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Female infertility disproportionately affects people with obesity. Exercise often improves fertility outcomes for this population, however, there is limited prescriptive evidence. Specifically, there is a lack of information on the ideal type, frequency, intensity, and setting of exercise to improve fertility outcomes. Using principles of exercise prescription, this review aimed to describe the scope of exercise interventions that have been explored and fertility outcomes measured for people with female infertility and obesity. A search was completed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and CINAHL, identifying 16 relevant published articles. Overall, exercise had a positive impact on female fertility outcomes in people with obesity, though there were large variations in the exercise interventions prescribed and outcomes measured. Cyclic exercise (i.e. walking and cycling) was the most common technique incorporated, though a combination of cyclic, acyclic (i.e. circuit training and boot camp), or individualization was often used. Several fertility outcomes were reported; however, the rate of conception, pregnancy, and live birth rates were the most common, which, we suggest, should always be reported in fertility intervention research. We stress that future studies provide more thorough descriptions of their implemented exercise interventions to facilitate reproducibility and comparisons between studies. Closer attention to the principles of exercise prescription when developing and reporting exercise interventions will help improve fertility outcomes, mainly live birth rates, for those with female infertility and obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self‐talk is an effective mental training technique that has been shown to facilitate or debilitate an athlete's performance, depending on its valence. Although the effects of self‐talk have been supported by observing change in sport performance, little is known about how self‐talk can induce physiological changes. Specifically, it is important to understand if the type of self‐talk (positive, neutral, or negative) and can influence stress‐related parameters, such as perceived exertion, cardiorespiratory, and cortisol responses. The study's objective was therefore to investigate the top‐down effect of positive and negative self‐talk compared to a dissociative activity during an iso‐metabolic running exercise on autonomic regulation of cardiorespiratory function. Twenty‐nine well‐trained male runners [38 ± 13 years, 177 ± 7 cm and 73 ± 7 kg] volunteered to participate in a randomized‐group design study that included a negative self‐talk (NST), a positive self‐talk, and a dissociative group (DG). First, participants underwent an incremental running test on a treadmill to determine the maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max). Next, participants received a mental training session on self‐talk and created three positive and three negative self‐talk statements. Finally, participants underwent a 60‐min steady‐state running exercise on a treadmill at 70% of V̇O2max, during which they were cued at 20‐, 35‐, and 50‐min with their personal self‐created positive or negative self‐talk statements while the DG listened to a documentary. Cardiorespiratory parameters and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded throughout the 60‐min endurance exercise. In addition, salivary cortisol samples were obtained at waking and after treatment. Although oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide production, RPE, and heart rate significantly changed overtime during the 60‐min steady‐state running exercise, no significant main treatment effect was found. However, RPE scores, minute ventilation, breathing frequency, and salivary cortisol were significantly higher in the NST group compared to the two other groups. These data suggest that NST [emotion‐induced stress, as reflected by elevated cortisol] altered the breathing frequency response. In conclusion, manipulating self‐talk alters hormonal response patterns, modulates cardiorespiratory function, and influences perceived exertion. To date, there have been no studies specifically designed to explore the neural functional connections that would specifically elucidate the top‐down neurophysiological pathway associating self‐talk during exercise. This study demonstrates that emotion‐induced stress alters the neural functional connections as reflected in cardiovascular and hormonal responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies have examined pacing strategies with cyclical activities (running and cycling). It has been demonstrated that males employ different pacing strategies during repeated maximal voluntary contractions (MVCs) dependent upon a known endpoint. Since different fatiguing mechanisms have been identified between the genders, it is not known if females use comparable pacing strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine if informing female subjects regarding the number of MVCs to perform would affect force and electromyography (EMG). Twenty well-trained females completed 3 fatiguing protocols in a randomized order. In the control condition participants were informed they would perform twelve MVCs and then actually completed twelve. In the unknown condition they were not told how many MVCs to perform but were stopped after twelve. In the deception condition they were initially informed to perform 6 MVCs, but after the 6th MVC they were asked to perform a few more MVCs and were stopped after twelve. During the first 6 MVCs, forces in the deception condition were greater compared to the unknown (p = 0.021, ES = 0.65, 5%) and control (p = 0.022, ES = 0.42, 3%) conditions. No differences were found between conditions in the last 6 MVCs. A main effect for repetitions showed force deficits during the first 6 MVCs (p = 0.000, ES = 1.81, 13%) and last 6 MVCs (p = 0.05, ES = 0.34, 3%). No differences were found between conditions in biceps and triceps EMG. However, EMG decreased during the first 6 MVCs for biceps (p = 0.001, ES = 1.0, 14%) and triceps (p = 0.001, ES = 0.76, 14%) across conditions. No differences were found in the last 6 MVCs. The anticipation of performing fewer MVCs led to increased force, whereas no endpoint led to decreased force production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]