N/A / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Coupled with normal age-related regression in muscle mass, adults with cognitive impairment are at high risk for exacerbated declines in muscle strength, associated psychological well-being, and overall independence. Working from the environmental press model, a 12-week strength training intervention was designed to both support participants' continuing abilities and meet varied needs. Tailoring the environment helps optimize participation, which is essential if participants are to experience the greatest possible gains from a group-based exercise program. The intervention was a group-based, progressive strength training program designed specifically for adults with dementia at two dementia care centers. The exercises were performed three times each week and the sessions were led by the centers' activities leaders. Participants used hand-held barbells when performing the upper-body exercises. Findings indicated that individuals retain the capability to enhance their own quality of life through active participation in a therapeutic intervention. This is illustrated by the consistent effort of exercising participants to perform appropriately during the exercise intervention. Not only were adults able to demonstrate effort to appropriately participate, but the intervention supported high levels of correct performance of the exercise repetitions which is important for achieving physical gains. Exercisers did not experience improvement in physical abilities nor did they significantly differ at posttest from non-exercising participants in measures of physical ability and function or quality of life. The program was deemed to be a feasible intervention for adults with dementia as indicated by both regular participant attendance at the program sessions and high levels of effort to engage appropriately in the exercises. Due to the lack of opportunities for adults with dementia to participate in stimulating or meaningful activities, and the individuals' susceptibility to excess disability, the strength training program is a viable intervention to incorporate into the regular activities programming at dementia care centers. Future research should utilize the progress made by this study to continue exploring the environmental variables that most greatly affect the participation of adults with dementia, as well as outcome measurements that best capture important effects of participation in exercise for these individuals. / Ph. D.

Prediabetes is associated with an elevated risk for developing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and associated cardiovascular complications. Lifestyle factors such as physical activity (PA) and dietary intake are strongly implicated in the development of metabolic disease, yet few Americans meet PA and dietary recommendations. Middle-aged and older adults are at increased risk for developing prediabetes and T2DM due to age-related muscle loss, increased fat mass, and alterations in glucose handling. In addition, this segment of the population is least likely to meet PA guidelines, particularly the resistance training (RT) recommendation of completing a whole body routine 2x/week. Ideally, individuals would alter their lifestyle in order to meet PA guidelines and habitually consume a healthy diet, to decrease disease risk. However, behavior change is difficult and optimal strategies to promote and maintain changes have yet to be determined. Furthermore, behavior change interventions tend to be time-, cost-, and resource-intensive, limiting the ability for efficacious programs to be translated into community settings and broadly disseminated. Evidence suggests that health-related behaviors, particularly diet and exercise habits, tend to cluster together. Thus, intervening on one behavior (e.g. PA) may elicit a spillover effect, promoting alterations in other behaviors (e.g. diet), though findings to date are conflicting. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine if participation in a social cognitive theory-based RT program targeting the initiation and maintenance of RT exerts a spillover effect and is associated with alterations in dietary intake and/or non-RT PA in a population at risk for T2DM. Data from the 15-month Resist Diabetes study was analyzed to evaluate this possibility. Sedentary, overweight/obese (BMI 25-39.9 kg/m2 ), middle-aged and older (50 -69 years) adults with prediabetes (impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance) completed a 3 month initiation phase where they RT 2x/week in a lab-gym with an ACSM-certified personal trainer. Participants then completed a 6-month faded contact maintenance phase, and a 6-month no-contact phase during which they were to continue RT on their own in a public facility. No advice or encouragement was given to participants to alter dietary intake or non-RT PA habits. At baseline, and months 3, 9, and 15, three non-consecutive 24-hour diet recalls were collected to evaluate dietary intake and quality, the Aerobics Institute Longitudinal Study Questionnaire was completed to evaluate non-RT PA, and body mass, body composition, and strength (3 repetition maximum on leg and chest press) were measured. At months 3, 9, and 15 social cognitive theory (SCT) constructs were assessed with a RT Health Beliefs Questionnaire. In the first study, dietary intake was assessed at baseline and after 3 months of RT. Using paired sample t-tests, reductions in intake of energy (1914 ± 40 kcal vs. 1834 ± 427 kcal, p = 0.010), carbohydrate (211.6 ± 4.9 g vs. 201.7 ± 5.2 g, p = 0.015), total sugar (87.4 ± 2.7 g vs. 81.5 ± 3.1 g, p = 0.030), glycemic load (113.4 ± 3.0 vs. 108.1 ±3.2, p= 0.031), fruits and vegetables (4.6±0.2 servings vs. 4.1±0.2 servings, p= 0.018), and sweets and desserts (1.1 ± 0.07 servings vs. 0.89 ± 0.07 servings, p = 0.023) were detected from baseline to month 3. No changes in other dietary intake variables were observed. These findings supported additional investigation in this area. The second study assessed changes in overall diet quality (Healthy Eating Index [HEI]-2010 scores) and non-RT PA over the initiation, maintenance, and no-contact phases using mixed effects models. Demographic, physiological, and psychosocial factors that may predict alterations to diet quality and non-RT PA were also explored. Energy and carbohydrate intake decreased with RT (β= -87.9, p=.015 and β= -16.3, p<.001, respectively). No change in overall dietary quality (HEI-2010 score: β= -0.13, p=.722) occurred, but alterations in HEI-2010 sub-scores were detected. Maintenance of RT was accompanied by an increase in MET-min/week of total non-RT PA (β=153.5, p=0.01), which was predicted by increased self-regulation for RT (β=78.1, p=0.03). RT may be a gateway behavior leading to improvements in other health-related behaviors among adults with prediabetes. These results support the use of singlecomponent vs. multi-component interventions. This may have broad translational potential for the development of time-, resource-, and cost-efficient lifestyle interventions which can improve multiple health-related behaviors and decrease disease risk. / Ph. D.

Yes / The ability of skeletal muscle to adapt to eccentric contractions has been suggested to be blunted in older muscle. If eccentric exercise is to be a safe and efficient training mode for older adults, preclinical studies need to establish if older muscle can effectively adapt and if not, determine the molecular signatures that are causing this impairment. The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent age impacts functional adaptations of muscle and identify genetic signatures associated with adaptation (or lack thereof). The anterior crural muscles of young (4 mo) and older (28 mo) female mice performed repeated bouts of eccentric contractions in vivo (50 contractions/wk for 5 wk) and isometric torque was measured across the initial and final bouts. Transcriptomics was completed by RNA-sequencing 1 wk following the fifth bout to identify common and differentially regulated genes. When torques post eccentric contractions were compared after the first and fifth bouts, young muscle exhibited a robust ability to adapt, increasing isometric torque 20%-36%, whereas isometric torque of older muscle decreased up to 18% (P ≤ 0.047). Using differential gene expression, young and older muscles shared some common transcriptional changes in response to eccentric exercise training, whereas other transcripts appeared to be age dependent. That is, the ability to express particular genes after repeated bouts of eccentric contractions was not the same between ages. These molecular signatures may reveal, in part, why older muscles do not appear to be as adaptive to exercise training as young muscles.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The ability to adapt to exercise training may help prevent and combat sarcopenia. Here, we demonstrate young mouse muscles get stronger whereas older mouse muscles become weaker after repeated bouts of eccentric contractions, and that numerous genes were differentially expressed between age groups following training. These results highlight that molecular and functional plasticity is not fixed in skeletal muscle with advancing age, and the ability to handle or cope with physical stress may be impaired. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 1 Nov 2024.

Abstract    Aim    The main purpose of this study was to investigate Cross Education (CE), and how gender, detraining and leg dominance affects CE in previously untrained subjects when conducting a unilateral resistance training program. We also investigated if unilateral resistance training can give a hypertrophic response.    Method   Twenty healthy previously untrained individuals, 10 females and 10 males, were recruited as volunteer participants. The participants were randomly assigned to train either left or right leg. The training intervention was 10 weeks (34 sessions) of unilateral resistance training in the leg press and leg extension, sixteen of the participants fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. After two initial familiarization the participants trained conventional resistance training three times a week (week 1-3, 5-7 and 9-10) and Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFRT) five times a week (week 4 and 8). One repetition maximum for both legs in the leg press and leg extension was tested pre-, post and post20 to the training intervention as well as ultrasound measurements of muscle thickness.   Results    The ten-week training period resulted in a significant increase of maximal strength for the untrained leg 18,9 %, (16,6) (p &lt; 0,01) in the leg press and 6,7 %, (3,7) (p &lt; 0,05) in the leg extension. When comparisons between gender were made only men had a significant increase 26,5 %, (16,7) (p &lt; 0,01) in the leg press and 9,9 %, (4,7) (p &lt; 0,05) in the leg extension. Also, we saw a significant difference between women and men on a group level. Comparisons of dominant vs non-dominant leg showed that training the dominant leg resulted in a significant increase of maximal strength in the untrained leg in both the leg press 22 %, (17,9) (p &lt; 0,01) and leg extension 10,1 %, (4,3) (p &lt; 0,05). The maximal strength in the untrained leg was not significantly altered by the detraining period and a significant increase of muscle thickness could be seen in the untrained leg at MP50 4,7 %, (1,3) (p &lt; 0,01).   Conclusion    The conclusions are that a ten week unilateral resistance training intervention results in a CE effect for men but not for women and that this type of training also can result in an increased muscle thickness in the untrained leg. Our findings also supports that training the dominant limb has superior effect on achieving a CE effect. Lastly we conclude that a twenty week detraining period did not affect the CE achieved strength. / Abstrakt    Syfte     Studiens huvudsakliga syfte var att undersöka Cross Education (CE) och hur kön, viloperiod och ben-dominans påverkar CE hos otränade individer när man undergår ett unilateralt styrketräningsprogram. Vi undersökte även om ett unilateral styrketräning kunde ge ett hypertrofisvar.    Metod    Tjugo friska otränade och för närvarande inaktiva individer, tio kvinnor och tio män rekryterades som frivilliga deltagare. Deltagarna randomiserades för att träna antingen vänster eller höger ben. Träningsperioden var tio veckor (trettiofyra pass) av unilateral styrketräning i benpress och benspark, sexton deltagare uppfyllde kriterierna för inkludering. Två initiala familjäriseringspass hölls varefter träningen delades in i två typer av träning, dels konventionell styrketräning tre gånger i veckan (vecka 1-3, 5-7 och 9-10) och dels Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFRT) fem gånger i veckan (vecka 4 och 8). Före, efter och efter tjugo veckor testades one repetition maximum för båda benen i benpress och benspark samt att ultraljudsmätningar för muskeltjocklek utfördes.     Resultat    Den tio veckor långa träningsperioden resulterade i en signifikant ökning av den maximala styrkan för det otränade benet 18,9 % (16,6) (p &lt; 0,010) i benpressen och 6,7 % (3,7) (p &lt; 0,050) i bensparken. När jämförelser gjordes mellan könen så hade enbart män en signifikant ökning, 26,5 % (16,7) (p &lt; 0,010) i benpressen och 9,9 % (4,7) (p &lt; 0,050) i bensparken. Vi fann även att det var en signifikant skillnad mellan kvinnor och män på gruppnivå.   Jämförelser mellan dominant och icke-dominant ben visade att träning av det dominanta benet resulterade i en signifikant styrkeökning i både benpress 22 % (17,9) (p &lt; 0,010) och benspark 10,1 % (4,3) (p &lt; 0,050). Den maximala styrkan i det otränade benet påverkades inte signifikant av en viloperiod och en signifikant ökning i muskeltjocklek kunde ses i det otränade benet i MP50 4,7 % (1,3) (p &lt; 0,010)    Konklusion    Slutsatserna är att en tio veckors unilateral styrketräningsintervention resulterar i en CE effekt hos män men inte hos kvinnor, och att denna typ av träning kan resultera i en ökad muskeltjocklek i det otränade benet. Våra fynd styrker att träning av den dominanta lemmen har större effekt på CE. Slutligen drar vi slutsatsen att en tjugo veckors viloperiod inte påverkar CE-styrkan.

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The involvement of youth in the sport of weightlifting and the use of weightlifting methods as part of training for youth sport performance appears to be increasing. Weightlifting for children and adolescents has been criticized in some circles and is a controversial aspect of resistance training for young people. Although injuries can occur during weightlifting and related activities, the incidence and rate of injury appear to be relatively low and severe injury is uncommon. A number of performance, physical, and physiological variables, such as body composition, strength, and power, are improved by weightlifting training in children, adolescents, and young athletes. Manipulating program variables, when appropriate, can have a substantial and profound influence on the psychological, physiological, physical, and performance aspects of weightlifters. An understanding of the sport, scientific training principles, and musculoskeletal growth development is necessary to properly construct a reasonable and appropriate training program. A scientific background aids in providing an evidenced basis and sound rationale in selecting appropriate methods and directing adaptations toward more specific goals and enables the coach to make choices about training and competition that might not otherwise be possible. If weightlifting training and competition are age group appropriate and are properly supervised, the sport can be substantially safe and efficacious.

Bakgrund: Övervikt och fetma är ett folkhälsoproblem som sprider sig alltmer i samhället. Vida diskuterat och efterforskat så uppstår nya metoder konstant för att förhindra denna spridning. Den mängd med olika träningsformer och dieter som finns kan anses vara oändlig. I denna litteraturöversikt undersöks en träningsform, styrketräning, om denna kan vara en metod att hjälpa förhindra ytterligare spridning av övervikt och fetma. Syfte: Syftet med den här litteraturöversikten är att beskriva effekten av styrketräning som medel för viktminskning. Effekten av både styrketräning som enskild faktor och styrketräning i kombination med förbättrade kostvanor och konditionsträning kommer beskrivas. Metod: Metoden är en litteraturöversikt där tidigare forskning används för att uppnå syftet med studien. 10 artiklar har analyserats och sammanställts för att uppnå syftet.Resultat: I enstaka studier visade styrketräning ingen effekt alls i syftet att uppnå viktminskning, dock i majoriteten av artiklarna påvisades positiva resultat, ofta jämlika med andra populära träningsformer såsom konditionsträning. Bästa resultaten i syfte att uppnå viktminskning uppnåddes då styrketräning kombinerades med konditionsträning och ändrade kostvanor. Dessa resultat var dock oftast endast marginellt bättre än när de olika träningsmetoderna utfördes enskilt.Slutsats: Styrketräning som medel för viktminskning är ofta jämlikt med konditionsträning som är en av de vanligare träningsformerna för att uppnå viktminskning. Större effekt uppstår om dessa träningsmetoder kombineras med varandra och med ändrade kostvanor. Att kombinera konditionsträning med styrketräning kan vara ett starkt komplement för bryta ett monotont träningsmönster och öka motivationen. / Background: Overweight and obesity is a public health problem that is spreading in our society. Being greatly discussed and researched there is new methods being developed constantly in an attempt to hinder the spreading. The vast amount of different training programs and diets can seem endless. In this literature review a form of training, resistance training, is examined if it can be a method of hindering the spread of overweight and obesity. Aim: The aim of this literature review is to describe the effect of resistance training as a mean to achieve weight loss. The effect of both resistance training alone and resistance training combined with aerobic training and changed dietary habits will be described. Method: The method is a literature review where previous research is examined to achieve the aim of this literature review. Results: In some few articles there was no sign of any effect on weight loss using resistance training, although, in the majority of the articles there were positive results, often equal those of the more popular forms of training such as aerobic training. The best results for the cause of achieving weight loss were shown when resistance training was combined with aerobic training and changed dietary habits. These results were however only marginally better than when the different methods of training were performed individually. Conclusion: Resistance training as a mean to achieve weight loss is often equal to theuse of aerobic training, which is one of the more popular methods of training to achieve weight loss.The greatest effect is given if these training methods are combined with each other and with changed dietary habits. Combining aerobic training with resistance training can be a strong complement to break a monotonous training habit and increasing the motivation.

Bakgrund: Fotboll är en sport som präglas av knäskador, muskelbristningar och stukningar. Mycket fokus ligger kring hur man på bästa sätt kan undvika och förebygga att ens främsta resurs, spelarna, undviker att bli skadade och på bästa sätt kan producera resultat för klubben de tillhör. Studier har visat på att skadeprevalens är något som ökar i och med en ökad träningsmängd och att många skador är en följd av både muskelsvaghet och fel sorts träning. Många av dessa undersökningar menar på att man i dagsläget tränar fel och att träningen mer måste fokuseras på de fysiska krav som ställs inom den idrott man utövar, i detta fall fotboll. Syfte: Syftet med denna undersökning har varit att se om det finns någon korrelation mellan typ av träning, träningsmängd och skadeprevalens inom herrfotboll. Metod: Studiens syfte har besvarats med hjälp av en strukturerad enkät som skickats ut via en web-länk till aktivt fotbollspelande män. Undersökningen har involverat 100 respondenter från olika divisioner. All data som samlats in har analyserats i statistikprogrammet SPSS. Resultat: Resultatet som framkom visade på att det enbart fanns en signifikant korrelation mellan hur mycket respondenterna tränade styrketräning på egen hand och hur ofta de var skadade (P = 0,02). Diskussion/Slutsats: Det spelar ingen roll hur mycket man tränar kollektivt samt hur pass mycket man tränar kondition på egen hand när det handlar om skadeprevention. Det som visade sig signifikant var att skadeprevalensen minskade linjärt med en förhöjd individuell styrketräningsdos. / Background: Soccer is a sport that´s characterized by knee-injuries, muscle-strains and sprains. There´s a lot of time and energy being spent on preventing your most important resource, the players, from being injured and keeping them on the field, so that they can produce results for the club.  Previous studies have shown that injuries occur more often due to an increased training-dosage and that most of the injuries occur due to muscle-weakness and improper training. Many of these studies are arguing that teams need to change how they conduct their training and that they need to be more specific to the sport, in this case soccer. Objective: The purpose of this survey was to see if there´s a correlation between what you´re training, how much you´re training and the prevalence of injury in male soccer. Method: This has been done using a structured questionnaire (survey) that’s been shared using a web-link that’s been sent out to active soccer-playing men. The study has consisted of 100 soccer-players from different divisions. All the data has been processed in the statistical program SPSS. Results: The results only showed significant correlations between how often the players trained individual strength-training and the prevalence of injury (P = 0,02). Discussion/conclusion: The results showed that there wasn’t any significant correlation between how often you train collectively ore how often you train cardio by yourself. The only significant result showed that there was a linear correlation between the prevalence of injury and how often you do individual resistance training.

Aim Aerobic exercise may interfere with subsequent responses to strength training. The aim of this research was to examine the acute effects of cycling or running on subsequent leg strength performance. It was hypothesized that eccentric contractions induced by running would impair strength performance more than the cycling mode of exercise, which consist mainly of concentric muscle actions. Method In order to investigate if continuous running or cycling affected following strength performance, 6 healthy individuals (5 males, 1 female) were subjected to a randomized cross-over design. Subject characteristics were age (year) 25,5 ± 2,1, height (cm) 180,5 ± 6,4, and body weight (kg) 83 ± 3,4. The experimental sessions included three protocols: strength protocol (S) which included 3 repetitions measuring peak power followed by 3 sets to muscular failure at 80% of 1RM in the squat exercise; and continuous running (RS) and cycling (CS) conditions (40 minutes at 80% of maximal heart rate), followed by the S protocol. Peak power performance and total work volume was measured. Results Average peak power attained between the three protocols were CS = 1639± 444Watts (W), RS = 1633± 422 and S = 1565 ± 349. No significant differences were observed between the three conditions (P = 0,817). No differences across the three protocols was observed for highest peak power attained by each subject (P = 0,619). Total work volume performed (main effect P = 0,027) revealed a significant difference between CS = 2559 kg and S = 3715 kg (P=0,037), and CS and RS = 3345 kg (P=0,037) due to the lower loads lifted in CS.  Conclusions There were no differences observed between the three training protocols regarding peak power performance. When cycling exercise was performed prior to the strength session, the total volume lifted was lower than when performing the strength test alone. Thus, it is concluded that cycling exercise, but not running, interferes with subsequent strength training performance. / Syfte och frågeställningar Uthållighetsträning kan leda till försämrad styrkeprestation. Syftet med denna forskning var att undersöka de akuta effekterna från cykling eller löpning på efterföljande benstyrka. Hypotesen var att löpning, som omfattar excentriska muskelaktioner, skulle leda till en större försämring av efterföljande styrkeprestation jämfört med cyking, som främst omfattar koncentriska muskelaktioner. Metod För att undersöka om kontinuerlig cykling och löpning påverkade efterföljande benprestation, undersöktes 6 deltagare (5 män, 1 kvinna) i en randomiserad cross-over design. Försökspersonernas karakteristika var ålder (år) 25,5 ± 2,1, längd (cm) 180,5 ± 6,4, vikt (kg) 83 ± 3,4. Försökspersonerna utförde tre experimentella protokoll: styrka (S), vilket bestod av 3 repetitioner av maximal kraftutveckling efterföljt av 3 set till muskulär utmattning på 80% av 1RM i benböj; och löpning (RS) samt cykling (CS) protokoll (40-minuter på 80% av maximal hjärtfrekvens), efterföljt av S protokollet. Data för maximal kraftutveckling och total arbetsvolym samlades in.  Resultat Den genomsnittliga maximala effekten som uppnåddes mellan de tre protokollen var: CS = 1639 ± 444 Watt (W), RS = 1633 ± 422W och S = 1565 ± 349W. Inga signifikanta skillnader observerades mellan de tre förhållandena (P=0,817). Högst uppnådda effekten för varje deltagare mellan de tre förhållandena visade ingen skillnad (P=0,619). Totala arbetsvolymen (tidseffekt: P=0,027) visade signifikanta skillnader mellan CS = 2559 kg och S = 3715 kg (P=0,037), och CS och RS = 3345 kg (P=0,037) på grund av lägre vikt lyft vid CS. Slutsats Ingen skillnad observerades mellan de tre förhållandena angående maximal styrkeprestation. Den totala vikt volymen som kunde lyftas var dock lägre när cykling utfördes innan styrketestet. Slutsatsen är därför att cykling, men inte löpning, hindrar maximal träningsprestation vid ett efterföljande styrkepass.