Four-year longitudinal associations of physical activity, waist circumference, and blood pressure in UK adolescents.

Background: This study assessed the specific influence of physical activity (PA) and waist circumference (WC) on the 4-year growth trajectory of blood pressure in UK high-school students.

Methods: Four-year longitudinal monitoring of 1501 adolescents was conducted as part of the EoEHHS. Measurements were taken in Grades (G)7, 9, and 11.

Implementation of a Community-Based Mind-Body (Tae-Bo) Physical Activity Programme on Health-Related Physical Fitness in Rural Black Overweight and Obese Women with Manifest Risk Factors for Multimorbidity.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death globally, particularly impacting low- and middle-income countries and rural dwellers. Therefore, this programme aimed to investigate if a community-based mind-body PA programme implemented in a low-resource setting could improve health-related physical fitness outcomes. Black overweight or obese adult women (25 ± 4.

Fitness Changes in Adolescent Girls Following In-School Combined Aerobic and Resistance Exercise: Interaction With Birthweight.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of a supervised in-school combined resistance and aerobic training program in adolescent girls and investigate whether responses differ according to birthweight.

Methods: Participants (girls aged 13-17 y) were randomized either to an intervention replacing physical education (PE) classes with 2 × 60-minute training sessions per week (n = 58) or to a control group that continued to attend 2 × 60 minutes per week of curriculum PE (n = 41). We measured muscular fitness (handgrip, standing long jump, and sit-ups), cardiorespiratory fitness (20-m shuttle run), skinfolds, and lean body mass preintervention and postintervention and determined effect size (Hedge's g) differences between changes in these measures.

The SIMAC study: A randomized controlled trial to compare the effects of resistance training and aerobic training on the fitness and body composition of Colombian adolescents.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact on muscle strength, aerobic fitness and body composition, of replacing the physical education (PE) class of Colombian adolescents with resistance or aerobic training. 120 tanner stage 3 adolescents attending a state school were randomized to resistance training, aerobic training, or a control group who continued to attend a weekly 2- hour PE class for 16 weeks. The resistance training and aerobic training groups participated in twice weekly supervised after-school exercise sessions of < 1 hour instead of their PE class.

Variable long-term developmental trajectories of short sprint speed and jumping height in English Premier League academy soccer players: An applied case study.

Growth and maturation affect long term physical performance, making the appraisal of athletic ability difficult. We sought to longitudinally track youth soccer players to assess the developmental trajectory of athletic performance over a 6-year period in an English Premier League academy. Age-specific z-scores were calculated for sprint and jump performance from a sample of male youth soccer players (n = 140).

Age-Related Variation in Male Youth Athletes' Countermovement Jump After Plyometric Training: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials.

Moran, J, Sandercock, GRH, Ramírez-Campillo, R, Meylan, CMP, Collison, J, and Parry, DA. Age-related variation in male youth athletes' countermovement jump after plyometric training: A meta-analysis of controlled trials. J Strength Cond Res 31(2): 552-565, 2017-Recent debate on the trainability of youths has focused on the existence of periods of accelerated adaptation to training.

Is Olympic inspiration associated with fitness and physical activity in English schoolchildren? A repeated cross-sectional comparison before and 18 months after London 2012.

Objectives: To compare cardiovascular fitness and physical activity of schoolchildren 18 months after London 2012 according to Olympic 'inspiration'.

Design: A cross-sectional comparison between groups of schoolchildren categorised according to self-reported Olympic inspiration and a repeated cross-sectional comparison using data collected pre-2012.

Setting: Schools within a 50 km radius of the Olympic Park, Stratford, London.

Associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and the metabolic syndrome in British men.

Background: Age and body mass index (BMI) are positively associated with the development of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) can attenuate BMI-related increases in prevalence of MetS, but the nature of this association across different age strata has not been fully investigated.

Aim: To identify the association between CRF and MetS prevalence across age strata (20-69 years) and determine whether associations are independent of BMI.

The effects of lower-body compression garments on walking performance and perceived exertion in adults with CVD risk factors.

Objectives: Compression garments are used by athletes in attempts to enhance performance and recovery, although evidence to support their use is equivocal. Reducing the exertion experienced during exercise may encourage sedentary individuals to increase physical activity. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of compression garments on walking performance (self-paced and enforced pace) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in adults who presented with two or more CVD risk factors.

A meta-analysis of maturation-related variation in adolescent boy athletes' adaptations to short-term resistance training.

This meta-analysis investigated the maturation-related pattern of adaptations to resistance training in boy athletes. We included studies examining the effects of 4-16-week resistance training programmes in healthy boy athletes aged 10-18 years. Pooled estimates of effect size for change in strength across all studies (n = 19) were calculated using the inverse-variance random effects model for meta-analyses.

Effects of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation on cardiorespiratory fitness: A meta-analysis of UK studies.

Background: Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation can promote meaningful improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) but the magnitude of such improvements varies according to local characteristics of exercise programmes. We aimed to determine if cardiac rehabilitation (CR), as practised in the United Kingdom (UK), could promote meaningful changes in fitness and to identify programme characteristics which may moderate these changes.

Methods: Electronic and manual searches to identify UK CR studies reporting fitness at baseline and follow up.

Media device ownership and media use: Associations with sedentary time, physical activity and fitness in English youth.

The aim of this study was to determine whether ownership and use of electronic media were associated with sedentary time and cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) in youth. We also aimed to determine if associations were independent of physical activity (PA). Fitness was measured using the 20 m shuttle-run.

Physical activity profiles and selected muscular fitness variables in English schoolchildren: A north-south divide?

The aim of the study was to compare and contrast habitual physical activity (PA) profiles and muscular fitness in schoolchildren from northern and southern regions of England. Data were collected from two secondary schools in the north east (NE) of England. The study procedures followed methods employed by the East of England Healthy Hearts Study in 10-16-year-old boys and girls based in the south east (SE) region of England and data were compared.

Reference values for the incremental shuttle walk test in patients with cardiovascular disease entering exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation.

The incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) is used to assess functional capacity of patients entering cardiac rehabilitation. Factors such as age and sex account for a proportion of the variance in test performance in healthy individuals but there are no reference values for patients with cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to produce reference values for the ISWT.

Associations between showering behaviours following physical education, physical activity and fitness in English schoolchildren.

We aimed to describe the frequency of showering after physical education (PE) in English high-school pupils. We examined differences in physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness according to showering behaviours and examined predictors of showering. We measured PA and cardiorespiratory fitness of n = 3921 pupils (11-16 years, 53.

Association between habitual school travel and muscular fitness in youth.

Objective: To determine whether active school travel is associated with muscular fitness, which is an emerging marker of youth health.

Methods: Handgrip strength, vertical jump and vertical jump peak power were measured in n=6829 English schoolchildren (53% males, age 12.9 ± 1.

Delayed bedtime due to screen time in schoolchildren: importance of area deprivation.

Background: Sleep duration is an important predictor of obesity and health. This study evaluated the association between late bedtime and screen time, and the role of geographical deprivation in English schoolchildren.

Methods: We collected bedtime and waking time, screen time, sociodemographic data and measured body mass index in a cross-section of 1332 11-15-year-old schoolchildren (45.

Cardiovascular autonomic control in patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support and pharmacologic therapy.

Objectives: The objective of the study is to determine cardiac autonomic control in patients undergoing assessment for and/or LVAD therapy.

Methods: Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured in 17 explanted LVAD, 17 implanted LVAD and 23 NYHA III-IV classified chronic heart failure (CHF) patients and ten healthy matched controls under three conditions: supine free breathing, standing and supine controlled breathing. Five measures of HRV were assessed: mean R-R interval (mR-R), high frequency (HF) and low frequency (LF) spectral power, LF in normalised units (LFnu), and LF to HF (LF:HF) ratio.

A repeated measures experiment of green exercise to improve self-esteem in UK school children.

Exercising in natural, green environments creates greater improvements in adult's self-esteem than exercise undertaken in urban or indoor settings. No comparable data are available for children. The aim of this study was to determine whether so called 'green exercise' affected changes in self-esteem; enjoyment and perceived exertion in children differently to urban exercise.

The great outdoors: how a green exercise environment can benefit all.

The studies of human and environment interactions usually consider the extremes of environment on individuals or how humans affect the environment. It is well known that physical activity improves both physiological and psychological well-being, but further evidence is required to ascertain how different environments influence and shape health. This review considers the declining levels of physical activity, particularly in the Western world, and how the environment may help motivate and facilitate physical activity.

Quantification of the relative age effect in three indices of physical performance.

The relative age effect (RAE) describes the relationship between an individual's birth month and their level of attainment in sports. There is a clustering of birth dates just after the cutoff used for selection in age-grouped sports, and it is hypothesized that such relatively older sportspeople may enjoy maturational and physical advantages over their younger peers. There is, however, little empirical evidence of any such advantage.

Physical Activity Questionnaire for children and adolescents: English norms and cut-off points.

Background: The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (PAQ-C/-A) provides general estimates of physical activity levels. Following recent expert recommendations for using the PAQ for population surveillance, the aim of this paper was twofold: first, to describe normative PAQ data for English youth; and second, to determine a criterion-referenced PAQ-score cut-off point.

Methods: Participants (n = 7226, 53% boys, 10-15 years) completed an anglicized version of the PAQ.