The Effect of Acute Consumption of Overtime Essential Amino Acids Sports Drink on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in the Older Sedentary Population

Essential amino acids are necessary for nutrition whether obtained by digestion of proteins or by oral supplementation of amino acids. The elderly experience loss of skeletal muscles and decrease in their strength and function, which can lead to poor quality of life. Increased quantity and quality of proteins stimulates muscle protein synthesis that can help combat this natural aging process. Purpose: The aim of this study was to see if consumption of essential amino acid drink high concentrations of leucin (2040 mg/serving) during exercise will attenuate the condition of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in the elderly. Also, we aimed to assess the degree of muscle flexibility and endurance followed the three-day exercise protocol. We hypothesized that the older participants acutely ingesting the essential amino acid supplement during the exercise regime will have increased physical performance and diminished symptoms of DOMS. Methods: In this study, 16 participants (6 P, 10 EAA-O) completed a health screening visit and an exercise routine (sit, stretch and reach, shoulder flexibility distance, MVC isometric handgrip, push-ups (reps), flexed arm hang (time), cable triceps extension (50% of one repetition max until failure), and a 1.5-mile run, with intermittent consumption of the sports drink) for three consecutive days. The study participants were randomly assigned to either the EAA-O group (6.6g of EAA-O + Gatorade) or the control group (Gatorade-only). The study design is a double blinded study as neither the recording analysis researchers nor study participants were aware of the assigned group. Results: The EAA-O group improved significantly from day one to two in flexed arm hang (p = 0.036) and the 1.5-mile run (p = 0.040). The EAA-O group improved significantly from day two to three in push-ups (p = 0.002), flexed arm hang (p = 0.035), and 1.5-mile run (0.001). The EAA-O group improved significantly from day one to three in push-ups (p = 0.045), flexed arm hang (p = 0.006), 1.5-mile run (p = 0.0003), and the top speed (p = 0.026). The placebo group did not improve significantly in any of the exercise parameters. Conclusions: Results suggest that the Overtime essential amino acid supplementation combined with training improves overall athletic performance in the older sedentary population. Research reported in this publication was supported by a research contract with Calwood Nutritionals and was approved by the ENMU IRB

Vascular deficits in Native American Women with Metabolic Syndrome during Dynamic Exercise

Native Americans of the Southwest are predisposed to vascular diseases due to health disparate lifestyles influenced by diet, lack of exercise and decreased access to health care. These factors together may be responsible for the co-morbidities developed with Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) which are indicators of early onset cardiovascular disease. In a previous study, we evaluated Native Americans (NA) diagnosed with MetSyn or Type II Diabetes and compared the sedentary control NA and Caucasians (CA) during vascular measurements of FMD. We found that NA Control and MetSyn groups exhibited a decrease in vascular function during rate to peak and % dilation in the popliteal artery. Based on these previous findings we also evaluated the reactive vascular changes in the brachial and femoral arteries during dynamic handgrip (DHG) and single leg knee-kick (SLKK) to measure of the same groups in the previous study. PURPOSE: We hypothesize that the NA population with MetSyn will have lower vascular responses due to underlying vascular function restrictions compared to CA of the same groups and that similarly the sedentary control NA women would have blunted blood flow responses as seen in the FMD data. METHODS: 24 NA (Control=10, MetSyn=10) and 28 CA (Control=15, MetSyn=12) completed two visits. MetSyn women identified with 3 out of 5 criteria (high triglycerides, HDLRESULTS: During DHG the CA Controls have no significantly difference conductance (ml/min/mmHg/100ml limb volume) compared the NA control or MetSyn groups. However, during SLKK the femoral artery conductance was significantly lower the CA MetSyn (0.0015+0.001) compared to the CA control (0.0036+0.0006) at the higher workload (p=0.03). The NA Controls and MetSyn were lower 0.0031+0.0001, and 0.0012+0.0008) at the peak exercise however the findings were not significant. CONCLUSION: MetSyn NA and CA exhibited significant differences in vascular conductance in the limbs during dynamic exercise. In addition, normal healthy sedentary NA also had lower vascular conductance compared to the CA Control group indicating an ethnic difference

Dynamic Graded Muscle Exercise in Sedentary Metabolic Syndrome Women; Effects on Cardiac Workload

Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) individuals presented declining sensitivity to insulin (p=.0201) as calculated by insulin sensitivity index (ISI-60) measurement. The young women categorized as MetSyn were previously found to have significantly lower (ISI-60) from healthy controls (Gomez, 2018), and had higher percent body fat (p\u3c .05), diminished HDL (p\u3c .05), and higher expenditure of Kcals (p=.04) compared to controls as measured by 7 day accelerometer. Cardiovascular modification is hypothesized to involve progressive dysfunction of the insulin mediated AKT/PKB eNOS pathway. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify if daily sedentary activity is associated with myocardial workload in the development of the metabolic disorder. We hypothesized metabolic syndrome individuals Rate Pressure Product (RPP) would be at elevated at rest and through various workloads of small muscle exercise. METHODS: We compared daily activity to heart function in order to identify possible myocardial workload, using Rate Pressure Product (RPP) between controls and MetSyn in women (RPP= HR×SBP). Dynamic graded handgrip and single leg kick exercises were used to measure any cardiovascular deficiency between MetSyn and controls. By taking SBP and HR for every workload, we identified differences in cardiac work. RESULTS: RPP values greater than 10,000 bpm/mmHg indicated an increased risk for heart disease, where metabolic syndrome group was found to have higher RPP (p=.02) indicating that their hearts work harder. We also identified that individuals with higher RPP have had more sedentary breaks as measured by accelerometer R=.396, p=.0227, n=33. For Handgrip workloads there was a significant increase of RPP between Unloaded, 1Kg, 2Kg (pCONCLUSION:Metsyn individuals are experiencing higher myocardial workloads. We predict that sedentary lifestyles along with developing metabolic deficiency are responsible for the observed increased myocardial workload in MetSyn women

Baseline and Post-concussive Neurocognitive and Physiological Assessments in Minor Student Athletes

BACKGROUND: There is a higher risk of post-concussion syndrome among minor athletes. This has resulted in The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT), which is currently the primary test for collegiate and high school athletes for concussion assessment and return to play. Previous work from our lab has indicated a significant detection of cognitive deficit with a battery of cognitive testing including the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) and dual task testing incorporating balance testing along with the Stroop and number recall. In the previous findings these tests identified cognitive decline including reaction time and fine motor deficiencies either not tested by the ImPACT or determined non-deficient in the Post-concussive participants already determined fit to return to play. However the results from the ImPACT are variable and may not be sensitive enough to detect the same abnormalities in younger minor patients. PURPOSE: To determine whether there is a significant difference in neurocognitive function between prepubescent and pubescent minor students age 10-18 during our battery of cognitive testing and if there is a greater decline in function in young minor athletes. Additionally we aimed to compare baseline and post-concussed minors in order to determine whether mild traumatic brain injury causes a change in neurocognitive abilities. METHODS: Participants were asked to perform the measurements of the SCAT 3, the dual task Stroop, Minnesota Spatial Recognition (MSR) test, the Perdue Peg Board (PPB), a Reaction Time test (RTT) using a weighted dowel, and the administration of the TOVA to assess the Attention Comparison Score: a composite cutoff score comparing the subject’s performance to a study of independently diagnosed ADHD individual. RESULTS: Significant declines between the minor concussed and controls were found in the incorrect answers during the Stroop and the follow-up balanced dual task Stroop, Hopkins Verbal Learning Task, dominant right hand RTT, and MSR time and increasing errors for both hands. When comparing the pubescent and pre-pubescent boys control groups there is a significant negative scoring in pre-pubescent scores on left had RTT, Stroop errors, PPB mistakes, MSR mistakes and time, Dual-task Stroop balance error and number balance correction foot taps. Finally, the TOVA Attention Comparison Score in the concussed versus non-concussed minors indicates a significant difference with the concussed indicating symptoms of moderate ADHD. CONCLUSION: The complexities of a large cognitive battery for assessing concussive symptoms for return to play protocols for the minor athletes have been shown in the results from this study. As hypothesized the hour long battery indicates a broad area of significant identification markers of neurocognitive and neurophysiological dysfunction compared to non-concussed. The tests also reveal the difficulties in assessing concussive symptoms in minor athletes as there are a large number of differences in the battery between pre-pubescent and pubescent children

Comparing Vascular Deficiency between Caucasian and Hispanic Metabolic Syndrome Women

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death in the United States especially in Hispanics. People with Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) generally have high blood pressure, excess body fat and fasting glucose and abnormal cholesterol. We evaluated Hispanic (HS) and Caucasian (CA) women diagnosed with MetSyn in New Mexico and sedentary control with an initial screening and vascular measurements. Previous work from our lab indicated significant deficiencies between the control and MetSyn women in the measurements of the vascular mechanisms of developing deficits associated with the metabolic deficiencies. We aimed to identify if the health disparate HS population in the study would present with increased metabolic and vascular deficiencies. PURPOSE: We hypothesize that CA woman will have greater differences between the sedentary control and MetSyn group compared with HS women with equally diagnosed metabolic deficiencies. METHODS: 24 participants in total, for HS (Control=6, MetSyn=7) and CA (Control=6, MetSyn=5) women that completed the dynamic graded exercise protocols. Women were categorized as MetSyn if they presented with 3 out of 5 criteria (high triglycerides, HDLResults: CA flow (P=.01639) and conductance (P=.0477, was significantly higher at rest for leg kick. CA MAP was also significant lower at rest (P=.03278 Control =77 and MetSyn =93.5) and unloaded (P=.0278 Control= 84.6 and MetSyn =.0014). There was no significant differences between the Control HS vs MetSyn HS. CA women had more significant differences compared between controls and MetSyn including waist (in) (P=.04), Hip (in) (P=.03) triglycerides (P=.03, ISI (P=.01) and Weight (P=.002). HS only had a significant difference in the percent body fat (P=.0295). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we have indicated that the health disparate HS population may have decreased vascular responses and higher metabolic deficiencies similar to the HS MetSyn women

Vascular deficits in Native American Women with Metabolic Syndrome

The Native Americans of the Southwest are predisposed to vascular diseases due to health disparate lifestyles influenced by diet, lack of exercise and decreased access to health care. These factors together may be responsible for the co-morbidities developed with Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) which are indicators of early onset cardiovascular disease. We evaluated Native American (NA) women diagnosed with MetSyn or Type II Diabetes in New Mexico and compared to sedentary control NA and Caucasian (CA) women during vascular measurements. Previous work from in our lab indicates that the regional populations with elevated metabolic health issues have declining vascular function during the development of MetSyn. PURPOSE: We hypothesize that the NA women with MetSyn or Diabetes will have lower vascular responses due to underlying vascular function restrictions compared to CA women of the same groups. METHODS: 24 NA (Control=10, MetSyn=10, Diabetic=5) and 30 CA (Control=15, MetSyn=12, Diabetic=3) completed two visits. MetSyn women identified with 3 out of 5 criteria (high triglycerides, HDLRESULTS: MetSyn NA and CA exhibited differences with significantly higher changes of CA in PTI systole (2,154.7, 2,180.3, p=0.0921) while HDL cholesterol (53.375 mg/dL, 58.364 mg/dL, p=0.0564) was lower in NA, and Aortic HR (70.556, 78.636, p=0.03). Diabetic NA and CA had no differences except in post-insulin (172.122, 78.065, p=0.05362). Control NA and CA exhibited distinct increased differences in both groups. CA had higher HR (63 bpm, 67.692 bpm, p=0.0447), ISI (1.2325, 0.7908, p=0.00595), and FMD Popliteal rate to peak (mm/sec) (0.3330, 0.59, p=0.03495)). In NA, the Triglycerides (128.11 mg/dL, 70.357 mg/dL, p=0.000857), 60 second reperfusion velocity (cm/sec) (48.945, 31.663, p=0.06762) were significantly higher. CONCLUSION: The data indicated that NA require a longer time period to reach peak vascular dilation. Control Na and CA had the most significance differences potentially due to a more similar vascular response of the control population of NA to the MetSyn NA

Effects of High Concentration Vivissential Amino Acids Sports Drink Ingestion on Performance in Trained Athletes

Essential amino acids are necessary for protein nutrition and muscle sustainability. Previous studies looking at the effects of BCAAs did not result in measurable reductions in muscle damage and enhanced recovery of muscle function. PURPOSE: The Calwood Nutritionals Company manufactures a balanced nutritional formula of amino acids with the addition of a higher concentration of arginine and methionine, which during an acute 3-day study in our lab decreased muscle degradation in a young sedentary population. The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in performance following the chronic consumption of the essential amino acids in collegiate athletes while following the strength and conditioning training plan of the University Athletics department. We aim to compare a single-dose amino acid group (SDG), double-dose group (DDG) and a placebo group (PG) on a double-blinded study to measure changes in the lactate threshold, aerobic capacity and strength. METHODS: In this study, 17 participants (7 PG, 6 SDG, 4 DDG) completed a health screening and a follow up laboratory visit. Laboratory visits consisted of recording height, weight, HR, BP, BMI, %BF resting ECG, blood lipids, handgrip MVC, maximum push-ups, a broad jump distance, timed 60m sprint, 3RM dead lift and bench press, and timed flexed arm hang. VO2 max tests were performed on a cycle ergometer and blood lactic acid was measured. For 30 days the three dose groups consumed two 20oz Gatorade drinks a day with either no EAA (PG), one dose of 6.6g (SDG) or two 6.6g doses (DDG) of Vivissential amino acid powder. RESULTS: The DDG improved significantly in push-ups (12.25 ± 5.32, p=0.019). The SDG improved significantly in their maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 max 1.83 ± 1.45 ml/min/kg, p=0.027). All groups improved significantly in 3RM dead lift bench press (PG: 34.29 ± 32.20, p=0.0305, 5 ± 5, p=0.0382; SDG: 24.17 ± 13.57, p=0.0073, 7.5 ± 4.18, p=0.0071; DDG: 45 ± 20.82 p=0.0228, 15 ± 5.77, p=0.0138). The DDG was the only group that improved significantly in 60m sprint (0.33 ± 0.21 secs, p=0.0497). CONCLUSION: All groups improved in their performance following 30 days of training with the strength and conditioning coach. The changes between the groups were not statistically significant. However, the changes within the groups were significant in the SDG and DDG. These results suggest that Vivissential amino acid supplementation combined with training does increase strength and improves the performance in trained athletes