Effects of Combined Resistance and Aerobic Training on Arterial Stiffness in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review.

The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of combined resistance and aerobic exercise on arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women. Two databases, PubMed and Google Scholar were searched to identify relevant studies. The methodological quality was assessed with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Only seven studies met the eligibility criteria, and their outcomes were presented. Four studies demonstrated the effects of combined resistance and aerobic training, while three showed the effectiveness of exercise with both training components, aerobic and resistance. In all studies, arterial stiffness was measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Participants were middle-aged or older postmenopausal women of various health statuses (hypertensive, with comorbidities or healthy). The results unequivocally show that combined training reduces arterial stiffness. The most important finding of this review paper is that the applied type of exercise decreased baPWV in the range of 0.6-2.1 m/s. Moreover, combined resistance and aerobic exercise for 12 weeks, performed three times a week for about 60 min per training session, at a moderate intensity (40-60% HRR or HRmax), may be clinically meaningful to the cardiovascular system. In conclusion, we can say that combined resistance and aerobic training, or exercise with resistance and aerobic components, have important health implications for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and the maintenance or improvement of health in middle-aged and older postmenopausal women with different health conditions.

The Relationship between Foot Status and Motor Status in Preschool Children: A Simple, Comparative Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: The research objective of the study is to determine the differences in the manifestation of the motor status of normally fed preschool test subjects, classified into groups according to foot status. METHODS: This is a simple, comparative observational study. Preschool children included in this study have been subjected to anthropometric measurements in order to determine BMI, tests for motor skills assessment (running at 20 m from a high start, standing broad jump, backwards polygon, rectangular seated forward bend, plate tapping, sit-ups for 60 s, and bent arm hang), and a determination of foot status. The total sample was comprised of 202 test subjects who attended a regular sports program, aged 3.9 to 6.5 years of decimal age (M = 141; Age = 5.3 ± 0.74; Height = 117.3 ± 7.1; Weight = 22 ± 3.7; F = 61; Age = 5.1 ± 0.73; Height = 114.9 ± 7.4; Weight = 21.2 ± 3.8), of which 153 (75.7%) were normally fed, 6 (3%) were undernourished, 30 were overweight (14.9%), and 13 were obese (6.4%). RESULTS: In the total sample, 30 (14.9%) subjects had normal arch feet, 90 (44.6%) high arched feet, and 41 (20.3%) flat feet. We found 41 (20.3%) subjects who had different left and right foot statuses within this sample. The data were processed by means of nonparametric tests (the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests) at a significance level p ≤ 0.05. CONCLUSION: The results show that there is a statistically significant difference between groups of subjects with different foot statuses in the manifestation of motor status in most tests, with a significance level of p ≤ 0.01, and in tests of sit-ups for 60 s and the bent arm hang, there is a statistically significant difference, the level of which is p ≤ 0.05. It is only in the inclination test of rectangular seated forward bend that no statistically significant difference was displayed.

Short-Term Core Strengthening Program Improves Functional Movement Score in Untrained College Students.

Functional movement is an important part of developing athletes' but also untrained individuals' performance. Its monitoring also proved useful in identifying functional limitations and asymmetries, and also in determining the intervention effects. The quasi-experimental pre-test post-test study investigated the effects of core stability training program on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) score in untrained students after six weeks. The intervention (INT) and control (CG) groups included 73 and 65 male students, respectively. Functional movement patterns were evaluated using the FMS including seven components scores representing seven basic functional patterns. Both groups significantly improved almost all FMS components scores, but the INT increased the mean performance of the hurdle step (partial ŋ2 × 100 = 4%, p = 0.02), in-line lunge (partial ŋ2 × 100 = 3%, p = 0.05), rotatory stability (partial ŋ2 × 100 = 4%, p = 0.02) and total FMS (partial ŋ2 × 100 = 3%, p = 0.04) significantly more than the CG. This justifies that core strengthening can improve FMS in untrained individuals even with the short duration programs.