It is widely recognized that regular exercise can improve almost anyone's fitness, sense of well-being, and often even longevity. The bad news is that even knowing this, most people don't make exercise a priority.

In this review, we consider the nature and possible developmental functions of physical activity play, defined as a playful context combined with a dimension of physical vigor. We distinguish 3 kinds of physical activity play, with consecutive age peaks: rhythmic stereotypies peaking in infancy, exercise play peaking during the preschool ...

A prospective randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study was designed to investigate the effects of sublingual administration of captopril on the parameters of exercise test and neurohormonal activation in patients with stable angina pectoris. A total of 31 patients (28 male, 3 female; mean age 55.4 +/- 9.4 years) took part ...

This article describes three stepping modes, summarizes research on stepping in healthy adults and patients with peripheral vascular disease, and discusses clinical implications and directions for future research. Stepping exercise has been shown to increase cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy adults and increase physical function in patients with peripheral vascular disease. ...

The effects of physical exercises taken at different times in the day upon subjective sleep feeling were examined in five healthy university students (aged 20-22 years); morning exercise, evening exercise, and late evening exercise. The late evening exercise with the strength of 50-60% VO2max of 1 h has the effect ...

PURPOSE: Two earlier reports indicated that cardiovascular fitness attenuates susceptibility to noise-induced temporary threshold shift (TTS) in hearing sensitivity; however, other parameters of fitness also may be related to this phenomenon. This study investigated the association of three different physical fitness indicators on TTS. METHODS: Maximal aerobic power (VO2max), body ...

In vitro studies have connected immune cell function to Peptide F. The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the responses of plasma Peptide F and epinephrine along with the changes in B cell antibody production in vivo in physically fit and unfit women in response to physical exercise ...

The influence of physical fitness and energy expenditure on a simple reaction time task performed during exercise was investigated. Two groups of 10 subjects were used, one was composed of trained middle-distance runners and one of students who had no regular physical training. The subjects performed a simple reaction time ...

Electrophysiologic effects of physical exercise were investigated by comparing groups of individuals who engage in relatively low amounts of physical exercise (< 5 h/week) to subjects who engage in relatively high amounts of aerobic exercise (> 5 h/week). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded using auditory and visual stimuli in ...

The role of exercise in the treatment of cystic fibrosis has received increasing attention over the past 15 to 20 years. As a group, physical fitness is reduced for people with cystic fibrosis, although tremendous individual variability exists. Limitations in exercise performance appear related to the extent of lung disease ...

Vowel recognition was assessed for eight, cochlear implant patients who use the Ineraid's six-electrode array. Recognition was tested in three conditions: with the Ineraid after years of experience; with a CIS processor at fitting of the processor; and with the CIS processor after 1 month's experience. At the time of ...

In 1949, 27 female and 26 male physical education students were studied at a mean age of 22 and 25 yr, respectively. They were restudied in 1970 and 1982. Measurements included oxygen uptake, heart rate, and pulmonary ventilation during submaximal and maximal exercise on a cycle ergometer and treadmill. After ...

Despite participACTION's preaching about the need to stay physically active, only a small percentage of Canadians exercise regularly at the level recommended for fitness. Nicole Baer discusses the issue with physicians and experts in the field, and also looks at American efforts to introduce Physician-based Assessment and Counselling for Exercise.

To determine the influence of prolonged nicotine exposure on maximal physical working capacity, a study of clinical measures of physical fitness and cardiovascular response to exercise was performed in 144 healthy men, 35-60 years old, subdivided into smokeless tobacco users, smokers and non-users of tobacco. Regular users of smokeless tobacco, ...

Physical fatigability and avoidance of physically demanding tasks in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) were assessed by the achievement or nonachievement of 85% of age-predicted maximal heart rate (target heart rate, THR) during incremental exercise. The association with functional status impairment, somatization, and psychopathology was examined. A statistically significant association was ...

We analyzed nitrate, a major stable end product of nitric oxide (NO) metabolism in vivo in plasma and urine from groups of healthy subjects with different working capacities. Resting plasma nitrate was higher in athletic subjects than in nonathletic controls [45 +/- 2 vs. 34 +/- 2 (SE) microM; P ...

The effects of physical fitness on intraocular pressure, was studied. The study was conducted in two parts. Part 1 consisted of three groups of physically fit subjects, each consisting of 50 subjects. In Part 2 subjects were categorized into control and experimental groups, each consisting of 16 subjects. The experimental ...

In the context of sedentary middle-aged adults, the present study examined the relationships among domain-specific and global levels of self-esteem over the course of a 20-week exercise program. Additionally, the roles played by physical fitness, body composition, self-efficacy, and exercise participation as possible contributors to changes in physical self-worth were ...

Reduction of exercise capacity with confinement to bed rest is well recognized. Underlying physiological mechanisms include dramatic reductions in maximal stroke volume, cardiac output, and oxygen uptake. However, bed rest by itself does not appear to contribute to cardiac dysfunction. Increased muscle fatigue is associated with reduced muscle blood flow, ...

Thirty patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty and 18 patients with medically treated arthritis participated in this study. Both groups of patients underwent a cardiovascular fitness exercise test on entering the study and 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years later. Fitness was assessed by patient performance on a graded ...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this analysis is to relate the performance at cycloergometer of healthy middle aged men, identified in a population, with a number of personal characteristics to explain part of their physical fitness indicators. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 5,163 men aged 40-59, belonging to sedentary occupational ...

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to explain changes in work ability through occupational and life-style factors. METHODS: Work ability was measured by an index describing workers' health resources in regard to their work demands. The work factors mainly included physical and mental demands, social organization and the physical work environment. ...

There are many criteria by which advances in "sports medicine" and "exercise science" may be assessed. Historical developments in the basic and applied sciences--and in clinical practices, as well--may best be explored by those who are experts in particular fields. It is encouraging that more studies of this type have ...

As physical activity and fitness are believed to influence esteem and self-perceptions positively, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among participation in physical activity, aerobic capacity, and physical self-perceptions in 40 men and 33 women, members of a British corporate health and fitness club. Hierarchical multiple ...

We used bilateral phrenic nerve stimulation (BPNS; at 1, 10, and 20 Hz at functional residual capacity) to compare the amount of exercise-induced diaphragm fatigue between two groups of healthy subjects, a high-fit group [maximal O2 consumption (VO2max) = 69.0 +/- 1.8 ml.kg-1.min-1, n = 11] and a fit group ...

Electrophysiologic effects of physical exercise were investigated by comparing groups of individuals who engage in regular intensive physical exercise (12 + h/week) to control subjects (2 + h/week). Electroencephalographic (EEG) activity was recorded under eyes open/closed conditions to assess baseline differences between these groups. Spectral power was less for the ...

1. Several studies have shown that exercise reduces intraocular pressure (IOP) in sedentary subjects, but the effects of exercise in physically fit subjects are not fully known. Accordingly, the present study was planned to investigate the effects of exercise on intraocular pressure in physically fit subjects after elimination of those ...

Physical work is still present in many countries, specially in developing ones. The physiological analysis of the work load could be conducted through two different ways, referring to his energetic cost and/or to the mechanical power of the human motor. The purpose of ergonomics is to organize any physical professional ...

To determine the musculoskeletal problems associated with high intensity physical exercise among non-athletic youth subjects. 484 fresh Nigerian graduates participating in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme were studied. At the start of the four week intensive physical training which formed part of the orientation course for the ...

This study was conducted to investigate the influence of fitness level and gradually increased amounts of exercise on individuals' ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). 20 men served as paid subjects. They were divided into groups of high ( > 56 ml/kg/min.) and low fitness ( < 46 ml/kg/min.) according to ...

Exercise-induced hyponatremia is commonly believed to be associated only with extraordinary physical efforts, or particularly strenuous exercise. Hyponatremia complicating moderate exercise has not been described previously. The authors describe the characteristics of seven patients with life-threatening hyponatremia associated with mild to moderate exercise. All patients suffered from nausea, vomiting, agitation, ...

A good level of physical fitness is a fundamental prerequisite of many occupations, hence the importance of valid methods of fitness assessment. A method, using submaximal treadmill exercise, was tested in a group of Urban Police Officers. Physiology variables and subjective perceptions were monitored. The trend of individual variables provided ...

A mobile exercise cage that expands the quantity and improves the quality of the space available to singly caged adult Vervet monkey males is described. It was easily fitted into an existing caging system and the addition of a resident consort female made it possible for the males to mate ...

An investigation was conducted to determine the physical workload on agricultural workers during selected farm operations in paddy fields in Thailand. Four male and four female agricultural workers were randomly selected. Four common farm operations, i.e. ploughing, planting, weeding and harvesting, were selected. The physical responses in terms of heart ...

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between physical fitness and transient myocardial ischemia (TMI) in the laboratory and during daily life, in a sample of coronary patients with a recent positive exercise test. METHODS: 47 patients with coronary disease (CAD) participated in laboratory mental and exercise stress testing and 48-hour outpatient ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate physical fitness and work capacity in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: The 42 subjects were a subset of a prospective trial of conditioning exercise in rheumatic disease. Assignment to an exercise or nonexercise group was determined by proximity to the intervention, a 3-month supervised group exercise ...

Extensive research has shown that the phasic pupil size (peak level on each trial) is a sensitive measure of the degree of mental effort demanded by a task. In the present study, the validity of the pupil response as an index of mental effort in suboptimal conditions was investigated. Thirteen ...

Wright first introduced the idea that random genetic drift and classical mass-action selection might combine in such a way as to allow populations to find the highest peak in complicated adaptive surfaces. His theory assumes large but structured populations, in which mating is spatially local. If gene flow is sufficiently ...

Long-term effects of three or four-week inpatient physiotherapy and exercise courses were studied in 141 adult patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Eight cervical and thoracolumbar range of motion (ROM) measurements and straight leg raise test, vital capacity (VC) and fitness index were measured at the beginning and end of an ...

The electromyographic activity of the shoulder muscles Deltoid--anterior portion (DA) and Pectoralis major--clavicular portion (PMC) was tested on 24 male volunteers using a 2 channel TECA TE4 electromyograph and Hewlett Packard surface electrodes during the execution of four different modalities of rowing exercises with middle grip. The results showed that ...

Results of investigation into the physical exertion of the log skidding workers: tractor driver, winch operator and choker are presented. The investigation consisted of laboratory and field measurements and included measurements of the heart rate and assessment of the work effect, the work time structure, and the worker's physical exertion ...

To examine the effects of increasing amounts of exercise on attention and speed of information processing 20 paid male subjects were separated into groups of high and low fitness according to their VO2max values. The experiment involved an attentional task (Random Number Generation) that was given after every 10 min. ...

All people attempting to enlist in the U.S. Army must undergo a physical examination that requires a rudimentary vision screening. Those who pass the physical, upon reporting to basic training, are again evaluated and any treatment necessary to allow the recruits to function during their initial indoctrination is provided. Those ...

In upper middle age healthy subjects the functional cardiac reserve is known to be decreased (Port et al., 1980; Aubert et al., 1994). On the other hand regular physical exercise improves the cardiovascular function (Nishimura et al., 1980). The aim of this study was to establish whether regular physical exercise ...

Adult brown trout (300&shy;600 g) were acclimated for 2 weeks to an artificial soft water (Ca2+, 50 &micro;mol l-1) and maintained at either 5 &deg;C (October to March) or 15 &deg;C (May to August). Following insertion of a cannula into the dorsal aorta under MS-222 anaesthesia and a recovery period ...

Several research paradigms have been used to examine the influence of exercise on sleep. Epidemiological studies show that exercise is perceived as helpful in promoting sleep and suggest that regular physical activity may be useful in improving sleep quality and reducing daytime sleepiness. Additional epidemiological inquiry is clearly warranted based ...

Outcome assessments of physical fitness attributes such as endurance, strength, and flexibility are not measured routinely in clinical trials or clinical practice in either adults or children with rheumatic diseases. Although physical fitness is not a measure of disease severity, it can be a critical indicator of capacity to function. ...

A prospective study on the effects of occupational and individual factors on neck trouble was carried out among 1832 men representing static work with whole-body vibration (machine operators), dynamic physical work (construction carpenters) and sedentary work (office workers). Neck trouble and occupational and individual factors were inquired about via postal ...

This investigation was performed to study the reasons for receiving disability pension after aortocoronary bypass surgery. During the period March 1983 to November 1985, 250 patients underwent aortocoronary bypass surgery. At a mean follow-up of 4.9 years (range 3.6-6.7) after the operation, 31 patients were dead. Of the 219 survivors, ...

This investigation examined the associations between exercise habits, measures of physical fitness, and 10-year cardiovascular disease risk (CVD10, expressed as %) among 470 law enforcement officers of differing ages (range = 21 to 63 y). Only 32% of this group exercised regularly (> or = 3 days/week, > or = ...