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Acute lower body exercise elicits adverse effects on balance performance and subsequent fall risk. However, little information exists for upper body exercise and postural sway. The series of experimental studies presented in this thesis investigated the effects of acute upper and lower body exercise on postural sway in healthy young and older adults and determined whether the acute negative effects of exercise can be removed by an improvement in training status. Chapter 4 examined the effects of maximal and submaximal (absolute and relative exercise intensities) arm crank ergometry (ACE) and cycle ergometry (CE) on postural sway in young healthy adults. Cycling elicited an immediate increase in post exercise postural sway whereas ACE did not. Chapter 5 compared the effects ACE, CE and treadmill walking (TM) on postural sway in healthy older adults. Based on the findings of Study 1, submaximal exercise was performed at the same relative intensity (50 % HRE). In agreement with Chapter 4, CE and TM elicited post exercise balance impairments lasting for ~ 10 min post exercise. ACE performed at the same relative intensity as the lower body did not elicit post exercise balance impairments in older adults. Collectively, these acute studies suggest that lower limb exercise may acutely increase fall and injury risk in the immediate period after exercise cessation. This is important because practitioners and clinicians should acknowledge that the prescription of conventional training modes might potentially elicit transient impairments in neuromuscular function. However, in this context it appears that seated exercise with the arms may not induce a significant enough stimulus to cause sensorimotor disturbance to postural stability and thus may be a safer alternative exercise mode for fall risk populations or individuals who are very sedentary. Chapter 6 examined differences in balance performance, as measured by quantitative posturography and functional balance tests, among different age groups. Measures of postural sway were able to distinguish between younger (< 60 years) and older ( > 60 years) adults whereas functional performance tests suggested that balance impairments were observed earlier ( > 50 years). This study enabled a range of tests to be determined for use with subsequent training interventions. Chapter 7 examined the effects of 6-weeks upper or lower body exercise training on postural sway. Upper and lower body training elicited similar improvements in specific (~ 25 %) and cross transfer (~ 12 %) exercise tolerance. Both modes of training elicited favourable balance adaptations. Specifically, upper body training improved mediolateral aspects of postural sway, while lower body training improved anteroposterior aspects of sway. It was proposed that an improvement in cross transfer exercise capacity after upper body exercise reduced the physiological strain experienced during CE, thus reducing post exercise balance impairments and that an increase in abdominal and trunk strength from upper body exercise training reduced sway following ACE. Importantly, ACE also elicited an improvement in functional reach distance and timed up and go test speed. Conversely, CE improved lower limb strength which elicited an improvement in lower body dynamic balance. It is likely that engaging in both upper and lower body exercise will be better that either mode of exercise alone for both health and fitness and balanced incorporated in everyday life. ACE elicits a number of significant benefits to cardiovascular fitness and balance which is important for a number of older subgroups who might have difficulty engaging in lower limb exercise, such as those who are very sedentary, those with lower limb injury/disease or undergoing surgery rehabilitation and individuals who are overweight. Specifically, ACE may offer a pathway from sedentary living to physical activity. Upper body endurance exercise can contribute to a multimodal training stimulus by eliciting favourable adaptations in fitness, functional performance and balance. Such responses are important because this type of exercise may serve a feasible and time-efficient training regime for older adults, which will likely result in improved attrition and adherence to physical activity.

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The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a twelve-week hydrotherapy group exercise programme on selected health-related fitness variables in older women with type II diabetes mellitus. This study included the testing of blood glucose levels, blood anthropometrical profile, body mass, height, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, upper body flexibility, lower body flexibility, grip strength, upper body and lower body muscular strength and endurance as well as aerobic endurance. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used for this study utilising a quasiexperimental research design. A comparison group pre-test and post-test experimental design was employed at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Biokinetics and Sports Science Unit. Approximately 16 senior female participants took part in the study. Participants were identified through convenience sampling and snowball sampling, of which, all the participants were clinically diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus and had completed the study. The hydrotherapy participants (experimental group), took part in water-based (hydrotherapy) exercises three times a week for a period of twelve weeks. The hydrotherapy exercises began with a light half-hour workout per session and were progressively increased in intensity, duration, and number of the exercises performed. The participants not participating in the hydrotherapy exercises (control group) were instructed to remain sedentary throughout the duration of the intervention period. The dependant variables were gathered as raw data and analysed using descriptive statistics to form the means, standard deviations, medians, minimum and maximum values. Post hoc analysis was performed to determine whether differences existed between the experimental group and control group. Cohen’s D test was used to determine pre- and post-test differences for both groups to determine practical significance. An analysis of the results revealed significant improvements in some of the selected health and physical fitness parameters such as, upper body and lower body flexibility, upper and lower body muscular strength and endurance, as well as aerobic endurance. iii The aim and objectives of the study in exploring the effect of hydrotherapy as an intervention strategy to promote health and physical fitness in persons with type II diabetes mellitus were supported by the data collected in the pre-test and post-test analyses of the variables.

This thesis sought to evaluate whether the impairments in nitric oxide (NO)-dependent cutaneous vasodilation and sweating observed in older adults during exercise in the heat stem from age-related increases in oxidative stress and/or arginase activity. Furthermore, we assessed whether changes in the sensitivity to NO at the level of the end-organ (i.e., cutaneous vasculature and sweat gland) also contribute. A total of 20 young (age, 23 ± 3 yrs) and 28 older (age, 63 ± 7 yrs) males completed one of two intermittent exercise protocols that consisted of two 30-min bouts of semi-recumbent cycling in the heat (35˚C) at a rate of metabolic heat production of 500 (protocol I; 11 young, 19 older) or 400 (protocol II; 9 young, 9 older) W. Each exercise bout was followed by a 20-min recovery period. During each protocol, local cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC; laser-Doppler flowmetry/mean arterial pressure) and sweat rate (SR, ventilated capsule) were continuously measured at four forearm skin sites. In protocol I, each forearm skin site was continuously perfused via intradermal microdialysis with either: 1) lactated Ringer’s serving as a control (Control); 2) 10 mM NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a non-selective NO synthase inhibitor; 3) 10 mM ascorbate (Ascorbate), a non-selective antioxidant or 4) a combination of 10 mM ascorbate and 10 mM L-NAME (L-NAME + Ascorbate). In protocol II, the Ascorbate and L-NAME + Ascorbate skin sites were replaced with 5 mM Nω-hydroxy-nor-Arginine + 5 mM S-(2-boronoethyl)-L-cysteine to inhibit arginase activity (Nor-NOHA+BEC) and 1 µM sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor (SNP). In the young adults during protocol I, CVC was reduced relative to Control at L-NAME (both P<0.01) and L-NAME + Ascorbate (both P≤0.03) but similar to Control at Ascorbate (both P≥0.26). In the older adults, CVC was reduced from Control during both exercise bouts at L-NAME (both P≤0.02) but not Ascorbate (both P≥0.09) or L-NAME + Ascorbate (both P≥0.15). While L-NAME (both P<0.04) and L-NAME + Ascorbate (both P<0.04) attenuated SR in the younger adults during exercise (no effect of Ascorbate; both P≥0.36), no differences between Control and any treatment site were observed in the older adults (P=0.42). However, correlational analysis revealed a moderate negative correlation between between VO2peak and the change in SR from control at the Ascorbate site during both exercise bouts (-0.55≤r≤-0.54; both P=0.02) exercise. Furthermore, the change in SR from Control at L-NAME + Ascorbate was also found to be negatively correlated with VO2peak in the second (r=-0.54; P=0.02) but not first (r=-0.42; P=0.08) exercise bout. In protocol II, CVC was reduced from Control at L-NAME in the young and older adults during both (both P<0.01) and the first (P=0.05) exercise bout, respectively. Furthermore, SR was reduced from Control in the young (both P≤0.03) but not older (P=0.28) adults at the L-NAME skin site. However, no influence of Nor-NOHA+BEC or SNP was observed in either age group for both CVC (all P≥0.38) and SR (P=0.28). This thesis demonstrates that age-related increases in oxidative stress influence cutaneous vasodilation during exercise via mechanisms independent of NO. Furthermore, the current findings suggest an effect of oxidative stress on NO-independent SR in older adults but that secondary factors (i.e., aerobic fitness and/or physical activity level) may play a modulatory role. Finally, the results of this thesis demonstrate that, during exercise in the heat, neither elevated arginase activity nor changes in the sensitivity of the thermoregulatory end-organs to NO effect the CVC and SR responses in older adults.

Two problems were examined with respect to the influence of various preliminary warm-up procedures upon accuracy as measured by the basketball free throw; first, the hypothesis that scores following a related warm-up will be higher than scores without a warm-up or scores following an unrelated warm-up; second, that there will be no significant difference between performance following an unrelated warm-up and performance without preliminary warm-up exercise. Ten highly skilled basketball players were selected to serve as subjects in the experiment. Each player was tested nine times, three times after each of the conditions of (a) no warm-up, (b) related warm-up, and (c) unrelated warm-up. The order of the experimental conditions was rotated to balance out possible learning effects and to minimize the error that might be caused by systematic sequence of testing. Results indicated that the related warm-up was significantly more effective in producing better shooting scores than either the unrelated warm-up or shooting without a preliminary warming-up. Secondly, there was no significant difference between scores obtained without a warm-up and scores made following an unrelated warm-up. It was concluded that where a related warm-up is at all possible this method is recommended over the unrelated warm-up and no warm-up to facilitate an increase in basketball free throw accuracy. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The significance of the difference between the group mean scores in each item was determined using Fisher’s t statistic at the 5 per cent level of confidence. The results indicate that the Control group improved significantly in all the Vitalometer items in amounts similar to the mean improvements of the exercise groups. It was concluded that influences other than training effects were responsible for the changes in the Vitalometer test scores. The variables therefore, were of no further interest for this study. The Bonne Santé group evidenced significant improvements in the Heartometer Resting Pulse Rate (this improvement, however, was based on data which appeared to be unreliable and thus suspect)', the Area Under The Curve-Sitting, the Sitting and Standing Systolic Amplitudes, the Two Minute Recovery Pulse Count Post 24 Steps Per Minute. The Rhythmic Gym group showed significant improvements in the Area Under The Curve-Sitting, and the Sitting Systolic Amplitude. The separate training regimens followed by each of the experimental groups were considered to be of insufficient frequency and intensity to produce uniform and physiologically important improvements in the cardiovascular and respiratory fitness levels of the subjects. The Bonne Santé group showed greater relative improvement in fitness partly because the members tended to be less fit initially than the subjects in the Rhythmic Gym group, and partly because they spent more hours in exercise each week. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an endurance exercise program on a group of middle-aged men. Ten subjects were tested before and after seventeen weeks of endurance training at The University of British Columbia using five tests, three of which were tests of cardiovascular condition. The tests used are as follows: 1. Schneider Test Variables are: lying pulse rate, standing pulse rate, post-exercise pulse rate, time for pulse rate to return to standing value, difference between pulse rate lying to standing, and standing to post-exercise difference, lying systolic blood pressure, standing systolic blood pressure, the difference between lying and standing systolic blood pressure and Schneider index score. 2. Progressive Pulse Ratio Variables are: recovery pulse counts for rates of 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36 steps per minute, average ratio and average angle. 3. Pulse Pressure Wave. (Brachial Sphygmograph) Variables are: A. Sitting area under the curve, systolic amplitude, dicrotic notch amplitude, fatigue ratio, diastolic amplitude, rest-to-work ratio, obliquity angle, systolic time, diastolic time, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and pulse pressure. B. Standing area under the curve, pulse rate, systolic amplitude, difference between sitting and standing systolic amplitude. C. Post-Exercise systolic amplitude 4. Body Fat Measurements Variables are: cheek fold, abdominal fold, hip fold, front thigh fold, gluteal fold, rear thigh fold, sum of all and average. 5. Body Weight Significant changes at the .05 level of confidence occurred in ten variables of forty-four used in this study. A significant reduction in body fat at the .05 level of confidence occurred in the abdominal fold, front thigh fold, gluteal fold, sum of all and average of all, though a reduction in body weight was not significant at the .05 level of confidence. Sitting pulse rate, sitting systolic blood pressure, standing airea under the curve and standing pulse rate of the Pulse Pressure Wave were significant at the .05 level of confidence. One variable of the Schneider Test - time for the pulse to return to standing value - was significant at the .05 level of confidence. No significant changes occurred in the Progressive Pulse Ratio Test variables. Only three correlation co-efficients were of sufficient size to be considered significantly different from zero. These were the co-efficients of correlation between attendance and average pulse ratio, front thigh fat fold and rear thigh fat fold. Although only five of thirty-five cardiovascular variables showed statistically significant improvements, the members of the group stated that their tolerance to the stress of the endurance exercise program had improved. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

L’objectif de notre étude était de mesurer l’influence d’une supplémentation de 6 semaines en oméga 3 (600 mg EPA et 400 mg DHA par jour) pris seul ou en association avec un antioxydant vitaminique (30 mg vitamine E, 60 mg vitamine C et 6 mg β- carotène par jour), sur l’évolution des paramètres oxydants, antioxydants et lipidiques de judokas (n = 37). Les sujets ont aléatoirement été répartis en trois groupes: placebo, oméga 3, ou oméga 3 et antioxydant. Des prélèvements sanguins ont été collectés avant et après un entrainement de judo, réalisé avant et après une période de supplémentation. Nous avons analysé: la lag phase, le taux maximum d’oxydation (Rmax) et la quantité maximale (CDmax) des diènes conjugués, l’oxyde nitrique (NO), les malondialdéhydes (MDA), les peroxydes lipidiques (LOOH), les α-tocophérol, le rétinol, le profil lipidique au niveau sanguin, et l’activité de la glutathion peroxydase au niveau salivaire. L’alimentation des sujets a été contrôlée au moyen de registres alimentaires de 7 jours. Une interaction significative entre la supplémentation et le temps (p < .01) a été notée avec les triglycérides, qui ont diminué au repos tout comme à l’effort. Une interaction significative entre la supplémentation et le temps (p < .05) a également été constatée par une élévation des valeurs de repos en MDA, LOOH et Rmax dans le groupe oméga 3, alors qu’aucun changement n’a été observé dans le groupe placebo. Avec l’exercice, nous avons observé une augmentation significativement supérieure des NO et de la peroxydation lipidique (MDA, Rmax, CDmax, LOOH) dans le groupe oméga 3 par rapport au placebo. L’addition de l’antioxydant aux omégas 3 n’est pas parvenue à prévenir la formation de produits de l’oxydation au repos, mais elle a contribué à la diminution significative de la peroxydation lipidique (LOOH, CDmax, Rmax et MDA) après l’entrainement de judo, et à l’augmentation significative du rétinol et des α-tocophérols au repos tout comme après l’entrainement. / The purpose of this study was to measure the influence of 6 wk of omega 3 (600 mg EPA and 400 mg DHA per day) supplementation alone or in association with an antioxidant (30 mg vitamin E, 60 mg vitamin C and 6 mg β carotene per day) on resting and exercise-induced alteration in oxidation, antioxidant status and lipids in judoists (n = 37). Subjects were randomly assigned to three groups: placebo, omega 3, or omega 3 and antioxidant. Blood samples were collected in preexercise and postexercise conditions (judo-training session), both before and after the supplementation period. The following parameters were analyzed: α-tocopherol, retinol, lag phase , maximum rate of oxidation (Rmax), maximum amount of conjugated dienes (CDmax), nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), lipoperoxides (LOOH) concentrations, salivary glutathione peroxidase activity, and the lipid profile. Dietary data were collected using a 7-day dietary record. A significant interaction effect between supplementation and time (p < .01) on triglycerides was noted at rest and after exercise, with resting values significantly lower in the omega 3 group after supplementation than in the placebo group. Significant interaction effects between supplementation and time (p < .05) on resting MDA, LOOH concentrations and Rmax were found, with elevated values in the omega 3 group after supplementation and no change in the placebo group’s levels. The authors observed a significantly greater NO and lipid peroxidation (MDA, Rmax, CDmax, LOOH) increase with exercise in the omega 3 group than with placebo. The addition of antioxidants did not prevent the formation of oxidation products at rest. On the contrary, it seems that the combination of antioxidants added to the omega 3 supplements led to a decrease in LOOH, CDmax, Rmax and MDA concentrations after a judo training session. With the addition of antioxidants, the retinol and α-tocopherol significantly increased at rest and after the training session.

Several elite and recreational athletes experience an increase in airway resistance following physical exertion. Warm-up prior to exercise has been suggested as a non-invasive means of reducing or eliminating this condition. To determine the effect of warm-up on post-exercise bronchoconstriction, twelve moderately trained exercise-induced asthmatics (age = 26.5 yrs; ht. = 169.2 cm; wt. = 64.3 kg; VO₂ max = 52.5ml.kg⁻¹ .min⁻¹; PC20 = 1.00 mg.ml⁻¹) were tested under three experimental conditions. Continuous warm-up (CW) consisted of 15 minutes of treadmill running at a velocity corresponding to 60% VO₂ max followed by an exercise-challenge test (ET= 6 minutes at 90% VO₂ max). The interval warm-up (IW) involved 8 x 30 second sprints at an intensity equivalent to 100% V0₂ max (1.5 minutes rest between sprints), followed by an ET. The no warm-up (NW) involved only the ET, and acted as the control. FEV₁⋅₀ , FVC, and MMEFR were measured via the Breon spirometer prior to warm-up (CW and IW), ET, and every 2 minutes during a 25 minute passive recovery period. Post-exercise bronchoconstriction was taken as the largest decrease in %FEV₁⋅₀, %FVC, and %MMEFR during the recovery period. Significant differences were detected in %FEV₁⋅₀ (34.6, 50.0, 30.0: p = 0.009); %FVC (16.7, 30.2, 10.7: p = 0.05); and %MMEFR ((29.7, 43.4, 21.0: p = 0.03), in comparing NW, CW, and IW, respectively. A Scheffe's test detected significance (p<0.05) between NW and CW for all 3 dependent variables. No significance between NW and IW or IW and CW occurred. This data indicates that a continuous warm-up of 15 minutes at 60% V0₂ max can significantly decrease post-exercise bronchoconstriction in moderately trained athletes. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate