european college of sport science

Friday, June 26th, 2009
Discussion: As expected, strength and endurance training led to large training-specific improvements in muscle strength and aerobic
performance. Combined strength and endurance training improved both neuromuscular and aerobic performance and also increased
total body lean mass. Nutrition intake did not change during training. Typical Finnish diet was sufficient during high-intensity training
which led to large improvements in physical fitness and to minor changes in serum basal hormones in middle-aged and older adults.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH IN GERMAN ADOLESCENTS – FINDINGS FROM THE KIGGS-
AND THE MOMO-STUDY
TITTLBACH, S., SYGUSCH, R., BREHM, W., BÖS, K.
1. UNIVERSITY OF BAYREUTH, 2. UNIVERSITY OF MAINZ, 3. UNIVERSITY OF KARLSRUHE
Introduction: The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) is a representative, nationwide
cross-sectional study on the health status of children and adolescents from ages 0 – 17. It was conducted by the Robert-Koch Institute of
Berlin (RKI). The KiGGS study was complemented by the Motoric-Module (MoMo) for the more differentiated recording of physical activity
and physical fitness.
A broad conceptualization was used in KiGGS for the assessment of health. In this understanding health is subdivided in health resources
(e.g. fitness, self-esteem), risk factors and complaints (e.g. BMI, emotional problems) and a subjective over-all health measure.
The analyses presented will focus on adolescents. We aim to answer the questions, (a) if there are any positive associations between
physical activity and different health measures, and (b) if there are stronger associations between physical activity and health resources
than between physical activity and risk factors.
Methods: The common sample of the KiGGS- and the MoMo-study consists of 4,529 children and adolescents from 4-17 years of age.
Subjects were randomly selected from the KiGGS-study. Focusing on the links between adolescents’ physical activity and health, a sub
sample of N= 2,281 adolescents (M= 14.13, SD= 1.97; range 11-17 years of age; 50.5% boys) was used. The recording of physical activity,
psychosocial health resources, physical and psychosocial complaints as well as over-all health measure was done by means of self
assessment of the adolescents via questionnaire and that of the socio demographic characteristics by means of a questionnaire for
parents. Physical risk factors were assessed by medical examination respectively lab findings and physical health resources by sportmotor
tests. Hierarchical re-gression analyses were carried out for statistical evaluation.
Results: The data reveal that (highly) active adolescents have better results in most health parameters than somewhat or never physically
active adolescents. Regression analyses reveal that physical activity explains up to 10% of variance in physical health resources (endurance,
strength) and psychosocial health resources (self-perception of physical fitness), but is only slightly related to risk factors and complaints
(e.g. BMI, cholesterol) and overall subjective health measures (e.g. wellbeing).
Discussion: The results correspond to international reports, which also found only weak links between physical activity and health parameters,
especially risk factors (e.g. Biddle et al., 2004). Our findings show that the relationship between physical activity and health
should be conceptu-alized not only under the perspective of reducing risk factors, but rather should focus on the enhancement of physical
and psychosocial resources.
References
Biddle SJ, Gorely T, Stensel DJ (2004). J Sports Sci 22(8), 679–701.
17:15 - 18:45
Invited symposia
IS-BC03 The role of the inflammation process in exercised muscles
INFLAMMATORY REACTIONS IN MUSCLE AFTER EXERCISE: ARE HUMANS AND ANIMALS ALIKE?
PEAKE, J.
QUEENSLAND ACADEMY OF SPORT
Researchers have investigated inflammatory reactions to exercise-induced muscle damage in both humans and animals, using a variety
of methods to induce muscle damage and assess inflammation. In humans, muscle damage is induced using downhill running, boxstepping,
drop-jumps and exercise on an isokinetic dynamometer. In rats, mice and rabbits, muscle damage is induced using downhill
running, electrically-stimulated lengthening muscle contractions, and local injection of cardiotoxin or snake venom. In humans, researchers
have investigated alterations in leukocyte infiltration in skeletal muscle after exercise from several different perspectives, including the
effects of sex, age, repeated bouts of muscle damage, exercise intensity, antioxidant supplements, and drugs (e.g., calcium channel
blockers, analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Data from these studies indicate that sex, age and repeated bouts of muscle
damage influence leukocyte infiltration. Research into the relationship between leukocyte infiltration, delayed onset muscle soreness
(DOMS) and changes in muscular strength is inconsistent. The effects of multiple muscle biopsies on leukocyte infiltration following exercise-induced
muscle damage are also questionable. In general, animal research has produced more consistent findings concerning the
effects of sex, age, oestrogen, repeated bouts of muscle damage and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Animal models of muscle
damage and inflammation provide some advantages over research involving humans. In particular, animal models allow the removal of
whole muscle, and more direct interventions to modulate leukocyte infiltration (e.g., gene knockout, antibodies against macrophages and
neutrophils, clodronate). Comparisons between humans and animals are limited, however, for several reasons. First, fibre type distribution,
oxygen delivery, oxidative potential and enzyme activity differ between human and animal muscle tissue (1). Second, the physical
stress resulting from downhill running in humans likely differs from the physical stress that caged animals experience when running1.
Last, electrically-stimulated contractions and injections of cardiotoxin or snake venom typically induce considerably greater muscle damage
than voluntary exercise1. In summary, we can potentially learn more about muscle damage and inflammation from animal studies
than we can from human studies, but caution is advised when translating animal physiology to human physiology.
1. C. Malm. (2001). Acta Physiol Scand. 3: 233239.
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