Yaru Xiao, Wei Chen, Peter Latchman, Zhixiong Zhou, Weili Zhu
{"title":"Acute arterial stiffness responses to on-ball kneeling and sitting: Effects of exercise fragmentation and exercise order.","authors":"Yaru Xiao, Wei Chen, Peter Latchman, Zhixiong Zhou, Weili Zhu","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05710-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05710-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigated whether more arterial stiffness changes could be induced by fragmentation of Swiss ball balance, and examined the role exercise order played in the modulation of arterial stiffness when on-ball kneeling and sitting were combined. Twenty-three healthy young adults (23.8 ± 0.3 years) performed 7 trials in a randomized crossover fashion: CON (non-exercise control), K (on-ball kneeling, 5 min), fK (fragmented on-ball kneeling, 2 × 2.5 min), S (on-ball sitting, 5 min), fS (fragmented on-ball sitting, 2 × 2.5 min), SK (5-min sitting before 5-min kneeling) and KS (5-min kneeling before 5-min sitting). Arterial stiffness in Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) was measured at baseline (BL), immediately (0 min), and every 10 min after exercise, and its changes from BL (ΔCAVI) were calculated. Area under curve (AUC) of ΔCAVI was calculated for SK and KS. The results showed that relative to CON, ΔCAVI decreased at 0 min and 10 min in K and fK, and remained decreased at 20 min in fK only. However, ΔCAVI in S and fS increased with time similarly, with no difference relative to CON. Though ΔCAVI decreased at 10 min in SK, it decreased at both 0 min and 10 min in KS, relative to CON. AUC of ΔCAVI was greater in KS than in SK. The study indicated that compared to continuous mode, fragmented kneeling results in more arterial stiffness improvements, while fragmented sitting exerts no additional effects. When kneeling and sitting are combined, kneeling before sitting elicits more arterial stiffness improvements than sitting before kneeling.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1633-1640"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143440058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Konstantin Warneke, Thomas Gronwald, Sebastian Wallot, Alessia Magno, Martin Hillebrecht, Klaus Wirth
{"title":"Discussion on the validity of commonly used reliability indices in sports medicine and exercise science: a critical review with data simulations.","authors":"Konstantin Warneke, Thomas Gronwald, Sebastian Wallot, Alessia Magno, Martin Hillebrecht, Klaus Wirth","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05720-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05720-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Apart from objectivity and validity, reliability is considered a precondition for testing within scientific works, as unreliable testing protocols limit conclusions, especially for practical application. Classification guidelines commonly refer to relative reliability, focusing on Pearson correlation coefficients (r<sub>p</sub>) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). On those, the standard error of measurement (SEM) and the minimal detectable change (MDC) are often calculated in addition to the variability coefficient (CV). These, however, do not account for systematic or random errors (e.g., standardization problems). To illustrate, we applied common reliability statistics in sports science on simulated data which extended the sample size of two original counter-movement-jump sessions from (youth) elite basketball players. These show that excellent r<sub>p</sub> and ICC (≥ 0.9) without a systematic bias were accompanied by a mean absolute percentage error of over 20%. Furthermore, we showed that the ICC does not account for systematic errors and has only limited value for accuracy, which can cause misleading conclusions of data. While a simple re-organization of data caused an improvement in relative reliability and reduced limits of agreement meaningfully, systematic errors occurred. This example underlines the lack of validity and objectivity of commonly used ICC-based reliability statistics (SEM, MDC) to quantify the primary and secondary variance sources. After revealing several caveats in the literature (e.g., neglecting of the systematic and random error or not distinguishing between protocol and device reliability), we suggest a methodological approach to provide reliable data collections as a precondition for valid conclusions by, e.g., recommending pre-set acceptable measurement errors.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1511-1526"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12174282/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143406449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Salvador Vargas-Molina, Manuel García-Sillero, Sergio Maroto-Izquierdo, Eneko Baz-Valle, Borja Bautista-Mayorga, Mora Murri, Brad J Schoenfeld, Javier Benítez-Porres
{"title":"Cluster sets and traditional sets elicit similar muscular hypertrophy: a volume and effort-matched study in resistance-trained individuals.","authors":"Salvador Vargas-Molina, Manuel García-Sillero, Sergio Maroto-Izquierdo, Eneko Baz-Valle, Borja Bautista-Mayorga, Mora Murri, Brad J Schoenfeld, Javier Benítez-Porres","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05712-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05712-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objective: </strong>Previous studies examining the effects of cluster sets (CS) compared to traditional sets (TS) protocols on muscle hypertrophy have primarily equated to volume load. This inevitably has resulted in a lower number of repetitions performed in TS compared to CS, thereby leading to a suboptimal hypertrophic stimulus. The present study aimed to compare the impact of CS and TS protocols, both performed with the same number of sets and repetitions, but with loads adjusted to the same range of repetitions in reserve (RIR) on muscle hypertrophy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ten resistance-trained volunteers (7 men and 3 women, 21.0 ± 1.5 years, 64.3 ± 6.9 kg, and 169.3 ± 6.2 cm) participated in this study. Participants performed two training protocols over an 8-week period, with two weekly sessions consisting of 5 sets of 12 repetitions of the leg press and leg extension exercises. The study employed a within-participant, unilateral design where one limb performed a TS protocol and the contralateral limb performed 3 clusters of 4 repetitions with a 20-s intra-set rest period of the same exercises (CS). Muscle thickness was assessed via ultrasound and thigh lean tissue mass was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry pre- and post-study.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results showed similar increases in muscle thickness (p < 0.001, ES = 0.56, and p = 0.012, ES = 0.42, respectively) and lean tissue mass (p = 0.002, ES = 0.11, and p < 0.001, ES = 0.13, respectively) in both CS and TS conditions.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In conclusion, when sets, repetitions, and load adjustments were equalized based on RIR, a CS protocol elicits similar increases in muscle thickness and lean mass compared to a TS protocol.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1725-1734"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12174233/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143390177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What is a cycling race simulation anyway: a review on protocols to assess durability in cycling.","authors":"W M Peeters, M Barrett, T Podlogar","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05725-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05725-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Physiological resilience or durability is now recognised as a determinant of endurance performance such as road cycling. Reliable, ecologically valid and standardised performance tests in laboratory-based cycling protocols have to be established to investigate mechanisms underpinning, and interventions improving durability. This review aims to provide an overview of available race simulation protocols in the literature and examines its rigour around themes that influence durability including (i) exercise intensity anchoring and (ii) carbohydrate intake whilst also (iii) inspecting reliability and justification of the developed protocols. Using a systematic search approach, 48 articles were identified that met our criteria as a cycling race simulation. Most protocols presented limitations to be recommended as exercise test to investigate durability, such as not appropriately addressing the influence of exercise intensity domains by anchoring exercise intensity as % peak power or % <math><mover><mtext>V</mtext> <mo>˙</mo></mover> </math> O<sub>2max</sub>. Ten articles provided reliability data, but only one articles under the appropriate conditions. Most studies sufficiently controlled nutrition during trials but not in the days leading to the trials or just before the trials. Thus, there is a paucity in protocols that combine justification and reliability with optimal nutritional support and mimic the true demands of a road-cycling race. This review lists an overview of protocols that researchers could use with caution to select a protocol for future experiments, but encourages further development of improved protocols, including utilisation of virtual software applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1527-1548"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12174182/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143425232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicholas J Koetje, Nathalie V Kirby, Fergus K O'Connor, Brodie J Richards, Kristina-Marie T Janetos, Leonidas G Ioannou, Glen P Kenny
{"title":"Effects of 24-h sleep deprivation on whole-body heat exchange in young men during exercise in the heat.","authors":"Nicholas J Koetje, Nathalie V Kirby, Fergus K O'Connor, Brodie J Richards, Kristina-Marie T Janetos, Leonidas G Ioannou, Glen P Kenny","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05705-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05705-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sleep deprivation has been associated with impaired thermoregulatory function. However, whether these impairments translate to changes in whole-body heat exchange during exercise-heat stress remains unknown. Therefore, following either a night of normal sleep or 24 h of sleep deprivation, 10 young men (mean (SD): 23 (3) years) completed three 30-min bouts of semi-recumbent cycling at increasing fixed rates of metabolic heat production (150, 200, 250 W/m<sup>2</sup>), each separated by a 15-min rest in dry heat (40 °C, ~ 13% relative humidity). Rates (W/m<sup>2</sup>) of whole-body total heat exchange (dry + evaporative) were measured continuously and expressed as peak responses [mean of the final 5-min of exercise at the highest metabolic heat production (250 W/m<sup>2</sup>)]. Body heat storage was quantified as the temporal summation of heat production and loss. Core temperature, indexed by rectal temperature, was measured continuously. Relative to normal sleep, sleep deprivation did not modify whole-body heat exchange (evaporative (-6 [-18, 5] W/m<sup>2</sup>; P = 0.245), or dry (7 [-5, 19] W/m<sup>2</sup>; P = 0.209; sleep deprivation-normal sleep mean difference [95%CIs]) and therefore total heat loss (1 [-14, 15] W/m<sup>2</sup>; P = 0.917). There were no differences in either the change in body heat storage (-9 [-67, 49] kJ; P = 0.732) or change in core temperature (0.1 [-0.1, 0.3] °C; P = 0.186) between conditions. Overall, we showed that 24-h sleep deprivation did not influence whole-body dry or evaporative heat exchange, resulting in no differences in total whole-body heat exchange or body heat storage in young adults during exercise under hot-dry conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1565-1576"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143058483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bruce Rogers, Pablo R Fleitas-Paniagua, Mackenzie Trpcic, Alessandro M Zagatto, Juan M Murias
{"title":"Fractal correlation properties of heart rate variability and respiratory frequency as measures of endurance exercise durability.","authors":"Bruce Rogers, Pablo R Fleitas-Paniagua, Mackenzie Trpcic, Alessandro M Zagatto, Juan M Murias","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05716-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05716-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Field-based measures of durability (exercise-related physiologic deterioration over time) for assessing athletic fitness often rely on changes in maximal power profiles or heart rate (HR) drift. This study aimed to determine whether an index of HR variability based on the short-term exponent of Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA a1) along with respiratory frequency (fB) could demonstrate changes in durability during a Time to Task Failure (TTF) Trial.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ten participants performed a cycling TTF at an intensity of 95% of the respiratory compensation point (RCP) on two occasions, Control and a \"Reward\" where a monetary incentive was offered when task failure was signaled. Metabolic responses including oxygen uptake ( <math> <msub> <mrow><mover><mtext>V</mtext> <mo>˙</mo></mover> <mtext>O</mtext></mrow> <mn>2</mn></msub> </math> ), lactate and glucose along with HR, DFA a1 and fB were measured and compared over each quarter of the TTF up to the time of signaling (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The elapsed time of TTF sessions was statistically similar (p = 0.54). After initial equilibration, metabolic responses remained largely stable over Q2-Q4. HR, DFA a1 and fB displayed drift over Q2-Q4 with significant ANOVA. Repeatability of quarterly HR, DFA a1, and fB between Control and Reward sessions was high with ICC between 0.73 and 0.94, Pearson's r was between 0.83 and 0.98 with no difference in mean values by paired t testing.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>HR, fB and DFA a1 are useful metrics representing alteration in physiologic characteristics demonstrating durability loss during an endurance exercise session. These measures were repeatable across sessions and have the potential to be monitored retrospectively or in real time in the field with low-cost consumer equipment.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1619-1631"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143187590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dorina Lungu, Tiago Neto, Ricardo J Andrade, Michel W Coppieters, Raúl Oliveira, Sandro R Freitas
{"title":"Correction to: The impact of eccentric muscle contractions on peripheral nerve integrity.","authors":"Dorina Lungu, Tiago Neto, Ricardo J Andrade, Michel W Coppieters, Raúl Oliveira, Sandro R Freitas","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05726-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05726-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1741-1742"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144119295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alicen A Whitaker-Hilbig, Jennifer N Nguyen, Amanda Wietrzny, Gabriel Merkow, Sergey Tarima, Emilie Klevenow, Luke Nelson, Allison S Hyngstrom, Matthew J Durand
{"title":"Effects of ischemic conditioning on microvascular reactivity to single passive limb movement in young adults: a pilot study.","authors":"Alicen A Whitaker-Hilbig, Jennifer N Nguyen, Amanda Wietrzny, Gabriel Merkow, Sergey Tarima, Emilie Klevenow, Luke Nelson, Allison S Hyngstrom, Matthew J Durand","doi":"10.1007/s00421-025-05717-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00421-025-05717-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Single passive limb movement (sPLM) of the lower extremity is a simple and clinically relevant measure of the microvascular vasodilatory response to movement. A promising stimulus to improve microvascular health is ischemic conditioning (IC). We examined whether a single session of IC could improve microvascular reactivity to sPLM in young adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a blinded, crossover, randomized clinical trial. Participants were seated in an isokinetic dynamometer that passively moved the knee 90° at a frequency of 1 Hz while superficial femoral artery leg blood flow (LBF) was measured. The absolute and the relative peak changes in LBF were calculated as the difference from baseline. The time to peak was calculated from the start of sPLM to peak LBF. The total area under the curve (AUC) was the sum of LBF above baseline during the hyperemic response. For IC, the cuff was placed around the dominant thigh and repetitively inflated (225 mmHg) for 5 min, then deflated for 5 min (total 45 min). For sham IC, the cuff was inflated to 25 mmHg. The sPLM response was re-assessed ten minutes after IC.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twelve individuals completed the study (age 27 ± 3 years, 50% female). When controlling for resting LBF, heart rate, and sex, there was an interaction effect for absolute and relative peak change in LBF (p ≤ 0.048) but not time to peak or total AUC (p ≥ 0.17).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We show an acute bout of IC may improve the peak vasodilatory response to sPLM, potentially due to \"preconditioning\" the microvasculature.</p>","PeriodicalId":12005,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Applied Physiology","volume":" ","pages":"1653-1663"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143472440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}