Comparison of health benefits between a high intensity interval training and a moderate intensity continuous training when performed in a nonlaboratory setting, in moderately obese women

The objective of this pilot study was to compare the effects of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and a moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) performed within a fitness center, on various health indices of 49 sedentary and moderately obese women (age 37 ± 7 years; BMI 32 ± 4 kg/m2) randomly assigned to supervised exercise on a cycle ergometer, 3 times/week, during 12 weeks, at 60% (MICT, n=24) or 85% (HIIT, n=25) of their heart rate reserve for weeks 5-12. Anthropometry, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, CRF (2 km-walking test estimated V; O2max), quality of life, QoL (SF-36 Questionnaire), eating behaviors (Three Factor Eating Questionnaire, TFEQ) and perceived health (Short Health Perceived Questionnaire, SHPQ) were obtained before and after training from 10 HIIT vs. 13 MICT participants who completed the program. At baseline, both groups showed similar characteristics, except for a better sleep quality (SHPQ) in MICT than in HIIT participants (p<0.005). Increases in CRF (+3 to +5%) and decreases in body weight (-2%) and thus BMI (-2.5 to -4.5%), waist girth (-4%) and fat mass (-6 to - 8%) were comparable (0.0001<p<0.05). The physical component score (SF-36), the cognitive restriction and hunger scores (TFEQ), and the perceived health items (SPHQ) were similarly improved, irrespective of the training mode (0.01<p<0.05). Twelve weeks of either HIIT or MICT led to similar body weight and fat mass losses as well as to comparable improvements in CRF, QoL, eating behaviors and perceived health, in healthy, sedentary and moderately obese women. However, the large dropout in the HIIT (58%; 14 of 24) and MICT (48%; 12 of 25) groups questions the implementation of such training programs within a non-laboratory setting. Further studies are clearly needed to better adapt the conditions of practice to subjects' characteristics and thus promote their long-term adherence to exercise

High-intensity interval training improves acute plasma volume responses to exercise that is age dependent

Plasma volume (PV) is affected by several factors including age, physical training and, acutely, by exercise intensity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 6 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIT) on PV and blood pressure (BP) changes among sedentary individuals. Thirty subjects aged between 18 and 71 years [body mass index=30.1(1.2) kg/m2] completed a 6-weeks HIT program. Anthropometric and fitness variables were obtained at pre- and post- HIT. PV variations during warm-up and after supramaximal cycling test (SCT) were calculated using two methods based on Hematocrit (Ht) and Hemoglobin (Hb) measures. After both the warm-up and SCT, PV decreased significantly among participants at pre- and at post-HIT (P < 0.01). However, PV decreases were significantly greater at pre-HIT compared with post-HIT during warm-up and after SCT (P < 0.01, respectively). In addition, at pre-HIT, a positive relationship was found between age and both PV variations at warm-up and after SCT (r2 = 0.55 and r2 = 0.46; P < 0.01 respectively). However, no relationship was found during the post-HIT period. After SCT and after both visits, only body weight predicted 22% of PV variations. In the current study, a significant relationship was found between systolic and diastolic BP improvements and PV variations in post-HIT (r2 = 0.54 and r2=0.56, P < 0.05, respectively). Our results suggest that HIT may improve PV values and reduce the effects of age on the decrease in PV. These interventions led to improvements in systolic and diastolic BP values among participants. © 2018 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological SocietyThis work was supported by the Faculty of Superior Studies and Research of the Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.Scopu

Ischemic preconditioning enhances aerobic adaptations to sprint-interval training in athletes without altering systemic hypoxic signaling and immune function

Optimizing traditional training methods to elicit greater adaptations is paramount for athletes. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) can improve maximal exercise capacity and up-regulate signaling pathways involved in physiological training adaptations. However, data on the chronic use of IPC are scarce and its impact on high-intensity training is still unknown. We investigated the benefits of adding IPC to sprint-interval training (SIT) on performance and physiological adaptations of endurance athletes. In a randomized controlled trial, athletes included eight SIT sessions in their training routine for 4 weeks, preceded by IPC (3 × 5 min ischemia/5 min reperfusion cycles at 220 mmHg, n = 11) or a placebo (20 mmHg, n = 9). Athletes were tested pre-, mid-, and post-training on a 30 s Wingate test, 5-km time trial (TT), and maximal incremental step test. Arterial O2 saturation, heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, and quadriceps muscle oxygenation changes in total hemoglobin (Δ[THb]), deoxyhemoglobin (Δ[HHb]), and tissue saturation index (ΔTSI) were measured during exercise. Blood samples were taken pre- and post-training to determine blood markers of hypoxic response, lipid-lipoprotein profile, and immune function. Differences within and between groups were analyzed using Cohen's effect size (ES). Compared to PLA, IPC improved time to complete the TT (Mid vs. Post: −1.6%, Cohen's ES ± 90% confidence limits −0.24, −0.40;−0.07) and increased power output (Mid vs. Post: 4.0%, ES 0.20, 0.06;0.35), Δ[THb] (Mid vs. Post: 73.6%, ES 0.70, −0.15;1.54, Pre vs. Post: 68.5%, ES 0.69, −0.05;1.43), Δ[HHb] (Pre vs. Post: 12.7%, ES 0.24, −0.11;0.59) and heart rate (Pre vs. Post: 1.4%, ES 0.21, −0.13;0.55, Mid vs. Post: 1.6%, ES 0.25, −0.09;0.60). IPC also attenuated the fatigue index in the Wingate test (Mid vs. Post: −8.4%, ES −0.37, −0.79;0.05). VO2peak and maximal aerobic power remained unchanged in both groups. Changes in blood markers of the hypoxic response, vasodilation, and angiogenesis remained within the normal clinical range in both groups. We concluded that IPC combined with SIT induces greater adaptations in cycling endurance performance that may be related to muscle perfusion and metabolic changes. The absence of elevated markers of immune function suggests that chronic IPC is devoid of deleterious effects in athletes, and is thus a safe and potent ergogenic tool

Obesity Indexes and Total Mortality among Elderly Subjects at High Cardiovascular Risk: The PREDIMED Study

BackgroundDifferent indexes of regional adiposity have been proposed for identifying persons at higher risk of death. Studies specifically assessing these indexes in large cohorts are scarce. It would also be interesting to know whether a dietary intervention may counterbalance the adverse effects of adiposity on mortality.MethodsWe assessed the association of four different anthropometric indexes (waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and height) with all-cause mortality in 7447 participants at high cardiovascular risk from the PREDIMED trial. Forty three percent of them were men (55 to 80 years) and 57% were women (60 to 80 years). All of them were initially free of cardiovascular disease. The recruitment took place in 11 recruiting centers between 2003 and 2009.ResultsAfter adjusting for age, sex, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, intervention group, family history of coronary heart disease, and leisure-time physical activity, WC and WHtR were found to be directly associated with a higher mortality after 4.8 years median follow-up. The multivariable-adjusted HRs for mortality of WHtR (cut-off points: 0.60, 0.65, 0.70) were 1.02 (0.78–1.34), 1.30 (0.97–1.75) and 1.55 (1.06–2.26). When we used WC (cut-off points: 100, 105 and 110 cm), the multivariable adjusted Hazard Ratios (HRs) for mortality were 1.18 (0.88–1.59), 1.02 (0.74–1.41) and 1.57 (1.19–2.08). In all analyses, BMI exhibited weaker associations with mortality than WC or WHtR. The direct association between WHtR and overall mortality was consistent within each of the three intervention arms of the trial.ConclusionsOur study adds further support to a stronger association of abdominal obesity than BMI with total mortality among elderly subjects at high risk of cardiovascular disease. We did not find evidence to support that the PREDIMED intervention was able to counterbalance the harmful effects of increased adiposity on total mortality.Trial RegistrationControlled-Trials.com ISRCTN3573963

The Transcriptome of Human Epicardial, Mediastinal and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissues in Men with Coronary Artery Disease

The biological functions of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) remain largely unknown. However, the proximity of EAT to the coronary arteries suggests a role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). The objectives of this study were to identify genes differentially regulated among three adipose tissues, namely EAT, mediastinal (MAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) and to study their possible relationships with the development of cardiovascular diseases.Samples were collected from subjects undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgeries. Gene expression was evaluated in the three adipose depots of six men using the Illumina® HumanWG-6 v3.0 expression BeadChips. Twenty-three and 73 genes were differentially up-regulated in EAT compared to MAT and SAT, respectively. Ninety-four genes were down-regulated in EAT compared to SAT. However, none were significantly down-regulated in EAT compared to MAT. More specifically, the expression of the adenosine A1 receptor (ADORA1), involved in myocardial ischemia, was significantly up-regulated in EAT. Levels of the prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS) gene, recently associated with the progression of atherosclerosis, were significantly different in the three pairwise comparisons (EAT>MAT>SAT). The results of ADORA1 and PTGDS were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR in 25 independent subjects.Overall, the transcriptional profiles of EAT and MAT were similar compared to the SAT. Despite this similarity, two genes involved in cardiovascular diseases, ADORA1 and PTGDS, were differentially up-regulated in EAT. These results provide insights about the biology of EAT and its potential implication in CAD

The self-knowledge of God by Master Eckhart

La présente étude s’emploie à reconstruire et à analyser la conception eckhartienne de l’auto-intellection de Dieu, afin de mettre en évidence les divers enjeux de cette question, et par suite de mesurer l’importance exacte qu’elle revêt dans l'œuvre et la pensée du Maître rhénan – surtout quant à son effort spéculatif pour accuser la réalité métaphysique de l’Intellect divin et rendre compte de son opérativité. L’ensemble de cette recherche se fonde sur un extrait du Sermon allemand 80, qui expose avec force et concision la richesse de l’intellectualité de Dieu à travers l’étendue de son acte d’auto-intellection, et propose ainsi une vue synoptique d’un traitement systématique de la question. Dans cette perspective, il s’agit en outre de montrer la cohérence systématique de la métaphysique eckhartienne du flux – caractéristique de l’école albertinienne –, qui correspond à une logique de l’actualité et de la productivité de l’Intellect divin, en établissant alors le lien causal et progressif entre : 1. la définition de Dieu comme intellectus per essentiam (un leitmotiv de la pensée spéculative d’Eckhart), 2. l’acte pur d’auto-intellection qui traduit son intelligere, 3. la procession des Personnes in divinis comme déploiement formel de cet acte (bullitio), et 4. l’émanation des créatures comme mouvement proversif de l’Intellect divin s’intelligeant lui-même, et exerçant de la sorte sa causalité créatrice (ebullitio). Cette étude permet dès lors de dégager une triple considération de l’acte d’auto-intellection de Dieu comme Pensée substantielle et subsistante, comme Pensée trinitaire et bouillonnante, et enfin comme Pensée créatrice et débordanteThe present study is devoted to the reconstruction and the analysis of the Eckhartian conception of God’s self-knowledge, so as to emphasize the diverse stakes of this question, and to measure the exact importance which it hold in the work and the thought of Rhenish Master – especially concerning his speculative effort to describe the metaphysical reality of the divine Intellect and to report its operativity. The whole of this research bases on an extract of the German Sermon 80, which explains with strength and conciseness the wealth of God’s intellectuality trough the area of his act of self-knowledge, and so propose a synoptic view of a systematic treatment about this topic. Furthermore, the question is whether to show the systematic coherence of the Eckhartian metaphysics of flow – characteristic of the Albertian school –, which corresponds to one logic of the actuality and the productivity of the divine Intellect, establishing then the causal and progressive link between: 1. The definition of God as intellectus per essentiam (a leitmotiv of Eckhart’s speculative thought, 2. The pure act of self-knowledge, which translates God’s intelligere, 3. The procession of the Persons in divinis as formal deployment of this act (bullitio), and 4. The emanation of creatures as exteriorized movement of the divine Intellect knowing itself, and so exercising its creative causality (ebullitio). This study allows consequently to draw a triple consideration of the act of God's self-knowledge as substantial and subsisting Thought, as Trinitarian and boiling, and finally as creative and overboilin