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Bilateral avulsion fracture of the tibial tuberosity is a rare injury. A 14-year-old male gymnast sustained simultaneous tibial tuberosity displaced fractures while attempting a forward flip. The recommended treatment was open reduction and internal fixation. Functional results were excellent one year after surgical treatment.
The relationship between body fat percentage and menstrual patterns was examined in a longitudinal study of 25 collegiate athletes and 41 college-aged nonathletic control subjects. The athletes were training in gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming, volleyball, or track. Data were collected each month concerning cycle, flow length, weight, and skinfold thicknesses (iliac crest, triceps, and subscapular). Height was determined once. Body fat percentage was estimated using the Sloan and Weir (1970) nomogram. Total energy expenditure was estimated for athletes according to sport. Mean body fat percentages of controls and athletes differed significantly, t = 4.4, p less than .01, but no significant difference was found in cycle length, F = 3.3, p = .078. Multiple regression analysis revealed no clear relationship between length of menstrual cycle and height, weight, skinfold thickness, or total energy expenditure. No significant relationship existed between body fat percentage and menstrual cycle length as tested with the Pearson correlation coefficient. This study confirmed that menstrual phenomena cannot be defined as normal or pathologic by rhythmic occurrence alone. Rather, an individual's menstrual cycle length may be more suitably evaluated according to a multivariable continuum of menstrual patterns.
The purpose of this paper is to (1) examine the world's literature documenting cervical spine injuries; (2) attempt to identify common factors regarding patient characteristics, environment, injury mechanisms, and pathology; (3) review policy statements and safety guidelines of various medical and athletic administrative bodies; and (4) evaluate what effect, if any, these policies and guidelines have had on documented injuries. On the basis of this review, we believe that the American Academy of Pediatrics was ill-advised in altering its position on the use of trampolines. It is our opinion that both the trampoline and the minitrampoline are dangerous devices when used in the best of circumstances, and their use has no place in recreational, educational, or competitive gymnastics.
Athletic injuries to the cervical spine associated with quadriplegia most commonly occur as a result of axial loading. Whether it be a football player striking an opponent with the top or crown of his helmet, a poorly executed dive into a shallow body of water where the subject strikes his head on the bottom, or a hockey player pushed into the boards head first, the fragile cervical spine is compressed between the rapidly decelerated head and the continued momentum of the body. Appropriate rule changes recognizing this mechanism have resulted in a reduction of football quadriplegia by two-thirds. Presumably, educational efforts designed to inform the public of the dangers of diving would have a similar effect. The predominance of the axial loading mechanism is not as clearly defined in trampoline and minitrampoline injuries. However, both of these devices are dangerous when used in the best of circumstances, and their use has no place in recreational, educational, or competitive gymnastics. The emergence of severe cervical spine injuries resulting from ice hockey is recognized. Methods, based on sound scientific evidence, to modify the games so as to prevent these injuries are lacking.
One of the areas of the body which is very often injured by athletes is the lower lack, or the lumbar area of the spine. This problem is of some concern to physical educators, athletic therapists, coaches, athletes, and physicians. The type of injury which occurs in the lumbar spine is dependent on the direction, magnitude, and the point of application of the forces to the spine. This part of the body is susceptible to injury due to the large forces which must be supported, which include the body weight and any external weights, as well as the forces due to very high accelerations of the body parts. Since the lumbar spine is the only connecting column between the upper and lower parts of the body, all the forces must be transmitted via these structures. There are two general techniques of calculating the forces on the lumbar spinal structures, a static approach and a dynamic approach. The static approach may be useful to calculate compression and shear forces on the spine in stationary positions as may be seen in weightlifting. However, the dynamics approach should be used to calculate the effects of the various weights and inertial forces on spinal structures. The most common types of lower back injuries found in athletes were: muscle strains, ligament sprains, lumbar vertebral fractures, disc injuries, and neural arch fractures. The most common serious athletic injury to the lower back was found to be neural arch fractures at the pars interarticularis, or the isthmus between the superior and inferior articular processes. These fractures are known as spondylolysis, or defect in the pars interarticularis of one side of the vertebrae; and spondylolisthesis, a bilateral defect in the pars interarticularis, often accompanied by forward displacement of the vertebral body. The sports in which lower back injuries commonly occurred were also examined, and it was determined that gymnastics, weightlifting and football were the sports in which the lower back is at greatest risk. In order to help to reduce, the high incidence of injuries to this area of the body, athletes should attempt to increase the strength of the abdominal muscles, and to maximize the flexibility of the lower back.
Knowledge of performance (KP) using video-tape replay (VTR) was given to a group of girls aged 12--13, n = 8, learning to perform a beginning balance beam routine. A control group (n = 8) was taught utilizing conventional information feedback. Performance was assessed by three U.S. Federation Gymnastic judges after four weeks and again after six weeks. All S's in the experimental group were judged to be at the associative learning stage. The data were analyzed using a mixed repeated measures design with one between and one within subjects variables. A significant treatment effect (F = 48.7, alpha less than or equal to .01) and treatment by group interaction (F = 19.21, alpha less than or equal to .01) resulted. The experimental group was responsible for the bulk of the significance and it was therefore concluded th KP via VTP for S's in the associative learning stage was beneficial.
Corresponding to the importance of sport in infancy and youth there were made experimental studies to examine the load of dust in school-sporthalls. In one selected school-sporthall of Erfurt 900 dust-measurements with Zeiss-Conimeter type 10 were carried out for a half-year in winter, and supplementary it was measured with the soviet conimeter type A 3-4 some days. The statistical evaluation allowed a break down of the sport-exercises in 3 groups dependent of the lot airborne dust in the sporthall: 1. gymnastic with apparatus 2. physical training on-floor 3. running and plays. The average quantities of dust during these three above mentioned exercises increase from group 1 to group 3, and they differ significantly. The results are discussed in connection with the literature which for the greater part originates from Poland and Soviet Union.
In this report an electrically driven training splint is described and shown in its practical use. This appliance, which can be controlled by the patient himself, has proved very well as useful complement concerning the gymnastics as part of treatment.
Direct and remote effects of therapeutic exercises on the low-back pain syndrome in cotton-industry workers have been estimated. The treatment was applied to fifty-five patients aged from 30 to 58 (mean age--45) with chronic pain-syndrome, who were submitted to a series of exercises and everyday gymnastics. In the course of treatment the following results were obtained: retreatment of low-back pains, increasing of spines mobility (activity), increasing of abdomen-muscle strength. One-year follow-up demonstrated sickness absenteeism decrease by 66%, as compared to a period of the same duration prior to treatment.
This chapter has covered some important aspects of the computer simulation of human motion in sports biomechanics. First the definition and the advantages and limitations of computer simulation were discussed; second, research on various sporting activities were reviewed. These activities included basic movements, aquatic sports, track and field athletics, winter sports, gymnastics, and striking sports. This list was not exhaustive and certain material has, of necessity, been omitted. However, it was felt that a sufficiently broad and interesting range of activities was chosen to illustrate both the advantages and the pitfalls of simulation. It is almost a decade since Miller [53] wrote a review chapter similar to this one. One might be tempted to say that things have changed radically since then--that computer simulation is now a widely accepted and readily applied research tool in sports biomechanics. This is simply not true, however. Biomechanics researchers still tend to emphasize the descriptive type of study, often unfortunately, when a little theoretical explanation would have been more helpful [29]. What will the next decade bring? Of one thing we can be certain: The power of computers, particularly the readily accessible and portable microcomputer, will expand beyond all recognition. The memory and storage capacities will increase dramatically on the hardware side, and on the software side the trend will be toward "user-friendliness." It is likely that a number of software simulation packages designed specifically for studying human motion [31, 96] will be extensively tested and could gain wide acceptance in the biomechanics research community. Nevertheless, a familiarity with Newtonian and Lagrangian mechanics, optimization theory, and computers in general, as well as practical biomechanical insight, will still be a prerequisite for successful simulation models of human motion. Above all, the biomechanics researcher will still have to bear in mind that his or her model is merely a simplified representation of the real-world system and, as such, has certain limitations. In conclusion, it is evident that the path we have followed has been an interesting and varied one. The way ahead looks equally interesting and diverse, and we can certainly look forward with confidence to the exciting challenges and benefits that computer simulation of human motion will bring.
A review of the world's literature documenting cervical spine injuries has been made in an attempt to determine common factors regarding patient characteristics, environment, injury mechanisms, and pathology. The policy statements and safety guidelines of both the American Academy of Pediatrics and athletic administrative bodies have been reviewed in order to evaluate what effect, if any, these policies and guidelines have had on documented injuries. On the basis of this review, it is believed that the AAP was ill-advised in altering its position on the use of trampolines. The opinion is presented that both the trampoline and minitrampoline are dangerous devices when used in the best of circumstances, and their use has no place in recreational, educational, or competitive gymnastics.
An analysis of 2346 paraplegics treated in the Heidelberg University orthopaedic hospital showed that 194 of the lesions (= 8,3%) were caused by accidents during sports and bathing. Of 123 bathing accidents, 98.4% produced a lesion of the cevical part of the medulla, the site of paresis being mostly below C 5 or C 6. The predominant accident mechanism of the most frequently occurring luxation fractures was hyperextension and hyperflexion. 71 of the 194 cases (= 36,6%) were genuine sports accidents. 35 cases of tetraplegia occured preferably during gymnastics, jumping on the trampoline, and high-tower diving, whereas 36 paraplegias were due to accidents during riding, skiing and mountaineering. Flexion and compression fractures mainly concern the pelvic region of the vertebral column. Only 4 of the 194 injured patients (= 2.1%) died as a result of their accident.
In the case of elderly subjects in the preclinical stage of an illness, medication is required in exceptional cases only. On the other hand, general therapeutic aspects should be considered as early as possible in connection with a chronic illness accompanying the ageing process. In the elderly, physiotherapy forms a by no means insubstantial part of treatment. Considerable evidence points to its value during the preclinical phase. When physiotherapy is indicated, it is, however, important to avoid any danger of the therapeutic measures exceeding the maximum stress which such an elderly patient is able to bear. The stress imposed on the patient should be set at an appropriately low level, so as to avoid serious complications wherever possible. The following activities have been found to be particularly prone to complications: a load of more than 80% of the maximum functional capacity in ergometric training; gymnastic exercises producing an average rise in pulse frequency to over 120/min.; swimming at relatively low water temperatures and balneotherapeutic treatment in a full-size bath.
The results of echocardiographic and ergometric studies on 22 children are presented. These children were involved in a daily lesson of gymnastics, swimming or rollerskating of one hour duration. Depending on the exhaustion during ergometry, the maximal parameters showed the same results as known from the literature. There were also no different results of echocardiographic values compared with weight or body surface related data of normal subjects. Normal values for echocardiographic data are presented and discussed with parameters of the maximal performance of the children. From that it is concluded that these sport activities do not influence the dimensions of the heart and its function because of the low intensity and short duration of the additional training lessons in contrast to the high spontaneous motoric activities of children.
The social background and sport experience of 193 executives in supports in Ontario have been analyzed. This number represented 84% of a sample of 229 initially surveyed in figure skating, gymnastics, ringette, swimming and field hockey. A simple profile of sport executives appears to show that they are equally likely to be male or female typically they are married, Canadian born, well educated and likely already to be in a supervisory role in their own occupations.
The purpose of this investigation was to study the variation in ground reaction forces during take-off and to calculate the angular impulse produced about the center of mass by these forces during execution of a front aerial somersault. Additionally, several kinematic variables were discussed in relation to performance. Nine high level female gymnasts volunteered as subjects. Ground reaction force (GRF) patterns were monitored by a Kistler force platform and the selected kinematic variables were calculated from high speed film synchronized with the force records. Total body center of mass position was determined and subsequently used in the calculation of angular impulse during rear, double, and front leg support. While results showed similar angular impulse patterns across our subject population, a variety of kinetic and kinematic variables were presented in order to more completely discuss the components of angular impulse development during the take-off phase of a front aerial somersault. For example, while the mean angular impulse was 61.7 Nms (+/- 13.1), a surprising finding was the contribution made to this impulse by the rear leg, 70.9% (+/- 7.2).
Rehabilitation of lower limb arteriopathies at the stage of claudication is carried out during a stay of 30 to 45 days in a rehabilitation center. The daily program comprises general gymnastics, a specifical exercise training, and sport. The training is performed differently following the proximal, medial or distal level of arterial insufficiency. It includes sets or rythmical contractions up to about 70% of maximal capacity determined by a weekly test exercise.
We have studied skilled human locomotions in sports gymnastics by measurement and analysis of ground reaction force and myoelectric signals. Assuming the quality of performance to be a skill level criterion acquired signals were mathematically analyzed via basic signal processing and cross-correlation methods. The study of backward somersault yielded quantitative criteria of performance, proposing an original measure-an inter-muscular cross-correlation function. Besides motor learning, the quantification of movement skill introduced here also relates to possible applications in biocybernetics, robotics and rehabilitation medicine.