Estudio de la incidencia de ampollas en el "trekking" y sus factores asociados

Objetivo: Determinar los factores asociados con la presencia de ampollas durante el senderismo. Método: La población de estudio fueron 1155 peregrinos que recibieron asistencia podológica. La información fue obtenida mediante una anamnesis y una exploración podológica. Los factores analizados fueron: edad, sexo, entrenamiento previo, nacionalidad, tipo de calzado, antigüedad del mismo y kilómetros realizados. Resultados: Las ampollas se encontraron en el 71,9 % de los peregrinos y se distribuyeron de manera similar en ambos pies, afectando principalmente el talón (20%) y el quinto dedo (14,6 %). Se encontró asociación con el sexo (p < 0,05). Las deportivas fueron las menos asociadas con ampollas (p = 0,03). No hubo relación significativa con el entrenamiento previo y el uso de calzado nuevo. Conclusiones: La incidencia de ampollas entre los senderistas fue del 80 %, y se asoció con el sexo (mayor en la mujer) y el tipo de calzado.

Fatores que afetam a satisfação e a fidelidade do consumidor: um estudo com usuários de calçado esportivo (tênis), na Região Sul da cidade de Natal

This paper aims to investigate the factors that influence the satisfaction and fidelity of tennis´s users with the region southern city of Natal, capital of Rio Grande do Norte as the area of analyzing , using the national satisfaction index models as a tool to study. In this study was used the questionnaire as a tool for collecting data based on the new Norwegian customer satisfaction barometer model proposed by Johnson et. al. (2001). The data collection took place during the months of May and June 2008, when 450 tennis´s users were interviewed. The main results obtained by multiple regression analysis and logistic regression showed that the users' satisfaction with the tennis´s brand is influenced by the quality, comfort, material used in the manufacture and price, while fidelity is potentized by the image of the brand and the satisfaction degree with the user's tennis and with the brand of tennis. In relation to user satisfaction with the tennis, that satisfaction is influenced by the quality, comfort, weight and the material used, while fidelity is potentized by the satisfaction with the tennis´s brand, with the possibility of paying the same amount again and the emotional commitment. As the processing of claims there was no direct influence on satisfaction and consumers fidelity due to the low number complaints

Oxygen consumption while standing iwth and unstable shoe design

This study explored the effects of unstable shoe design on oxygen consumption. Methods. Oxygen consumption (VO2) and heart rate (HR) were measured in 16 individuals while barefoot, wearing unstable shoes (Masai Barefoot Technology) and wearing conventional sport shoes while standing and walking on a treadmill and for 5 individuals while walking around a 400 m track. Results. When wearing the MBT shoes, a significant (p < 0.01) increase of 9.3 ± 5.2% in VO2 was measured while standing quietly for 6 min. No differences in VO2 and HR were observed between the MBT shoes or weight-adjusted conventional shoes (to match the weight of the MBT shoes) while walking on a treadmill. However, significant increases (p < 0.01) in VO2 (4.4 ± 8.2%) and HR (3.6 ± 7.3%) were observed for the MBT shoes compared with being barefoot. No significant differences in VO2 and HR were recorded while walking around a 400 m track either with MBT shoes, weight-adjusted conventional shoes or barefoot. Nonetheless, a comparison of the MBT shoes with barefoot revealed a tendency for VO2 to be higher when wearing the MBT shoes (7.1 ± 6.5%, p < 0.1) although HR was not significantly affected. Conclusions. The unstable shoe design predominantly effects oxygen consumption while standing, most likely due to increased muscle activity of the lower extremities.

Effect of firefighter boots and viscoelastic insoles on the impact force of the ground reaction force’s vertical component

The aims of the present study were to determine the effect of firefighter's boots on the vertical component of the ground reaction force (GRF) at heel strike, also known as heel strike transient and to analyze the effect of the viscoelastic insoles placed into the firefighter’s boots on this force during the gait. The magnitude of the impact force (FZI) from the vertical ground reaction force, the time to the production of this force (TZI) and the loading rate (GC) were registered. 39 firefighters without any pathology during 2 years before the study were recruited. Three different walking conditions were tested: 1) gait with firefighter's boots, 2) gait with firefighter's boots and viscoelastic insoles and 3) gait with sport shoes. The results showed a higher production and magnitude of the impact force during gait with firefighter's boots than during gait with sport shoes (13,1 vs. 2,6 % of occurrence of the impact force and 61,39 ± 35,18 %BW (body weight) vs. 49,38 ± 22,99 %BW, respectively). The gait with viscoelastic insoles placed into the firefighter's boots did not show significant differences in any of the parameters characterizing the impact force compared to the gait without insoles. The results of this study show a lower cushioning of the impact force during the gait with firefighter's boots in comparison to the gait with sport shoes and the inefficiency of the viscoelastic insoles placed inside the firefighter's boots to ameliorate the cushioning of the impact force at natural walking speed.

Effects of replica running shoes upon external forces and muscle activity during running

Twelve participants ran (9 km . h(-1)) to test two types of running shoes: replica and original shoes. Ground reaction force, plantar pressure and electromyographic activity were recorded. The shoes were tested randomly and on different days. Comparisons between the two experimental conditions were made by analysis of variance (ANOVA) test (P <= 0.05). The time to first peak, loading rate of the first peak and impulse of the first 75 ms of stance were significantly different between the shoes (P <= 0.05), revealing an increase of impact forces for the replica shoes. The peak plantar pressure values were significantly higher (P <= 0.05) when wearing replica shoes. During running, the contact area was significantly smaller (P <= 0.05) for the replica shoe. The electromyographic activity of the analysed muscles did not show changes between the two shoes in running. These findings suggest that the use of replica running shoes can increase the external load applied to the human body, but may not change the muscle activity pattern during locomotion. This new mechanical situation may increase the risk of injuries in these movements.

Fan motivation and loyalty : extending the Sport Interest Inventory (SII) to the Australian Football League

This study used the Sport Interest Inventory (SII) to examine the motivation of fans attending a game in the Australian Football League. This is the first study to use the SII for professional men’s team sport outside the United States. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the model provided a good fit for the data collected in Australia, and regression analysis revealed that team interest, vicarious achievement, excitement and player interest were the significant factors in predicting and explaining the level of attitudinal loyalty of fans toward their favourite team.

Corporate social responsibility and sport event sponsorship

Demonstrating socially responsible behaviour has become increasingly important for corporations. Using the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) as its theoretical framework, this paper examines the meditational role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the relationship between sport participation motivation, event attachment and purchase intent of a sport event’s sponsors’ products. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of sport event participants (N=689) to measure sport participation motivation (recreation and charity), attachment to the event, CSR, and purchase intent of sponsors’ products. Results reveal that CSR fully mediates the link between purchase intent and sport participation motivation and partially mediates the influence of attachment on purchase intent. The authors propose that corporations strategically align with sport events in which participants are attached to allow for CSR and the meaning elicited by the event to work jointly.

Abstimmen oder Schwimmen? Plebiszitarer Sport und synchronisierte Wahlen. [Sink or swim: Plebiscitary sport and synchronised voting.][In German]

This chapter starts from the observation that new sporting attributes are growing up unnoticed in popular entertainment and ‘reality’ TV. They celebrate not individual heroics but spectator-oriented teamwork which must look effortless and stylish. Instead of objective measurements – ‘faster, higher, stronger’ – winners are picked by voting and consumer choice. Sport and media are converging and integrating. As they do so, what counts as sport, why it is valued, and what it symbolises for contemporary culture, are all changing. I take these changes to be emblematic of something emergent in the culture at large as the modernist paradigm shifts towards a new consumerist paradigm. This is symbolised in new sports, of which the paradigm example is synchronised swimming. The chapter traces these changes via the career and legacy of the Australian swimming and fashion pioneer Annette Kellerman.

Sport marketing on Fortune Global 500 websites

This research investigates how the world’s leading companies, the Fortune Global 500, use sportsrelated terms and phrases on their Web site. An automated process mirrored leading transnational corporations’ Web presence and then searched their sites. Analysis of about four gigabytes of Webbased text revealed regional and industry differences in how the world’s largest corporations use sports terms on their sites.

Ecological approaches to cognition and action in sport and exercise : ask not only what you do, but where you do it

In recent decades, concepts and ideas from James J. Gibson’s theory of direct perception in ecological psychology have been applied to the study of how perception and action regulate sport performance. This article examines the influence of different streams of thought in ecological psychology for studying cognition and action in the diverse behavioural contexts of sport and exercise. In discussing the origins of ecological psychology it can be concluded that psychologists such as Lewin, and to some extent Heider, provided the initial impetus for the development of key ideas. We argue that the papers in this special issue clarify that the different schools of thinking in ecological psychology have much to contribute to theoretical and practical developments in sport and exercise psychology. For example, Gibson emphasized and formalized how the individual is coupled with the environment; Brunswik raised the issue of the ontology of probability in human behaviour and the problem of representative design for experimental task constraints; Barker looked carefully into extra-individual behavioural contexts and Bronfenbrenner presented insights pertinent to the relations between behaviour contexts, and macro influences on behaviour. In this overview, we highlight essential issues from the main schools of thought of relevance to the contexts of sport and exercise, and we consider some potential theoretical linkages with dynamical systems theory.

Australian Association for Exercise and Sport Science position stand : optimising cancer outcomes through exercise

Cancer represents a major public health concern in Australia. Causes of cancer are multifactorial with lack of physical activity being considered one of the known risk factors, particularly for breast and colorectal cancers. Participating in exercise has also been associated with benefits during and following treatment for cancer, including improvements in psychosocial and physical outcomes, as well as better compliance with treatment regimens, reduced impact of disease symptoms and treatment-related side effects, and survival benefits for particular cancers. The general exercise prescription for people undertaking or having completed cancer treatment is of low to moderate intensity, regular frequency (3-5 times/week) for at least 20 minutes per session, involving aerobic, resistance or mixed exercise types. Future work needs to push the boundaries of this exercise prescription, so that we can better understand what constitutes optimal, desirable and necessary frequency, duration, intensity and type, and how specific characteristics of the individual (e.g., age, cancer type, treatment, presence of specific symptoms) influence this prescription. What follows is a summary of the cancer and exercise literature, in particular the purpose of exercise following diagnosis of cancer, the potential benefits derived by cancer patients and survivors from participating in exercise programs, and exercise prescription guidelines and contraindications or considerations for exercise prescription with this special population. This report represents the position stand of the Australian Association of Exercise and Sport Science on exercise and cancer recovery and has the purpose of guiding Accredited Exercise Physiologists in their work with cancer patients.

The development of decision making skill in sport : An ecological dynamics perspective

In this chapter we introduce a theoretical framework for studying decision making in sport: the ecological dynamics approach, which we integrate with key ideas from the literature on learning complex motor skills. Our analysis will include insights from Berstein (1967) on the coordination of degrees of freedom and Newell's (1985) model of motor learning. We particularly focus on the role of perceptual degrees of freedom advocated in an ecological approach to learning. In introducing this framework to readers we contrast this perspective with more traditional models of decision-making. Finally, we propose some implications to the training of decision-making skill in sport.

Information for regulating action in sport : metastability and emergence of tactical solutions under ecological constraints

The aims of this chapter are twofold. First, we show how experiments related to nonlinear dynamical systems theory can bring about insights on the interconnectedness of different information sources for action. These include the amount of information as emphasised in conventional models of cognition and action in sport and the nature of perceptual information typically emphasised in the ecological approach. The second aim was to show how, through examining the interconnectedness of these information sources, one can study the emergence of novel tactical solutions in sport; and design experiments where tactical/decisional creativity can be observed. Within this approach it is proposed that perceptual and affective information can be manipulated during practice so that the athlete's cognitive and action systems can be transposed to a meta-stable dynamical performance region where the creation of novel action information may reside.