Effects of foam roller-based combined exercise on functional fitness, balance, and gait in older women.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a foam roller-based combined exercise program on functional fitness, balance ability, and gait in women aged 65 years and older. Using a 2×2 mixed design, the study compared variables measured before and after a 6-week foam roller-based combined exercise program. A total of 32 old women were randomly assigned to either the foam roller-based exercise group or the control group.

Exercise-induced Hypertension and Carotid Intima-media Thickness in Male Marathon Runners.

This study aimed to identify the relationship between exercise-induced hypertension and carotid artery intima-media thickness in long-distance runners. Sixty healthy male runners aged 40 to 60 years were assigned to the following three groups based on resting blood pressure and maximal systolic blood pressure during a maximal exercise test: normal blood pressure response, exercise-induced hypertension, and complex hypertension. An exaggerated systolic blood pressure response was defined as a maximal systolic blood pressure+≥+210 mmHg during the maximal exercise test, while carotid intima-media thickness was measured using B-mode ultrasonography.

Association between Perceived Psychological Stress and Exercise Behaviors: A Cross-Sectional Study Using the Survey of National Physical Fitness.

Background: Perceived psychological stress and exercise are bidirectionally related, and the effects of exercise on stress relief are well documented. However, research on the influence of stress on exercise remains scarce. This study examined the association between perceived psychological stress and exercise participation among Korean adults and older adults as well as the relationship between exercise frequency and perceived stress.

Effect of high-intensity circuit training on obesity indices, physical fitness, and browning factors in inactive female college students.

The recently discovered myokines, irisin and fibroblast growth factor-21, have emerged beneficial for metabolic health due to their role in regulating browning. This study examined the effects of high-intensity circuit training on obesity indices, physical fitness, and irisin and fibroblast growth factor-21 levels in inactive female college students. Ten female college students performed high-intensity circuit training (jogging, stretching, squat jumps, arm walking and push-ups, lunge jumps, burpee test, mountain climbers, side steps, and crunches and side crunches exercises).

Effect of uphill walking on browning factor and high molecular weight-adiponectin in postmenopausal women.

Metabolic disorders occurring in menopause, including dyslipidemia, disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, components of metabolic syndrome, constitute risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women. Irisin and fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21), which regulate browning, and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin have emerged beneficial for metabolic health. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of endurance aerobic exercise on circulating browning factor and HMW-adiponectin level in postmenopausal women.

The acute effects of interrupting prolonged sitting with stair climbing on vascular and metabolic function after a high-fat meal.

Purpose: Frequent consumption of high-fat meals and prolonged sedentary time are prevalent lifestyles that have been associated with an increased risk of vascular and metabolic complications. This study evaluated the acute effects of interrupting prolonged sitting with stair climbing on vascular and metabolic function after a high-fat meal.

Methods: In a randomized, cross-over trial, 12 healthy adults (age:  23.

Relation of Exercise Heart Rate Recovery to Predict Cardiometabolic Syndrome in Men.

We examined the hypothesis that delayed heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise testing, an estimate of decreased autonomic function, predicts the risk of cardiometabolic syndrome (MetS) and is associated with continuous MetS risk scores in healthy men. Participants were 2,740 men who underwent general health examinations and had no evidence of MetS, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and hypertension at baseline. Baseline HRR was calculated as the difference between peak heart rate attained during exercise testing and the heart rate at 1 (HRR 1) and 2 minutes (HRR 2) after test termination.

Metabolically healthy obesity and subclinical atherosclerosis in persons with spinal cord injury.

Objective: Despite preserved metabolic function, metabolically healthy obesity may increase the risk of subclinical atherosclerosis. Given the high prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases in individuals with spinal cord injury, the aim of this study was to investigate the association of insulin resistance, systemic low-grade inflammation, and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis with metabolically healthy obesity in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Methods: Insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, carotid artery intima-media thickness and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity were measured in individuals with spinal cord injury classified with metabolically healthy obesity (n = 12), metabolically unhealthy obesity (n = 8), or metabolically healthy normal-weight (n = 18).

Carotid artery reactivity during sympathetic activation following acute resistance exercise.

Objective: Acute resistance exercise has been shown to reduce brachial endothelial function. Whether there are concomitant reductions in carotid endothelial function remains unexplored.

Methods: Cold pressor test-mediated vasodilation of the carotid artery was used to assess carotid endothelial function in 15 young and healthy participants (age 26 ± 1 years, body mass index 24 ± 1 kg/m) after acute resistance exercise or an inactive time control condition.

Impact of Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Risk of Systemic Hypertension in Nonobese Versus Obese Men Who Are Metabolically Healthy or Unhealthy.

Few data are available regarding the influence of body phenotype on systemic hypertension (SH) and whether cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) attenuates this relation. We tested the hypothesis that obesity phenotypes and CRF would predict incident hypertension, evaluating 3,800 Korean men who participated in 2 health examinations in1998 to 2009. All participants were normotensive at baseline and were divided into 4 groups based on body mass index using the Asia-Pacific descriptors for obesity and metabolic health status and the National Cholesterol Education Program's adult treatment panel III (ATP-III) criteria.

Relation of heart rate recovery after exercise testing to coronary artery calcification.

Background: We examined whether slow heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise testing as an estimate of impaired autonomic function is related to coronary artery calcification (CAC), an emerging marker of coronary atherosclerosis.

Methods: We evaluated 2088 men who participated in a health-screening program that included measures of CAC and peak or symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise testing. HRR was calculated as the difference between peak heart rate (HR) during exercise testing and the HR at 2 min of recovery after peak exercise.

Fitness, Body Habitus, and the Risk of Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Korean Men.

The relative contributions of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body habitus to predict incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remain unclear. We prospectively investigated the relation of CRF and body habitus on the risk of developing T2DM in men. Participants included 3,770 apparently healthy men who initially presented without baseline evidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension.

The Relationship Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Aortic Stiffness in Women with Central Obesity.

Purpose: To examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and aortic stiffness in women with central obesity. The secondary purpose was to examine whether traditional and nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors mediate the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and aortic stiffness.

Materials And Methods: Eighty-seven centrally obese women (age, 42 ± 9 years, [body mass index (BMI)] 28 ± 3 kg/m(2)) participated in this cross-sectional study.

Effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise on central arterial stiffness and gait velocity in patients with chronic poststroke hemiparesis.

Objective: The effects of combined aerobic and resistance exercise training on central arterial stiffness and gait velocity in patients with chronic poststroke hemiparesis were investigated.

Design: Twenty-six patients with chronic poststroke hemiparesis were randomly assigned to either the combined aerobic and resistance exercise group (n = 14) or the control group (n = 12). The exercise intervention group received a combined aerobic and resistance exercise training (1 hr/day, three times/week for 16 wks), whereas the control group received usual care.

Effects of Acute Active Video Games on Endothelial Function Following a High-Fat Meal in Overweight Adolescents.

Background: We tested the hypothesis that an active video game following a high-fat meal would partially prevent the unfavorable effect of a high-fat meal on vascular function in overweight adolescents.

Methods: Twenty-four overweight adolescents were randomized to either a 60-minute active video game (AVG) group (n = 12) or seated rest (SR) as a control group (n = 12) after a high-fat meal. Blood parameters were measured, and vascular function was measured using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) at baseline and 3 hours after a high-fat meal.

Associations of arterial stiffness and cognitive function with physical fitness in patients with chronic stroke.

Objective: To determine whether arterial stiffness is associated with cognitive function after adjustment for physical fitness in patients with chronic stroke.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted in 102 patients with chronic stroke who participated in an exercise rehabilitation programme. Carotid femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index were measured as indices of arterial stiffness and central systolic loading.

Effect of cardiorespiratory fitness on acute inflammation induced increases in arterial stiffness in older adults.

We tested the hypothesis that acute inflammation may cause arterial stiffening in older adults. We further explored if high cardiorespiratory fitness may partially prevent the unfavorable effect of arterial stiffening produced by acute systemic inflammation in older adults. Using a randomized double-blind sham placebo-controlled design, forty healthy older adults were assigned to receive either an influenza vaccine or a sham vaccine.

Resistance exercise training reduces arterial reservoir pressure in older adults with prehypertension and hypertension.

We examined changes in central blood pressure (BP) following resistance exercise training (RET) in men and women with prehypertension and never-treated hypertension. Both Windkessel theory and wave theory were used to provide a comprehensive examination of hemodynamic modulation with RET. Twenty-one participants (age 61±1 years, n=6 male; average systolic blood pressure (SBP)/diastolic blood pressure (DBP)=138/84 mm Hg) were randomized to either 12 weeks of RET (n=11) or an inactive control group.

Temporal changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and the incidence of hypertension in initially normotensive subjects.

Objectives: Low-cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has been associated with incident hypertension, but whether temporal changes in CRF are associated with incident hypertension in initially normotensive subjects are not known. We investigated the relationship of baseline CRF and longitudinal changes in CRF with incident hypertension in initially normotensive subjects.

Methods: Subjects were 3,831 men who participated in two health examinations during 1998-2009.

Pulsatile stress, inflammation and change in arterial stiffness.

Aim: Understanding factors that contribute to changes in arterial stiffness over time is important as this may lead to therapies that can abrogate cardiovascular risk. We compared the contribution of pulsatile stress and inflammation to changes in arterial stiffness in middle-aged men using a 1-year follow-up study design.

Methods: Arterial stiffness was derived from brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in 107 men (mean age 53±6 yrs) on two separate occasions.

Effect of increased preload on the synthesized aortic blood pressure waveform.

In the present study, we examined the influence of preload augmentation via passive leg elevation (PLE) on synthesized aortic blood pressure, aortic augmentation index (AIx), and aortic capacitance (a reflection of aortic reservoir function). Central and peripheral hemodynamics were measured via tonometry with a generalized transfer function in 14 young, healthy men (age = 24 yr). Aortic blood flow was calculated from the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) velocity-time integral (VTI) using standard two-dimensional echocardiographic-Doppler techniques.

Does an acute inflammatory response temporarily attenuate parasympathetic reactivation?

Purpose: Although observational studies suggest that inflammatory markers are associated with autonomic nervous system function, the causal relationship of this is not clear. We tested the hypothesis that acute inflammation will temporarily attenuate vagal reactivation as measured by heart rate recovery after exercise.

Methods: In this double-blind randomized study, 24 healthy subjects were assigned to receive either an influenza vaccine (n = 15) as a model to generate a systemic inflammatory response or a sham vaccine (n = 9).