Acute effects of concurrent muscle power and sport-specific endurance exercises on markers of immunological stress response and measures of muscular fitness in highly trained youth male athletes

Abstract

Purpose To examine the acute effects of concurrent muscle power and sport-specific endurance exercises order on immunological stress responses, muscular-fitness, and rating-of-perceived-exertion (RPE) in highly trained youth male judo athletes. Methods Twenty male participants randomly performed two concurrent training (CT) sessions; power-endurance and endurance-power. Measures of immune response (e.g., white blood cells), muscular-fitness (i.e., counter-movement-jump [CMJ]), RPE, blood-lactate, and -glucose were taken at different time-point (i.e., pre, mid, post, and post6h). Results There were significant time*order interactions for white blood cells, lymphocytes, granulocytes, granulocyte-lymphocyte-ratio, and systemic-inflammation-index. Power-endurance resulted in significantly larger pre-to-post increases in white blood cells and lymphocytes while endurance-power resulted in significantly larger pre-to-post increases in the granulocyte-lymphocyte-ratio and systemic-inflammation-index. Likewise, significantly larger pre-to-post6h white blood cells and granulocytes increases were observed following power-endurance compared to endurance-power. Moreover, there was a significant time*order interaction for blood-glucose and -lactate. Following endurance-power, blood-lactate and -glucose increased from pre-to-mid but not from pre-to-post. Meanwhile, in power-endurance blood-lactate and -glucose increased from pre-to-post but not from pre-to-mid. A significant time*order interaction was observed for CMJ-force with larger pre-to-post decreases in endurance-power compared to power-endurance. Further, CMJ-power showed larger pre-to-mid performance decreases following power-endurance, compared to endurance-power. Regarding RPE, significant time*order interactions were noted with larger pre-to-mid values following endurance-power and larger pre-to-post values following power-endurance. Conclusion CT induced acute and delayed order-dependent immune cell count alterations in highly trained youth male judo athletes. In general, power-endurance induced higher acute and delayed immunological stress responses compared to endurance-power. CMJ-force and RPE fluctuated during both CT sessions but went back to baseline 6 h post-exercise.

Effect of physical activity on COVID-19 and underlying mechanisms

“…It is known that the concentration of neutrophils, leukocytes, and all lymphocyte subsets increases, but the magnitude varies based on the PA intensity and duration throughout the workout period. [30] Moderate-intensity PA facilitates cellular immunity, while prolonged and vigorousintensity PA without proper rest can activate decreased cellular immunity, increasing the propensity for diseases [30]. Both the number of CD4+ T and CD8+ T lymphocytes increase during PA, protecting against SARS-CoV-2 by attacking the virus and memorizing it.…”

“…For cytokines, PA induces the release of a cascade of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1 receptor antagonists, TNF receptors, and IL-10. [30] With these increased lymphocyte populations throughout the PA, the immune system would be improved to help to fight against COVID-19.…”