Some recreational runners participate in consecutive races within a short period. A high frequency of participation may not allow for sufficient recovery time, leading to overreaching. This case study reports on the training load, physiological variables, performance, and psychological state of a male recreational runner during a 16-week marathon season. The runner completed four marathon races over a period of eight weeks. Training load was quantified based on the cumulative time spent in three intensity zones (zone 1:<the ventilatory threshold; zone 2: between the ventilatory threshold and respiratory compensation point; zone 3:>the respiratory compensation point) using heart rate monitoring. The Hooper questionnaire was completed every morning to quantify sleep, stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness. The runner performed four identical treadmill running tests throughout the season. The coefficient of variation for maximal velocity and the physiological variables was 1.0% and 1.8%‐5.2%, respectively. Pearson correlation showed significant relationships between training load and stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness. There was no significant relationship between training load and sleep. In conclusion, it appeared that the subject runner was able to complete four marathon races without overreaching. These findings suggest that the training load and Hooper questionnaire are practical tools for monitoring recreational runners during the marathon season.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between the joint power during the propulsion phase of the standing long jump and the maximum isokinetic strength of the lower limb joints. The subjects comprised 11 male athletes specialized in different sport events. The isokinetic strengths of the extensor muscles at the ankle, knee, and hip joints at two angular velocities were evaluated by dynamometry. Joint powers during the propulsion phase of the standing long jump were calculated with two-dimensional coordinate data (50 Hz) and ground reaction force data (500 Hz). Knee and hip joint peak power during the propulsion phase, normalized by the body mass, highly and significantly correlated with the jump distance (knee: r=0.767, p<0.01, hip: r=0.723, p<0.05). Isokinetic extensor strength of the ankle, knee, and hip joints, normalized by the body mass, did not correlate with peak power during the propulsion phase at the corresponding joint. Additionally, the isokinetic extensor strength did not correlate with the jump distance, with one exception. Although the jump distance depended on lower limb joint power during the propulsion phase, power was not directly modulated by the isokinetic strength. This phenomenon might be derived from the use of strategies that enhance lower limb power, which include a counter-movement and the coupling of an arm swing to the lower limb motion.

Trunk stabilization exercises improve injury prevention and performance, but the effect of deep trunk muscle training for underwater competitive performance and posture has not been clarified. If trunk stability can be obtained immediately after trunk stabilization exercises, such exercises may lead to performance improvements during underwater swimming and improve lumbar lordosis alignment during swim motions. The purpose of this study was to clarify the immediate effects of deep trunk muscle training on lumbar lordosis angle and swimming speed in underwater motion. The trial examined underwater motion before and after two different types and intensities of trunk stabilization exercises (low-intensity and high-intensity). Underwater motion was observed with an underwater high-speed camera placed 7.5 m from the pool wall, while lumbar lordosis angle was measured from the angle formed by markers affixed to the Th12, L3, and S1. During the glide swim, dolphin kick, and flutter kick trials, the maximum lumbar lordosis angle was calculated. Lumbar lordosis angle and swimming speed were calculated before and after two different intensities of trunk exercise interventions. There were significant differences in lumbar lordosis angle after both exercises during all three underwater motions. The high-intensity intervention elicited a significantly lower lumbar lordosis angle during glide swim, dolphin kick, and flutter kick, while swimming velocity was also improved during glide swim and flutter kick (P<0.05). Performing trunk exercise before practice or competition may help improve competition performance by reducing underwater resistance.

The purpose of this study was to clarify how women's physical education was promoted in Japan, particularly around the Taisho era (1912-1926). Before commencing the main discussion, the circumstances leading up to the promotion of women's physical education around the turn of the twentieth century are reviewed, along with the status of women's physical education at that time. Then, the following three points are considered as specific topics for the present study: First, critical opinions on women's physical education are reviewed to examine the details underlying the problematic nature of its promotion, hitherto assumed. Second, measures for promoting women's physical education in view of these difficulties are examined through arguments for promoting measures put forward by leading figures in physical education. Third, the tendencies and problems surrounding proposed measures for promoting women's physical education in the Taisho era are clarified through an examination of critical opinions on these promotion measures.

The study found that, against a backdrop of problematic conditions caused by various factors, measures for promoting physical education for women in the Taisho era placed greater emphasis on effectively advertising physical education than on improving its quality. Conducted in this way, the promotion was also criticized by some leading figures in women's physical education and can be regarded as one of the reasons why the quality of women's physical education remained low.

The purpose of the present study was to determine how runners sprinting along a curved path could rotate their whole body about the vertical axis to maintain their stance so that they continually faced the ever-changing running direction. Ten healthy men were asked to run at 5 m/s along a straight path (RS) and a curved path with a 5-m radius (RC). The running direction during RC was counterclockwise as viewed from above (CCW). A motion capture system (240 Hz) was used to record the three-dimensional coordinates of the reflective markers attached to each subject. The changing patterns of the angular momentum of each segment and the average angular momentum of the whole body in each contact and flight phase were compared between the two movements. In all the phases, the average angular momentum during RC was significantly directed more toward the CCW direction than that during RS. In contrast, the angular momentum of the head and trunk during RS changed periodically from positive to negative values, while that during RC continued to exhibit positive values throughout the stride cycle. The changing pattern of the angular momentum of the left leg during RC was in the phase opposite to that during RS because the subjects swung the left leg on their right side. The left leg moved in an elliptical trajectory in a direction opposite to the rotation of the whole body on the horizontal plane during RC; this presumably generated reactional rotation effects on the other segments to maintain stance that allowed the subject to keep facing the running direction.

This paper clarifies the meaning of the term tai-iku (physical education) in the Principles of Physical Education by Heizaburo Takashima (1865-1946), who advocated physical education (PE) in the latter part of Japan's Meiji era. Takashima wrote many books on PE, which included examples of the term tai-iku. PE-related subjects were discussed from various angles, but the meaning of tai-iku was not self-evident. In Japanese, Tai-iku has many meanings throughout history. Therefore, previous references to tai-iku must be clarified through an empirical approach when reading books on PE written in past times, as there is a risk that Takashima's term tai-iku may unconsciously conform to our concept of PE. This paper represents the first attempt to define the term. We concluded that first, Takashima's concept of tai-iku should be defined in terms of his Principles of Physical Education (1904), and second, the definition was methodological, by which intellectual and moral education can be perfected, while retaining the previous meaning in the context of the human body. In Takashima's book, tai-iku has these two meanings. Other issues include whether alternative meanings exist in Takashima's books, or whether these (Principles of Physical Education etc.) can be read consistently and coherently.