• Low levels of physical activity are a risk factor associated with Alzheimer's disease. • Older adults who exercise are more likely to maintain cognition. • Exercise modulates amyloid β turnover, inflammation, synthesis, and release of neurotrophins, and cerebral blood flow.

Research in redox biology of exercise has made considerable advances in the last 70 years. Since the seminal study of George Pake's group calculating the content of free radicals in skeletal muscle in resting conditions in 1954, many discoveries have been made in the field. The first section of this review is devoted to highlight the main research findings and fundamental changes in the exercise redox biology discipline. It includes: i) the first steps in free radical research, ii) the relation between exercise and oxidative damage, iii) the redox regulation of muscle fatigue, iv) the sources of free radicals during muscle contractions, and v) the role of reactive oxygen species as regulators of gene transcription and adaptations in skeletal muscle. In the second section of the manuscript, we review the available biomarkers for assessing health, performance, recovery during exercise training and overtraining in the sport population. Among the set of biomarkers that could be determined in exercise studies we deepen on the four categories of redox biomarkers: i) oxidants, ii) antioxidants, iii) oxidation products (markers of oxidative damage), and iv) measurements of the redox balance (markers of oxidative stress). The main drawbacks, strengths, weaknesses, and methodological considerations of every biomarker are also discussed.

Demographic aging is one of the most serious challenges facing our society. Although we live longer, we do not live better because it is considered that approximately 16–20% of our life is spent in late-life morbidity. Older people have the greatest risk of developing frailty increasing the risk of presenting various adverse health events such as low quality of life, disability, hospitalization and even death. Frail men and women over 65 years old have lower muscle quality and muscle mass and higher percentage of body fat than non-frail people of the same age. In this review we will address the main physiological changes in the muscular and nervous system associated to aging. More specifically we will review the changes in muscle mass, quality, and strength relating them with the decrease in capillarization and muscular oxidative capacity as well as with the alterations in protein synthesis in the muscle with aging. The last section of the manuscript will be devoted to the animal models of frailty and the indexes developed to measure frailty in these models. We will finally address the importance of exercise training as an intervention to delay or even reverse frailty.

Most of the studies on physical exercise in older adults have been conducted through randomized clinical trials performed under tight experimental conditions. Data regarding Real-Life physical exercise intervention programs in older adults with different conditions and in different settings, are lacking. This is an interventional, prospective and pragmatic Real-Life study in which fifty sedentary and frail individuals were enrolled. We aimed at determining if a Real-Life exercise intervention outweighs previously reported improvements in a Clinical Trial (NCT02331459). We found higher improvements in the Real-Life exercise intervention vs. the Clinical Trial in functional parameters, such as Fried’s frailty criteria, Tinetti, Barthel and Lawton & Brody scales. Similar results were found in the dietary habits, emotional and social networking outcomes determined through the Short-MNA, Yesavage, EuroQol and Duke scales. The Real-Life intervention led to a significant reduction in the number of falls, visits to the primary care centers and emergency visits when compared to the results of our previously published Clinical Trial. The implementation of a Real-Life exercise intervention is feasible and should be a major priority to improve health-span in the older population.

Background: In volleyball, the upper limb dimensions and grip strength greatly influence offensive and defensive movements during a match. However, the relationship between these parameters remains underexplored in elite female volleyball players. Objective: This study aimed to contrast the upper limb anthropometric characteristics and handgrip strength (HGS) of female elite volleyball players against a control group. Methods: Selected upper limb anthropometric parameters and maximal HGS of 42 female volleyball players and 40 non-athletes were measured. Results: Players exhibited higher values in almost all variables studied than non-athletes. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001) except for body mass index and elbow and wrist diameters. Players showed a moderate correlation between dominant HGS and hand parameters (length r = 0.43 and breadth r = 0.63; p < 0.05). Weak correlations were identified with height, upper arm length, elbow diameter, and hand shape index (r = 0.32 to 0.38; p < 0.05). In the non-dominant hand, a moderate correlation with handbreadth (r = 0.55, p ≤ 0.01) and weak correlations with upper arm length, wrist diameter, hand length, and hand shape index (r = 0.32 to 0.35; p ≤ 0.05) was found. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of the upper limb anthropometric parameters as predictors of HGS and their utility in athlete selection. Future research should investigate biomechanical factors influencing HGS and injury prevention.