Loading...
265 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 265
- Relationship Between Motor Competence and Soccer-Specific Skills: A Longitudinal Study With Young PlayersPublication . Fortunato, A; Gonçalves, Celina; Lopes, Vitor P.; Gonçalves, CelinaThe complexity of interactions in team sports requires players to have excellent technical skills. The purpose of this study was to longitudinally investigate the predictive value of motor competence (MC) on soccer-specific skills development. Participants were n = 79 boys, aged between 5.89 and 14.63 years at baseline followed for 3 consecutive years. MC was assessed with Körperkoordination Test für Kinder, and soccer-specific skills were assessed with soccer wall-volley, soccer dribble, juggling, and shuttle run with a ball. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to estimate developmental trajectories of proficiency in soccer-specific skills. The final model shows that soccer-specific skills proficiency significantly improved, and that MC was a significant predictor of this improvement. For every point increase in MC, the change in soccer-specific skills proficiency improved to 0.03 z scores each year. In conclusion, MC is a predictor of specific soccer skills.
- Associação entre o índice de massa corporal e a coordenação motora em criançasPublication . Melo, Maria Mafalda; Lopes, Vitor P.O propósito do estudo foi analisar a associação entre o índice de massa corporal (IMC) e a coordenação motora (CM). Foram avaliadas 794 crianças (seis a nove anos) de ambos sexos na CM, com a bateria de testes KTK. O IMC foi calculado a partir das medidas de peso e estatura [Peso(kg)/Estatura (cm2)]. Quer nas meninas (χ2 = 93,96; p < 0,001) quer nos meninos (χ2 = 46,98; p < 0,001) ocorreram diferenças significativas na CM entre os três grupos do IMC (normoponderais, sobrepeso, obesos). Os normoponderais de ambos os sexos obtiveram melhores resultados do que os sujeitos com sobrepeso e estes obtiveram melhores resultados do que os obesos. A CM está moderada e negativamente associada com o IMC e a associação aumenta durante a infância (-0,16 a -0,50). As crianças com sobrepeso e obesas de ambos os sexos apresentaram menores níveis de CM do que as crianças normoponderais.
- Comparison of a 10 week resistance strength training program, in muscle morphology, electromyography activity and strength gains on prepubescent girls and boysPublication . Monteiro, A.M.; Lopes, Vitor P.; Faro, AnaThe mechanisms that are behind the strength gains, in strength training programs, are not still well evidenced. It seems to exist the certainty that strength training produces greater gains, during puberty and after, in virtue, over all, of the increase of serum testosterone, which allows an increase of muscle hypertrophy. Strength gains gotten before puberty, will be resultant of neurological adaptations, such as, the improvement of inter and intra-muscle coordination and order, the synchronization, the amount of motor units recruited, and the frequency of nervous stimulus, and not so much due to hypertrophy. The purpose of this research was to compare the maximal voluntary isometric force (MVIF), the electromyography activity (EMG) and the muscle thickness between pre-pubertal boys and girls. The results suggested that prepubescent children can increase strength following a strength training program that includes callisthenic exercises. There were no significant differences on the MVIF between boys and girls doing the triceps press exercise. The strength gains were not followed by an increase of muscle mass. In the same way, there were no significant differences according to gender on the thickness of the triceps of the both arm of the triceps. It seems that the elements underlying the increase and strength gains can be related to the increase of the coordination of the movement. The coordination seems to be an element that highly contributes to the increase of strength for more complex exercises.
- Weight status is associated with cross-sectional trajectories of motor co-ordination across childhoodPublication . Lopes, Vitor P.; Stodden, David F.; Rodrigues, Luis PauloBackground Research indicates the development of motor co-ordination (MC) may be an important contributing factor to positive or negative weight trajectories across childhood. Objectives To analyse cross-sectional associations between MC and weight status in children (boys n = 3344 – girls n = 3281), aged 6–11 years and assess overweight/obese risk across different ages. Methods Body mass index (BMI) was calculated [body mass (kg)/height (m2)]. MC was evaluated using the Körperkoordination Test für Kinder (KTK) and a motor quotient (MQ) was calculated.MQ distribution data were split into tertiles. The effect of age, sex and MQ tertiles on BMI and MC was tested with a factorial ANOVA. A logistic regression also was performed to calculate odd ratios (OR) for being overweight/obese at each age. Results Children with higher MQ demonstrated lower BMI levels (F(2,6224) = 222.09; P < 0.001). Differences in BMI among MQ tertiles became larger across age (F(10,6224) = 4.53; P < 0.001). The OR of being overweight/obese in both sexes within the lowest MQ tertile increased in each age group from 6 to 11 years. Specifically, OR increased from 2.26 to 27.77 and from 1.87 to 6.81 in boys and girls respectively. Conclusions Children with low levels of MC have a higher risk of being overweight/obese and this risk increases with age.
- Muscle damage and hematological changes induced by eccentric exercisePublication . Magalhães, Pedro; Barbosa, Tiago M.; Lopes, Vitor P.; Guerra, M.; Neuparth, Maria João; Duarte, José AlbertoRegular physical exercise of moderate intensity is normally beneficial to the human organism (Smith et al., 1990; Bury et al., 1998). Nevertheless, under some conditions, the exercise could be a source of stress for some human structures. Eccentric exercise, has been understood as a induction factor of muscle damage on the exercised muscles (Duarte et al., 1999) and, usually, it's accompanied by systemic physiologic alterations similar, in some aspects, to traumas and infections (Northoff et al., 1995). The aims of this study were: to analyse the presence of muscle damage, and to verify the haematological changes brought by a strenuous protocol of uncustomary physical exercise
- Weight status, BMI and physical fitness in polish youth: relationships between 1986 and 2016Publication . Bartkowiak, Sylwia; Konarski, Jan M.; Strzelczyk, Ryszard; Janowski, Jarosław; Karpowicz, Małgorzata; Lopes, Vitor P.; Malina, Robert M.One of the components affecting the level of health is physical fitness and diets, which is also considered the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. Methods: Samples by survey ranged from 871 to 1,417 (boys) and from 843 to 1,326 (girls). Speed (5 m run), agility (figure-8-run), explosive power (vertical jump), flexibility (stand and reach) and cardiovascular fitness (step test) were measured. The Body Mass Index (BMI) of each student was classified as Thin, Normal weight or Overweight/Obese (Owt/Ob) relative to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria. Fitness items were compared among weight status groups and across surveys with sex-specific analyses of covariance. Regressions of each fitness item on the BMI in the four surveys were done using linear and nonlinear quadratic models. Results: Performances on all fitness tests except flexibility were poorer among Owt/Ob compared to Normal and Thin youth, but performances on fitness tests within weight status groups did not differ consistently across surveys. Conclusions: Relationships between the BMI and fitness tests varied across surveys, but suggested reasonably consistent curvilinear relationships between fitness tests and the BMI among boys more so than girls.
- Linear and nonlinear relationships between body mass index and physical fitness in Brazilian children and adolescentsPublication . Lopes, Vitor P.; Cossio-Bolaños, Marco; Gómez-Campos, Rossana; Arruda, Miguel de; Hespanhol, Jefferson Eduardo; Rodrigues, Luis PauloThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the linear and curvilinear relationship between body mass index (BMI) and physical fitness in children and adolescents. Participants were 4567 (2505 girls) children aged 6–16 years. Weight and height were measured and BMI was calculated and adjusted for age and sex using WHO z-scores. Physical fitness was evaluated with the following tests: Yo-Yo test, standing long jump, seated 2-kg medicine ball throw, and 20-m dash. Participants were grouped into two groups according to their maturity status, estimated as years from peak height velocity. Associations were determined with linear and nonlinear quadratic regression models. The nonlinear quadratic regression coefficient was significant for the 20-m dash among girls of both maturity status levels, and in maturity status level 1 boys; for the standing long jump among boys of both maturity status levels, and in maturity status level 1 girls. The Yo-Yo test was only significant for maturity status level 1 boys. For the medicine ball throw, the linear regression coefficient was significant for both maturity status levels in both sexes. Almost all physical fitness items were observed to have meaningfully large nonlinear relationships with BMIz, but they were not all significant due to the small sample size, especially in maturity status level 2. Conclusion: The association between BMI and physical fitness is nonlinear in the majority of its components, and those with lower and higher BMI had poorer fitness.
- Motor Competence Assessment (MCA): portuguese normative valuesPublication . Rodrigues, Luis Paulo; Luz, Carlos J.; Lima, Ricardo; Silva, Bruno; Lopes, Vitor P.Motor competence (MC) relationship with the developmnet of healthy life styles is well known. Nontheless, there is no established instrument able to measure this "new" construct along the life span, and the ones usually cited in the literature were mostly built for the diagnosis of children in risk for motor impairment, lack objectivity or fidelity in the assessment protocol, or do not assess the three components of MC: locomotor, stability and manipulative
- Efeitos de um programa de intervenção no índice de massa corporal, aptidão física e coordenação motora de crianças com excesso de pesoPublication . Vasques, Catarina; Lopes, Vitor P.; Mota, PaulaA prevalência mundial de obesidade infantil têm vindo a aumentar de forma preocupante nas últimas décadas. Estes indicadores têm suscitado a necessidade de se intervir na tentativa de inverter esta tendência. Neste sentido, foram objetivos da presente pesquisa, caracterizar um programa de intervenção com exercício físico (EXF) e estudar os seus efeitos na composição corporal, aptidão física (ApF) e coordenação motora (CM) de crianças com sobrepeso e obesidade. Métodos: A amostra foi constituída por 46 sujeitos de ambos os sexos, com idades entre os 6 e os 14 anos. O programa teve a duração de 18 meses e as atividades desenvolvidas foram: jogos de equipas, atividades de academia e videojogos interativos. Todas as crianças foram medidas (4 em 4 meses) nos seguintes parâmetros: estatura, massa corporal, pregas de adiposidade subcutânea, perímetro da cintura, bateria de testes de ApF (Prudential Fitnessgram) e de CM (KTK). Para estimar os efeitos do programa foi utilizada a modelação hierárquica linear (software HLM5). Resultados e conclusões: As sessões de EXF apresentaram uma intensidade leve a moderada (2,16±0,01 METs a 3,12±0,02 METs) utilizando como componente de intervenção o EXF extracurricular com exercícios de caráter lúdico. Verificaram-se mudanças significativas do IMC z score, tendo decrescido 0,12 unidades entre cada momento de avaliação. Ocorreram também mudanças estatisticamente significativas nas provas de push-up (PU) e corrida/marcha (CMM) da milha. Sendo que, para o grupo de intervenção verificou-se um aumento da estimativa do valor médio de PU de 0,22 repetições entre cada momento de avaliação e na CMM decresceram 0,90 minutos no tempo de conclusão da prova, comparativamente ao grupo de controlo. O programa implementado surtiu um efeito positivo na diminuição do IMC z score e melhoria da ApF das crianças intervencionadas.
- Improving Motor Competence of Children: The Super Quinas Intervention Program in Portuguese Primary SchoolsPublication . Rodrigues, Luis P.; Cordovil, Rita; Costa, Júlio A.; Seabra, André; Guilherme, José; Vale, Susana; Luz, Carlos; Flôres, Fábio; Lagoa, Maria João; Almeida, Gabriela; Lopes, Vitor P.; Mercê, Cristiana; Esteves, Pedro Tiago; Santos, Sara; Correia, Vanda; Serrano, João; Mendes, Rui; Matos, Rui; Loureiro, Vânia; Neto, CarlosThe objective of this study was to describe the effects of an extra hour of a structured motor program on the motor competence (MC) of children 6–10 years old. The need for movement interventions to enhance MC among school-aged children has gained vital importance in the last years, given the negative secular trends reported. Hence, the Portuguese Football Federation organized an intervention program on MC to be implemented on the extracurricular time of the Portuguese primary schools: the Super Quinas program. Thirty-nine schools from all of Portugal were assigned to intervention and control condition, with a total of 1034 children (6–10 y old) completing all the program (77.7%). The Super Quinas intervention comprised of 1 hour of activity per week, led by a physical educator teacher during extracurricular activities for 12 wees. MC was assessed using the Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) before and at the end of the program (January and April 2023). Normative results of the MCA were used to compare changes between pre and posttest according to experimental or control condition. Results showed a general improvement for all subscales (Locomotor, Manipulative, Stability) and total MCA. More importantly, the experimental group showed significant and positive differences, when compared with the control group, in the Stability Manipulative and total MCA results after controlling for gender, age, and baseline effect. Conclusions: The Super Quinas intervention program proved that adding 1 hour of structured movement program to the regular primary school schedule can lead to greater development of MC in school-age children.