Inflammatory processes may contribute to running-related injury (RRI) susceptibility, yet the predictive value of baseline inflammatory biomarkers remains unclear. This prospective study investigated whether baseline biochemical markers of inflammation predict RRI occurrence in healthy individuals over 1 year, while accounting for training, physiological, and injury history variables. A total of 1315 healthy individuals (recreational runners and inactive controls) were followed for 12 months with prospective injury surveillance. Baseline blood samples were analyzed for inflammatory markers. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between baseline biomarkers and RRI occurrence, adjusting for age, sex, peak oxygen consumption, weekly running distance, total body fat, and history of musculoskeletal trauma. Significant predictors of RRI included baseline tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) (OR per 1 pg/mL: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.08-1.44), history of musculoskeletal trauma (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.06-1.90), weekly running distance, and age. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA) showed a modest protective association (OR per 10 pg/mL: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99-1.00). However, the model demonstrated limited discriminatory ability (AUC = 0.66), indicating that baseline inflammatory markers alone are insufficient for individual-level injury prediction. Baseline TNF-α and IL-RA are significantly associated with RRI occurrence, suggesting that inflammatory phenotype contributes to injury susceptibility. However, TNF-α and IL-1RA cannot serve as reliable standalone screening tools, and our findings indicate that baseline inflammatory phenotype represents one component of multifactorial injury risk. While baseline TNF-α and IL-1RA measurements are unlikely to transform clinical practice in isolation, understanding inflammatory contributions to injury susceptibility may inform more effective injury-prevention strategies.

Objectives: Our objective was to evaluate the acute effect of L-leucine supplementation and high-intensity sprint exercise on appetite-controlling neuropeptides and their association with the subjective perception of appetite (SPA), satiety (SPS), food intake, and inflammatory response in overweight participants. Methods: In a double-masked, randomized, counterbalanced, and crossover design, 12 sedentary overweight adult men performed four experiments: (1) exercise and L-leucine (EX-Leu), (2) exercise and placebo (EX-PLA), (3) L-leucine without exercise (SED-Leu), and (4) placebo without exercise (SED-PLA). The supplementation consisted of three daily doses of 70 mg/kg body weight of L-leucine or placebo (on the day of exercise and one day after). During the experiments, we recorded the food intake, SPA, and SPS, and evaluated the neuropeptides (GLP-1, PYY, CCK, and ghrelin) and cytokines (IL1-beta, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α) in peripheral blood. The acute exercise trial consisted of four sets of 30 sec cycle ergometer sprint exercises. Results: EX-Leu, EX-PLA, and SED-Leu decreased SPA, compared to SED-PLA; only EX-PLA improved SPS; EX-PLA and EX-Leu reduced food intake. GLP-1 decreased in the EX-PLA trial compared to SED-Leu. IL-6 and IL1-β levels increased in the EX-Leu trial compared to SED-PLA. An anti-inflammatory profile was identified in the EX-PLA trial compared to the other trials. Both neuropeptides (increased) and cytokines (a pro-inflammatory profile) were associated with changes in SPA, SPS, and food intake. Conclusions: The acute inflammatory balance induced by EX-Leu seems to improve appetite control. Sprint exercise had a consistent acute anorexic effect, while isolated L-leucine decreased SPA, but their impact on SPS and food intake is not clear (FAPESP grants: 2020/09936-2 and 2021/03601-1).

Exercise can be conducted as low-intensity continuous training (LICT) or a variety of higher intensity work/rest formats, collectively called interval training. Interval training was developed for athletes in the early 20th century. It was systemized in Sweden as Fartlek, and in Germany as die interval Method, in the 1930s. Most contemporary forms of interval training evolved from these progenitors. In essence, interval training allows a large volume of high-intensity or race specific training to be performed while controlling the development of fatigue. Adding interval training to LICT done by athletes adds about 2%-4% to performance achievable with LICT, which represents a competitively meaningful difference in performance (e.g., 4:25 vs. 4:00 over 1 mile). More recently, interval training has been applied to health- fitness participants and even to patients with health conditions. Studies indicate that a comparatively low volume of interval training can produce substantial improvement in physiologic capacity, in as little as 20% of training time versus LICT. There are data indicating that interval training can be reasonably pleasant, have good adherence, and is safe, even in patients. Although interval training was originally designed for athletics, the fundamental patterns of work versus recovery are remarkably similar in healthy adults and patients. Although the total volume of training and both absolute and relative intensity and magnitude of homeostatic disturbance are larger in athletes, the overall pattern of effort is the same in fitness participants and patients. Interval training can thus be characterized as an important step in the evolution of exercise training.

ZusammenfassungUnter einer Trainingsadaptation des Herz-Kreislaufsystems versteht man eine durch Training bedingte physiologische Anpassung, die letztlich in eine erhöhte Leistungsfähigkeit mündet. Eindeutig belegt sind solche Trainingswirkungen vor allem für das Ausdauertraining bzw. für chronisch dynamische Belastungsformen. Bei anderen motorischen Beanspruchungsformen, wie Krafttraining bzw. statisches Training oder Schnelligkeitstraining, sind nur minimale oder keine Effekte auf das Herz-Kreislaufsystem nachweisbar.

Sportmedizinische Leistungsprüfverfahren haben als wesentliche Aufgaben die Überprüfung der Gesundheit und der Sport- und Belastungstauglichkeit von Athleten/innen sowie die Feststellung des aktuellen Leistungszustandes unter standardisierten Bedingungen als Grundlage für weiterführende sportmedizinische und trainingspraktische Entscheidungen. Sportmedizinische Leistungsdiagnostik bestimmt dabei die Größe, die Richtungen und die Dynamik der inneren Beanspruchung bei definierten und standardisierten Belastungen und überprüft die physiologischen und patho-physiologischen Reaktionen auf standardisierte ergometrische Belastungen unter Verwendung maximaler und submaximaler Kennwerte.

Die Grundlagen für die "anaerobe Schwelle" wurden bereits in den 20er Jahren gelegt (A.V. Hill). Eine erste Benennung als Schwelle (Punkt des optimalen Wirkungsgrades der Atmung — PoW) erfolgte in den späten 50er Jahren von Hollmann. Der Begriff "anaerobic threshold" stammt von Wasserman et al. aus dem Jahr 1964. Ab diesem Zeitpunkt wurden unzählige Konzepte und Benennungen einer anaeroben Schwelle vorgestellt, welche sich somit zu einem der meist untersuchten Phänomene in der Leistungsphysiologie entwickelte. Kritische Stellungnahmen gibt es vor allem zum Begriff "anaerob", da man davon ausgehen kann, dass auch unter vollständig aeroben Bedingungen Laktat (anaerob) produziert wird (Brooks 1985). Zusätzlich erschwert wird das Verständnis des Phänomens durch eine deutliche Begriffsverwirrung, da die "anaerobic threshold" nach Wasserman et al. (1964) nicht die anaerobe Schwelle (im Sinn eines maximalen LaktatSteady-State; MLSS), sondern die (nach europäischer Definition) aerobe Schwelle erfasst. Man kann aus heutiger Sicht davon ausgehen, dass fixe Laktatkenngrößen nicht geeignet sind, die individuellen Übergänge der dreiphasigen Energiebereitstellung zu definieren. Das 2 mmol.l-1-Konzept (Kindermann et al. 1979) sowie das 4 mmol-Konzept von Mader et al. (1976) ist aus heutiger Sicht nicht mehr begründbar. Als wesentliche Grundlage kann das 3-Phasen-Konzept von Skinner und McLellan (1980) verwendet werden.

AbstractVery low carbohydrate high fat (VLCHF) diet and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are widely utilized for weight reduction and cardiorespiratory fitness improvement, respectively. To assess the acceptability of these approaches, it is essential to examine mental health-related indicators. This secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial investigated the isolated and synergistic effects of VLCHF and HIIT on mental health-related indicators in individuals with excessive weight or obesity. Sixty-eight participants (age = 42 ± 10.2; 20–60 years; BMI = 29.8 ± 3.7) were analysed across four groups: HIIT (n = 15, 4 males, 11 females), VLCHF (n = 19, 4 males, 15 females), VLCHF + HIIT (n = 19, 4 males, 15 females), and control (n = 15, 4 males, 11 females). The 12-week intervention, involved VLCHF diet or HIIT sessions, depending on group affiliation and completing online questionnaires via Qualtrics software before and after the intervention. The questionnaires included the 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12) for mental (MHS) and physical health scores (PHS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Using the Kruskal–Wallis test, we found no significant differences in mental health-related indicators between groups after 12 weeks, except for SWLS (p = 0.031; ES = 0.133; medium), which improved significantly in the VLCHF + HIIT group compared to the HIIT group. Our findings indicate that HIIT and VLCHF, alone or combined, do not significantly affect mental health-related indicators.

BackgroundThe main objective of the present cross-sectional cohort study was to determine whether there is an association between cardiac autonomic regulation, as expressed through heart rate variability (HRV), and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and over the long-term living in areas with low or high air pollution.MethodsThe study sample included 1036 (487 females) healthy runners (603) and inactive participants (age 18-65 years) who had lived for at least 5 years in an area with high (Moravian-Silesian; MS) or low (South Bohemian; SB) air pollution in the Czech Republic. A multivariable regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations between multiple independent variables (CRF (peak oxygen consumption), VAT, sex, socioeconomic status (education level), and region (MS region vs. SB region) with dependent variable HRV. The root mean square of successive RR interval differences (rMSSD) was employed for the evaluation of HRV.ResultsThe multivariable linear regression model revealed that cardiac autonomic regulation (rMSSD) was significantly associated with CRF level (p < .001) and age (p < .001). There were no associations between rMSSD and region (high or low air-pollution), sex, education level or VAT (p > 0.050).ConclusionsWe showed that living in an area with low or high air pollution is not associated with cardiac autonomic modulation in healthy runners and inactive individuals. CRF and age significantly directly and inversely, respectively, associated with HRV. There were no other significant associations.

Background/Objectives: The impact of exercise on affective disorders has been demonstrated in various studies. However, almost no data are available on performance effects. Therefore, this study investigated exercise performance related to the severity of depression symptoms in a pre–post within-subjects design in a 6-week standard inpatient psychiatric rehabilitation program. Methods: A total of 53 individuals (20 female; mean age, 40.98 ± 11.33) with a primary diagnosis of depression performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPX) to obtain maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), maximal power output (Pmax), and the first and second ventilatory threshold (VT1, VT2) at the start and the end of the rehabilitation. Degree of depression was assessed by Becks Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Brief Symptom Inventory test (BSI). Overall activity was measured by accelerometer step-counts. Results: Mean total step-count per day during rehabilitation was high (12,586 ± 2819 steps/day). Patients’ BDI and BSI at entry were 21.6 ± 8.83 and 65.1 ± 6.8, respectively, and decreased significantly (p < 0.001) following rehabilitation, to 10.1 ± 9.5 and 54.5 ± 11.3, respectively. Pmax and VO2max increased significantly (p < 0.001) from entry values (182.6 ± 58.7 W, 29.74 ± 5.92 mL·kg−1·min−1) following rehabilitation: by 11.91 ± 12.09 W and 1.35 ± 2.78 mL·kg−1·min−1, respectively. VT1 and VT2 showed a similar behavior. An increase in physical performance could predict improvement in BDI (R2 = 0.104, F(1,48) = 5.582, p = 0.022) but not in BSI. Conclusions: The program was associated with improved mental health status in all patients and increased performance in the majority of patients, although increases were small. Since improvements in exercise performance may be positively related to depression symptoms and comorbidities, it is recommended to individualize and tailor exercise programs, which could yield larger effects.

Heart failure is one of the major health threats in Western societies, and its prevalence is steadily increasing. Many data show the important impact of sex (biological) and gender (sociocultural) differences on most aspects (diagnosis, etiology, treatments, and outcomes) of heart failure. For example, compared to men, women with heart failure are older, have more co-morbidities, and develop different phenotypes of heart failure. Postpartum cardiopathy is unique in women. The iatrogenic effects of cancer therapies are more frequent among women compared to men. Currently, the integration of sex and gender differences into the therapy of heart failure is rare. Consequently, women derive disadvantages from a nonspecifically adapted therapy for heart failure, get worse outcomes, and have more iatrogenic adverse effects than men. This situation is medically unfortunate and increases medical expenditures. A sex-guided approach to the correct evaluation of patients with heart failure should become the cornerstone for the correct management of these patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), long-term air pollution exposure and biochemical markers of oxidative status and inflammation. This is a cross-sectional investigation focusing on biochemical markers of oxidative status and inflammation. Participants were Caucasian (N = 1188; age 18-65 years) who lived for at least 5 years in a high air-polluted (Moravian-Silesian; MS) or low air-polluted (South Bohemia; SB) region of the Czech Republic. Healthy runners and inactive individuals were recruited. A multiple regression analysis was used to explain the relationship between multiple independent variables (CRF, trunk fat mass, sex, socioeconomic status, and region (MS region vs. SB region) and dependent variables (oxidative status, inflammation). CRF, trunk fat mass, age and sex significantly predicted almost all selected markers of oxidative status and inflammation (except GSSG, GSH/GSSG and BDNF). Participants living in the MS region presented significantly higher GPx (by 3.1%) and lower BDNF values (by 4.5%). All other investigated biochemical markers were not significantly influenced by region. We did not find meaningful interactions between long-term air-pollution exposure versus markers of oxidative status and inflammation. However, we showed various significant interactions with sex, age, CRF and body composition. The significant association of living in the high air polluted MS region with the BDNF level warrants further attention.