This cross-sectional study aimed to characterize the lifestyle habits, anxiety levels and basic psychological needs (BPN), in Portuguese adults during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, including a comparison between genders and age groups. In total, 1404 adults (36.4 ± 11.7 years; 69.6% female) answered sociodemographic data and three instruments: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Basic Need General Satisfaction Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Males revealed higher values for the total energy expenditure (z = −2.26; p = 0.024; ${\eta }^2$ = 0.004) and for the level of satisfaction of competence (z = −2.62; p = 0.009; ${\eta }^2$ = 0.005). Females showed higher scores for the anxiety state (z = −7.87; p ≤ 0.001; ${\eta }^2$ = 0.044) and anxiety trait (z = −6.49; p ≤ 0.001; ${\eta }^2$ = 0.030). Regarding age, higher values for the anxiety trait (p ≤ 0.001; ${\eta }_H^2$ = 0.030) were found in the 18–34 years-old group compared to all the other age groups, also presenting significantly higher values of total energy expenditure (χ² = 13.93; p = 0.008; ${\eta }_H^2$ = 0.007) when compared to the 35–44 years-old group. Significant differences were observed between the 18–34 years-old group and the other age groups for the satisfaction of competence (χ² = 40.97; p ≤ 0.001; ${\eta }_H^2$ = 0.026), except for the >65 years-old group. Strategies for promoting well-being during periods of social isolation should consider the role of psychological dimensions and lifestyle habits according to the gender or age group.

Amaro, NM, Marinho, DA, Marques, MC, Batalha, N, and Morouço, PG. Effects of dry-land strength and conditioning programs in age group swimmers. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2447–2454, 2017—Even though dry-land S&C training is a common practice in the context of swimming, there are countless uncertainties over its effects in performance of age group swimmers. The objective was to investigate the effects of dry-land S&C programs in swimming performance of age group swimmers. A total of 21 male competitive swimmers (12.7 ± 0.7 years) were randomly assigned to the Control group (n = 7) and experimental groups GR1 and GR2 (n = 7 for each group). Control group performed a 10-week training period of swim training alone, GR1 followed a 6-week dry-land S&C program based on sets and repetitions plus a 4-week swim training program alone and GR2 followed a 6-week dry-land S&C program focused on explosiveness, plus a 4-week program of swim training alone. Results for the dry-land tests showed a time effect between week 0 and week 6 for vertical jump (p < 0.01) in both experimental groups, and for the GR2 ball throwing (p < 0.01), with moderate to strong effect sizes. The time × group analyses showed that for performance in 50 m, differences were significant, with the GR2 presenting higher improvements than their counterparts (F = 4.156; p = 0.007; JOURNAL/jscr/04.03/00124278-201709000-00013/13MMU1/v/2023-08-19T002731Z/r/image-tiff = 0.316) at week 10. Concluding, the results suggest that 6 weeks of a complementary dry-land S&C training may lead to improvements in dry-land strength. Furthermore, a 4-week adaptation period was mandatory to achieve beneficial transfer for aquatic performance. Additional benefits may occur if coaches plan the dry-land S&C training focusing on explosiveness.

Worldwide, studies reveal that a significant proportion of adults and children do not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity (PA). Therefore, it is crucial that proxy determinants for child physical activity enhancement could be identified. Parents have been considered to have a key role in child adherence to physical activity. Thus, this systematic review aimed to identify association between parents’ and children’s PA. The search of scientific papers was conducted from 31 October 2020 until 31 January 2021, on the Web of Science, Scopus, Psycinfo, SportDiscus, and Pubmed databases. The PRISMA protocol was used. Findings indicate a consistent association between parents’ and children’s (6–12 years old) PA. Despite the imbalance of the number of assessed fathers and mothers with the latter clearly overrepresented, a trend towards the same gender dyads on PA significant and positive association (father/son, mother/daughter) was evidenced. Results support the relevant importance of parents’ PA as role modeling (either explicitly or implicitly) for children’s PA. Besides, results revealed the importance of promoting PA in family for the enhancement of children’s PA. Moreover, and given the positive impact of exerting PA with the children on children’s PA, parents should spend more time practicing PA with their children, especially on MVPA and meeting the recommended guidelines for PA. Future studies should highlight the role of mediator variables on this interaction process, extending the knowledge on the contribution of other factors to the requested enhancement of children adherence to PA practice.

This article provides a brief review over the state of art concerning dry-land training for swimmers. It is important to understand the role of muscular strength for swimming performance and how it might be improved. Firstly, this article analyzes the relationships between strength or power assessment in dry-land and swimming performance. Secondly, the results of studies aiming to evaluate the influence of dry-land strength training to swimming performance improvement are presented. These results allow coaches to realize the benefits that may be obtained by an appropriate strength training program, according to gender and level

The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability of tethered swimming in the evaluation of age group swimmers. The sample was composed of 8 male national level swimmers with at least 4 years of experience in competitive swimming. Each swimmer performed two 30 second maximal intensity tethered swimming tests, on separate days. Individual force-time curves were registered to assess maximum force, mean force and the mean impulse of force. Both consistency and reliability were very strong, with Cronbach's Alpha values ranging from 0.970 to 0.995. All the applied metrics presented a very high agreement between tests, with the mean impulse of force presenting the highest. These results indicate that tethered swimming can be used to evaluate age group swimmers. Furthermore, better comprehension of the swimmers ability to effectively exert force in the water can be obtained using the impulse of force.