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Test-Retest Reliability and Validity of the 400-Meter Walk Test in Healthy, Middle-Aged Women

Kelley K. Pettee Gabriel, Rebecca L. Rankin, Chong Lee, Mary E. Charlton, Pamela D. Swan, and Barbara E. Ainsworth

Background:

The 400 m walk test has been used in older adults; however, the applicability in middle-aged populations is unknown.

Methods:

Data were obtained from the Evaluation of Physical Activity Measures in Middle-Aged Women (PAW) Study and included 66 women (52.6 ± 5.4 years). Participants were instructed to walk at a brisk, maintainable pace; time taken to complete the 400 m was recorded in seconds. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to assess test-retest reliability. Spearman rank order correlation coefficients were used to examine the concurrent validity of the walk test with cardiorespiratory fitness and associations with physical activity, body composition, flexibility, static balance, and muscular fitness, adjusted for age and body mass index.

Results:

Participants completed the walk at visits 4 and 5 in 248.0 and 245.0 seconds, respectively. The walk test had excellent reproducibility [ICC = 0.95 (95% CI: 0.92, 0.97)] and was significantly associated with estimated (ρ = −0.43; P < 0.0001) and measured (ρ = −0.56; P < 0.001) VO2max. The walk test was also significantly related to physical activity, body composition, flexibility, and balance.

Conclusions:

These findings support the utility of the 400 m walk test to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness and reflect free-living physical activity in healthy, middle-aged women.

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Background and Intensity of the GALM Physical Activity Program

Johan de Jong, Martin Stevens, Koen A.P.M. Lemmink, Mathieu H.G. de Greef, Piet Rispens, and Theo Mulder

Background:

The Groningen Active Living Model (GALM) was developed to stimulate physical activity in sedentary and underactive older adults. The GALM physical activity program was primarily based on an evolutionary–biological play theory and insights from social cognitive theory. The purpose of this study was to assess the intensity of the GALM program.

Methods:

Data from 15 GALM sessions were obtained by means of heart rate monitors.

Results:

Data of 97 program participants (mean age: 60.1 y) were analyzed. The overall mean intensity for the GALM program was 73.7% of the predicted heart rate maximum and 6% of the monitored heart rate time could be classified as light, 33% as moderate and 61% as hard.

Conclusions:

The GALM program met the intensity guidelines to increase cardiorespiratory fitness. The intensity and attractiveness of this physical activity program make it an interesting alternative for stimulating physical activity in sedentary and underactive older adults.

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Muscular Fitness and All-Cause Mortality: Prospective Observations

Shannon J. FitzGerald, Carolyn E. Barlow, James B. Kampert, James R. Morrow Jr., Allen W. Jackson, and Steven N. Blair

Background:

The beneficial effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on mortality are well known; however, the relation of muscular fitness, specifically muscular strength and endurance, to mortality risk has not been thoroughly examined. The purpose of the current study is to determine if a dose-response relation exists between muscular fitness and mortality after controlling for factors such as age and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Methods:

The study included 9105 men and women, 20–82 years of age, in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study who have completed at least one medical examination at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, TX between 1981 and 1989. The exam included a muscular fitness assessment, based on 1-min sit-up and 1-repetition maximal leg and bench press scores, and a maximal treadmill test. We conducted mortality follow-up through 1996 primarily using the National Death Index, with a total follow-up of 106,046 person-years. All-cause mortality rates were examined across low, moderate, and high muscular fitness strata.

Results:

Mortality was confirmed in 194 of 9105 participants (2.1%). The age- and sex-adjusted mortality rate of those in the lowest muscular fitness category was higher than that of those in the moderate fitness category (26.8 vs. 15.3 per 10,000 person-years, respectively). Those in the high fitness category had a mortality rate of 20.6 per 10,000 person-years. The moderate and high muscular fitness groups had relative risks of 0.64 (95%CI = 0.44–0.93) and 0.80 (95%CI = 0.49–1.31), adjusting for age, health status, body mass index, cigarette smoking, and cardio-respiratory fitness when compared with the low muscular fitness group.

Conclusions:

Mortality rates were lower for individuals with moderate/high muscular fitness compared to individuals with low muscular fitness. These findings warrant further research to confirm the apparent threshold effect between low and moderate/high muscular fitness and all-cause mortality.

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Birth Weight was Favorably Associated With Physical Fitness in Childhood After Adjustment for Several Perinatal Factors

Konstantinos D. Tambalis, Stamatis Mourtakos, and Labros S. Sidossis

Strong epidemiological data support the notion that better physical fitness (PF), especially cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), all-cause mortality, and obesity among healthy individuals. 1 The PF is the main indicator of

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Time Reallocations From Sedentary Behavior to Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Leonardo Alex Volpato, Julio Cesar Costa, Wendell Arthur Lopes, Jeffer Eidi Sasaki, Catiana Leila Possamai Romanzini, Enio Ricardo Vaz Ronque, and Marcelo Romanzini

improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in the pediatric population. There has been a growing number of scientific studies published each year on this theme 13 – 31 ; therefore, an update is necessary, especially to advance the understanding of the impact of reallocation of SB to PA on cardiometabolic

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Age-Differences in GH Response to Exercise in Women: The Role of Fitness, BMI, and Insulin

Lauren Gulka, James Dziura, and Loretta DiPietro

Background:

Little attention has been paid to the study of transient growth hormone (GH) responses to exercise in older women. We determined the effect of a single bout of exercise on GH in fit and unfit older (age 55 to 81 y; n = 19) and younger (age 18 to 25 y; n = 19) women.

Methods:

Exercise consisted of five 15-min intervals of treadmill exercise at 75% VO2peak. Blood samples were taken before, during, and following exercise for determination of plasma GH and insulin concentrations.

Results:

GH responses to exercise were attenuated in older compared with younger women (P < 0.01); however, these age differences were minimized in older age by fitness level. Adjusted area under the curve for GH was 5.50 and 1.76 µg/L · 102 for fit and unfit older women (P < 0.01), and 8.46 and 8.46 µg/L · 102 for fit and unfit younger women.

Conclusions:

Low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness in older women may require a greater relative exercise stimulus to augment meaningful GH responses.

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The Effects of a Supplemental, Theory-Based Physical Activity Counseling Intervention for Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

Ronald C. Plotnikoff, Michael A. Pickering, Nicole Glenn, Sandra L. Doze, Melissa L. Reinbold-Matthews, Laura J. McLeod, David C. W. Lau, Gordon H. Fick, Steven T. Johnson, and Laura Flaman

Background:

Physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). This pilot investigation explores the effects of a standard diabetes education program compared with a supplemental PA intervention on diabetes-related health outcomes.

Methods:

Using a prospective 2-armed design, 96 adults with T2DM were randomly assigned to either standard care (diabetes education program; n = 49) or standard care supplemented with an 8-week, individualized-counseling and community-based PA component (n = 47). Measurements were taken at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. Primary outcomes were changes in PA (self-report) and HbA1c. Between group changes were compared using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and changes over time using repeated-measures ANOVA.

Results:

In comparison with standard care, the supplemental group demonstrated an increase in PA (Ps < 0.01) and cardiorespiratory fitness (Ps < 0.05) from baseline to all follow-up time-points. HbA1c levels declined (P < .05) from baseline to all time points in the standard care group. Reduction in cholesterol-ratio (P < .01), increase in HDL (P < .05), and reductions in blood pressure, resting heart rate and BMI (approaching statistical significance Ps < 0.10) were also reported for both groups.

Conclusions:

PA counseling in addition to standard care is effective for promoting PA behavior change and positive health-related outcomes among individuals with T2DM.

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Relationship Between Metabolic Syndrome and Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in Youth

Aristides M. Machado-Rodrigues, Neiva Leite, Manuel J. Coelho e Silva, João Valente-dos-Santos, Raul A. Martins, Luis PG Mascarenhas, Margaret CS Boguszewski, Cristina Padez, and Robert M. Malina

Background:

Associations of metabolic syndrome (MetS) with lifestyle behaviors in youth is potentially important for identifying subgroups at risk and encourage interventions. This study evaluates the associations among the clustering of metabolic risk factors and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in youth.

Methods:

The sample comprised 522 girls and 402 boys (N = 924) aged 11 to 17 years. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC), fasting glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressures were measured. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was assessed using the 20-m shuttle run test. MVPA was estimated with a 3-day diary. Outcome variables were statistically normalized and expressed as z scores. A clustered metabolic risk score was computed as the mean of z scores. Multiple linear regression was used to test associations between metabolic risk and MVPA by sex, adjusted for age, WC, and CRF.

Results:

After adjustment for potential confounders, MVPA was inversely associated with the clustering of metabolic risk factors in girls, but not in boys; in addition, after adjusting for WC, the statistical model of that relationship was substantially improved in girls.

Conclusion:

MVPA was independently associated with increased risk of MetS in girls. Additional efforts are needed to encourage research with different analytical approach and standardization of criteria for MetS in youth.

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Effect of Exercise Programs With Aerobic Exercise Sessions of Similar Intensity but Different Frequency and Duration on Health-Related Measures in Overweight Women

Eirini Manthou, Jason M.R. Gill, and Dalia Malkova

Background:

This study investigated health-related effects of exercise programs with exercise sessions of similar intensity but different frequency and duration.

Methods:

Thirty-four overweight women were randomized into either long-bout (LB) or short-bout (SB) exercise groups. Participants performed an 8-week supervised program, with the LB group exercising for 75 minutes twice per week, and the SB group for 30 minutes on 5 days of the week.

Results:

The LB group completed 16 sessions at a heart rate (HR) of 127 ± 1 beat·min−1 and the SB group completed 40 sessions at a HR of 126 ± 1 beat·min−1. Weekly energy expenditure of exercise was not different between groups (LB group, 5.64 ± 0.34 MJ; SB group, 5.83 ± 0.23 MJ). Training significantly (P < .05) increased measures of cardiorespiratory fitness, decreased waist circumference, insulin resistance, and diastolic blood pressure. The group × time interaction was not significant for any of these factors, indicating that responses to exercise training did not differ between the SB and LB groups.

Conclusions:

Health-related outcomes of exercise programs with similar energy expenditure are independent of frequency and duration of exercise sessions. This provides individuals with a degree of flexibility in exercise program planning.

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Psychosocial Mediators of the Fitness–Depression Relationship Within Adolescents

Shelly T. Sheinbein, Trent A. Petrie, Scott Martin, and Christy A. Greenleaf

Background:

A lot of evidence showed that boys and girls are at high risk of developing major or minor depression in adolescence. Increases in physical fitness have been associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, yet the mechanisms that underlie (or mediate) this relationship have not been thoroughly examined.

Methods:

528 boys (mean age = 12.33 years) and 507 girls (mean age = 12.32 years) drawn from a suburban school district participated. Self-report measures were used to assess the mediators (body satisfaction and social physique anxiety) and the outcome (depression); the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) in conjunction with age, Body Mass Index (BMI), and sex were used to determine an objective estimate of cardiorespiratory fitness. Path analyses were used to test the proposed models.

Results:

The effects of fitness on depressive symptoms were mediated through body satisfaction and social physique anxiety; 25% to 35% of the depression variance was explained.

Conclusion:

Boys’ and girls’ depression scores were based on the extent that their fitness levels improved their body satisfaction and lowered their social physique anxiety; body satisfaction was particularly important for girls. Thus, early adolescents’ psychological well-being may be enhanced through improvements in aerobic functioning.