Effects of Land versus Water Walking Interventions on Vascular Function in Older Adults.

Purpose: Endothelial dysfunction is an early and integral atherogenic event. Interventions that improve endothelial function also reduce cardiovascular risk. Due largely to the direct hemodynamic effects of repetitive exercise on the artery wall, exercise training has shown to enhance endothelial function.

Land-walking vs. water-walking interventions in older adults: Effects on aerobic fitness.

Background: Low cardiorespiratory fitness is an independent predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, and interventions that increase fitness reduce risk. Water-walking decreases musculoskeletal impact and risk of falls in older individuals, but it is unclear whether water-walking improves aerobic fitness in the same way as weight-dependent land-walking. This randomized controlled trial involved 3 intervention groups-a no-exercise control group (CG), a land-walking (LW) group, and a water-walking (WW) group-to investigate the comparative impacts of LW and WW to CG on fitness.

Land- versus water-walking interventions in older adults: Effects on body composition.

Objectives: Increasing physical activity is a priority worldwide, including for older adults who may have difficulty performing traditional forms of exercise, and for whom retention of muscle mass is an important consideration. Water-based exercise may provide an alternative if benefits are comparable. We compared the impact on body composition of 24-week water- versus land-walking interventions in healthy but inactive older adults.

Beneficial impacts of regular exercise on platelet function in sedentary older adults: evidence from a randomized 6-mo walking trial.

Platelet activation, including the formation of monocyte platelet aggregates (MPAs), contributes to atherosclerosis, thrombus formation, and acute coronary syndromes. Regular participation in exercise can lower cardiovascular risk, but little is known regarding the impact of exercise training on platelet function. We investigated the effect of 6 mo of walking exercise on platelet function in sedentary older adults without significant cardiovascular disease.

Acute Impact of Different Exercise Modalities on Arterial and Platelet Function.

Purpose: Acute coronary syndromes and ischemic stroke are associated with arterial events involving platelets, the endothelium, and atherosclerosis. Although regular physical activity is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular events and mortality, risk is transiently increased during and immediately after participation in an acute bout of exercise. No previous study has investigated the acute impact of exercise on platelet activation and arterial function in the same participants; it is also unknown if responses are dependent on exercise modality.

Relationship between monocyte-platelet aggregation and endothelial function in middle-aged and elderly adults.

Low-grade inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and platelet hyper-reactivity to agonists are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. In vitro and animal studies infer an inverse mechanistic relationship between platelet activation and the production of endothelium-derived nitric oxide and prostacyclin. This concept is supported by evidence of an inverse relationship between endothelial function and platelet activation in high-risk cardiac patients.

Impact of commonly prescribed exercise interventions on platelet activation in physically inactive and overweight men.

The exercise paradox infers that, despite the well-established cardioprotective effects of repeated episodic exercise (training), the risk of acute atherothrombotic events may be transiently increased during and soon after an exercise bout. However, the acute impact of different exercise modalities on platelet function has not previously been addressed. We hypothesized that distinct modalities of exercise would have differing effects on in vivo platelet activation and reactivity to agonists which induce monocyte-platelet aggregate (MPA) formation.

Evidence for Shear Stress-Mediated Dilation of the Internal Carotid Artery in Humans.

Increases in arterial carbon dioxide tension (hypercapnia) elicit potent vasodilation of cerebral arterioles. Recent studies have also reported vasodilation of the internal carotid artery during hypercapnia, but the mechanism(s) mediating this extracranial vasoreactivity are unknown. Hypercapnia increases carotid shear stress, a known stimulus to vasodilation in other conduit arteries.

Sleep, anxiety and electronic device use by athletes in the training and competition environments.

This study subjectively assessed sleep quality and quantity, state anxiety and electronic device use during a 7-day training week (TRAIN) and a 7-day competitive tournament (COMP). Eight state-level netball players used wrist-watch actigraphy to provide indirect sleep measures of bedtime, wake time, sleep duration, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset and fragmentation index. State anxiety was reported using the anxiety sub-scale in the Profile of Mood States-Adolescents.

Sleep patterns and injury occurrence in elite Australian footballers.

Objectives: To examine the potential relationship between sleep duration and efficiency and injury incidence in elite Australian footballers.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Australian footballers (n=22) from one AFL club were studied across the 2013 competitive season.

Sleep quantity and quality in elite youth soccer players: a pilot study.

This study examined the effect of early evening high-intensity training on the sleep of elite male youth soccer players (n = 12) using wrist actigraphy. High-intensity training (TRAIN) nights were compared with a home environment (HOME) condition, created by averaging sleep variables on the night before and after TRAIN nights. Additionally, after TRAIN athletes alternately used cold water immersion (TRAIN+CWI) or none, to assess whether cold water immersion (CWI) had any impact on sleep quality and quantity.

Effect of evening postexercise cold water immersion on subsequent sleep.

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of cold water immersion after evening exercise on subsequent sleep quality and quantity in trained cyclists.

Methods: In the evenings (~1900 h) on three separate occasions, male cyclists (n = 11) underwent either no exercise (control, CON), exercise only (EX), or exercise followed by cold water immersion (CWI). EX comprised cycling for 15 min at 75% peak power, then a 15-min maximal time trial.

Post-exercise cold water immersion: effect on core temperature and melatonin responses.

To study the effect of post-exercise cold water immersion (CWI) on core temperature and melatonin responses, 10 male cyclists completed two evening (~1800 hours) cycling trials followed by a 15-min CWI (14 °C) or warm water immersion (WWI; 34 °C), and were then monitored for 90 min post-immersion. The exercise trial involved 15 min at 75 % peak power, followed by a 15 min time trial. Core (rectal) temperature was not different between the two conditions pre-exercise (~37.

Effect of postexercise recovery procedures following strenuous stair-climb running.

This study compared the effects of hot/cold water immersion, static stretching, and no recovery (control) interventions on leg strength, rowing performance, and indicators of muscle soreness/damage in the 72 hours following strenuous stair-climb running. Club (n = 14) and elite (Sports Institute) (n = 6) rowers performed the training run on three separate occasions. After each run, participants completed a randomly assigned 15-minute recovery treatment, either hot/cold, static stretching, or control, which were repeated at 24 and 48 hours postrun.