The proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) techniques such as contract-relax-antagonist-contract and contract-relax have been adopted by many researchers in the sports fields to investigate their effects on athletes and amateurs, either alone or by comparing these techniques with other modalities. The researchers to date have been published considerable controversial amounts of literature about the effectiveness of PNF techniques on the athletes' range of motion (ROM), dynamic stability, and performance. This review article aims to analyze the various effects of PNF stretching techniques and how they could be effective for athletes' ROM, dynamic stability, and performance-based on recent scientific evidence. After critically analyzing the published literature, the PNF techniques can increase the muscle flexibility in athletes as well as might be a reasonable method to enhance medial-lateral dynamic stability. However, its effectiveness on athletic performance is still questionable, and further high-quality studies are required.

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In recent times, pneumonia associated with a novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has engulfed majority of the world population. Despite the fact reported that children and young adults are at lower risk from the infection of the COVID-19 than the population of other age groups, young-aged individuals have chances of getting infected which may lead to several complications either in mild or moderate or severe forms. It shows an effect on cardiovascular endurance along with many adverse effects even in a previously healthy young individual. Necessity of assessing the cardiac endurance in post-COVID-19–affected patients is at most as this makes them analyze their cardiac fitness. Here, we report a case of a 30-year-old COVID-19 recovery patient who had faced cardiovascular endurance problems. Cardiac rehabilitation and self-cardiovascular endurance evaluation were coached. After 2 weeks, the patient reported moderate improvement regarding cardiovascular endurance.

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Movement behaviors inclusive of physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep time (ST), and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in children. The aim of this narrative review is to synthesize data on movement behaviors (PA, SB, and ST) and CRF in relation to CVD risk factors in children from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Three online databases were searched up until August 2019. Movement behaviour studies were included if cut-offs were ≥60 min/day for PA, ≤2 or ≤≤3 h/day for SB (screen time), and ≥≥8 or ≥9 h/day for ST. Laboratory- and field-based CRF measures were included. Thirty-five studies were included in the review. Participants were aged 8–19 years old. Seven studies were on males and one study on female-only participants. PA was reported in 13 studies, with 28% considered physically active. SB was reported in 13 studies and 56% met the guidelines. Only one study measured ST, with 23% meeting the recommendation. Eight studies measured CRF, and in six of these studies, the mean maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) was 42 and 36 mL/kg/min for males and females, respectively. Two studies used the one-mile walk/run test on male participants, with a mean performance time of 10 min. One study investigated multiple CVD risk factors in relation to CRF, and four studies with body mass index (BMI) only. One study on PA and SB was examined in relation to BMI. Overall, weak correlations were found between movement behaviors and CRF in relation to CVD risk factors. The prevalence of meeting PA and ST guidelines among children from GCC is low. On average, CRF is slightly above the proposed healthy cut off points for both genders. Future prospective research is needed on children from the GCC to comprehensively examine the relationship between movement behaviors, CRF and CVD risk.

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Background: Despite the frequent usage of ankle arthroscopy, there is limited medical literature regarding its indications, patterns of admissions, surgical outcomes, and associated complicated at Saudi Arabia. Hence, this study would highlight the surgical outcomes of such surgical approach that will assist orthopedic surgeons to detect which surgical procedure needs to be done as well as to help them regarding their diagnostic workups. Methods: At the Orthopedic Division of King Abdul-Aziz Medical City in Riyadh and through a cross-sectional design and convenient sampling techniques, the present study had recruited 20 subjects who fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria between 2016 and 2018. Data collection was carried out by a questionnaire designed and revised by an expert panel of health professionals. Results: Twenty patients were reviewed (11M and 9F) with an average age of 40.1 ± 12.2. Only 30% of the patients (5M, 1F) have no comorbidity, but 70% of patients (7M, 8F) were having at least one comorbidity. The most common indications were osteochondritis dissecans (n = 7, 35%), ankle fracture without dislocation (n = 4, 20%), and tibiotalar impingement (n = 3, 15%). Patients recorded pain in all cases (100%). The top four symptoms after pain were instability (30%, n = 6), muscle weakness (15%, n = 3) swelling (15%, n = 3), and stiffness (5%, n = 1). Two-third of cases reached to their full healthy status and toe-touch weight-bearing was seen in two patients (10%). Conclusion: Ankle arthroscopy improved the rehabilitation rates in our tertiary care center. In addition, the surgical outcomes are favorable in our hospital since it has a very short length of stay, unexpended surgery, and fewest physiotherapy sessions.

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Background: Physical activity influences cognitive function which is already established by several literatures. Exercise increases attention and performance on cognitive tasks, but the immediate effect of exercise on motor-cognitive function is unknown. Aim: Our aim was to find out the immediate effect of physical activity on motor-cognitive function in healthy adults. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five young males and females aged between 18 and 25 years were recruited by convenient sampling technique. Anthropometric measurement was obtained from the consented participants. For measuring the motor-cognitive function, memory cognitive skill game, an android-based mobile application, was used. The normality of the data was established by Shapiro–Wilk test. As the data follow normal distribution, the descriptive statistics were expressed in mean ± standard deviation and paired t-test was used to report pre- and postchange scores. Results: The mean age, height, weight, and body mass index of students were 22.48 ± 2.24 years, 163.25 ± 9.32 cm, 61.56 ± 9.32 kg, and 23.14 ± 3.6 kg/m², respectively. Overall, the mean pre- and postphysical activity scores were 44.54 ± 12.43 and 48.71 ± 12.40, respectively, with a significant difference (P = 0.005) between them. Gender-wise analysis revealed a significant change among the female participants (P = 0.002) but not among the male participants (P = 0.266). Conclusion: This study concluded that motor-cognitive function improves immediately after exercise.

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