A systematic review of physical fitness, physiological demands and biomechanical performance in equestrian athletes

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-L. Douglas ◽  
M. Price ◽  
D.M. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Weight Bearing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Physiological Factor ◽  
Horse Riding ◽  
Physiological Demands

This article presents a systematic review of the literature investigating physical fitness, physiological demands and biomechanical performance in equestrian athletes. Three databases (SportsDiscus, CAB abstracts and PubMed) were searched to identify the literature. The main search term of ‘horse-riding’ was combined with eleven specific keywords (‘fitness’, ‘physiology’, ‘biomechanics’, ‘equestrian’, ‘athlete’, ‘co-ordination’, ‘heart rate’, ‘oxygen consumption’ ‘kinematic’ ‘EMG’ and ‘skill’). Exclusion criteria were: conference proceedings, abstracts, theses, and non-peer reviewed articles. Subsequently, 15 peer-reviewed papers were identified and included within this review. The main research findings are that as a horse progresses through the gaits (walk, trot and canter), the rider's heart rate and oxygen consumption increase. The causal physiological factor at present is thought to be higher levels of tonic muscular contraction particularly of the trunk, which in elite equestrians achieves a more controlled upright trunk position, compared to their novice counterparts. It is the faster gaits, and jumping that require the rider to adopt a ‘forwards’ riding position that necessitates weight bearing to be through the rider's legs, as opposed to a seated position, where weight bearing is predominantly through the pelvis. It is apparent that these ‘forward position’ modes of riding significantly increase metabolic cost and result in elevated levels of blood lactate, thus implying that they incorporate some anaerobic demand. Due to the paucity of literature available for review and particularly that which incorporates data obtained from ‘competitive’ performances, future research should attempt to prioritise investigations in competitive in addition to simulated riding environments. Only when further physiological and biomechanical data are available from a greater range of equestrian disciplines and from a range of level of athletes, will the demands of these sports be more clearly understood. Until such time, the development of evidence-based sport specific and potentially performance enhancing rider strength and conditioning programmes cannot be realised.

scholarly journals Physiological Demands of Extreme Obstacle Course Racing: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (16) ◽  
pp. 2879
Author(s):  
Timothy Baghurst ◽  
Steven L. Prewitt ◽  
Tyler Tapps
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Physiological Demands ◽  
Road Races ◽  
Training Opportunities

Obstacle course races are a popular source of recreation in the United States, providing additional challenges over traditional endurance events. Despite their popularity, very little is known about the physiological or cognitive demands of obstacle course races compared to traditional road races. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological effects of participation in an extreme obstacle course race. The participant was a 38-year-old Caucasian male, who completed an extreme obstacle course race over a 24-h period. Exercise intensity, steps taken, energy expenditure, and heart rate were recorded over the event’s duration using an Actigraph Link GT9X-BT accelerometer and a Polar heart rate monitor. Results reflected the unique nature of obstacle course racing when compared to traditional endurance events, with ups-and-downs recorded in each variable due to the encountering of obstacles. This case study provides a glimpse into the physiological demands of obstacle course racing, and suggests that the cognitive demands placed on competitors may differ to traditional endurance events, due to the challenges of obstacles interspersed throughout the event. With the popularity of obstacle course racing, and to enhance training opportunities, improve performance, and decrease the incidence of injuries, future research should further investigate the physiological and cognitive demands of obstacle course races of various distances and among diverse populations.

scholarly journals Cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate responses to food intake were independent of physical fitness levels in women

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1186-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sisitha U. Jayasinghe ◽  
Susan J. Torres ◽  
Steve F. Fraser ◽  
Anne I. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Food Intake ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Maximal Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Physical Activity Guidelines ◽  
Time Treatment ◽  
Fitness Levels

This research tested the hypothesis that women who had higher levels of physical fitness will have lower hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis (cortisol) and sympatho-adrenal medullary system (blood pressure and heart rate) responses to food intake compared with women who had low levels of physical fitness. Lower fitness (n = 22; maximal oxygen consumption = 27.4 ± 1.0 mL∙kg−1·min−1) and higher fitness (n = 22; maximal oxygen consumption = 41.9 ± 1.6 mL∙kg−1·min−1) women (aged 30–50 years; in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle) who participated in levels of physical activity that met (lower fitness = 2.7 ± 0.5 h/week) or considerably exceeded (higher fitness = 7.1 ± 1.4 h/week) physical activity guidelines made their own lunch using standardised ingredients at 1200 h. Concentrations of cortisol were measured in blood samples collected every 15 min from 1145–1400 h. Blood pressures and heart rate were also measured every 15 min between 1145 h and 1400 h. The meal consumed by the participants consisted of 20% protein, 61% carbohydrates, and 19% fat. There was a significant overall response to lunch in all of the parameters measured (time effect for all, p < 0.01). The cortisol response to lunch was not significantly different between the groups (time × treatment, p = 0.882). Overall, both groups showed the same pattern of cortisol secretion (treatment p = 0.839). Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, or heart rate responses (time × treatment, p = 0.726, 0.898, 0.713, and 0.620, respectively) were also similar between higher and lower fitness women. Results suggest that the physiological response to food intake in women is quite resistant to modification by elevated physical fitness levels.

scholarly journals Srdcová frekvencia v odozve na herné zaťaženie v basketbale žien

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Tomáš Vencúrik
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Maximal Heart Rate ◽  
Training Process ◽  
Basketball Players ◽  
Time Motion ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Physiological Demands

The study compares intensity of game load among individual players’ positions and between first and second half. Ten female basketball players in senior category participated in this study. Four intensity zones were determined based on maximal heart rate (HRmax). Telemetric device Suunto Team Pack was used for monitoring the heart rate (HR) during the games. The mean HR during the games reached 88.1±3.9% of HRmax of total time. When we compared players’ positions in individual intensity zones we did not record statistical (p>0.05) nor practical significance and neither in % of HRmax (87.4±3.6 vs. 87.8±4.6 vs. 88.8±3.5; point guard vs. forward vs. center). Moreover, when we compared the 1st and the 2nd half in individual zones and in % of HRmax (87.7±4.1 vs. 88.5±3.7) we also did not record any statistical significance (p>0.05) and effect size coefficient shows small effect. Players spent 76.3% of total time with HR grater than 85% of HRmax. The results indicate high physiological demands on female basketball players during the games without taking into consideration the player’s position. This information can be useful for planning and managing training process as well as for comparison with training load. In similar future research we recommend to also evaluate the time-motion analysis besides the internal response and thus a more detailed look at the examined subject in question may be reached.

Range of Yoga Intensities From Savasana to Sweating: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany Forseth ◽  
Stacy D. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Light Intensity ◽  
Heart Rate Response ◽  
Nonlinear Relationship ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Pubmed Database ◽  
Physiologic Responses

Background: There is limited research examining the intensity of yoga and intensity variations between different styles. The purpose of this review is to examine the intensity of yoga based on different physiologic responses both between different yoga styles and within styles of yoga. Methods: Articles were searched for on the PubMed database in early 2019. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) written in English, (2) cite a specific style of yoga and include whole yoga session, and (3) measure metabolic or heart rate response. Results: Ten articles were reviewed; articles reported oxygen consumption (n = 1), heart rate (n = 4), or both variables (n = 5). Yoga styles assessed included ashtanga (n = 2), Bikram (n = 3), gentle (n = 1), hatha (n = 3), Iyengar (n = 1), power (n = 1), and vinyasa (n = 1). Oxygen consumption commonly categorized yoga as a light-intensity activity, while heart rate responses classified different yoga into multiple intensities. Conclusion: This review demonstrates that large differences in intensity classifications are observed between different styles of yoga. Furthermore, metabolic and heart rate responses can be variable, leading to inconsistent intensity classifications. This is likely due to their nonlinear relationship during yoga. Thus, it is imperative that the field of yoga research works together to create a standard for reporting yoga.

scholarly journals Impact of Water Temperature on Heart Rate Variability during Bathing

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 378
Author(s):  
Jianbo Xu ◽  
Wenxi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Water Temperature ◽  
Sampling Rate ◽  
Approximate Entropy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Physiological Factor ◽  
Feature Based ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
The Impact

Background: Heart rate variability (HRV) is affected by many factors. This paper aims to explore the impact of water temperature (WT) on HRV during bathing. Methods: The bathtub WT was preset at three conditions: i.e., low WT (36–38 °C), medium WT (38–40 °C), and high WT (40–42 °C), respectively. Ten subjects participated in the data collection. Each subject collected five electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings at each preset bathtub WT condition. Each recording was 18 min long with a sampling rate of 200 Hz. In total, 150 ECG recordings and 150 WT recordings were collected. Twenty HRV features were calculated using 1-min ECG segments each time. The k-means clustering analysis method was used to analyze the rough trends based on the preset WT. Analyses of the significant differences were performed using the multivariate analysis of variance of t-tests, and the mean and standard deviation (SD) of each HRV feature based on the WT were calculated. Results: The statistics show that with increasing WT, 11 HRV features are significantly (p < 0.05) and monotonously reduced, four HRV features are significantly (p < 0.05) and monotonously rising, two HRV features are rising first and then reduced, two HRV features (fuzzy and approximate entropy) are almost unchanged, and vLF power is rising. Conclusion: The WT has an important impact on HRV during bathing. The findings in the present work reveal an important physiological factor that affects the dynamic changes of HRV and contribute to better quantitative analyses of HRV in future research works.

scholarly journals Broad-spectrum physical fitness benefits of recreational football: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (15) ◽  
pp. 926-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoran Milanović ◽  
Saša Pantelić ◽  
Nedim Čović ◽  
Goran Sporiš ◽  
Magni Mohr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Passive Control ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Resting Heart Rate ◽  
Muscular Fitness

BackgroundA previous meta-analysis showed that maximal oxygen uptake increased by 3.51 mL/kg/min (95% CI 3.07 to 4.15) during a recreational football programme of 3–6 months in comparison with continuous moderate-intensity running, strength training or a passive control group. In addition, narrative reviews have demonstrated beneficial effects of recreational football on physical fitness and health status.ObjectiveThe purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the magnitude of effects of recreational football on blood pressure, body composition, lipid profile and muscular fitness with reference to age, gender and health status.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesMEDLINE, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Google Scholar were searched prior to 1 February 2017. In addition, Google Scholar alerts were set up in January 2012 to identify potential papers with the following key terms: recreational football, recreational soccer, street football and street soccer.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesRandomised and matched controlled trials with participants allocated to a recreational football group or any other type of exercises or passive control group were included. Training programmes had to last at least 2 weeks to meet the inclusion criteria. The primary outcome measures were blood pressure, resting heart rate, body composition, muscular fitness, and blood lipids and glucose tolerance. A total of 31 papers met the inclusion criteria and were included.ResultsThe effect of recreational football on systolic blood pressure (SBP) versus no-exercise controls was most likely extremely largely beneficial (effect size (ES)=4.20 mm Hg; 95% CI 1.87 to 6.53). In addition, a most likely very large beneficial (ES=3.89 mm Hg; 95% CI 2.33 to 5.44) effect was observed for diastolic blood pressure (DBP), when compared with non-active groups. Furthermore, a most likely extremely large beneficial effect was shown for SBP and DBP in participants with mild hypertension (11 and 7 mm Hg decrease, respectively) and participants with prehypertension (10 and 7 mm Hg decrease, respectively). Meta-analysis of recreational football determined the impact on resting heart rate as most likely extremely largely beneficial (ES=6.03 beats/min; 95% CI 4.43 to 7.64) when compared with non-active groups. The observed recreational football effect on fat mass was most likely largely beneficial (ES=1.72 kg; 95% CI 0.86 to 2.58) and the effect on countermovement jump (CMJ) performance was most likely very largely beneficial (ES=2.27 cm; 95% CI 1.29 to 3.25) when compared with non-active groups. Possibly beneficial decreases were found in low-density lipoprotein levels (ES=0.21 mmol/L; 95% CI 0.06 to 0.36). Possibly largely beneficial effect was observed for DBP in comparison with continuous running training. Small harmful and unclear results were noted for SBP, fat and lean body mass, body mass index, as well as muscular fitness when compared with running and Zumba training.ConclusionThe present meta-analysis demonstrated multiple broad-spectrum benefits of recreational football on health-related physical fitness compared with no-exercise controls, including improvements in blood pressure, resting heart rate, fat mass, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and CMJ performance. Additionally, recreational football is efficient and effective as Zumba and continuous running exercise regimens with highlighted social, motivational and competitive components.

scholarly journals Vagally mediated heart rate variability in headache patients—a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cephalalgia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Koenig ◽  
DeWayne P Williams ◽  
Andrew H Kemp ◽  
Julian F Thayer
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Vagal Activity ◽  
Headache Disorders ◽  
The Impact

Objective Vagal nerve activity—indexed by heart rate variability (HRV)—has been linked to altered pain processing and inflammation, both of which may underpin headache disorders and lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here we examined the evidence for differences in parasympathetic (vagal) activity indexed by time- and frequency-domain measures of HRV in patients with headache disorders compared to healthy controls (HCs). Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on studies investigating group differences in vagally mediated HRV (vmHRV) including time- (root-mean-square of successive R-R-interval differences (RMSSD)) and frequency- (high-frequency HRV) domain measures. Studies eligible for inclusion were identified by a systematic search of the literature, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. Results Seven studies reporting a total of 10 comparisons of patients with headache disorders (HF-HRV n = 67, RMSSD n = 122) and HCs (HF-HRV n = 64, RMSSD n = 125) were eligible for inclusion. Random-effects meta-analysis revealed a significant main effect on RMSSD ( Z = 2.03, p = 0.04; Hedges’ g = −0.63; 95% CI (−1.24, –0.02); k = 6) and similar pooled effect size estimates for HF-HRV when breathing was controlled ( g = −0.30; 95% CI (−0.69; 0.10)) but not when breathing was not controlled ( g = 0.02; 95% CI (−0.69; 0.74)). Controlling for breathing had no effect on RMSSD. Conclusion vmHRV is reduced in patients with headache disorders, findings associated with a medium effect size. Suggestions for future research in this area are provided, emphasizing a need to investigate the impact of headache disorders and commonly comorbid conditions—including mental disorders—as well as the investigation of the risk for CVD in migraine in particular. We further emphasize the need for large-scale studies to investigate HRV as a mechanism mediating the association of migraine and CVD.

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