Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Slippery Rock University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-124). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-124).

Thesis (M.S.)--Iowa State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-34).

Thesis (M.S.)--Iowa State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-34). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

No description available.

No description available.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a complex disease, characterised by progressive airflow obstruction and is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and healthcare usage in the UK. Quadriceps muscle dysfunction is a key cause of exercise intolerance in patients with COPD, manifested by reduced muscle mass and strength. This problem also imposes a burden to the health system as quadriceps dysfunction is an independent predictor of hospitalisation and mortality. Importantly, the quadriceps may provide a target for therapy in an otherwise irreversible lung disease and changes in strength after resistance training (RT) are well documented. Protein supplementation has been successfully used as an adjunct to RT in healthy populations. However the role of this therapeutic combination has not before been studied in a COPD population. Methods: This thesis describes a randomised controlled trial (RCT) which aims to explore the role of protein supplementation given immediately after RT, upon functional outcomes, in patients with COPD. The hypothesis was that RT, in combination with protein ingestion (at the time of training) will have greater effects on functional outcomes than RT alone (chapter 4). Secondary aims were to precisely explore the training intensity progression, fatigue profile (chapter 5) and cardiorespiratory load imposed by the RT (chapter 6) and to examine the measurement properties of the ActiTrac® physical activity (PA) monitors (chapter 7). In all chapters the response to the intervention in patients with COPD, is compared to healthy, age-matched controls. 5 Results: The overriding message from this thesis is that protein supplementation can not be routinely recommended as an adjunct to RT for patients with COPD. All groups made significant improvements in quadriceps strength and thigh mass after RT but protein did not augment the outcome. Subjects with evidence of muscle wastage (based on fat-free mass criteria) responded less well to RT, although the study was underpowered to draw meaningful conclusions in this group. Subjects with COPD made comparable improvements to healthy age-matched controls, despite training at much lower intensities and experiencing greater decay in muscle force during a training session. Moreover, the RT programme was able to sufficiently activate the cardio-pulmonary system and led to significant improvements in wholebody exercise performance. PA did not change after the 8-week RT programme; suggesting that changes after RT are not routinely translated to increased habitual activity, particularly when the educational component of rehabilitation is missing. Conclusions: The RT programme utilised in this thesis was able to significantly improve both strength and endurance-related outcomes in patients with COPD. However, the provision of additional protein at the time of training did not enhance the benefits. The isokinetic RT programme provided a unique opportunity to precisely explore the training intensity progression, fatigue profile and cardiorespiratory load imposed by the training; comparing patients with COPD and healthy controls. The findings from this work provide some important considerations for clinical practice and require further investigation within a conventional rehabilitation setting.

Introduction: This dissertation explored the acute effects of varying resistance exercise intensities in men with symptoms of muscle dysmorphia (MD). MD is a complex and disabling disorder; yet, despite the negative health effects MD can have, few treatment methods exist, with many barriers. Exercise has the potential to overcome many of the barriers to MD treatment and has shown to have positive effects in people with related disorders; yet, these effects have not been tested in men with MD. Methods: Twenty-one men were recruited and completed four on-site sessions. Sessions 1 and 2 included a battery of psychological and physiological measures. Sessions 3 and 4 were single sessions of moderate (70% of 10-RM) and high (100% of 10-RM) intensity RE in a counterbalanced order separated by at least 48-hours. Acute changes in body image, affective valence, perceived activation, perceived muscle size, and exercise enjoyment, were assessed before (PRE), during (MID), immediately after (POST), and 30-minutes after (DELAY) each session. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant effects of time for state body image (F = 8.05, p < .01, η2 = .17), affective valence (F = 5.12, p = .01, η2 = .28), perceived activation (F = 48.47, p < .001, η2 = .79), perceived muscle size (F = 8.79, p < .01, η2 = .31), and exercise enjoyment (F = 6.84, p < .01, η2 = .15). There were significant effects of condition (i.e., intensity) for perceived activation (F = 9.13, p < .01, η2 = .19) only. There was a significant condition x time interaction for perceived activation (F = 3.49, p = .03, η2 = .22) and exercise enjoyment (F = 3.12, p = .05, η2 = .07). Post-hoc analyses revealed a significant increase in state body image during both sessions (ps > .05), but a significant decrease in state body image emerged from POST to DELAY (p < .05) during the moderate intensity session only. Additionally, during the moderate intensity session affective valence significantly decreased from MID and POST to DELAY (ps < .01). There were no significant changes in affective valence at any time point during the high intensity session (ps > .05). During the moderate intensity session, perceived activation significantly increased from PRE to MID, and POST (ps < .01), but significantly decreased from PRE, MID, and POST, to DELAY (ps < .01). During the high intensity session, perceived activation significantly increased from PRE to MID (p < .01), and from PRE and MID, to POST (ps < .01). Also, during the high intensity session perceived activation significantly decreased from PRE, MID, and POST, to DELAY (ps < .01). Perceived muscle size significantly increased from PRE to POST (p < .01), and significantly decreased from POST to DELAY (p < .01). Further, results suggest that participants enjoyed the high intensity RE session significantly more compared to the moderate intensity session (p < .01). Conclusion: Results suggest that men with MD symptoms have a more favorable response to high vs. moderate intensity RE. These results support the literature suggesting that RE intensity likely plays an important role in perceived body image and muscle size among men with MD symptoms. Further research testing the effects of different RE variables (e.g., frequency, duration) is warranted to establish an optimal RE protocol to maximize body satisfaction in this population.