ABSTRACT This paper explores the potential of the Active Inference Framework (AIF) and Predictive Processing (PP) to advance our understanding of skill and motor learning with a key focus on introducing these concepts to coaches and highlighting their practical implications. Conceptual frameworks such as Information Processing (IP) and Ecological Dynamics (ED) have contributed significantly to the field of skill acquisition. Despite recent efforts to reconcile these perspectives, however, their fundamentally different theoretical foundations concerning perception, cognition and learning processes pose substantial challenges for integration. Although ED has made valuable contributions through its focus on perception‐action coupling and direct interaction with the environment, it involves adopting a radical ontological stance that emphasises rejecting traditional cognitive constructs that can complicate practical applications in coaching. Conversely, IP's reliance on concepts such as stored motor programs and the view of the brain as a computer‐like processor can limit its ability to account for the dynamic, emergent nature of skill acquisition in real‐world contexts. We suggest that AIF offers a parsimonious perspective, accommodating the dynamic, embodied and enactive nature of skill acquisition without the necessity of committing to either framework's specific assumptions. This perspective provides practitioners with a coherent and flexible framework for understanding and designing skill learning interventions, offering a practically useful account of skill acquisition for coaching practice.
ABSTRACT Walking football (WF) is an adapted low‐impact form of traditional football designed to promote physical activity and social interaction among older adults. However, evidence on its physiological demands—particularly energy expenditure expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs)—remains limited. This cross‐sectional experimental study aimed to estimate the energy expenditure of WF in older adults and to examine whether field dimensions influence the exercise intensity of the game. Twenty recreational male WF players (mean age = 66.8 ± 6.5 years) participated in 6‐a‐side matches on two official field sizes. Physical activity and accelerometry‐derived estimates of energy expenditure and METs were monitored using wrist‐worn triaxial accelerometers (Axivity AX3). Subjective enjoyment was assessed using the feeling scale (FS). Mean energy expenditure was 6.79 ± 1.30 kcal·min −1 (4.81 ± 0.91 METs) on the large field and 6.58 ± 1.36 kcal·min −1 (4.66 ± 0.91 METs) on the small field, with no significant differences between conditions. Participants spent a greater proportion of time in motion on the larger field (ES: 0.340; p < 0.05), whereas enjoyment (FS) was significantly higher on the smaller field (ES: 0.708; p < 0.05). Walking speed averaged 0.8 m·s −1 across both formats. Strong correlations were found between steps, cadence, and METs (rho > 0.70, p < 0.01). WF elicits a moderate‐intensity physical activity response (≈4.5 METs) in older adults, independent of field size. These findings primarily support the feasibility of WF as a moderate‐intensity community‐based intervention, while suggesting that field‐size manipulation within normative ranges has limited physiological impact.
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to assess the effect of morning strength and power priming exercises on afternoon physical and cognitive performance in male rugby union players. On two occasions in a randomised, counterbalanced design, 25 male rugby union players completed morning physical (countermovement jump, 40 m linear sprint) and cognitive (rapid visual information processing; spatial working memory; paired associates of learning) assessments. Control (passive rest) or intervention (barbell back squat, 3 × 3 repetitions at 85% of one repetition maximum and barbell squat jump, 5 × 3 repetitions at 40% one repetition maximum) trials were implemented 5.5 h before afternoon assessments. Differences between morning and afternoon assessments were found in sprinting performance following intervention for 30 m fly (−0.08 ± 0.13 s, p = 0.004, ES: 0.615) and 40 m (−0.12 ± 0.17 s, p = 0.001, ES: 0.711) relative to control (0.03 ± 0.07 s, p = 0.022, ES: −0.476; 0.01 ± 0.09 s, p = 0.740, ES: −0.065, 30 m fly and 40 m, respectively). Afternoon countermovement jump flight time improved following intervention compared with control (2% vs. 0%, p = 0.012, ES: −0.53). No changes were found for cognitive assessments (p > 0.05). Morning strength and power priming exercises combining heavy‐load traditional and light‐load ballistic exercises effectively enhanced vertical jump and sprint performance, but not cognitive performance, in the afternoon in male rugby union players.
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate possible sex‐differences in upper‐body relative strength and the magnitude of muscle activity during the bench press exercise with and without pre‐exhaustion (PreEx) of triceps brachii (TB) before the bench press. Resistance trained women (n = 15) and men (n = 15) were assigned to a crossover design where the order of PreEx was block randomized. Each participant completed two 10RM bench press, one without PreEx and one which followed immediately after PreEx to failure with 5 minutes rest in between. Before bench press electromyography electrodes were attached to muscles pectoralis major (PM), TB and deltoideus anterior (DA) and data were normalized to maximum voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). For data analyses, a mixed model ANOVA was used. Results showed that both women and men performed a similar number of repetitions in the bench press after PreEx (p = 0.55). A sex‐difference was found in TB muscle activation where PreEx before bench press increased TB activation in women (post‐hoc p = 0.02) but not in men (post‐hoc p = 0.36). Moreover, PM activation increased similarly in women and men (post‐hoc p < 0.01 for both) following PreEx, while no changes in DA activation were detected in either sex. During the bench press without PreEx, no sex‐differences in muscle activation (%MVIC) were found in any of the three muscles examined. In conclusion, in resistance‐trained women, PreEx of the TB enhances activation of both the TB and PM during the bench press, whereas in men, PreEx increases activation only in the PM.
ABSTRACT Wearable technologies (“wearables”) are lightweight sensor‐based devices that detect, analyze, and transmit physiological, biomechanical or environmental data, and are increasingly used across physical activity, sedentary behavior, athletic training, safety and sleep research. Applications include for example large‐scale physical activity surveillance, ambulatory assessment, and real‐time feedback during athletic training. Despite promising use cases such as heart rate variability‐informed endurance training or gait retraining via biomechanical feedback, critical challenges remain. These include insufficient data quality, inadequately evaluated and inaccessible algorithms, limited interoperability between systems, difficulties translating sensor data into actionable insights, and insufficient wearable technology literacy among users. The Wearable Technologies Special Interest Group of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS‐WT‐SIG) identifies the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to address these challenges. Key priorities include developing regulatory frameworks, promoting standardized and open data infrastructure, improving wearable literacy of users, and conducting rigorous intervention studies under real‐world conditions. The ECSS‐WT‐SIG calls on researchers, industry partners, NGOs, and other stakeholders to collectively advance the scientific and practical application of wearables in physical activity, sedentary behavior, training, sleep, and safety research.
