Publications by authors named "Vaclav Bunc"

Background: Many authors consider running to be a protective physical activity (PA) in bone health. However, many studies also show inconsistencies in their results. The objective of the study is to analyze the effect of cumulative loading rate (TCL) on the bone mass of middle-aged runners and non-runners is assessed.

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Background: Age and reduction in performed physical activity cause physiological changes that include an increase in body fat (BF) and visceral fat (VF) during aging. These parameters, together with increased body mass (BM), are some of the risk factors of several noninfectious diseases. However, changes in body composition can be influenced by regular physical activity.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effectiveness of a 6-month walking intervention, which includes self-monitoring and telephone counseling, on improving functional capacity in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.
  • It used a randomized controlled trial design, recruiting participants from six centers in the Czech Republic, focusing on those with specific health criteria and excluding those with higher initial functional capacity.
  • The main outcome measured was the distance walked in a 6-minute test after 6 months, along with various secondary outcomes related to physical activity, health biomarkers, and quality of life.
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Background: Physical activity is an effective management strategy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, but patients' compliance is challenging. Walking is a suitable form of physical activity due to its convenience and sustainability, and it can potentially improve functional capacity in heart failure patients.

Objectives: The WATCHFUL trial aims to determine whether a pedometer-based walking intervention combined with face-to-face sessions and regular telephone contact improves functional capacity in heart failure patients.

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(1) Background: Breathing economy during endurance sports plays a major role in performance. Poor breathing economy is mainly characterized by excessive breathing frequency (BF) and low tidal volume (VT) due to shallow breathing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a 4 week intervention based on the Wim Hof breathing method (WHBM) would improve breathing economy during exercise in adolescent runners.

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Objectives: The structural and functional changes of the hands and face in systemic sclerosis (SSc) can be severely disabling. We aimed to assess the effect of a 24-week supervised physiotherapy and occupational therapy program (POTp) combined with home exercise on the function of hands/mouth of SSc patients, compared to a daily home exercise program in typical outpatient care.

Methods: Fifty-nine patients with SSc were consecutively and non-selectively enrolled in an intervention (IG, n=27) or control (CG, n=32) group.

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Background: Breathing technique may influence endurance exercise performance by reducing overall breathing work and delaying respiratory muscle fatigue. We investigated whether a two-month yoga-based breathing intervention could affect breathing characteristics during exercise.

Methods: Forty-six endurance runners (age = 16.

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Background: The structural and functional changes of the skeletal muscles in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) caused by inflammation and immune changes can be severely disabling. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of a 24-week program combining a supervised training of activities of daily living (ADL), resistance, and stability with home exercise for improving muscle function, compared to a daily home-based exercise representing the regular outpatient care.

Methods: Fifty-seven patients with IIM were consecutively and non-selectively enrolled in an intervention (IG, n = 30) or control (CG, n = 27) group.

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: Body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to assess the proportionality of body mass; however, there are currently no standards for assessing the weight status of the child population for the needs of epidemiological studies. This study aims to establish bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) standards for assessing the body weight of children (body fat, visceral fat) using BMI percentile growth charts. : The study was implemented in a group of 1674 children (816 boys and 858 girls), ages 6 to 11.

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Volleyball is an exceedingly popular physical activity in the adolescent population, especially with females. The study objective was to assess the effect of volleyball training and natural ontogenetic development on the somatic parameters of adolescent girls. The study was implemented in a group of 130 female volleyball players (aged 12.

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Background: Minimizing the energy required for breathing muscles is based on the adaptation of the respiratory muscles which is reflected in the reduction of breathing frequency (BF) and tidal volume (VT) increase. This may be influenced through a targeted BE and the quality of breathing may be linked to endurance performance. Aim of this study was assess dynamic ventilation parameters at different load intensities and their changes due to the systematic breathing exercise (BE).

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(1) Background: The objective of the study was to check the relationship between laterality, amount of muscle mass (MM), and selected strength parameters on lower extremities and assessment of asymmetry like a result of training. (2) Methods: The screened sample consisted of soccer players ( = 65, age = 16.0 ± 1.

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Aims: A reduction of habitual physical activity due to prolonged COVID-19 quarantine can have serious consequences for patients with cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure. This study aimed to explore the effect of COVID-19 nationwide quarantine on accelerometer-assessed physical activity of heart failure patients.

Methods And Results: We analysed the daily number of steps in 26 heart failure patients during a 6-week period that included 3 weeks immediately preceding the onset of the quarantine and the first 3 weeks of the quarantine.

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We evaluated the effect of an eleven-day altitude training camp on aerobic and anaerobic fitness in trained adolescent runners. Twenty adolescent (14-18 yrs) middle- and long-distance runners (11 males and 9 females; 16.7 ± 0.

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Introduction: Although numerous activity trackers have been validated in healthy populations, validation is lacking in chronic heart failure patients who normally walk at a slower pace, making it difficult for researchers and clinicians to implement activity monitors during physical activity interventions.

Methods: Six consumer-level activity monitors were validated in a 3-day field study in patients with chronic heart failure and healthy individuals under free living conditions. Furthermore, the same devices were evaluated in a lab-based study during treadmill walking at speeds of 2.

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Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is rapidly becoming more accessible and popular as a technique to monitor body composition. The reliability of DXA has been examined extensively using a number of different methodological approaches. This study sets up to investigate the accuracy of measuring the parameters of body composition (BC) by means of the whole-body and the segmental DXA method analysis with the typical error of measurement (TEM) that allows for expressing the error in the units of measure.

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Background: The performance of the respiratory system during the exercise is limiting the final performance in endurance disciplines. The quality of breathing is linked to endurance performance, subject´s training state, intensity and duration of the physical load, the implementation of which, thus the economy of breathing, is possible to influence through a targeted breathing exercise. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of breathing intervention exercises on the effectiveness of breathing by monitoring value of tidal volume (VT) and breathing frequency (BF) during an endurance type load in adolescent endurance runners.

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Background: General practitioners play a fundamental role in combatting the current epidemic of physical inactivity, and pedometer-based walking interventions are able to increase physical activity levels of their patients. Supplementing these interventions with email counseling driven by feedback from the pedometer has the potential to further improve their effectiveness but it has to be yet confirmed in clinical trials. Therefore, the aim of our pilot randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility and potential efficacy of future trials designed to assess the additional benefit of email counseling added to a pedometer-based intervention in a primary care setting.

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Background: Regular physical activity is recommended for patients with chronic heart failure to improve their functional capacity, and walking is a popular, effective, and safe form of physical activity. Pedometers have shown potential to increase the amount of walking across a range of chronic diseases, but it is unknown whether a pedometer-based intervention improves functional capacity and neurohumoral modulation in heart failure patients.

Methods: Two multicenter randomized controlled trials will be conducted in parallel: one in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), the other in patients with chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

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The goal of this study was to identify and compare body composition (BC) variables in elite female athletes (age ± years): volleyball (27.4 ± 4.1), softball (23.

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