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The aim of this article is to explore the concept of resistance training skill literacy and discuss related strategies to enhance learning, improve adherence and help youth realize the holistic benefits of resistance exercise.

Apply It!: • A vast majority of adults do not engage in sufficient resistance exercise to achieve health, fitness, and functional benefits. • The Fear of Resistance Exercise, or FoRE, is a unique term that describes a phenomenon observed in individuals who develop an avoidance behavior to resistance exercise due to persistent feelings of worry, apprehension, or misunderstanding. • Leadership from health and fitness professionals can help adults set clear objectives, challenge irrational thoughts, deal with barriers, and adhere to resistance exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To determine the prevalence of adolescents who meet muscle‐strengthening activities (MSA) recommendation and their associations with anthropometric variables, physical fitness, and lifestyle behaviours in a sample of Spanish adolescents aged 12–17 years. Methods: This was a cross‐sectional study using data from The Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) Study. Participants reported the days on which they engaged in MSA (≥3 days per week were considered to meet World Health Organization recommendation). Physical fitness was assessed with the ALPHA fitness battery. Additionally, body mass index, waist circumference, skinfolds and body fat percentage were assessed. Lifestyle variables were recreational screen time, sleep time and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The associations between MSA and outcome variables were tested with linear and logistic regressions. Results: Of the 852 participants, 48% met MSA recommendation. Meeting MSA recommendation was associated with lower adiposity and higher performance in the shuttle run test, maximal oxygen consumption, standing long jump, speed‐agility, flexibility, lower screen time (in weekdays) and higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Conclusion: Engaging in MSA once or twice a week was linked with more desirable health outcomes than not engaging in such activities. However, meet with MSA recommendation (i.e., at least 3 days per week) reinforced these benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's youth are weaker than previous generations, and measurable reductions in physical fitness are beginning to emerge. Without targeted initiatives that recognize the foundational importance of resistance training, weaker children and adolescents may be more likely to experience the inevitable consequences of neuromuscular dysfunction and less likely to experience the pleiotropic benefits of exercise and sport. Early exposure to strength-building activities is needed to prepare today's youth for ongoing participation in varied physical activities throughout this developmental phase of life. The novel iceberg of physical development is a metaphoric image that illustrates the sequential and cumulative influence of muscular strength on motor skills and physical abilities. Efforts to enhance the physical capacity of youth should include resistive skills that improve basic movement patterns and enhance motoric competence. A shift in our conceptual thinking about youth resistance training is needed to alter the current trajectory toward physical inactivity and related comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing need for physical education teachers to integrate different types of fitness activities into their lessons in order to provide opportunities for all students to learn and practice a variety of movement skills that will enhance their physical fitness and support free-time physical activity. An increased focus on age-appropriate interventions that enhance muscle strength and motor skills is particularly important for overweight youth who may not have developed competence and confidence in their physical abilities to engage in aerobic games and sport activities. FUNdamental Integrative Training, or FIT, incorporates a variety of strength and conditioning exercises into a well-designed lesson that enhances the health- and skill-related components of physical fitness. Youth who participate in FIT will be more likely to participate in games, activities, and sports as an ongoing lifestyle choice. This article provides a fresh approach for incorporating FIT into elementary-school physical education curricula.

Studies investigating the acute effect of postprandial exercise (PPE) on glucose responses exhibit significant heterogeneity in terms of participant demographic, exercise protocol, and exercise timing post-meal. As such, this study aimed to further analyze the existing literature on the impact of PPE on glycemic control in overweight individuals and individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM). A literature search was conducted through databases such as PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. Thirty-one original research studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected. A random-effect meta-analysis was performed to compare postprandial glucose area under the curve (AUC) and 24 h mean glucose levels between PPE and the time-matched no-exercise control (CON). Subgroup analyses were conducted to explore whether the glucose-lowering effect of PPE could be influenced by exercise duration, exercise timing post-meal, and the disease status of participants. This study revealed a significantly reduced glucose AUC (Hedges' g = −0.317; SE = 0.057; p < 0.05) and 24 h mean glucose levels (Hedges' g = −0.328; SE = 0.062; p < 0.05) following PPE compared to CON. The reduction in glucose AUC was greater (p < 0.05) following PPE lasting >30 min compared to ≤30 min. The reduction in 24 h mean glucose levels was also greater (p < 0.05) following PPE for ≥60 min compared to <60 min post-meal and in those with T2DM compared to those without T2DM. PPE offers a viable approach for glucose management and can be performed in various forms so long as exercise duration is sufficient. The glucose-lowering effect of PPE may be further enhanced by initiating it after the first hour post-meal. PPE is a promising strategy, particularly for patients with T2DM. This manuscript is registered with Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry1693). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time-of-day effect of exercise on human function remains largely equivocal. Hence, this study aimed to further analyze the existing evidence concerning diurnal variations in cardiorespiratory responses and endurance performance using a meta-analytic approach. Literature search was conducted through databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. Article selection was made based on inclusion criteria concerning subjects' characteristics, exercise protocols, times of testing, and targeted dependent variables. Results on oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), respiratory exchange ratio, and endurance performance in the morning (AM) and late afternoon or evening (PM) were extracted from the chosen studies. Metaanalysis was conducted with the random-effects model. Thirty-one original research studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected. Meta-analysis revealed higher resting VO2 (Hedges' g = -0.574; p = 0.040) and resting HR (Hedges' g= -1.058; p = 0.002) in PM than in AM. During exercise, although VO2 remained indifferent between AM and PM, HR was higher in PM at submaximal (Hedges' g = -0.199; p = 0.046) and maximal (Hedges' g = -0.298; p = 0.001) levels. Endurance performance as measured by time-to-exhaustion or the total work accomplished was higher in PM than in AM (Hedges' g = -0.654; p = 0.001). Diurnal variations in VO2 appear less detectable during aerobic exercise. The finding that exercising HR and endurance performance were greater inPMthan in AMemphasizes the need to consider the effect of circadian rhythm when evaluating athletic performance or using HR as a criterion to assess fitness or monitor training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the benefits of regular physical activity are widely acknowledged, recent findings indicate that a growing number of youth are not as active as they should be. The impact of a sedentary lifestyle during childhood on lifelong pathological processes and associated health care costs have created a need for immediate action to manage, if not prevent, unhealthy behaviors during this vulnerable period of life. The concept of identifying children with exercise deficit disorder early in life and prescribing effective interventions to prevent the cascade of adverse health outcomes later in life is needed to raise public awareness, focus on primary prevention, and impact the collective behaviors of health care providers and public health agencies. School nurses are in a unique position to take advantage of well-child visits as an ideal opportunity to assess physical activity habits and encourage daily participation in play, recess, sports, planned exercise, and physical education.

The transtheoretical model (TTM; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992) suggests that, at any point, an individual is in one of five stages-of-change related to adopting a behavior. People sequentially advance in stage but may also maintain or even regress, based on personal and environmental factors (Nigg, 2005). A classic study published in this journal in 1992 (Marcus, Selby, Niaura, & Rossi, 1992) indicated that as TTM stages advance, exercise barriers self-efficacy (i.e., self-regulatory efficacy) increases. Research on adults (Carron, Hausenblas, & Estabrooks, 2002) has consistently supported this finding, but it has not been well studied in children. The intent of this present investigation was threefold: (a) to further assess reliability of the Exercise Barriers Self-Efficacy Scale for Children (EBSES-C) in a sample of African American preadolescents; (b) to replicate and extend the research on adults, suggesting that as the TTM stage is more advanced, self-regulatory efficacy is greater (Marcus et al., 1992); and (c) to examine possibilities of change in exercise barriers self-efficacy significantly mediating the relationship between changes in TTM stage and voluntary physical activity in response to a behavioral treatment. (Contains 2 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a school-based plyometric training program (i.e., Plyo Play) on children's fitness performance. Forty children (8 to 11 yrs) participated in the program and 34 age-matched children served as controls. Performance of the long jump, sit and reach flexibility, abdominal curl, push-up, shuttle run, and half mile run was assessed at baseline and post-training. Children who participated in the program made significantly greater improvements than controls in the long jump (7.9 [plus or minus] 17.3 cm vs. -0.3 [plus or minus] 8.4 cm) push-up (4.1 [plus or minus] 6.1 vs. 1.1 [plus or minus] 5.2), and half mile run (-52.1 [plus or minus] 68.7 sec. vs -10.5 [plus or minus] 50.8 sec.). These data indicate that plyometric training can enhance selected measures of lower body power, upper body strength, and aerobic fitness in children. (Contains 3 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of medicine ball training on the fitness performance of high-school physical education students. Sixty-nine high-school students participated in a 6-week medicine training program during the first 10 to 15 minutes of each physical education class. A group of 49 students who participated in physical education lessons but not medicine ball training served as controls. Performance on the shuttle run, long jump, sit and reach flexibility, abdominal curl, medicine ball push-up, and medicine ball seated toss was assessed at baseline and post-training. Students who participated in the medicine ball training program made significantly greater gains on all fitness tests as compared to the control group. These data suggest that medicine ball training can enhance selected measures of speed, agility, power and muscular endurance when incorporated into a high school physical education class. (Contains 2 tables.)

To address reduced physical education (PE) in elementary schools, a 12-week physical activity protocol was tested on 5-12-year-old, primarily African American, girls (n = 226) and boys (n = 344) at 14 YMCA after-school care sites. The 3 times/week, 45-min session curriculum included cardiovascular, resistance, and flexibility training, in which all children could participate simultaneously, and a behavioral skills education component. After-school counselors, formerly untrained in PE methods, administered the sessions, with periodic supervision by YMCA wellness staff members. Analyses of the eight Age [times] Sex subsamples indicated significant improvements on body composition, strength, and endurance, both within-groups and when predicted changes due to maturation were accounted for. Exercise barriers self-efficacy significantly increased in subsamples of 9-10- and 11-12-year-old girls only. The need for replication across ethnic groups was suggested. Limitations and the need for extension of research on supplementation of elementary school PE were discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

Evaluated the safety and efficacy of 1 repetition maximum (1RM) strength testing in healthy children age 6-12 years. Data were collected on 96 children who performed a 1RM test on one upper body and one lower body exercise using child-sized weight machines. Findings indicated that children could safely perform 1RM strength tests provided appropriate procedures were followed. No gender differences were evident. (SM)

Determined the effects of brief hypoperfusion-hyperemia (by femoral cuff occlusion) on repetitive vertical jump performance among recreationally trained men and women. Results indicated that in a protocol of maximal repetitive vertical jumps, the power output declined by approximately 20 percent. Hypoperfusion- hyperemia had no significant effect on vertical jumping power output. (SM)

Examined the effects of four resistance training protocols on upper body strength and muscular endurance development in children. Untrained children trained twice per week for 8 weeks, using general conditioning exercises and different upper-body conditioning protocols. Results indicated that higher-repetition training protocols enhanced children's upper body strength and local muscle endurance more than did other training protocols. (SM)

Provides an overview of the potential health benefits of strength training for children, discussing the role of strength training in preventing sports-related injuries and highlighting design considerations for such programs. The focus is on musculoskeletal adaptations to strength training that are observable in healthy children. Guidelines for youth strength training programs are included. (SM)

The World Health Organization recommends that children should engage in an average of 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day and should perform activities that strengthen muscle and bone at least 3 days a week. Public health professionals as well as pediatric researchers have identified schools as a strategic place to promote muscular strength development. Thus, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the efficacy of school-based exercise interventions for improving muscular fitness (MF) in children. Searches were conducted in three databases. Eligible criteria were randomized and non-randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of school-based exercise interventions on MF (i.e. muscular strength, muscular power, and local muscular endurance) in children under 13 years of age. Risk of bias by the National Institutes of Health tool was appraised, and pooled effect sizes (Hedges'g) were calculated using random-effects inverse-variance analyses. Seventeen studies enrolling 1653 children (28% girls were analyzed). Exercise interventions, mostly combined interventions targeting selected domains of MF, were associated with significant moderate increases in local muscular endurance (g = 0.65 95% CI, 0.13 to 1.17, p = 0.020; I2 = 85.0%) and muscular strength and muscular power (g = 0.33 95% CI, 0.16 to 0.51, p = 0.001; I2 = 59.3%), with higher effects using interventions with ≥3 sessions per week. Our findings indicate that school-based exercise that includes strength building exercises may improve MF in children and, consequently, prepare modern day youth for the demands of exercise and sport activities. School-based muscle and bone strengthening exercises performed at least 3 days per week may serve to support the development of muscular fitness in girls and boys Integrative interventions that include a variety of strength and conditioning activities seem to be a promising strategy to promote muscular fitness in school environment Future research should standardize assessment methods for use with children in the school context and should include interventions with girls It is of interest to a growing number of health care providers, fitness professionals and physical education teachers to encourage participation in well-designed muscle and bone strengthening exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Comparison of protein intakes on strength, body composition and hormonal changes were examined in 23 experienced collegiate strength/power athletes participating in a 12-week resistance training program. Subjects were stratified into three groups depending upon their daily consumption of protein; below recommended levels (BL; 1.0 – 1.4 g·kg-1·day-1; n = 8), recommended levels (RL; 1.6 – 1.8 g·kg-1·day-1; n = 7) and above recommended levels (AL; > 2.0 g·kg-1·day-1; n = 8). Subjects were assessed for strength [one-repetition maximum (1-RM) bench press and squat] and body composition. Resting blood samples were analyzed for total testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor. No differences were seen in energy intake (3,171 ± 577 kcal) between the groups, and the energy intake for all groups were also below the recommended levels for strength/power athletes. No significant changes were seen in body mass, lean body mass or fat mass in any group. Significant improvements in 1-RM bench press and 1-RM squat were seen in all three groups, however no differences between the groups were observed. Subjects in AL experienced a 22% and 42% greater change in Δ 1-RM squat and Δ 1-RM bench press than subjects in RL, however these differences were not significant. No significant changes were seen in any of the resting hormonal concentrations. The results of this study do not provide support for protein intakes greater than recommended levels in collegiate strength/power athletes for body composition improvements, or alterations in resting hormonal concentrations.

Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of nutritionally enriched JavaFit™ (JF) coffee (450 mg of caffeine, 1200 mg of garcinia cambogia, 360 mg of citrus aurantium extract, and 225 mcg of chromium polynicotinate) on resting oxygen uptake (VO2), respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate (HR), and blood pressure (BP) in healthy and physically active individuals. Method Ten subjects (8 male, 2 female; 20.9 ± 1.7 y; 178.1 ± 10.4 cm; 71.8 ± 12.1 kg) underwent two testing sessions administered in a randomized and double-blind fashion. During each session, subjects reported to the Human Performance Laboratory after at least 3-h post-absorptive state and were provided either 354 ml (1.5 cups) of freshly brewed JF or commercially available caffeinated coffee (P). Subjects then rested in a semi-recumbent position for three hours. VO2 and HR were determined every 5 min during the first 30 min and every 10 min during the next 150 min. BP was determined every 15 min during the first 30 min and every 30 min thereafter. Area under the curve (AUC) analysis was computed for VO2, whereas a session-average was calculated for RER, HR and BP. Results Initial analysis revealed no significant differences. However, seven of the ten subjects were considered responders to JF (had a higher AUC for VO2during JF than P). Statistical analysis showed the difference between JF and P (12%) to be significantly different in these responders. In addition, the average systolic BP was higher (p < 0.05) in JF (118 ± 7 mmHg) than P (115 ± 8 mmHg) in both the total sample and the subgroup of responders. No differences in average HR and average diastolic BP were observed between JF and P in both the total sample and the subgroup of responders. Conclusion It appears that consuming a nutritionally-enriched coffee beverage may increase resting energy expenditure in individuals that are sensitive to the caffeine and herbal coffee supplement. In addition, this supplement also appears to affect cardiovascular dynamics by augmenting systolic arterial blood pressure.