Nordic skiing & health

Research in the Journal of Applied Physiology as reported in an article by Alex Hutchinson in The Globe and Mail: 

"Researchers in Sweden and at Ball State University in Indiana assembled two remarkable groups of octogenarian men. All of the volunteers were healthy, lived independently and were capable of completing a vigorous exercise test to exhaustion. The difference was that one group was composed of lifelong cross-country skiers who trained four to six times a week, while the other group didn’t do any formal exercise beyond the activities of daily living."

The research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that "the cardiovascular and skeletal muscle profile of the octogenarian athletes was approximately double compared with the untrained octogenarians. This is characteristic of a highly trained endurance phenotype and is likely reflective of their lifelong endurance exercise habits, as well as their genetic traits. The remarkable aerobic capacity (∼11 METs) and corresponding functional reserve among the octogenarian athletes are the highest ever recorded in this age group and places them in the lowest all-cause mortality risk category for men of any age. In contrast, untrained independent-living octogenarians have a low functional capacity (∼6 METs) and limited cardiovascular and skeletal muscle plasticity in response to high-intensity exercise programs."

The Globe and Mail adds that "Even compared to previous studies of lifelong endurance athletes in their 80s, the skiers were about 40-per-cent fitter, suggesting that the full-body workout provided by cross-country skiing is uniquely effective. In fact, their fitness “places them in the lowest all-cause mortality risk category for men of any age,” the researchers point out."

Trappe, S., Hayes, E., Galpin, A., Kaminsky, L., Jemiolo, B., Fink, W., … Tesch, P. (2012). New records in aerobic power among octogenarian lifelong endurance athletes. Journal of Applied Physiology, 114(1), 3–10. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01107.2012

Villages for Health

I looked around my immediate neighborhood and took an inventory of the built environment which supports physical activity based on Mark Fenton's four principles:

1)    Safety/Access – for all users of all ages/disabilities

2)    Systems – network – bike, ped, transit

3)    Destinations/ Land use – mixed use in close proximity

4)    Site design – inviting, functional design for ped, cyclists, transit

I live on a small dirt road almost four miles outside of and over 1000 vertical feet above the 8,000 resident capital city of Vermont, Montpelier. It’s hard to apply any of the four principles to promote physical activity—mixed land use, comprehensive network for bike, pedestrian, and transit facilities, inviting functional site design for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users, and safety and access to users of all ages and incomes, abilities, and disabilities—to rural living (Fenton, 2012). From late October to March, the narrow road is ice and snow covered and in the spring it’s deep in mud. My house does back up to an unmarked but locally known network of mountain biking trails which interlink with ski mobile trails and those to the Nordic ski trails at our local Nordic Center. They also can be walked, cycled, or run all the way into town, ending at the recreational center. For those people who are most likely to physically active in the outdoors, and who know from local discussion that this trail system exists, these are very accessible from downtown Montpelier. Yet, not many use them.

However, the aesthetic value is very high  and compelling (Sallis, 2012) as my road has one of the best views over a huge farm and beyond a staggering view of the mountains. Since this view is a three miles from the Montpelier’s town center, it is one of the most walked rural roads in the area. The fact that aesthetics draw people to walk the road fascinates and encourages me, as aesthetics are not often discussed as an important factor in either lifestyle medicine or sustainability. There are a few, undefined parking pullovers (made from use, not intentionally designed) where people park their cars and then walk the mile of road that has the best view.

An interesting factor hurting my town is the enormous, and sharply increasing property tax bill we pay to support our local schools, particularly the new elementary school; the property tax to homestead value ratio is one of the highest in the state. In his lecture, Mark Fenton discussed “inclusionary” zoning: the creation of zoning policies which incentivize or require lower cost housing and rental units (Fenton, Feb 23, 2016. Personal communication). High property taxes are driving lower- and middle-income families out. Because we have strict zoning codes which limit the number of bedrooms per homestead and require expensive septic plans if increased, it is very difficult to build an “in-law apartment” or rental unit to offset property taxes. The result may be an increasingly affluent neighborhood with decreasing mixed incomes, and fewer farm properties. It will be interesting to see how this ultimately affects the built environment and physical activity; I can speculate that my town becomes more suburban, with fewer people moving their bodies and working on farms, and fewer people using the roads due to less density.

Fenton, M., 2012. Community Design and Policiesfor Free-Range Children: Creating Environments That Support Routine Physical Activity. Childhood Obesity. 8(1), 44-51.

Sallis, J. F., Floyd, M. F., Rodriguez, D. A., & Saelens, B. E. (2012). Role of Built Environments in Physical Activity, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Disease. Circulation, 125(5), 729-737.

Yoga & Tai Chi Health

(I plan to add to this post as I do more research. This is the brief beginning.)

Yoga, depending on the practice, can be meditation in movement while also releasing the anti-depressant and anti-anxiety gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) (Streeter, C. C., Whitfield, T. H., Owen, L., Rein, T., Karri, S. K., Yakhkind, A., . . . Jensen, J. E., 2010). Tai chi reportedly increases muscle strength, flexibility, balance, as well as aerobic conditioning (“The health benefits of tai chi”, n.d.)

Energy systems, muscle fiber use, muscle action

Strength training systems at work

The energy systems for strength training depend on direct phosphorylation for the first 5 to 15 seconds, the energy source being creatine phosphate with no oxygen and producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mostly, the strength training uses the anaerobic or glycolytic pathway, using glucose, no oxygen, and produces double the ATP, or 2 ATP per glucose, and last about 30 to 40 seconds (Rivera-Brown, A. M., & Frontera, W. R., 2012). Strength training uses gross motor movement and Type IIb/x muscles. Finally, the muscle action is concentric (isotonic), shortening, working against the force, and eccentric (isotonic), lengthening and also working against the force.

Yoga and tai chi for flexibility, balance, and strength

Yoga and tai chi provide a lot of benefits in strength, flexibility, balance, and aerobic conditioning as well as neurological benefits from the creation of GABA (Streeter, C. C., et al, 2010, “The health benefits of tai chi”, n.d.). Because aśtanga and hatha yoga, which is more like “power yoga” and does strengthen muscles, the first few seconds requires direct phosphorylation, uses the anaerobic (glycolytic) pathway during the hardest flowing asanas and, finally, due to the focused breathing and flowing motion accesses the oxidative aerobic pathway, using glucose, pyruvic acid, free fatty acids from adipose tissue, and amino acids from protein catabolism which allows the hatha/power yoga and tai chi practitioner to practice for hours. The aerobic pathway exercise produces 32 ATP per glucose, as well as carbon dioxide (C02) and water (H20) (Pojednic, R., Feb 16, 2016. Personal communication). Tai chi may not use the anaerobic pathway much as it is a flowing movement, but the state of constant balance required relies on some anaerobic strengthening. Yoga and tai chi use fine motor movement and slow twitch, Type I, muscle fibers particularly due to the use of postural muscles with the exception of the hatha/power asanas, which use both fine motor and gross motor movement and Type IIa or b fibers. 

The muscle action in yoga and tai chi includes all three types: concentric (isotonic), shortening, working against the force, static (isometric) when poses are held, and eccentric (isotonic), lengthening and also working against the force.

All of the training will rely on agonist, antagonist, and synergist types of muscles although the asanas in yoga and balance in tai chi may require extra input from the antagonist muscles.

***

References

Yoga – Benefits Beyond the Mat - Harvard Health. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2016, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/yoga-benefits-beyond-the-mat

Woodyard, C. (2011). Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life. International Journal of Yoga Int J Yoga, 4(2), 49.

Streeter, C. C., Whitfield, T. H., Owen, L., Rein, T., Karri, S. K., Yakhkind, A., . . . Jensen, J. E. (2010). Effects of Yoga Versus Walking on Mood, Anxiety, and Brain GABA Levels: A Randomized Controlled MRS Study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(11), 1145-1152.

The health benefits of tai chi - Harvard Health. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2016, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-benefits-of-tai-chi

Rivera-Brown, A. M., & Frontera, W. R. (2012). Principles of Exercise Physiology: Responses to Acute Exercise and Long-term Adaptations to Training. Pm&r, 4(11), 797-804.