefficients between the same kinetic parameters of different muscle groups suggest that not all active muscle groups have to be included in the measurements.

Gender Differences in Managerial Aspirations and Potential among Physical Education and Non-Physical Education Students

Gender differences in managerial aspirations and managerial potential have been advanced as possible explanations for the structuring of organizations along gender lines, with women concentrated in lower level jobs and under-represented in managerial positions. These hypothesized gender differences were examined in a sample of male and female physical education and non-physical education students. Analysis of variance results showed that the effects of gender, faculty, or their interaction on managerial aspirations were not significant. The main effects of aspiration level, faculty, and gender on the set of managerial potential variables were significant. Aspirants scored higher than nonaspirants on self-assurance, decisiveness, and need for dominance. Non-physical education students scored higher on need for dominance than did physical education students. Males were higher in need for autonomy and need for dominance, while females were higher in decisiveness.

Psychophysiological assessments in a repeated-measurement design extending over a one-year interval: Trends and stability

Intra-individual variability in psychophysiological parameters of activation processes can be attributed to functional fluctuation and/or error of measurement. A repeated measurement design at intervals of about three weeks, three months and one-year duration, in which a laboratory-field comparison was made with respect to predictability of individual differences, provided data on a broad spectrum of physiological and psychological variables measured under various conditions. We investigated the reproducibility of commonly used laboratory measures in a sample of male students of physical education ( N = 58). Results indicate that a hypthetical general trend component accounts for less than 10 percent of the total variance in a two-factorial ANOVA (Subjects × Replications). Stability coefficients based on raw scores (rest and strain scores) are relatively higher than those based on change scores. Stability of heart rate, pulse wave velocity, respiration rate during rest, mental arithmetic and cold pressor test and cardiovascular and respiratory parameters during ergometer exercise and 1000m run exceed the stability of blood pressure, parameters from impedance cardiography, eye blink and electrodermal activity during the respective laboratory conditions. The implications of such descriptive studies for the planning and evaluation of longitudinal studies and for selection of parameters depicting habitual dispositions in differential psychophysiological research are indicated.

Effects of dietary manipulations on blood glucose and hormonal responses following supramaximal exercise.

The effects of supramaximal exercise on blood glucose, insulin, and catecholamine responses were examined in 7 healthy male physical education students (mean +/- SD: age = 21 +/- 1.2 years; VO2max = 54 +/- 6 ml X kg-1 X min-1) in response to the following three dietary conditions: a normal mixed diet (N); a 24-h low carbohydrate (CHO) diet intended to reduce liver glycogen content (D1); and a 24-h low CHO diet preceded by a leg muscle CHO overloading protocol intended to reduce hepatic glycogen content with increased muscle glycogen store (D2). Exercise was performed on a bicycle ergometer at an exercise intensity of 130% VO2max for 90 s. Irrespective of the dietary manipulation, supramaximal exercise was associated with a similar significant (p less than 0.01) increase in the exercise and recovery plasma glucose values. The increase in blood glucose levels was accompanied by a similar increase in insulin concentrations in all three groups despite lower resting insulin levels in conditions D1 and D2. Lactate concentrations were higher during the early phase of the recovery period in the D2 as compared to the N condition. At cessation of exercise, epinephrine and norepinephrine were greatly elevated in all three conditions. These results indicate that the increase in plasma glucose and insulin associated with very high intensity exercise, persists in spite of dietary manipulations intended to reduce liver glycogen content or increase muscle glycogen store.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Issues of masculinity and femininity in British physical education

The article examines issues of masculinity and femininity as they are culturally produced and reproduced in British physical education. A widely practised sex-segregated curriculum is seen as the result, both of traditional social views of masculine and feminine appropriate physical activities, and the traditionally separate training of physical education teachers. Interviews with two male physical education students enable an examination of conceptions of masculinity in physical education as not only associated with male, but also female behaviour. It is argued that the values of masculinity, capitalism, and sport have developed in close association in Britain and that values of physical education perpetuate the same. Masculinity is seen to be associated with dominance and power under capitalism and femininity with a particular image of womanhood. Physical education, it is argued, is an area where different expressions of masculinity are perpetuated by males and females, and where femininity is difficult. Socialist feminism offers a critique of capitalist values and a means of elucidating how masculinity and femininity are both accomodated and resisted in physical education. The contradictions for the female role are found to be bewildering, and physical educationalists are urged to examine consciously masculinity and femininity and their wider cultural determinants, to offer a physical education which does not imply that ‘sport will make a man of you’ whatever your sex.

Predictability of individual differences in activation processes in a field setting based on laboratory measures.

ABSTRACTThe predictability of individual differences in activation processes was investigated in a multi‐method laboratory‐field study. Male students of physical education (N=58) were examined under various emotionally activating and physically demanding conditions (mental arithmetic, reaction time, free speech, cold pressor test, bicycle ergometer). The assessment included multi‐channel recordings of pre‐start phases in an athletic stadium and performance on a 1000 m run. Basal heart rate was also recorded during sleep. This multi‐situational assessment was repeated after three weeks, three months, and, for most (N=42) subjects, after one year. Significant relationships exist between scores from corresponding conditions of relaxation, anticipation, and performance of physical exercise. However, with the exception of heart rate, correlation coefficients are rather small and seem to be of questionable predictive validity. A generalizability study further supports the general conclusion: To increase the practical relevance in psychophysiological investigations of stress/strain phenomena, such studies should directly assess individual differences in the criterion situations themselves.

Effects of previous muscle contractions on cyclic movement dynamics

In addition to muscle elastic energy, enhancement of movement performance in a stretch-shortening cycle could also be due to an increase in initial muscle force during the stretching phase. This hypothesis was tested by examining 9 male physical education students during maximum voluntary knee extensions performed with and without previous knee flexion. In both conditions movements were performed with various external loads. In addition, the force-velocity curve (FVC) parameters of the knee extensor muscles were also determined. As simple model of a muscle impulse was constructed in order to select independent biomechanical variables relevant to movement dynamics. The experimental results demonstrated that previous knee flexion enhanced the maximum angular velocity of knee extension. This effect decreased with increasing movement duration (i.e. increased external load), as well as giving positive correlation coefficients between the magnitude of this effect and the rate of development of knee extensor tension. These results are discussed in relation to a model of the dynamics. It is shown that previous muscle contractions performed during braking in the negative movement phase might play an important role in enhancing performance in cyclic movements. This role would be especially important in transient contractions of primarily slow twitch fiber muscles.

The effects of alkaline treatment on short‐term maximal exercise

Abstract The effects of alkalosis on submaximal and maximal exercise performance of a relatively long duration have been investigated previously. The present study examined the effects of sodium bicarbonate ingestion on cycling performance of the 30 s Wingate Anaerobic Test using 13 male physical education students. Three hours prior to exercise, subjects ingested either table salt (control) or sodium bicarbonate (alkalosis) of equimolar dosage (10 and 13 g, respectively) in capsule form. Biopsies were taken from the m. vastus lateralis for determination of muscle fibre composition. Resting blood pH was 7.43±0.01 (mean±s.e.) for the alkaline condition versus 7.37 + 0.01 for the control condition (P < 0.01). Mean power output increased significantly (P<0.05) following alkaline treatment. Peak power output was not affected. No relationship was found between fibre type distribution and sensitivity to the alkaline treatment. The increased alkali reserve reduced mean post‐exercise acidosis by 0.05 pH units (P<...

Catecholamines, growth hormone, cortisol, insulin, and sex hormones in anaerobic and aerobic exercise.

Seventeen male physical education students performed three types of treadmill exercise: (1) progressive exercise to exhaustion, (2) prolonged exercise of 50 min duration at the anaerobic threshold of 4 mmol . l-1 blood lactate (AE), (3) a single bout of short-term high-intensity exercise at 156% of maximal exercise capacity in the progressive test, leading to exhaustion within 1.5 min (ANE). Immediately before and after ANE and before, during, and after AE adrenaline, noradrenaline, growth hormone, cortisol, insulin, testosterone, and oestradiol were determined in venous blood, and glucose and lactate were determined in arterialized blood from the earlobe. Adrenaline and noradrenaline increased 15 fold during ANE and 3--4 fold and 6--9 fold respectively during AE. The adrenaline/noradrenaline ratio was 1 : 3 during ANE and 1 : 10 during AE. Cortisol increased by 35% in ANE (12% of which appeared in the postexercise period) and 54% in AE. Insulin increased during ANE but decreased during AE. Testosterone and oestradiol increased by 14% and 16% during ANE and by 22% and 28% during AE. The results point to a markedly higher emotional stress and higher sympatho-adrenal activity in anaerobic exercise. Growth hormone and cortisol appear to be the more affected by intense prolonged exercise. Taking plasma volume changes and changes of metabolic clearance rates into consideration, neither of the exercise tests appeared to affect secretion of testosterone and oestradiol.

Effects of Pretension on Isometric Force Production

This study was designed to investigate the effect of muscle fiber distribution and pretension at various submaximal contraction levels on the isometric force-time curve during knee extension. Thirteen male physical education students volunteered as subjects. They were instructed to react to an auditory and light signal by extending their right knee as quickly and forcefully as possible. The contractions were performed from seven pretension levels ranging from 0% to 70% of maximal voluntary contraction value (MVC). The isometric force-time curves were analyzed for their maximal rate of isometric force production. Preliminary tension was found to have statistically significant, decreasing effects on isometric maximal strength produced from the pretension levels of 20%, 30%, and 40% of MVC and on the rate of isometric force production (RFD). Relatively, the decrease was greater for the RFD than for the maximal strength. The effect of the 20% preliminary tension on the RFD was greater (P less than 0.05) for subjects rich in fast-twitch muscle fibers in their m. vastus lateralis than for subjects rich in slow-twitch fibers. At the other preliminary tension levels, the intergroup differences did not reach the level of statistical significance.

Hormonal and metabolic consequences of prolonged running at the individual anaerobic threshold.

To examine the metabolic and hormonal responses to non-exhaustive steady-state exercise at the individual anaerobic threshold (IAT), 12 male physical education students performed treadmill exercise of 50 min duration. The treadmill speed equaled that at the IAT as assessed in a standardized progressive exercise test (75 +/- 2% of maximal oxygen uptake). Heart rate averaged 177.0 +/- 12.2 min-1 at 15 min and 184.5 +/- 11.5 min-1 at 50 min. After the initial adjustment, arterial lactate stabilized at individually different levels between 2.70 and 6.00 mmol/l without any substantial trend in the individual curves. Arterial glucose was unchanged throughout the test. Glycerol increased continuously to 157% above the preexercise value (P less than 0.001). The FFA blood level was not depressed but rather showed an increasing tendency between 25 and 50 min (P less than 0.05). Between 0 and 25 min, insulin decreased (P less than 0.01), growth hormone increased to 8 times its pre-exercise value (P less than 0.001), and cortisol did not show any significant changes. Between 25 and 50 min, no significant additional changes were detected for these hormones. At 15 min epinephrine and norepinephrine had increased 2.8- and 7-fold above the respective pre-exercise values (P less than 0.001); both catecholamines continued to increase until 50 min (P less than 0.001 and P less than 0.01). It is concluded that prolonged exercise at the IAT is associated with a steady-state condition in carbohydrate supply and turnover, as is suggested by the stable blood levels of glucose and lactate. The stably elevated blood level of lactate did not result in depression of the FFA blood level, suggesting unimpaired supply of FFA from extramuscular sources. Exercise at the IAT places a high load on aerobic metabolism without encountering progressive lactate accumulation and the associated metabolic effects.

Anaerobic Capacity and Muscle Fiber Type Distribution in Man

The purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between performance of an anaerobic capacity test (Wingate test) and muscle fiber type distribution. Subjects (n = 19) were 20- to 30-year-old male physical education students. Biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis muscle at rest. The Wingate test is a 30-s cycle ergometer ride at maximal pedaling frequency, against a resistance set relative to the body weight. Average mechanical power output, peak 5 s power output, and the power decrease were calculated. Average power output was related to the relative fiber size (average FT area/average ST area); peak power, to % FT and to % FT area; and the power decrease to relative fiber size. It is suggested that muscular performance, as determined by the Wingate test, is positively related to preponderance and size of FT fibers. This test is a valid means of evaluating maximal short-term muscular power, in which energy pathways are predominantly anaerobic.

Degenerative hip disease in adolescent athletes

The effect of conducted training begun at an early age on the femoral head tilt was studied in male adolescent competitive sportsmen and physical education students. The control group consisted of army recruits. The femoral head tilt proved to be smaller in both sportsmen and physical education students when compared with the control subjects. The results suggest that sports activities started at an early age would not contribute to epiphysiolysis and through that to later development of osteoarthritis in the hip joint.

Interest and Participation in High School Activities by College Freshmen

This study attempts to determine interest and participation in high school activities. For 950 male college freshmen physical education students participation in activity was determined by an Information Check List. The results indicated that high school students tended to participate in team activities, but when asked what they were interested in learning as new activities, they preferred the individual activities that could be participated in during later years.

GENERAL COURSE AND SPECIALIST PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS

Seventy‐six third‐year male college students following teacher‐training courses, and 49 (100%) third‐year male specialist physical education students completed a battery of personality tests. Their social responses were measured, and their final teaching grades classified on a numerical scale. Attitude to teaching was also assessed. Body‐types were objectively assessed using Parnell's (1958) phenotyping method. A number of significant differences between the two criterion groups were noted. The component patterns of the two groups were found to be significantly different. Moreover, the study revealed an extended description of the muscular‐extraverted stereotype outlined in previous literature. Certain educational implications are suggested based on these findings.

Effects of a Ballet Training Program upon the Physical Performance of College Freshmen

Abstract Sixty male college freshman physical education students were randomly assigned into three groups. For a period of 24 weeks each group carried out a different training program, one of which was a basic ballet training program. At the completion of the training session the groups were given a series of seven test items. Analysis of variance techniques showed a significant difference between the groups in four of the test items. The group which followed the ballet training program achieved higher mean scores on all seven of the test items.