Dr. Otsuka Mitsuo is Assistant Professor in Faculty of Sport and Health Science of Ritsumeikan University, and his research manuscript was accepted and published in Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche, which collaborated with Professor Tadao Isaka, Toshiyuki Kurihara, Junichi Yamauchi and Noriteru Morita. The cross-sectional study focused on junior high school student revealed that significant relationships were found between the toe-flexor muscular strength times and the fitness tests in lower limb.  This suggests that an assessment of toe flexor muscle prior to an exercise class is important for students to understand their dynamic lower-limb physical performance.

Otsuka M., Yamauchi J., Kurihara T., Morita N., Isaka T. (2015) Toe flexor strength and lower limb physical performance in adolescent.  Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche, 174(7-8):307-313.

 Mr. Yuta Hasegawa is a graduate student of Sport and Health Science of Ritsumeikan University, and his research manuscript was accepted and published in International Journal of Sports Medicine, which collaborated with Associate Professor Kazushige Goto (Ritsumeikan University) and Professor Takafumi Hamaoka (Tokyo Medical University). The study compared the result of 12 sessions of cycle sprint training, operated consecutively for 12 days with 6 days of rest after the training, and a rest day every 2 training sessions. Sprint performance was significantly improved only in the group with 12 consecutive training. This result was related to the elevation of intramuscular phosphocreatine concentration witch only occurred in consecutive training group and the full recovery from the accumulated fatigue.

Yuta Hasegawa, Toshiaki Ijichi, Yuko Kurosawa, Takafumi Hamaoka and Kazushige Goto. (2015). Planned Overreaching and Subsequent Short-Term Detraining Enhance Cycle Sprint Performance. International Journal of Sports Medicine 2015; 36: 666–671

 Dr. Otsuka Mitsuo is Assistant Professor in Faculty of Sport and Health Science of Ritsumeikan University, and his research manuscript was accepted and published in Journal of Physical Education and Sport, which collaborated with Professor Satoshi Otomo, Tadao Isaka, Toshiyuki Kurihara, and Akira Ito. The cross-sectional study focused on junior high school student revealed that no significant relationship was found between the hurdle running times and the maximum hurdling heights.  This suggests that boys should not be instructed to clear hurdles as low to the hurdle as possible in physical education lessons.

Dr. Kazushige Goto is an Associate Professor of Sport and Health Science of Ritsumeikan University, and his research manuscript was published in The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, which collaborated with Researcher Takuma Morishima and Professor Futoshi Ogita (National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Konoya). The study revealed that carbohydrate oxidation in response to a glucose load was significantly augmented under a simulated altitude of 2500m.

Kazushige Goto, Takuma Morishima, Kazumichi Kurobe, Zhong Huang, Futoshi Ogita. Augmented Carbohydrate  Oxidation under Moderate Hypobaric Hypoxia Equivalent to Simulated Altitude of 2500m. The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine. 236 (3): 163-168, 2015.

     Nobukazu Kasai is Graduate Student in Faculty of Sport and Health Science of Ritsumeikan University, and his research manuscript was accepted and published in SpringerPlus, which collaborated with Associate Professor Kazushige Goto. The study investigated the effect of sprint training in hypoxia (FiO₂ = 14.5 %) on repeated sprint performance compared with same training in normoxia (FiO₂ = 20.9 %) in female athletes.

Nobukazu Kasai, Sahiro Mizuno, Sayuri Ishimoto, Etsuko Sakamoto, Misato Maruta and Kazushige Goto. (2015). Effect of training in hypoxia on repeated sprint performance in female athletes. SpringerPlus 4: p. 310.