The Canadian Agility and Movement Skill Assessment (CAMSA) is a circuit-based measure of motor competence. This study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of CAMSA in Spanish children. A sample of 749 children participated voluntarily. Acceptable-to-good internal consistency (α = .54 and G-coefficient = .88) and moderate-to-excellent inter- (ICC: .83 to 1.00), intra-rater (ICC: .99 to 1.00) and test–retest reliability (ICC: .70 to .83) was found in convenience subsamples (n = 84 observers’ reliability; n = 69 test-retest). Concurrent validity was moderate (CAMSA score with Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder: r = .45; n = 90). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the one-factor model (CFI = .95; RMSEA = .02; SRMR = .02). Boys had higher scores than girls and older-children had higher scores than younger-children. The CAMSA can be used as a valid and reliable instrument for assessing motor competence in Spanish children.

Balance, reaction time, and strength are key factors affecting judo performance. While ample research exists examining potential strength changes caused by weight loss prior to competition, changes in balance and reaction time, have been overlooked.Purpose:The objective of this study was to examine the effects of rapid and progressive weight loss (RWL and PWL) on balance, reaction time, and strength in a group of elite judo athletes.Methods:38 female and male judo athletes (age = 20.6 ± 2.6 years) completed balance, reaction time, and strength assessments one week prior to an official weigh-in (pre-test) and immediately after the weigh-in (post-test). The judo athletes were divided into three groups, one control group who maintained regular training and eating habits, one experimental group who engaged in PWL (3% reductions in body mass).Results:RWL group showed significant decreases (p<0.05) in balance performance (Ell...

The main goal of this cross-sectional study was to detect whether women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) have altered postural control and to study the sensory contribution to postural control. We also explored the possibility that self-induced anxiety and lower limb strength may be related to postural control. For this purpose, 129 women within an age range of 40 to 70 years were enrolled. Eighty of the enrolled women had FMS. Postural control variables, such as Ellipse, Root mean square (RMS) and Sample entropy (SampEn), in both directions (i.e. mediolateral and anteroposterior), were calculated under five different conditions. A force plate was used to register the center of pressure shifts. Furthermore, isometric lower limb strength was recorded with a portable dynamometer and normalized by lean body mass. The results showed that women with FMS have impaired postural control compared with healthy people, as they presented a significant increase in Ellipse and RMS values (p<0.05) and a significant decrease in SampEn in both directions (p<0.05). Postural control also worsens with the gradual alteration of sensory inputs in this population (p0.05). There were no significant correlations between postural control and lower limb strength (p>0.05). Therefore, women with FMS have impaired postural control that is worse when sensory inputs are altered but is not correlated with their lower limb strength.

Acute physical exercise works as an activator of the responses of the human organism to stress. This is based on the activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, affecting physical, physiological and psychological levels. This study aimed to analyse the effects of a single bout of high-intensity resistance exercise on cognitive-behavioural responses: visuo-spatial path learning and memory, as well as physiological responses (salivary cortisol levels). Nineteen healthy male military-trained powerlifting subjects were tested in a within-subject design on two experimental days with an interval of 48 h. The stress and cognitive variables were measured by cortisol levels and Ruff–Light trail-learning test (RULIT) test scores, respectively. The results showed the immediate influence of acute exercise on cortisol, with significantly higher cortisol levels found in subjects after completion of the acute resistance exercise. In addition, this study found a significant deterioration of memory and learning ability after a dose of intense resistance exercise. In conclusion, the study highlights the relative effects of resistance exercise on cortisol and cognitive performance depending on the intensity and type of the exercise, the moment of measurement and the cerebral areas implicated.