Effects of a 12-week walking intervention on circulating lipid profiles and adipokines in normal weight and abdominal obese female college students.

Background/objectives: Regular exercise such as aerobic exercise has been shown to reduce the risk of some diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, only few studies have investigated the impact of regular aerobic exercise on non-obese and overweight/obese persons. Therefore, this study was designed to compare the effect of a 12-week 10,000 steps a day walking intervention on the body composition, serum lipids, adipose tissue function, and obesity-associated cardiometabolic risk between normal weight and overweight/obese female college students. Methods: Ten normal weight (NWCG) and 10 overweight/obese (AOG) individuals were recruited in this study. Both groups performed a regular 10,000 steps a day walk for 12 weeks. Their blood pressure, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and blood lipid profiles were evaluated. Moreover, serum leptin and adiponectin levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Our results revealed that triglyceride (TG), TG/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio and leptin were significantly reduced in the AOG group after the 12-week walking intervention. However, total cholesterol, HDL-C, and adiponectin/leptin ratio were significantly increased in the AOG group. There was little or no change in these variables in the NWCG group after the 12-week walking intervention. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that a 12-week walking intervention may help improve cardiorespiratory fitness and obesity-associated cardiometabolic risk by decrease resting heart rate, modulating blood lipid profiles, and inducing adipokine alterations in obese individuals. Therefore, our research encourages obese young adults to improve their physical health by participating in a 12-week walking program of 10,000 steps a day.

Reduced center of mass acceleration during regular walking with electromyography biofeedback.

BACKGROUND: Regular walking in healthy adults is known to be kinematically stable, but it is unclear how to further kinematically stabilize regular walking. Electromyography biofeedback (EMG-BF) during walking improves walking ability in patients. However, the effect of EMG-BF on walking stability in healthy adults is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether EMG-BF enhances the stability of regular walking in healthy adults. RESEARCH QUESTION: Does the EMG-BF enhance the stability of regular walking in healthy adults? METHODS: Auditory biofeedback of single muscle activity was given to twelve participants during regular walking. The target muscles were the ankle plantar flexor, ankle dorsiflexor, and knee flexor. We compared the root mean square of the center of mass acceleration (RMS-CoMacc), which represents walking smoothness, between biofeedback conditions. RESULTS: We found that EMG-BF during regular walking partially reduced the RMS-CoMacc (p = 0.01). In particular, biofeedback of the ankle plantar flexor muscle reduced the RMS-CoMacc in both the anteroposterior and vertical directions. In the mediolateral RMS-CoMacc, no significant difference was found (p = 0.24). SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is novel because it is the first study to reveal the impact of EMG-BF on the stability of walking among healthy adults. It identifies the key muscles for EMG-BF, potentially leading to the development of a more effective EMG-BF system in the rehabilitation. Especially, biofeedback of the ankle plantar flexor muscle could improve walking stability in both the anteroposterior and vertical directions. The effect of EMG-BF for reducing the RMS-CoMacc during regular walking might depend on the target muscles of biofeedback.

Changes of Walking Activity During the First Cycle Phases of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Seoul, Korea.

AIM: This study explores the changes in regular walking activities during the phases of the pandemic. BACKGROUND: With the spread of COVID-19 transmission, people are refraining from going out, reducing their physical activity. In South Korea, COVID-19 broke out in the 4th week of 2020 and experienced the first cycle phases of the pandemic, such as outbreak, widespread, and decline. In response to the pandemic, the government encouraged voluntary participation in social distancing campaigns, and people reduced their outside activities. METHODS: This article examines the decrease and increase of the Prevalence of Regular Walking (≥30 min of moderate walking a day, on ≥5 days a week) by the COVID-19 phases. This study is based on weekly walking data for 15 weeks in 2020, via the smartphone healthcare app, which is managed by 25 public health offices of the Seoul government. RESULTS: According to the findings, the level of prevalence of regular walking (PRW) has a significant difference before and after the outbreak, and every interval of the four-stage COVID-19 phases, that is, pre-pandemic, initiation, acceleration, and deceleration. The level of PRW sharply decreased during initiation and acceleration intervals. In the deceleration interval of COVID-19, the PRW kept increasing, but it has not yet reached the same level as the previous year when the COVID-19 did not exist. CONCLUSIONS: As a preliminary study, this study explains empirically how COVID-19 changed PRW in Seoul. It would be helpful to enhance our understanding of the changes in physical inactivity in the pandemic period.

Synergistic Effects of Regular Walking and Alkaline Electrolyzed Water on Decreasing Inflammation and Oxidative Stress, and Increasing Quality of Life in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes: A Community Based Randomized Controlled Trial.

Alkaline electrolyzed water (AEW) and walking are strongly recommended for ameliorating oxidative stress and inflammation. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information on the combination of both on alleviating inflammation, oxidative stress, and improving the quality of life (QoL). We investigated the synergistic effects of drinking AEW and walking on advanced glycation end products (AGEs), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), malondialdehyde (MDA), white blood cells (WBCs), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and QoL. In total, 81 eligible patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) were randomly allocated via single blind to four groups: consumed 2 L/day of AEW (n = 20), instructed to walk for 150 min/week (n = 20), received a combination of AEW and walking (n = 20), and continue their habitual diet and activity (n = 21). Data were collected and analyzed before and after 8 weeks of intervention. Our results showed a significant interaction between the group and time, with both AEW and walking independently and synergistically ameliorating AGEs, AOPPs, MDA, NLR and WBCs levels. Moreover, the AEW group had a higher physical and total QoL score. The walking group and the combined group had higher scores in physical, mental and total QoL compared to the control group. The synergistic effect of AEW and regular walking are an advisable treatment for patients with T2DM.

Association of regular walking and body mass index on metabolic syndrome among an elderly Korean population.

Aging is associated with increased body fat and lower lean body mass, which leads to increased prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the association of regular participation in walking and body mass index (BMI) with metabolic syndrome and its 5 criteria in elderly Koreans. A total of 3554 (male = 1581, female = 1973) elderly subjects (age ≥ 65 years), who participated in the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V) were analyzed in this cross-sectional study. Participation in walking activity, BMI, metabolic syndrome and its 5 criteria; waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting glucose (FG) levels, triglyceride (TG) levels, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) levels, were measured. Subjects were categorized into four groups based on the duration and regularity of their walks and BMI. In the regular walking (≥30 min of continuous walking a day, on ≥5 days a week) and normal weight (BMI < 23 kg/m2) group, WC, SBP, DBP, FG, and TG levels were significantly lower, and HDL-C levels were significantly higher, compared to the non-regular walking and overweight (BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2) group. Furthermore, the odds of metabolic syndrome was 4.36 times higher (Odds ratio [OR]: 4.36, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.37-5.63) in the non-regular walking and overweight group than that of the regular walking and normal weight group after controlling for the influence of age, sex, and smoking status. Moreover, The BMI (ß = 0.328, R2 = 0.152) were more contributing factors than Regular walking (ß = -0.011) for metabolic syndrome. In conclusions, regular participation in walking activity and implementing weight control may reduce the incidence rate of metabolic syndrome in elderly Koreans, with weight management serving as the greater influences of the two.