SYNCHRONIZATION AND TOWING EFFECT ON ADULT ONE-DOG CANICROSS PERFORMANCE

Canicross is competitive team sport in which a human athlete is towed via a canine athlete on an elastic gangline. Although human performance factors play a role in the success of the canicross team, the interaction between human and canine athletes may also play a crucial role on the performance of the team. The purpose of this study was to assess the synchronization patterns across different locations in competitive canicross events and investigate the influences of canine mass on a timed trial event. Video was taken at five locations along the trail of two different competitive canicross events. Synchronization was mapped and a total synchronization score was given to each of the 19 canicross teams. The results of the current study suggest that neither synchronization score nor human to canine mass ratios were correlated with performance

Timing of Meals and Exercise Affects Hormonal Control of Glucoregulation, Insulin Resistance, Substrate Metabolism, and Gastrointestinal Hormones, but Has Little Effect on Appetite in Postmenopausal Women

The current prevalence of obesity in the US is strongly associated with excessive food intake and insufficient physical activity. This study examined whether changing the timing of exercise before or after two daily meals could alter human appetite for food. Fifty-four healthy postmenopausal women were matched by body weight and assigned to two groups: (1) two bouts of 2-h moderate-intensity exercise ending one hour before each weight-maintenance meal (XM, n = 23), (2) two-hour moderate-intensity exercise starting 1 h after each weight-maintenance meal (MX, n = 23), and one sedentary control (SED) arm (n = 8). Measurements included appetite ratings, circulating glucose, free fatty acids (FFAs), a ketone body D-ß-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), glucoregulatory hormones insulin and glucagon, and gastrointestinal hormones associated with food digestion and absorption and implicated in appetite sensations. XM group increased concentrations of FFAs and BHB during exercise and increased insulin and homeostatic assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) during postprandial periods. MX group reduced postprandial insulin and HOMA-IR by about 50% without a major change in plasma glucose. There was brief suppression of hunger and an increase in satiation in both exercise groups near the end of the first postprandial period. The time course of hunger was unrelated to the perturbations in fuel metabolism, depletion of liver glycogen, and not correlated with concentration changes in hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin during XM exercise before meals. Similarly, there was no correlation between the time course of fullness during exercise after meals with the postprandial secretion of gastrointestinal hormones including cholecystokinin (CCK) that has been linked to satiation. Hunger and satiation appear to depend on oral intake and gastrointestinal processing of nutrients and are not affected by metabolic and hormonal consequences of the timing of exercise with respect to meals. Moderate-intensity exercise performed shortly after meals induces a rapid and highly effective lowering of insulin resistance

Appetite Responds to Changes in Meal Content, Whereas Ghrelin, Leptin, and Insulin Track Changes in Energy Availability

Context: It is uncertain how between-meal variations in energy availability and physiological changes in ghrelin, leptin, and insulin affect appetite