Effects of Different Seat Pressures and Rowing Cadences on Muscle Oxygenation and Physiological Parameter Responses

This study investigated the effects of rowing with different seat cushion and cadence conditions on oxyhemoglobin (O2Hb) and total hemoglobin (tHb) levels of the erector spinae (ES) as well as the effects on heart rate (HR) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). Thirty healthy adults completed tests under three unstable air seat cushion pressure levels (0, 80, and 140 mmHg) and three rowing cadences (slow: 18 bpm, medium: 30 bpm, and fast: 36 bpm) on a rowing machine, for a total of nine test conditions. During the exercise period, rowing on cushions set to 80 mmHg resulted in greater O2Hb and tHb changes than did rowing at 0 mmHg (p < 0.05). When rowing cadence increased, the O2Hb and tHb decreased during the exercise period, whereas HR and RPE increased (p < 0.05). During the recovery period, O2Hb and tHb on cushions set to 140 mmHg during slow rowing were higher than those at 0 mmHg during slow rowing and 140 mmHg during fast rowing (p < 0.05). Rowing on an appropriate pressure of seat cushion and using a slow cadence contribute to increasing muscle oxygenation of low back during exercise.

Effect of clinical Pilates training on balance and postural control in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Clinical pilates exercises have been shown to improve balance. Our study aims to compare effects of clinical Pilates and conventional physiotherapy exercises on balance and postural control in Parkinson’s disease patients. Materials & methods: Forty patients were randomly assigned into either clinical Pilates (CLP) or conventional physiotherapy (COP) group. Exercises were performed twice a week for 8 weeks. Balance, lower-extremity strength, fall risk and functional mobility were assessed at the beginning and end of the exercise period. Results: All measurements indicated significant increase in two groups (p < 0.05). Compared with the COP group, the CLP group showed significant improvement in dynamic balance values (p < 0.05). Conclusion: CLP was as effective as COP, with better dynamic balance results, and could be used in rehabilitation for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Clinical trial registration number: NCT04063605 .

Effect of Physical Exercise on Serum Electrolytes, Urea and Creatinine in Undergraduate Footballers in Anambra State, Nigeria

Background: Prolonged exercise leads to progressive water and electrolyte loss from the body as sweat is secreted to promote heat loss. The rate of sweating depends on many factors and is increased in proportion to the work rate and the environmental temperature and humidity. Prolong exercise could lead to an alteration in electrolyte concentrations and this could lead to deleterious effects in the body. Aim: To determine the effect of Physical Exercise on Serum Electrolytes Urea and Creatinine in undergraduate footballers in Anambra State. Method: Six football teams comprising of 11 players each were grouped into 3 sets. Each set containing 22 players was allowed to play football for at least 2hours with a 15 minutes break interval. They were allowed to take only 250mls water during this exercising period. Blood samples were collected from all the subjects prior to the exercise from anticubital veins with the subjects in sitting position. Post-Exercise blood Samples were collected within 5 minutes after and 2hrs after the exercise. The blood samples were also analyzed for serum electrolytes, urea and creatinine. Blood sample for calcium was collected after removing the tourniquet for 2 minutes. The serum concentrations of sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, chloride and calcium were estimated using ion-selective electrodes while urea and creatinine were estimated using standard colorimetric methods. Results: There was no significant difference in mean concentrations of serum electrolytes (Na+, K+, Cl- and HCO3-) profile levels in pre-exercising subjects when compared with the post-exercising period. (P> 0.05). However, the mean levels of Ca2+ increased significantly in post-exercise period when compared with the pre-exercising condition (P < 0.05). The findings of this work suggest that short duration of exercise does not alter significantly the serum electrolytes.

Impact of Exercise and Detraining during Childhood on Brown Adipose Tissue Whitening in Obesity

This study aimed to investigate the influence of childhood exercise and detraining on brown adipose tissue (BAT) whitening in obesity. Four-week-old male Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats (n = 9) and Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats (n = 24) were used as non-obese and obese animals, respectively. OLETF rats were divided into non-exercise sedentary (n = 9) and exercise groups. OLETF rats in the exercise group were further divided into subgroups according to the exercise period—exercise from 10- to 12-weeks-old (n = 6); and exercise from 4- to 6-weeks-old, and detraining from 6- to 12-weeks-old (n = 9). At 12-weeks-old, immediately after exercise period, BAT whitening in OLETF rats was inhibited by exercise despite the fact that hypertrophy was not caused in the plantaris muscle. However, the effectiveness was attenuated during the detraining period. Histological BAT whitening and downregulation of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1) were found in non-exercise sedentary OLETF rats at 12-weeks-old. The downregulation was not inhibited, even though exercise histologically inhibited BAT whitening in OLETF rats. Childhood exercise decreased BAT whitening in obesity. Detraining attenuated the inhibition of BAT whitening. These results suggest that regular exercise is needed to improve BAT whitening and downregulation of UCP-1 in obesity.

The Efficacy of Re-Warm-Up Practices during Half-Time: A Systematic Review

Background and Objectives: The passive nature of rest breaks in sport could reduce athletes’ performance and even increase their risk of injury. Re-warm-up activities could help avoid these problems, but there is a lack of research on their efficacy. This systematic review aimed at analyzing the results of those randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that provided information on the effects of re-warm-up strategies. Materials and Methods: Four electronic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus) were searched from their inception to January 2021, for RCTs on the effects of re-warm-up activities on sports performance. Interventions had to be implemented just after an exercise period or sports competition. Studies that proposed activities that were difficult to replicate in the sport context or performed in a hot environment were excluded. Data were synthesized following PRISMA guidelines, while the risk of bias was assessed following the recommendations of the Cochrane Collaboration. Results: A total of 14 studies (178 participants) reporting data on acute or short-term effects were analyzed. The main outcomes were grouped into four broad areas: physiological measures, conditional abilities, perceptual skills, and sport efficiency measures. The results obtained indicated that passive rest decreases physiological function in athletes, while re-warm-up activities could help to improve athletes’ conditional abilities and sporting efficiency, despite showing higher fatigue levels in comparison with passive rest. The re-warm-up exercise showed to be more effective than passive rest to improve match activities and passing ability. Conclusions: Performing re-warm-up activities is a valuable strategy to avoid reducing sports performance during prolonged breaks. However, given that the methodological quality of the studies was not high, these relationships need to be further explored in official or simulated competitions.

Effects of Interval Exercise Training on Serum Biochemistry and Bone Mineral Density in Dogs

Exercise has been suggested as a powerful intervention for health care and fitness management in humans; however, few studies have demonstrated the benefits of exercise training in dogs. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exercise training on heart rate (HR), bone mineral density (BMD), muscle volume (MV), and hematological and serum biomarkers in dogs. Six healthy beagles completed the interval treadmill exercise, developed on the basis of the FITT principle, two times a week for 12 weeks. To evaluate the physiological parameters, the HR values were analyzed using the Polar H10 system during the entire exercise period. At pre-and post-exercise, quantitative computed tomography and hematological and serum biochemical parameters were analyzed. The interval exercise resulted in a normal HR response and no adverse behavioral or physiological effects on the dogs. We showed that exercise improved BMD in the femur (541.6 ± 16.7 vs. 610.2 ± 27.8 HA, p < 0.01) and increased serum total alkaline phosphatase (TALP; 68.6 ± 9.2 vs. 81.3 ± 17.2, p < 0.01), aspartate aminotransferase (23.5 ± 1.0 vs. 33.5 ± 1.6, p < 0.01), and creatine kinase (114.8 ± 5.3 vs. 214.0 ± 20.8, p < 0.01) levels. There was a positive relationship between BMD and TALP (femur: r = 0.760, p = 0.004; vertebrae: r = 0.637; p = 0.025). Our findings suggest that interval exercise training is beneficial to increase BMD in the femur, and an increased TALP level would be a concomitant mechanism for enhancing BMD with exercise in dogs.

A juvenile climbing exercise establishes a muscle memory boosting the effects of exercise in adult rats

One of the ideas stemming from the discovery of a cellular memory in muscle cells has been that an early exercise period could induce a long-term muscle memory, boosting the effects of exercise later in life. In general muscles are more plastic in younger animals, so we devised a 5-week climbing exercise scheme with food reward administered to juvenile rats (post-natal week 4-9). The juvenile exercise increased fiber cross-sectional area (fCSA), and boosted nuclear accretion. Subsequently the animals were subjected to 10 weeks of detraining (week 9-19, standard caging). During this period fCSA became similar in the animals that had been climbing compared to Naive controls, but the elevated number of myonuclei induced by the climbing were maintained. When the Naive rats were subjected to two weeks of adult exercise (week 19-21) there was little effect on fCSA, while the previously trained rats displayed an increase of 19%. Similarly, when the rats were subjected to unilateral surgical overload in lieu of the adult climbing exercise, the increase in fCSA was 20% (juvenile climbing group) and 11% (Naive rats) compared to the contralateral leg. This demonstrated that juvenile exercise can establish a muscle memory. The juvenile climbing exercise with food reward led to leaner animals with lower body weight. These differences were to some extent maintained throughout the adult detraining period in spite of all animals being fed ad libitum, indicating a form of body weight memory.

Green Exercise: Can Nature Video Benefit Isometric Exercise?

Green exercise is the combination of physical activity and nature exposure, which has been associated with positive effects on psychophysiological health. This study aimed to investigate the effects of nature video viewing on isometric exercise and find a useful practice for green exercise in urban living. In the current study, 18 male subjects were recruited in a randomized crossover trial and underwent a sequence of wall squat exercises. The whole experiment contained three periods of baseline (before exercise), exercise, and recovery (after exercise), and each period lasted for 2 min. A video of forest walking was played in the exercise and recovery periods as treatment, while a black screen was set as control. The Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE) and Feeling Scale (FS) were employed to measure perceived exertion and affective responses in the exercise period; heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) including the standard deviation of normal-to-normal RR intervals (SDNN), the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), and the standard deviations of the Poincaré plot (SD1), were recorded in the three periods. Heart rate recovery (HRR) in the recovery period was further calculated based on 30 s and 60 s time frames. Results demonstrated that during the exercise period nature video viewing was associated with better affective responses (median of 1.00 and an interquartile (IQR) of 2.00, p = 0.017), lower perceived exertion (median = 6.00, IQR = 2.00, p = 0.021), and lower HR (median = 89.60, IQR = 20.94, p = 0.01), but the differences in HRV indices between the experimental settings were not statistically significant. In the recovery period, significantly higher values of RMSSD (median = 34.88, IQR = 24.52, p = 0.004), SD1 (median = 24.75, IQR = 17.41, p = 0.003), and HR (median = 84.18, IQR = 16.58, p = 0.001) were observed in the treatment setting, whereas no statistically significant difference was found for HRR. In general, our findings support that nature video viewing may help reduce perceived exertion, increase exercise pleasure, buffer heart rate, and improve cardiac autonomic recovery for wall squat exercising, which implies the potential of nature-based stimuli in green exercise. However, due to the limited research sample, further study may need to include female participants and focus on various populations to confirm the effectiveness of using virtual and environments depicting nature at home or in public exercise places to promote positive exercise experience.

Sex Differences in the Oxygenation of the Left and Right Prefrontal Cortex during Moderate-Intensity Exercise

Introduction: Differences in cognitive performance with exercise between men and women have previously been reported. In this study, we evaluated between-sex differences in oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) with moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (AE), which could contribute to noted differences in cognitive function. Method: The subjects were ten men (age, 21.5 ± 0.5 years; height, 171.7 ± 4.8 cm; weight, 65.6 ± 5.6 kg) and ten women (age, 21.4 ± 0.5 years; height, 157.6 ± 4.9 cm; weight, 51.3 ± 6.5 kg). They completed our AE protocol, consisting of a 30-min leg-ergometer cycling at an intensity of 50% peak oxygen uptake, with an initial 4-min rest period for baseline measurement. Measures of the dynamics of cerebral oxygenation included: oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb) in the left and right PFC (LR-PFC) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HHb). The 30-min exercise period was subdivided into six 5-min phases, with the average and peak values determined in each phase. Results: A significant interaction was found between LR-PFC HHb and sex (p < 0.001), with significantly higher values in men than in women in phases 3–6 (p < 0.05). Conclusion: We report a significant sex effect of HHb in the LR-PFC.

Hormonal and Inflammatory Responses to Hypertrophy-Oriented Resistance Training at Acute Moderate Altitude

This study investigated the effect of a traditional hypertrophy-oriented resistance training (RT) session at acute terrestrial hypoxia on inflammatory, hormonal, and the expression of miR-378 responses associated with muscular gains. In a counterbalanced fashion, 13 resistance trained males completed a hypertrophic RT session at both moderate-altitude (H; 2320 m asl) and under normoxic conditions (N; <700 m asl). Venous blood samples were taken before and throughout the 30 min post-exercise period for determination of cytokines (IL6, IL10, TNFα), hormones (growth hormone [GH], cortisol [C], testosterone), and miR-378. Both exercise conditions stimulated GH and C release, while miR-378, testosterone, and inflammatory responses remained near basal conditions. At H, the RT session produced a moderate to large but nonsignificant increase in the absolute peak values of the studied cytokines. miR-378 revealed a moderate association with GH (r = 0.65; p = 0.026 and r = −0.59; p = 0.051 in N and H, respectively) and C (r = 0.61; p = 0.035 and r = 0.75; p = 0.005 in N and H, respectively). The results suggest that a RT session at H does not differentially affect the hormonal, inflammatory, and miR-378 responses compared to N. However, the standardized mean difference detected values in the cytokines suggest an intensification of the inflammatory response in H that should be further investigated.