1.
A comparison of water-based and land-based core stability exercises in patients with lumbar disc herniation: a pilot study.
Bayraktar, D, Guclu-Gunduz, A, Lambeck, J, Yazici, G, Aykol, S, Demirci, H
Disability and rehabilitation. 2016;(12):1163-71
Abstract
PURPOSE To determine and compare the effects of core stability exercise programs performed in two different environments in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients. METHOD Thirty-one patients who were diagnosed with LDH and were experiencing pain or functional disability for at least 3 months were randomly divided into two groups as land-based exercises or water specific therapy. Also, 15 age-sex-matched healthy individuals were recruited as healthy controls. Both groups underwent an 8-week (3 times/week) core stabilization exercise program. Primary outcomes were pain, trunk muscle static endurance and perceived disability level. The secondary outcome was health-related quality of life. RESULTS Level of static endurance of trunk muscles was found to be lower in the patients compared to the controls at baseline (p < 0.05). Both treatment groups showed significant improvements in all outcomes (p < 0.05) after 8-week intervention. When two treatment groups were compared, no differences were found in the amount of change after the intervention (p > 0.05). After the treatment, static endurance of trunk muscles of the LDH patients became similar to controls (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION According to these results, core stabilization exercise training performed on land or in water both could be beneficial in LDH patients and there is no difference between the environments. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION An 8-week core stabilization program performed in water or on land decrease pain level and improve functional status in LDH patients. Both programs seem beneficial to increase health-related quality of life and static endurance of trunk muscles. Core stability exercises could be performed in water as well, no differences were found between methods due to environment.
2.
Dietary sodium citrate supplementation does not improve upper-body anaerobic performance in trained wrestlers in simulated competition-day conditions.
Aedma, M, Timpmann, S, Ööpik, V
European journal of applied physiology. 2015;(2):387-96
Abstract
PURPOSE Similarly to a wrestling match, upper-body intermittent sprint performance (UBISP) test elicits severe acidosis. This study aimed to determine whether sodium citrate (CIT) ingestion would help to better maintain peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) output across four consecutive UBISP tests simulating wrestling matches of a competition-day. METHODS In a double-blind, counterbalanced, crossover manner, 11 trained wrestlers ingested either placebo (PLC) or CIT (900 mg kg(-1)) within a 17-h supplementation period. Thereafter they completed four (T1-T4) 6-min UBISP tests interspersed with 30-min recovery periods. RESULTS Compared with PLC, CIT supplementation resulted in a persistent increase (P < 0.05) in blood HCO3 (-) concentration and pH: pre-T1 25.6 % and 0.08 units, post-T4 39.1 % and 0.14 units, respectively. Post-T1 blood lactate concentration in CIT (16.1 ± 3.8 mmol L(-1)) was higher (P = 0.037) than that in PLC (13.7 ± 2.3 mmol L(-1)). Decrease in plasma volume across the supplementation period and UBISP tests was greater (P = 0.03) in PLC (-6.91 ± 4.37 %) than in CIT (-1.51 ± 4.34 %). There was an overall decrease (P = 0.028) in ratings of perceived exertion in CIT compared with PLC, but no between-trial difference (P > 0.05) in PP or MP in any UBISP test occurred. CONCLUSION In trained wrestlers, CIT ingestion induces alkalosis, counteracts reduction in plasma volume, increases post-test blood lactate concentration and reduces perceived exertion, but does not improve PP or MP attained in consecutive UBISP tests simulating four wrestling matches of a competition-day.