Exercise patterns in older adults instructed to follow moderate- or high-intensity exercise protocol - the generation 100 study.

BACKGROUND: Making older adults exercise and keeping them in exercise programs is a major challenge. Understanding how older adults prefer to exercise may help developing tailored exercise programs and increase sustained exercise participation in ageing populations. We aimed to describe exercise patterns, including frequency, intensity, type, location and social setting of exercise, in older adults instructed to follow continuous moderate-intensity training (MCT) or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) over a one-year period. METHODS: Frequency, intensity, type, location and social setting (alone vs. together with others) of exercise were assessed using exercise logs from 618 older adults (aged 70-77 years) randomized to MCT or HIIT. All participants completed exercise logs after each exercise session they performed during one year. Pearson Chi-square tests were run to assess the association between intensity, type, location and social setting of exercise with training group. RESULTS: Both groups performed 2.2 ± 1.3 exercise sessions per week during the year. Walking was the most common exercise type in both groups, but MCT had a higher proportion of walking sessions than HIIT (54.2% vs. 41.1%, p < 0.01). Compared to MCT, HIIT had a higher proportion of sessions with cycling (14.2% vs. 9.8%, p < 0.01), combined endurance and resistance training (10.3% vs. 7.5%, p < 0.01), jogging (6.5% vs. 3.2%, p < 0.01) and swimming (2.6% vs. 1.7%, p < 0.01). Outdoors was the most common exercise location in both training groups (67.8 and 59.1% of all sessions in MCT and HIIT, respectively). Compared to MCT, HIIT had a higher proportion of sessions at a gym (21.4% vs. 17.5%, p < 0.01) and sports facility (9.8% vs. 7.6%, p < 0.01). Both groups performed an equal amount of sessions alone and together with others, but women had a higher proportion of sessions together with others compared to men (56% vs. 44%, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This is the first study that has followed older adults instructed to perform MCT or HIIT over a one-year period, collected data from each exercise session they performed and provided important knowledge about their exercise patterns. This novel information may help researchers and clinicians to develop tailored exercise programs in an ageing population.

Absolute and relative accelerometer thresholds for determining the association between physical activity and metabolic syndrome in the older adults: The Generation-100 study.

BACKGROUND: When assessing population adherence to physical activity (PA) recommendation using accelerometers, absolute intensity threshold definition is applied despite having limited validity in those with low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), who are unable to reach them (e.g older adults). Thus, PA thresholds relative to CRF may be an alternative approach. We compared the proportion of the older adults meeting the PA recommendation when PA is assessed using absolute versus sex-and-CRF-adjusted (relative) accelerometer thresholds and determined the association between relative versus absolute moderate PA (MPA), vigorous PA (VPA) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 509 men and 567 women aged 70-77. Accelerometer assessed MPA, VPA and MVPA were analyzed using absolute and relative thresholds. Meeting the PA-recommendation was defined as amounting ≥150 min/week in MPA/MVPA or 75 min/week in VPA, respectively. CRF was directly measured as peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). MetS was defined as 3 or more of the following: elevated waist circumference, fasting glucose, hypertension, triglycerides, decreased HDL-cholesterol or diabetes, dyslipidemia or hypertension medication. RESULTS: Higher proportion of the population met the recommendation when PA was assessed with relative compared to absolute thresholds: VPA (72.4% vs. 1.7%) and MVPA (75.2% vs. 33.8%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that men and women not meeting the relative-MVPA or VPA recommendation had higher likelihood of MetS (Men: MVPA OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.08-2.33. VPA OR: 1.81, 95%CI: 1.23-2.67 and Women: MVPA OR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.36-3.31; VPA OR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.29-2.95), compared to men and women meeting the relative MVPA or VPA recommendation. There was no significant association between MetS and absolute MVPA, MPA or VPA recommendations in the fully adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: The association between meeting/not meeting the PA recommendation and MetS differed with method. Not meeting relative MVPA and VPA recommendation was associated with significantly higher likelihood for presence of MetS. Since relative intensity is part of the current PA recommendation, it should be considered when assessing population PA and associated health risks in the older adults. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial Registration: NCT01931111 (Date of trial registration: July 19, 2013).

Effects of acute supplementation of L-arginine and nitrate on endurance and sprint performance in elite athletes.

This study examined the effects of acute supplementation with L-arginine and nitrate on running economy, endurance and sprint performance in endurance-trained athletes. In a randomised cross-over, double-blinded design we compared the effects of combined supplementation with 6 g L-arginine and 614 mg nitrate against 614 mg nitrate alone and placebo in nine male elite cross-country skiers (age 18 ± 0 years, VO2max 69.3 ± 5.8 ml ⋅ min(-1) ⋅ kg(-1)). After a 48-hour standardisation of nutrition and exercise the athletes were tested for plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations, blood pressure, submaximal running economy at 10 km ⋅ h(-1) and 14 km ⋅ h(-1) at 1% incline and 180 m as well as 5-km time-trial running performances. Plasma nitrite concentration following L-arginine + nitrate supplementation (319 ± 54 nmol ⋅ L(-1)) did not differ from nitrate alone (328 ± 107 nmol ⋅ L(-1)), and both were higher than placebo (149 ± 64 nmol ⋅ L(-1), p < 0.01). There were no differences in physiological responses during submaximal running or in 5-km performance between treatments. The plasma nitrite concentrations indicate greater nitric oxide availability both following acute supplementation of L-arginine + nitrate and with nitrate alone compared to placebo, but no additional effect was revealed when L-arginine was added to nitrate. Still, there were no effects of supplementation on exercise economy or endurance running performance in endurance-trained cross-country skiers.

Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI), Sedentary Behavior and Cardiovascular Risk Factor Clustering - the HUNT Study.

Prolonged sedentary behavior (SB) positively associates with clustering of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The recently developed metric for physical activity (PA) tracking called Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) takes into account age, sex, resting and maximum heart rate, and a score of ≥100 weekly PAI has been shown to reduce the risk of premature CVD death in healthy as well as individuals with known CVD risk factors, regardless of whether or not the current PA recommendations were met. The aim of the present study was to examine if PAI modifies the associations between SB and CVD risk factor (CV-RF) clustering in a large apparently healthy general population cohort (n=29,950, aged ≥20 years). Logistic regression revealed that in those with ≥100 weekly PAI, the likelihood of CV-RF clustering prevalence associated with prolonged SB was attenuated across age groups. Monitoring weekly PAI-level could be useful to ensure that people perform enough PA to combat SB's deleterious association with CV-RF.