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Functional decline in older adults may be affected by clinical status, physical fitness, and social determinants of health.This study aimed to explore social determinants of health and health/clinical determinants on two outcomes of functional physical capacity.Therefore, a population-based sample of 327 older adults (69 ± 7 years; 83.5% women) underwent demographical and clinical questionnaires, risk factors assessments, 6-min walk testing (walking capacity), and handgrip strength testing. Based on multivariable linear regression models, age ( - 4.05 m; - 5.3 to - 2.8), being men (71.40 m; 50.5-92.3), body mass index ( - 3.88 m; - 5.6 to - 2.1), and quality of life (18.48 m; 6.3-30.6) remained as predictive variables for walking capacity (RThe mean values for our predicted outcomes were similar to those of healthy and physically active ones, which may be a consequence of the engagement of our sample in a lifestyle program. Also, although using the conceptual framework model to choose explanatory variables with a solid rationale, some of them may present reverse causality in this study setting, regardless of our efforts to annulate this type of bias.Despite exploratory analyses including contextual factors as potential predictors of walking capacity and handgrip strength, only outcomes at the individual levels were associated, either positively or negatively, with the variations presented by this studied sample of older adults.

Background Augmented arterial stiffness and reduced cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with increased morbidity and mortality from coronary artery disease (CAD). The relationship between exercise capacity and arterial stiffness is independent of known influencing variables in CAD. This study aimed to analyse the interaction between exercise capacity, arterial stiffness and early vascular ageing in patients with CAD. Methods This cross-sectional study included 96 CAD patients with myocardial infarction (55.9 ± 10.9 years, 81 men) referred to cardiac rehabilitation. Arterial stiffness was assessed using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV). Cardiopulmonary exercise test was performed to measure VO2peak. Comparisons of VO2peak across cf-PWV risk threshold values (high-risk cf-PWV ≥ 10 m/s) and tertile groups, and across cf-PWV threshold values and age groups (younger group Results Patients with high-risk cf-PWV had lower VO2peak than those with low-risk cf-PWV (p Conclusions Arterial stiffening is associated with lower cardiorespiratory fitness in CAD patients with myocardial infarction. When its values are above risk threshold, exercise capacity is impaired regardless of the relationship between age and arterial stiffness.

Background Several resources have been developed (e.g., reporting guidelines) to promote high-standard practices in health research. However, there was no continuous and systematic assessment of recommended practices in published systematic reviews with meta-analysis (SRMAs), which increases the usability of the available resources. Therefore, we aimed to assess the methodological and reporting standards in SRMAs of physical activity studies. This report presents the main results of the SEES Initiative in 2019. Methods Our approach is based on a prospective systematic review methodology to implement post-publication surveillance of research practices in exercise sciences. Briefly, during the year 2019, pre-specified searches were conducted monthly (PubMed/MEDLINE) in journals from the exercise sciences (n = 9) and medicine (n = 5). The assessments were independently conducted by two authors, based on 36 items/practices derived from established statements/tools (PRISMA, AMSTAR 2, ROBIS). To be eligible, SRMAs should summarize studies that had, at least, one arm consisting of physical activity interventions/exposures and one health or behavioral outcome. Results Out of 1028 studies assessed for eligibility, 103 SRMAs were included. The minimum adherence was 13/36 items, whereas only one SRMA adhered to all items. Some highly contemplated items included identification of title as SRMA (97.1%) and descriptions of the main outcome in the abstract (95.1%) and risk of bias (RoB) assessment (95.1%). Some poorly contemplated items included publicly available protocol (4.9%), discussion of the results in light of RoB in studies included (32.0%), and data sharing statements (35.9%). Conclusion In summary, there is a suboptimal adherence to recommended practices on methodological quality and reporting standards in the SRMAs of physical activity intervention/exposure evaluated from the selected journals in 2019, which likely reduce the reproducibility and usefulness of these studies. This incipient evidence from our first 12 months of post-publication surveillance should serve as a call for attention and action for multiple stakeholders (e.g., authors, reviewers, editors, funders, academic institutions) in this important health research field.

O conhecimento do perfil de saúde dos usuários de programas públicos para promoção em saúde pode otimizar a elaboração e aperfeiçoamento de intervenções para controle doenças ou de eventos associados ao estilo de vida, com potencial impacto para a saúde pública. O objetivo deste estudo foi caracterizar o perfil da situação de saúde dos usuários idosos do programa público de atividade física, em 11 centros comunitários da cidade de Porto Alegre (RS, Brasil). Entre abril/2018 e fevereiro/2019, foram medidos domínios de saúde por questionários autoaplicados, avaliações sanguíneas e testes funcionais. O tamanho amostral foi ponderado pela quantidade de alunos atendidos por centro, com amostragem por aleatorização simples. As análises basearam-se em estatística descritiva. No total, 351 idosos (69±6 anos) foram incluídos. Houve elevadas prevalências de fatores de risco, sendo transtorno do sono (55%), hipercolesterolemia (54%), e hipertensão arterial (49%) as mais altas. Entre as doenças autorrelatadas, os participantes listaram condições cardiovasculares (14%), câncer prévio (15%), diabetes (13%), artrite reumatóide (30%) e depressão (19%). A capacidade de caminhada em 6 minutos e força de preensão manual estiveram em níveis de pessoas ativas. Este estudo possibilita contrastar as condições prevalentes dos idosos usuários de um programa público de atividade física com estimativas populacionais, servindo como levantamento inicial para futuro monitoramento de avaliações e/ou intervenções específicas às condições sensíveis nesta população.

PURPOSE: The effects of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on parasympathetic modulation are controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to (a) determine the effect of exercise-based CR on heart-rate-derived indices associated with cardiac parasympathetic modulation in resting and post-exercise conditions in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and (b) identify the possible moderator variables of the effect of exercise-based CR on parasympathetic modulation. METHODS: We searched CENTRAL and Web of Science up to November 2018 for the following terms: adult CAD patients, controlled exercise-based CR interventions and parasympathetic modulation measured in resting (vagal-related heart rate variability [HRV] indices of the root mean square of the differences in successive in RR interval [RMSSD] and high frequency [HF]) and post-exercise (heart rate recovery [HRR]) pre- and post-intervention. We estimated a random-effects model of standardised mean difference (SMD) and mean difference (MD) for vagal-related HRV indices and HRR, respectively. We assessed the influence of categorical and continuous variables. RESULTS: The overall effect size showed significant differences in RMSSD (SMD(+) = 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.12-0.49) and HRR (MD(+) = 5.35; 95% CI = 4.08-6.61 bpm) in favour of the exercise-based CR group. The overall effect size showed no differences in HF between groups (SMD(+) = 0.14; 95% CI, -0.12-0.40). Heterogeneity analyses reached statistical significance, with high heterogeneity for HF (p < 0.001; I(2) = 70%) and HRR (p < 0.001; I(2) = 85%). Analysis of the moderator variables showed that the effect on HRR is greater in young patients (p = 0.008) and patients treated with percutaneous intervention (p = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise-based CR improves the post-exercise parasympathetic function, with greater effects in younger CAD patients and in those who were revascularised with percutaneous intervention. The effects on resting parasympathetic function are more controversial due to methodological inconsistencies in measuring HRV, with the use of RMSSD recommended instead of HF because its results show higher consistency. Future studies involving women, focusing on methodological issues, and performing other training methods are needed to increase our knowledge about this topic.

This Study Within a Trial (SWAT) is hosted by the multicenter, randomized study “Hypertension Approaches in the Elderly: a Lifestyle study” by using public and patient involvement. We aim to explore two different face-to-face formats (individual or group contexts) for delivering individual results to older participants (age ≥ 60 years old), assessing the understanding, satisfaction, and short-term psychological well-being generated by different delivery formats.

Background: Evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies illustrates the beneficial impact of healthy lifestyle behaviours on cardiovascular risk. Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of primary care health education interventions designed to promote healthy lifestyles on physical activity levels and cardiovascular risk. Methods: A computer-aided search on PubMed and Scopus was performed to identify relevant studies published from January 2000 to October 2016. Two authors independently selected studies for inclusion and extracted data, including intervention characteristics and outcome measures, namely physical activity and cardiovascular risk or risk factors. Results: Of the 212 identified studies, 15 met the inclusion criteria. The 15 studies enrolled 6727 participants; the sample size varied between 74 and 878 adults. Fourteen studies assessed physical activity by questionnaire and only one study used accelerometry. Eight of the 15 studies showed improvements in the physical activity levels after the intervention, ranging from 5% to 26% in those where significant changes between groups were detected. Most studies reported significant positive effects of the health education interventions on cardiovascular risk factors, mainly on lipid profile, blood pressure and cardiovascular risk score. Conclusion: The health education interventions, in primary care, seem to improve daily physical activity, cardiovascular risk factors and risk score.

Objective To assess the effects of an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation programme on daily physical activity levels of patients following myocardial infarction. Design Subanalysis of two randomised, prospective controlled trials. Setting Outpatient clinic of a secondary hospital. Participants Fifty consecutive patients randomised to the exercise group { n =25; 23 males; mean age 54 [standard deviation (SD) 9] years} or the control group [ n =25; 20 males; mean age 58 (SD 9) years]. Interventions The exercise group participated in an 8-week aerobic exercise programme plus usual medical care and follow-up. The control group received usual medical care and follow-up. Main outcome measures The primary outcome measure was change in time spent undertaking moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, assessed by accelerometer over 7 consecutive days. Secondary outcome measures were cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass, and resting blood pressure and heart rate. Results Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels increased significantly in the exercise group [43.2 (SD 36.3) to 53.5 (SD 31.9) minutes/day, P =0.030], and remained unchanged in the control group [40.8 (SD 26.2) to 36.8 (SD 26.5) minutes/day, P =0.241] from baseline to the end of the programme. Cardiorespiratory fitness increased significantly in the exercise group (mean difference 2.8; 95% of the difference 1.3 to 4.4ml/kg/minute, P =0.001) after the 8-week programme. Conclusions In patients under optimal medication following myocardial infarction, participation in an 8-week exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation programme was found to improve physical activity levels consistent with health-related benefits. Future studies are needed to determine whether the increase in physical activity is maintained in the long term.

Objectives The questionable quality of evidence has been increasingly documented in medical research, denoting that scientific findings may ultimately be, at least, of limited usability. Some of the countermeasures to reduce the waste of research include (i) resources for transparency such as public repositories and registry platforms; and (ii) initiatives to improve research communication (e.g., The EQUATOR Network) or promote education on methodological issues (e.g., The Catalogue of Bias). Although such resources are fundamental to improve biomedical research as a whole, many research fields still neglect the need to improve the evidence quality. Therefore, we propose a discipline-based initiative to foster awareness for better quality evidence and increase the adherence to widely recommended methodological and reporting practices. Herein, we present The S trengthening the E vidence in E xercise S ciences Initiative (SEES Initiative) by which we will prospectively conduct surveillance of published articles and feedback to study authors and journal editors. Method Our rationale and methods are presented in a protocol article whereas detailed assessment guidance is described in a manual of standardised procedures. Both documents are available on our website (www.sees-initiative.org). We conduct our processes at a monthly-basis, as follows: (i) a pre-assessment stage comprises the use of sensitive filters to search newly-published articles reporting randomised clinical trials (RCTs) or systematic review with meta-analyses (SRMAs) in nine exercise sciences journals and five general medicine journals; (ii) at the assessment stage, RCTs and SRMAs having a research question related to sport, exercise, or physical activity are assessed in duplicate by independent RCT and SRMA teams based on 30+ items derived from established tools or recommendations; (iii) at the dissemination stage, we carry out the analyses, report results on the website and to study authors and journal editors, as well as deposit prespecified files at a public repository (OSF). Results We completed a census to characterize the types of studies published in 2018 by the nine-journal cohort in exercise sciences. From a total of 3,205 individual references, we respectively classified 277 (9%; min-max range, 5 to 92) and 248 (8%; min-max range, 6 to 72) articles as RCTs and SRMAs. Currently, our three-stage process is ongoing and, from the two first months of surveillance, 38 RCTs and 27 SRMAs were eligible for analysis. We consolidated a comprehensive assessment using items from CONSORT 2010 and TIDieR checklist to appraise RCTs and from PRISMA, AMSTAR-2, and ROBIS to appraise SRMAs. In addition to full study reports with our assessment for all items, we proposed aggregated results using seven components (aggregating from 4 to 11 assessed items) that relate to: transparency, completeness, methodological rigor, participants, interventions/exposures, outcome, and critical appraisal. Conclusions Inspired by the Mertonian principles and Doug Altman’s wisdom, the SEES Initiative is a living, scalable, open project to promote adequate reporting, feedback stakeholders toward increased research uptake, and disrupt/denounce inadequate practices whenever necessary.

Aims To investigate the effects of a combination of aerobic and resistance exercises and the inverse sequence on the hemodynamic parameters and indicators of arterial stiffness in healthy young adult subjects. Methods Fifteen subjects were randomized in a crossover procedure according to two experimental conditions: combined aerobic exercise (30 minutes of treadmill running, 75-80% – peak VO2) followed by resistance exercise (5 exercises, 3 sets – 10 RM) (AR) or vice versa (RA). Data of the hemodynamic parameters and arterial stiffness were obtained at baseline and after exercise (post-10, post-20, and post-30 minutes). Two-way ANOVA for repeated measurements was performed with the Newman–Keuls post-hoc. The significance level adopted was p Results The results of the two-way ANOVA for repeated measures were not statistically significant for brachial and central systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respectively, or arterial stiffness indicators: reflected wave indicators and pulse wave velocity (P> 0.05). Statistically significant interactions were observed before and after the exercise sessions for heart rate and rate pressure product (P = Conclusion The performance order of aerobic exercise followed by resistance exercise (AR) and the reverse order (RA) present similar changes in blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness. However, resistance exercise before aerobic exercise promotes increases in heart rate and rate product pressure.

Arterial stiffness has shown independent predictive value for all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities, as well as fatal and nonfatal coronary events. Physical activity (PA) is associated with reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The study aims to analyze the cross-sectional association of arterial stiffness with objectively measured PA in patients following acute myocardial infarction.One hundred patients were consecutively recruited after experiencing an acute myocardial infarction. Central arterial stiffness was measured through carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and daily PA was assessed objectively during 7 consecutive days with accelerometers. To be valid, data required recordings of at least 8 hr/d on 5 d.The cf-PWV showed a negative and significant association with total weekly time spent in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) (r = -0.416, P.001). Patients classified as having higher risk according to arterial stiffness values (cf-PWV ≥10 m/sec) showed significantly lower time spent in MVPA than those below that threshold. The cf-PWV was significantly lower in patients performing300 min of MVPA/wk than in those performing150 min/wk (8.53 ± 2.08 vs 10.3 ± 2.44 m/sec, P = .021). Differences remained significant after adjustment for several confounders.Moderate to vigorous PA was inversely associated with arterial stiffness and time spent in MVPA was lower in patients after acute myocardial infarction, with cf-PWV above the risk threshold value (≥10 m/sec). These results seem to reinforce the importance of PA as a nonpharmacological tool for secondary cardiovascular prevention.

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Introduction and objectives: The study examined the effects of treadmill walking with load carriage on derived measures of central pressure and augmentation index in young healthy subjects. Methodology: Fourteen male subjects (age 31.0 ± 1.0 years) volunteered in this study. Subjects walked 10 minutes on a treadmill at a speed of 5 km/h carrying no load during one session and a load of 10% of their body weight on both upper limbs in two water carboys with handle during the other session. Pulse wave analysis was performed at rest and immediately after exercise in the radial artery of the right upper limb by applanation tonometry. Results: The main result indicates that walking with load carriage sharply increased augmentation index at 75 bpm (−5.5 ± 2.2 to −1.4 ± 2.2% vs. −5.2 ± 2.8 to −5.5 ± 2.1%, p

This study aimed to investigate the effects of training on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), body composition, and function in older adults. Fifty participants were randomized into aerobic training (AT—70%-80% HRreserve), resistance training (RT—80% 1RM), or controls. They had HRQoL, body composition, and function assessed before and after 8 months. Training groups reduced body fat, increased performance in the stair ascent, 8-ft up-and-go and sit-to-stand five-times tests, and improved their physical component score (PCS; p ≤ .03). AT increased performance in the 6MWT test, and improved general and mental health (MH) domains when compared to controls ( p < .01). Finally, changes in stair ascent were associated with changes in bodily pain, MH, and mental component score ( p ≤ .04), while changes in handgrip strength were associated with changes in physical role and MH ( p = .03). AT and RT were effective interventions for decreasing body fat and improving functionality and the PCS in older adults.

Although the observed progress in the cardiovascular disease treatment, the incidence of new and recurrent coronary artery disease remains elevated and constitutes the leading cause of death in the developed countries. Three-quarters of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases could be prevented with adequate changes in lifestyle, including increased daily physical activity. New evidence confirms that there is an inverse dose-response relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. However, participation in moderate to vigorous physical activity may not fully attenuate the independent effect of sedentary activities on increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. Physical activity also plays an important role in secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases by reducing the impact of the disease, slowing its progress and preventing recurrence. Nonetheless, most of eligible cardiovascular patients still do not benefit from secondary prevention/cardiac rehabilitation programs. The present review draws attention to the importance of physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It also addresses the mechanisms by which physical activity and regular exercise can improve cardiovascular health and reduce the burden of the disease. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Objective: The purposes of this study were to calculate and validate two models to estimate maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2 max) in Portuguese youths, aged 10-18 years, using a 20-meter shuttle run test (SR). Design: Subjects (54 girls and 60 boys) were divided into estimation ( n = 91) and cross-validation ( n =23) groups, and their VO 2 max was directly measured by wearing a portable gas analyzer during the SR. The Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) tests were carried out considering sex, age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI) and SR stage as predictors of VO 2 max. Estimations from MLR and ANN were compared with three other previously published equations. Results: In summary, the equation estimated by MLR is more appropriate for Portuguese youths than the equation estimate by ANN or the other three previously-published equations (validation coefficient for the MLR model: r =0.84, P 0.05; SEE=4.9). Conclusion : For Portuguese youths, the following equation would be recommended: VO 2 max= 43.313 + 4.567*sex - 0.560*BMI + 2.785*stage. However, findings from this study also warn researchers that the use of equations to estimate VO 2 max may not be sensitive enough to detect small changes in individuals’ cardiorespiratory fitness in longitudinal observations and intervention studies, according to the dispersions of random error for all equations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological adaptations of resistance training (RT) in prepubertal boys.Eighteen healthy boys were divided into RT (n = 9, Mage = 10.4 ± 0.5 years) and control (CTR; n = 9, Mage = 10.9 ± 0.7 years) groups. The RT group underwent a resistance training during 12 weeks, 3 times per week, performing 3 sets of 6 to 15 repetitions at intensities ranging from 60% to 80% of maximal dynamic strength (1-repetition maximum [1-RM] values). Before and after the training, the groups were assessed in their body mass and composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), isokinetic dynamometry, 1-RM, and ergoespirometry. Moreover, force per unit of muscle volume was calculated by the quotient between 1-RM and lean mass.Both groups presented statistically significant (p .05) increases in the 1-RM and force per unit of muscle volume in the knee extension and elbow flexion, but these strength increases were statistically significantly greater in the RT group (effect size [ES] = 2.83-9.00) than in the CTR group (ES = 0.72-1.00). Moreover, both groups statistically significantly increased in lean body mass variables (ES = 0.12-0.38). However, increases in the fat mass variables occurred only in the CTR group (ES = - 0.01-0.50), whereas no changes were observed in the RT group. Furthermore, there were statistically significant increases in all bone mineral content variables (ES = 0.13-0.43), without differences between groups. No cardiorespiratory changes were observed.Twelve weeks of RT was effective in improving strength and force per unit of muscle volume and prevented fat mass increases in boys.

Background Arterial stiffness have shown an independent predictive value for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Objective This study sought to evaluate the effects of an 8-week exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program (ECR) on arterial stiffness, and on inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers. Additionally, it was assessed two potential confounding variables, daily physical activity and dietary intake. Methods In this parallel-group trial, 96 patients (56 ± 10 years) were randomized to either the exercise group (EG) or control group (CG) 4 weeks after suffering acute myocardial infarction (MI). ECR consisted of 8 weeks of aerobic exercise at 70–85% of maximal heart rate during 3 sessions weekly, plus usual care. CG participants received only usual care. Baseline and final assessments included arterial stiffness through carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers, daily physical activity, and dietary intake. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01432639 ). Results After 8 weeks, no significant changes were found between groups in cf-PWV, inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers, daily physical activity, or dietary intake. Excluding those patients (n = 7) who did not attend, at least 80% of the exercise sessions provided similar results, excepting a significant reduction in cf-PWV in the EG compared to the CG. Conclusions A short-term ECR does not seem to reduce arterial stiffness and inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers of post-MI patients under optimized medication. Nevertheless, the decrease of cf-PWV observed in the EG, when considering only those patients who attended at least 80% of exercise sessions, warrants further investigation.

This review aimed to examine the effects of exercise training on mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with cardiovascular disease and to discuss the possible mechanisms involved in the process. A computer-aided search on PubMed and PEDro was conducted to identify relevant studies published up to June 2012. Two reviewers independently selected studies for inclusion and extracted data, namely, quantitative assessment of circulating EPCs. Of the 88 identified studies, 13 met the inclusion criteria. The 13 studies enrolled 648 participants, including patients with chronic heart failure, peripheral artery disease, and coronary artery disease. The exercise characteristics varied largely across the studies: exercise duration ranged from 2 wks to 6 mos, session duration ranged from 20 to 60 mins, and exercise intensity was usually calculated using the maximal heart rate (ranging from 75% to 85%) or the peak/maximum oxygen consumption (60%-70%). All studies used aerobic exercise. The great majority of the 13 studies reported significant effects of different exercise regimens on the number of circulating EPCs. In summary, exercise training seems to increase the number of circulating EPCs, which could contribute to vascular regeneration and angiogenesis. These positive effects of chronic exercise seem to be closely related to the bioavailability of nitric oxide, including increased activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and antioxidant enzymes, and activation of matrix metalloproteinase 9.

The main purpose of this study was to compare the magnitude and duration of excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) after 2 exercise sessions with different exercise mode orders, resistance followed by aerobic exercise (R-A); aerobic by resistance exercise (A-R). Seven young men (19.6 ± 1.4 years) randomly underwent the 2 sessions. Aerobic exercise was performed on a treadmill for 30 minutes (80-85% of reserve heart rate). Resistance exercise consisted of 3 sets of 10 repetition maximum on 5 exercises. Previous to the exercise sessions, V(O2), heart rate, V(CO2), and respiratory exchange rate (RER) were measured for 15 minutes and again during recovery from exercise for 60 minutes. The EPOC magnitude was not significantly different between R-A (5.17 ± 2.26 L) and A-R (5.23 ± 2.48 L). Throughout the recovery period (60 minutes), V(O2) and HR values were significantly higher than those observed in the pre-exercise period (p < 0.05) in both exercise sessions. In the first 10 minutes of recovery, V(CO2) and RER declined to pre-exercise levels. Moreover, V(CO2) and RER values in A-R were significantly lower than in R-A. In conclusion, the main result of this study suggests that exercise mode order does not affect the EPOC magnitude and duration. Therefore, it is not necessary for an individual to consider the EPOC when making the decision as to which exercise mode is better to start a training session.

We assessed the agreement between maximal oxygen consumption ([Vdot]O2max) measured directly when performing the 20-m shuttle run test and estimated [Vdot]O2max from five different equations (i.e. Barnett, equations a and b; Leger; Matsuzaka; and Ruiz) in youths. The 20-m shuttle run test was performed by 26 girls (mean age 14.6 years, s=1.5; body mass 57.2kg, s=8.9; height 1.60m, s=0.06) and 22 boys (age 15.0 years, s=1.6; body mass 63.5kg, s=11.5; height 1.70m, s=0.01). The participants wore a portable gas analyser (K4b2, Cosmed) to measure [Vdot]O2 during the test. All the equations significantly underestimated directly measured [Vdot]O2max, except Barnett's (b) equation. The mean difference ranged from 1.3ml center dot kg-1 center dot min-1 (Barnett (b)) to 5.5ml center dot kg-1 center dot min-1 (Leger). The standard error of the estimate ranged from 5.3ml center dot kg-1 center dot min-1 (Ruiz) to 6.5ml center dot kg-1 center dot min-1 (Leger), and the percentage error ranged from 21.2% (Ruiz) to 38.3% (Leger). The accuracy of the equations available to estimate [Vdot]O2max from the 20-m shuttle run test is questionable at the individual level. Furthermore, special attention should be paid when comparisons are made between studies (e.g. population-based studies) using different equations. The results of the present study suggest that Barnett's (b) equation provides the closest agreement with directly measured [Vdot]O2max (cardiorespiratory fitness) in youth.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of an 8-week exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program on traditional and nonlinear heart rate variability (HRV) indexes, assessing the potential confounding influences of habitual physical activity (PA) and dietary intake. Methods In this parallel-group trial, 96 patients (56 ± 10 years old) were randomized to the exercise group (EG) or to the control group (CG) 4 weeks after an acute myocardial infarction. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program consisted of aerobic exercise at 70% to 85% of maximal heart rate for 3 sessions per week plus usual care. The CG received only usual care. The baseline and final assessments comprised resting short-term HRV (primary outcome) by a Polar R-R recorder under controlled breathing (12 breaths per minute), habitual PA by accelerometers, and dietary intake by a 4-day food diary. Results Two patients in each group dropped out and were not included in the intention-to-treat analysis. In the remaining 92 patients (EG = 47 and CG = 45), at baseline, only a difference in the proportion of nitrate medication use was significant between groups. After 8 weeks, no significant changes were found between groups on traditional and nonlinear HRV indexes (eg, ln HF, EG from 5.7 ± 1.5 to 5.9 ± 1.3 and CG from 5.5 ± 1.6 to 5.5 ± 1.5), habitual PA, and dietary intake. Conclusion Eight weeks of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program is an insufficient stimulus to improve cardiac autonomic function in post–myocardial infarction patients under optimal medication and with high levels of traditional and nonlinear HRV indexes at baseline.

Accepting that the evaluation of the aerobic energy system contribution is very important for swimming training diagnostics purposes and that oxygen uptake kinetics (VO2) is one of the most used parameters in that task, we purposed to assess the variability of the peak VO2 and VO2max values obtained in a 200 m front crawl effort, using five different presentation intervals: breath-by-breath and average of 5, 10, 15, and 20 s. Ten male high-level swimmers performed a 200 m front crawl effort at maximal velocity being attached to a respiratory valve that allowed to directly measure the breath-by-breath VO2 kinetics. VO2 peak was accepted as the highest single value on breath-by-breath sampling and VO2max was considered as the average values of the 5, 10, 15 and 20 s sampling obtained during the test. The obtained VO2peak and VO2max mean values in breath-by-breath and averaged 5 s sampling were similar to those described in the literature for experienced male competitive swimmers. Higher VO2 values were observed for breath-by-breath sampling, being observed differences between that data acquisition method and all the other time intervals (5, 10, 15 and 20 s). Differences were also visible between the 5 s averaging and the other less frequent data acquisitions considered (10, 15 and 20 s), evidencing that less frequent sampling frequencies underestimate the VO2max values. More future research about this topic, also conducted in real competition conditions, i.e., in swimming-pool (not in running or cycle ergometers) is needed.