A. Gutiérrez

ALPHA-fitness test battery: health-related field-based fitness tests assessment in children and adolescents

Hereby we summarize the work developed by the ALPHA (Assessing Levels of Physical Activity) Study and describe the tests included in the ALPHA health-related fitness test battery for children and adolescents. The evidence-based ALPHA-Fitness test battery include the following tests: 1) the 20 m shuttle run test to assess cardiorespiratory fitness; 2) the handgrip strength and 3) standing broad jump to assess musculoskeletal fitness, and 4) body mass index, 5) waist circumference; and 6) skinfold thickness (triceps and subscapular) to assess body composition. Furthermore, we include two versions: 1) the high priority ALPHA health-related fitness test battery, which comprises all the evidence-based fitness tests except the measurement of the skinfold thickness; and 2) the extended ALPHA health-related fitness tests battery for children and adolescents, which includes all the evidence-based fitness tests plus the 4 x 10 m shuttle run test to assess motor fitness.

A learning protocol improves the validity of the Borg 6-20 RPE scale during indoor cycling.

The present study assessed the effectiveness of an RPE learning protocol for improving the validity of the Borg 6-20 RPE scale for self-regulating exercise intensity during Indoor Cycling (IC). 16 healthy adults performed 5 IC sessions. Heart rate (HR) was continuously monitored. In sessions 1 and 5, participants perceptually regulated exercise intensity to produce pre-determined RPE levels equivalent to estimated HR levels. Sessions 2, 3 and 4 focused on the RPE learning protocol. The RPE-measured HR correlation was 0.59 in session 1 and 0.67 in session 5 (both P<0.001). The intraclass correlation coefficient between measured HR and estimated HR was 0.85 in session 1 and 0.90 in session 5. There was bias in session 1 (3.69 bpm [SD=12.44]; P<0.001) but not in session 5 (0.99 bpm [SD=9.7]; P=0.178; mean HR difference session 5 vs. 1: -2.70 bpm [95% CI: -4.49 to -0.91]; P=0.003; Cohens d=0.24). There was association between the HR difference and the magnitude of the measurement in session 1 (β=0.208; P<0.01) but not in session 5 (β=-0.072; P=0.34). These preliminary results suggested that an RPE learning protocol might slightly improve the validity of the Borg 6-20 RPE scale for exercise intensity self-regulation during IC sessions in healthy adults.

Physical exercise reverses diet-induced increases in LDL-cholesterol and apo B levels in healthy ovo-lactovegetarian subjects

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of supplementing the daily intake of whole-fat dairy products with 750ml of milk and 250ml of yoghurt, and the influence of a concomitant program of physical exercise (30–45 min of running/cycling at 60% VO 2 max every two-days) in young healthy ovo-lactovegetarian (n=14) and non-vegetarian control (n=10) athletes. Diet manipulation for a two-month period increased LDL-cholesterol (2.31±0.44 vs 2.51±0.42 mmol/l) and apo B (68±16 vs 75±15 mg/dl) levels as well as LDL-/HDL-cholesterol (1.65±0.47 vs 1.94±0.68) and apo B/apo A 1 (0.46±0.15 vs 0.66±0.30) ratios (all p