The Anaerobic Power Assessment in CrossFit® Athletes: An Agreement Study.

Anaerobic power and capacity are considered determinants of performance and are usually assessed in athletes as a part of their physical capacities' evaluation along the season. For that purpose, many field tests have been created. The main objective of this study was to analyze the agreement between four field tests and a laboratory test. Nineteen CrossFit® (CF) athletes were recruited for this study (28.63 ± 6.62 years) who had been practicing CF for at least one year. Tests performed were: (1) Anaerobic Squat Test at 60% of bodyweight (AST60); (2) Anaerobic Squat Test at 70% of bodyweight (AST70); (3) Repeated Jump Test (RJT); (4) Assault Bike Test (ABT); and (5) Wingate Anaerobic Test on a cycle ergometer (WG). All tests consisted of 30 s of max effort. The differences among methods were tested using a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and effect size. Agreement between methods was performed using Bland-Altman analysis. Analysis of agreement showed systematic bias in all field test PP values, which varied between -110.05 (AST60PP-WGPP) and 463.58 (ABTPP-WGPP), and a significant proportional error in ABTPP by rank correlation (p < 0.001). Repeated-measures ANOVA showed significant differences among PP values (F(1.76,31.59) = 130.61, p =< 0.001). In conclusion, since to our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the agreement between various methods to estimate anaerobic power in CF athletes. Apart from ABT, all tests showed good agreement and can be used interchangeably in CF athletes. Our results suggest that AST and RJT are good alternatives for measuring the anaerobic power in CF athletes when access to a laboratory is not possible.

Effects of Monopolar Dielectric Radiofrequency Signals on the Symptoms of Fibromyalgia: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.

Monopolar dielectric radiofrequency (MDR) is a non-invasive treatment for pain based on the local application of electromagnetic signals. The study's goal was to analyze the effects of MDR on the symptoms of fibromyalgia. For this aim, a randomized controlled trial was conducted on 66 female participants (aged 47 17.7) diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Participants were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (n = 23), which received eight 20-minute sessions of MDR; a sham group, which received the same number of sessions of a sham MDR therapy (n = 22); or a control group (n = 21), which received usual care. The outcome variables included pain measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS), score on the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and quality of life measured by the combined index of fibromyalgia severity (ICAF). A large effect size was observed for the local pain (R2 = 0.46), total ICAF (R2 = 0.42) and ICAF physical factor scores (R2 = 0.38). Significant mean differences were found for the local pain (p = 0.025) and ICAF physical factor (p = 0.031) scores of the experimental group in comparison with the sham group. No statistically significant differences between groups were found in HADS. In conclusion, MDR is more effective than either sham treatment or usual care in the short-term improvement of pain and the physical wellbeing of participants with fibromyalgia.

Therapeutic physical exercise and supplements to treat fibromyalgia / Ejercicio físico terapéutico y suplementos para el tratamiento de la fibromialgia

Introduction: The prevalence of fibromyalgia in developed countries is over 2.1%. Nowadays, there is no effective treatment for it and different mitigating treatments such as therapeutic exercise are performed instead. In recent years, supplements have also emerged. Objectives: To review and update the evidence on treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms with therapeutic physical exercise and supplements. To achieve this, treatment application times and the duration of treatment programs will be considered. Methods: A bibliographic search was carried out on Pubmed database. As a result, 695 studies on therapeutic exercise and 53 on supplements were found. From these, 18 therapeutic exercise studies and 8 supplements studies were selected. They were all chosen and assessed according to their methodological quality, which was measured using the PEDro scale. Results: Evidence showed that pain and quality of life are improved by the practice of almost any type of physical activity and the intake of Q10 coenzyme or vitamin D supplements. Sleep quality is enhanced by combination of physical exercise and relaxation. Depression, anxiety and mood are improved by the performance of aerobic, flexibility exercises and aquatic biodance. Conclusions: Therapeutic physical exercise and supplements may be an interesting alternative or complement when treating some fibromyalgia symptoms (AU)

Introducción: La prevalencia de fibromialgia en los países desarrollados es superior al 2,1%. Actualmente no existe ningún tratamiento eficaz para combatirla y, en su lugar, se efectúan distintos tratamientos para mitigarla, como el ejercicio terapéutico. En los últimos años también han surgido suplementos. Objetivo: Revisar y actualizar la evidencia sobre el tratamiento de los síntomas de la fibromialgia con el ejercicio físico terapéutico y suplementos. Para lograrlo se revisan los tiempos de aplicación del tratamiento y la duración de estos programas de tratamiento. Métodos: Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica en la base de datos PubMed. Como resultado se encontraron 695 trabajos sobre ejercicio terapéutico y 53 sobre suplementos. A partir de estos se seleccionaron 18 estudios de ejercicio terapéutico y 8 de suplementos. Todos ellos fueron seleccionados y evaluados en función de su calidad metodológica, que se midió utilizado la escala PEDro. Resultados: La evidencia mostró que el dolor y la calidad de vida mejoraban con la práctica de casi todo tipo de actividad física y con la ingesta de la coenzima Q10 o suplemento de vitamina D. La calidad del sueño mejora mediante la combinación de ejercicio físico y relajación. La depresión, la ansiedad y el estado de ánimo mejoran con la práctica de ejercicio aeróbico, ejercicios de flexibilidad y biodanza acuática. Conclusiones: El ejercicio físico terapéutico y los suplementos pueden ser una alternativa o complemento interesantes en el tratamiento de algunos síntomas de la fibromialgia (AU)

Body composition changes after sport detraining period / Cambios de la composición corporal tras un periodo de desentrenamiento deportivo

Introduction: The infl uence of exercise in trained subjects has beneficial effects in the physical fi tness and body composition; however, detraining has an unfavorable effect in all of them. Objective: The current study was designed to ascertain the infl uence of a six week-detraining period on body composition in both well-trained young soccer players (GE, n = 43) and sedentary male adolescents (GC, n = 10). Methods: Forty-three well-trained soccer players and ten sedentary adolescents accepted to participate in the study. Body composition measurements included fat mass and skeletal muscle mass (SMM), which were estimated by anthropometry. In addition, total body water (TBW), intracellular water (ICW) and extracellular water (ECW) were assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) at the end of training and after detraining periods. Results: After the six-week-detraining period, signifi cant increments were found in TBW (35.5 ± 5.2 vs.36.7 ± 4.9 kg; p < 0.001), ICW (14.2 ± 1.8 vs. 14.8 ± 1.6 kg; p < 0.001) and ECW (21.5 ± 3.6 vs. 22.0 ± 3.4 kg; p < 0.001) in soccer players. Conversely, no changes were observed in ECW/TBW (0.4 ± 0.02 vs. 0.4 ± 0.02; p > 0.05) and ICW/TBW (0.6 ± 0.02 vs. 0.597 ± 0.02; p > 0.05) ratios. Finally, fat mass was significantly increased (8.6 ± 3.2 vs. 8.95 ± 3.1 kg; p < 0.01) in the detrained group. No signifi cant changes were found in SMM (21.2 ± 2.5 vs. 22.22 ± 2.8 kg, p > 0.05). Conclusions: After a six-week detraining period, body composition changed signifi cantly in well-trained adolescents. The main fi nding of this study was that increments of TBW and water distribution were observed in the soccer group, which refl ects an increase of fat free mass compartment. The physiological importance of this miss-adaptation needs to be elucidated in future research. Further studies on this topic are still required to assess its impact on physical performance.

Exercise, manual therapy, and education with or without high-intensity deep-water running for nonspecific chronic low back pain: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study on persons with nonspecific chronic low back pain was to evaluate the effect of a multimodal physical therapy program with or without the addition of deep-water running on pain, physical disability, and general health. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial involving 46 subjects with nonspecific chronic low back pain were treated three times a week for 15 wks. Each group received 60 mins of multimodal physical therapy program (an individualized exercise program; manual therapy; and back care, pain education, and information on an active lifestyle), whereas one group performed additional 20-min sessions of deep-water running at an individual workload of the aerobic threshold. RESULTS: Both interventions resulted in significant improvements in pain, disability, and physical health. The mean change in pain, disability, and physical health state were -36.1 ± 25.1 mm on the visual analog scale, -3.0 ± 4.8 points for the Roland Morris Questionnaire, and 10.6 ± 12.9 points for the Short Form-12 for the physical therapy plus deep-water running group and -34.1 ± 26.0 mm on the visual analog scale, -1.6 ± 1.5 points for the Roland Morris Questionnaire, and 8.9 ± 13.0 points for the Short Form-12 for the physical therapy alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Pain, disability, health status, muscle strength and endurance, and lumbar range of motion significantly improved in both groups. The addition of a deep-water running program at an individual workload of the aerobic threshold to the multimodal physical therapy program produced a significant improvement in pain in patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain, but this was not significantly different when compared with multimodal physical therapy program alone. Disability, health status, muscle strength and endurance, and lumbar range of motion significantly improved to a similar level in both intervention groups.

Effects of eccentric exercise on cycling efficiency.

The aim of this study was to find out whether the efficiency of concentric muscle contraction is impaired by eccentric squatting exercise. The study involved 25 male physical education students in two experiments. In the first experiment 14 subjects undertook cycling exercise at 65% VO(2)max until exhaustion on two occasions. During the experimental condition their cycling was interrupted every 10 min so they could perform eccentric squatting exercise, whereas in the control condition they rested seated on the bike during the interruptions. Eccentric squatting consisted of 10 series of 25 reps with a load equivalent to 150% of the subject's body mass on the shoulders. During the first experiment gross efficiency decreased (mean +/- SE) from 17.1 +/- 0.3 to 16.0 +/- 0.4%, and from 17.2 +/- 0.3 to 16.5 +/- 0.4%, between the 2nd and 9th cycling bouts of the experimental and control conditions, respectively (both p < 0.05). The reduction in cycling efficiency was similar in both conditions (p = 0.10). Blood lactate concentration [La] was higher during the experimental than in the control condition (p < 0.05), but substrate oxidation was similar. MVC was decreased similarly (25-28%) in both conditions. The 11 subjects participating in the second experiment undertook 25 reps of eccentric squatting exercise only, each with a load equivalent to 95% of his maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), repeated every 3 min until exhaustion. One hour after the end of the eccentric squatting exercise series cycling, VO(2) and gross cycling efficiency were comparable to the values observed before the eccentric exercise. Both experimental protocols with eccentric exercise elicited similar muscle soreness 2 days later; however, at this time cycling efficiency was similar to that observed prior to eccentric exercise. The interposition of cycling exercise between the eccentric exercise bouts accelerated the recovery of MVC. We conclude that eccentric exercise does not alter or has only a marginal effect on gross cycling efficiency even in presence of marked muscle soreness.