Increased game frequency period crossing Ramadan intermittent fasting decreases fat mass, sleep duration, and recovery in male professional basketball players.

Background: Increased basketball game frequency may affect athlete performances, especially during Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF). The objective of the present investigation was to assess the impacts of increased game frequency periods crossing the RIF on body composition, sleep habits, indices of well-being, recovery state, and dietary intake in professional male basketball players.

Methods: Twenty-eight professional basketball players participated in this study and were divided into increased-games-frequency (INCR) or normal-games-frequency (NORM) groups.

An Intervention of Four Weeks of Time-Restricted Eating (16/8) in Male Long-Distance Runners Does Not Affect Cardiometabolic Risk Factors.

Timing of nutrient intake for athletes may affect exercise performance and cardiometabolic factors. Our objective was to examine the effect of time-restricted eating (TRE) on cardiometabolic health. Using a cross-over study design, 15 endurance-trained male runners were randomized to either a normal dietary pattern (ND) first (12 h eating/fasting times) followed by time-restricted eating (TRE) pattern (16 h fast; 8 h eating) or the reverse, with a 4-week washout period between interventions.

Four Weeks of 16/8 Time Restrictive Feeding in Endurance Trained Male Runners Decreases Fat Mass, without Affecting Exercise Performance.

Background: Time restricted Feeding (TRF) is a dietary pattern utilized by endurance athletes, but there is insufficient data regarding its effects on performance and metabolism in this population. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of a 16/8 TRF dietary pattern on exercise performance in trained male endurance runners.

Methods: A 4-week randomized crossover intervention was used to compare an 8-h TRF to a 12-h normal diet (ND) feeding window.

Passive Recovery Strategies after Exercise: A Narrative Literature Review of the Current Evidence.

Passive recovery techniques are popular and offer a diverse spectrum of options for athletes and the clinicians providing care for them. These techniques are intended to minimize the negative effects of training or competition, thus enabling the athlete a quicker return to peak performance. Current evidence demonstrates improved athlete recovery with compression garments, cold water immersion, partial body cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen, and vibratory therapies.

Decreased energy availability during training overload is associated with non-functional overreaching and suppressed ovarian function in female runners.

Low energy availability (EA) suppresses many physiological processes, including ovarian function in female athletes. Low EA could also predispose athletes to develop a state of overreaching. This study compared the changes in ad libitum energy intake (EI), exercise energy expenditure (ExEE), and EA among runners completing a training overload (TO) phase.

Exercise training and diet-induced weight loss increase markers of hepatic bile acid (BA) synthesis and reduce serum total BA concentrations in obese women.

Regular exercise has profound metabolic influence on the liver, but effects on bile acid (BA) metabolism are less well known. BAs are synthesized exclusively in the liver from cholesterol via the rate-limiting enzyme cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1). BAs contribute to the solubilization and absorption of lipids and serve as important signaling molecules, capable of systemic endocrine function.

Impact of a weight loss and fitness intervention on exercise-associated plasma oxylipin patterns in obese, insulin-resistant, sedentary women.

Very little is known about how metabolic health status, insulin resistance or metabolic challenges modulate the endocannabinoid (eCB) or polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-derived oxylipin (OxL) lipid classes. To address these questions, plasma eCB and OxL concentrations were determined at rest, 10 and 20 min during an acute exercise bout (30 min total, ~45% of preintervention V̇O , ~63 W), and following 20 min recovery in overnight-fasted sedentary, obese, insulin-resistant women under controlled diet conditions. We hypothesized that increased fitness and insulin sensitivity following a ~14-week training and weight loss intervention would lead to significant changes in lipid signatures using an identical acute exercise protocol to preintervention.

Exercise plasma metabolomics and xenometabolomics in obese, sedentary, insulin-resistant women: impact of a fitness and weight loss intervention.

Insulin resistance has wide-ranging effects on metabolism, but there are knowledge gaps regarding the tissue origins of systemic metabolite patterns and how patterns are altered by fitness and metabolic health. To address these questions, plasma metabolite patterns were determined every 5 min during exercise (30 min, ∼45% of V̇o, ∼63 W) and recovery in overnight-fasted sedentary, obese, insulin-resistant women under controlled conditions of diet and physical activity. We hypothesized that improved fitness and insulin sensitivity following a ∼14-wk training and weight loss intervention would lead to fixed workload plasma metabolomics signatures reflective of metabolic health and muscle metabolism.

Total Knee Arthroplasty: Fitness, Heart Disease Risk, and Quality of Life.

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) may decrease coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in patients with advanced osteoarthritis by reducing pain and allowing for a more active lifestyle. We examined cardiovascular fitness, CHD risk factors, and quality of life in patients for 1 year after TKA compared with matched controls who did not undergo surgery. A total of 14 patients, 7 surgery patients and 7 matched controls, were tested for measurements of body composition, knee range of motion, resting blood pressure, strength testing, a maximal exercise test, quality-of-life questionnaires (Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 and Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score [KOOS]), and activity monitoring, fasting blood glucose, and lipids at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery or baseline testing.

Energy Availability, Macronutrient Intake, and Nutritional Supplementation for Improving Exercise Performance in Endurance Athletes.

Endurance athletes use nutritional guidelines and supplements to improve exercise performance and recovery. However, use is not always based on scientific evidence of improved performance, which type of athlete would benefit most, or the optimal dose and timing of a particular supplement. Health professionals that give advice to athletes need to target their recommendations on the energy systems and muscle fiber types used for the athlete's sporting event, the goal of the training block, the time of the competitive season, and the characteristics and food preferences of the individual athlete.

Betalain-rich concentrate supplementation improves exercise performance and recovery in competitive triathletes.

We aimed to determine the effects of a betalain-rich concentrate (BRC) of beetroots, containing no sugars or nitrates, on exercise performance and recovery. Twenty-two (9 men and 13 women) triathletes (age, 38 ± 11 years) completed 2 double-blind, crossover, randomized trials (BRC and placebo) starting 7 days apart. Each trial was preceded by 6 days of supplementation with 100 mg·day of BRC or placebo.

Acylcarnitines as markers of exercise-associated fuel partitioning, xenometabolism, and potential signals to muscle afferent neurons.

What is the central question of this study? Does improved metabolic health and insulin sensitivity following a weight-loss and fitness intervention in sedentary, obese women alter exercise-associated fuel metabolism and incomplete mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO), as tracked by blood acylcarnitine patterns? What is the main finding and its importance? Despite improved fitness and blood sugar control, indices of incomplete mitochondrial FAO increased in a similar manner in response to a fixed load acute exercise bout; this indicates that intramitochondrial muscle FAO is inherently inefficient and is tethered directly to ATP turnover. With insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes mellitus, mismatches between mitochondrial fatty acid fuel delivery and oxidative phosphorylation/tricarboxylic acid cycle activity may contribute to inordinate accumulation of short- or medium-chain acylcarnitine fatty acid derivatives [markers of incomplete long-chain fatty acid oxidation (FAO)]. We reasoned that incomplete FAO in muscle would be ameliorated concurrent with improved insulin sensitivity and fitness following a ∼14 week training and weight-loss intervention in obese, sedentary, insulin-resistant women.

Betalain-Rich Concentrate Supplementation Improves Exercise Performance in Competitive Runners.

This study aimed to determine the effects of a betalain-rich concentrate (BRC) of red beets, containing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, on performance and exercise-related muscle damage. Thirteen (25.3 ± 5.

Acute Modulation of Cortical Glutamate and GABA Content by Physical Activity.

Converging evidence demonstrates that physical activity evokes a brain state characterized by distinctive changes in brain metabolism and cortical function. Human studies have shown that physical activity leads to a generalized increase in electroencephalography power across regions and frequencies, and a global increase in brain nonoxidative metabolism of carbohydrate substrates. This nonoxidative consumption of carbohydrate has been hypothesized to include increased de novo synthesis of amino acid neurotransmitters, especially glutamate and GABA.

Whole-Body Cryostimulation Limits Overreaching in Elite Synchronized Swimmers.

Introduction: Elite athletes frequently undergo periods of intensified training (IT) within their normal training program. These periods can lead athletes into functional overreaching, characterized by high perceived fatigue, impaired sleep, and performance. Because whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) has been proven to be an effective recovery method in the short term (<76 h), we investigated whether daily WBC sessions during IT could prevent exercise and sleep-related signs of overreaching.

Effects of cadence on aerobic capacity following a prolonged, varied intensity cycling trial.

We determined if high cadences, during a prolonged cycling protocol with varying intensities (similar to race situations) decrease performance compared to cycling at a lower, more energetically optimal, cadence. Eight healthy, competitive male road cyclists (35 ± 2 yr) cycled for 180 min at either 80 or 100 rpm (randomized) with varying intensities of power outputs corresponding to 50, 65 and 80% of VO2max. At the end of this cycling period, participants completed a ramped exercise test to exhaustion at their preferred cadence (90 ± 7 rpm).

Effect of age and combined sprint and strength training on plasma catecholamine responses to a Wingate-test.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the effects of aging and combined training (sprint and strength) on catecholamine responses [adrenaline (A) and noradrenaline (NA)].

Methods: Thirty-two male subjects voluntarily participated in this study. They were randomly divided into four groups: A young trained group (age 21.

Improved metabolic health alters host metabolism in parallel with changes in systemic xeno-metabolites of gut origin.

Novel plasma metabolite patterns reflective of improved metabolic health (insulin sensitivity, fitness, reduced body weight) were identified before and after a 14-17 wk weight loss and exercise intervention in sedentary, obese insulin-resistant women. To control for potential confounding effects of diet- or microbiome-derived molecules on the systemic metabolome, sampling was during a tightly-controlled feeding test week paradigm. Pairwise and multivariate analysis revealed intervention- and insulin-sensitivity associated: (1) Changes in plasma xeno-metabolites ("non-self" metabolites of dietary or gut microbial origin) following an oral glucose tolerance test (e.

Catecholamines and obesity: effects of exercise and training.

Excess body fat in obese individuals can affect the catecholamine response to various stimuli. Indeed, several studies report lower plasma catecholamine concentrations in obese subjects compared with nonobese subjects in response to submaximal or maximal exercise. This low catecholamine response reflects decreased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity.

Natural versus commercial carbohydrate supplementation and endurance running performance.

Background: We examined the metabolic, performance and gastrointestinal (GI) effects of supplementation with a natural food product (raisins) compared to a commercial product (sport chews).

Methods: Eleven male (29.3 ± 7.

Vigorous exercise increases brain lactate and Glx (glutamate+glutamine): a dynamic 1H-MRS study.

Vigorous exercise increases lactate and glucose uptake by the brain in excess of the increase in brain oxygen uptake. The metabolic fate of this non-oxidized carbohydrate entering the brain is poorly understood, but accumulation of lactate in the brain and/or increased net synthesis of amino acid neurotransmitters are possible explanations. Previous proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies using conventional pulse sequences have not detected changes in brain lactate following exercise.

Catecholamine response to exercise in obese, overweight, and lean adolescent boys.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of body fat percentage on the plasma catecholamine response to a cycling sprint test (CST) in sedentary adolescent boys.

Methods: In this study, 31 adolescent boys (9 obese (% body fat = 31.0% ± 3.

Reduced catecholamine response to exercise in amenorrheic athletes.

Purpose: We examined the catecholamine response to exercise in five eumenorrheic (EU) and five amenorrheic (AM) athletes, matched by age (mean ± SEM: EU = 29.8 ± 2.5 yr and AM = 31.

Can changes in body mass and total body water accurately predict hyponatremia after a 161-km running race?

Objective: To relate changes in body mass, total body water (TBW), extracellular fluid (ECF), and serum sodium concentration ([Na]) from a 161-km ultramarathon to finish time and incidence of hyponatremia.

Design: Observational.

Setting: : The 2008 Rio Del Lago 100-Mile (161-km) Endurance Run in Granite Bay, California.

Effects of an amino acid carbohydrate drink on exercise performance after consecutive-day exercise bouts.

This study examined the effect of amino acids in a carbohydrate beverage on cycling performance. Twelve male athletes (28.5 +/- 2.