PURPOSE This study examined levels of safety knowledge and practice among recreational sports participants, focusing particularly on impacts of gender, age, injury experience, and exercise-level profile. In sports environments, understanding these factors is essential for developing targeted strategies to promote safe behaviors. METHODS Survey data from 7725 participants engaged in regular recreational sports activities were analyzed. Latent Profile Analysis was employed to categorize participants based on their injury experience and exercise levels, resulting in two profiles: Group 1 (moderate or severe injury experience with intermediate exercise levels) and Group 2 (mild injury experience with beginner exercise levels). Three-way ANOVA was then used to evaluate relationships between these profiles and safety knowledge and practice levels. RESULTS Results revealed significant differences across sex, age, and profile groups. Compared with women, men demonstrated higher levels of safety knowledge and practice, which were likely influenced by greater exposure to high-intensity sports and risk-taking tendencies. Adolescents exhibited the highest levels of safety knowledge and practice linked to structured safety education, but these levels declined in early adulthood and then increased again in middle age due to growing health awareness and preventive motivations. Furthermore, participants in Group 1 consistently showed higher levels of safety knowledge and practice than those in Group 2, highlighting injury experience’s role in shaping safety behaviors. CONCLUSIONS These findings underscore the importance of developing gender-specific safety education programs, age-appropriate interventions, and training initiatives tailored to beginning participants. Future research should evaluate these strategies’ long-term impact on safety practices and injury prevention in diverse sports settings.
PURPOSE This study aimed to investigate the effects of an 8-week unstable surface Pilates training on physical fitness, abdominal muscle thickness, lumbar isokinetic muscle function, and pain in women aged 30–40 who are living a sedentary lifestyle and experiencing nonspecific low back pain. METHODS The training group (TR, n = 15) performed Pilates using small apparatuses on an unstable surface for 50 min/session, three sessions per week for 8 weeks, whereas the control group (n = 13) maintained their usual living pattern during the same intervention period. RESULTS 1) The body weight, body mass index, percent body fat, and fat mass decreased significantly in the TR, 2) whereas the hand grip strength, trunk extension, sit-andreach, and modified Schober test scores improved significantly. 3) The thickness of the external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis increased significantly in the TR. 4) Lumbar isokinetic flexor strength per body weight increased significantly in the TR. The endurance and endurance per body weight of the lumbar isokinetic extensor and lumbar isokinetic flexor also significantly increased in the TR. 5) The Korean Oswestry disability index (KODI) and the visual analog scale (VAS) score decreased significantly in the TR. 6) Significant negative correlations were found between the change rates in the KODI and nondominant hand grip strength, external oblique thickness, transversus abdominis thickness, and lumbar isokinetic extensor endurance. A significant negative correlation was found between the change rates in the VAS score and external oblique thickness. CONCLUSIONS The results revealed that the 8-week unstable surface Pilates training was beneficial in improving physical fitness, abdominal muscle thickness, lumbar isokinetic muscle function, disabilityindex, and pain levels in women aged 30–40 years who were having a sedentary lifestyle and experiencing nonspecific low back pain.
