Inflammatory activity of PCAT is greater than in other fat locations, in CAD is greater than in non-CAD controls, and is independently associated with coronary stenosis. In overweight patients, PCAT SUV correlates with the extent of CAD.

Quality of life (QOL) is associated with factors such as health, physical functioning, life satisfaction, a sense of happiness, and others. In case of disabled people, much attention is paid to their QOL rather than only the improvement of physiological variables. In a group of blind and visually impaired people, the effect of physical activity (PA) on the socialization process, the ability to explore own personality traits, developing creativity, and more motivation and desire to overcome the difficulties associated with visual impairment were observed.The study involved 53 people: visually impaired (NT) sedentary lifestyle people (n=18; 51±12 years) and visually impaired tandem cycling athletes (N) (n=17; 42±13 years). Properly sighted people (P) (n=18; 38±12 years) were partners in tandem with visually impaired athletes. To determine the level of PA, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used. The WHO-Quality of Life (WHO-QOL-BREF), the National Eye Institute 25-item Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25, version 2000), and the Retina AMD Poland Association questionnaire were used to assess QOL.In visually impaired athletes, significantly greater PA with moderate intensity, moving by bike, and energy expenditure for vigorous recreational exercise and sport in leisuretime was found. Sedentary lifestyle people mainly participated in moderate physical activity around the house. Significant greater satisfaction with health was observed in the case of visually impaired athletes in comparison with NT. All disabled groups rarely had negative feelings such as despair, depression, and anxiety.Moderate correlations between variables according to physical activity and quality of life in all participants were observed. The meaningfulness of life and life satisfaction also depended on cycling training and moderate physical activity around the house. The obtained data indicate that all available forms of regular PA in visually impaired people could have a beneficial effect on their quality of life.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of eight weeks of regular physical education classes supplemented with high intensity interval cycle exercise (HIIE) or continuous cycle exercises of moderate intensity (CME). Forty-eight collegiate females exercising in two regular physical education classes per week were randomly assigned to two programmes (HIIE; n = 24 or CME; n = 24) of additional (one session of 63 minutes per week) physical activity for 8 weeks. Participants performed HIIE comprising 2 series of 6x10 s sprinting with maximal pedalling cadence and active recovery pedalling with intensity 65%–75% HRmax or performed CME corresponding to 65%-75% HRmax. Before and after the 8-week programmes, anthropometric data and aero- and anaerobic capacity were measured. Two-way ANOVA revealed a significant time main effect for VO2max (p < 0.001), similar improvements being found in both groups (+12% in HIIE and +11% in CME), despite body mass not changing significantly (p = 0.59; +0.4% in HIIE and -0.1% in CME). A significant main time effect was found for relative fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). A group x time interaction effect was found for relative FM and FFM (p = 0.018 and p = 0.018); a greater reduction in FM and greater increase in FFM were noted in the CME than the HIIE group. Improvements in anaerobic power were observed in both groups (p < 0.001), but it was greater in the HIIE group (interaction effect, p = 0.022). Weight loss is not mandatory for exercise-induced effects on improving aerobic and anaerobic capacity in collegiate females. Eight weeks of regular physical education classes supplemented with CME sessions are more effective in improving body composition than physical education classes supplemented with HIIE sessions. In contrast to earlier, smaller trials, similar improvements in aerobic capacity were observed following physical activity with additional HIIE or CME sessions.

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BackgroundLimited data have indicated that body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) of athletes and young adults provide misleading results concerning body fat content. This study was aimed at the evaluation of the relationship between different surrogate indices of fatness (BMI, WC, WHR, WHtR and body adiposity index (BAI)) with the percentage of body fat in Polish students with respect to their sex and physical activity.MethodsA total of 272 students volunteered to participate in the study. Of these students, 177 physical education students (90 males and 87 females) were accepted as active (physical activity of 7 to 9 hours/week); and 95 students of other specializations (49 males and 46 females) were accepted as sedentary (physical activity of 1.5 hours/week). Weight, height, waist and hip circumferences were measured, and BMI, WHR, WHtR and BAI were calculated. Body fat percentage was assessed using four skinfold measurements.ResultsClassification of fatness according to the BMI and the percentage of body fat have indicated that BMI overestimates fatness in lean subjects (active men and women, sedentary men), but underestimates body fat in obese subjects (sedentary women). In all groups, BMI, WHR, WHtR and BAI were significantly correlated with the percentage of body fat (with the exception of WHR and hip circumference in active and sedentary women, respectively). However, coefficients of determination not exceeding 50% and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficients lower than 0.9 indicated no relationship between measured and calculated body fat.ConclusionThe findings in the present study support the concept that irrespective of physical activity and sex none of the calculated indices of fatness are useful in the determination of body fat in young adults. Thus, it seems that easily calculated indices may contribute to distorted body image and unhealthy dietary habits observed in many young adults in Western countries, but also in female athletes.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of plyometric and jump training on physical performance in young male handball players. Twenty-six young male handball players were divided into two sub-groups to perform a five-week pre-season training programme supplemented with two ground-reactive protocols with an equal number of jumping exercises referred as to ground contacts: plyometric training (PLY; n = 14) and standard jump training (CON; n = 12). Before and after training, repeated sprint ability (RSA), jumping ability (JA), maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and aerobic power at the anaerobic threshold (PAT) were measured. A two-factor analysis revealed significant time effects with improvements in fat mass (p = 0.012), maximal power during the incremental cycling test (p = 0.001) and PAT (p < 0.001), power decline (PDEC) and maximal power (Pmax) in the 5th repetition (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). The training-induced changes in absolute and relative peak power in the RSA test and absolute VO2max approached significance (p = 0.06, p = 0.053 and p = 0.06). No intervention time × exercise protocol effects were observed for any indices of JA, RSA and aerobic capacity. A five-week pre-season conditioning programme supplemented with only 15 sessions of plyometric exercise did not induce any additional benefits, compared to a matched format of standard jump training, in terms of improving jumping performance and maximal power in the RSA test. Aerobic capacity and the fatigue index in RSA were maintained under these two training conditions.

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This randomized cross-over study examined the effects of typical static and dynamic stretching warm-up protocols on repeated-sprint performance. Thirteen young female handball players performed a 5 min aerobic warm-up followed by one of three stretching protocols for the lower limbs: (1) static stretching, (2) dynamic-ballistic stretching, and (3) no stretching before performing five all-out sprints on a cycle ergometer. Each protocol was performed on a different occasion, separated by 2-3 days. Range of movement (ROM) was also measured before and after the warm-up protocols with a sit-and-reach test. Fixed and random effects of each stretching protocol on repeated sprint performance were estimated with mixed linear modeling and data were evaluated via standardization and magnitude-based inferences. In comparison to no stretching, there were small increases in ROM after dynamic stretching (12.7%, ±0.7%; mean, ±90% confidence limits) and static stretching (19.2%, ±0.9%). There were small increases in the average power across all sprints with dynamic stretching relative to static stretching (3.3%, ±2.4%) and no stretching (3.0%, ±2.4%) and trivial to small increases in the average power in the 1st and 5th trials with dynamic stretching compared to static stretching (3.9%, ±2.6%; 2.6%, ±2.6%, respectively) and no stretching (2.0%, ±2.7%; 4.1%, ±2.8%, respectively). There were also trivial and small decreases in power across all sprints with static relative to dynamic stretching (-1.3%, ±2.8%) and no stretching (-3.5%, ±2.9%). Dynamic stretching improved repeated-sprint performance to a greater extent than static stretching and no stretching.