A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of yoga on glycemic control, lipid profiles, body composition and blood pressure in people in the pre-diabetic state. Studies on the effectiveness of yoga on population groups under high risk for diabetes, called prediabetic or suffering from metabolic syndromes were extracted from a thorough search of PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, EBSCO and IndMED databases. Both Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) and non-RCT studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Studies published between Jan 2002 and Dec 2018 were included. Studies were considered for evaluation if they investigated a yoga intervention to prevent T2DM, against a control group, while also reporting glycemic control and other health parameters of T2DM management. Summary effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software in addition to publication bias. Of the 46,500 identified studies, 14 studies with 834 participants of whom were 50% women, were found to be eligible for inclusion in our systematic review. Our quantitative synthesis included 12 randomized control trials and 2 non-randomized control trials, with the follow-up period ranging from 4 to 52 weeks. Compared to controls, yoga intervention improved fasting blood glucose (FBG) [Standard Mean Difference (SMD -0.064 mg/dL (95% CI -0.201 to 0.074)]; low density lipoprotein (LDL) [SMD-0.090 mg/dL (95% CI -0.270 to 0.090)]; triglycerides [SMD -0.148 mg/dL (95% CI -0.285 to -0.012)]; total cholesterol [SMD -0.058 mg/dL (95% CI -0.220 to 0.104)] and systolic blood pressure [SMD -0.058 mm Hg (95% CI -0.168 to 0.053)]. This meta-analysis uncovered clinically improved effects of yoga intervention on glycemic control, lipid profiles and other parameters of T2DM management in prediabetic population. These results suggest that yoga intervention may be considered as a comprehensive and alternative approach to preventing T2DM. Further adequately powered, well designed RCTs are needed to support our findings and investigate the long-term effects of yoga in T2DM patients.

The combined effect of green tea ingestion and interval sprinting exercise on body and abdominal fat of overweight males was investigated. Participants were randomly assigned into control (C), green tea (GT), interval sprinting exercise (ISE), and green tea and ISE (GT + ISE) groups. The GT, GT + ISE, and C groups consumed three GT capsules daily. The ISE and GT + ISE groups completed 36 ISE sessions over 12 weeks. Forty eight overweight males with a mean BMI of 28.5 ± 0.92 kg/m² and age of 26 ± 0.7 years acted as participants. There was a significant reduction in total and abdominal fat mass for the ISE and GT + ISE groups, p < 0.05, however, total and abdominal fat mass did not significantly change in the GT and C groups. There was a significant increase in total lean mass, p < 0.05, after the intervention for the ISE and GT + ISE groups only. There was a significant increase in fat oxidation during submaximal aerobic exercise, p < 0.05, after the intervention for the ISE, GT + ISE, and GT groups with no change for the C group. Following the 12-week intervention the ISE and GT + ISE groups, compared to C, recorded a significantly greater decrease in body and abdominal fat, and a significant increase in total lean mass. Ingestion of green tea by itself, however, did not result in a significant decrease in body or abdominal fat, but increased fat utilization during submaximal exercise. The combination of 12 weeks of GT ingestion and ISE did not result in greater total and abdominal fat reduction compared to 12 weeks of ISE alone.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of different combinations of blood flow restriction (BFR) pressure and exercise intensity on aerobic, anaerobic, and muscle strength adaptations in physically active collegiate women. Thirty-two women (age 22.8 ± 2.9 years; body mass index 22.3 ± 2.7 kg/m²) were randomly assigned into four experimental training groups: (a) increasing BFR pressure with constant exercise intensity (IP-CE), (b) constant partial BFR pressure with increasing exercise intensity (CP_p-IE), (c) constant complete BFR pressure with increasing exercise intensity (CP_C-IE), and (d) increasing BFR pressure with increasing exercise intensity (IP-IE). The participants completed 12 training sessions comprised of repeated bouts of 2 min running on a treadmill with BFR interspersed by 1-min recovery without BFR. Participants completed a series of tests to assess muscle strength, aerobic, and anaerobic performances. Muscle strength, anaerobic power, and aerobic parameters including maximum oxygen consumption (VO₂max), time to fatigue (TTF), velocity at VO₂max (vVO₂max), and running economy (RE) improved in all groups (p ≤ 0.01). The CP_C-IE group outscored the other groups in muscle strength, RE, and TTF (p < 0.05). In summary, participants with complete occlusion experienced the greatest improvements in muscle strength, aerobic, and anaerobic parameters possibly due to increased oxygen deficiency and higher metabolic stress.

The ergogenic properties of acute caffeine (CAF) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) ingestion on athletic performance have been previously investigated. However, each sport has unique physiological and technical characteristics which warrants optimizing supplementations strategies for maximizing performance. This study examined the effects of CAF and NaHCO3 ingestion on physiological responses and rate of perceived exertion during a Karate-specific aerobic test (KSAT) in competitive karatekas. In a double-blind, crossover, randomized placebo-controlled trial, eight Karatekas underwent five experimental conditions including control (CON), placebo (PLA), CAF, NaHCO3, and CAF + NaHCO3 before completing KSAT. Capsules containing 6 mg/kg BW CAF were consumed 50 min prior to a KSAT whilst 0.3 g/kg BW NaHCO3 was consumed for 3 days leading to and 120, 90, and 60 min prior to a KSAT. Time to exhaustion (TTE), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and blood lactate (BL) were measured before, immediately after and 3 min following KSAT. TTE was significantly greater following CAF, NaHCO3, and CAF + NaHCO3 consumption compared to PLA and CON. However, the differences between CAF, NaHCO3, and CAF + NaHCO3 were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). BL increased significantly from baseline to immediately after and 3 min following KSAT in all conditions (p < 0.01), while RPE at the end of KSAT was not significantly different between conditions (p = 0.11). Karate practitioners may benefit from the ergogenic effects of CAF and NaHCO3 when consumed separately or together.