ii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my wife Dr. Therese Bu Akl– for being a caring and supportive partner who made my life such a wonderful journey; to my daughters Maria and Yasmine– for their patience and love; and to my sister Susan and her husband Alex – for their kindness and support. Thank you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Joon Sang Lee for the vital ...

PURPOSE To identify early cardiac dysfunctions in asymptomatic patients with Chagas' cardiomyopathy. METHODS We studied 38 male individuals: control group consisting of 20 sedentary normal individuals and Chagas' group, of 18 asymptomatic patients with Chagas' disease, with suggestive electrocardiographic alterations and normal fractional shortening (FS) on echocardiogram. Both groups were su...

It is well established that an increased capacity of skeletal muscle to oxidize fatty acids can spare glycogen and delay the onset of fatigue in mild- to moderate-intensity exercise. The purpose of the following study was to examine the effect of LifeWave® energy patches on non-protein substrate utilization in Division-1 cross-country runners. To determine the effect of the patches subjects wer...

The use of fructose-containing sports beverage drinks has increased in recent years, especially at sport events, because of their reported ergogenic effects. However, the ingestion of low to moderate doses of caffeinated energy drinks has been associated with adverse side effects such as insomnia or increased nervousness. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of fructose beve...

This randomized crossover trial study was designed to investigate the relationship between exercise intensity, sweat rate and sweat sodium and potassium concentrations of trained endurance athletes in order to determine sodium and potassium losses and therefore requirements. Eighteen male endurance athletes (age 37.9±9.7 y, weight 83.2±13.6 kg, VO2 max 60.8±9.4 mL/kg.min -1) were randomized int...

This study examined the validity of the Yo-yo Intermittent Endurance Test (Level 1; YYIET) as indicator of aerobic power in youth soccer players. Cardiorespiratory responses were determined in 18 moderately trained nonelite youth soccer players (age, 16.6 +/- 0.8 years; height, 178.7 +/- 6.2 cm; body mass, 69.8 +/- 6.0 kg; VO2peak, 52.8 +/- 7.4 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)) while performing the YYIET ...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to investigate the effect of strenuous exercise on β-endorphine (β-END) level in fibromyalgia (FM) patients compared to healthy subjects. METHODS We enrolled 30 FM patients and 15 healthy individuals. All study participants underwent a treadmill exercise test using modified Bruce protocol (M.Bruce). The goal of the test was achieving at least 70% of the predicted m...

The aim of this study was to analyse the variance of training load between male and female football and futsal players. The statistical analysis tested the variance between gender and type of sport during training sessions. Fifty-nine male and female amateur football and futsal amateur players were monitored during 48 training sessions. The heart rate (HR) responses and the percentage of time s...

PURPOSE To quantify the seasonal training load completed by professional soccer players of the English Premier League. METHODS Thirty players were sampled (using GPS, heart rate, and rating of perceived exertion [RPE]) during the daily training sessions of the 2011-12 preseason and in-season period. Preseason data were analyzed across 6×1-wk microcycles. In-season data were analyzed across 6×...

BACKGROUND Equations for predicting maximal heart rate (HRmax) are widely used in exercise testing and for training prescription, but their efficacy remains controversial in the literature. OBJECTIVE To compare maximal heart rate during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) using the prediction equations developed by Karvonen and Tanaka. METHODS Of the 24,120 maximal treadmill graded exer...