Comparing the simple and choice reaction times by male and female athletes

Background and Purpose: Reaction time [RT] is one of the most important decision-making elements and represents the speed of information processing [IP] that can affect sport skills, but its variation across visual and auditory reaction times among men and women athletes is unclear. The present study was designed to compare the visual and auditory simple reaction time [SRT] and choice reaction time [CRT] among male and female athletes

Methods and Materials: This descriptive study involved 100 right-handed subjects [50 male and 50 female] with aboveaverage 10, from among the students of Physical Education at Tehran University, Iran. Their age ranged from 18 to 25 years. The data were collected by the use of manual RT tool. The analysis of data was done by F test in SPSS 16 [p<0.05]

Results: The results showed that visual SRT was 0.233+/-0.154 vs. 0.229 +/- 0.172 respectively among female and male participants [P=0.161], auditory SRT was 0.234 +/- 0.180 vs. 0.233 +/- 0.196 respectively [p=0/837] and visual CRT was 0.440 +/- 0.171 vs. 0.481 +/- 0.115 respectively [P=0./409]; no significant difference were found between male and female participants in this regard. The only differences was related to auditory CRT which tended to be significantly faster in boys than girls [0.481 +/- 0.115 vs. 0.484 +/- 0.141] [P=0.000]

Conclusion: Based on the findings, only auditory CRT was affected by gender

effect of short-term resistance training on left ventricular structure of non-athletic healthy male students by echocardiography

Background and Purpose: Resistance training [RT] is known as weight or strength training. In response to this kind of training, both skeletal and cardiac muscles adapt. The purpose of the present study was to determine of effect of short-term resistance training on left ventricular structure of non-athletic male healthy students by echocardiography

Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study involved thirty volunteer participants with an age range of 19 to 25 years Mean +/- SD:21.8 +/- 1.62. They were randomly divided into two groups of 15 [resistance training and control]. Training program was performed 3 times a week for 12 weeks followed by 10 stations with 50% to 80% with one repetition maximum [1RM]. M and B-mode echocardiographic variables were measured at rest. The data were analyzed using dependant t-test and independent t-test

Results: Training caused a significant increase in the mean absolute and relative values of left ventricular mass [LVM], left ventricular end-diastolic dimensions [LVEDd], end-diastolic interventricular Septum thickness [EDIVT] [P=0.000], and left ventricular posterior wall thickness end-diastolic [LVPWd] in the training group [P=0.044, P=0.000]. Absolute and relative values of left ventricular end-systolic dimensions [LVESd] decreased significantly after training [P=0.001, P=0.018]. Between-group comparison of absolute and relative values of LVM, EDIVT and LVPWd in the training group showed a significant increase as compared with the control group [P=0/000] also, there was a significant increase in the absolute value of LVEDd [P=0.002]

Conclusion: Modification of resistance training can induce changes in the left ventricular structure of non-athletic people