Asian Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Sep 2010

The aim of this study was to evaluate predictor variables of race time in female ultra-endurance inliners in the longest inline race in Europe. We investigated the association between anthropometric and training characteristics and race time for 16 female ultra-endurance inline skaters, at the longest inline marathon in Europe, the ‘Inline One-eleven'' over 111 km in Switzerland, using bi- and multivariate analysis. The mean (SD) race time was 289.7 (54.6) min. The bivariate analysis showed that body height (r=0.61), length of leg (r=0.61), number of weekly inline skating training sessions (r = -0.51) and duration of each training unit (r=0.61) were significantly correlated with race time. Stepwise multiple regressions revealed that body height, duration of each training unit, and age were the best variables to predict race time. Race time in ultra-endurance inline races such as the ‘Inline One-eleven'' over 111 km might be predicted by the following equation (r2 = 0.65): Race time (min) = -691.62 + 521.71 (body height, m) + 0.58 (duration of each training unit, min) + 1.78 (age, yrs) for female ultra-endurance inline skaters.

Previous studies have shown that physical activity improves learning and memory. Present study was performed to determine the effects of short term and long term treadmill exercise on learning, memory consolidation and retrieval of passive avoidance learning in an animal model. In this study fifty male Wistar rats with 3-4 months of age were randomly divided into five groups (n=10 in each group). Control group was trained in passive avoidance box and was tested 10 min, 24 hr, 10 days and 3 months later. Two groups exercised on treadmill one hour at 17 m. min for 10 days and 3 months respectively and then were trained in passive avoidance box and were tested 10 min and 24 hr later. The other two groups were trained and were tested 10 days and 24 hr later and then exercised on treadmill as same as other exercised groups. Obtained results showed that short-term (10 days) and long-term (3 months) treadmill running before training by passive avoidance test had significant (P = 0.006 and P = 0.001 respectively) effects on memory consolidation. However, no significant difference was observed between latency time of rats before and after exercise in exercised groups retrieval (P>0.05). Our results showed that physical activity promoted learning and memory consolidation but it did not affect retrieval memory performance.

It is well known that the effects of exercise training gives inter individual differences which might be due to genetic diversity. This study aims to explore the probable relation between angiotensin converting enzyme alleles and physical fitness parameters in elite athletes. Twenty-nine national level Indian Army Triathletes who volunteered for the study were taken as subjects and 101 healthy age matched control group subjects were taken for comparison of genotype frequencies. The following parameters were checked in triathletes: blood pressure, BMI, VO2 max, muscular endurance, flexibility and power. DNA was extracted from blood using standard phenol-chloroform method. Genotyping was done using PCR specific for ACE (I/D) polymorphism, followed by agarose gel electrophoresis method. Variation of the parameters among different genotypes was compared. Genotype frequencies of triathletes were compared with the control group as well. No difference was observed between fitness parameters of three genotype groups'' triathletes, while the frequency of I allele was found to be very high in triathletes compared with the control group. It can be concluded that there might be a positive association between I allele of ACE gene and endurance.

The inflammatory state of adipose tissue in obese subjects may be the most important factor linking increased adipose tissue mass to insulin resistance. Chemerin is a newly discovered adipokine that plays an important role in macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue and may contribute to the development of inflammation and insulin resistance. We examined the effects of 12 weeks of aerobic training on serum chemerin levels in association with cardiovascular risk factors in overweight and obese males. Twenty-one overweight and obese subjects [44.3 (±4.1 yrs, body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2) were assigned to exercise training (obese EX, n= 11) and control (obese CON, n= 10) groups. The obese EX group participated in 12 weeks of progressive aerobic training 5 days a week. Serum chemerin, insulin resistance, lipid profiles, blood pressure, and body composition were all measured before and after the training. After the aerobic training, waist circumference (P=0.009), fat percent (P=0.03), visceral fat (P=0.03), subcutaneous fat (P=0.01), fasting glucose (P<0.01), insulin resistance (P=0.03), triglyceride (P=0.05), total cholesterol (P=0.04), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.05) and systolic blood pressure (P=0.04) of participates were significantly decreased. Concurrently, serum chemerin concentrations were significantly decreased after aerobic program (P=0.02). Aerobic training caused an improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors in obese subjects, and this improvement was accompanied by decreased chemerin levels.

To investigate the effects of a 10-week water aerobic exercise on the resting blood pressure in patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension referring to Tehran University Clinics. Forty men with stage 1 or 2 essential hypertension were assigned to two groups of intervention [n=12; aged 48.33 ± 10.74 years (mean ± SD)] and control [n=28; aged 46.96 ± 11.58 years (mean ± SD)]. Subjects in the intervention group participated in a supervised 10-week water aerobic training program of 55 min sessions, 3 days per week on alternate days, while those in the control group were not involved in any regular training program during this period. Blood pressure of the participants was recorded and compared at the beginning and at the end of the study (48 hours after the last training session). Exercise lowered systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure by 11.71 [CI 95% (95% confidence interval): 5.07 to 18.35) and 5.90 (CI 95%: 1.17 to 10.63) mm Hg respectively. The lowering effect of exercise on diastolic blood pressure was neither statistically significant nor clinically important (0.55 mm Hg; P. value = 0.8). There was no significant effect of age, baseline body mass index and stage of hypertension on the exercise-induced changes in blood pressure. A 10-week course of water aerobic exercise markedly reduced the systolic and mean arterial blood pressure of patients with essential hypertension and is especially recommended for the obese and the elderly who have orthopedic problems or bronchospasm.