DO COMPRESSION PANTS INFLUENCE MUSCLE OSCILLATION, MUSCLE ACTIVATION TIME, AND OXYGEN CONSUMPTION DURING RUNNING?

Andrew Craig-Jones1, Jacquelyn Sertic2, Brittany Shimana3, James W. Navalta, FACSM3, John A. Mercer, FACSM3. 1Augusta University, Augusta, GA. 2University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. 3University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV. BACKGROUND: In recent years, compression clothing has become a billion-dollar market. Despite this boom in popularity, there is a relatively small amount of research investigating its effect on physiological variables during exercise. The purpose of this study was to compare muscle oscillation, muscle activation time, and oxygen consumption while wearing compression pants vs. a control garment during running. METHODS: Participants (n=11; 1.7±0.1m; 74.3±12.6kg; 26.7±12.7yr; 5F, 6M) ran in compression pants (20-25 mmHg) and a control garment (CON). Participants ran 6 min at: preferred speed (PS), preferred speed minus 10% (PS-10%), and preferred speed plus 10% (PS+10%). Muscle activity of the rectus femoris, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior was measured through electromyography (EMG). Muscle Oscillation (MO) was measured with accelerometers attached to the thigh and shank. EMG, MO, stride frequency (SF), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured during the last minute of each condition. Rate of oxygen consumption (V̇O2) and heart rate (HR) were recorded and averaged over the final 3 minutes of for each condition. MO was assessed over the 0-60 Hz range by averaging power across 10 Hz bins per leg segment. EMG data were processed by removing any zero offset, rectifying, and averaging activation time over 5 strides. Dependent variables (Muscle activation time, MO, V̇O2, HR, RPE, SF) were each compared between conditions using 2 (garment) X 3 (speed) repeated measure ANOVAs (α=0.05). RESULTS: MO or activation time were not influenced by the interaction of garment and speed for any frequency bin assessed (p\u3e0.05). MO up to 40 Hz was lower during compression pants vs. control garment (p\u3c0,05). Muscle activation time for each muscle was shorter while wearing compression pants for RF, BF, & GA (p\u3c0.05). V̇O2, RPE, SF, nor HR were influenced by garment (p\u3e0.05). CONCLUSION: Wearing compression pants resulted in a reduction in MO and activation time; however, these changes did not translate into a reduction of V̇O2.With a reduction in muscle activation time it is possible there may be less fatigue for the runner and V̇O2 may be affected on longer running bouts. However, more research is needed to test this hypothesis

Decreased functional capacity and muscle strength in elderly women with metabolic syndrome

Denis Cesar Leite Vieira,1 Ramires Alsamir Tibana,1 Vitor Tajra,1 Dahan da Cunha Nascimento,1 Darlan Lopes de Farias,1 Alessandro de Oliveira Silva,1 Tatiane Gomes Teixeira,1 Romulo Maia Carlos Fonseca,2 Ricardo Jacó de Oliveira,2 Felipe Augusto dos Santos Mendes,2 Wagner Rodrigues Martins,2 Silvana Schwerz Funghetto,2 Margo Gomes de Oliveira Karnikowski,2 James Wilfred Navalta,3 Jonato Prestes11Graduate Program on Physical Education, Catholic University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil; 2University of Brasilia, UnB, Brasilia, Brazil; 3Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USAPurpose: To compare the metabolic parameters, flexibility, muscle strength, functional capacity, and lower limb muscle power of elderly women with and without the metabolic syndrome (MetS).Methods: This cross-sectional study included 28 older women divided into two groups: with the MetS (n = 14; 67.3 ± 5.5 years; 67.5 ± 16.7 kg; 1.45 ± 0.35 m; 28.0 ± 7.6 kg/m2), and without the MetS (n = 14; 68.7 ± 5.3 years; 58.2 ± 9.9 kg; 1.55 ± 0.10 m; 24.3 ± 3.8 kg/m2). Body composition was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and dynamic muscle strength was assessed by one-maximum repetition (1RM) tests in leg press, bench press and biceps curl exercises. Six-minute walk test, Timed Up and Go (TUG); 30-second sitting-rising; arm curl using a 2-kg dumbbell, sit-and-reach (flexibility), and vertical jump tests were performed.Results: There was no difference between groups regarding age (P = 0.49), height (P = 0.46), body fat (%) (P = 0.19), systolic (P = 0.64), diastolic (P = 0.41) and mean blood pressure (P = 0.86), 30-second sitting-rising (P = 0.57), 30-s arm curl (P = 0.73), leg press 1RM (P = 0.51), bench press 1RM (P = 0.77), and biceps curl 1RM (P = 0.85). However, women without the MetS presented lower body mass (P = 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.0001), waist circumference (P = 0.02), waist-to-height ratio (P = 0.02), fat body mass (kg) (P = 0.05), lean body mass (kg) (P = 0.02), blood glucose (P = 0.05), triglycerides (P = 0.03), Z-score for the MetS (P = 0.05), higher high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) (P = 0.002), better performance on TUG (P = 0.01), flexibility (P = 0.03), six-minute walk test (P = 0.04), vertical jump (P = 0.05) and relative muscle strength for leg press (P = 0.03), bench press (P = 0.04) and biceps curl (P = 0.002) exercises as compared to women with the MetS.Conclusion: Elderly women with the MetS have higher metabolic risk profile and lower functional capacity, muscle strength, lower limb power and flexibility as compared to women without the MetS. The evaluation of functional capacity may help to determine the degree of physical decline in older persons with the MetS, while exercise interventions should be encouraged.Keywords: metabolic syndrome, functional capacity, muscle performance, agin