Cardiocirculatory and metabolic responses at different walking intensities

Physical Demands of Walking Football in Patients With Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Diseases

OBJECTIVE

To compare the exercise intensity of walking football (WF) with walking (WA) and to describe specific movement characteristics of WF.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Sports facilities Saarland University, Germany.

PATIENTS

Eighteen patients with cardiovascular risk factors CVRFs and diseases (13 men and 5 women, age: 69 ± 10 years).

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Patients completed a WF match and WA session of 2 x 10 min each. Video analysis was used to characterize movements during WF.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Rate of perceived exertion (RPE, Borg Scale 6-20), % maximum heart rate (HRmax), musculoskeletal pain on a visual analog scale (VAS, 1-100 mm) before and up to 72 hours after exercise, and movement patterns during WF.

RESULTS

The mean RPE during WF (12.1 ± 2.7) and WA (11.9 ± 3.0) did not differ (P = 0.63). The mean HR during WF (79 ± 12% of HRmax) was higher than during WA (71% ± 11%; P < 0.01). The HR variability coefficient of variation during WF (10.3% ± 5.8%) and WA (7.1 ± 5.5%) did not differ (P = 0.13). There was no influence of exercise mode (WF vs WA) on musculoskeletal pain perception (P = 0.96 for interaction). Injury-inciting activities such as lunges (median: 0.5 [interquartile range (IQR) 0-1.3]) and goal kicks (median: 4 [IQR: 1.8-5.3]) occurred rarely during WF.

CONCLUSIONS

Walking football might represent an alternative to WA for health prevention programs in patients with CVRF and diseases as it is characterized by a manageable cardiocirculatory strain, moderate RPE, low pain induction, and a low number of injury-inciting activities.

Effects of dual-task training with blood flow restriction on cognitive functions, muscle quality, and circulatory biomarkers in elderly women

This study investigated the effects of an eight-week dual-task training with and without blood flow restriction (BFR) on muscle quality (MQ) biomarkers, physical and cognitive functions in older women. Twenty-four healthy volunteers (62.9 ± 3.1years) were randomly assigned into either dual-task (DT), DT with blood flow restriction (DTBFR), or control (C) group. The experimental groups performed cognitive tasks while walked on a treadmill at 45% of heart rate reserve (HRR), 20 min per session, three sessions per week for eight weeks. The cuff pressure for the DTBFR group was 50% of the calculated arterial blood occlusion and was increased by 10% every 2 weeks. Pre and post-training intervention, biomarkers of MQ and cognitive functions, body composition, maximal strength, and psychological status were measured. There was a significant interaction effect on BDNF, CAF, P3NP, body mass, BMI, fat percentage, visceral fat mass, and total fat mass (p<0.05). Furthermore, a significant interaction effect on knee extension, 30-s stand-up test, 6-min walk test, timed up&go test, and QOL was observed. There was a significant effect of time on MMSE, sleep quality, and mood score. These findings suggested that including BFR to DT training result in greater physiological and psychological responses and should be considered a training method to combat undesired changes associated with increasing age.

Effect of forward and backward locomotion training on anaerobic performance and anthropometrical composition

[Purpose] Forward walking (FW) and backward walking (BW) on a treadmill is a common tool for lower extremity rehabilitation in the clinical setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects on anaerobic performance and anthropometrical adaptations during FW and BW on a treadmill. [Subjects and Methods] A convenience sample of thirty healthy male subjects with a mean age of 20.93 ± 2.54 years participated in this study. Subjects were divided into 2 groups, a Forward Walking Group (FWG) (n=15) and a Backward Walking Group (BWG) (n=15), which performed FW and BW on a treadmill at 10° inclination, respectively. The training consisted of three sessions per week for 6 weeks. Study outcomes such as anaerobic performance and anthropometrical body composition were measured at pre- and post-intervention. [Results] Both FW and BW improved anaerobic performance significantly, and the BW group showed better performance than FW. However, changes in anthropometrical body composition were found to be not significant after six weeks of intervention in both the FW and BW groups. [Conclusions] BW training in rehabilitation can be considered more effective than FW at improving anaerobic performance. We also conclude that six weeks of FW and BW training is insufficient for eliciting changes in the body composition.

Recommendations for Aerobic Endurance Training Based on Subjective Ratings of Perceived Exertion in Healthy Seniors

The study investigated physiological responses during 2-km walking at a certain intensity of a previously performed maximal exercise test where moderate perceived exertion was reported. Twenty seniors were examined by an incremental walking treadmill test to obtain maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). A submaximal 2-km walking test was applied 1 wk later. The corresponding moderate perceived exertion (4 on the CR-10 scale) during the VO2maxtest was applied to the 2-km treadmill test. Moderate exertion (mean rating of perceived exertion [RPE]: 4 ± 1) led to 76% ± 8% of VO2maxand 79% ± 6% of maximal heart rate. RPE values drifted with a significant time effect (p= .001, ηp= .58) during the 2-km test from 3 ± 0.7 to 4.6 ± 0.8. Total energy expenditure (EE) was 3.3 ± 0.5 kcal/kg. No gender differences in ventilatory, heart-rate, or EE data occurred. Brisk walking at moderate RPE of 3–5 would lead to a beneficial physiological response during endurance training and a weekly EE of nearly 1,200 kcal when exercising 5 times/wk for 30 min.

Effects of musical cadence in the acute physiologic adaptations to head-out aquatic exercises

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between musical cadence and the physiologic adaptations to basic head-out aquatic exercises. Fifteen young and clinically healthy women performed, immersed to the breast, a cardiovascular aquatic exercise called the "rocking horse." The study design included an intermittent and progressive protocol starting at a 90 b.min(-1) rhythm and increasing every 6 minutes, by 15 b.min(-1), up to 195 b.min(-1) or exhaustion. The rating of perceived effort (RPE) at the maximal heart rate achieved during each bout (HRmax), the percentage of the maximal theoretical heart rate estimated (%HRmax), and the blood lactate concentration ([La-]) were evaluated. The musical cadence was also calculated at 4 mmol.L(-1) of blood lactate (R4), the RPE at R4 (RPE@R4), the HR at R4 (HR@R4), and the %HRmax at R4 (%HRmax@R4). Strong relationships were verified between the musical cadence and the RPE (R2 = 0.85; p < 0.01), the HRmax (R2 = 0.66; p < 0.01), the %HRmax (R = 0.61; p < 0.01), and the [La-] (R2 = 0.54; p < 0.01). The R4 was 148.13 +/- 17.53 b.min, the RPE@R4 was 14.53 +/- 2.53, the HR@R4 was 169.33 +/- 12.06 b.min, and the %HRmax@R4 was 85.53 +/- 5.72%. The main conclusion is that increasing musical cadence created an increase in the physiologic response. Therefore, instructors must choose musical cadences according to the goals of the session they are conducting to achieve the desired intensity.

N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide concentrations are similarly increased by 30 minutes of moderate and brisk walking in patients with coronary artery disease

Elevated concentrations of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro- BNP (NT-proBNP) reflect elevated myocardial wall stress due to volume or pressure overload in cardiac disease. Recently, exercise-induced elevations of (NT-pro)BNP in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients have been reported to result from exercise-induced ischemia associated regional wall abnormalities. Therefore, the study aimed to examine NT-proBNP concentrations in patients with CAD after moderate and brisk walking (MW, BW). We hypothesized that BW induces higher increases than MW.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In randomized order 14 patients with stable CAD (12 male symbol/2 female symbol; 63 +/- 9 years; LV ejection fraction: 59+/-9%) of a out-patient rehabilitation group performed MW with 4.5 +/- 0.6 km/h (mean heart rate: 80 +/- 11/min) or BWat their allowed upper exercise heart rate of 102+/-9/min with a speed of 6.2 +/- 0.6 km/h for 30 min on a tartan track on two separate days. Blood samples were taken before, immediately, 1 h, 3 h and 1 day after exercise to determine NT-proBNP and cardiac troponin T (cTnT). Echocardiographic LV function was determined before and 1 h after exercise. Median concentrations of NT-proBNP significantly increased from 222 to 295 ng/l (MW) and from 222 to 296 ng/l (BW) without a difference between both modalities. cTnT remained below the detection limit of 0.01 microg/l. LV functions remained unchanged. A cutoff level of 250 ng/l distinguished CAD patients with elevated exercise-induced increases in NT-proBNP and a diminished LV ejection fraction at rest.

CONCLUSION

BW and MW induce similar increases in NT-proBNP in CAD patients without myocardial damage, which have to be considered when NT-proBNP is determined. Derived from the exercise- induced increase in NTproBNP, the myocardial strain in BW is not elevated in comparison to MW.