The primary purpose of this narrative review was to evaluate the current literature and to provide further insight into the role physical inactivity plays in the development of chronic disease and premature death. We confirm that there is irrefutable evidence of the effectiveness of regular physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis) and premature death. We also reveal that the current Health Canada physical activity guidelines are sufficient to elicit health benefits, especially in previously sedentary people. There appears to be a linear relation between physical activity and health status, such that a further increase in physical activity and fitness will lead to additional improvements in health status.

/pdf/health-benefits-of-physical-activity-the-evidence-17tsp10zcy.pdf

Health benefits of physical activity: the evidence

ACC
: American College of Cardiology
ACE
: angiotensin-converting enzyme
ACS
: acute coronary syndrome
AF
: atrial fibrillation
AGNES
: Arrhythmia Genetics in the Netherlands
AHA
: American Heart Association
AMIOVIRT
: AMIOdarone Versus Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator:

/pdf/2015-esc-guidelines-for-the-management-of-patients-with-3hzn8vw0c4.pdf

2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death: The Task Force for the Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Endorsed by: Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology (AEPC)

This is the second iteration of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) joining forces to write guidelines on the management of diabetes mellitus (DM), pre-diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD), designed to assist clinicians and other healthcare workers to make evidence-based management decisions. The growing awareness of the strong biological relationship between DM and CVD rightly prompted these two large organizations to collaborate to generate guidelines relevant to their joint interests, the first of which were published in 2007. Some assert that too many guidelines are being produced but, in this burgeoning field, five years in the development of both basic and clinical science is a long time and major trials have reported in this period, making it necessary to update the previous Guidelines.

/pdf/2019-esc-guidelines-on-diabetes-pre-diabetes-and-4treq2fwvr.pdf

2019 ESC Guidelines on diabetes, pre-diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases developed in collaboration with the EASD

2015 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death

/pdf/2015-esc-guidelines-for-the-management-of-patients-with-4lhfmy4xir.pdf

2015 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and is performed by men and women, children and adults with different levels of expertise. Soccer performance depends upon a myriad of factors such as technical/biomechanical, tactical, mental and physiological areas. One of the reasons that soccer is so popular worldwide is that players may not need to have an extraordinary capacity within any of these performance areas, but possess a reasonable level within all areas. However, there are trends towards more systematic training and selection influencing the anthropometric profiles of players who compete at the highest level. As with other activities, soccer is not a science, but science may help improve performance. Efforts to improve soccer performance often focus on technique and tactics at the expense of physical fitness. During a 90-minute game, elite-level players run about 10 km at an average intensity close to the anaerobic threshold (80-90% of maximal heart rate). Within this endurance context, numerous explosive bursts of activity are required, including jumping, kicking, tackling, turning, sprinting, changing pace, and sustaining forceful contractions to maintain balance and control of the ball against defensive pressure. The best teams continue to increase their physical capacities, whilst the less well ranked have similar values as reported 30 years ago. Whether this is a result of fewer assessments and training resources, selling the best players, and/or knowledge of how to perform effective exercise training regimens in less well ranked teams, is not known. As there do exist teams from lower divisions with as high aerobic capacity as professional teams, the latter factor probably plays an important role. This article provides an update on the physiology of soccer players and referees, and relevant physiological tests. It also gives examples of effective strength- and endurance-training programmes to improve on-field performance. The cited literature has been accumulated by computer searching of relevant databases and a review of the authors' extensive files. From a total of 9893 papers covering topics discussed in this article, 843 were selected for closer scrutiny, excluding studies where information was redundant, insufficient or the experimental design was inadequate. In this article, 181 were selected and discussed. The information may have important implications for the safety and success of soccer players and hopefully it should be understood and acted upon by coaches and individual soccer players.

http://carlocapelli.it/ftp/didattica/master calcio/bibliografia_essenziale/stolen_et_al_2005.pdf

Physiology of Soccer: An Update

To characterize the physical demands associated with on-the-job use of current firefighting equipment and the performance of essential firefighting operations, an initial task analysis of all firefighting operations was followed by an in-depth physical and physiological characterization of those tasks deemed to be physically demanding. The most commonly encountered applications of strength and endurance were lifting and carrying objects (up to 80 lbs), pulling objects (up to 135 lbs), and working with objects in front of the body (up to 125 lbs). The most demanding firefighting operations required a mean VO2 of 41.5 ml/kg.min-1 with peak lactate concentrations of 6 to 13.2 mM. Ninety percent of the demanding firefighting operations that were studied required a mean VO2 of 23 ml/kg.min-1. These aerobic energy requirements corresponded to 85 and 50% VO2max, respectively. Therefore a minimum VO2max standard for firefighter applicants of 45 ml/kg.min-1 is recommended.

Characterization of the physical demands of firefighting

Introduction: The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) and the Physical Activity Readiness Medical Evaluation (PARmed-X) are internationally renowned pre-participation screening tools. However, these forms were developed without evidence-based support. Moreover, feedback from end-users highlighted the need for refinement. Purpose: To examine the evidence-based support for the PAR-Q and PARmed-X and identify if further revisions were warranted. Methods: Ten systematic reviews were conducted to establish the exercise-related risks and effective risk stratification in healthy individuals (including pregnant women) and persons with prominent chronic medical conditions. This process adhered to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) Instrument. Key Findings: Habitual physical activity is associated with a reduced risk for over 25 chronic conditions and premature mortality. Moderate intensity physical activity on most days of the week is of benefit for most patients with chronic conditions. The risks associated with a physically inactive lifestyle are markedly higher than the transient risks seen following acute exercise (in healthy and clinical populations). Changes to the PAR-Q and PARmed-X: The result of this process was the development of a new and enhanced pre-participation screening and risk stratification strategy that serves to reduce the barriers to physical activity for Canadians across the lifespan (including those with various chronic conditions). This included the development of the new PAR-Q+ and the online ePARmed-X+. The new screening tools and risk stratification strategy are now evidence-based, and serve to greatly reduce the barriers to physical activity for all (including those living with a chronic medical condition).

/pdf/the-physical-activity-readiness-questionnaire-for-everyone-271e5us1d8.pdf

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) and Electronic Physical Activity Readiness Medical Examination (ePARmed-X+)

Recently, we proposed that the higher stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (Q) of endurance-trained (ETR) versus untrained (UTR) individuals are attributable primarily to the enhanced diastolic filling of ETR consequent to a larger blood volume (BV). To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of manipulating BV on the cardiac function of six ETR and six UTR males. Both groups were examined in the control BV condition (BVctl), then ETR were examined immediately following a 500 mL reduction in BV (BVred) and UTR were examined immediately following a 500 mL expansion of BV (BVexp). In BVctl, compared with UTR, ETR had significantly greater BV (16%), maximal diastolic filling rate (47.4%), maximal ventricular emptying rate (24.6%), SVmax (31.6%), Qmax (29%) and VO2max (54.5%). Following BVexp in UTR, there were immediate significant increases in maximal diastolic filling rate (22.5%), SVmax (9.1%), Qmax (8.9%), and VO2max (12.7%). Following BVred in ETR there were immediate significant decreases in maximal diastolic filling rate (27%), SVmax (14.3%), Qmax (14.7%), and VO2max (7.0%). Maximal systolic emptying rate did not change significantly following BVred or BVexp. We conclude that changes in SV and Q consequent to alterations in BV are attributable primarily to changes in diastolic function, and the majority of the higher diastolic filling rate of ETR is due to their larger BV.

Effect of alterations in blood volume on cardiac function during maximal exercise

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire and You (PAR-Q) and the Physical Activity Readiness Medical Examination (PARmed-X) were Canada’s primary front-line pre-participation screening tools for physical activity. The PAR-Q contains a simple 7-question battery designed to determine whether

https://www.cfp.ca/content/cfp/59/3/273.full.pdf

PAR-Q+ and ePARmed-X+: New risk stratification and physical activity clearance strategy for physicians and patients alike

Induced hypervolemia, cardiac function, O2max, and performance of elite cyclists. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 800-808, 1999.Objective:To determine whether plasma volume expansion (PVexp) in elite endurance-trained (ET) cyclists, who already possess both a high blood volume (

Veronica K. Jamnik

Papers

Characterization of the physical demands of firefighting

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) and Electronic Physical Activity Readiness Medical Examination (ePARmed-X+)

Effect of alterations in blood volume on cardiac function during maximal exercise

PAR-Q+ and ePARmed-X+: New risk stratification and physical activity clearance strategy for physicians and patients alike

Induced hypervolemia, cardiac function, VO2max, and performance of elite cyclists.