پژوهشنامه فیزیولوژی ورزشی کاربردی
پیاپی 37 (بهار و تابستان 1402)

High-quality and less volume exercise that can achieve rapid progress in physical fitness and body composition of basketball players simultaneously and in shorter periods of time are of particular importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of six weeks Tabata training on physical fitness and body composition of female basketball players.

Thirty-two female volunteer semi-professional basketball players were selected by the available sampling method and were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The subjects performed the exercise program for six weeks and three sessions per week. The control group performed only specialized basketball exercises. In addition to specialized activities, at the end of each session the experimental group, did 10 minutes of Tabata training (two sets of four minutes with two minutes of rest between sets). Strength, power, speed, agility, body fat percentage, body mass index, and ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference were evaluated in both groups.

Tabata exercises had a significant effect on post-test scores, strength (p=0.023), speed (p=0.010), body fat percentage (p=0.021), and waist-to-hip ratio (p=0.013). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the post-test scores of power, agility, and body mass index of the subjects.

According to these results, the use of Tabata training can be suggested to basketball coaches to increase strength, and speed and reduce body fat percentage, which are very important in basketball.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether moderate and high-intensity endurance exercise combined with safflower seed oil is effective in treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

We divided 35 male rats into seven groups, including: healthy control group (HC), fatty liver control group (FC), fatty liver plus moderate exercise training (FME), fatty liver plus high intensity exercise training (FHE), fatty liver plus safflower seed oil (5 mg/kg of body weight by gavage) (FO), fatty liver plus oil plus moderate exercise training (FOME) group and fat liver plus oil plus high exercise training (FOHE). The induction of NAFLD was accomplished by injecting dexamethasone (DEX:8mg/kg). Training groups ran on the treadmill five days per week at high and medium intensities at the same distance for 10 weeks. Lipid profile and glucose levels in serum along with liver expression of PGC1α and PPARα genes were measured.

The results showed that DEX-induced NAFLD caused a significant decrease in PGC1α gene expression and an increase in serum glucose and TG levels in the FC group compared to the HC group. In addition, PGC1α gene expression was significantly increased in the FHE group compared to the FC, FOME and FOHE groups. A significant decrease was observed in serum glucose and TC levels in the FME, FHE, FOME and FOHE groups compared to the FC group. Also, a significant decrease in the TG level was observed in the FOHE group compared to the FC, FO and FOME groups.

The results showed that only high-intensity endurance training can increase the expression of PGC1α gene, and due to the key role in the transcription of factors involved in fatty acid oxidation and glucose homeostasis in the liver, high-intensity training can be more effective in improving fatty liver disease than moderate-intensity training.

The use of mesenchymal stem cells and the positive effects of exersise training have been noticed today in the treatment of various diseases, including heart infarction. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of 10 weeks of aerobic training after mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on the Apelin 13 and cardiac output of heart infarction model rats.

In this experimental study, 60 male rats were used and divided into 6 groups of 10 each, healthy control group, patient control, sham, cell, exercise and cell+exercise. To cause cardiac infarction, the anterior descending artery was completely blocked using 0.6 silk thread. After extracting stem cells, using Neobar slide, about 106 cells were injected for each mouse through the tail vein immediately after induction of cardiac infarction. Rats in the training group performed aerobic training with an intensity of 17 meters per minute for 10 weeks. Cardiac output and Apelin level 13 were measured.

The findings showed that the induction of cardiac infarction caused a significant decrease in the levels of apelin 13 and cardiac output in the patient group compared to the healthy control group (p<0.05). Aerobic training and stem cells significantly increased the level of apelin 13 and cardiac output in experimental groups (exercise and stem cells) compared to the control group (patient) (p<0.05).

The results of this research showed that 10 weeks of aerobic training after mesenchymal stem cell transplantation may improve contractile function and increase cardiac output through the increase of Apelin-13.

In Parkinson's disease, due to disruption of the BDNF/TrkB pathway, dopaminergic neurons are damaged and die. The aim of present study was to examine the effect of six weeks high intensity interval swimming training on BDNF/TrkB pathway in Parkinson rat model.

In this experimental study, fourteen mature Wistar male rats were subjected to Parkinson's disease (PD) through intraperitoneally injection of 5 mg/kg reserpine and then were divided into PD group or training group randomly. Seven healthy rats were assigned to the control group. The rats in the training groups swam 20 times of 30 seconds with 30 seconds of rest between each time, 3 days a week for 6 weeks. After the 6-week intervention, BDNF and TrkB gene expressions were measured in hippocampus.

Data indicated that the BDNF gene expression was lower in the PD group compare to the healthy control and training group (p=0.001 and p=0.001 respectively). No significant differences were observed between healthy control group and training group. For TrkB gene expression also data revealed that this protein gene expression was lower in the PD group compare to the healthy control and training group (p=0.04 and p=0.03 respectively), while no significant differences were observed between healthy control group and training group.

According to study results, it seems that high intensity interval swimming training increases brain neurotrophins content and activity in PD. Therefore, this type of exercise is recommended for future research in Parkinson's patients.

Increasing aerobic capacity reduces mortality in heart patients. Exercise is highly recommended to improve Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and lipid profile; however, there is limited evidence on the most effective exercise training method for coronary artery disease patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) compared to moderate steady-state training (MISS) on improving VO2peak and lipid profile in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients.

In this semi-experimental study, 40 CABG patients were randomly divided into four groups, control, HIIT of 20 seconds (80-100% of maximal aerobic power (MAP)), HIIT of 60 seconds (80-100% MAP), MISS (60-80 % MAP). The training sessions occurred three times weekly over eight weeks using a treadmill, manual ergometer, and leg ergometer, while the control group did not engage in regular physical activity. VO2peak and lipid profile were measured before and after the eight weeks. 

Following an 8-week intervention, VO2peak showed a 15.1% increase in the HIIT20 group (P=0.018), 18.3% in the HIIT60 group (P=0.011), and 11.6% in the MISS group (P=0.041). HDL significantly increased only in the HIIT groups (P≤0.05). LDL decreased significantly in all exercise groups (P≤0.05). TG decreased significantly in the HIIT groups (P≤0.05). TC significantly reduced in the HIIT60 and MISS groups (P≤0.05).

It seems that HIIT exercises perform better than MISS exercises for improving VO2peak and some lipid profile in coronary bypass patients. This better performance was associated with an equal rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and safety with MISS exercises.

Resistance exercise with novel training methods is accompanied by various physiological and psychological responses. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of blood flow restriction and hypoxic mask on plasma IGF-1 concentration, blood lactate, and perceived exertion in response to acute resistance exercise in trained individuals.

A crossover design was used in this study. 11 trained individuals (mean age 29.2±5.7 years and body mass index 25.3± 2.7 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to three resistance training methods for three consecutive weeks: traditional resistance training (75%-80% 1RM), resistance training with blood flow restriction (20%-50% 1RM), and resistance training with hypoxic mask (20%-50% 1RM). Resistance exercise consisted of four sets of leg press exercises. Blood samples were measured before and immediately after exercise, and to assess the perceived exertion, the subjects reported their status using the Borg scale (6-20 points) after each set of exercise. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA, mixed ANOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc test at a significance level of p<0.05. 

All three resistance training methods resulted in a significant increase in blood lactate and perceived exertion (p<0.05) and no change in plasma IGF-1 concentration in the non-restricted method after exercise. Additionally, resistance training with hypoxic mask significantly increased blood lactate concentration and perceived exertion compared to the other two methods (p<0.01).

The results of this research showed that resistance exercise with all three training methods results in different responses in plasma IGF-1 concentration, blood lactate, and perceived exertion, and the magnitude of these changes depends on the intensity and type of exercise used.