87 research outputs found
Study of cardiac autonomic control and physical fitness in martial artists
OBJECTIVES:
To study the effect of Kungfu training on cardiac autonomic status and physical fitness by comparing Kungfu trained subjects with control subjects matched for age, BMI and physical activity level.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Twenty Kungfu trained subjects and twenty matched control subjects were rested in supine position for twenty minutes. ECG and respiration data was acquired for five minutes after this, to obtain short-term heart rate variability parameters and other resting parameters. Standard cardiac autonomic tests were done. A maximal treadmill test was done and exercise duration, heart rate at maximal intensity and heart rate during recovery was measured and further analyzed to obtain recovery heart rates and time constants of recovery. All parameters were correlated with duration of Kungfu training. Analysis was done using SPSS software and suitable statistical tests were done.
RESULTS:
Subjects with Kungfu training had greater total heart rate variability as denoted by greater SDNN
similar physical activity levels. This augmented cardiac autonomic control observed in Kungfu subjects may be attributable to the regular practice of ‘breath out maneuvers’, which form an intrinsic part of the exercise protocol of Kungfu training. Kungfu training allowed the subject to do similar quantum of work at a lower heart rate than controls, as evidenced by the lower heart rate in the Kungfu group at similar maximal work intensities reached by both groups. With increased duration of Kungfu training there was significant decrease in the maximal heart rate achieved with maximal exercise and the absolute heart rate at thirty seconds after stopping maximal exercise, in the martial artists his finding may simply be a reflection of the positive effect of longer duration of training on the work capacity and max of martial artists.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS:
Higher physical fitness appears to prolong life. To attain, maintain and improve fitness, one mode of physical activity used is exercise. Exercise consists of planned, structured, and repetitive bodily movement. Martial arts are methods of combat that have been altered into exercises. Kung Fu is a generic term used for Chinese martial arts. Kungfu is a unique which incorporates a mixed anaerobic and aerobic exercise regimen which is combined with breathing exercises and meditation.
No studies have been done on the effect of Kung Fu training on cardiac autonomic function. This study looked at the effect of Kungfu training on cardiac autonomic status and physical fitness.
The cardiac autonomic effects of endurance and strength training have been studied separately and documented. But there are no studies on combined aerobic and anaerobic training programs on cardiac autonomic status. Further, breathing exercises and meditation have been shown to affect cardiac autonomic status by lowering heart rate, modifying heart rate variability and decreasing blood pressure. Kung Fu involves aerobic and anaerobic training, along with meditation and breathing exercises. There are no studies reporting the combined effects of all these maneuvers on physical fitness and cardiac autonomic control.
Twenty Martial artists who have practiced Kungfu for over a year were recruited and compared with twenty normal subjects of similar age, BMI and physical activity. Cardiac autonomic status and fitness level was compared between these groups.
The cardiac autonomic function tests administered were heart rate variability analysis, deep breathing test, orthostatic challenge test, Valsalva maneuver and maximal hand grip test. The tests were conducted as per standardized published protocols. Standard indices were calculated from these tests and compared. The resting heart rate, resting blood pressure and rate pressure product were also obtained. This was followed by a maximal treadmill test.
A maximal exercise test was used to estimate O2 max indirectly. A fixed ramp protocol was used in a motor driven treadmill to administer a maximal test. Immediately after exercise, the subject rested in the supine position, during the period of recovery. The maximal heart rate achieved with maximal exercise (HRmax) and absolute heart rates at different points of recovery was obtained. The heart rate recovery (HRR) at a given point of time was computed by subtracting the absolute heart rate at that point of time from the HRmax. HRR is an index of physical fitness and a predictor of O2 max. (24) The ratio of H max to resting heart rate and total exercise duration was also used as predictors of O2 max. The work intensity at maximal exercise was also calculated and compared.
The recovery heart rate decay was analyzed and it fitted well with double exponential functions. Two time constants were derived. The lower time constant was arbitrarily selected to be the parasympathetic reactivation time constant and the higher one was selected to be the sympathetic withdrawal time constant. These time constants were compared between the two groups. The effect of duration of Kungfu training on the various autonomic parameters was analyzed.
Tests revealed significantly increased SDNN and RMSSD parameters of short-term heart rate variability in Kungfu trained subjects showing improved overall autonomic modulations and vagal modulations when compared to controls,. The maximal heart rate reached with maximal exercise was significantly less in Kungfu group. With increased duration of Kungfu training there was significant decrease in the maximal heart rate achieved with maximal exercise and the absolute heart rate thirty seconds after stopping maximal exercise, in the martial artists. This finding may simply be a reflection of the positive effect of longer duration of training on the work capacity and O max of martial artists.
Kungfu is a unique form of exercise training which incorporates aerobic exercises, anaerobic exercises, breathing exercises and meditation. Kungfu training improved overall heart rate variability and vagal modulations and allowed the subject to do similar quantum of work at a lower heart rate than controls, as evidenced by the lower heart rate in the Kungfu group at similar maximal work intensities reached by both groups
2007 IMSAloquium, Student Investigation Showcase
In conjunction with IMSA\u27s 20th Anniversary and to better represent and capture the sophistication and quality of the students\u27 exemplary investigations, IMSAIoquium: Student Investigation Showcase was developed as the new name for what has previously been termed Presentation Day.https://digitalcommons.imsa.edu/archives_sir/1015/thumbnail.jp
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The abstracts...are representative of student-faculty collaborative research and creative work that takes place throughout the year at Hope
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Initialization Requirement in Developing of Mobile Learning 'Molearn' for Biology Students Using Inquiry-based learning
Inquiry-based learning is kind of learning activities that
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century education. This study aims at initializing needs of
developing mobile learning ‘Molearn’ based on inquiry-based
method. By cooperating with Biology teacher community in
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The Determinants of Post-Compulsory Education Decision in Rural China: With an Analysis of a Grassroots NGO Intervention
In rural China, when approaching the end of nine-year compulsory schooling, students face four equally popular post-compulsory education decisions (PCED): dropout, work after graduation, vocational high school, and academic high school. The literature tends to simply treat PCED as dichotomous (continue vs. leave school), and there is a geographical research imbalance favoring inner China. An increasing volume of studies also suggest that traditionally recognized factors like socioeconomic status and academic performance are not as influential as before in advancing the schooling. People have started to look at socio-emotional support, such as the promotion of self-discipline and confidence. At present, it is grassroots NGOs (GNGO) who take the major responsibility for providing this type of support in rural China, and there is rare discussion of achievements, let alone evaluation of practical impact.
Given the existing problems, the key research questions of this study are: (1) What are the current PCED determinants for China’s rural students? More specifically, what are the PCED determinants for lower secondary students in rural Guangdong, a coastal province? (2) How can GNGO intervention affect PCED by boosting certain subjective factor(s)? The tested treatment is the Lighthouse program, whose one-month summer camp aims to improve student attitudes towards their life, such as making them more confident, organized, and social.
The key to answering the first question is to explore a comprehensive list of variables applying to local populations, which cannot be achieved simply through a literature review. When answering the second question, since Lighthouse participation is voluntary, it is important to deal with selection bias, to ensure that any identified Lighthouse impact results from its activities rather than the student characteristics that lead to their participation.
To overcome these methodological challenges, I first employed the Delphi approach. Delphi is an iterative process used to collect and distill the judgments of experts using a series of questionnaires interspersed with feedback. It is used to identify possible PCED determinants that are missing in the literature, to determine factors that lead to Lighthouse participation, and to collect discussions about both PCED determinants and GNGO intervention. Based on the Delphi results and literature, I then designed five questionnaires for students, households, teachers, principals, and Lighthouse volunteers. In Jun-Oct 2012, I led seven research assistants in conducting two waves of surveys in eight towns, building a firsthand dataset of 6298 valid observations with imputations. Multinomial logit was used to investigate PCED determinants. It predicted the PCED probabilities, given nine groups of independent variables. Propensity score matching was used to evaluate the program impact. It calculates the treatment propensity for each student based on their characteristics, so the Lighthouse impact can be compared between treated and untreated students of similar treatment propensity. Tests of robustness and heterogeneity were conducted after both methods. Qualitative materials collected from Delphi and on-site interviews were used to explore the causal mechanism.
I use relative risk ratios to report the findings of PCED determinants. The findings challenge the existing literature regarding the roles of gender and parental background, further extend knowledge of monetary reward/cost and subjective factors, and confirm new possible determinants that have seldom been investigated in literature. The main model passes the robustness check, and there exist explainable heterogeneity effects. It is notable that education aspiration stands out as a strong PCED determinant, ceteris paribus.
Propensity score matching shows that the Lighthouse program mainly affects PCED by boosting educational aspiration for students with high academic performance, although that impact fades gradually if there is no follow-up service. The novelty of the program to local people, volunteer team morale, and volunteer acceptance of Lighthouse training could help explain why increases in aspiration varied across sites. The role-model effect might explain why the increase in aspiration exists, as there are signs that the students tried to copy the volunteer’s schooling decision once trust was built.
This study makes three major contributions. It can be translated into comprehensive advocacy for education policies related to PCED, such as dropout prevention and the promotion of VHS. It may also suggest the value of, or at least the required improvement to, China’s educational GNGOs, which are young and remain confined by governmental regulations. Last but not least, this is a unique showcase of how qualitative-quantitative sequential mixed-method works better in exploratory analyses. The study has limitations in timing, missing data, external validity, implementation of research methods, and heavy rely on self-reported questionnaires, but they can be largely eliminated by conducting proper further studies
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