Background: As the most common form of movement, walking happens not only on flat but also on uneven surfaces, where constant loss and regaining of balance occur. The main balancing function of the ankle joint is performed by tibial muscles. When changing inclination in a frontal plane, an essential balancing function is performed by the peroneal muscles. One of the methods for improving the activity of peroneal muscles is walking with different foot placement. The objective of this study was to analyze the activity of the peroneal muscles when performing different types of walking.Methods: Sixteen healthy participants took part in this study, walking on a flat surface (NORM), on a medial incline ramp with the plantar surface of the foot fully placed on the surface (FULL), and on a medial incline ramp with elevated lateral part of the foot (LAT). We monitored the changes of EMG signals in peroneus longus (PL), peroneus brevis (PB), tibialis anterior (TA), soleus (SOL), gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) muscles. We monitored kinematic parameters (gait speed, stride length, contact time, foot position). The parametric ANOVA test and a non‐parametric Friedman test were used at an alpha level of 0.05.Results: This study shows that the EMG activities of peroneal muscles increases when walking on the medial incline ramp. Statistically significant EMG differences were observed in the peroneal muscles, TA and GL muscles. We observe a very high percentage of normalized EMG value of the PL muscle in LAT walking. Walking on a medial incline ramp impacts the foot position, contact time, and stride length but not the gait speed.Conclusions: Walking on a medial incline ramp could be an effective exercise to improve the neuro‐muscular function of the peroneal muscles and, therefore, might be a suitable exercise for people with weakened ankle evertors.

The reactive strength index (RSI) is used to assess reactive strength in the lower limbs. Since previous studies have mostly focused on vertical RSI (derived from drop jumps), we investigated the RSI across eight consecutive unilateral horizontal hops and its associations with sprint performance. A sample of 104 male kinesiology students (age: 19.2 ± 1.1 years) performed unilateral hops and 100 m sprints with split times recorded. RSI was determined as the ratio between contact time and subsequent flight time for each hop. On a group level, the horizontal RSI was statistically significantly (p < 0.001; η_p² = 0.49) and increased from hop 1 (1.04 ± 0.17) to hop 5 (1.41 ± 0.22), but then plateaued (1.43–1.44) for hops 6–8. However, on an individual level, variations in RSI were present all the way to the last hop. All sprint split times were in small-to-moderate correlation with RSI variables (r = 0.25–0.40), implying that individuals with higher hopping RSI presented with shorter sprint times. Future studies should expand the research on the relationship between horizontal hopping RSI and sports performance, and examine if unilateral RSI tests can provide practitioners with valuable information when performed alongside more common vertical RSI tests.

We propose a new exercise, the abdominal rise on the ball, to replace the traditional crunch in exercise programs. The aim of this study is to compare the activity of the abdominal muscles when performing an ARB with the same activity when performing a traditional crunch. Twenty healthy adults participated in the study. Surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the upper and lower rectus abdominis (URA, LRA), internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO), transversus abdominis (TrA), and erector spinae (ES). EMG values were normalized to maximal voluntary isometric contraction. A paired t-test, nonparametric Wilcoxon test and correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. The normalized EMG values of EO, TrA and ES, were statistically significantly higher during the abdominal rise on the ball compared to the traditional crunch, while URA, LRA and IO were significantly lower during the abdominal rise on the ball compared to the traditional crunch. TrA, EO and IO are sufficiently activated during an abdominal rise on a ball, so the exercise could be deemed effective for strengthening these muscles.

The purpose of the research study was to standardize the measurement procedure and determine the reliability, homogeneity, and sensitivity of a 20 m unilateral horizontal cyclic jump test (UHCJ20m) whose intentional (assumed) measurement aim is the lower extremities’ explosive strength. The subject sample consisted of 31 students from Zagreb University (20.68 ± 1.96 years of age, height 185.16 ± 7.19 cm, body mass 79.48 ± 9.23 kg) actively involved in various sports events. The UHCJ20m test was performed three times using a dominant (take-off) leg with an active rest of 15 min between the repetitions. The results showed that the UHCJ20m test had satisfactory sensitivity and a very high reliability: Cronbach α = 0.95, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.94 and homogeneity average intertrial correlation (AVR) = 0.88. Future research studies should be aimed at determining the metric characteristics of the UHCJ20m test with a population of athletes in sports characterized by start acceleration and maximum speed running.

In sports practice, motor tests are commonly used to predict success in specific segments of sprint running, as well as post-injury tests in rehabilitation. The purpose of this analytical cross-sectional study was to determine the prognostic validity of the unilateral horizontal cyclic jumps for a 20 m (UHCJ20m) test on sprint running success. A sample of 118 kinesiology students aged 20.5 ± 1.2 years with an average height of 179.7 ± 6.4 cm and a body mass of 75.6 ± 7.3 kg was used to determine the correlation between the results of the UHCJ20m test and the results of the 20 m sprint start run (MRLS20m), the 20 m sprint flying start run (MRFS20m), and the 100 m run (M100m). The results showed a moderate correlation in all tests (MRLS20m (R = 0.49), MRFS20m (R = 0.53), and M100m (R = 0.38)) with UHCJ20m. In addition to the final result, the multiple regression analysis showed a significant moderate correlation between the kinematic parameters of the UHCJ20m test and the results in the MRLS20m (R = 0.38), MRFS20m (R = 0.49), and M100m (R = 0.37) tests. The stride length (SL) and the contact time (CT) of the UHCJ20m test were statistically significant predictors for the 100 m sprint, the number of steps for MRLS20m, and the SL and the CT for MRFS20m sprint success. Unilateral horizontal cyclic jumps are a significant predictor of success in sprint running, especially for the maximal speed running segment.