Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the immediate effect of a sciatic nerve slider technique added to sustained hamstring stretching on lumbar and lower quadrant flexibility. Design: This was a randomized controlled pilot study. Subjects: Eight (8) healthy male soccer players (21 ± 3 years) were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Interventions: Group A received 5 minutes of bilateral sustained hamstring stretching. Group B additionally received 60 seconds of a sciatic nerve slider technique for each leg. Outcomes: Pre- and postintervention outcomes taken by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation of the participants included metric distance on finger-to-floor, sit and reach, and the modified Schöber tests and goniometric range of each hip for the straight-leg raise and each knee for seated slump test. Baseline between-group differences were examined with an independent t test and a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance with p < 0.05 and p < 0.025 analyzed effects of the interventions. Results: There were no significant between-group baseline differences (p > 0.2). There was a significant effect for time on all outcomes (p < 0.01) other than the sit and reach test (p = 0.8). A significant interaction between group · time with greater improvements in group B was found for the modified Schöber test (F = 5.5; p < 0.05), left straight-leg raise (F = 6.1; p < 0.05) and slump test in either leg (left F = 28.7; p = 0.002; right F = 4.9; p < 0.05). Conclusions: Adding a sciatic nerve slider technique to sustained hamstring stretching led to greater immediate increases in both lumbar and lower quadrant flexibility in young healthy soccer players as measured by four of the seven outcomes used. Study limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

We aimed to determine the short- and medium-term effects of a multimodal physical exercise program (MPEP) on bone health status, fall risk, balance, and gait in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. A single-blinded, controlled clinical trial was performed where 72 subjects were allocated in a 3:1 ratio to an intervention group (IG; n = 53) and control group (CG; n = 19), where the IG’s subjects were admitted to live in a State Reference Center of Alzheimer’s disease, which offers the targeted exercise program, while the CG’s subjects resided in independent living. A multidisciplinary health team assessed all patients before allocation, and dependent outcomes were again assessed at one, three, and six months. During the study, falls were recorded, and in all evaluations, bone mineral density was measured using a calcaneal quantitative ultrasound densitometer; balance and gait were measured using the performance-oriented mobility assessment (POMA), the timed up and go test (TUG), the one-leg balance test (OLB), and the functional reach test (FR). There were no differences between groups at baseline for all outcome measures. The prevalence of falls was significantly lower in the IG (15.09%) than in the CG (42.11%) (χ² = 5.904; p = 0.015). We also found that there was a significant time*group interaction, with a post hoc Šidák test finding significant differences of improved physical function, especially in gait, for the IG, as assessed by POMA-Total, POMA-Gait, and TUG with a large effect size (ƞ²p = 0.185–0.201). In balance, we found significant differences between groups, regardless of time, and a medium effect size as assessed by POMA-Balance and the OLB (ƞ²p = 0.091–0.104). Clinically relevant effects were observed, although without significant differences in bone health, with a slowing of bone loss. These results show that a multimodal physical exercise program reduces fall risk and produces an improvement in gait, balance, and bone mineral density in the short and medium term in institutionalized patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Background/Objectives: Exercise is a key nonpharmacological strategy for the management of sarcopenic obesity (SO), characterized by low muscle mass and excess fat. However, long-term interventions and specific modalities, such as power training (PT), remain unexplored in this population. Methods: In this 32-week randomized controlled trial, 40 community-dwelling women (mean age: 77.0 ± 6.8 years) with sarcopenic obesity (per the EWGSOP2 and ESPEN criteria) were assigned to power training (PT), multicomponent training (MT), or a non-exercise control group (CG). Body composition, strength, and function were assessed pre- and post-intervention using within- and between-group analyses with effect size estimation. Nutritional intake was evaluated at baseline. Results: Significant pre–post intervention between-group differences were observed in appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI; p = 0.039), body fat percentage (BF%; p = 0.002), visceral fat (VF; p = 0.044), appendicular muscle mass (ASM; p = 0.021), gait speed (GS; p = 0.018), timed up and go test (TUG; p = 0.005), five-times sit-to-stand test (5STS; p < 0.001), and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB; p = 0.002). Large effect sizes (Cohen’s d > 0.8) were found in the PT group for all these variables. Post hoc analyses indicated that PT was significantly superior to MT in improving 5STS (p = 0.005) and TUG (p = 0.025). Notably, 35.7% of the PT participants no longer met diagnostic criteria for SO after the intervention. Conclusions: PT was more effective than MT and the CG in improving muscle mass, reducing fat, and enhancing functional performance in older women with SO. These findings support PT as a feasible and promising intervention.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of consuming 50 g of raisins on cognitive performance, quality of life, and functional activities in healthy older adults. This is a parallel randomized controlled clinical trial, in which 80 subjects over 70 years of age participated. For 6 months, the intervention group (IG; n = 40) consumed 50 g of raisins per day added to their usual diet, whereas the control group (CG; n = 40) received no supplement. All variables were measured at baseline and at 6 months. Cognitive performance assessed with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) test shows a difference of 3.27 points (95% CI 1.59 to 4.96), p ≤ 0.001, favorable to the IG, after the intervention. Among the cognitive performances, an improvement is observed in the IG in orientation, assessed both with the MOCA test 0.49 (95% CI 0.10 to 0.87), p = 0.014, and with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test, 0.36 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.70), p = 0.038. In visuospatial/executive capacity and in language, improvements were also observed in the IG, 1.36 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.95), p = 0.001, and 0.54 points (95% CI 0.12 to 0.96), p = 0.014, respectively. Immediate and delayed recall, assessed with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, improved in the IG. In addition, the IG showed a better quality of life and greater autonomy in instrumental activities of daily living after 6 months. No significant changes were observed in the rest of the variables analyzed. Therefore, the consumption of 50 g of raisins produces a slight improvement in cognitive performance, quality of life, and functional activities in the elderly.

Background: Aging results in a decline in the function of the respiratory muscles. Inspiratory muscle training is presented as a possible solution to attenuate the loss of respiratory function in the elderly. The objective of the study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of 2 protocols with inspiratory muscle training (IMT), low loads and high loads, to improve respiratory strength, functional capacity and dyspnea in institutionalized elderly women, over 65 years. Methods: The study was a controlled, randomized, double-blind trial and with allocation concealment performed on 26 institutionalized elderly women distributed in 2 groups, the high-intensity group (HIG) and low-intensity group (LIG). Over an 8-week period an IMT protocol was followed 5 days/week, 15 min/day. The HIG trained with a load of 40% of the maximum inspiratory pressure (MIP) and the LIG with 20%. MIP, maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), functional capacity and dyspnea were evaluated. Results: After training, in the HIG MIP, MEP and functional capacity increased 52, 16 and 7%, respectively (p = 0.000, p = 0.001, p = 0.001) and in the LIG 30, 18 and 9%, respectively (p = 0.002, p = 0.014, p = 0.001). The improvement in MIP was significantly higher in the HIG than in the LIG (p = 0.042). Conclusion: IMT with low and high loads improves respiratory muscle strength and functional capacity in institutionalized elderly women. In addition, high loads were significantly more effective to improve MIP.

The prevalence of sarcopenia depends on the diagnostic criteria and updates used. There are few studies investigating the relationship between the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) criteria and risk factors in active community-dwelling older adults. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 533 community-dwelling active older adults were assessed. 3.75 % were diagnosed with confirmed sarcopenia and 15.86 % with probable sarcopenia. The risk of sarcopenia was found to increase with age, taking more than four tablets a day and having a low level of education. There is a possible association between smoking and living alone. In contrast, active older adults had a lower prevalence of sarcopenia compared to the European and global populations, suggesting a protective effect of physical activity adherence against sarcopenia. Further studies in this population are needed to increase the sample size and to better understand the development and factors associated with sarcopenia.