Development of smartphone application for personalized physical fitness education for university students in COVID-19 pandemic era

Online distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic can impact decreasing physical activity and increasing sedentary behaviour, leading to the reduced physical fitness of students. The research aims to develop an android application (app) to assist students in developing physical fitness independently. Four stages of development have been carried out to create the Mahasiswa Bugar application. The advantages of the Mahasiswa Bugar app are as a guide to measuring physical fitness that can be done by students themselves and based on existing literature. Physical fitness test items guided through this application are health-related fitness, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility, including features for feedback, history or recording of test results and training program. The results of the quasi-experiment show that the percentage of student involvement in vigorous physical activity has increased. Although the fit student android application's socialization did not significantly impact increasing the intensity of physical activity and motivation to train, this application could be a solution for students in fostering physical fitness independently during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Lessons Learned” Preventing Recurrent Ischemic Strokes through Secondary Prevention Programs: A Systematic Review

Recurrent ischemic strokes are a cause of significant healthcare burdens globally. Patients with uncontrolled vascular risk factors are more likely to develop recurrent ischemic strokes. This study aims to compile information gained from current secondary prevention programs. A pre-defined literature search strategy was applied to PubMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and Google Scholar databases, and studies from 1997 to 2020 were evaluated for quality, study aims, and outcomes. The search produced 1175 articles (1092 after duplicates were removed) and titles were screened; 55 titles were retained for the full-text analysis. Of the remaining studies, 31 were retained for assessment, five demonstrated long-term effectiveness, eight demonstrated short-term effectiveness, and 18 demonstrated no effectiveness. The successful studies utilized a variety of different techniques in the categories of physical fitness, education, and adherence to care plans to reduce the risk of recurrent strokes. The lessons we learned from the current prevention programs included (1) offer tailored care for underserved groups, (2) control blood pressure, (3) provide opportunities for medication dosage titration, (4) establish the care plan prior to discharge, (5) invest in supervised exercise programs, (6) remove barriers to accessing care in low resource settings, and (7) improve the transition of care.

Research on water environment and water saving management of swimming places

The swimming gymnasium is a social public water industry with water as the carrier, which integrates fitness, education and entertainment. It is an important part of water saving work to strengthen the water environment and water saving management of swimming places because of its large water consumption, complex water users and relatively concentrated water consumption time. In recent years, with the rapid development of the national economy and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, the demand and construction of swimming venues have rapid development, consuming a lot of water resources.

Can Fitness Education Programs Satisfy Fitness Professionals’ Competencies? Integrating Traditional and Revised Importance-Performance Analysis and Three-Factor Theory

The purpose of this study is to assess whether fitness education programs could meet the needs or competencies of fitness professionals such as personal trainers and group fitness instructors. A mixed method was adopted to address the objectives of the study. In the first step, a semi-structured interview was conducted with five fitness experts to identify the five dimensions of professional competencies. In the second step, an online survey and paper questionnaires were utilized to collect data from 324 eligible subjects. Traditional importance-performance analysis, revised importance-performance analysis, and the three-factor theory were used to analyze the collected data. The results indicate that “professional skill,” “career development,” and “public relations” are the three most critical professional competencies. “Nutrition” and “coping with stress” should be strengthened and improved in fitness education programs. “Administrative management” is the least important professional competency. Multi-competencies development and lifelong learning are the factors for a successful fitness trainer.

High-Intensity Interval Training-Based Fitness Education in Middle School Physical Education: A Limited-Efficacy Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the limited efficacy of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT)-based fitness education unit in middle school physical education (PE). Method: The study took place in six PE classes at one middle school located in the southern United States. The authors conveniently assigned the classes to treatment (n = 3 classes; 113 students) or control (n = 3 classes; 119 students) groups. Two trained PE specialists implemented the HIIT lessons two to three times per week for 8 weeks. The authors collected mixed methods data at the student, class, and teacher levels for the evaluation. Results: The focus group teacher interview with the teachers, field observations, and accelerometer-determined in-class physical activity data revealed sound implementation fidelity. The HIIT-based fitness education condition also showed greater improvement in physical activity and fitness knowledge and attenuated decline in curl-up scores compared with the control. Conclusion: The findings support the limited efficacy of implementing HIIT for fitness education in middle school PE programs.