About Exercise Recommendations to Relax Your Brain

Vera Abeln; Timo Klein; Julia Peter-Krull; Stefan Schneider

doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000486823.41989.9b

CONCLUSIONS:The overall results suggest that (1) both B and R practice improve motor skills during the acquisition phase, with greater improvements observed for B practice, (2) B practice results in decreases in performance during the retention phase, with no differences for R practice, and (3) no differences exist between B and R practice during the retention phase. There is a lack of evidential value regarding the effects of exercise on depressive symptoms in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. PURPOSE: Determine whether evidential value exists that exercise reduces depressive symptoms in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. METHODS: Using data from a previous meta-analysis of 29 published studies that included 2449 participants (1470 exercise, 979 control) with fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus, a novel, recently developed method, p-curve, was used to assess for evidential value and rule out selective reporting of statistically significant findings regarding exercise and depressive symptoms in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Using the method of Stouffer, z-scores were used to test for selective-reporting bias with alpha (p) values </= 0.05 considered statistically significant. In addition, average power of the tests included in p-curve, adjusted for publication bias, was calculated. RESULTS: Fifteen of 29 studies (51.7%) with exercise and depression results were statistically significant (p < 0.05) while 73.3% had p-values < 0.025. None of the results were statistically significant with respect to exercise increasing depressive symptoms in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Statistically significant right-skew to rule out selective reporting was found (z =-5.28, p = 0.99). The relative frequencies of p-values were 66.7% at 0.01, 6.7% each at 0.02 and 0.03, 13.3% at 0.04 and 6.7% at 0.05. The average power of the tests included in p-curve, corrected for publication bias, was 69%. Diagnostic plot results revealed that the observed power estimate was a better fit than the alternatives. CONCLUSION: Evidential value results provide additional support that exercise improves depressive symptoms in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. The ability to perform physical activity of prolonged duration and adequate intensity (i.e. exercise tolerance) is instrumental to obtain the well-known health benefits that are associated with physical training in Type 2 diabetes (T2D). During whole-body physical activity exercise tolerance is compromised as the oxygen cost (VO 2) of energy production becomes progressively higher (i.e. " excess " VO 2) at power outputs (PO) above the lactate threshold (LT). This loss of muscle efficiency, of which type I fibers fatigue and/or increased type II fibers recruitment are putative causes, impairs exercise tolerance. PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that a strength training intervention (ST), by increasing maximal force (F max) and reducing the recruitment of high-threshold motor units at a given exercise intensity, will reduce the " excess " VO 2 during a cycling incremental exercise. METHODS: 11 male patients (mean±SD age 56±8 yrs, BMI 29±4 kg/m 2), with uncomplicated T2D on oral hypoglycemic drugs were tested Pre and Post a 4-months ST intervention (3 times per week, 60 min). VO 2 /PO relationship during an incremental cycling test to exhaustion was modelled using a double-linear fit: the slopes of the VO 2 /PO relationship below (S 1) and above (S 2) the LT were calculated. Parameters were compared with Wilcoxon singed-rank tests. RESULTS: F max , VO 2max and PO max significantly increased following ST (20±5, 7±7 and 10±10% respectively). No " excess " VO 2 was present before (S 2 not different from S 1 : 10.5±1.1 vs 9.9±1.7 mlmin-1 W-1) yet it became evident following ST (S 2 significantly higher than S 1 : 14.1±3.1 vs 11.8±4.0 mlmin-1 W-1). CONCLUSIONS: Contrarily to our hypothesis, the " excess " VO 2, typically displayed by healthy age-matched controls, was absent in our T2D patients. We speculate that this could be due to the acceleration of the age-related selective atrophy of type II muscle fibers that is known to occur in T2D. A 4-months ST that improved muscle F max , VO 2max and PO max , was associated with the appearance of an " excess " VO 2. We speculate that this is the result of the recovered ability to recruit type II muscle fibers towards force production in the heavy-intensity domain of an incremental cycling exercise. The practical implications of the above findings for exercise prescription in T2D require further evaluation. In todays population stress and psychological diseases are on the rise. To support mental health, exercises should be recommended which reduce electrocortical arousal especially within the frontal cortex (executive functions). Because a decrease of frontal cortical activity was revealed following running exercise in runners but not bicycling, arm-cranking or isometric strength exercise (Brümmer et al. 2011), it was hypothesized that exercise preference, adaptation or running characteristics might play a role for the post-exercise effect on brain cortical activity. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to check the preference/adaptation hypothesis by testing a group of triathletes, who are adapted to both running and bicycling, but who prefer one of the two exercises. A group of hockey players running but during a competitive match aimed to confine the effect of running sports. METHODS: 10 professional triathletes were asked to perform two modes of triathlon (bicycling and running), each at their individual self-chosen intensity under field conditions. 24 professional hockey players (n=12 active, n=12 passive) were tested during a competitive match. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded under rest conditions before (PRE) and after (POST) exercise. Low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) was applied to localize current density (μV2/mm4) of the frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobe. RESULTS: In triathletes, brain cortical activity decreased following running exercise within the frontal lobe (p< .001). No differences were found for bicycling exercise. Comparing the trials of the preferred with non-preferred mode revealed no difference for all regions of interest (frontal p= .943, occipital p= .438, parietal p= .987, temporal p= .664). In hockey players, no significant differences between PRE and POST brain cortical activity and between active and passive players were found. CONCLUSIONS: The triathlete study supports that the effect of exercise on brain cortical activity is not dependent on adaptation, whereas the hypothesized effect of exercise preference was disproven. The hockey data suggests that steady rather than interval running is making the difference. Steady running should be recommended to support mental health. Further studies are required for verification.

About Exercise Recommendations to Relax Your Brain

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