The bench press exercise (BP) plays an important role in recreational and professional training, in which muscle activity is an important multifactorial phenomenon. The objective of this paper is to systematically review electromyography (EMG) studies performed on the barbell BP exercise to answer the following research questions: Which muscles show the greatest activity during the flat BP? Which changes in muscle activity are related to specific conditions under which the BP movement is performed? PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library were searched through June 10, 2016. A combination of the following search terms was used: bench press, chest press, board press, test, measure, assessment, dynamometer, kinematics and biomechanics. Only original, full-text articles were considered. The search process resulted in 14 relevant studies that were included in the discussion. The triceps brachii (TB) and pectoralis major (PM) muscles were found to have similar activity during the BP, which was significantly higher than the activity of the anterior deltoid. During the BP movement, muscle activity changes with exercise intensity, velocity of movement, fatigue, mental focus, movement phase and stability conditions, such as bar vibration or unstable surfaces. Under these circumstances, TB is the most common object of activity change. PM and TB EMG activity is more dominant and shows greater EMG amplitude than anterior deltoid during the BP. There are six factors that can influence muscle activity during the BP; however, the most important factor is exercise intensity, which interacts with all other factors. The research on muscle activity in the BP has several unresolved areas, such as clearly and strongly defined guidelines to perform EMG measurements (e.g., how to elaborate with surface EMG limits) or guidelines for the use of exact muscle models.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for many diseases. It could be associated with sarcopenia. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine whether smoking is an isolated risk factor for sarcopenia. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, and Science Direct for articles addressing the relationship between cigarette smoking and sarcopenia. A total of 12 studies containing information on 22,515 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Odds ratio (OR) was calculated for each study group and for all studies together. An OR was also calculated separately for each sex. We used a fixed-effect model in overall estimation and in males, because results of small studies were significantly different from the results of large studies in those cases and in females where the estimation showed only moderate heterogeneity we used a random-effect model. According to proposes of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews. The resulting OR in the fixed-effect model was 1.12 (95 % CI 1.03-1.21), OR for each sex was in the fixed-effect model 1.20 (95 % CI 1.06-1.35) in males and in the random-effect model 1.21 (95 % CI 0.92-1.59) in females. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that cigarette smoking as an isolated factor may contribute to the development of sarcopenia. However, the results of the individual studies were largely inconsistent due to different approaches of measuring the main variables which affected the results.

Sarcopenia, a loss of muscle strength and mass, has serious implications for older adults. Some risk factors for sarcopenia are well established. The role of other factors such as alcohol consumption is less certain. The main aim of this study was to explore the relationship between sarcopenia and alcohol consumption in people over 65 years old. Four electronic databases were searched to identify potentially relevant papers. Demographics and information on sarcopenia and alcohol consumption were extracted from relevant papers. The relationship between sarcopenia and alcohol consumption was described using odds ratios (ORs). Of 214 papers identified as potentially relevant, 13 were ultimately included in the meta-analyses. The papers provided data from 13,155 participants. The OR (95 % CI) for sarcopenia among alcohol drinkers was 0.67 (0.54–0.83) for males, 0.89 (0.73–1.08) for females, and 0.77 (0.67–0.88) for the overall population. The results of this meta-analysis do not support alcohol consumption as a risk factor for sarcopenia.

The Valsalva manoeuvre, intra‑abdominal pressure (IAP) and intrathoracic pressure (ITP) play important roles in resistance training and common daily activities. The purpose of this review is to summarize the ITP and IAP responses to resistance exercises and to determine which exercises elicit...

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is frequently utilized as a method to reduce body mass. Its intensity of work results in a number of beneficial adaptive changes in a relatively short period of time. Irisin is a myokine and adipokine secreted to the blood during exercise and it takes part in the regulation of energy metabolism. It is a vital issue from the prophylaxis point of view as well as treatment through exercise of different diseases (e.g., obesity, type-2 diabetes). The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in irisin concentration, body composition, and aerobic and anaerobic performance in men after HIIT. Eight weeks of HIIT following the Tabata protocol was applied in the training group (HT) (n = 15), while a sedentary group (SED) (n = 10) did not participate in fitness activities within the same time period. Changes of irisin, body composition, and aerobic and anaerobic performance were evaluated after graded exercise test (GXT) and Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) before and after eight weeks of training. Training resulted in an increased of blood irisin concentration (by 29.7%) p < 0.05), VO_2max increase (PRE: 44.86 ± 5.74 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; POST: 50.16 ± 5.80 mL kg⁻¹·min⁻¹; p < 0.05), reduction in percent body fat (PRE: 14.44 ± 3.33%; POST: 13.61 ± 3.16%; p < 0.05), and increase of WAnT parameters (p < 0.05) in the HT group. No changes were observed in the SED group. HIIT resulted in beneficial effects in the increase in blood irisin concentration, physical performance, and reduced fat content. The HIIT may indicate an acceleration of base metabolism. This effect can be utilized in the prevention or treatment of obesity.

The nutrition of soccer players is an important topic and its knowledge may help to increase the quality of this popular game and prevent possible health problems and injuries in players. This meta-analysis aims to estimate the current dietary trends of three basic macronutrients in junior and senior soccer players during the first two decades of the 21st century. We analyzed data from 647 junior players (mean age 10.0–19.3) from 27 groups, and 277 senior (mean age 20.7–27.1) players from 8 groups from altogether 21 papers in this meta-analysis. Weighted averages were calculated for each macronutrients. Protein intake is higher than recommended in both juniors, 1.9 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8–2.0 g/kg/day, and seniors 1.8 95% CI 1.6–2.0 g/kg/day. However, carbohydrate intake is still below the recommended values in both groups (5.7 95% CI 5.5–5.9 g/kg/day in junior and 4.7 95% CI 4.3–5.0 g/kg/day in senior players). The proportion of fat as total energy intake is in concordance with the recommendations (31.5 95% CI 32.0–35.9% in junior and 33.1 95% CI 29.9–36.2% in senior players). In particular, due to possible health complications, the small carbohydrate intake should be alarming for coaches, nutritional experts, and parents.