There are many different types of footwear available for runners in today's market. Many of these shoes claim to improve a runner's efficiency by altering their stride mechanics. Minimalist footwear claims to aid runners in running more on their forefeet whereas more traditional footwear provides more cushioning specifically for a heel-first landing. The purpose of this research was to determine if runners who were accustomed to running in traditional footwear would acutely alter their running biomechanics when they ran barefoot or in various types of minimalist footwear. Twelve subjects, who were accustomed to running in traditional 12 mm heel/toe differential footwear, ran in five footwear conditions on a treadmill at a controlled pace for 2 minutes after warming up in each condition for 5 minutes. While running in 12 mm heel/toe differential footwear compared to barefoot, subjects ran with a significantly longer ground time, a slower stride rate and greater vertical oscillation. There were not any significant differences in kinematic and kinetic variables when running in the shod conditions despite the varying heel/toe differentials. Foot strike angle did not change under any of the conditions either. Running barefoot proved to be different than running in footwear in that stride rate increased, ground time decreased and vertical oscillation decreased. There were not any significant acute differences between any of the footwear conditions despite having different heel/toe differentials in subjects accustomed to wearing traditional heel-drop footwear. Wearing minimalist or cushioned minimal footwear appears to not be an effective means of changing running mechanics acutely but may need repeated bouts to alter running mechanics.

Context: Dorsiflexion range of motion (DFROM) is often limited in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Whole-body vibration (WBV) may enhance DFROM by helping to reposition the talus and assisting with talocrural arthrokinematics. Objective: To determine if WBV can enhance DFROM in patients with ankle instability and determine if talar position is affected. Setting: Cohort study. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 25 subjects with CAI (17 women, 8 men; age = 22 ±2.101 years, mass = 72.4 ±17.9 kg, height = 171.2 ± 11.6 cm) participated. Intervention(s): Participants in the WBV group completed a 4-week (12 session) WBV program consisting of 6 sets of 30 s at 35 Hz High amplitude with 30 s rest in between standing on a 30° slant board. Participants in the dorsiflexion (DF) group completed a 4-week program without WBV consisting of 6 sets of 30 s standing on a 30° slant board with 30 s rest in between. Participants in the control (C) group did not receive any intervention. Main Outcome Measure(s): Lateral talus position via radiographic imaging, non-weight-bearing (NWB) DFROM, and weight-bearing (WB) DFROM were assessed preintervention, immediately postintervention, and 24 hours after the final intervention. Results: No significant change was detected in talus position measured by X-ray (F = 1.561; p < .05). NWB DFROM (F = 1.543; p < .05) and WB DFROM (F = .774; p < .05) measurements also did not result in significant changes after the WBV program. Conclusions: Four weeks of WBV treatments did not improve talus position or DFROM in ankle instability subjects.

STUDY DESIGN: Randomized crossover experiment. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Rich-Mar AutoSound™ would be as effective as traditional ultrasound at increasing the temperature of the triceps surae muscle during a 10-min, 1 MHz, 1.0 W/cm2 ultrasound treatment. BACKGROUND: The AutoSound™ is a hands-free ultrasound device that is strapped on the body and left for the duration of the ultrasound treatment. It requires no clinician during the actual ultrasound treatment, thus freeing the clinician to perform other tasks and reducing clinician error during treatments. METHODS: 16 healthy subjects (6 males, 10 females, age = 22 ± 1.6 yrs, height = 173.2 ± 8.4 cm, weight = 72.5 ± 11.3 kg, triceps surae subcutaneous fat thickness = 0.85 ± 0.37 cm) received a 10-min, 1 MHz, 1.0 W/cm2 ultrasound treatment over their left triceps surae muscle with both the AutoSound™ and traditional ultrasound (via the TheraHammer™) with 24 hours between treatments. Temperatures were measured every 30 seconds during the ultrasound treatments by way of a thermistor, approximately 2.25 cm deep in the triceps surae. RESULTS: The AutoSound™ was not effective at increasing the temperature of the triceps surae muscle, as temperature decreased 0.16°C during treatment (p = 0.334). On average, the AutoSound™ caused intramuscular temperature to decrease at a rate of 0.016 ± 0.001°C per min. Traditional ultrasound performed using the TheraHammer™ had a total temperature increase of 0.41°C. Rate of temperature increase during traditional ultrasound was 0.025 ± 0.003°C per min (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The AutoSound™ is not as effective at increasing muscle temperature as traditional ultrasound during a 10-min, 1 MHz, 1.0 W/cm2 treatment. However, neither the AutoSound™ nor traditional ultrasound was very effective at increasing the temperature of the triceps surae muscle during the treatment time.

Current scientific evidence suggests that when whole body vibration (WBV) is used as a warm-up prior to performing eccentric exercise, delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is mitigated and strength loss recovers faster. These benefits were observed primarily in nonresistance-trained individuals. The aim of this study was to determine if WBV could mitigate soreness and expedite strength recovery for resistance-trained individuals when used as a warm-up prior to eccentric exercise. Thirty resistance-trained males completed 300 maximal eccentric contractions of the quadriceps after warming up with (WBV) or without (CON) WBV. Both CON and WBV experienced significant isometric (27.8% and 30.5%, respectively) and dynamic (52.2% and 47.1%, respectively) strength loss immediately postexercise. Isometric strength was significantly depressed after 24 hours in the CON group (9.36% p < 0.01), but not in the WBV group (5.8% p = 0.1). Isometric strength was significantly depressed after 48 hours in the CON group (7.18% p < 0.05), but not in the WBV group (4.02% p = 0.25). Dynamic strength was significantly decreased in both the CON and WBV groups both at 24 hours (19.1% p < 0.001, and 16.1% p < 0.001, respectively), 48 hours (18.5% p < 0.01, and 14.5% p < 0.03), and 1 week postexercise (9.3% p = 0.03, and 3.5%, respectively). Pain as measured by visual analog scale (VAS) was significant in both CON and WBV groups at 24 and 48 hours postexercise, but the WBV experienced significantly less soreness than the CON group after 24 hours (28 mm vs. 46 mm p < 0.01 respectively), and 48 hours (38 mm vs. 50 mm p < 0.01). Pain as measured by pain pressure threshold (PPT) increased significantly in both groups after 24 and 48 hours, but there was no difference in severity of perceived soreness. The use of WBV as a warm-up may mitigate DOMS but does not appear to expedite the recovery of strength in the days following eccentric exercise in resistance-trained individuals.

Exposure to natural altitude using the "live high-train low" method improves athletic endurance performance at sea level by 1-2%. This method can also be employed with hypoxic devices that simulate altitude, but there is limited and conflicting research on their efficacy. Consequently, three studies were undertaken to investigate changes in sea level performance of endurance runners following exposure to altitude simulated with hypoxic tents. The device was chosen because of its potential for incorporation into the athlete's routine. In Study 1, 10 runners received altitude simulated with hypoxic tents (~9 h overnight at 2500-3500 m) and trained at sea level, while 10 runners in the control group performed usual training. Athletes in both groups performed a lactate-threshold test, but only the altitude group performed a run to exhaustion. The effect on 4-mM lactate speed was unclear, owing to poor reliability of this measure. There was a 16% increase in time to exhaustion in the hypoxic conditioning group, equivalent to a 1.9% (90% likely limits, ±1.4%) increase in speed in a time trial. Effects on performance were not apparent four and eight weeks after use of the tents. To improve precision of the effect of the tents and to determine the effects on performance of different durations, a further controlled trial was performed. A reliability study (Study 2) was first conducted to investigate the potential for runs to exhaustion to provide reliable measures of performance. Eight runners performed a test consisting of three runs to exhaustion lasting ~2, ~4 and ~8 min on six occasions over 14 wk. The critical power and log-log models were used to provide factors for converting variability in time to exhaustion into variability in equivalent time-trial time. Variabilities in time to exhaustion expressed as coefficients of variation for predicted 800-3000 m timetrial times were ~1-3%. A crossover study (Study 3) was then conducted in which 11 athletes performed usual (control) training and usual training with altitude exposure by using tents for 25 ± 3 days (mean ± SD) for 8.1 ± 0.6 h.d-1, progressing from a simulated altitude of 2500 m to 3500 m above sea level. Washout period between control and altitude treatments was four weeks. Performance was assessed with treadmill runs to exhaustion as in Study 2. Improvements in mean predicted times (altitude-control) for standard competition distances of 800, 1500 and 3000 m derived from the runs to exhaustion were 1.0% (±1.3%), 1.4% (±1.2%) and 1.9% (±1.5%) respectively. There was some evidence that hypoxic exposure favoured those athletes carrying the I allele for angiotensin converting enzyme. In summary, the main finding from the series of studies is that hypoxic tents are likely to enhance sea level endurance running performance by ~1-2%.

The optimisation of strength and power through resistance training has been the source of debate amongst health professionals and researchers for many years. As resistance training involves the repeated activation and contraction of skeletal muscles, continuous training will ultimately result in a failure to sustain the training intensity especially when performing multiple sets and / or repetitions. Therefore the prescription of rest periods within the training session becomes an important consideration. Relatively short rest periods (60-90 seconds) have been traditionally used for the maximal strength adaptation involving increases in the cross-sectional area of the muscle, whereas longer rest periods (180-300 seconds) have traditionally been used for the maximal strength adaptation involving enhancement of neural function and maximal power adaptation. However, there is very little scientific evidence to support these current practices. In fact, the effect of different rest periods on maximal strength and power development has received very little research attention. Additionally, research that has been conducted in this area has been typified by a number of methodological inconsistencies, within and between studies, which confound scientific understanding. Although traditionally resistance training has employed continuous training schemes with inter-set rest periods, intra-set rest training methods which distribute rest intervals between groups of repetitions have also been investigated. It has been theorised that the short rest periods within the training set allow partial resynthesis of the intramuscular phosphocreatine stores, potentially allowing an athlete to increase their training volume by training at high intensities for longer durations, or performing additional repetitions (Berg, 2003). This is thought to lead to an increased exposure of the muscle to the kinematic and kinetic stimuli thought important for strength and power adaptation whilst minimising performance-inhibiting metabolic accumulation and substrate depletion. However, research into intra-set rest training schemes is still in its infancy, and many of the theories surrounding intra-set rest training are currently unsubstantiated. It is thought that examinations of the acute kinematic, kinetic and blood lactate profiles of continuous and intra-set rest training schemes may enhance scientific understanding regarding the efficacy of intra-set rest training. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the acute kinematic, kinetic and blood lactate responses to continuous and intra-set rest loading schemes. Nine male subjects performed an isoinertial Smith machine bench press task (6RM load) with a continuous loading scheme (CONT), an intra-set rest loading scheme equated by total rest time, volume and load (ISRV) and an intra-set rest loading scheme equated by total rest time and load (ISRR). The order of the loading schemes was assigned in a block randomised order with a minimum of 48 hours recovery between each testing session. Attached to the bar of the Smith machine was a linear position transducer that measured vertical displacement with an accuracy of 0.01cm. Displacement data was sampled at 1000Hz and collected by a laptop computer running custom built data acquisition software. Finger prick blood lactate samples were taken from the non-dominant hand using sterile techniques at the following time points: pre-exercise (Pre), immediately post-exercise (P0), five (P5), fifteen (P15) and thirty minutes (P30) post exercise. Blood glucose samples were taken pre-exercise only. It was observed that manipulating the rest period, by increasing the frequency but decreasing the length of each rest period, did not significantly influence the kinematics and kinetics associated with resistance training, but did have an effect on the post-exercise blood lactate response when the load, rest duration and training volume was equated (ISRV). This finding may be of practical significance if fatigue is important in strength development or conversely if power training needs to be performed with minimal fatigue. It was also observed that increasing the frequency of the rest period enabled the subjects to perform a greater number of repetitions (ISRR), resulting in significantly greater kinematics, kinetics and blood lactate accumulation. It may be speculated, therefore, that ISRR training may offer a superior training stimulus for the development of maximal strength and hypertrophy than CONT training methods, as ISRR loading increased the exposure of the muscle to the kinematic, kinetic and metabolic stimuli thought important for the development of these qualities.

The use of vibration as an exercise intervention offers new possibilities for coaches, clinicians, and strength and conditioning practitioners. It appears that muscle activation by means of vibration may induce improvements in strength and power similar to those observed with conventional strength training. Furthermore, vibration is thought to affect the neuromuscular functions that regulate muscle stiffness. There has been preponderance in the literature to assume that the stiffness properties of the muscle affect muscle function, which in turn affects functional performance. Improving functional performance is a major goal for recreational to elite athletes. However, improving the performance of well-trained athletes, especially whilst engaged in in-season training, is challenging, as the training status of such athletes is near optimal. Furthermore, training and playing schedules usually do not allow for adequate training frequencies. Therefore, the application of in-season vibration training may offer a means by which substantial loading can be placed upon the athlete with minimal interference to the weekly schedule. Consequently, the aims of this thesis were to: 1) determine the reliability of a new method to measure the stiffness of the knee extensor muscles; 2) investigate the relationship between knee extensor stiffness, strength, power, and speed; and 3) examine the effect six weeks of squat training with and without whole body vibration (WBV) has on knee extensor stiffness, strength, power, and speed.The reliability of a new method to measure the stiffness of the knee extensors was assessed. The within trial variation (coefficient of variation [CV] - 5.41-7.45%) for all five loads (30, 40, 50, 60, and 70% one-repetition-maximum [1RM]) and test-retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficients [ICC] - 0.92-0.96) were deemed acceptable. Thirty semi-elite male rugby union players were assessed on sprint speed, squat strength, countermovement-jump (CMJ), and drop-jump (DJ) performance to investigate their relationships to knee extensor stiffness. Knee extensor stiffness was found to have no significant relationship to any of the functional performance measures (r = -0.16-0.17). On the basis of these findings it was suggested that the relationship of the knee extensor stiffness to functional performance was not significant (P>0.05). It was suggested that either the postural requirements of the test were inappropriate, or the knee extensor muscles were not the most suitable muscle group to measure.Immediately after the testing session described above, subjects began a six-week intervention of squat training with or without WBV. The percentage change over the six-week intervention for the stiffness and performance data were calculated and compared to determine if differences between training interventions were significant (P<0.05). The mean percentage change in knee extensor stiffness (average load of 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70% 1RM) for the squat only and squat vibration group were -4.18% and -6.59%, respectively. Non-significant mean percentage changes in squat strength (1.32 and -0.50%), CMJ height (-7.92 and -1.47%), DJ reactivity co-efficient (1.25 and -3.54%), and sprint times over 5, 10, and 20 m (range = -0.86 to -1.16% and 0.54 to -1.88%) were observed for the squat only and squat vibration groups, respectively. Squat training with and without WBV was capable of maintaining, but not improving knee extensor stiffness, strength, power, and speed during a six-week in-season training cycle.

In a club rugby union environment, sports nutrition information is frequently delivered to players by the central team figure, the coach. Rugby coaches in New Zealand undertake negligible formal nutrition training to become a coach, and the development of their knowledge base remains their responsibility. There is currently no literature on the nutrition knowledge level of New Zealand coaches. Internationally, literature on coaches' nutrition knowledge and dissemination of that knowledge is scarce. Research to date has used questionnaire techniques to quantify coaches' knowledge. These questionnaires have not been assessed for their psychometric properties. As such, a true measure of knowledge cannot be guaranteed from any of these contemporary studies. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were: 1) To design a nutrition knowledge questionnaire satisfying adequate statistical measures of validity and reliability; 2) To utilise the validated questionnaire to investigate the nutrition knowledge level of these coaches 3) To investigate whether or not New Zealand premier club rugby coaches provide nutrition advice to their athletes and the factors affecting this; and 4) To investigate the factors that predict coaches' knowledge. Study 1 involved designing a questionnaire that satisfied acceptable psychometric criteria of validity (content and construct) and reliability (test-retest). It was designed by an expert panel of sports dietitians and distributed to five groups, dietitians, university business staff, and nutrition, business and fitness students, selected for their expected variation in sports nutrition knowledge. Construct validity was high as indicated by significant mean knowledge score differences between the groups (p = 0.0001). Dietitians and nutrition students achieved significantly greater mean scores than the remaining groups. The questionnaire was administered a second time to the business staff and the dietitians to assess test-retest reliability, for which two methods were used. The first method involved a Pearson's product-moment correlation, and demonstrated acceptable reliability (r = 0.74-0.93), aside from the fluid sub-category (r = 0.52). The second, and more robust, method involved a percentage calculation of questions answered in an identical manner on both test occasions. A good test-retest concordance was achieved, with 81.2% duplication of responses of all questions. The findings of this study indicated that the questionnaire was suitably valid and reliable to determine the sports nutrition knowledge of New Zealand premier club rugby coaches. In Study 2, coaches (n = 168) completed the validated questionnaire, received by Internet, linked via e-mail, or (in case of inaccessibility), standard mail. Coaches responded correctly to 55.6% of all knowledge questions. Those who provided nutrition advice to their players (83.8% of the group) obtained a significantly greater knowledge score, 56.8%, than those who did not provide advice, 48.4% (p = 0.008). The study also examined the factors determining nutrition knowledge level. Significant relationships were identified between total knowledge score of all coaches and their qualifications (p = 0.0001), their own knowledge rating (p = 0.0001), whether or not they underwent nutrition training (p = 0.002) and whether or not they provided nutrition advice (p = 0.004). It can be concluded that New Zealand premier club rugby coaches are inadequately prepared to impart nutrition advice to athletes and could benefit from further nutrition training.

This study investigated teachers' professional learning and pedagogy as they grappled with the challenges and implications of using new information and communications technologies (ICT) in their classrooms. It contributes to knowledge about the way teachers learn and change, their pedagogical interventions, the impact of different professional learning strategies, and identification of issues connected with the transition from personal learning to collegial and organizational learning. It also informs educational practice in terms of four major uses of ICT in classrooms: i)Digital information resources and new literacy demands; ii)Collaborative online projects; iii)Animation and multiliteracies development; iv)ICT and early numeracy development.

This research project in performance studies is anchored around the writing, devising and performing of a series of three solo performance works entitled Rapture, Rapture II, and Rapture III. Rapture III was examined in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. This written document, including annotated scripts for each of the performances, and one three hour video tape, is submitted in further partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree. The written document, examined performance of Rapture III, and video documentation constitute the 'thesis' submitted in total fulfilment of those requirements. This thesis draws on tropes of 'tyrannies and lies', 'defying gravity', 'presence and absence', 'subjectivity', 'knowledge and truth', and 'discourse' itself. These tropes are heuristically derived from the author's professional performance training experience ' with Monika Pagneux, Philippe Gaulier, Anzu Furukawa, Theatre de Complicite and Pantheatre ' and from wide readings 'around' performance making. The thesis engages with James Hillman's writings in imaginal psychology, the theories of Jean Baudrillard, Deleuze-Guattari, Roland Barthes, Adam Phillips, Helne Cixous, and Italo Calvino. The 'movement' of the thesis ' between the inception of ideas, through writing of scripts and devising and performing the solo works, to writing as a continuation of performance, and exegeses of the solos and their processes -is conceived as 'dialogical'. Each of the elements is seen to be in critical 'conversation' with the others, and not (necessarily) prescriptive or descriptive of them. The performative 'action' of the thesis is framed as a series of 'excursions' and is related within the written document to 'dis-coursing'. Both in the writing and performance making (including video), the thesis interrogates 'subjectivity' and processes of subjectification by means of performance. It contends that subjectivity is the 'stuff' of performance, and vice versa. Fictional, artificial, and imaginal, the language of performance re-doubles itself as the 'real' in the postulate that what is 'real', always and already - in philosophy, psychoanalysis, and discourses of 'identity' and the 'self' - is performance itself. More than 'performative', these are some of the sites, the 'stuff', the very phenomena of performance: the 'thing' of performance, what it is.