Asian Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Dec 2019

In most combat sports, athletes are classified according to their body weight, and many of them attempt to lose weight quickly.

Since the effects of rapid weight loss (RWL) on competitive performance are somewhat ambiguous, this study aims to review high-risk behaviors used for RWL, to assess food intake and anthropometric data in combat sports athletes, and to investigate the negative effects of RWL on physiological and health-related parameters.

This systematic review study was conducted by searching the PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus databases using keywords, including (combat sports, RWL, high-risk behaviors) and (food intake, anthropometric measurements) from 2001 to 2017. After screening based on the title and abstract of identified studies, 17 articles met our inclusion criteria and were included in this review.

The results of the studies indicated a high prevalence of RWL among athletes, which was often due to reduced body fluids. At the same time, lower-level athletes often used more dangerous methods, such as fasting, skipping meal, and fluid restriction. This method can negatively affect athletes’ mental status and athletic performance.

Regarding the negative effects of short-term adjustment of weight on physiological and mental function, further studies suggest athletes to consume a balanced and varied diet including all food groups.

It is unknown whether a shorter duration of high-intensity circuit training (HICT) could improve health-related fitness in sedentary women.

This study aims to investigate the effects of 4 weeks of HICT using body weight (HICTBW) on cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in middle aged, sedentary women.

Twenty-four women (age: 35±3 years), who currently participated in exercise for less than 2 days or 150minutes per week, were randomly assigned to either an untrained (CG; n = 12) or trained (TG; n = 12) group. The TG group performed a HICTBW program for four weeks (3 times weekly), whereas the CG group performed their usual activity. All participants were asked to maintain their current eating habits. Parameters were compared before and after 4 weeks.

Exercise VO2peak, relative VO2peak, heart rate and workload significantly increased over the 4-week period in the TG compared with CG at the end of the 4 weeks of training (P < 0.05). However, there were also no differences between groups in any body composition parameters at the end of the 4-week program (P > 0.05).

Our findings suggest that a 4-week HICTBW program (12 poses per circuit, 8 minutes each circuit three times weekly for 4 weeks) was sufficient to improve cardiorespiratory fitness but had no effect on body composition or weight loss in sedentary women who did not change their dietary habits.

Although the positive effects of sports on body image perception are well described in the literature, rhythmic gymnasts have been reported to be at greater risk of developing body dissatisfaction and possibly eating disorders. The reason is that athletes engaged in aesthetic sports may be subject to greater pressure to be thin in order to adhere to the norms of that sport.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate body image perception and body composition in a sample of premenarcheal rhythmic gymnasts and to assess the influence of sport practice.

A cross sectional study was carried out on a total sample of 135 girls: 64 were preadolescent rhythmic gymnasts (10.1 ± 1.8 years) divided into competitive and non-competitive athletes, while the other 71 schoolgirls (11.4 ± 0.3 years) were included as a control group. Anthropometric traits were directly collected, and BMI and body composition parameters were calculated. Body image perception and body image satisfaction were evaluated through body image indexes. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA adjusted for age and multiple linear regression analysis.

Anthropometric traits and body composition parameters varied significantly between gymnasts and controls and between competitive and non-competitive subgroups, especially when adiposity indicators were compared. In general, rhythmic gymnasts showed a perception of their body consistent with their anthropometric characteristics and low body dissatisfaction, with competitive girls choosing a thinner silhouette as their ideal. A new index, FIDSPORT, developed by us as a simple measure of what gymnasts believe is the ideal gymnast figure compared to their actual figure, reported higher dissatisfaction between their perceived body and the body considered ideal for their sport. Moreover, rhythmic gymnasts showed a desire for a skinnier body than the control group. Practice of rhythmic gymnastics and BMI were negatively correlated with general ideal figure.

All participants wanted to be thinner, but the ideal body image of gymnasts was thinner than that of schoolgirls. In addition, as a result of body satisfaction transiency, the ideal gymnast body image showed even lower values than the general ideal body image. This trend was well quantified by the FIDSport when compared to the FID(Feel-minus-Ideal-Discrepancy).

With atherosclerosis first being demonstrated to be as a result of diet in 1909, epidemiological studies have examined the role of diet on cardiovascular disease (CVD). This has led to diet’s inclusion as a secondary CVD risk factor not only for its direct association with CVD, but also due to its important role to play in other risk factors, such as dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus. The low carbohydrate, high fat diet (LCHFD) is a contentious topic. Its efficacy is much-debated, with opponents proposing that LCHFDs increase the risk of developing CVD.

This study’s aim was to determine if a LCHFD alters lipoprotein-lipids, either unaccompanied or in combination with physical activity in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Participants (N = 39) were allocated to either 16 weeks of simultaneous physical activity and LCHFD (DiExG), LCHFD only (DietG) or 16 weeks of blind control (ConG). Participants in the DiExG were required to eat a high fat diet and not more than 50 g of carbohydrates per day in addition to walking a minimum of 10,000 steps daily. The DietG too followed a LCHFD but were not prescribed any physical activity while the ConG continued with their normal daily activities. Data were analyzed by SPSS 25 software using a paired sample t-test and ANOVA. A confidence level of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

No significant (P > 0.05) changes were observed in blood total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) in either the DiExG (TC: P = 0.791; 2.0% increase, TG: P = 0.477; 9.5% decrease, LDLC: P = 0.704; 7.4% increase and HDLC: P = 0.989; 0% change) or DietG (TC: P = 0.881; 0% change, TG: P = 0.677; 17.9% increase, LDLC: P = 0.744; 13.8% decrease and HDLC: P = 0.844; 0% change).

It appears that a LCHFD with or without physical activity does not have any benefit on lipoprotein-lipids in type 2 diabetics, and may actually result in unfavorable, albeit insignificant, adaptations

In obese individuals, chronic inflammation is associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. This inflammation may be reduced by anti-inflammatory proteins like pentraxin 3 (PTX3). High-intensity interval training (HIIT) mostly with weight bearing might also alleviate this inflammation. This type of exercise may be limited in obese individuals due to their excessive body mass, muscular weakness or joints pain. Whether non-weight bearing HIIT can increase these anti-inflammatory proteins in obese individuals is not clear yet.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of non-weight bearing all-extremity HIIT (all ex. HIIT) on antiinflammatory proteins like PTX3.

In this cross-sectional semi-experimental study, 30 overweight and obese female participants with the mean age of 20.50 ± 1.50 years and the mean weight of 80.70 ± 13.70 kg were randomly assigned to all ex. HIIT and control groups. Training consisted of 4 × 4 min 85% - 90% max HR, and 3 × 3 recovery by 70% max HR with upper and lower body training in a simultaneous manner (four sessions per week for 10 weeks). PTX3, interleukin10 (IL10), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), lipid profile, glycemic profile, heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were assessed before and after the intervention.

At the end of the intervention, no significant difference was observed in PTX3 (P = 0.47), IL10 (P = 0.67) and TNFα (P = 0.92) levels between the groups. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) decreased by 13.5% in the all ex. HIIT group, while the triglyceride (TG), cholesterol (CHOL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and glycemic profiles remained unchanged in both groups. HR and systolic and diastolic BP decreased by 12.2%, 2.3% and 6%, respectively, in the all ex. HIIT group, while they remained unchanged in the control group. There was no significant change in PTX3, but as to its correlation with IL10 and HDL a slight change is observed.

All ex. HIIT may be a safe exercise that decreases LDL, HR and systolic and diastolic BP in overweight and obese individuals unable to perform weight-bearing HIIT.

Nutritional studies on athletes have focused on the intake of nutrients and nutritional supplements. The lack of sufficient evidence on eating pattern is challenging for those advising athletes on their daily dietary patterns during training and competitions.

To identify the eating pattern of high school athletes and its association with sport characteristics.

This cross-sectional study enrolled 248 Brazilian athletes (170 boys; age range, 14 - 20 years). We assessed the frequency of meals, unhealthy and healthy food items, and sports variables. Poisson regression model and the effect measure [prevalence ratio, PR] was analyzed.

The athletes exhibited low breakfast consumption and lunch or dinner with parents, as well as a low consumption of healthy food items. More than one-third of all athletes ate vegetables and fruits on≤2 days per week. We found a positive association between the time spent practicing the sport type and the regular consumption of raw salad and fruits. Soccer athletes had the worst eating pattern, including high soft drink (PR, 1.32; 1.10 - 1.60) consumption and the lowest bean (PR, 1.13; 1.01 - 1.26), raw salad (PR, 1.19; 1.04 - 1.37), and vegetable (PR, 1.10; 1.01 - 1.22) consumption, whereas the volleyball players exhibited themost adequate eating pattern.

Sports types and the time spent practicing these sports are associated with eating pattern. This information may be crucial for improving performance and promoting healthy habits that could benefit athletes even after their sports career.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most prevalent form of peripheral neuropathy. There are various treatments for carpal tunnel.

In this study, we evaluated the effect of electroacupuncture and exercise on pinch and grip strength and wrist range of motion in patients with mild to moderate CTS.

Sixty patients with carpal tunnel syndrome were evaluated in this study, only five of whom were male. In this study, patients were divided into three groups. The control group consisted of 20 patients who only used splints in the second group, in addition to splints, special exercises were administered, and the third group, electroacupuncture, and brace were prescribed for 12 sessions of 40- minute duration. study time was 6 weeks. The parameters of pinch force, grip force, ROM (flexion and extension) were evaluated at baseline and after the treatment.

In this study, 55 women and 5 men with an average age of 49.23 ± 8.96 were enrolled. At the final follow up, significant improvements in all parameters were found in third groups (P < 0.05), except flexion of the wrist in the control group (P = 0.098). Our findings indicate that exercise therapy had more effect on ROM of flexion than acupuncture and acupuncture had more effect on pinching than exercise therapy but the effect sizes were weak. Also, the efficacy of splint alone was less than intervention groups in all parameters.

Results of this study demonstrated that adding exercise or acupuncture to nocturnal splinting, the functional improvement is more in patients with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome and these interventions could be adopted in the management of these patients.