Participating in sports has been shown to promote overall wellness and, at the same time, reduce health risks. As more people are participating in sports, competitions have increased, and every aspect of the game has been focused by coaches and athletes in order to improve performance. One of these aspects is the warm-up session. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effect of a dynamic warm-up versus a proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) warm-up on the sprint and jump performance of recreationally active men. Thirty (n = 30) males were randomly assigned to undergo three sessions of different warm-up types, 72 h apart, involving either proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), dynamic stretching (DS), or no stretching session (control). The PNF and dynamic modes of stretching improved vertical jump performance, F (2.58) = 5.49, p = 0.046, to a certain extent (mean + 3.32% vs. control, p = 0.002 for dynamic and mean + 1.53% vs. control, p = 0.048 for PNF stretching). Dynamic stretching is best used to get a better vertical jump height. Sprint performance was also increased to a greater extent following the stretching session, F (2.58) = 5.60, p = 0.01. Sprint time was +1.05% faster vs. the control, with a value of p = 0.002 after dynamic stretching, while PNF stretching demonstrated a sprint time of +0.35% vs. the control, with a value of p = 0.049. Dynamic stretching showed a better sprint performance and also vertical jump height performance in this study. PNF and dynamic stretching prove to be equally efficacious in flexibility conditioning depending on the type of movement involved. This type of stretching should be utilized to help preserve or improve the performance output of physical activity, especially in sprinting and jumping events.

This study was conducted to determine and compare the kinetics during step forward lunge (SFL) and jump forward lunge (JFL) in badminton. Fifteen university badminton players (mean age = 22.07 ± 1.39 years old) were recruited and were assigned to perform SFL and JFL while holding a badminton racquet using their dominant hand. For both dominant and non-dominant leg, all the force variables during JFL were significantly higher compared to SFL. Results also showed that time to peak force and stance time was significantly shorter during SFL compared to JFL. Besides that, all the forces variables were greater in the dominant limb compared to the non-dominant limb. Time to peak force and stance time were also shorter in dominant limb compared to the non-dominant limb. To conclude, coaches and athletes need to be aware of the mechanical demands during both lunge method and the assymetries that exist in terms of force production between both sites of limbs. Keywords: concentric; eccentric; impact; force; asymmetry.

This study aimed to examine the effects of unilateral versus bilateral resistance training and bilateral deficit on unilateral and bilateral strength adaptation among trained men. Thirty recreationally active, resistance trained men were recruited and were divided into three groups; i) unilateral (n=10), ii) bilateral (n=10) and iii) control (n=10). Chest press and biceps curl strength tests were conducted unilaterally and bilaterally before and after six weeks of training intervention. Unilateral bicep curl and chest press training was given to the unilateral group while the bilateral group was asked to undergo bilateral bicep curl and chest press training. 1RM bicep curl and chest press tests were measured unilateral and bilateral strength and bilateral deficit before and after the intervention. The intervention period were six weeks. Mixed design (ANOVA) was used to compare strength during pre- and post-test in groups while MANOVA was used to compare the changes in percentage during pre and post-test between groups. Results showed a significant difference in the test of unilateral strength within groups. Both unilateral and bilateral training groups managed to improve both unilateral and bilateral strength significantly in both exercises but there was a decrease in unilateral and bilateral strength within control group. On the other hand, all the three groups showed no bilateral deficit for bicep curl and chest press test. The findings also revealed that there was a significant difference in the percentage changes between groups. The unilateral group showed a greater change in percentage the in unilateral strength compared to the control group but no significant difference with the bilateral group. While, the bilateral group showed a greater percentage change in bilateral strength compared with the unilateral and control group. In conclusion, this study showed that both of these unilateral and bilateral exercises can increase muscle strength in trained men. However, the unilateral and bilateral strength adaptation is specific to the training performed especially for multi-joint and complex exercise.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different stance-width; i) narrow, ii) shoulder and iii) wide, on muscle activation and performance during Romanian deadlift (RDL) exercise. Thirty recreationally resistance trained men aged of 19-23 years old (22.20±1.13) were involved in this study. The participants need to perform RDL with 80% of their 1RM in three sessions with three difference stances in randomized order. To measure the muscle activation level during performing the exercise, the electromyogram (EMG) marker was placed on vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, gluteus maximus and multifidus muscles. The number of repetitions completed during each sets was recorded as indicator for performance. The mean EMG value during concentric and eccentric movement along with the number of repetitions completed were analysed using one way repeated measure analysis of variances (ANOVA). The result showed no significant differences were found on EMG reading of vastus lateralis and bicep femoris during eccentric and concentric phase of RDL when three different stances were used. However, when wide stances were used, a significant difference was observed on gluteus maximus whilst significant differences on multifidus were obviously seen when narrow stance were used. Higher number of repetition completed was significantly found when wide and shoulder width stances were used compared to narrow stance. The results of this study revealed the importance to choose correct stance width (depending on training objective) while performing RDL due to its effects on the muscle activation and performance.

This study was conducted to compare the muscle activation during traditional, clap and power push up among trained men. A total of thirty trained men that are physically active and have at least one year experienced in fitness training and having good techniques in push up exercises were recruited as study participants. Participants were required to perform all three types of push up in a randomised order to avoid bias in the exercise sequence. Electromyogram was used to detect the muscle activites of pectoralis major, triceps brachii and anterior deltoids. Muscle activation was reported as percentage of the maximum voluntary contraction value. The results showed that the muscle activation was highest during the clap push up followed by the power push up and traditional push up. As a conclusion, increasing the difficulty by applying plyometric technique during push up give a significant impact in terms of muscle activation in which is believed to be affect the muscle strength and size in long term.

This study was conducted to examine the lower limb kinematics during roundhouse kick in MuayThai. Fifteen MuayThai novices (mean age = 21.52 ± 1.09 years old) with 2-3 months experiences in MuayThai training were recruited and were asked to perform roundhouse kick for each side of legs (dominant and non-dominant). Joint angles and velocity between the dominant and non-dominant lower limb were compared during both strikes. Dominant lower limb were shown to have greater hip flexion velocity, knee flexion velocity, ankle upward and lateral velocity compared to the non-dominant lower limb. Results demonstrated the asymmetries between dominant and non-dominant sides of lower limbs existed during roundhouse kick among novices in MuayThai. Keywords: asymmetry, attacking strike, joint angle, velocity, novice.