In 2020, as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world enacted a wide variety of regulations and laws to contain the incidence of infection. One of these measures was the relocation of work to the home office. The objective of this review was to analyze the influence of the home office in correlation with regulations on sedentary and activity behavior. A search was conducted on various electronic databases from November 2019 to January 2022, using the search terms physical activity (PA), COVID-19, and working from home. The primary outcomes were changes in PA and sedentary behavior (SB). Secondary outcomes included pain, mood, and parenting stress. The risk of bias was assessed using the (NHLBI) Quality Assessment Tool. For the review, 21 articles met the inclusion criteria (total n = 1268). There was a significant increase in SB (+16%) and a decrease in PA (−17%), Light PA (−26%), and moderate to vigorous PA (−20%). There was also an increase in pain and parenting stress and a decrease in well-being. Due to our significant results, programs that promote movement should be created. Future studies should explore how an increase of PA and a reduction of SB in the home office could be achieved.

As reliability of raster stereography was proved only for sagittal plane parameters with repeated measures on the same day, the present study was aiming at investigating variability and reliability of back shape reconstruction for all dimensions (sagittal, frontal, transversal) and for different intervals. For a sample of 20 healthy volunteers, intra-individual variability (SEM and CV %) and reliability (ICC ± 95 % CI) were proved for sagittal (thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, pelvis tilt angle, and trunk inclination), frontal (pelvis torsion, pelvis and trunk imbalance, vertebral side deviation, and scoliosis angle), transversal (vertebral rotation), and functional (hyperextension) spine shape reconstruction parameters for different test–retest intervals (on the same day, between-day, between-week) by means of video raster stereography. Reliability was high for the sagittal plane (pelvis tilt, kyphosis and lordosis angle, and trunk inclination: ICC > 0.90), and good to high for lumbar mobility (0.86 < ICC < 0.97). Apart from sagittal plane spinal alignment, there was a lack of certainty for a high reproducibility indicated by wider ICC confidence intervals. So, reliability was fair to high for vertebral side deviation and the scoliosis angle (0.71 < ICC < 0.95), and poor to good for vertebral rotation values as well as for frontal plane upper body and pelvis position parameters (0.65 < ICC < 0.92). Coefficients for the between-day and between-week interval were a little lower than for repeated measures on the same day. Variability (SEM) was less than 1.5° or 1.5 mm, except for trunk inclination. Relative variability (CV) was greater in global trunk position and pelvis parameters (35–98 %) than in scoliosis (14–20 %) or sagittal sway parameters (4–8 %). Although we found a lower reproducibility for the frontal plane, raster stereography is considered to be a reliable method for the non-invasive, three-dimensional assessment of spinal alignment in normal non-scoliotic individuals in the sagittal plane and partly for scoliosis parameters, which fulfils scientific as well as practical recommendations for spine shape screening and monitoring, but cross-sectional or follow-up effect analyses should take into account the degree of reliability differing in various spine shape parameters. Further investigations should be conducted to analyse reliability in scoliosis patients with differing spinal deformities.

Despite its beneficial effects on flexibility and muscle soreness, there is still conflicting evidence regarding dose-response relationships and underlying mechanisms of foam rolling (FR). This study aimed to investigate the impact of different FR protocols on tissue perfusion and tissue stiffness. In a randomized crossover trial, two FR protocols (2x1 min, 2x3 min) were applied to the right anterior thigh of twenty healthy volunteers (11 females, 25 ± 4 years). Tissue perfusion (near infrared spectroscopy, NIRS) and stiffness (Tensiomyography, TMG and Myotonometry, MMT) were assessed before and after FR application. Variance analyses revealed a significant interaction of FR duration and tissue perfusion (F[1,19] = 7.098, p = 0.015). Local blood flow increased significantly from pre to post test (F[1,19] = 7.589, p = 0.013), being higher (Δ +9.7%) in the long-FR condition than in the short-FR condition (Δ +2.8%). Tissue stiffness (MMT) showed significant main effects for time (F[1,19] = 12.074, p = 0.003) and condition (F[1,19] = 7.165, p = 0.015) with decreases after short-FR (Δ -1.6%) and long-FR condition (Δ -1.9%). However, there was no time*dose-interaction (F[1,19] = 0.018, p = 0.895). No differences were found for TMG (p > 0.05). FR-induced changes failed to exceed the minimal detectable change threshold (MDC). Our data suggest that increased blood flow and altered tissue stiffness may mediate the effects of FR although statistical MDC thresholds were not achieved. Longer FR durations seem to be more beneficial for perfusion which is of interest for exercise professionals designing warm-up and cool-down regimes. Further research is needed to understand probable effects on parasympathetic outcomes representing systemic physiological responses to locally applied FR stimulations.