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PubMed1991

Plasma catecholamine response to acute psychological stress in humans: relation to aerobic fitness and exercise training.

Existing cross-sectional studies on plasma catecholamine activity provide no support for the concept that a markedly high level of aerobic fitness modifies sympathoadrenal response to an acute psychological challenge in humans. In contrast, compromised sympathetic nervous system activity has been observed in individuals with low aerobic fitness and the relationship probably reflects a global deconditioning syndrome involving both psychological and physiological processes. The relationship between low levels of fitness and plasma norepinephrine may appear as a blunted or augmented response depending upon the nature of the task. Short-term (3-4 months) exercise training studies conducted with humans have not indicated a substantial adaptation in the relative plasma catecholamine change from a preexisting baseline during exposure to acute psychological stress. Exercise training can lower basal circulating plasma norepinephrine, resulting in lower absolute concentrations during an acute challenge, but the studies in this area lack consistency and the absolute change tends to be modest. There is no evidence that fitness or exercise training is significantly associated with plasma epinephrine activity during short-term psychological stress.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed1991

Physical fitness, cognitive performance, and aging.

The relationship between physical fitness and cognitive performance in old age is examined in the light of contemporary capacity theories of attention. It is suggested that a model of cognition based upon the notion of a declining attentional capacity with advancing age provides a valuable conceptual framework for examining the influence of physical fitness on cognitive performance in old age. A direct prediction of the model is that cognitive tasks which require effortful processing should be more sensitive to the effects of fitness than tasks which can be performed without or with minimal attention. It is suggested that future research in the area of exercise and cognition systematically manipulate the attentional requirements of the tasks selected for the evaluation of cognitive performance. The implications of such a task-dependent association between physical fitness and cognitive performance for future research are discussed.

Aged↗

PubMed1991

Physical activity and fitness assessment.

Physical inactivity is a risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. Members of a state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics were assessed about their practice behaviors and knowledge related to physical activity and fitness assessments. During health supervision evaluations 19% obtained a physical activity history and 7% measured a heart rate response to exercise. When assessing physical fitness 24% obtained an activity history which included kind, intensity, duration and frequency. 64% limited their physical fitness evaluation to an inspection of general appearance and weight, while 1% used a bicycle ergometer or treadmill, 4% used a step-test and 10% ran a child in place. Only 42% used the information to make recommendations about physical activity. 75% were not familiar with ACSM or AHA recommendations about exercise. Barriers cited to increasing physical activity and fitness assessments included lack of physician time, office space, staff time, and physician training. This survey demonstrates the need for increasing the awareness level of pediatricians about the role of exercise in preventing CHD and the need to incorporate such evaluations into their routine practice.

Alabama↗

PubMedDate not supplied

MetLife's experience with fitness and wellness programming.

MetLife converted a recreational gymnasium into a fitness and wellness facility designed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in employees. Fitness assessments, customized workouts, and specialized classes were offered. One hundred and fifty-two employees who exercise regularly had initial and six-month fitness tests. This group's evaluation data showed favorable cardiovascular trends with decreases of 3.6 percent in resting heart rate, 6.4 percent in total cholesterol, 3.5 percent in systolic blood pressure, 2.8 percent in diastolic blood pressure and an increase of 2.7 percent in HDL cholesterol. Continuing analysis of the program will establish the efficacy of MetLife's Wellness and Fitness Program.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Hospital supervised vs home exercise in cardiac rehabilitation: effects on aerobic fitness, anxiety, and depression.

This study focused on the effects of hospital supervision and type of prescribed home exercise in cardiac rehabilitation programs on aerobic fitness, anxiety, and depression. Men who had a myocardial infarction were randomly assigned to four exercise programs: The first program consisted of purely hospital-based exercise. The second and third programs combined hospital and home exercise, including either bicycling or walking at home. In the fourth program, patients were encouraged to exercise at home, but were given no specific guidance. Fifty-two patients finished the eight-week exercise program and 35 completed the psychologic questionnaires. At the end of the eight weeks, there were significant differences in the programs' effects on aerobic fitness. Purely hospital-supervised exercise and the combination of hospital-supervised bicycling with home walking increased aerobic fitness more than completely unsupervised exercise. Furthermore, there were differences in the programs' effects on manifest anxiety. The combination of home and hospital bicycling was less beneficial than home walking and hospital bicycling or even completely unsupervised exercise at home. The results indicate that the degree of hospital supervision and the type of prescribed home exercise are important design features which may affect the success of cardiac rehabilitation exercise programs. No effects of the different exercise programs on patients' depression could be found. In general, a close relationship between aerobic fitness and anxiety or depression could not be demonstrated. Implications of these findings for the design of cardiac rehabilitation exercise programs are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Blood pressure, fitness, and fatness in 5- and 6-year-old children.

Cross-sectional relations among blood pressure (BP), aerobic fitness, body fatness, and fat patterning were studied in 216 primarily Hispanic inner-city 5- and 6-year-olds. Fitness was measured with a submaximal treadmill test, and fatness was measured with five skin folds. Diastolic BP was inversely related to fitness in the boys and girls, and positively related to fatness for the boys. Systolic BP was positively related to fatness for the boys and girls. Using multiple regression and including parental BPs, fatness explained significant proportions of the variance in systolic BP for both the boys and girls and in diastolic BP for the boys. There were tendencies for central skin folds to explain more of the variation in BP than peripheral skin folds only for the boys. Fitness and fatness were inversely related for the boys and girls. Thus, at 5 and 6 years of age children exhibit some of the same risk factors for cardiovascular disease seen in adults.

Blood Pressure↗

PubMed1989

Evaluating the occupational physical fitness of Canadian forces infantry personnel.

Fitness in the military is a time-honored and unquestionable axiom. Yet, there is limited objective knowledge as to what criteria of fitness are necessary to maintain combat effectiveness during sustained operations and how they should be assessed. The purpose of this study was to design an indoor standardized obstacle course (ISOC) related to specific trade-related tasks. A 19-item indoor obstacle course consisting of running, crawling, scaling, pulling, lifting, carrying, and pushing events arranged in a sequential order was designed. Forty-three healthy male subjects between the ages of 21 and 31 years underwent a series of intensive laboratory testing. They then ran through the obstacle course, set up in a local armory, on three separate occasions. Results indicated that ISOC performance is related to fitness components identified as important in the performance of military tasks, namely, aerobic and anaerobic power, muscular strength and endurance, and body composition. The ISOC provides a practical and challenging procedure to assess the fitness readiness of infantry and other field units in the Canadian Forces.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Experience with a pre-basic fitness program at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

One hundred seventy-five consecutive recruits entering the Fort Jackson Fitness Company were evaluated for Upper Body Strength, Flexibility, and Cardiovascular Fitness, and the results were compared with those of 60 soldiers entering Basic Training directly from the Reception Station. Injury rate and end-cycle performance were compared between Fitness Company graduates and their regular basic trainee cohort. The study showed that the Push-up repetition and two-mile run times were still below the standard for the Post. Sick call rate was also significantly higher among the less conditioned troops. Sit-up repetition and other basic soldiering skills, however, as well as EPTS (discharges for medical conditions existing prior to service) and ELS (entry level separation) rates, were equal. Increase of Fitness Company graduation requirements and dissemination of standards and requirements to potential recruits in high schools, colleges, and other public institutions are recommended.

Exercise↗

PubMed1987

[Fitness for sports of patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome].

The fitness of patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome to indulge in sporting activities is a practical cardiology problem. The major risk is sudden death due to atrial fibrillation deteriorating to ventricular fibrillation. This risk is small or even theoretical, but signing a fitness certificate engages the clinician's responsibility. Non invasive complementary examinations are useful. Echocardiography may detect a heart disease that would preclude any sport. Exercise tests explore the behaviour of the accessory pathway and rarely trigger off arrhythmias. Holter recordings mainly investigate disorders of the atrial rhythm. The decision concerning fitness may be based on clinical symptoms. Exercise-induced tachycardia is a classical contra-indication to competitive sports. In patients whose tachycardia is unrelated to exercise, fitness may be discussed according to the results of exercise tests and of the electrophysiological study. A refractory period which would be considered as rather prolonged at rest does not protect against fast ventricular rate during passage to atrial fibrillation. If pre-excitation disappears during the exercise test in an asymptomatic patient, then competitive sports can be authorized without limitations. If not, only surgical excision or fulguration would provide full protection against a potentially dangerous fibrillation. It is concluded that Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome contra-indicates competitive sports in most cases. Games played outside competitions remain possible in the absence of symptoms or when arrhythmias are well controlled by medical treatment.

Ajmaline↗

PubMed1987

A meta-analytic review of aerobic fitness and reactivity to psychosocial stressors.

The effects of aerobic fitness on resistance to psychosocial stressors are reviewed. To unravel the inconsistent results in studies examining the relationship between aerobic fitness and psychosocial stress response, a meta-analysis was conducted. The results of 34 studies having 92 effect size estimates from 1,449 subjects were statistically combined to compare psychosocial stressor tasks and arousal measures. The average effect size estimate of 0.48 was significantly different from zero (P less than 0.01), indicating that aerobically fit subjects had a reduced psychosocial stress response compared to either control group or baseline values. The test for the homogeneity assumption showed that it could not be rejected, and thus none of the proposed moderating variables altered the aerobic fitness-psychosocial reactivity relationship. Various underlying mechanisms which may contribute to this response are discussed, and future research directions are presented.

Aerobiosis↗

PubMed1988

Effect of aerobic fitness on hemodynamic responses to upright tilting.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of aerobic fitness on heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure responses to upright tilting in 10 below-average (BA Group) and 10 above-average (AA Group) aerobically fit adults. Aerobic fitness levels were predicted using the Astrand and Ryhming submaximal exercise test. Mean predicted maximal aerobic capacities were significantly higher (p less than .05) for the AA Group (46.0 +/- 6.0 mL.kg-1.min-1) compared with the BA Group (31.0 +/- 4.8 mL.kg-1.min-1) subjects. Heart rate and blood pressure responses were obtained at rest (supine position for 30 minutes) and during 5 minutes of upright tilting to 70 degrees (electric tilt table). A two-factor analysis of variance indicated that the increase in heart rate to upright tilting was significant (p less than .05) (significant treatment effect). More importantly, the study revealed a significant treatment x group interaction (p less than .05), indicating that the heart rate response for the BA Group was significantly greater than for the AA Group. Similar results occurred for blood pressure responses. A separate analysis of variance demonstrated significant changes in hemodynamic responses to upright tilting and significant treatment x group interactions. These results demonstrated significantly smaller (p less than .05) changes in blood pressure and heart rate to upright tilting for the AA Group compared with the BA Group. The results, therefore, indicate that reflex responses to central hypovolemia are different between above-average and below-average aerobically fit adults.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Childhood physical fitness tests: predictor of adult physical activity levels?

Regular physical activity has both short- and long-term health benefits in adults. No study has investigated childhood determinants of adult physical activity patterns, however. In a nonconcurrent prospective study, the physical activity levels of 453 young men, 23 to 25 years of age, were compared with their physical fitness test scores as children (10 to 11 years of age and 15 to 18 years of age). The physically active adults had significantly better childhood physical fitness test scores than did the inactive adults. In 224 children, 2 years of fitness test results were available. The risk of physical inactivity in young adulthood was linearly related to the number of low scores on the 548.6-m (600-yd) run and sit-ups tests as children (P less than .001). In stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis, the childhood 548.6-m run score was the best discriminator between currently physically active and inactive adults. Reported parental encouragement of exercise, level of education, participation in organized sports after high school, and reported spousal encouragement of exercise also contributed significantly to the discriminant function. These results demonstrate that physical fitness testing in boys facilitates the identification of those at increased risk of becoming physically inactive young adults.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Aerobic fitness in women and responses to lower body negative pressure.

High aerobic fitness may be associated with impaired responsiveness to orthostatic challenge. This could be detrimental to astronauts returning from spaceflight. Thus, we examined the cardiovascular responses of a group of 45 healthy women to graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP) through 5 min at -50 mm Hg or until they become presyncopal. The ages (range = 23-43 years, mean = 30.4) and peak aerobic capacities (range = 23.0-55.3 ml.kg-1.min-1, mean = 37.8) of these subjects paralleled those of the women astronauts. We monitored heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, Heather index of contractility, arterial pressure, peripheral resistance, change in calf circumference, and thoracic impedance (ZO)--a measure of fluid in the chest. The women in this study exhibited the same response pattern to LBNP as previously reported for male subjects. VO2peak of the six subjects who became presyncopal was not different from VO2peak of the tolerant subjects. At rest, only systolic and mean arterial pressures were significantly correlated with VO2peak. Percent changes in calf circumference (i.e. fluid accumulation in the legs) at -30 and -40 mm Hg were the only responses to LBNP significantly related to VO2peak. The greater pooling of blood in the legs during LBNP by women with higher aerobic fitness, and lower percent body fat may be related to more muscle tissue and vasculature in the legs of the more fit subjects. These data indicated that orthostatic tolerance is not related to aerobic capacity in women, and orthostatic tolerance need not be a concern to aerobically fit women astronauts.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed1986

Physical fitness effect on bone mass in postmenopausal women.

This study was conducted to determine if bone mineral mass is influenced by the level of physical fitness in active, healthy, postmenopausal women from 50 through 59 years of age. In vivo neutron activation analysis (NAA) was used to measure calcium or bone mineral in the trunk and proximal femurs. The NAA measurement is expressed as calcium bone index (CaBI), which relates the subject's Ca value to the estimated mean value for normal subjects of the same size based on height and arm span. The normal CaBI is 1.00 +/- 0.12 (ISD). The level of physical fitness was determined by calculating the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), attained by a graded exercise test on the treadmill, and evaluating the muscle strength in performing one repetition maximum in the bench press and leg press. The "above-average fit" group (VO2max greater than 29 ml/kg/min) when compared to the "average fit" group (VO2max 21-29 ml/kg/min) had significantly higher CaBI (p less than 0.001) and leg press (p less than 0.01). There was significant correlation between VO2max and CaBI (p less than 0.01). The findings suggest that level of physical activity may modify the amount of bone loss in postmenopausal women.

Bone and Bones↗

PubMed1987

Effects of hydraulic resistance circuit training on physical fitness components of potential relevance to +Gz tolerance.

Recent studies carried out in the United States and Sweden have demonstrated that strength training can improve +Gz acceleration tolerance. Based on these findings, the Canadian Forces have introduced a training program for aircrew of high performance aircraft. This report describes the changes in physical fitness components considered relevant to +Gz tolerance after 12 weeks of training with this program. Prior to beginning training, 45 military personnel were tested, but only 20 completed a minimum of 24 training sessions. The following variables were measured in these 20 subjects before and after training: maximal strength of several large muscle groups during isokinetic contractions, maximal aerobic power and an endurance fitness index, maximal anaerobic power, anthropometric characteristics, and maximal expiratory pressure generated during exhalation. Training involved hydraulic resistance circuit training 2-4 times/week. The circuit consisted of 3 consecutive sets at each of 8 stations using Hydra-Gym equipment. The exercise:rest ratio was 20:40 s for the initial 4 training weeks and was then changed to 30:50. After training the changes in anthropometric measurements suggested that lean body mass was increased. Small, but significant, increases were also measured in muscle strength during bench press, biceps curls, squats, knee extension, and knee flexion. Neither maximal anaerobic power (i.e. muscular endurance) nor maximal expiratory pressure were changed after the training. Indices of endurance fitness were also increased in the present study. The relatively small increases in strength are probably due to the design of the exercise:rest ratio which resulted in improved strength and aerobic fitness.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Physical activity and fitness in obese children.

Daily physical activity and physical fitness were studied in 31 obese and 31 normal-weight children matched for age and sex. The ages of the children ranged from 5.7 to 16.1 years. The history of their physical activity was examined using a questionnaire completed by the child and the parents. Physical fitness was measured using a two-stage exercise test on a bicycle ergometer. There were no significant differences in daily activities between the obese and the non-obese children, while the sports grades at school were lower and participation in the training teams of sports clubs was less frequent among obese than normal-weight subjects. The obese children were physically less fit than the normal-weight subjects as judged from the pedalling time in exercise test (P less than 0.05) and from the maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max) related to lean body mass (LBM) (P less than 0.001). Twenty-seven children participated for 1 year in a weight-reduction programme which comprised individual nutrition counselling, guidance on physical activities and supportive therapy. The reduction in weight was successful in 25 out of 27 children and VO2 max increased on average from 44.2 to 47.1 ml/min/kg of LBM (P less than 0.025). There was no change in the time used for physical activities during the weight reduction period although the children's participation in the training teams of sports clubs increased. It was concluded that obese children are less fit than their non-obese counterparts. Weight reduction results, however, in an improvement of the maximum oxygen consumption towards normal.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cardiovascular fitness program: factors associated with participation and adherence.

Despite the proliferation in the last 10 to 15 years of cardiovascular fitness programs, little is known about who uses them. Who joins such a program and who adheres after enrollment were examined in this study. The first issue was addressed by comparing clients who came to the Coronary Detection and Intervention Center of the 92nd Street YM-YWHA in New York City to obtain a CHD risk assessment with those who, after being evaluated for coronary heart disease, enrolled in the center's fitness program. Joiners were found to be in poorer physical condition than nonjoiners. In addition, they were more concerned about their health and more likely to see improved health as being beneficial to other areas of their lives. The issue of adherence was investigated by comparing the joiners who attended less than 50 percent of the exercise sessions with those who attended 50 percent or more of the sessions. Those who adhered to the program were found to be more fit than those who did not adhere. These results, in conjunction with those of other researchers, have several useful implications for the administration of cardiovascular fitness programs.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness: definitions and distinctions for health-related research.

"Physical activity," "exercise," and "physical fitness" are terms that describe different concepts. However, they are often confused with one another, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. This paper proposes definitions to distinguish them. Physical activity is defined as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure. The energy expenditure can be measured in kilocalories. Physical activity in daily life can be categorized into occupational, sports, conditioning, household, or other activities. Exercise is a subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and has as a final or an intermediate objective the improvement or maintenance of physical fitness. Physical fitness is a set of attributes that are either health- or skill-related. The degree to which people have these attributes can be measured with specific tests. These definitions are offered as an interpretational framework for comparing studies that relate physical activity, exercise, and physical fitness to health.

Energy Metabolism↗