People with sarcopenic obesity (SO) are characterized by both low muscle mass (sarcopenia) and high body fat (obesity); they have greater risks of metabolic diseases and physical disability than people with sarcopenia or obesity alone. Exercise and nutrition have been reported to be effective for both obesity and sarcopenia management. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of exercise and nutrition on body composition, metabolic health, and physical performance in individuals with SO. Studies investigating the effects of exercise and nutrition on body composition, metabolic health, and physical performance in SO individuals were searched from electronic databases up to April 2019. Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. Aerobic exercise decreased body weight and fat mass (FM). Resistance exercise (RE) decreased FM and improved grip strength. The combination of aerobic exercise and RE decreased FM and improved walking speed. Nutritional intervention, especially low-calorie high-protein (LCHP) diet, decreased FM but did not affect muscle mass and grip strength. In addition to exercise training, nutrition did not provide extra benefits in outcome. Exercise, especially RE, is essential to improve body composition and physical performance in individuals with SO. Nutritional intervention with LCHP decreases FM but does not improve physical performance.

The International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form (IKDC) and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) are knee-specific questionnaires that have been widely used and translated into numerous languages. However, the differences in the psychometric properties between the Chinese IKDC and KOOS remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of the Chinese IKDC and Chinese KOOS and to compare the psychometric properties of these two measures in patients with various knee injuries from the acute stage up to 12 weeks after receiving treatment. The original IKDC and KOOS were translated into Chinese based on the guidelines of cross-cultural adaptation and translation protocols. One hundred and seventy-three patients with various knee injuries were recruited in this study and completed both Chinese IKDC and Chinese KOOS as well as a generic health status questionnaire (Chinese Short Form-36 [SF-36]). The reliability, internal consistency, content validity, convergent and divergent validity and responsiveness of both IKDC and KOOS were assessed with appropriate indices. The Chinese IKDC showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.97) and strong internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.87). The Chinese KOOS also presented good reliability with ICCs ranging from 0.89 to 0.95 and internal consistency (Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from 0.76 to 0.97). The content validity of these two questionnaires were excellent, yielding no floor or ceiling effects. Both the Chinese IKDC and KOOS were highly associated with the physical component summary (PCS) score and weakly related to the mental component summary (MCS) score of the SF-36. Responsiveness to change was large (effect size =0.95) for the Chinese IKDC and moderate (effect sizes = 0.49~0.60) at 12-week after physical therapy. Both the Chinese IKDC and KOOS demonstrated good psychometric properties. However, the Chinese IKDC was more sensitive to changes over a period of 2, 4, 8, 12 weeks of physical therapy than the Chinese KOOS. The ROC analyses revealed a value of area under the curve (0.83 for the Chinese IKDC and 0.67–0.79 for the subscales of Chinese KOOS). Minimal clinically important difference values were 9.8 for the Chinese IKDC and 0.79, 0.76, 0.76, 0.76, 0.67 for the Symptoms, Pain, Activities of Daily Living, Sport/Recreation, and Quality of Life subscales of Chinese KOOS, respectively. The current study provides information for clinicians and researchers to use these appraisal tools for Chinese-speaking patients with various knee disorders.

Background and objectives: Respiratory muscle fatigue is one of the important factors limiting sports performance due to the metaboreflex. This reflex will cause a decrease in blood flow to the extremities and accelerate exercising limb fatigue. Previous studies found that inspiratory muscle training (IMT) can effectively enhance the respiratory muscle endurance and reduce fatigue during long-duration exercise or aerobic exercise, thereby enhancing athletic performance. However, the mechanism between inspiratory muscle strength, change of limb blood flow and sports performance still requires investigation, especially in short-duration exercise, anaerobic or both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 4-week inspiratory muscle training on respiratory muscle strength, limb blood flow change rate and sports performance in recreational 800-m college runners. Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy 800-m college runners randomized into the IMT group (11 subjects) and control group (9 subjects). IMT consisted of 30 inspiratory efforts twice daily, 5 days a week, with intensity at 50%, 60%, 70% and 80% of maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) for 4 weeks, while a control group kept 50% of MIP for 4 weeks. An 800-m trial test, limb blood flow change rate by using Impedance Plethysmography, and MIP were as the outcome measured variables and be evaluated. All measured variables were assessed before and after 4-week IMT training. Two-way ANOVA was conducted for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed significantly interaction between groups and pre-posttest. IMT group significantly decreased limb blood flow change rate from 19.91 ± 11.65% to 9.63 ± 7.62% after received the IMT training program (p < 0.05). The MIP significantly improved from 112.95 ± 27.13 cmH₂O to 131.09 ± 28.20 cm H₂O in IMT group, and the 800-m trial test also shorted the running time from 162.97 ± 24.96 s to 156.75 ± 20.73 s. But the control group no significantly changed in MIP and 800-m trial test. Conclusions: Our results indicated that the 4-week IMT training (twice a day, 5 days a week) significantly improves participants’ inspiratory muscle strength, 800-m running performance and decreases the limb blood flow change rate.

Exercise has been recommended for blood pressure (BP) control, but not every individual can improve BP and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease effectively by exercise. This study aimed to evaluate the BP response after 12-week exercise intervention and then identify the potential factors of responders on BP (R-BP) control. This was a retrospective cohort study from a project of Taipei City Government. Subjects completed the original program were included for further analysis. Sociodemographic factors, health-related behaviors, and cardiovascular risks were extracted as potential factors. The results were categorized into R-BP control, i.e., BP under optimal level (systolic BP (SBP) < 140 mmHg; and diastolic BP (DBP) < 90 mmHg) or a significant BP reduction (SBP ↓10 mmHg or DBP ↓5 mmHg) after intervention, or non-responder on BP control, i.e., subjects who failed to achieve the targets. There were 81.62% R-BP subjects. R-BP showed lower SBP and lower risk of hypertension at baseline. Active lifestyle could quadruple the number of R-BP. Higher educational level or more prescription medications were likely to be R-BP in subjects with diagnosed hypertension. Active lifestyle combined with exercise could benefit R-BP in the elderly population. Health-related factors also need to be considered for BP control.