Search results for "FIT"
showing 10 items of 2873 documents
Group fitness activities on elderly: who is eligible and who is not.
2012
Introduction While it is impossible to prevent every injury, literature suggests that injury rates could be reduced by 25% if people took appropriate preventative action. On the other side, one major problem of Group Fitness Instructors is to find the right intensity/level suitable for every attendee during classes (e.g. ballroom dancing). Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the opportunity to adopt already validated function ability tests on group fitness activities with the aim to prevent injuries and maintain or increase quality of life. Methods The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Barthel index (BI) were administered …
Red Orange: Experimental Models and Epidemiological Evidence of Its Benefits on Human Health
2013
In recent years, there has been increasing public interest in plant antioxidants, thanks to the potential anticarcinogenic and cardioprotective actions mediated by their biochemical properties. The red (or blood) orange (Citrus sinensis(L.) Osbeck) is a pigmented sweet orange variety typical of eastern Sicily (southern Italy), California, and Spain. In this paper, we discuss the main health-related properties of the red orange that include anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and cardiovascular protection activities. Moreover, the effects on health of its main constituents (namely, flavonoids, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, hydroxycinnamic acids, and anthocyanins) are described. The red orange juice…
Age-dependent inbreeding risk and offspring fitness costs in female black grouse
2011
Dispersal is an important mechanism used to avoid inbreeding. However, dispersal may only be effective for part of an individual's lifespan since, post-dispersal individuals that breed over multiple reproductive events may risk mating with kin of the philopatric sex as they age. We tested this hypothesis in black grouse Tetrao tetrix , and show that yearling females never mated with close relatives whereas older females did. However, matings were not with direct kin suggesting that short-distance dispersal to sites containing kin and subsequent overlap of reproductive lifespans between males and females were causing this pattern. Chick mass was lower when kinship was high, suggesting impor…
Electrocardiographic and other clinical correlates of walking ability in older women
2009
Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine how resting electrocardiographic (ECG) and other clinical variables, which can be included in a routine clinical examination, predict walking ability in older women. Three hundred and twenty women (63–75 years) without overt cardiac diseases and apparent mobility limitations were studied. Measurements performed were clinical examination (standard 12-lead resting ECG, assessment of physical activity level, presence of chronic diseases, use of beta-blockers, body mass index (BMI), ability to squat, resting blood pressure) and six-minute walking test. Participants walked 533 ± 75 m in the six-minute walking test. The best electrocardiographic p…
The value of neutrophil and lymphocyte count in frail older women.
2013
Increasing evidence suggests that systemic inflammation is associated with many pathophysiological processes including frailty in older adults. We evaluated the relationships between white blood cell subtypes, geriatric assessment, and frailty syndrome and in particular, how they correlate with individual frailty criteria (involuntary loss of weight, low energy or exhaustion, slow mobility, muscle weakness, and low physical activity) in frail older women. There was a significant and positive correlation between the frailty score and neutrophil count, but a significantly negative correlation was found when this score was compared to the lymphocyte count. These associations were significant o…
The effect of aquatic exercise on physical functioning in the older adult: a systematic review with meta-analysis
2015
Background ageing and sedentary behaviour cause negative changes in the neuromuscular systems of healthy older adults resulting in a decrease in physical functioning. Exercising in water (aquatic exercise, AE) has been shown to be effective at improving physical functioning in this population; however, no systematic review with meta-analysis has been published. Purpose to investigate the effect of AE on physical functioning in healthy older adults compared to control or land-based exercise (LE) through a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Data sources Medline, Embase, Cinahl, PEDro, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, published before 31st Decem…
Ankle and knee extensor muscle effort during locomotion in young and older athletes : Implications for understanding age-related locomotor decline
2019
AbstractAge-related reduction in muscle force generation capacity is similarly evident across different lower limb muscle groups, yet decline in locomotor performance with age has been shown to depend primarily on reduced ankle extensor muscle function. To better understand why ageing has the largest detrimental effect on ankle joint function during locomotion, we examined maximal ankle and knee extensor force development during a two-leg hopping test in older and young men, and used these forces as a reference to calculate relative operating efforts for the knee and ankle extensors as participants walked, ran and sprinted. We found that, across locomotion modes in both age groups, ankle ex…
Velocity-specific training in elbow flexors.
1999
The purpose of this study was to show that velocity-specific training may be implicated in modifications in the level of coactivation of agonist and antagonist muscles. Healthy males (n = 20) were randomly placed in to two groups: one group trained using concentric contractions (n = 12), the other was an untrained control group (n = 8). The training group underwent unilateral resistance training at a level of 35 (5)% of a one-repetition maximal contraction of the elbow flexors, executed at maximal angular velocity. Training sessions consisted of six sets of eight consecutive elbow flexions, three times per weak for a total of seven weeks. The velocity of the ballistic movements executed dur…
Changes in agonist-antagonist EMG, muscle CSA, and force during strength training in middle-aged and older people
1998
Effects of 6 mo of heavy-resistance training combined with explosive exercises on neural activation of the agonist and antagonist leg extensors, muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) of the quadriceps femoris, as well as maximal and explosive strength were examined in 10 middle-aged men (M40; 42 ± 2 yr), 11 middle-aged women (W40; 39 ± 3 yr), 11 elderly men (M70; 72 ± 3 yr) and 10 elderly women (W70; 67 ± 3 yr). Maximal and explosive strength remained unaltered during a 1-mo control period with no strength training. After the 6 mo of training, maximal isometric and dynamic leg-extension strength increased by 36 ± 4 and 22 ± 2% ( P < 0.001) in M40, by 36 ± 3 and 21 ± 3% ( P < 0.001) in M7…
STRATEGY TO INCREASE THE FARM COMPETITIVENESS
2014
Italy’s wine-growing production structure is highly pulverized. So, for many wine-growing farms loweri ng the production cost represents the only way of gain ing a competitive advantage. Production at average unit costs lower than competitors allows to improve prof itability. Among farming operations, winter pruning and tying of productive vine-branches require a high hu man labor. For this reason the paper presents the r esults of research conducted on a sample of Sicilian wine- producing farms in order to study the cost-effectiv eness to make the pruning and the subsequent ligation of productive branches with tools that facilitate the work. The economic analysis, after the determination o…