0000000000053138
AUTHOR
Claudio L. Lafortuna
GH responses to two consecutive bouts of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in healthy adults.
BackgroundIt is well established that repeated GHRH administration or repeated voluntary exercise bouts are associated with a complete blunting of GH responsiveness when the administration of the second stimulus follows the first one after a 2-h interval.AimTo evaluate GH responses to neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in healthy adults.MethodsSix volunteers (mean age±s.d. 31.7±5.5 years) were studied before and after two consecutive bouts of NMES exercise (a series of 20 contractions at the maximum of individual tolerance, frequency: 75 Hz, pulse duration: 400 μs, on–off ratio: 6.25–20 s) administered at a 2-h interval.ResultsBaseline GH levels (mean: 0.3±0.2 ng/ml) significantly …
Changes in body composition, physical performance and cardiovascular risk factors after a 3-week integrated body weight reduction program and after 1-y follow-up in severely obese men and women.
To investigate the short- and medium-term (ie, at 1-y follow-up) effects of a hospital-based body weight reduction (BWR) program lasting 3 weeks in severely obese individuals.Longitudinal, clinical intervention study entailing energy-restricted diet, tailored aerobic-strength exercise, psychological counselling and nutritional education during a 3-week period followed by 49 weeks of indirect supervision at home.In all, 45 women and 19 men aged 30.2 +/- 7.2 y (mean +/- s.d.) with severe obesity (BMI: 41.3 +/- 4.3 kg/m(2)), classified as weight losers (finalinitial weight) and regainers (finalor =initial weight).Body composition, physical performance and cardiovascular risk factors before and…
Postural instability of extremely obese individuals improves after a body weight reduction program entailing specific balance training
The purposes of this study were to compare postural stability between obese and lean subjects and to investigate the effect of a 3-week body weight reduction (BWR) program entailing specific balance training on postural stability of extremely obese patients. Time of balance maintenance and mean error on the medial-lateral direction at the trunk and lower limb level were assessed during a single limb stance on a movable platform in 19 non-obese and in 20 extremely obese individuals (age range: 20-40 yr). Time of balance maintenance was shorter (obese: 21.1+/-7.7 vs lean: 27.3+/-3.1 sec) and medial-lateral sway of the trunk was larger in obese (5.4+/-3.2 degrees) than in lean (3.2+/-1.1 degre…
Gender variations of body composition, muscle strength and power output in morbid obesity
BACKGROUND: Motor capabilities are reduced in obese (OB) individuals, and this impairment may result also from quantitative variation of muscle mass due to alterations in body composition. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the differences in body mass (BM) and composition, as well as in muscle strength (ST) and power output W(.) between OB and NW males and females, and to test the hypothesis that variations in body composition affect muscle performance in OB subjects. DESIGN AND METHODS: Body composition (determined by BIA with a two-compartment model), upper and lower limb maximum ST (evaluated with isotonic machines) and lower limb maximum anaerobic W(.) (measured with a jumping test…
Body mass reduction markedly improves muscle performance and body composition in obese females aged 61-75 years: comparison between the effects exerted by energy-restricted diet plus moderate aerobic-strength training alone or associated with rGH or nandrolone undecanoate
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of a body mass reduction programme entailing diet caloric restriction and moderate physical activity with or without supplementary treatment with recombinant (r) GH or steroids to improve body composition and muscle performance in severely obese women aged 61-75 years. METHODS: Twenty women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: body mass reduction alone; body mass reduction plus rGH; body mass reduction plus nandrolone undecanoate. Body composition, isotonic muscle strength and anaerobic power output during jumping were determined before and after the 3-week period. RESULTS: Whatever the experimental group considered, body mass (P<0.01…
Effect of a 3-week body mass reduction program on body composition, muscle function and motor performance in pubertal obese boys and girls
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary body mass reduction (BMR) program on body composition, muscle function and motor performance in 50 obese [mean body mass index (BMI): 35.9+/-5.8 kg/m2] boys and girls aged 12-17 yr (Tanner stage III, IV and V). The hospital-based BMR program combined an energy-restricted diet (1400-1600 kcal), nutritional education, psychological counselling and moderate physical activity (45-60 min/ session; 5 sessions/week; 60-80% of the maximal heart rate) during a 3-week period. Fat mass, fat-free mass, maximal power during jumping and stair climbing as well as maximal strength of the upper and lower limb muscles were quantified…
Elderly obese women display the greatest improvement in stair climbing performance after a 3-week body mass reduction program
OBJECTIVE: To depict the general trends of muscle anaerobic performance in obese subjects within a wide range of age and body weight. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study for the measurement of lower limb maximal anaerobic power output with a modification of the Margaria stair climbing test in a large population of obese subjects of both genders within a wide span of age (18-80 y) and body mass index (BMI, 30-68 kg m(-2)). Furthermore, body composition was also determined by bioimpedance analysis in a representative subgroup, in order to evaluate the relationships between fat-free mass (FFM) and power output. SUBJECTS: A total of 1298 obese subjects (486 males, 812 females) from an Italian populat…