Influence of Resistance Training Exercise Order on Acute Thyroid Hormone Responses.

The present study aimed to compare the exercise order of an acute bout of resistance exercise (RT) on acute thyroid hormonal responses. Eight (n = 8) healthy men were randomly separated into two experimental groups: A) the order from multi- to single-joint exercises (MJ-SJ) and B) the order from single- to multijoint exercises (SJ-MJ). For all exercises in both orders, the subjects were submitted to 3 sets of 10 repetitions, with rest intervals of 2 minutes between sets and 3 minutes between exercises. Blood samples were collected at rest and 0, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min after the end of the exercise session. In thyroidstimulating hormone (TSH), differences between groups (MJ-SJ < SJ-MJ) were observed within 15 minutes after the session. In 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3), differences between groups were observed between 30 (MJ-SJ > SJ-MJ) and 120 minutes (MJ-SJ < SJ-MJ) after the session. In 3,5,3',5'-tetraiodothyronine (T4), differences between groups (MJ-SJ > SJ-MJ) were observed within 15 minutes after the RT session. The order of RT exercises significantly changes the hormonal responses of TSH, T3 and T4. In addition, the exercise order should be chosen according to the individual's objectives.

Can Vitamin D supplementation alone effective to increase a physical fitness levels in post-menopausal women with metabolic disorders? Brief Review.

BACKGROUND: During the climacteric period, occur an aging process of the skin, and promote several decreases in the ability of vitamin D synthesis in an organism and lower levels of Vitamin D may contribute to the appearance of conditions such as osteomalacia, osteoporosis, falls and fractures. AIM: The present brief review focuses on the influence of Vitamin D supplementation alone on physical fitness (strength, endurance, and balance) in postmenopausal with diseases or not. METHODS: Search in Medline and PubMed relevant articles with Vitamin D supplementation alone on physical fitness (strength, endurance, and balance) in postmenopausal with diseases or not, were included only 5 clinical. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the effectiveness depends on the amount was prescribed for supplementation and the patient's characteristics. Doses less than 1000 IU/d did not show significant changes in physical fitness on post-menopausal women with metabolic diseases or not.

Acute Effects of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation on Peak Torque and Muscle Imbalance.

BACKGROUND: The effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching on muscle imbalance are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to examine the acute effects of PNF stretching on knee extension and flexion peak torque (PT), as well as the conventional and functional hamstrings to quadriceps (H:Q) ratios. METHODS: Fifteen men (age = 22 ± 1 years; body mass = 76 ± 12 kg; height = 176 ± 7 cm) and fifteen women (age = 22 ± 2 years; body mass = 63 ± 8 kg; height = 161 ± 5 cm) performed concentric quadriceps and hamstrings, and eccentric hamstrings muscle actions at different angular velocities (60, 180, and 300°·s-1 concentric; 60 and 180°·s-1 eccentric) before and after a bout of PNF stretching, and a control condition. RESULTS: Neither PNF or control conditions affected concentric PT or H:Q ratios (p > 0.05), apart from knee extension at 60°·s-1 in men (p = 0.001). However, there was a reduction in hamstrings eccentric PT in both control and PNF conditions for men and women (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: PNF stretching of the hamstrings may not adversely affect the H:Q ratios, and consequently not negatively affect injury risk associated with muscular strength imbalances.

Association between muscle function and body composition, vitamin D status, and blood glucose in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to examine the association between muscle function, and body composition, vitamin D status, and blood glucose in post-menopausal women with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: Forty post-menopausal women (62.48±7.67years; 154.6±5.11cm; 73.93±15.43kg; 31.13±5.82 BMI kg/m2) with a diagnosis of T2D participated in this cross-sectional study. The patients performed fasting blood sample exams, anthropometrics assessments, body composition, and clinical exams. Subjects performed physical tests including handgrip, timed up and go, 30-s chair stand, arm curl, and sit-to-stand. The correlation between the parameters of physical tests, age, body composition, vitamin D, and blood glucose was assessed by Pearson correlation. RESULTS: The results showed there were significant correlations between blood glucose and relative strength (R=-0.398, p=0.011), arm curl test (R=-0.367 and p=0.020), and hip flexion (R=0.427, p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: These findings are important because they highlight the importance of resistance training in individuals with T2D and the relationship with a fat increase during a dicrease process. Furthermore, the concentration of serum glucose might be associated with decreases in muscle strength and muscle function in older adults. Thus, T2D patients should be involved with strength training to improve the strength and the muscle hypertrophy.

Hypotensive Responses of Reciprocal Supersets versus Traditional Resistance Training in Apparently Healthy Men.

The purpose of this study was to compare the hypotensive responses of reciprocal supersets (SS) versus traditional training (TRAD) methods. Thirteen men with at least five years of recreational experience in resistance training (RT) volunteered for the study. When completing the TRAD protocol, participants performed the following exercises separately in sequence: chest press (CP), low row (LR), leg extension (LE), leg curl (LC), pull down (PD), and shoulder press (SP). The SS method required participants to complete the same exercises as in the TRAD protocol, but exercises were coupled such that muscles sequentially served both as an agonist for lift one and then antagonist for lift two and vice versa. Exercise order used was CP and LR, LE and LC, and PD and SP with 10 repetition maximum loads. Blood pressure (BP) was measured before and for every 10 minutes for one hour after training. There was significantly more total work (TW) done in the TRAD condition compared to SS. Post exercise hypotension was evident only after the TRAD session at minutes 30 and 40 for systolic BP. Significant differences between the TRAD and SS methods were found at 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 40 minutes for systolic BP. There was no significant two-way interaction for group × time for diastolic BP. There was a significant two-way interaction for group × time for mean arterial pressure. Significant reductions for mean arterial pressure (MAP) occurred only in the TRAD method after 30 to 40 minutes compared to the baseline values. Therefore, a TRAD RT method was sufficient to cause a hypotensive effect after the training session whereas the SS method did not reveal significant decreases in BP after the session. However, these findings are important to elucidate concerns regarding the post-exercise hypotension after RT and showed that TW might be the key to promote these changes because the volume of training was shown to be an important training variable to manipulate and might be associated with BP hypotension after RT.

Influence of Rest Interval Length Between Sets on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Variability After a Strength Training Session Performed By Prehypertensive Men.

Figueiredo, T, Willardson, JM, Miranda, H, Bentes, CM, Machado Reis, V, Freitas de Salles, B, and Simão, R. Influence of rest interval length between sets on blood pressure and heart rate variability after a strength training session performed by prehypertensive men. J Strength Cond Res 30(7): 1813-1824, 2016-The purposes of this study were to compare the effects of 2 different rest interval lengths between sets and exercises during strength training (ST) on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) in prehypertensive trained men, and to verify how HRV influences BP. Eleven volunteer subjects (age: 26.1 ± 3.6 years; body mass: 74.1 ± 7.9 kg; height: 172.1 ± 4.1 cm; % body fat: 18.3 ± 6.3; ST experience: 1.7 ± 0.8 years) participated in this study. After assessing one repetition maximum (1RM) loads for the free weight bench press, lat pull-down, shoulder press, biceps curl, triceps extension, leg press, leg extension, and leg curl exercises; subjects performed 2 sessions with different rest intervals between sets and exercises in random order and 72 hours apart. Each ST session consisted of performing 3 sets of eight to 10 repetitions at 70% of a 1RM for each exercise, with either 1-minute (sequence 1 [SEQ1]) or 2-minute (sequence 2 [SEQ2]) rest intervals between sets and exercises, respectively. Before and after each session, BP and HRV (low frequency band, high frequency [HF] band, and square root of the mean squared difference of successive RR-interval index) were tracked for 60 minutes. The results demonstrated a postexercise hypotensive response (PEH) after both rest interval conditions (p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, increases in cardiac stress were noted after SEQ1, with a greater withdrawal in parasympathetic activity vs. baseline as noted in the HF band at 1-, 10-, and 20-minute postexercise (p ≤ 0.05). These results indicate that both sequences provided an effective stimulus for a PEH. Therefore, strength and conditioning professionals may prescribe 1- or 2-minute rest between sets and exercises when the goal is to reduce BP after training sessions. However, resting 1 minute between sets and exercises was associated with greater cardiac stress, and so this may necessitate prescription of longer rest intervals between sets and exercises when working with individuals who have been diagnosed with cardiovascular dysfunction.

Acute effects of different stretching techniques on the number of repetitions in a single lower body resistance training session.

This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of passive static and ballistic stretching on maximal repetition performance during a resistance training session (RTS). Nine male subjects underwent three experimental conditions: ballistic stretching (BS); passive static stretching (PSS); and a specific warm-up (SW). The RTS was composed of three sets of 12RM for the following exercises: leg press 45 (LP), leg extension (LE), leg curl (LC), and plantar flexors (PF). Performance of six sessions was assessed 48 hours apart. The first visit consisted of a familiarization session including stretching methods and exercises used in the RTS. On the second and third visit, a strength test and retest were performed. During the fourth to the sixth visit, the volunteers randomly performed the following protocols: BS+RTS; PSS+RTS; or SW+RTS. For the sum of the RM number of each three-set exercise, significant differences were found between PSS vs. SW for the LP (p = 0.001); LE (p = 0.005); MF (p = 0.001); and PF (p = 0.038). For the comparison between the methods of stretching PSS vs. BS, significant differences were found only for the FP (p = 0.019). When analyzing the method of stretching BS vs. SW, significant differences were found for the LP (p = 0.014) and MF (p = 0.002). For the total sum of the RM number of three sets of the four exercises that composed the RTS, significant differences were observed (p < 0.05) in the following comparisons: PPS vs. SW (p = 0.001), PPS vs. BS (p = 0.008), and BS vs. SW (p = 0.002). Accordingly, the methods of passive static and ballistic stretching should not be recommended before a RTS.

Influence of Load Intensity on Postexercise Hypotension and Heart Rate Variability after a Strength Training Session.

The purpose of this study was to compare blood pressure and heart rate variability (HRV) responses in trained men after strength training (ST) sessions with loads of 60, 70, and 80% of a 1 repetition maximum (1RM). Eleven men (age: 26.1 ± 3.6 years; body mass: 74.1 ± 8.1 kg; height: 172.0 ± 4.0 cm; body mass index: 25.0 ± 1.96 kg·m(-2); %G: 18.3 ± 6.4) with at least 6-month ST experience participated in this study. After assessment of 1RM loads for the bench press (BP), lat pull-down (LPD), shoulder press (SP), biceps curl (BC), triceps extension (TE), leg press (LP), leg extension (LE), and leg curl (LC), subjects performed 3 experimental sessions in random order. During each experimental session, subjects performed 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions at 60, 70, or 80% of 1RM loads, with 2-minute rest intervals between sets and exercises. All experimental sessions were performed in the following exercise order: BP, LPD, SP, BC, TE, LP, LE, and LC. Before and for 1 hour after each experimental session, blood pressure and HRV were tracked. The results demonstrated a greater duration of postexercise hypotension (PEH) after the 70% of 1RM session vs. the 60 or 80% of 1RM session. These results indicate that the load/volume associated with completion of 8-10 repetitions at 70% of 1RM load may provide the best stimulus for the PEH response when compared with training with a 60 or 80% of 1RM loads. In conclusion, strength and conditioning professionals may prescribe exercises with 60, 70, and 80% of 1RM loads if the intent is to elicit an acute decrease in blood pressure after an ST session; however, 70% of 1RM provides a longer PEH.

Influence of number of sets on blood pressure and heart rate variability after a strength training session.

The purpose of this study was to compare the acute effects of 1, 3, and 5 sets of strength training (ST), on heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure. Eleven male volunteers (age: 26.1 ± 3.6 years; body mass: 74.1 ± 8.1 kg; height: 172 ± 4 cm) with at least 6 months previous experience in ST participated in the study. After determining the 1 repetition maximum (1RM) load for the bench press (BP), lat pull down (LPD), shoulder press (SP), biceps curl (BC), triceps extension (TE), leg press (LP), leg extension (LE), and leg curl (LC), the participants performed 3 different exercise sequences in a random order and 72 hours apart. During the first sequence, subjects performed a single set of 8-10 repetitions, at 70% 1RM, and with 2-minute rest interval between exercises. Exercises were performed in the following order: BP, LPD, SP, BC, TE, LP, LE, and LC. During the second sequence, subjects performed the same exercise sequence, with the same intensity, 2-minute rest interval between sets and exercises, but with 3 consecutive sets of each exercise. During the third sequence, the same protocol was followed but with 5 sets of each exercise. Before and after the training sessions, blood pressure and HRV were measured. The statistical analysis demonstrated a greater duration of postexercise hypotension after the 5-set program vs. the 1 set or 3 sets (p ≤ 0.05). However, the 5-set program promoted a substantial cardiac stress, as demonstrated by HRV (p ≤ 0.05). These results indicate that 5 sets of 8-10 repetitions at 70% 1RM load may provide the ideal stimulus for a postexercise hypotensive response. Therefore, ST composed of upper- and lower-body exercises and performed with high volumes are capable of producing significant and extended postexercise hypotensive response. In conclusion, strength and conditioning professionals can prescribe 5 sets per exercises if the goal is to reduce blood pressure after training. In addition, these findings may have importance, specifically in the early phase of high blood pressure development, but more research is needed in hypertensive populations to validate this hypothesis.

Hypotensive effects and performance responses between different resistance training intensities and exercise orders in apparently health women.

To compare the hypotensive effect and performance responses between different resistance training intensities and different exercise orders in apparently healthy women, thirteen apparently healthy women performed four resistance training sessions in randomized order. One group performed the resistance training exercises with 60% of 1RM (SeqA60%): leg press (LG), chest press (CP), leg extension (LE), lat pull down (PD), leg curl (LC) and biceps curl (BC). Another group performed the resistance training exercises with 80% of 1RM (SeqA80%) with the same exercise order. Two other groups performed the resistance training exercises with 60% (SeqB60%) and 80% of 1RM (SeqB80%), however, in another sequence of exercises: CP, PD, BC or LG, LE, LC. The blood pressure was measured before, and at every 15 min until 60 min postexercise. The different intensities and different exercise orders resulted in a significant hypotensive effect in systolic and diastolic blood pressures that remained until 15 min. In addition, significant reductions in systolic blood pressure were observed at 30 min for SeqA in both intensities and for SeqB with intensities of 80% of 1RM. However, there was no significant difference between intensities and different prescription orders (P>0·05). Although the current study showed significant decreases in systolic and diastolic blood pressures after different resistance training sessions, the manipulation of intensity and exercise sequence, such as those used in the present study, was not able to generate significant changes in the duration and magnitude of hypotensive effect.

Chronic effects of different resistance training exercise orders on flexibility in elite judo athletes.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of twelve weeks of resistance training with different exercise orders (upper limbs and lower limbs vs. lower limbs and upper limbs) on flexibility levels in elite judo athletes. Thirty-nine male athletes were randomly divided into 3 groups as follows: G1 (n = 13), G2 (n = 13), and CG (n = 13). The flexibility was assessed on 8 joint movements: shoulder flexion and shoulder extension, shoulder abduction and shoulder adduction, trunk flexion and trunk extension, and hip flexion and hip extension. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs (time [pre-experimental vs. post-experimental] × group [G1 vs. G2 vs. CG]) were used to compare the differences between pre- and post-test situations and the differences among groups. The results from the within-group (pre vs. post) comparisons demonstrated significant increases (p < 0.05) in the range of motion of 3.93 and 5.96% for G1 and G2 training groups, respectively, in all joints. No significant changes (p > 0.05) were observed for the CG. The results from the between-group comparisons demonstrated no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the range of motion between G1post vs. G2post (1.15%). Although both exercise orders (from upper to lower limbs and from lower to upper limbs) increased flexibility, no significant variations were observed between the different exercise orders. Nevertheless, these findings demonstrate that flexibility gains could be obtained with a resistance training program, and thus, more time can be devoted to sports-specific judo training.