ECSS
2014: Exercise Science around the Canals Stuart W. Flint1,
Arwel W. Jones2,3, Oliver Faude4 Sportscience
18, 34-43, 2014 (sportsci.org/2014/ECSSsport.htm) 1 Academy of Sport and Physical Activity, Sheffield Hallam University,
United Kingdom. 2 Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Aberystwyth University, United
Kingdom. 3 Clinical
Research Centre, Prince Phillip Hospital, Llanelli, United Kingdom. 4 Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of
Basel, Switzerland. Email.
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The 19th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science
(ECSS) hosted by VU Amsterdam and VU Medical Centre Amsterdam was held at the
Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre, Netherlands, on the 2-5th July. The Congress
consisted of a variety of keynote, plenary, symposium, oral, mini-oral, and e-poster
presentations. The RAI provided an excellent venue, with suitable facilities
and equipment for speakers and attendees to enjoy what was overall a high-quality
conference. As in previous years and in line with the purpose of the ECSS,
the congress attracted international, multi-cultural and interdisciplinary
academics from across the world to present and discuss cutting-edge exercise
and sport research. This report is the first focusing on exercise-related
research at the ECSS conference. A separate report deals with sport research. Despite limitations with some studies, much of the research was of
high quality with beneficial implications for the identified population
groups. In our opinion, research examining the impacts of physical activity
and exercise on health has become stronger and more prominent at the ECSS
annual conference. We commend ECSS 2014 conference committee for the range of
research on show and for organizing an informative event for attendees. The conference site has
program pages for each tier of presentation or a PDF of the full program, all
accessible via the scientific program page. Videos
of plenaries and some invited symposia can be accessed via the ECSS.tv page and
the login page for
ECSS members only. Members can also access all abstracts, mini-oral slides
and e-posters via the Amsterdam search form or
the EDSS database. To
find the presentations we have reviewed, copy the presenter's name and
initial or the session code shown in brackets […] into the search form at the
ECSS site or into the advanced search form in the Adobe Acrobat PDF reader. Plenary Session Highlights
The plenary sessions provided some thought-provoking messages that
sparked debate among audience and presenters. For example, on Thursday 3rd
July a plenary session titled "Who has the future in public health – young or
old?" was led by Willem
van Mechelen and Allard van der Beek
[PS-PL04]. This is an important question from a public health perspective and
for public and governmental funding institutions. In her keynote entitled "Bend
the twig and bend the tree" Mai Chin A Paw suggested that greater
investment in physical activity for young people is needed. She discussed the
importance of children achieving physical activity guidelines and thereby
developing motor skills. Importantly, and in line with the focus on a growing
number of research studies, she suggested that it is important for children to
move frequently throughout the day to reduce their sitting time. Reducing
sitting time has become a topic of high interest and has featured at other
conferences this year. This is certainly a line that other distinguished researchers
have taken (Stuart Biddle and Nanette Mutrie, to
name just two), but much of the research aimed at reducing sedentary time has
been conducted in adult populations usually in work-based environments. On the basis of her recent research, Chin A Paw suggested that by
including children in the design of a study, which she referred to as "participatory
child research", interventions may be more effective.
Previous research has examined the effectiveness of playground designs and
markings, which have proven successful in some instances, but may be improved
further by allowing children to participate in the design of their school environment.
Such an approach may be an eye opener for adults and researchers and allows children
to have a voice in relation to their health. She gave an example on how such
an approach can be used in a practical setting in two schools. These
examples, however, also highlighted a major limitation of such strategies, as
the results differed between the schools and were perhaps biased by the views
of particular children. To apply such approaches in future research,
methodological work is required to obtain scientifically sound, valid and
reliable data. Chin A Paw also acknowledged that future research should consider
the psychometric properties of the intervention, but this new approach
certainly appears to be effective in reducing sedentary levels in children at
school. She concluded that “healthier, informed kids, will have a better
chance of growing into a healthy and happy old age… Since future generations
are affected by the decisions that we make today, we need to invest in
today’s youth”. After these visionary perspectives, Colin Boreham
talked about the case for exercise
promotion in the elderly. He stressed the need for greater investment
in research examination of the elderly, on demographic changes and associated
economical perspectives, in an ageing society. Future research in this area
should shift its focus from increasing life expectancy to increasing healthy life expectancy. Older adults
usually suffer from chronic disease and frailty. There is compelling evidence
that even low levels of training result in relevant and immediate adaptations
or improvements, even if activity is started in later years. Better physical
functioning and lower morbidity results in overall lower health-care costs. Boreham argued that children are the most active
population (at least until the age of 12 years) and that health concerns in
children are probably overrated. Moreover, although there is evidence that
active children are also healthy children, there is a lack of sound
scientific data showing that active children will become active, and more importantly,
healthy adults. The most relevant argument for promoting exercise in children
is based on the assumption that preventative measures at a young age reduce
the likelihood of later chronic disease in adulthood. As long as there is a
paucity of convincing evidence that this is indeed true, investing limited
financial resources in exercise promotion in children seems a luxury.
Combining demographic changes and the associated economic burdens with the
evidence base makes a compelling case for public investment in physical
activity in the elderly. Although not everyone might agree with the presented
evidence, it seems reasonable that future research in children should focus
on long-term health effects and tracking of physical activity behaviour from
childhood to adulthood. Research in Children
The discrepancy in sound scientific research focusing on children and the
elderly was mirrored to some extent in the quality of abstracts in these domains
at the conference. We detected high quality research predominantly in
original studies on seniors. Many presentations in children focused on the
association between physical activity and motor skills or physical fitness of
school children. There is already a huge amount of work establishing these
associations. In a number of instances, the submitted and accepted abstracts
differed only in the country where the research was conducted. One presentation was impressive and innovative. Arto
Laukkanen presented a study on the effects of a
one-year family-based randomized controlled trial on physical activity and
gross motor skills in children. This presentation achieved 4th place in the
young investigators' awards. With only a few studies to date examining physical
activity promotion in a family setting, this study contributes to an
under-researched area. The main result was that giving tailored counselling to
parents was insufficient to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
in their children but beneficially affected the development of ball-handling
skills in girls. However, these results may not apply to families at the
lower end of the socio-economic scale, as approximately three-quarters of the
responding families were highly educated. From a methodological point of
view, the study showed that the timing of interventions is an important
element in countries with great seasonal variation. [Laukkanen,
A] For future research with children, it seems important to conduct
long-term intervention studies with long follow-up, given that the evidence
for tracking effects from childhood to adulthood or even until elderly is
currently too weak to justify great financial investments in youth. However,
long-lasting cohort studies providing end points to answer these questions satisfactorily
may never be completed. One approach to justify investment in children may be
to compare health predictors in youth and young adults in countries with
great investment in youth physical activity as compared to countries that
invest little. School-Based Physical Activity
An informative and thought-provoking session on school based physical
activity interventions provided cross-continent evidence regarding the effectiveness
of previous research [IS-SH07]. On the effectiveness of interventions in the
US, Russell Pate reported that evidence for short bouts of physical activity
in class is emerging and that this strategy might be a useful alternative to
more formal physical activity interventions. Pate’s presentation was entitled
"Long-term follow-up & implementation of school-based physical
activity-interventions: myth or fact?" Pate also reported that alterations
to the environment had sometimes been successful in short-term benefits but had
been inconclusive in the longer term. In question time, we probed Pate for
his thoughts on the fidelity of these types of interventions. He agreed that this
has rarely been reported and is likely to be relatively low. In general, the
fidelity of interventions should be monitored and reported. In the second presentation of this session, Susi Kriemler
presented the European picture of school-based physical activity
interventions, including the Oslo Youth Study and the KISS Study. Her
presentation entitled "Why do school-based physical activity
interventions work in the short but not in the long-term" supported some
of the effects reported by Pate in the previous presentation,
with results from a three-year study she was involved in demonstrating short,
but not long-term effects. The final presentation by Heather McKay, entitled "Key factors
for successful implementation and dissemination of a school-based physical
activity model: a report from the trenches", was about a program
implemented in Canada to impact health and physical-activity levels. Using a
socio-ecological approach, the program offers children physical-activity opportunities
and healthy eating advice and menus whilst at school. The program has existed
for 10 years and is now hosted by over 1500 schools. McKay reported that the
program appears to have been successful in increasing physical-activity
levels and healthy eating in school. This session was sponsored by the Coca Cola Company, a contentious
partnership, given the link between sugary drinks and health concerns. The
Coca Cola Company also had an exhibitor stand at the conference, which again
seems misaligned with the general mission of the ECSS and many of the presentations
in working towards a healthier lifestyle. Partnerships that companies such as
the Coca Cola Company have with sporting events (e.g. Olympics) have long
been a topic of debate and they now appear to have a greater presence at
sports conferences. In our opinion, the partnership that the ECSS has with
the Coca Cola Company should be reviewed. Biomechanics in Children
There was an interesting invited session on "Developmental
changes of neuromuscular control and muscle-tendon mechanics in children:
implications for muscular force production and movement performance" [IS-BN08]. Bill Baltzopoulos reviewed the scientific literature and
showed that the lengths of muscle fascicles, muscles and tendon grow
proportionally. Also, moment arms were larger in adults as compared to
children. Growth-related changes in muscle-tendon mechanics likely affect
muscular force production and complex movement performance. In the subsequent presentation on developmental changes in
muscle-tendon mechanical properties and their impact on muscular force
production, Charlie Waugh talked about differences in movement kinematics
and kinetics between children and adults and a possible
association with an "immaturity" of the neuromotor
system. The importance of the mechanical properties of the muscle-tendon
complex on muscular force production in children has received little
attention. Recent evidence demonstrates that the mechanical properties of the
immature muscle-tendon complex are adaptable. These results may have
implications for complex movement, motor-control strategies and movement
disorders. Anthony Blazevich finished the session with "The
integration of muscle-tendon characteristics and neural control during multi-joint,
rebounding exercise in children". The contribution of feed-forward and
feedback activity to rebound ability on performance markers throughout
childhood and into adulthood can be well-explained. Fatiguing exercise in
children results in uniform changes in rebound performance and neural
control. This supports a cause and effect relationship between neuromuscular
control and rebound performance. Research shows that immature children
perform rebounding activities with more inhibitory neural control and less
short-term reflex activity. With development a greater reliance on and
contribution from anticipatory feed-forward muscle activity during rapid
rebounding tasks can be observed. It might be speculated that the stiffness
of the muscle-tendon and its ability to produce a rapid reflex response are
pre-programmed in a feed-forward motor plan. It would be interesting to see
how all of these biomechanical findings will affect age-specific
neuromuscular training programs. "Inflammageing"
Given the increase in average life expectancy in the developed world,
it was not surprising to see age-related inflammation feature in this year’s program. Despite
recognition of the importance of inflammatory responses in adaptation to
exercise training within younger athletic populations, the elevations in
low-grade inflammatory status associated with ageing ("inflammageing") leads to many health implications
including onset of chronic diseases. Such debilitating outcomes were
highlighted by Kjaer and Greenhaff’s
invited presentations [IS-PM03]. Inflammation can be considered a "friend"
to skeletal muscle in young age through triggering key adaptations to
exercise. Inhibiting these inflammatory responses may diminish, for instance,
protein synthesis and satellite cell activation. With ageing, however, there
is a continuous increase of low-grade systemic inflammation. Inflammation
is therefore deemed both a friend and foe of skeletal muscle with the exact
outcome being partly determined by the age of the individual. Inflammageing can be countered by exercise with
beneficial effects on muscle loss and muscle growth response to resistance
training. Paul Greenhaff showed that there is still
a lack of evidence-based data on the specific mechanisms underlying the loss
of metabolic and physiological functioning of skeletal muscle with ageing. He
presented data on the biochemical and physiological basis of skeletal-muscle
deterioration induced by inactivity and/or acute exacerbators
of musculoskeletal ageing such as immobilization (short periods of complete
inactivity). As with many other biological states, the identification of biomarkers that reflect the processes of age-related
muscle loss has become a research focus. There were 17 abstracts where the
term biomarker was mentioned, and
we expect the number to increase in future years with the use of biomarkers
in risk stratification of patients and developing targeted therapies. Marlene
Hofmann presented results from a study that aimed to determine blood-based biomarkers
at different stages of sarcopenia by obtaining
samples from young and older participants. Biomarkers suggestive of the
ageing process (IGF-1 and GDF15) were identified but did not discriminate
between stages of sarcopenia. Although more work is
needed in this area, it may be that the use of serum markers is not
adequately specific for the target tissue and hence lacks the sensitivity needed
to classify the degree of sarcopenia. Despite a low
sample in this study compared to the norm of biomarker studies, the lack of findings
is not uncommon for disease processes that have multifactorial etiology. [Hofmann, M] Inter-fiber muscle fat infiltration may be associated
with the etiology of sarcopenia.
To date, little is known about the role of intra-muscular triglyceride accumulation
on muscle function. In this context, the intriguing study of Conte
demonstrated that protein expression at the muscle can provide an insight
into the mechanisms of sarcopenia. She analysed muscle
biopsies from vastus lateralis
in healthy donors and patients of different age groups and fitness levels to
investigate the role of two proteins that surround lipid droplets within
skeletal muscle (perilipins; Plin2 and 5) in the regulation of
muscle mass and metabolism. She observed that Plin5 had greater
expression in active subjects relative to patients, whereas Plin2 was more
expressed in patients as compared to healthy subjects. Moreover, Plin2 increased
with age. Thus, both perilipins are differentially
regulated during ageing and inactivity and are likely to play different roles
in muscle metabolism and in the etiology of sarcopenia. Modifications in Plin2 and Plin5 expression
by either physical activity or pharmacological interventions might help to
reduce muscle atrophy and counteract sarcopenia.
[Conte, M] Emelie Strandberg
presented a randomized controlled trial on the effects of 24 wk of progressive resistance training with or without anti-inflammatory
diet on systemic inflammation
and muscle fibre characteristics in 63 physically active elderly women. She
reported a significant increase in muscle mass and a decrease in the
pro-inflammatory precursor arachidonic acid in the group exposed to the diet.
Most interestingly, this study showed that combined resistance training and
anti-inflammatory diet but not resistance training alone can improve skeletal
muscle mass and systemic inflammatory status in healthy and physically active
elderly women. However, the effects were rather small and the statistics were
not clearly reported. [Strandberg, E] Ageing, Chronic Disease and Exercise
Exercise is considered the cornerstone of treatment for many chronic
diseases. This year we were introduced to not only the disease modifying
potential of exercise but also its ability to impact age-related
physiological decline. The number of presentations related to these research
areas has increased considerably in recent years. Although there were
specific themed sessions at the meeting (e.g., cancer and exercise), we felt
it was necessary here to provide evidence of the wider potential of exercise as a
medicine in chronic disease and
as an efficacious intervention on the physiology of the older individual. One challenge met by practitioners implementing exercise protocols in
clinical populations is identifying an intensity that is both safe and offers
optimal benefit to the patient. Alessandro Mezzani
provided an insightful presentation on the importance of understanding the
physiological responses to exercise domains for exercise prescription in clinical
populations [IS-BN02]. Although he focused most of his talk on
work in chronic heart failure patients, there were important discussions
regarding principles of exercise prescription across clinical populations. An
important point in relation to cardiac patients was that many responses of
the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems to exercise (e.g., time to
exhaustion at percent of peak power, percent contribution of anaerobic energy
release to total energy requirement in all-out exercise) are similar between
untrained and clinical populations irrespective of decrements in capacity
induced by disease pathophysiology. The audience was informed of exercise
domains that have been tested in different subpopulations of cardiac disease,
which contributes important information regarding limiting risk associated
with exercise prescription in this area. The take-home message was that
patients with very low exercise capacity need only a very low exercise
stimulus to improve! Pacing research has become a very popular scientific field during the
last decade. To date, pacing studies have focused mainly on athletes. Carl Foster
presented interesting data about pacing strategies in clinical populations [IS-PM04]
in which he argued that the concept of pacing is also relevant for other
populations, as pacing is organized in terms of task completion. He presented
data from 15 active non-athlete older adults (many with stable cardiovascular
disease) during a fixed work task (100 kcal to finish as quickly as
possible). The pacing pattern was similar to the pacing pattern described in
athletes, except for a slower start. A high physiological and psychological
strain indicates that participants were fulfilling the time trial with a
competitive attitude and a large degree of goal organization, similar to
athletes. We look forward to seeing whether the pacing concept will find its
way further into non-athletic populations. In a well-designed multi-centre prospective randomised trial, van Waart and colleagues examined the importance of exercise
intensity on changes in physical
fitness, fatigue and chemotherapy
completion rates in patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy
for breast and colon cancer. At six months follow up, high intensity structured,
supervised exercise program produced a lower decline in cardiorespiratory
fitness, enhanced muscle strength and less physical fatigue compared to usual
care. Perhaps the most important influence on this population with high-intensity
exercise was the greater completion rates of prescribed chemotherapy regimens
compared to usual care. Although a lower intensity group (home-based,
self-management physical activity) shared similar positive outcomes with the
high- intensity group over the control group for physical functioning and
nausea/pain, high intensity exercise during chemotherapy was shown to be most
effective. [van Waart, H; third-place place young
investigator award] Interval training is yet another intervention
receiving increased recognition as a modality that can foster similar health
benefits to those accrued from continuous exercise. Giannopoulou
presented data from a study aiming to identify health improvements with 12 wk of interval training on a cycle ergometer in patients
with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It was concluded that interval
training in this small cohort increased exercise tolerance independent of any
changes in abdominal obesity. The relationships of abdominal obesity to
overall health supported previous evidence but it conflicted with the study rationale/message.
It was unfortunate that the role of other peripheral and/or central factors
in contributing to the effects of interval training was not investigated. [Giannopoulou, I] Despite the benefits of aerobic training alone in both clinical and
healthy populations, an ageing population requires a combination of training
modalities in order to combat age-related health decline. Although not a
ground-breaking study, Teljigovic demonstrated that
a 12-wk combined training intervention (aerobic and resistance) compared to
aerobic only (same total training time) led to similar improvements in
aerobic capacity but greater increases in strength. Yet another study to be
added to the debate on adaptations to concurrent training, it does provide
further evidence of the crucial role of exercise in healthy ageing. [Teljigovic, S] Eggenberger presented “A NIRS study assessing
changes in prefrontal
cortex activation during walking in
elderly following training”. He randomized 39 older adults either to combined
physical and cognitive training (video-game dancing) or to an active control
group (balance training). Prefrontal cortex activation at the initiation of
walking was reduced in both groups after the 8-wk (24 sessions) training
period with greater effects in the video-gaming group. Thus, a combination of
physical and cognitive training might be a promising approach to influence prefrontal
cortex function in older adults, possibly enhancing cognitive resources for
other tasks demanding attention. [Eggenberger, P] Coetsee showed that “progressive
resistance training improves executive cognitive function in a healthy elderly population”. Forty-one elderly
individuals were randomized into resistance training and control groups to
investigate the changes in muscle strength and cognitive function during a 16
wk resistance training period. Four months of
resistance training had positive effects on muscle strength (upper and lower
body) and executive cognitive function (selective attention, shifting and the
inhibition of habitual response). [Coetsee, C] “Functional and architectural
adaptations of skeletal muscle to a 6-wks plyometric training intervention in
young and older men” were reported by Carter and colleagues. Most importantly,
plyometric
training (18 sessions in 6 wk) can be applied in older adults. Relevant adaptations
were observed in muscle fascicle length (+11%), muscle thickness (+9%), pennation angle (+12%) as well as in leg extension power
(+34%). All adaptations were greater in the elderly as compared to young
controls. Although these results are of considerable importance, it’s worthy
to note that this was a pilot study with only 4 seniors and 5 young controls.
[Carter, AW] Ageing, Chronic Disease and Nutrition
Despite increasing awareness of the importance of nutrition alongside
exercise as modifiable factors of ageing and/or disease prevalence/severity,
there was a disappointing number of presentations on
nutritional
interventions within non-athletic populations. Greig
emphasised in her invited presentation on "Maintaining muscle mass in
old age" [IS-PM02] that future strategies should be of a multi-modal nature
(exercise, nutrition and drugs) to optimize outcomes rather than viewing
these interventions separately. Greig did indicate,
however, that nutritional strategies for reducing muscle loss/function remain
under-researched in older populations. Evidence to date shows potential for interventions
such as protein and Vitamin D3 but their effects may be limited to specific
situations ("young old" and those who are deficient at baseline,
respectively). It was pleasing to see that there have been a few novel
investigations into the potential impact of established and more recent sports supplements on parameters in non-athletic, diseased populations. Skinner and colleagues aimed to determine whether caffeine (~6 mg/kg BM) could
have effects on exercise-related fatigue and perception of effort in non-athletic
populations similar to those reported in sporting situations. Fatigue-prone
prostate-cancer survivors were also able to benefit from an increase in
exercise tolerance (as measured by 400-m walk test) and had tendencies towards
elevations in muscle strength, but this did not coincide with any influence
on measures of fatigue or perception of effort. As the most frequently
reported underlying mechanism of performance enhancement (i.e. change in
perceptions of effort or fatigue) in healthy (young and old) populations was
not found in this study, further exploration of how caffeine facilitates
exercise participation in prostate cancer survivors is required. Although the
increases in systolic blood pressure and heart rate in this study can be
explained partly by participants walking faster in this group, a risk-benefit
profile of caffeine use in this patient population also warrants future investigation.
[Skinner, TL] In a nutrition and supplements session that included a large proportion
of dietary-nitrate interventions, Shepherd presented findings from a study that
attempted to discern the effects of four days of beetroot supplementation on health outcomes in people with Type 2 diabetes.
Although increases in plasma nitrite were observed, there was no lowering of
blood pressure and oxygen cost of exercise or increases in distance covered
in the 6-min walk test. These data are in line with the lack of effects on
blood pressure with longer-term supplementation (2 wk)
and provide further support to suggest that positive outcomes seen in healthy
young adults with nitrate supplementation may not be applicable to
individuals with Type 2 diabetes. Due to the increasing evidence linking
dietary nitrate and beneficial effects on health parameters, we would stress
that further studies are required before we can exclude the role of nitrate
supplementation in Type 2 diabetes. Given the heterogeneous nature of Type 2 diabetes,
maybe it’s a case for its inclusion within a multi-modal therapy! [Shepherd,
A] Biomechanics and Motor Control in Elderly
Vienneau aimed to compare muscle activity
during whole
body vibration between young
and older adults. Surface EMG of seven lower leg and thigh muscles was
recorded in 30 young and 30 older adults during standing with and without
vibration. The elderly showed significantly higher muscle activity in tibialis anterior, peroneus longus,
vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and biceps femoris. The authors speculated that the increased muscle
activity in the older group might be due to an increased neuromuscular fatigue and that, therefore, whole body vibration may
lead to greater neuromuscular adaptations in an older population. Therefore,
whole body vibration training should be investigated further in older adults.
[Vienneau, J] Papegaaij examined the interaction between
age and postural task difficulty in cortical excitability during standing. Eleven
young and 12 old adults received transcranial magnetic brain stimulation
while standing on stable or unstable surfaces, with opened or closed eyes.
The authors observed that motor cortical circuits control upright posture
differently in old vs young adults. [Papegaaij, S] The question whether ankle muscle strength is associated with postural
instability was evaluated by a research
group from France. Cattagni measured maximal
isometric torque during plantar and dorsal flexion as well as center of pressure path length displacement in four
groups: 21 young adults, 11 middle-aged adults, 22 elderly non-fallers and 29
elderly fallers. The authors observed a log-linear relationship between
maximal isometric torque and center of pressure
displacement. Maximal isometric torque was appropriate to discriminate
between fallers and non-fallers. A torque threshold of 3.1 Nm/kg was identified
for compromised balance, with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 89%.
Therefore, ankle torque can be used clinically to determine risk of falling.
[Cattagni, T] High-intensity
interval training has recently been recommended for several
populations, including seniors, to effectively increase cardiorespiratory fitness.
Whether high-intensity work can have detrimental effects on potential fall
risk factors was investigated by Donath. He
compared standing balance performance and lower leg muscle activity in 20
healthy seniors and 20 young men before and after a 4 x 4-min high-intensity
interval session. He observed that postural sway and muscle activity were
affected up to 30 min after exercise cessation. During this time period,
there might be a higher risk of falling due to deteriorated postural control
(“open-fall-window”). Thus, the advantage of high-intensity training with
regard to time efficiency is debatable. [Donath, L] Seniors show a higher stability state and
walk more slowly compared to young adults, but their risk of falling while
walking is higher. Mademli dealt with this paradox
and hypothesized that older adults may move closer to their dynamic stability
limits when walking at their preferred velocity. Whole body kinematic and
dynamic data were assessed at walk-to-run transition and preferred walking
velocity in 12 elderly and 12 young men. The hypothesis was confirmed: older
adults walked more slowly and were more stable, but they showed a significantly
reduced safety factor during preferred walking. This means that older adults
do not walk slowly enough in relation to their maximum walking velocity. [Mademli, L] Marusic showed in 118 older adults that
“gait parameters are sensitive to cognitive decline
in older adults”. Study participants were analyzed
during single-task and dual-task walking (counting backwards in steps of three).
Results showed that specific gait parameters can predict global cognitive
function. Specifically, the dual-task cost of gait width and counting accuracy
were the best predictors of cognitive impairments. The results of this study
suggest that gait may be used for early detection of mild cognitive
impairment, which is a precursor of dementia. [Marusic,
U] Piirtola conducted an interesting analysis
on the effects of age, sex and body mass index as well as heritability
and environmental factors on
total sitting time among Finnish twins. A total of 6713 twin individuals
(1940 complete twin pairs, including 732 monozygotic twin pairs) answered a
self-reported questionnaire. The amount of sitting time decreased with increasing
age and increased with increasing body mass index. Genetic factors had a moderate
influence and environmental factors seemed to be more relevant. [Piirtola, M] Workplace Wellness
Within a
theme of lifestyle
research [OP-PM03] several oral presentations discussed findings
from workplace interventions. Scaife presented a
study entitled "Impact of an NHS workplace health promotion program on
staff health and well-being: a feasibility study´ [OP-PM03-3]. The study was
conducted at Sheffield Teaching Hospital in the UK, where a workplace
wellness program designed at
Sheffield Hallam University was implemented. The program involved assessing
participants on a range of health indicators, and where these indicators were
outside of the recommended ranges, lifestyle advice
and motivational interviewing were conducted. Findings suggested a number of
positive differences in improving health indicators such as BMI, blood
pressure and cholesterol. Based on these results, the study certainly shows
promise, but a large scale study possibly in the form of a randomized controlled
trial is needed to provide strong evidence for the use of a workplace
wellness program incorporating motivational interviewing and lifestyle advice
[Scaife, R]. In the
same session, a novel wellness intervention was presented by Malvela of LIKES Research Centre for Sport and Health
Sciences, Finland entitled "Adequate working ability and low exhaustion
is connected with good overall fitness" [OP-PM03-5]. The study presented
consisted of a mobile lorry that was driven around Finland with a variety of
fitness tests and health education for consumers who came to the lorry when
stationary. Consumers received information about healthy lifestyles and
avoiding ill health, such as reducing sitting time, and physical activity counselling
was offered. In a similar vein to the workplace wellness presentation from Scaife, the results and novel approach taken by Malvela and her team require further evidence to
substantiate the promising work presented at the ECSS. [Malvela,
M] Obesity and Exercise
Overall
the research presented at the ECSS on obesity and exercise, whilst interesting
and informative, did not provide novel findings or progress knowledge. For
example, there was a mini-oral session with the title "Physical education and body
composition" [MO-PM05] where there were a number of studies
presented that we hoped would extend our understanding of the role of physical
education in schools and teachers in the prevention, management and treatment
of obesity. However, we were disappointed by the lack of research not only
aimed at reducing obesity but also the lack of new findings. The most
promising research relating to obesity treatment in young people came in the
form of physical activity interventions, which were designed to reduce inactivity
and target health indicators associated with obesity rather than the
condition itself (see school based physical-activity section). Another
session relating to obesity in exercise titled "Exercise response to obesity" [OP-PM15]
again did little to advance knowledge of this area, and in some cases there
were major limitations to the research. For example, in studies presented by
Martin [OP-PM15-2] and Garcia [OP-PM15-3], who had used the same sample for
their respective studies, limitations included that the type of exercise the
participants had engaged in prior to the study, was not accounted for and may
have had an impact on the findings. [Martin, V, Garcia, S] Another study
presented in the same session by Berntsen examining
whether "obese children achieve maximal heart rate during treadmill
running" [OP-PM15-1] compared two forms of exercise where the demands
and duration of the activities were very different and incomparable. Thus
whilst there appears to be a rationale to study the question, the conclusions
drawn on the basis of the methodology appear flawed. [Bernsten,
S] Exercise Psychology
In our
experience, psychological research at the ECSS has not been as prominent as
other disciplines, and this was the case in Amsterdam this year. Similar to
the research examining obesity and exercise, there was a lack of novel
research presented in the psychology sessions. One study of note presented
within a session entitled enigmatically "HF ageing cognitive" [MO-PM61] with the title "Acute
exercise and fitness modulate cognitive function improvement in older adults"
presented by Shimura, provided details of a square-stepping exercise that was
taught and used with older adult participants. Whilst the results did not
necessarily advance current understanding of the impacts of exercise on
cognitive functioning in older adults, the square-stepping exercise routine with
increasing complexity as the participant progressed was certainly novel. With
further testing, the square stepping exercise routine may provide an
alternative and effective method, if future research confirms the positive
results presented in relation to intellectual activity and physical
fitness, for intervening
with physical activity levels with older adults [Shimura, Y]. Major
limitations of other research presented in the same session were evident; for
example, Fiorilli presented results from a study
titled "Different kinds of physical exercise for the prevention of
dementia in older adults".
The participants were appropriately divided into experimental and control
groups, however, whilst the control group did not receive any treatment,
there was a lack of information regarding their physical activity over the
same time period, and they were simply measured at the end of the testing
period. [Fiorelli, G] Acknowledgements: ECSS provided
OF's registration. Published Sept 2014 |