Ageing is associated with a decline in health. Physical activity is known to attenuate this decline; however a large amount of the general population does not participate in the recommended amount of physical activity. Time is reported in middle-aged and elderly populations as a major barrier to exercise participation. Therefore time-efficient and effective exercise paradigms are required to encourage engagement in physical activity, improve health and reduce the risk of disease. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential of using high intensity training (HIT) as an exercise paradigm to promote optimal ageing. Seventy seven participants (age range 35-75 years) were recruited to take part in HIT protocols consisting of 10 x 6 second sprints interspersed with a minimum of 1 minute recovery. Prior to taking part in the training participants underwent a series of baseline measures which included physical function tests, predicted aerobic capacity, oral glucose tolerance test, fasting lipid profile, body composition and blood pressure. After 6-10 week of training, participants were retested to determine the effectiveness of HIT. Following 6, 8 or 10 weeks of HIT, physical function was significantly improved by 9-29% in both middle aged and elderly populations. Aerobic capacity was increased by 10.5% in middle aged participants and by 5.1-8.7% in elderly participants. Blood glucose clearance, as assessed by area under the curve, was decreased by 6% in the middle aged participants and 4.2-17% in the elderly population. Systolic blood pressure was unchanged in the middle aged participants but was reduced by 5.4-8% in the elderly participants. Following 10 weeks of HIT, circulating lipid profile was significantly improved in the elderly by 11-25.9%. These improvements are speculated to be a result of HIT-induced adaptations in skeletal muscle mitochondrial, cardiac, vascular and metabolic function. Very short duration sprints provide rapid improvements in various aspects of health and could be utilised to promote optimal ageing.

<p>Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka huruvida en stor andel av intensiva grenspecifika pass utvecklade den aeroba kapaciteten hos motionärer som tränar inför Vasaloppet. Två testmetoder användes; ett maximalt laktattest på rullskidor utomhus och ett maximalt cykeltest på en cykelergometer inomhus. En utav fp genomförde ett tidstest på rullskidor på en given sträcka istället för laktattestet. Båda testerna genomfördes före och efter en 11-veckors träningsperiod som bestod av 41 procent medel- och högintensiva pass som genomfördes grenspecifikt. Det betyder intervaller på rullskidor eller i skidgång samt snabbdistanspass på rullskidor. Övriga 59 procent av träningspassen genomfördes på en lågintensiv nivå, vilket är mindre än de 70-80 procent som normalt förespråkas för en uthållighetsidrottare. 4 försökspersoner (fp) på motionsnivå deltog (4 män och 1 kvinna). Fp 3 förbättrade prestationen markant med 20 procent genom en minskning av blodlaktatkoncentrationer vid givna hjärtfrekvenser (HR), sålunda en förbättring av dels den aeroba laktattröskeln (LT) som den anaeroba laktattröskeln (AT). Fp 4 förbättrade prestationen med 15 procent genom att åka den givna sträckan under tidstestet på en snabbare tid vid andra tillfället. Fp 2 avverkade en 500m längre sträcka under andra rullskidtestet och förbättrade på så sätt sin prestation med 10 procent, fp fick dock en försämring av AT och hade högre blodlaktatkoncentrationer vid andra testtillfället. Fp 1 förbättrade LT men försämrade AT. Sammanfattningsvis, visar studien att ett 11-veckors träningsprogram bestående av mycket grenspecifik träning på högre intensiteter ledde till en klar prestationsförbättring hos två av fp, gällande alla parametrar som testades. De övriga två fp uppvisade vissa förbättringar men högre laktatkoncentrationer vid några mättillfällen.</p>

Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka huruvida en stor andel av intensiva grenspecifika pass utvecklade den aeroba kapaciteten hos motionärer som tränar inför Vasaloppet. Två testmetoder användes; ett maximalt laktattest på rullskidor utomhus och ett maximalt cykeltest på en cykelergometer inomhus. En utav fp genomförde ett tidstest på rullskidor på en given sträcka istället för laktattestet. Båda testerna genomfördes före och efter en 11-veckors träningsperiod som bestod av 41 procent medel- och högintensiva pass som genomfördes grenspecifikt. Det betyder intervaller på rullskidor eller i skidgång samt snabbdistanspass på rullskidor. Övriga 59 procent av träningspassen genomfördes på en lågintensiv nivå, vilket är mindre än de 70-80 procent som normalt förespråkas för en uthållighetsidrottare. 4 försökspersoner (fp) på motionsnivå deltog (4 män och 1 kvinna). Fp 3 förbättrade prestationen markant med 20 procent genom en minskning av blodlaktatkoncentrationer vid givna hjärtfrekvenser (HR), sålunda en förbättring av dels den aeroba laktattröskeln (LT) som den anaeroba laktattröskeln (AT). Fp 4 förbättrade prestationen med 15 procent genom att åka den givna sträckan under tidstestet på en snabbare tid vid andra tillfället. Fp 2 avverkade en 500m längre sträcka under andra rullskidtestet och förbättrade på så sätt sin prestation med 10 procent, fp fick dock en försämring av AT och hade högre blodlaktatkoncentrationer vid andra testtillfället. Fp 1 förbättrade LT men försämrade AT. Sammanfattningsvis, visar studien att ett 11-veckors träningsprogram bestående av mycket grenspecifik träning på högre intensiteter ledde till en klar prestationsförbättring hos två av fp, gällande alla parametrar som testades. De övriga två fp uppvisade vissa förbättringar men högre laktatkoncentrationer vid några mättillfällen.

Bakgrund: Kvinnor tränar mer nu än tidigare och många av dessa blir även gravida. Träning under graviditet har många hälsofördelar. De flesta råd angående träning under graviditet handlar om träning på måttlig intensitet samt motverkande av graviditetskomplikationer. En del kvinnor tränar mer än dessa rekommendationer. Därav finns råd och rekommendationer för elitatleter samt forskning på högintensiv träning under graviditet. Det är dock oklart ifall dessa råd når ut till gravida kvinnor som tränar på högintensiv nivå. Syfte: Att undersöka om träningsmängd förändrats under graviditet hos friska kvinnor som tränat på högintensiv nivå innan graviditeten, samt hur kvinnorna upplevt den information om träning de fått under graviditet och var de fått informationen. Deltagare: Arton kvinnor (23–37 år) deltog i studien. Inklusionskriterier var förstföderska, gravid i tredje trimestern fram till fyra veckor postpartum, komplikationsfri graviditet och högintensiv träning minst tre gånger per vecka under minst ett år innan och fram till graviditeten, antingen kondition, styrka eller både och.    Metod: Deltagarna besvarade en webbenkät med 23 frågor. Frågorna handlade om träningsmängd under graviditet samt den information om träning deltagarna fått under graviditet. Resultat: De flesta kvinnorna minskade sin träningsmängd under graviditeten och många av kvinnorna saknade tillräcklig information för att kunna träna på önskad nivå. Information om träning kom främst från barnmorska. Konklusion: Träningsmängd hos friska motionsvana gravida kvinnor har minskat under graviditeten samtidigt som kvinnorna saknade tillräcklig träningsinformation. Kvinnorna fick information om träning under graviditet främst från barnmorska. Det går inte att säga om avsaknaden av information har påverkat träningsmängden men det kan vara intressant att undersöka i framtida studier. Fortsatt forskning på högintensiv träning under graviditet behövs för att kunna ge tillräcklig information till högintensivt tränande gravida kvinnor. / Background: Women exercises more now than before, and many of them become pregnant. Exercise during pregnancy has many health benefits. Most advice about exercise during pregnancy is about exercise at a moderate intensity and prevention of pregnancy complications. Some women exercise more than these recommendations. There are advice and recommendations for elite athletes and research on high intensity exercise during pregnancy. Although it is unclear if these advice reaches pregnant women who exercises at a high intensity level. Objective: To examine if the amount of exercise changed during pregnancy for healthy women who exercised at a high intensity level, how they had perceived the information about exercise during pregnancy they had received and where they got the information from. Participants: Eighteen women (23–37 years) participated in the study. Criteria for inclusion were first time pregnancy, pregnant in the third trimester up until four weeks postpartum, pregnancy without complications and exercise at a high intensity at least three times a week during at least one year before and up until the pregnancy, either cardio, strength or both. Method: The participants answered an online survey with 23 questions. The questions were about amount of exercise during pregnancy and the information about exercise the women had received during pregnancy. Results: Most of the women decreased their amount of exercise during pregnancy and many of the women lacked adequate information to be able to exercise at desired level. Information about exercise came mainly from midwifes. Conclusion: The amount of exercise in healthy exercising pregnant women have decreased during pregnancy at the same time as the women lacked adequate information about exercise. The women received information about exercise mainly from midwifes. It cannot be said if the lack of information has affected the amount of exercise but that would be interesting to investigate further in future studies. Continued research about high intensity exercise during pregnancy is needed to be able to give adequate information to pregnant women who exercises at a high intensity.

Aim The overall aim of this study was to develop a broader understanding on how to optimize the organization of aerobic endurance training programs, and especially how to better organize high-intensity training (HIT) and low intensity training (LIT) to give an optimum endurance performance progress. Method This study compared the effects of two different training organization methods in trained cross-country (XC) skiers and biathletes. During a 5 week intervention period, one group of athletes (n = 10, 7 men and 3 women, age 23 ± 9 years) performed block periodization (BP) training with 5-1-3-1-1 HIT sessions in the respective weeks. The other group of athletes(n = 9, 7 men and 2 women, age 22 ± 5) followed a more traditional periodization (TRAD) method performing 2-2-3-2-2 HIT sessions. LIT was interspersed between the HIT sessions so that both groups performed similar total volumes of HIT and LIT during the intervention period. Results The BP group increased relative and absolute VO2max (2.6 ± 3.6% and 2.0 ± 2.5%, P &lt; 0.05) and time to exhaustion (6.1 ± 6.4%, P &lt; 0.01). No changes were seen in the TRAD group on relative or absolute VO2max (0.8 ± 3.5% and -0.1 ± 3.0%) or time to exhaustion (-2.0 ± 7.7%). Mean effects size (ES) of the relative and absolute improvement in VO2max and time to exhaustion revealed small to moderate effects of performing BP training vs. TRAD training (ES range from 0.51 to 1.14). Conclusions This study indicates that organizing endurance training in XC skiers with block periodization training give better adaptations compared to performing traditional periodization training during a 5 week training period when performing similar volumes of high-intensity and low intensity training.

Bakgrund: Syftet med studien var att undersöka svenska fotbollsspelaresrörelsemönster och kravprofil för att analysera betydelsen av explosivitets- ochsnabbhetsträning och dessutom analysera prioriteten och värdet av den här träningen iden vetenskapliga litteraturen, i tränarutbildningen och i praktiken.Metod: Begreppet snabbhetsträning har analyserats utifrån tre perspektiv;Forskningens, Utbildningens och det Praktiska utförandets perspektiv.Forskningsperspektivet har analyserats genom relevanta forskningsresultat inomområdet. Utbildningsperspektivet har analyserats utifrån Svenska Fotbollförbundetstränarutbildning och det Praktiska utförandet har analyserats genom en intervjustudiemed representativa tränare i svensk elitfotboll. Dessa perspektiv har ställts mot varandrai en modell som skall ses som en kunskapsstege där information och kunskap skapasgenom forskning, där utbildningen fungerar som länk och där det praktiska utförandetspeglar den kunskapsinhämtning och kompetensutveckling som skett över tid.Resultat: Explosiviteten kan bevisligen ökas väsentligt genom funktionell träning. Bådeforskningen och kurslitteraturen till tränarutbildningen visar att förbättringar kan nåsgenom isolerad snabbhetsträning i t.ex. sprintövningar eller genom relevantstyrketräning men att det mest optimala är att träna snabbhetsförmågan ifotbollsspecifika situationer med boll. Ändå verkar det fortfarande vara underprioriterati praktiken Tränarna i studien genomför främst isolerade snabbhetsövningar utan boll.Trots att den explosiva förmågan är en färskvara som kontinuerligt behöver stimuleras,förklarar tränarna att de inte genomför någon form av snabbhetsträning underförsäsongen. / Aim: The objective of the study is to examine the Swedish soccer players movementpatterns to justify the importance of high-intensity and sprint training, and further toanalyse the priority and the value of this training in the scientific literature, in trainerseducation and in practice.Method: The concept of high-intensity and sprint training is analyzed from threeangles; Research, Education and the Practical execution perspective. The researchperspective has been analyzed through the relevant results in the field. The educationperspective has been analyzed according to the Swedish Football Federation trainereducation and the practical performance has been analyzed by a interview study onrelevant coaches in Swedish professional soccer teams. These perspectives have beendiscussed against each other in a model that can be viewed as a ladder of knowledge,where information and knowledge is generated by research, where education serves as alink and where the practical performance reflects the knowledge and competencydevelopment that has taken place over time.Conclusion: High-intensity sprints can be shown to be substantially increased byfunctional training. Both the research and the literature in coach education shows thatimprovements can be achieved by isolated sprint training or through relevant resistanttraining, but that the most optimal is to train this aspect in soccerspecific situations withthe ball. Yet it seems that this still has a low priority in practice. The coaches in thestudy carries out mainly isolated sprint exercises without the ball. Although theexplosive capacity is a fresh product that continuously needs to be stimulated, thetrainers explains that they do not implement form of training at all during pre-season.

<p>What a ride it has been. The ups and downs of the McMaster graduate program has been a sweet one. It has been a pleasure working with the Exercise Metabolism Research Group for the past 2 years, and I will miss being around the work that goes on in the trenches around the lab. I have leaned on many people for all types of guidance through this journey, and would like to thank everyone for their unprecedented support. I have grown as a person and student and will use everything I have learned at this fine establishment I’m sure at one point or another along the great path of life. I must thank my amazing parents, family, friends and of coarse Ashley for putting up with my work ethic throughout my studies; the long days that I would go missing. Without their support none of this would have been possible. I have to specially mention Melanie Wolfe for recommending myself, and ultimately Stu Phillips for presenting this opportunity that is coming to a close. I have had great senior support from Cam Mitchell, Tyler Churchward-Venne, Todd Prior and Michaela Devries in putting this document together, and would not be submitting this without their selfless assistance. It’s been a journey getting to this point, but I wouldn’t change it for the world, to the next chapter in life, cheers and God Bless.</p> / <p>Higher dietary protein intake, greater than the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA; 0.8 g protein/kg/d), coupled with resistive exercise has been shown to aid in preservation of muscle mass during hypocaloric diet-induced weight loss. We examined the impact of dietary protein supplementation at two levels (1.2 and 2.4 g/kg/d) on body composition during a 4wk hypocaloric dietary intervention that included 6d/wk of high intensity resistance exercise and interval training. In a single blind study, forty young men consumed 33±1.1 kcal/LBM (~40% reduction versus estimated energy requirements), and were randomly assigned to a group that consumed either 1.2g/kg/d protein or 2.4g/kg/d. Body composition was determined using DXA, Bod Pod, and Bio-impedance pre- and post-intervention to derive a 4-compartment model for body composition. Both groups retained lean mass (LM), but retention was greater in the higher protein group (p</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Nutrition / Craig A. Harms / The overall aim of this dissertation was to ascertain the influences of lifestyle factors on airway health in children and young adults. In Study 1 (Chapter 2) the effect of a high-fat meal on airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness was examined. Results revealed a post-prandial increase (p<0.05) in total cholesterol (~4%), triglycerides (~93%), and exhaled nitric oxide (a marker of airway inflammation, ~19%) two-hours following a high-fat meal (74.2±4.1g fat). These novel findings suggest that a high-fat meal may contribute to impaired airway function. In study 2 (Chapter 3) we assessed the role of body fat and physical activity (PA) on airway health in prepubescent children. This study revealed that children with higher-body-fat levels (>21%), who were not meeting current PA recommendations, experienced greater (p<0.05) amounts of post-exercise airway narrowing (FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1-second, ~11%), as compared to children with lower-body-fat (<21%), who were meeting PA guidelines. These findings suggest that elevated adiposity and low PA levels may place children at risk for development of asthma and asthma-like symptoms. In study 3 (Chapter 4), based on study 2 results, we assessed the impact of 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training on airway health in children who were not meeting PA guidelines. We determined that high-intensity training significantly increased V02max (~24%), and decreased total cholesterol (~11%) and LDL cholesterol (~35%). Additionally, we found improvements (p<0.05) in ∆FEV1 both post-exercise (pre: -7.6±2.2%, post: -1.3±1.8%) and post-eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (pre: -6.7±2.2%, post: -1.4±1.5%) with training. Further, Lower-body-fat and higher V02max subjects experienced significantly greater improvement in ∆FEV1 following training than higher-body-fat and lower V02max subjects (r=-0.80, r=0.73, respectively). These results suggest that in children, high-intensity training can ameliorate the negative health consequences of inactivity. However, increased body fat, and low V02max levels may constrain these improvements. This series of studies underscores the importance of dietary habits, body composition, and PA for airway health in children and young adults. These findings may be useful in determining policies and practices impacting children’s health, and could facilitate protocol development for prevention of asthma-like symptoms.

No description available.

Abstrakt Bakgrund: Många människor tränar för välmående och hälsa, medan andra vill öka sin fysiska prestation och då är förbättring av konditionen en viktig del. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka individers skillnader i upplevd ansträngning efter att de följt ett högintensivt program (HIIT) jämfört med en grupp som följt ett lågintensivt träningsprogram. Design: Pilotstudie Material &amp; Metod: Undersökningen gjordes utifrån en kvantitativ ansats där populationen som bestod av två grupper, totalt 10 testpersoner fick utföra fysisk ansträngning under fyra veckor. Den ena gruppen fick utföra högintensiva träningspass (n=5) och den andra gruppen lågintensiva träningspass (n=5). Innan de utförde fyraveckorsprogrammet fick testpersonerna uppskatta sin upplevda ansträngning vid ett konditionstest. Samma test genomfördes sedan efter de fyra veckorna. Resultat: Två av fem deltagare som utförde det lågintensiva programmet skattade lägre på Borgs RPE-skala efter de fyra veckorna. Utav de som utförde det högintensiva programmet (HIIT) var det tre av fem som skattade lägre. Konklusion: För att kunna generalisera resultaten behöver denna studie genomföras på en större population då det i denna pilotstudie pga antalet deltagare sannolikt är slumpen som avgjort utfallet. / Abstract Background: A lot of people exercise for the sake of health and wellbeing while others want to improve their physical performance. Improving their cardio fitness is an important part of that. Objective: The objective of this study is to examine differences in perceived exertion after having followed a high intensity programme (HIIT) in comparison with a group that followed a low intensity training programme. Design: Pilot study Methods &amp; measures: The study was done with a quantitative approach where two groups of subjects, a total of 10 performed physical effort during four weeks. One group of 5 performed high intensity workouts and the other group of 5 low intensity workouts. Prior to performing the four week programme the subjects estimated their perceived exertion after a fitness test. The same test was then repeated after four weeks. Results: Two out of five subjects that followed the low intensity programme estimated lower on Borgs RPE scale after the four weeks. Out of those who followed the high intensity programme (HIIT), three out of five estimated lower. Conclusion: To be able to generalize the results from this study it needs to be performed on a larger population. The results of this pilot study due to the amount of participants are likely due to chance.