University student-athletes are equally vulnerable to mental health challenges compared to their non-athlete peers, but they access mental health services with less frequency. This study sought to explore the mental health issues experienced by Canadian student-athletes in order to address the question: how can Canadian universities better meet the mental health needs of student-athletes? An electronic survey was distributed to student-athletes at a large Canadian university. Data from 113 respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Stress and pressure were reported as the most prevalent contributors to mental health issues, and 47% of respondents indicated that there was a time in which they wanted to seek services for their mental health, but chose not to. Respondents identified mental health education for coaches and designating a healthcare professional within the athletic department as beneficial resources. Findings from this study can inform local and national mental health service planning for student-athletes.
Although a majority of adults increase cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF; VO2 peak) in response to an increase in daily physical activity, the optimal exercise strategy for reversing low CRF is unknown. We performed a randomized, controlled trial designed to study the separate effects of habitual exercise differing in dose (energy expenditure, kcal/session) and intensity (relative to VO2max) on CRF. We randomly assigned sedentary, abdominally obese men and women to one of the following 4 conditions: 1) No-exercise control (C), 2) Low volume, low intensity exercise (LVLI: 180 [[female symbol]] and 300 [[male symbol]] kcal @ 50% VO2 peak), 3) High volume, low intensity exercise (HVLI: 360 [[female symbol]] and 600 [[male symbol]] kcal @ 50% VO2 peak), 4) High volume, high intensity (HVHI: 360 [[female symbol]] and 600 [[male symbol]] kcal @ 75% VO2 peak). All participants were required to exercise under supervision 5 times per week for 24 weeks. Adherence to exercise averaged 95% across groups. Exercise dose and intensity achieved was not different from that prescribed regardless of group. The minutes exercised per session were 30±7 in LVLI, 51±16 in HVLI and 36±11 in HVHI. A marked variability in CRF response to exercise was observed independent of group (Figure). Compared to controls, CRF increased within all exercise conditions (P<0.05). However, the CRF increase within the HVHI group (0.61±0.30L/min) was greater than both the HVLI (0.42±0.32L/min) and LVLI (0.26±0.28L/min) groups (P<0.05). Thus, despite matching exercise volume within the HVHI and HVLI groups, exercise at 75% of VO2peak was associated with a marked increase in CRF by compared to exercise at 50%. Given that the time required to achieve the energy expenditure within the HVHI group was 30% less than the HVLI group (36 vs 51 min), these findings have important implications for allied health professionals seeking options for prescribing exercise to improve a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality, cardiorespiratory fitness.
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