Celebrating 40 Years of Ironman: How the Champions Perform.

We aimed to determine which discipline had the greater performance improvements in the history of Ironman triathlon in Hawaii and also which discipline had the greater influence in overall race time. Data from 1983 to 2018 of the top three women and men of each year who competed in the Ironman World Championship were included. In addition to exploratory data analyses, linear regressions between split times and years of achievement were performed. Further, a stepwise multiple linear regression was applied using total race time as the dependent variable and split times as the independent variables. Both women and men significantly improved their performances from 1983 to 2018 in the Ironman World Championship. Swimming had the largest difference in improvements between men and women (3.0% versus 12.1%, respectively). A negative and significant decrease in each discipline was identified for both women and men, with cycling being the discipline with the greatest reduction. The results from the stepwise multiple regression indicated that cycling was the discipline with the highest influence on overall race time for both sexes. Based on the findings of this study, cycling seems to be the Ironman triathlon discipline that most improved overall race times and is also the discipline with the greatest influence on the overall race time of elite men and women in the Ironman World Championship.

Treinamento de tênis de mesa em ambiente virtual não melhora desempenho de crianças em espaço real / Training table tennis in virtual environment does not improves performance of children in real space

Introdução: O desenvolvimento motor de crianças está associado a fatores físicos, afetivos e cognitivos e ambientes virtuais como videogames ativos (VGA) podem ser uma alternativa inovadora e motivadora. Objetivo: Investigar o efeito de cinco dias de treinamento de tênis de mesa em ambiente virtual sobre o desempenho de saque de em espaço real. Materiais e Método: Dois grupos (experimental e controle) de crianças com idade de 9.32±0.6 anos participaram. O grupo experimental praticou o saque do tênis de mesa no VGA diariamente por cinco dias. Após a intervenção, ambos grupos foram submetidos a um teste na mesa tradicional, no qual se verificava a quantidade de acertos no saque. Resultados: Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas na quantidade de acertos entre os grupos, assim como uma baixa magnitude do efeito. Conclusões: O treinamento de tênis de mesa em VGA parece não melhorar o desempenho no saque de crianças.

Introduction: Motor development is associated with many physical, emotional and cognitive factors of children and virtual environments, such as active video games, maybe an innovative and motivating alternative. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a five-day of table tennis training in virtual environment on the performance of serve of in real space. Material and Method: Two groups (experimental and control) with children aged 9.32±0.6 years old participated in the study. The experimental group practiced the serve of table tennis in the active videogame daily for five days. After the intervention, all volunteers underwent a test in the traditional table and, and were verified the amount of hits each child. Results: no significant differences (p>0.05) in the amount of hits between the groups were found, as well as a low magnitude of the effect of the difference. Conclusions: The results suggest that short-term training of table tennis in active videogame does not seem to improve performance in the serve of children.

Isometric handgrip does not elicit cardiovascular overload or post-exercise hypotension in hypertensive older women.

BACKGROUND: Arterial hypertension is a serious health problem affecting mainly the elderly population. Recent studies have considered both aerobic and resistance exercises as a non-pharmacological aid for arterial hypertension treatment. However, the cardiovascular responses of the elderly to isometric resistance exercise (eg, isometric handgrip [IHG]) have not yet been documented. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate cardiovascular responses to different intensities of isometric exercise, as well as the occurrence of post-isometric exercise hypotension in hypertensive elderly people under antihypertensive medication treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twelve women volunteered to participate in the study after a maximal voluntary contraction test (MVC) and standardization of the intervention workload consisting of two sessions of IHG exercise performed in four sets of five contractions of a 10-second duration. Sessions were performed both at 30% of the MVC and 50% of the MVC, using a unilateral IHG protocol. Both intensities were compared with a control session without exercise. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at rest (R), during peak exercise (PE), and after 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of post-exercise recovery were evaluated. RESULTS: No significant changes were observed after isometric exercise corresponding to 30% MVC for either SBP (R: 121 ± 10; PE: 127 ± 14; 5 min: 125 ± 13; 10 min: 123 ± 12; 15 min: 122 ± 11; 30 min: 124 ± 11; 45 min: 124 ± 10; 60 min: 121 ± 10 mmHg) or DBP (R: 74 ± 9; PE: 76 ± 6; 5 min: 74 ± 5; 10 min: 72 ± 8; 15 min: 72 ± 5; 30 min: 72 ± 8; 45 min: 73 ± 6; 60 min: 75 ± 7 mmHg). Similarly, the 50% MVC did not promote post-isometric exercise hypotension for either SBP (R: 120 ± 7; PE: 125 ± 11; 5 min: 120 ± 9; 10 min: 122 ± 9; 15 min: 121 ± 11; 30 min: 121 ± 9; 45 min: 121 ± 9; 60 min: 120 ± 7 mmHg) or DBP (R: 72 ± 8; PE: 78 ± 7; 5 min: 72 ± 7; 10 min: 72 ± 8; 15 min: 71 ± 7; 30 min: 72 ± 8; 45 min: 75 ± 10; 60 min: 75 ± 7 mmHg). CONCLUSION: Our data reveal that cardiovascular overload or post-exercise hypotension did not occur in elderly women with controlled hypertension when they undertook an IHG session. Thus this type of resistance exercise, with mild to moderate intensity, with short time of contraction appears to be safe for this population.