The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a strength training-enhanced program and a traditional pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program on functional fitness (FF) in older patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), using the Senior Fitness Test. Twenty patients were recruited from an outpatient PR program. After completing baseline measures, including muscular stre...

An investigation was conducted to compare fitness changes elicited by standard Navy recruit physical training with a similar but more intense version of standard training. The sample population included 224 Navy recruits between the ages of 17-30 (means = 19.7 years) participating in 8-week Navy basic training at the Recruit Training Command, San Diego, CA. Subjects were drawn from three recrui...

Two groups of sedentary older adults, participating in either a lifestyle physical activity intervention (LIFE, n = 60) or a structured exercise intervention (STRU, n = 60), were compared with a control group (CO, n = 66) in terms of physical fitness and cardiovascular risk factors. Participants in LIFE were stimulated to integrate physical activity into their daily routines and received an ind...

A growing number of children and adolescents are involved in resistance training in schools, fitness centers, and sports training facilities. In addition to increasing muscular strength and power, regular participation in a pediatric resistance training program may have a favorable influence on body composition, bone health, and reduction of sports-related injuries. Resistance training targeted...

The purpose of this study was to compare physical and physiological fitness test performance between Soldiers meeting the Department of Defense (DoD) body fat standard (< or = 18%) and those exceeding the standard (> 18%). Ninety-nine male 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Soldiers were assigned to group 1: < or = 18% body fat (BF) or group 2: > 18% BE. Groups 1 and 2 had similar amounts of fat-free...

The aim of this study was to determine the association of levels of physical activity (PA), physical fitness (PF), sedentary lifestyle and life satisfaction with the intention to be physically active after secondary school graduation, in teenagers of both genders. A total of 1986 Spanish adolescents (12-16 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. PA, sedentary lifestyle, life satisfac...

The term "physical fitness," like the term "fatigue," means many things to many people and before either can be profitably discussed it must be carefully defined. Physical fitness for most of the war duties implies that the heart, lungs, teeth, eyes, and all other parts of the body are organically sound and capable of, even though they may not be at present, working efficiently. It implies fitn...

OBJECTIVE This study's objective was to prove or disprove four hypotheses, three addressing physical function and a subjective measure of self-perceived well-being from participating in an elder functional fitness program. METHODS Participants included 17 chronically ill residents from an assisted-living center in Maine. Measures on mobility, metabolic equivalent estimation (MET) levels, rest...

BACKGROUND The effect of physical activity on mental health has been the subject of research for several decades. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the association between physical fitness, including both cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness and depressive symptoms among general population. The aim of this study was to determine the association between physical fitness and dep...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the exercise intensity and the physical fitness effect of shuttlecock playing. 18 normal body weight college students voluntarily participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to shuttlecock playing (SCP) and control groups. The SCP underwent a 15-week shuttlecock-playing program, but the control group did not receive any special exercise a...