Search results for "Physical strength"
showing 10 items of 72 documents
Women's preferences for men's facial masculinity are strongest under favorable ecological conditions
2019
AbstractThe strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women’s preferences for men’s testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women’s facial masculinity preferences. We report women’s preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher so…
The relationship between physical activity and physical self-esteem in adolescents: the role of physical fitness indices.
2013
The aim of this study was to investigate if physical fitness (strength/power, endur ance, flexibility and coordination) mediates the cross-sectional relationship between physical activity and physical self-perception (athletic competence and physical appearance) in a sample of 15-year old adolescents. We wanted to investigate the relative strength of each indirect effect. The present data are taken from two waves of a larger data collection for the project “Youth in Balance”, and was collected in the autumn of 2005 (N = 1207) and 2008 (N = 632). A total of 1839 students (889 girls and 950 boys) from 12 schools in Kristiansand took part. A bias-corrected bootstrapping technique was used to e…
The association between physical fitness and mental health in Norwegian adolescents
2020
Abstract Background Studies indicate that health-related components of physical fitness are associated with mental health outcomes. However, research is scarce concerning this relationship in young adolescents in general and non-existent in Norwegian populations specifically. The aim of the study was to examine whether body composition, muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with self-reported mental health in Norwegian adolescents. Methods Adolescents from four regions of Norway (n = 1486; mean age = 13.9; girls = 50.6%) participated. Self-reported mental health (psychological difficulties) was measured by completing the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Ca…
The association of grip strength with depressive symptoms and cortisol in hair: A cross-sectional study of older adults
2019
Background: Low handgrip strength has been shown to be associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. One area of mental health that is understudied in relation to grip strength is chronic stress, which can exist independently to depression, or as a comorbidity or precursor to this condition. The present study examined cross-sectional associations between grip strength, an established marker of physical function, and (a) depressive symptoms and (b) chronic stress utilizing hair cortisol concentrations, while accounting for multiple pertinent confounding variables. Method: Data were used from wave 6 (2012/13) of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a panel study of older (≥50 year…
Physical Activity Level Using Doubly-Labeled Water in Relation to Body Composition and Physical Fitness in Preschoolers
2018
Background and objectives: There is a lack of studies investigating associations of physical activity level (PAL) and activity energy expenditure (AEE) using the doubly-labeled water (DLW) method with body composition and physical fitness in young children. Thus, we aimed to examine cross-sectional associations of PAL and AEE with body composition indices and physical fitness components in Swedish preschool children. Materials and methods: PAL was calculated as total energy expenditure measured using DLW divided by the predicted basal metabolic rate in 40 children aged 5.5 (standard deviation 0.2) years. AEE was calculated as total energy expenditure minus basal metabolic rate and the therm…
Associations of fat mass and fat-free mass with physical fitness in 4-year-old children: Results from the MINISTOP trial
2016
Physical fitness is a powerful marker of health in youth. Studies in adolescents and adults suggest that higher fat mass is related to worse physical fitness. However, there is limited knowledge whether fat mass and fat-free mass are associated with physical fitness already in preschoolers. Baseline data from the MINISTOP (Mobile-based INtervention Intended to STop Obesity in Preschoolers) trial was utilized for this cross-sectional analysis. Body composition was assessed using air-displacement plethysmography. Fat mass index [fat mass (kg)/height(2) (m)] and fat-free mass index [fat-free mass (kg)/height(2) (m)] were used to provide height-adjusted measures of body composition. Physical fi…
Ipsilateral corticomotor responses are confined to the homologous muscle following cross-education of muscular strength
2017
Cross-education of strength occurs when strength-training 1 limb increases the strength of the untrained limb and is restricted to the untrained homologous muscle. Cortical circuits located ipsilateral to the trained limb might be involved. We used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to determine the corticomotor responses from the untrained homologous (biceps brachii) and nonhomologous (flexor carpi radialis) muscle following strength-training of the right elbow flexors. Motor evoked potentials were recorded from the untrained left biceps brachii and flexor carpi radialis during a submaximal contraction from 20 individuals (10 women, 10 men; aged 18–35 years; training group, n = 10; c…
Physical fitness in relation to later body composition in pre-school children
2019
Objectives Although physical fitness is considered a marker of health in youth, little is known whether physical fitness in pre-school age is related to later body composition. Thus, this study investigated (i) associations of physical fitness at 4.5 years of age with body composition 12 months later and (ii) whether improvements in physical fitness during the 12-month follow-up were associated with changes in body composition. Design This study included 142 children, measured at 4.5 and 5.5 years, from the control group of the MINISTOP trial. Methods Physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness, lower- and upper-body muscular strength and motor fitness) was measured using the PREFIT test ba…
Exercise and sport in the treatment of haemophilic patients: a systematic review
2008
Summary. In haemophiliacs, the physical condition, muscular strength, aerobic resistance, anaerobic resistance and proprioception have all diminished. Muscle atrophy and instability, being more vulnerable to stressful motor demands, increase the risk of lesion and establish a vicious circle that is hard to break: pain, immobility, atrophy, articular instability and repeated bleeding episodes. In haemophilia, physical and/or sporting activities were not recommended until the seventies. Nowadays, the overall policy is to recommend certain physical activities, especially swimming, to improve the patients quality of life, thanks to prophylaxis programmes. The objective of this study is to perfo…
Physiological adaptations to resistance training in rats selectively bred for low and high response to aerobic exercise training
2018
New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Can phenotypic traits associated with low response to one mode of training be extrapolated to other exercise-inducible phenotypes? The present study investigated whether rats that are low responders to endurance training are also low responders to resistance training. What is the main finding and its importance? After resistance training, rats that are high responders to aerobic exercise training improved more in maximal strength compared with low-responder rats. However, the greater gain in strength in high-responder rats was not accompanied by muscle hypertrophy, suggesting that the responses observed could be mainly neural in orig…