Impact of Long-Rope Jumping on Monoamine and Attention in Young Adults

Previous research has shown that rope jumping improves physical health; however, little is known about its impact on brain-derived monoamine neurotransmitters associated with cognitive regulation. To address these gaps in the literature, the present study compared outcomes between 15 healthy participants (mean age, 23.1 years) after a long-rope jumping exercise and a control condition. Long-rope jumping also requires co-operation between people, attention, spatial cognition, and rhythm sensation. Psychological questionnaires were administered to both conditions, and Stroop task performance and monoamine metabolite levels in the saliva and urine were evaluated. Participants performing the exercise exhibited lower anxiety levels than those in the control condition. Saliva analyses showed higher 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (a norepinephrine metabolite) levels, and urine analyses revealed higher 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (a serotonin metabolite) levels in the exercise condition than in the control. Importantly, urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid level correlated with salivary and urinary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol levels in the exercise condition. Furthermore, cognitive results revealed higher Stroop performance in the exercise condition than in the control condition; this performance correlated with salivary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol levels. These results indicate an association between increased 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol and attention in long-rope jumping. We suggest that long-rope jumping predicts central norepinephrinergic activation and related attention maintenance.

Biomechanics of Rotational Movement in Off-Ice Figure Skating Jumps: Applications to Training

Introduction The aim of this study was to characterize kinematic parameters of the rotational body movement during the office figure skating multi-revolution jumping exercise and to propose applications to training. Material and Methods Six elite Polish female junior singles figure skaters were examined performing single and their respective maximum total rotation vertical jumps in off-ice conditions. Measurements of the ground reaction force were performed with a KISTLER (500 Hz) piezoelectric sensor platform with BioWare Software, synchronized with the cinematographic analysis using the Vicon T-Series motion capture system. Results The analysis revealed positive linear relations between selected jump parameters of the pre-take-off phase and after the landing. Two moments of countering torque were also noticed: the first in the landing phase, and the second before reaching the stabilized position. Conclusions Applications of the findings for off-ice training were discussed.

Habitual Caffeine Consumption Does Not Interfere With the Acute Caffeine Supplementation Effects on Strength Endurance and Jumping Performance in Trained Individuals

The long-standing caffeine habituation paradigm was never investigated in strength endurance and jumping exercise performance through a straightforward methodology. The authors examined if habitual caffeine consumption would influence the caffeine ergogenic effects on strength endurance and jumping performance as well as perceptual responses. Thirty-six strength-trained individuals were mathematically allocated into tertiles according to their habitual caffeine consumption: low (20 ± 11 mg/day), moderate (88 ± 33 mg/day), and high consumers (281 ± 167 mg/day). Then, in a double-blind, crossover, counterbalanced fashion, they performed a countermovement vertical jump test and a strength endurance test either after caffeine (6 mg/kg) and placebo supplementation or after no supplementation (control). Perceptual responses such as ratings of perceived exertion and pain were measured at the termination of the exercises. Acute caffeine supplementation improved countermovement vertical jump performance (p = .001) and total repetitions (p = .004), regardless of caffeine habituation. Accordingly, analysis of absolute change from the control session showed that caffeine promoted a significantly greater improvement in both countermovement vertical jump performance (p = .004) and total repetitions (p = .0001) compared with placebo. Caffeine did not affect the rating of perceived exertion and pain in any exercise tests, irrespective of tertiles (for all comparisons, p > .05 for both measures). Caffeine side effects were similar in low, moderate, and high caffeine consumers. These results show that habitual caffeine consumption does not influence the potential of caffeine as an ergogenic aid in strength endurance and jumping exercise performance, thus challenging recommendations to withdraw from the habitual caffeine consumption before supplementing with caffeine.

Effect of consecutive jumping efforts over several days on kinetic locomotion parameters in unridden horses – a preliminary study

There are few studies describing the training of horses used for show jumping and most only in a broad sense. Six unridden horses fitted with an accelerometric device were submitted to consecutive jumping efforts to examine the short-term effect. Horses jumped 13 obstacles away (away) from and returning (return) to their handler. On the first day, the horses jumped the obstacles once (26 jumps). The next day, the horses did the same routine twice and on the fourth day three times. The duration of the away runs was significantly longer than that of the return runs on all days. The comparison of the first exercise sessions on all exercise days showed that the stride frequency was always higher during the return runs than during the away runs and higher on days 2 and 4 than on day 1. The craniocaudal power was higher on days 2 and 4 compared to day 1 and the dorsoventral power higher on day 2 than on day 4. On exercise day 4, stride regularity decreased during the return runs, while the stride frequency increased. The dorsoventral, craniocaudal and total powers were lower during the second and third exercise sessions than during the first exercise session on this day while exercise duration did not change. These results seem to indicate an improved jumping efficiency. In conclusion, the multiple consecutive unridden jumping exercise sessions were well tolerated by the horses. The cause of the locomotion changes needs to be further examined. This exercise can be used to train horses.

Water immersion methods do not alter muscle damage and inflammation biomarkers after high-intensity sprinting and jumping exercise

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of three water immersion interventions performed after active recovery compared to active recovery only on the resolution of inflammation and markers of muscle damage post-exercise. Methods Nine physically active men (n = 9; age 20‒35 years) performed an intensive loading protocol, including maximal jumps and sprinting on four occasions. After each trial, one of three recovery interventions (10 min duration) was used in a random order: cold-water immersion (CWI, 10 °C), thermoneutral water immersion (TWI, 24 °C), contrast water therapy (CWT, alternately 10 °C and 38 °C). All of these methods were performed after an active recovery (10 min bicycle ergometer), and were compared to active recovery only (ACT). 5 min, 1, 24, 48, and 96 h after exercise bouts, immune response and recovery were assessed through leukocyte subsets, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, myoglobin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentrations. Results Significant changes in all blood markers occurred at post-loading (p < 0.05), but there were no significant differences observed in the recovery between methods. However, retrospective analysis revealed significant trial-order effects for myoglobin and neutrophils (p < 0.01). Only lymphocytes displayed satisfactory reliability in the exercise response, with intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.5. Conclusions The recovery methods did not affect the resolution of inflammatory and immune responses after high-intensity sprinting and jumping exercise. It is notable that the biomarker responses were variable within individuals. Thus, the lack of differences between recovery methods may have been influenced by the reliability of exercise-induced biomarker responses.