A study was carried out to confirm the present states of physical training and nutritional condition in sportsmen on the growing stage. Energy expenditure (EE), caloric intake (CI), food items, body weight, running distance for 12 min and hematological and biochemical parameters of blood and urine were measured in 17 high school boys during intense summer baseball training for seven days. EE was estimated from the records by direct observation of activities during the baseball training (RMR method), and CI was calculated from the dietary record supplied each subject for the seven observation day.
Following results were obtained.
1) The average EE was 55.4±7.5 kcal/kg/day, and the CI corresponded to 87.2% of the EE, although no significant reduction of body weight was observed at the termination of the training session.
2) Running distance for 12 min gradually decreased.
3) Significant decreases in serum TG, TP and Hgb concentrations, and a remarkable increase in CPK activity were observed on the 4 th and final days. Urinary excretion of phosphate, urea nitrogen and catecholamines also increased gradually.
4) The greater the increase in negative energy balance (CI-EE), the greater the decrease in TG, TP and Hgb concentrations, and the greater the increase in serum CPK and urinary excretion of catecholamines.
The present results suggest that greater intake of total energy, protein and fat is recommended for development of endurance capacity, baseball techniques and sound growth in occasion such as the present baseball training program in high school boys.

View full abstract

Twelve young boys as an experimental group and seven as a control group, aged 5-6 years, participated in a study to clarify whether circulorespiratory trainability exists in young children. The subjects in the experimental group performed a 915 m endurance run on an agricultural road every day except Sundays for six months. During the run, heart rates (HR) equivalent to 3-4 mmol⋅l^-1 of blood lactate concentration (LA) were maintained for at least 3-4 min⋅m^-1. The control group was given no special training.
Before and after the training period, both groups were subjected to increased stepwise running velocity on a flat treadmill till subjective exhaustion to determine circulorespiratory variables such as heart rate (HR), oxygen uptake (Vo₂) and blood lactate concentration (LA) at all steps.
From the above mentioned procedure, the following findings were obtained :
1) After the 6-month endurance run training, Vo₂max/TBW was significantly (p<0.05) increased from 47.5 to 50.4 ml⋅kg^-1⋅min^-1 and also the peak LA was significantly (p<0.05) increased from 5.41 to 6.36 mmol⋅l^-1in the experimental group. On the other hand, no significant increases were observed in the control group.
2) Running velocity in the final stages (Vmax) was significantly (p<0.001) improved from 190.0 to 205.0 m⋅min^-1in the experimental group. Such effects were due partly to the improvement of circulorespiratory function and partly to improved efficiency of running motion. However, no significant differences were found in the control group.
3) Submaximal V, HR, and Vo₂/TBW equivalent to 3 and 4 mmol⋅l^-1 and their values relative to the maximum values showed no significant differences before and after the training period in both groups. The improvement of maximal circulorespiratory variables observed in the experimental group suggests the existence of trainability even in young children.

View full abstract

Treadmill exercise test and cold water face-immersion test were performed in 50 patients with tetralogy of Fallot at a mean age of 11.9 years, an average of 8.2 years after intracardiac repair. Cardiac catheterization was also performed in 45 patients 0.5-11 years after the repair.
Exercise performance and results of catheterization were compared in patients with and without ventricular premature contraction (VPC) . In 22 (44%) of the 50 patients, VPC was induced by treadmill and/or cold water face-immersion test. Compared with the other 28 patients, the patients who had VPC during the tests, 1) were older (13.6 versus 10.6 years, p< 0.05, t-test) and were tested at a longer interval after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (9.5 versus 7.3 years, p<0.05), 2) showed no difference in the results of catheterization, and 3) had lower exercise performance.
Cold water face-immersion test is therefore considered to be useful for evaluation of patients after intracardiac repair of tetralogy of Fallot.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in physical fitness between aged gateball players (mean age =72.4yrs.) and people not engaged in exercise (mean age=72.4yrs.), ranging in age from 59 to 89 years.
The sample sizes are as follows ; gateball players : male=68, female=36/people not engaged in exercise : male =21, female =52.
A total of 11 tests representing each physical fitness domain were selected, considering aged people's physical condition.
These tests and the questionnaire on their health and exercise participation were administered to them.
A two-way analysis of variance was used to determine the differences of 11 physical fitness elements.
The results can be summarized as follows:
1. Aged gateball players are more self-confident about their health and physical fitness than people not engaged in exercise with a similar age. The latter tend to complain about their health conditions more frequently.
2. Male gateball players showed significant higher scores in vertical jump and sit-andreach tests, and female gateball players in a tapping test, as compared with people not engaged in exercise.
Overall, gateball players seemed to be healthier and to possess better physical fitness.
3. Although a significant difference in standing height was found between gateball players and people not engaged in exercise in females, this was considered to depend mainly on the difference of standing posture.
4. From examining correlations between the age and physical fitness elements, gateball exercise seemed to be useful to keep up aged people's health and to prevent their physical fitness from declining.

View full abstract

A study was undertaken to determine whether the specific change in the ratio of systolic to diastolic time (QS₂/DT) observed during prolonged exercise¹⁷⁾ is dependent on HR or elapsed time, and also to elucidate the possible relationship between change in QS₂/DT and distance-running performance. Twelve male distance runners were divided into two groups, a high- (HP Group) and a low-performance (LP Group) group, according to their 10, 000-meter running performance. They performed 60-min exercise on a bicycle ergometer at a work load controlled so as to keep the HR at 150 bpm. HR, systolic time intervals (STIs) and DT were calculated from electrocardiogram, phonocardiogram and the derivative of ear densitogram.
In the time course of QS₂/DT, two crests were formed at 2 and 15 min after the start of exercise, and also two troughs were formed at 10 and 20 min. Some of these troughs and crests formed even when HR was kept constant. Patterns of change in QS₂, DT, QS₂/DT and other parameters were similar in the two groups. However, the absolute values of the parameters differed. QS₂, left ventricular ejection time (LVET) and QS₂/DT in the HP Group were lower than those in the LP Group, whereas DT in the HP Group was longer than that in the LP Group.
From these findings, it was concluded that the specific change seen in QS₂/DT during prolonged exercise is dependent not on the HR level but on elapsed time. The changes in STIs and DT during prolonged exercise are thus influenced by the distance-running performance of the subjects.

View full abstract