Landing is considered a “high-risk” movement for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. Foot progression angle (FPA) during landing has been shown to influence hip, knee, and ankle mechanics. The purpose of this study was to compare five FPA conditions during drop landings between males and females.

Background/Objectives: Individuals with mental health conditions such as depression are vulnerable to poor dietary habits, potentially due to the maladaptive eating behaviors often used to regulate negative emotion. However, the specific dietary components most associated with depression, as well as the mediating roles of emotion regulation and other eating behaviors, remains ambiguous in young adults. Methods: For this cross-sectional evaluation, a total of 151 (86 F, 65 M; BMI: 22.0 ± 5.1 kg/m²; age: 21.4 ± 2.5 y) multi-ethnic participants (50 White, 36 Black, 60 Asian, and 5 White Hispanic) completed a digital 24-h dietary recall and self-reported measures of depressive symptoms, emotional regulation, and eating behaviors. LASSO regression was used to identify the dietary variables most associated with each subscale and to remove extraneous dietary variables, and multiple regression and mediation analyses were conducted for the remaining variables. Results: Out of >100 dietary factors included, only added sugar in the combined sample (p = 0.043), and relative sugar in females (p = 0.045), were retained and positively associated with depressive symptoms. However, the relationships between depression and added and relative sugar intake were mediated by craving control and emotional eating, respectively. Individuals with higher added sugar intake (p = 0.012–0.037), and females with higher relative sugar intake (p = 0.029–0.033), had significantly higher odds of risk for major depression disorder and the use of mental health medications. Conclusions: Added and relative sugar intake are significantly associated with depressive symptoms in young adults, but these relationships may be mediated by facets of emotional dysregulation, such as emotional eating and craving control.

We sought to investigate the lower-extremity biomechanics underlying increased gait velocity following high-cadence cycling. Ground reaction forces (GRF) and lower-extremity kinematics and kinetics were recorded as 15 healthy adults walked at a self-selected pace prior to and immediately following a 15 min bout of cycling at a cadence of 75 rotations per minute. Propulsive GRF and stance-phase peak dorsiflexion and knee extension angles increased, while peak plantarflexion and hip extension angles decreased. Swing-phase peak dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, knee flexion, and hip flexion angles increased, while peak knee extension angle decreased. Peak dorsiflexion, knee extension, and hip extension angular velocity also increased during swing. No changes in peak joint moments were observed; however, peak positive ankle, knee, and hip joint power generation increased following cycling. Completing high-cadence cycling improves gait velocity by increasing propulsive GRF; increasing joint angular velocity during the swing phase of gait for the ankle, knee, and hip; and increasing positive power production by the ankle, knee, and hip during the stance phase. Increased gait velocity post cycling exercise did not increase lower-extremity joint moments. Cycling may be a viable exercise-based modality for increasing gait velocity, especially in populations where gait ability or joint loading is of particular concern.