Effects of Home-Based Exercise Programs on Mobility, Muscle Strength, Balance, and Gait in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Individual unsupervised home-based exercise programs can enhance muscle strength, physical function, gait, and balance in older adults. However, the effectiveness of such programs may be limited by the lack of supervision. This study aims to verify the effectiveness of individual unsupervised home-based programs, compare the effects of individual unsupervised home-based to supervised programs, and verify the influence of supervision over individual unsupervised home-based programs on the physical function of older adults. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed in four electronic databases, and the trials involved randomized controlled comparing the home-based programs to supervised, control groups, or home-based + supervised evaluating the muscle strength, physical function, gait, and balance in older adults. RESULTS: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed no differences between home-based program versus supervised program in gait, mobility, and balance, revealing a trend of significance to supervised program on strength (standardized mean difference [SMD] = 0.27, p = .05). The analysis revealed effects in mobility (SMD = 0.40, p = .003), balance (SMD = 0.58, p = .0002), and muscle strength (SMD = 0.36, p = .02) favoring home-based program versus control group. Significant effects between home-based program versus home-based + supervised program were observed in balance (SMD = 0.74, p = .002) and muscle strength (SMD = 0.58, p = .01) in favor of home-based + supervised program. CONCLUSION: Home-based programs effectively improve older adults' physical function compared with control groups. However, supervised programs were more effective for muscle strength.

Muscular Adaptations and Psychophysiological Responses in Resistance Training Systems.

Purpose: We investigated the effect of drop-set (DS) and rest-pause (RP) systems compared to traditional (TRAD) resistance training on muscular adaptations and psychophysiological responses. Methods: Twenty-seven trained men (age: 23.4 ± 3.4 years; resistance training experience: 5.1 ± 1.7 years) were assigned to experimental groups (DS: n = 9, 3 × 10 repetitions at 75% with 6 additional repetitions at 55% 1RM; RP: n = 9, 3 × 16 repetitions at 75% 1RM; TRAD: n = 9, 4 × 12 repetitions at 70% 1RM) and performed lower-limb training sessions twice a week for 8 weeks. Maximum dynamic strength (1RM) and localized muscular endurance (LME) tests were performed in 45° leg press at baseline and post intervention. Session-RPE was assessed 15 min after the end of each training session. Results: A significant time vs. group interaction was observed for 1RM (p = .012) and LME (p < .0001). Post hoc comparisons revealed that RP elicited greater gains in muscular strength than DS (p = .044) but not TRAD (p = .116); and DS elicited greater LME than RP (p < .001) and TRAD (p = .001). No statistical differences were observed in Session-RPE and training strain between conditions; however, RP promoted higher training monotony (p = .036) than DS and TRAD. Conclusions: The DS and RP systems have a potential role in training programs aiming to promote muscle strength and localized muscular endurance adaptations, respectively. However, RP may promote higher training monotony than DS and TRAD, even though the other psychophysiological responses are similar.

Caffeine and Exercise Performance: Possible Directions for Definitive Findings.

Caffeine is one of the most studied supplements in the world. Studies correlate its use to increased exercise performance in endurance activities, as well as its possible ergogenic effects for both intermittent and strength activities. Recent findings show that caffeine may increase or decrease exercise performance. These antagonist responses may occur even when using the same dosage and for individuals with the same characteristics, making it challenging to explain caffeine's impact and applicability. This review article provides an analytic look at studies involving the use of caffeine for human physical performance, and addresses factors that could influence the ergogenic effects of caffeine on different proposed activities. These factors subdivide into caffeine effects, daily habits, physiological factors, and genetic factors. Each variable has been focused on by discussions to research related to caffeine. A better understanding and control of these variables should be considered in future research into personalized nutritional strategies.

Comparação da qualidade de vida e sono de adolescentes portadores e não portadores de diabetes mellitus tipo 1 / Comparison of quality of life and sleep of adolescents with and without type 1 diabetes mellitus

RESUMO A Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 1 (DM1) é uma doença autoimune que afeta milhares de pessoas atualmente, com maior concentração de casos na adolescência. O tratamento implica alterações no estilo de vida que podem apresentar influência negativa sobre a qualidade do sono (QS) e qualidade de vida (QV). O propósito do estudo foi comparar a QS e QV entre adolescentes portadores e não portadores de DM1. Participaram do estudo 74 adolescentes divididos por grupos e sexo: GDM1-F (n=19), GDM1-M (n=18), GC-F (n=21) e GC-M (n=16). Os instrumentos utilizados foram o Índice de Qualidade do Sono de Pittsburgh e WHOQOL-bref. Para comparar os grupos foi utilizado Análise de Covariância, ajustada pela idade, com Post Hoc de Bonferroni. Os resultados sinalizam que os participantes do GDM1-F e GDM1-M, portadores de DM1, apresentaram maiores escores em todas as avaliações, com diferença significativa com o CG-F nas variáveis: QS global, Domínios Físico, Psicológico e Relações Sociais e QV total. Portanto, foi possível observar que os adolescentes portadores de DM1 apresentaram melhor avaliação da QS e QV em comparação as meninas sem DM1, independentemente da idade.

ABSTRACT Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (DM1) is an autoimmune disease that affects thousands of people today, with a higher concentration of cases in adolescence. Treatment involves lifestyle changes that can have a negative influence on quality of sleep (QS) and quality of life (QL). The purpose of the study was to compare QS and QL among adolescents with and without DM1. Seventy-four adolescents participated in the study divided by groups and sex: GDM1-F (n=19), GDM1-M (n=18), GC-F (n=21) and GC-M (n=16). The instruments used were the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and WHOQOL-bref. Age-adjusted Covariance Analysis with Bonferroni Post Hoc was used to compare the groups. The results show that the participants of GDM1-F and GDM1-M, with DM1, had higher scores in all evaluations, with significant difference with CG-F in the variables: global QS, Physical, Psychological and Social Relationships and total QL. Therefore, it was possible to observe that adolescents with DM1 had better QS and QL evaluations than girls without DM1, regardless of age.

The effects of strength training on cognitive performance in elderly women.

Aging is a degenerative process marked by recognized functional, physiological, and metabolic impairments, such as dynapenia and diminished cognitive capacity. Therefore, the search for innovative strategies to prevent/delay these physiological and cognitive disorders is essential to guarantee the independence and life quality of an elderly population. The aim of this work is to verify the effect of a 12-week resistance exercise program on the general physical aptitude and cognitive capacities of elderly and sedentary women. Twenty-nine women (65.87±5.69 years) were divided into two groups. The control group was composed of eight elderly women who met the same inclusion criteria of the study and the strength training group was composed of 29 elderly women who were subjected to a resistance exercise program defined by 12 upper and lower limb exercises combined in 3×10 repetitions with 1-minute interval between repetitions and two resting minutes between exercises (three times/week). Weight loads were fixed between 60% and 75% of the apparent 1 repetition maximum, which was estimated by the test of 10 maximum repetitions. The direct curl was performed for upper body strength evaluation with 2.3 kg dumbbells for 30 seconds, whereas the chair test was used for lower body evaluation (total sit-stand movements in 30 seconds). The cognitive capacities of subjects were evaluated by "The Montreal Cognitive Assessment" questionnaire. After 12 weeks, the elderly group showed significant increases in the average upper body strength (58%), lower body strength (68%), and cognitive capacity (19%). The present study demonstrated that regular resistance exercises could provide significant gains on the upper and lower body strength concomitant to positive improvements on cognitive capacities of elderly women, bringing enhanced life quality.