Conditioning Research

A strange study! Head Hair Reduces Sweat Rate During Exercise Under the Sun

Interesting.  The physiological and psychological stress of sparring creates a hormonal response which is catabolic.  Testosterone goes done....cortisol goes up. So by all means train in martial arts, but be careful of the level of stress - physical and psychological - that you are using. Hormonal response to Taekwondo fighting simulation in elite adolescent athletes Exercise training efficiency depends on the training load, as well as on the athlete’s ability to tolerate it. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fighting simulation (3 fights, 6 min each, 30 min rest between fights) on anabolic (IGF-I, LH, FSH, estradiol, and testosterone) and catabolic hormones (cortisol) in elite, male (n = 10) and female (n = 10) adolescent (12–17 years) Taekwondo fighters. Blood samples were collected before the first and immediately after the third fight. The fighting simulation practice led to significant (p < 0.05) decreases in IGF-I (males −27.1 ± 25.6, fe...

This is weird! Comments please? Responses of muscle mass, strength and gene transcripts to long-term heat stress in healthy human subjects The present study was performed to investigate the effects of long-term heat stress on mass, strength and gene expression profile of human skeletal muscles without exercise training. Eight healthy men were subjected to 10-week application of heat stress, which was performed for the quadriceps muscles for 8 h/day and 4 days/week by using a heat- and steam-generating sheet. Maximum isometric force during knee extension of the heated leg significantly increased after heat stress (~5.8%, P These results suggested that long-term application of heat stress could be effective in increasing the muscle strength associated with hypertrophy without exercise training.

I saw this in the New Scientist - How to survive the long haul in space - it is about how to tackle some of the health problems associated with being in space. It turns out that maintaining the strength of muscle and bone is really important.....and is also a real challenge when weights are weightless. In terms of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) there are a few interesting ideas being tried out: Short bursts of high-intensity resistance training, at around 70 per cent of the muscles' maximum capacity for 15 minutes, twice a day, should help, says Fitts. A range of studies in animals and volunteers confined to bed rest suggest this will protect muscles better than long periods of low-intensity aerobic exercise. It may also guard against bone loss. Dan Bikle of the University of California, San Francisco, who has studied bone loss in rats whose hindquarters are suspended off the ground, recommends intense weight-bearing exercise for 1 second in 10, for a few minutes each da...

Superb stuff from Damien Walters

Check out the new website for the 100 rep challenge. This is an initiative from my pal Rannoch - interviewed here. The One Hundred Rep Challenge is…….. A simple practice designed to establish an re-enforce positive, enduring habits Suitable for everyone, young & old, active & sedentary, everyone can benefit by using 100 reps to work on the areas of their mental & physical wellbeing that require attention. We approach everything as scalable” – rather than one size fits all, the 100 Rep Challenge helps participants find the best route for themselves The Challenge is a personal one, about accountability and the value of consistent effort. It can work as an individual or group effort but the focus remains a personal one. The Challenge can be used by teachers, coaches, trainers, athletes, families and groups of any kind who require a starting point for a simple daily practice. Almost any physical activity can be adapted to the Challenge. 100 is simply a number, a starting poin...

This was interesting. I've pointed to similar things before - e.g. the post on Spark and the follow up one. moderate exercise – in this case walking at one's own pace for 40 minutes three times a week – can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks. The higher the connectivity, the better the performance on cognitive tasks, especially the ones we call executive control tasks – things like planning, scheduling, dealing with ambiguity, working memory and multitasking," Kramer said. These are the very skills that tend to decline with aging, he said. There is more in the report here and the full study (pdf) is available from the link below: Plasticity of brain networks in a randomized intervention trial of exercise training in older adults