As a curriculum and pedagogic concept in elementary school physical education, "movement education" emerged from relative obscurity in the late 1950s to broad use through the early 1980s. It did so, in several "movements," or stages, each of which lasted for about a decade. Movement education first appeared in the elementary school literature in 1958, and for most of the ensuing decade the term embraced a new category of activities to be included as part of a physical education program. By 1969, however, the term had begun to denote a more integrated, theoretically informed and philosophically unique total program. Some researchers, however, threw the effectiveness of movement education, motor skills, physical fitness levels and cardiorespiratory abilities into doubt. Suggestions have been made that should serve as the basis for further research in order that a theoretical framework be established relative to movement education training.

View full abstract

There is limited research regarding physical activity profiles of female athletes with motor impairments. This lack leads to a difficulty for sport professionals to organize exercise programs, which could meet the needs of the particular population. The purpose of the present study was to outline the motives and constraints relevant to sports participation of women with motor impairments in Greece. Twenty women with physical disabilities, 15-55 years old, participated in the study. They were asked to answer a questionnaire consisting of three parts: a) demographic characteristics, b) motives relevant to sports participation and c) constraints that prevent sports participation. According to the answers in the first three parts of the questionnaire the participating group was rather heterogeneous and it was not possible for a single profile to be formed. All participants were involved in organized training programs in pre-competition, competition and post-competition period, however, their participation period ranged from one to nine years. They practiced rather frequently, two to four times per week. The most important motive for participation was "the improvement of their physical fitness" followed by leisure, socialization, physical appearance and rehabilitation. "Control of their body weight" was the least important motive despite the fact that many of them were over their natural weight. Respectively, the most important constraint regarding their participation in exercise programs was "unsuitable hours of training" followed by "lack of free time", transportation, accessibility and unsuitable sports facilities. The majority of the above opinions are in accordance with those of other relative studies. However, some of the answers revealed the need of guidance and education regarding physical activity and healthy lifestyle. The above conclusion is very important to sport professionals who organize and implement exercise programs to meet the needs of this particular population. However, factors such as limited numbers and heterogeneity of the sample as well as lack of adapted leisure programs in Greece, lead to the need for more research regarding the above matter.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the differences of schools on the physical fitness of deaf students. A total of 476 deaf college students, aged 18 participated in our study, and they were divided into 3 groups: the first group attended schools for the deaf from elementary to high school, the second attended regular/mainstream schools, and the third attended both schools for the deaf and regular schools. Their physique and physical fitness had been measured in the first year of the college: standing height, body weight, grip strength, standing trunk flexion, vertical jump, back strength, side step, 12-min endurance run, 50-m dash, standing long jump, and handball throwing. Results of ANCOVA revealed that the performance of the deaf school group was significantly better than the other 2 groups in side step and 12-min endurance run for males, and in vertical jump, side step, 50-m dash, standing long jump and handball throwing for females. These results showed that the different educational setting of deaf students affected their physical fitness. Also, it was found that the educational setting of female students from schools for the deaf had a stronger tendency to affect their physical fitness than those of males.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the relation between self-efficacy for physical fitness and physical performance in the elderly. The subjects were 1,063 people (388 males and 675 females) aged 70-84 years living in a Japanese agricultural community. Self-efficacy for physical fitness was evaluated using questionnaires. Participants were asked about their self-efficacy for 'general physical fitness', 'leg strength', 'keeping one's sitting position', 'arm strength', 'standing up', 'going up stairs', 'agility', 'stability' and 'flexibility'. Each item was classified into four grades from 'I have enough' to 'I do not have enough'. Then, we analyzed the relation between self-efficacy and actual levels of physical fitness (grip strength, maximum trunk flexion in a sitting position, standing-up from sitting position, one-leg standing time with eyes open, the timed up and go test (TUG), gait velocity and step length for 10 meters) using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The results showed that many self-efficacy items were related to the physical performance test. For males over 75 and females over 70, scores of self-efficacy for physical fitness (range of 0-9 points) significantly correlated to standing-up from sitting position, TUG, gait velocity, and step length. Moreover, for males over 75 and females aged 70-74, the self-efficacy for leg strength significantly correlated with TUG, gait velocity and step length. The next task of this study is to clarify the usefulness of self-efficacy for physical fitness by longitudinal research.

View full abstract

The contents of physical education class for university students with disabilities or injuries have been little assessed in Japan. The purpose of this explorative study was to evaluate a physical education program ("adapted course") for university students with disabilities or injuries. Ten students (M=9/F=1) with disabilities or injuries at an institute of technology participated in the study. The ideas reported by the participants were categorized by two co-workers (academic physical education teachers). As results, seven categories were identified as the pros of the adapted course through the content analysis: "practice of healthy lifestyle", "satisfied with educational contents", "satisfied with the existence of class", "communication", "acquisition of the knowledge of healthy behavior", "small number of students", and "psychological effects." On the other hand, six categories were identified as the cons: "types of exercise", "communication", "easy access to the class", "short time for exercise", "setup of the question times", and "proposal for practical assignment." It is expected to utilize the results of this study as the basic data to evaluate and improve the class.

View full abstract

The quantity and level of daily activities of patients regularly participating in cardiac rehabilitation were evaluated. The subjects were 17 patients with ischemic heart disease (10 males aged 71.9±6.0 years,7 females aged 68.7±3.4 years). The mean duration of rehabilitation was 7.6±4.5 years (0.5±14.7 years). The activities of the subjects were recorded for 1 week using activity recording sheets and an activity recording apparatus (Lifecorder, Suzuken). The mean daily number of walking steps was 9,207 in the males and 6,264 in the females. Concerning daily activity times, the females spent about 80% of the day at home, and they spent a mean of 11.1 hours (46.4%) on "other activities", probably affecting the time spent on hobbies (0.7 hours, 3%) and sports (1.0 hours, 4%). The level of activity was zero for 94.5% of the day in the males and 95.8% of the day in the females, and moderate for 1.4% of the day (about 20 minutes) in the males and 0.8% of the day (about 13 minutes) in the females. The patients participated in rehabilitation and regularly performed sports, but their weekly activities were insufficient in both the quantity and level. Particularly, the lack of activities of moderate levels was notable in the females.

View full abstract

The present study revealed the adaptability and potential problems of 7 days hypoxia training in Japan's representative wheelchair marathon athlete (sex: male, age: 33 years, class: T53/54) for the Athens Paralympics. The subjects performed wheelchair roller training of 20 to 40km per day under 16.5% of oxygen concentration in an artificial climatic chamber. The running velocity, stroke frequency, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), profile of mood states, respiratory frequency, arterial oxygen saturation (SpO_2), number of red cells, and hematocrit levels were measured during the hypoxia training. Under hypoxia, running velocity and SpO_2 decreased, and RPE increased, compared with a normal environment. At the latter half of the training period, however, the velocity recovered, and accumulation of fatigue was reduced, which indicated an adaptability reaction. On the other hand, some problems were found, such as difficulty of respiratory rhythm and less acclimation of the properties of the blood.

View full abstract