This article presents evidence supporting the hypothesis that starting aerobic exercise in early adulthood and continuing it throughout life leads to significant neurocognitive benefits compared with starting exercise later in life. Regular aerobic exercise at moderate-to-vigorous intensity during midlife is associated with significant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, which may create a favorable brain microenvironment promoting neuroplasticity through enhanced vascular function.

Acute exposure to terrestrial altitude (hypobaric hypoxia) causes decrements in endurance performance relative to sea level. Altitude acclimatization consistently results in partial attenuation of these decrements, but due to logistical challenges, it is not readily implemented. We discuss mechanisms and impact (or lack thereof) of other non-acclimatization interventions to improve endurance performance and provide suggestions for future research directions.

Eccentric contractions (ECC) induce excessive intracellular calcium ion (Ca 2+ ) accumulation and muscle structural damage in localized regions of the muscle fibers. In this investigation, we present the novel hypothesis that the ryanodine receptor (RyR) plays a central role in evoking a Ca 2+ dynamics profile that is markedly distinguishable from other muscle adaptive responses.

Prolonged low-frequency force depression (PLFFD) is an intramuscular phenomenon involving the slow recovery of submaximal muscle strength following strenuous exercise. We hypothesize that the contribution of impaired excitation-contraction coupling processes to PLFFD is task dependent, and that they will be different between metabolically and mechanically demanding exercises. We also discuss evidence of the effectiveness of interventions to mitigate PLFFD.

Cardiovascular health is governed by responses of the heart and vasculature to stimuli, including exercise and synthetic hormones in hormonal contraception. In this review, we draw similarities between research examining the effects of exercise training and hormonal contraception on vascular health, aligned using FITT principles (frequency, intensity, type, and time) as a methodological framework, and outline future directions for research.

Research on the role of the lysosome as the terminal organelle in autophagy and in communicating with other organelles in skeletal muscle is in its infancy. We hypothesize that the lysosome can adapt positively to exercise to improve the clearance of cargo, like dysfunctional mitochondria, within muscle, representing an important therapy for protein homeostasis in aging and muscle disuse.

Physical inactivity and sedentarism among autistic adults are a growing public health concern. Focusing on the integration of behavior change theories and emphasizing the unique preference for visuospatial learning and gaming technology, we hypothesize that gamified mobile health (mHealth) applications can be effective at increasing free-living physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior in autistic adults.

A high-fat, low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet has already appealed to athletes for a long time due to its purported ability to improve exercise performance and post-exercise recovery. The availability of ketone supplements has further sparked such interest. The review therefore focuses on the potential beneficial impact of exogenous and endogenous ketosis in the context of ultra-endurance exercise.

Although it is well established that an external compared to an internal focus of attention enhances motor performance and learning, the underlying neural mechanisms remained relatively underexplored. Recent studies revealed that adopting different attentional strategies results in a differential cortico-motor organization. These findings hold great potential for applying attentional strategies for healthy subjects and populations that display motor deficiencies.

We synthesize evidence investigating the hypothesis that greater engagement in physical activity (PA) may compensate for some of the negative cognitive consequences associated with poor sleep in older adults. Potential mechanistic pathways include glymphatic clearance, influences on depression, and other comorbidities. The evidence base is largely cross-sectional and observational, and further experimental studies are required.

Exercise is well known to exert beneficial changes to the gut microbiota. An emerging area is how the gut microbiota may regulate exercise tolerance. This review will summarize the current evidence on how exercise influences gut microbial communities, with emphasis on how disruptions or depletion of an intact gut microbiota impacts exercise tolerance as well as future directions.

Walking meditation or mindful walking is a widely performed form of Buddhist practice that focuses on mind-body interactions. We have found that this particular form of exercise was highly effective in eliciting improvements in cardiometabolic and functional fitness measures in a number of clinical populations. In some key measures, the magnitudes of benefits were greater than the traditional walking program.

We review the evidence indicating that endogenous changes in these hormones, including testosterone, growth hormone, insulin growth factor-1, and estrogen, and their proposed anabolic effects contribute to and augment resistance exercise training (RET)-induced hypertrophy. Additionally, we provide recommendations for gold-standard methodological rigor to establish best practices for verifying menstrual phases as part of their research, ultimately enhancing our understanding of the impact of ovarian hormones on RET-induced adaptations.

Physical inactivity is a global health problem. Childhood is an opportune time to establish healthy physical activity behaviors, including the participation in organized physical activity, such as sports. We hypothesize that financial incentives can improve young people's participation in physical activity and sports. The design of the incentive and the context in which it operates are crucial to its success.

Findings on individuals with essential tremor suggest that tremor (within-trial movement unsteadiness) and inconsistency (trial-to-trial movement variance) stem from distinct pathologies and affect function uniquely. Nonetheless, the intricacies of inconsistency in movement disorders remain largely unexplored, as exemplified in ataxia where inconsistency below healthy levels is associated with greater pathology. We advocate for clinical assessments that quantify both tremor and inconsistency.

Short sleep duration is prevalent in modern society and may be contributing to type 2 diabetes prevalence. This review will explore the effects of sleep restriction on glycemic control, the mechanisms causing insulin resistance, and whether exercise can offset changes in glycemic control. Chronic sleep restriction may also contribute to a decrease in physical activity leading to further health complications.

Sexual dimorphism, driven by the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen, influences body composition, muscle fiber type, and inflammation. Research related to muscle stem cell (MuSC) responses to exercise has mainly focused on males. We propose a novel hypothesis that there are sex-based differences in MuSC regulation following exercise, such that males have more MuSCs, whereas females demonstrate a greater capacity for regeneration.

The influence of habit on physical activity is computationally modeled as the aggregated influence of past behavioral choices a person makes in a given context. We hypothesize that the influence of habit on behavior can be enhanced through engagement of the target behavior in a particular context or weakened through engagement of alternative behaviors in that context.