Use of sports tourism to motivate older adults to maintain increased aerobic exercise capacity and reduced arterial stiffness after supervised training: a non-randomized controlled trial / 体力科学

Habitual aerobic exercise decreases arterial stiffness, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and increases aerobic exercise capacity. Exercise habits can be difficult to maintain over time. We sought to determine if the prospect of participating in a sports tourism event (mountain climbing) helped older adults maintain increased aerobic exercise capacity and decreased arterial stiffness after a supervised training program. Forty community-dwelling middle-aged and older individuals were divided into training (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. The training group participated in six weeks of face-to-face exercise intervention (walking, 60%–75% of age-predicted maximal heart rate, 35–50 min/day, 1 day/week) and was additionally offered home-based walking (45 min/day, 2–4 days/week). During the same period, the control group was asked not to change their lifestyle. In the last session of the exercise program, we announced a mountain climbing event planned for six months in the future. The participants were encouraged to maintain their exercise habits leading up to the event. Arterial stiffness (brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity) and maximal oxygen uptake were measured before and after the six-week intervention and two weeks before the mountain climbing event. In the training group, arterial stiffness decreased, and maximal oxygen uptake increased after the intervention; these improvements were successfully maintained until the mountain climbing event. These parameters did not change significantly in the control group. Sports tourism may motivate older adults to maintain their exercise habits after a supervised training program.

Acute effects of static stretching on flexibility: A comparative study among students to identify the best timing to improve flexibility / 体力科学

Flexibility is an important factor of physical fitness to prevent sports injuries. However, the best timing to improve flexibility during the growth and development period in children has been unclear. To compare the acute effects of static stretching on flexibility between school-grade children in the growth and development period, we measured the hip joint flexion range of motion (RoM) by using straight leg raising (SLR) before and after static stretching (6 exercises, 15 seconds, 2 sets) in 50 young male children aged 7 to 13 years (the second grade of elementary school to the first grade of junior high school). The RoM in SLR significantly increased after stretching versus that before stretching in all subjects. This positive improvement of RoM was statistically significant among all grade levels. Notably, the change rate in RoM after stretching was significantly greater in the fourth grade of elementary school than in the other grades. The rate of height increase during the past year was lower in students from the fourth grade than in students from the second grade of elementary and the first grade of junior high school. These results suggest that flexibility training is more effective during the slow-down period of growth and development in young male children.

The effects of dietary modification, aerobic exercise training, and combined dietary modification and aerobic exercise training on central and peripheral arterial stiffness in obese men / 体力科学

Obesity and increasing of arterial stiffness are known as independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Previously, we demonstrated that dietary modification or aerobic exercise training can decrease arterial stiffness in obese individuals. However, it has not been compared the effect of dietary modification and/or aerobic exercise training on arterial stiffness in obese men. We compared the effect of three patterns of lifestyle modification (i.e., dietary modification, aerobic exercise training or combined them) on arterial stiffness in obese men. Fifty-three obese men completed the 12-week lifestyle modification program, dietary modification (D), aerobic exercise training (E) or combined D and E (DE). Before and after the program, all participants were measured central, peripheral, and systemic arterial stiffness (measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity [cfPWV], femoral-ankle PWV [faPWV] and brachial-ankle PWV [baPWV]). We demonstrated that the degree of decrease in BMI was the greatest after DE, and that was greater after D than E. The level of decrease in baPWV after DE was the greatest among three interventions. On the other hand, the level of decrease in baPWV in D group was similar to E group. These results suggested that systemic arterial stiffness may be decreased by different mechanisms between D and E groups. We demonstrated that dietary modification decreased central and systemic arterial stiffness, and aerobic exercise training decreased central, systemic, and peripheral arterial stiffness in obese individuals. We also showed an additional effect of decreasing systemic arterial stiffness by combining dietary modification and aerobic exercise training in obese individuals.