The aim of this study was to assess the association between poor and fair self-rested health, smoking, and leisure-time physical inactivity in Colombian women. A cross-sectional study using the data from the 2010 Colombian National Demographics and Health (ENDS) and Nutritional Situation (ENSIN) Surveys was conducted. Multivariate logistic analysis for self-perceived health status in 12,431 women aged 13-49 years old and 8224 women aged 18-64 years old were performed. Independent variables included smoking, leisure-time physical inactivity, anthropometric and socio-demographic information. Current smoking and leisure-time physical inactivity were associated with poor and fair self-rated health status (OR 1.78, CI 1.41, 2.25; OR 1.30, CI 1.03, 1.62; respectively). Other significantly associated variables were age (OR 1.68, CI 1.46, 1.92 for 30-49 years; OR 2.32, CI 1.96, 2.74 for 50-64 years), socio-economic strata (OR 7.24, CI 3.81, 13.76 for strata 1-3), educational level (OR 1.70 to 2.77 compared to technical or university), obesity (OR 0.81, CI 0.70, 0.93 for normal body mass index), geographical region (OR 0.67, CI 0.53, 0.85 for Bogotá, compared to Amazon and Orinoco regions), and no affiliation to health system (OR 1.22, CI 1.03, 1.44). Smoking and leisure-time physical inactivity were significantly associated with poor and fair self-rated health in Colombian women. Promoting leisure-time physical activity and implementing smoking cessation strategies specifically in female population, mainly from low to medium strata are suggested to improve their self-perceived health status and control chronic noncommunicable diseases.

The academic curriculum has shown to promote sedentary behavior in college students. This study aimed to profile the physical fitness of physical education majors using unsupervised machine learning and to identify the differences between sexes, academic years, socioeconomic strata, and the generated profiles. A total of 542 healthy and physically active students (445 males, 97 females; 19.8 [2.2] years; 66.0 [10.3] kg; 169.5 [7.8] cm) participated in this cross-sectional study. Their indirect VO_2max (Cooper and Shuttle-Run 20 m tests), lower-limb power (horizontal jump), sprint (30 m), agility (shuttle run), and flexibility (sit-and-reach) were assessed. The participants were profiled using clustering algorithms after setting the optimal number of clusters through an internal validation using R packages. Non-parametric tests were used to identify the differences (p < 0.05). The higher percentage of the population were freshmen (51.4%) and middle-income (64.0%) students. Seniors and juniors showed a better physical fitness than first-year students. No significant differences were found between their socioeconomic strata (p > 0.05). Two profiles were identified using hierarchical clustering (Cluster 1 = 318 vs. Cluster 2 = 224). The matching analysis revealed that physical fitness explained the variation in the data, with Cluster 2 as a sex-independent and more physically fit group. All variables differed significantly between the sexes (except the body mass index [p = 0.218]) and the generated profiles (except stature [p = 0.559] and flexibility [p = 0.115]). A multidimensional analysis showed that the body mass, cardiorespiratory fitness, and agility contributed the most to the data variation so that they can be used as profiling variables. This profiling method accurately identified the relevant variables to reinforce exercise recommendations in a low physical performance and overweight majors.

The purpose of this study was to determine the mean propulsive velocity (MVP) at various percentages of one repetition maximum (1RM) in the full squat and chest press exercises. A total of 96 young women and 256 young men (recreational athletes) performed an incremental test (50–60–70–80% 1RM) comprising the bench press and full squat exercises in two different sessions. The individual load and velocity ratios were established through the MPV. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25.0, with the significance level set at 5%. The following findings were revealed: highly linear load-velocity relationships in the group of women (r = 0.806 in the squat, and r = 0.872 in the bench press) and in the group of men (r = 0.832 and r = 0.880, respectively); significant differences (p < 0.001) in the MPV at 50–70–80% 1RM between the bench press and the full squat in men and at 70–80% 1RM in women; and a high variability in the MPV (11.49% to 22.63) in the bench press and full squat (11.58% to 25.15%) was observed in women and men (11.31% to 21.06%, and 9.26% to 24.2%) at the different percentages of 1RM evaluated. These results suggest that the load-velocity ratio in non-strength-trained subjects should be determined individually to more precisely establish the relative load to be used in a full squat and bench press training program.

Objetivo: determinar los niveles de actividad física de un grupo de adolescentes escolares de Bogotá, mediante la correlación de los resultados del cuestionario PAQ-A con variables antropométricas y de condición física. Método: los datos de estudio se obtuvieron del cuestionario PAQ-A, la batería EUROFIT y la toma de medidas antropométricas aplicada a 199 estudiantes (edad= 15,91 ± 0,93 años), a fin de encontrar la relación entre el PAQ-A con variables de medidas antropométricas y de condición física se utiliza una prueba T para muestras independientes. Resultados: exceptuando la capacidad de la flexibilidad, se encuentran valores de p<0.05 en todas las variables de condición física; por el contrario, las medidas antropométricas no arrojaron valores significativos. Conclusión: altos niveles de actividad física se asocian con una buena condición física en adolescentes, mientras que las variables antropométricas no tienen asociación con los niveles de actividad física en este grupo particular.

The purpose of this study was to examine the type of relationship between measures of maximal force (dynamic and isometric), maximal power, and mean propulsive velocity. In total, 355 recreational athletes, 96 women (age 20.5 ± 2.5 years; height 158.2 ± 17.3 cm; weight 61.8 ± 48.4 kg) and 259 men (age 21.0 ± 2.6 years; height 170.5 ± 12.6 cm; weight 65.9 ± 9.2 kg) were evaluated in three sessions separated by 72 h each in isometric midthigh pull exercise (ISOS) (kg), bench press maximum strength (1RM MSBP) (kg), jump height (CMJ) (m), and maximum pedaling power (WT) the maximum squat strength (1RM MSS) (kg), the mean propulsive velocity in the bench press (MPVBP) (m·s⁻¹), and the peak power (PPBP) (w), mean propulsive squat velocity (MPVS) (m·s⁻¹), peak power (PP) (w), maximum handgrip force (ISOHG) (kg), and 30 m movement speed (V30) (s). Significant correlations (p ≤ 0.01) were identified between 95% of the various manifestations of force, and only 5% presented a significance of p ≤ 0.05; however, when the magnitude of these correlations is observed, there is great heterogeneity. In this sense, the dynamic strength tests present the best correlations with the other strength and power tests used in the present study, followed by PPBP and PP. The results of this study complement what is reported in the literature regarding the correlation between different types of force manifestations being heterogeneous and contradictory.