Thesis (M.S.)--Western Washington University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-61). Also issued online.

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The primary purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the effect of training status on adaptations to resistance training. A secondary purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between subjective and objective forms of monitoring resistance training (RT). The benefits of RT are well understood but training status may be a major influence on training outcomes. Fifteen males of various training status were recruited for this study. Subjects completed 11 weeks of block periodization (BP) training. Subjects were tested for absolute strength (ABS) and relative strength (REL) in the barbell back squat, 0kg and 20kg static jumps (SJ) and 0kg and 20kg countermovement jumps (CMJ). Initial levels of ABS and REL were significantly correlated with rates of improvement for ABS, REL, and SJ and CMJ values. All subjects statistically improved ABS (p

It has been observed that the normal process of aging is associated with a decline in muscle strength and mass. It has also been observed that total body potassium and intracellular water (ICW) decrease with age, reflecting a loss of body cell mass (BCM), 60% of which is the skeletal muscle. It is generally accepted that traditional high-intensity strength training (ST) regimens can not only attenuate, but in some cases, reverse some of these aging-related changes. Periodization, a nontraditional approach to strength training, has been demonstrated to stimulate more rapid increases in muscle strength than traditional approaches in young adults; however, it has not been comprehensively evaluated in postmenopausal women. Investigators have consistently reported an increase in muscle strength in older adults undergoing both short- and long-term traditional ST programs. It is fairly well accepted that early increases in muscle strength are attributable to neurologic adaptations. There has been less consistency in the literature regarding the timing and nature of changes in muscle quality and mass with ST. Although several investigators have reported increased muscle protein synthesis rates as early as 2 weeks after ST initiation in older adults, the majority of published reports support the notion that significant NET gains in intracellular protein, and thus, gains in muscle mass/volume/hypertrophy do not occur before 9-10 weeks. Changes in intracellular water, which would be expected to occur with changes in intracellular protein, have not been studied during short-term ST interventions in older adults. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) has been validated as a field technique to accurately measure ICW (and BCM) changes in HIV infected individuals. The primary aim of the current study was to determine if muscle strength would increase in postmenopausal women undergoing a novel (periodized) ST intervention of 10 weeks duration. A secondary aim was to determine if BIS would detect a change in ICW in the study subjects from baseline to study conclusion. Study participants were eleven, healthy postmenopausal women between the ages of 60 and 74 (mean age: 65 ± 4.4 y) who had not engaged in ST in the six months preceding the study. ICW and muscle strength were assessed at baseline and at study conclusion. The ST program was conducted twice a week for 10 weeks at the Senior Center in Blacksburg, VA. Participants performed seven different exercises incorporating upper body and lower body muscle groups. The women performed one set of 8-12 repetitions at an intensity of 80% of one repetition maximum (1 RM) the first week, progressing to 2 sets of 8-12 repetitions at the same intensity during the second week. The remaining weeks consisted of three sets of 8-12 repetitions, performed at an intensity of 80%, 75%, and 70% of their current 1 RM, respectively. One RM was reassessed every other week. The major result from this study was that muscle strength of all trained muscle groups increased in postmenopausal women undergoing 10 weeks of pyramid ST (P<0.05). In addition, the pyramid ST protocol utilized in this study was well-tolerated and resulted in no injuries in any of the older women in the study, indicating that this approach may be used safely in this population. Mean ICW measured by the field method BIS did not change over the course of the study. This result was consistent with other published data reporting no changes in lean body mass or muscle volume/area by more sophisticated techniques. / Master of Science

Thesis advisor: Angela K. Harkins / Romans 5:12-21 has attracted a variety of complex interpretations. It has been read (1) as a theological treatise of original sin (Augustine); (2) as a textual support for the doctrine of justification by faith alone (Luther and the Reformers); and (3) as Paul’s discourse of cosmic powers of sin and death that hold people in bondage and God’s salvific intervention to liberate human beings from cosmic powers of sin and death (contemporary “apocalyptic” school). Three major problems have arisen from reading the passage through these lenses. First, the passage is studied with lack of proper attention to the Roman imperial context in which the text was produced. Second, sin and salvation are over-spiritualized and personalized such that these concepts are rarely applied to concrete contemporary socio-political issues that affect the lives of people today. The result is not only a disjuncture between theology and ethics, but also the disconnection between the Christian kerygma and sociopolitical realities. Third, the rhetorical function of the text for its immediate audience is often underexplored. The implication is that theologians speculate on the themes of sin and salvation in Rom 5:12-21 without paying adequate attention to the concrete ideologies and behaviors that Paul was challenging nor the practices he was calling his audience to embody as a way of counteracting the systemic sins and evils. This study offers an alternative reading of Adam-Christ antithesis in Rom 5:12-21 in light of Roman imperial domination and Paul’s apocalyptic anti-imperial discourse using two contemporary frameworks—empire and postcolonial criticism. Using these frameworks, I read the Adam-Christ antithetical discourse in Rom 5:12-21 as Paul’s critique of the realities of sin and death as embodied by the Roman imperial power. Paul engages in this critique by means of typological reflection on Adam and Christ—the two historical figures whose actions reveal two contrasting ways of being in the world that result either in death or life. Read against the background of Roman imperial domination in the first century CE, I argue that Paul’s personification of sin and death as forces of domination, enslavement, and death-dealing in Rom 5:12-21 can be understood as the way that colonized subjects, such as Paul, give coded expression to the multifaceted experiences of colonial domination, as well as the culture of death that were prevalent within the Roman Empire. In Rom 5:12-21, Paul invites his audience to embody Jesus’ obedience and justice as a way of countering the sinful praxes that he traced their root to Adam. In this way, Christ’s believers can participate in the new age that God inaugurates through the events of Christ and the divine Spirit. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

O envelhecimento é um processo inexorável, porém a redução gradativa da capacidade do organismo está bastante ligada com os hábitos do estilo de vida e a fatores genéticos. Polimorfismos nos genes que codificam a enzima conversora de angiotensina (ECA) e a proteína alfa-actinina 3 (ACTN3) podem resultar em mudanças na aptidão física. Já o treinamento físico tem sido utilizado como uma ferramenta não farmacológica na prevenção primária em saúde. Por fim, a periodização deste treinamento busca ser um meio sistemático de planejar e organizar o treinamento de modo a torná-lo mais eficiente. Não há na literatura estudos com a periodização ou com os genótipos da ECA e ACT3 associados ao treinamento combinado. Nesse contexto, o objetivo desse estudo foi avaliar diferentes modelos de periodização do treinamento no exercício físico combinado em variáveis de saúde e comparar a magnitude da resposta em indivíduos com diferentes características genéticas em relação aos genes ECA e ACTN3. Após três semanas de adaptação, 54 mulheres com idade entre 50-75 anos foram randomicamente divididas nos modelos de treinamento a) não periodizado (NP), b) periodização não linear (NL) ou c) periodização não linear flexível (NLF). Para os valores pré e pós 12 semanas de treinamento, aptidão aeróbia (consumo máximo de oxigênio [VO2 pico] e teste de caminhada de seis minutos) e força muscular (1 RM no supino e leg press) foram medidas. A genotipagem da ECA foi feita por PCR convencional e a ACTN3 por PCR em tempo real. Os resultados mostraram que a força máxima foi aumentada estatisticamente no supino (effect size [ES] de 1,18 em PNL e 1,22 em PNLF] e leg press (ES de 0,92 em PNL e 0,98 em PNLF) nos grupos PNL e PNLF. No teste de caminhada de seis minutos, a magnitude da aptidão aeróbica melhorou em todos os grupos (ES de 1,02 em NP, 1,33 em PNL e 0,54 em PNLF). Para o gene da ECA, houve uma diferença estatística entre os grupos do pré para o pós no supino (ID/DD: 18,6%; II: 8,3%). Para o gene da ACTN3, houve diferença estatística do pré para o pós dentro do grupo no supino (CC/CT: 17,4%; TT: 6,9%) e leg press (CC/CT: 12,3%; TT: 7,5%) apenas no grupo CC/CT. Em conclusão, o presente estudo mostrou que os modelos periodizados foram capazes de induzir melhorias significativas na força muscular em mulheres pós menopausa fisicamente ativas. Além disso, os genótipos ID/DD do gene da ECA e CC/CT do gene da ACTN3 melhor efeito na força muscular no treinamento combinado. / The aging is an inexorable process, but the gradual reduction of the capacity in the organism is related with lifestyle habits and genetic factors. Polymorphisms in genes encoding both angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and alpha-actinin 3 protein (ACTN3) may result in changes in physical fitness. Physical training has been used as a non-pharmacological tool in primary health prevention. Finally, the periodization training is a systematic means of planning and organizing training to do it more efficient. There are no studies in the literature with periodization or with ACT and ACT3 genotypes associated to combined training. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate different models of periodization training in combined exercise training in health variables and to compare the magnitude of the response in individuals with different genetic characteristics in relation to the ACE and ACTN3 genes. After three weeks of adaptation, 54 women aged 50-75 years were randomly assigned to a) nonperiodization (NP), b) non-linear periodization (NLP) or c) flexible non-linear periodization (FNLP). At baseline and after 12 weeks, aerobic fitness (peak oxygen uptake [VO2peak] and six-minute walk test) and maximal muscle strength (1 RM bench press and leg press) were measured. The ACE genotyping was performed trough conventional PCR and ACTN3 by real-time PCR. The results showed that the magnitude of the maximal strength statistically increased in the bench press [effect size (ES) of 1.18 in NLP and 1.22 in FNLP] and leg press (ES of 0.92 in NLP and 0.98 in FNLP) only in the periodized groups. In six-minute walk test, the magnitude of the aerobic fitness improved in all groups (ES of 1.02 in NP, 1.33 in UP and 0.54 in FNLP). In conclusion, the present study showed that periodized models could induce significant improvements on muscle strength in active postmenopausal women. In the ACE gene, there was a statistical difference between the groups from pre to post supine (ID / DD: 18.6%, II: 8.3%). For the ACTN3 gene, there was a statistical difference between the pre and post within the group in the bench press (CC/CT: 17,4%; TT: 6,9%) and leg press (CC/CT: 12,3%; TT: 7,5%) only in the CC/CT group. In conclusion, the present study showed that periodized models could induce significant improvements on muscle strength in active postmenopausal women. In addition, the genotypes ID / DD of the ECA and CC / CT gene of ACTN3 gene had a better effect to muscle strength.

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