What term refers to planned structured repetitive movement that is intended to improve or maintain physical fitness?

Accelerometers - are movement monitors that have the ability to capture intensity and duration of physical activity. They are typically attached to a person waist. Accelerometers are considered to be one of the current standards in assessing free living physical activity levels and are often used to validate the much simpler, less expensive pedometer and physical activity questionnaires. 

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) - Physical tasks of everyday living, such as getting dressed, and walking up the stairs. ADLs are often used in research to assess an individual’s functional capacity or independence.

Aerobic exercise - means “with oxygen.” Aerobic exercise refers to a rhythmic activity that increases the body's need for oxygen by using large muscle groups continuously for at least 10 minutes. Examples of aerobic exercise are medium to long distance running/jogging, swimming, cycling, and walking.

Aerobic capacity (VO2 Max) - Aerobic capacity describes the functional capacity of the cardiorespiratory system (heart, lungs and blood vessels). To measure maximal aerobic capacity, an exercise professional will perform a VO2 max test, in which a subject will undergo progressively more strenuous exercise on a treadmill, from an easy walk through to exhaustion. Also submaximal tests can be performed in which an individual is not pushed to exhaustion.

Agility - is the ability to change the body's position efficiently, and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance.

Alzheimer's disease - is the most common form of cognitive decline. Although Alzheimer's disease develops differently for every individual, there are many common symptoms, including, short-term memory loss, confusion and mood swings. As the person declines they often withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death. 

Amino acids - are the chemical units or "building blocks," that make up proteins. Proteins serve major functions in cells, ranging from the make up the muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs, glands, nails, and hair. Proteins are also essential for the growth, repair and healing of bones, tissues and cells. Amino acids are available in supplement form, such as tablets or powder and are commonly used to enhance recovery post-exercise.

Anaerobic exercise - Short lasting (from seconds to ≤ 2 minutes), high/vigorous-intensity activity used to promote strength, speed/power and build muscle mass. The term anaerobic means “without oxygen.” Examples of anaerobic exercise include; short sprints, lifting weights and agility exercises.

Biomarkers  - are characteristic biological properties that can be detected and measured in parts of the body like the blood or tissue. 

Body mass index (BMI) - is a measure for human body shape based on an individual's mass and height. BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters (kg/m2). BMI scores are divided up into categories, which reflect your weight range. The World Health Organisation defines the following BMI categories: (1) severally underweight to underweight = less than18.59 kg/m2, (2) healthy weight = 18.6-24.99 kg/m2, (3) Overweight = 25-29.9 kg/m2 , (4) Obese Class I (Moderately Obese) = 30-34.99 kg/m2, (5) Obese Class II (Severely obese) = 35-39.99 kg/m2, and (6) over 40 kg/m2.

Caloric restriction (CR), or calorie restriction - is a dietary regimen that is based on low calorie intake.

Cardiovascular/cardiorespiratory fitness - refers to the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscles during sustained physical activity.

Chronic diseases - are diseases of long duration and generally slow progression. Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoporosis, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are by far the leading cause of mortality in the world, representing 63% of all deaths. (http://www.who.int/topics/chronic_diseases/en/).

Clinical significance - is the practical importance of a treatment effect - whether it has a real genuine, palpable, noticeable effect on daily life

Cognitive decline - variety of symptoms associated with aging, such as forgetfulness, decreased ability to maintain focus, and decreased problem solving capability. If left unchecked, symptoms oftentimes progress into more serious conditions, such as dementia and depression, or even Alzheimer’s disease.

Concentric contraction - is a type of muscle contraction in which the muscles shorten while generating force. An example of a concentric contraction in the raising of a weight during a bicep curl. 

Control group - in a scientific experiment a control group receives either no treatment or a standard treatment

Correlational study - Research design intended to discover whether a statistical relationship between variables exists, both in direction and in magnitude.

Dementia - is the umbrella term for a number of neurological conditions, of which the major symptom includes a global decline in brain function. 

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) - is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles several hours to days after unaccustomed or strenuous exercise. The soreness is felt most strongly 24 to 72 hours after the exercise. It is thought to be caused by eccentric (lengthening) exercise, which causes microtrauma to the muscle fibers. After such exercise, the muscle adapts rapidly to prevent muscle damage, and thereby soreness, if the exercise is repeated.

Diabetes - is a condition where there is too much glucose, a type of sugar, in the blood. There are two main types of diabetes – type 1 and type 2. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, affects 85 to 90% of all people with diabetes, and is sometimes described as a ‘lifestyle disease’ because it is more common in people who don’t do enough physical activity, and who are overweight or obese.

Dose-dependent - Refers to the effects of treatment with a drug, exercise bout or nutritional supplement. If the effects change when the dose of the stimulus is changed, the effects are said to be dose-dependent.

Dose–response relationship - describes the change in effect on an organism caused by differing levels of exposure (or doses) to a stressor (exercise bout) after a certain exposure time.

Dyslipidaemia - is an abnormal amount of lipids (e.g. cholesterol and/or fat) in the blood. This is often due to diet and lifestyle and can be reversed by eating healthy and marinating regular physical activity and exercise. 

Eccentric contraction (lengthening contraction) - occurs when the muscle elongates under tension. 

Endocrinology - is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. This area looks at issues such as metabolism, growth and development and tissue function.

Enzymes - are biological molecules that accelerate the rates of chemical reactions with cells.

Evidence-based training - refers to training methods that have been scientifically proven to have positive effects on health and fitness outcomes.   

Exercise - a subcategory of physical activity that is planned structured, repetitive and purposeful in the sense that it results in improvement and maintenance one of more components of physical fitness. 

Experiment study - is where investigators apply treatments to experimental units (people, Animals etc) and then observe the effect of the  treatments on the experimental units.

Extension - The bending of a joint so that the bones forming the joint are moved farther apart or straightened.

Flexibility - refers to the range of movement in a joint or of joints, and length in muscles that cross the joints. Flexibility in some joints can be increased by exercise, with stretching a common exercise component to maintain or improve flexibility. 

Flexion - The bending of a joint so that the bones forming the joint are brought closer together.

Health benefits of physical activity - There is strong evidence for high levels of PA being related to reduced rates of: all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, colon cancer, depression, falling, increased cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, healthier body mass and composition, improved bone health, increased functional health and improved cognitive function (see http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61031-9/fulltext#article_upsell for a review)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) - is a form of training, which performs alternating periods of short intense anaerobic exercise with lower-intense recovery periods. The time for a HIIT session may vary from 4–30 minutes.

Hyperglycemia - is a condition in which an excessive amount of glucose circulates in the blood. Chronic hyperglycemia can lead to a number of health complications, such as, cardiovascular disease, nerve damage (neuropathy), kidney damage (nephropathy) or kidney failure and damage to the blood vessels of the retina (diabetic retinopathy), potentially leading to blindness.

Impact Factor (IF) - a measure reflecting the average number of times that papers from a particular journal have been cited in other research papers.  The higher the IF the better. 

Insulin resistance (IR) - is a physiological condition in which cells fail to respond to the normal actions of the hormone insulin. The body produces insulin, but the cells in the body become resistant to insulin and are unable to use it as effectively, leading to hyperglycemia.

Intervention study - This is a research study design used to establish the efficacy and/or effectiveness of a research outcome (increased fitness/muscle strength). The simplest research design is to divide a group into matched Experimental (E) and Control (C) groups. 

Isometric contraction - is one in which the muscle is activated, but instead of being allowed to lengthen or shorten, it is held at a constant length.

Light-intensity physical activity - have MET values of 1.8-2.9 and include slow walking (~4.8km/h). Examples of light-intensity physical activity include, common habitual free-living activities such as routine occupational (e.g. standing, retail serving and food preparation) or domestic tasks (e.g. ironing, washing up, gardening).

Linear trend - trend line represents a trend, the long-term movement in time series data

Longitudinal Study - This is a study where a population are reassessed not just at the end of the initial intervention period but at intervals over many years. The study population is referred to as a cohort.   

Mental Health - describes a level of psychological well-being, The World Health Organization defines mental health as "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs220/en/)

Meta-analysis - refers to methods that focus on contrasting and combining results from different studies.

Metabolic Equivalents (MET)s - is a physiological measure expressing the energy cost of physical activities. Mode/types of physical activities are assigned MET values, with the higher the number meaning the more intense the activity. Physical activities are be classified into 4 groups: [1] Sedentary = 0-1.7 METS, [2] Light-intensity 1.8-2.9 METS, [3] Moderate-intensity 3-6 Mets & [4] vigorous-intensity >6 METS. See https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/ for a complete list of MET values.

Moderate-intensity physical activity- have MET values of 3-6 and require a moderate amount of effort and increase heart rate. bicycling, bicycling,

Muscle biopsy - is the removal of a small piece of muscle tissue for examination. A needle biopsy involves inserting a needle into the muscle. When the needle is removed, a small piece of tissue remains in the needle. The tissue is sent to a laboratory for examination 

Muscle damage - exercise-induced muscle injury in humans frequently occurs after unaccustomed exercise, particularly if the exercise involves a large amount of eccentric (muscle lengthening) contractions. 

Observational study – is where investigators observe subjects and measure variables of interest without assigning treatments to the subjects. The treatment that each subject receives is determined beyond the control of the investigator.

One repetition maximum (RM) - in resistance training is the maximum amount of weight one can lift in a single repetition for a given exercise. One repetition maximum can be used for determining an individual's maximum strength. One repetition maximum can also be used as an upper limit, in order to determine the desired "load" for an exercise (as a percentage of the 1RM).

Osteoporosis - is a progressive bone disease that is characterized by a decrease in bone mass and density which can lead to an increased risk of fracture. 

Oxidative stress - reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage.

Physical activity -Any boldly movement produced by skeletal muscles that require energy expenditure.

Placebo effect - a beneficial effect produced by a placebo drug or treatment, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that treatment.

Pre-post-test study design -examines whether participants in an intervention improve or become worse off during the course of the  intervention, and then attributes any such improvement or deterioration to the intervention.

Randomized controlled trial (RCT) - is a specific type of scientific experiment, and is considered the gold standard in scientific research. The key feature of a RCT is that study subjects, after assessment of eligibility and recruitment, but before the intervention to be studied begins, are randomly allocated to receive one or other of the alternative treatments under study (for more information on RCTs, see; www.bmj.com/content/316/7126/201).

Range of motion (ROM) - is a term commonly used to refer to the movement of a joint from full flexion to full extension.

Repeated-bout effect - After performing an unaccustomed eccentric exercise and exhibiting severe soreness, the muscle rapidly adapts to reduce further damage from the same exercise. As a result, not only is the soreness reduced, but other indicators of muscle damage, such as swelling, reduced strength and reduced range of motion, are also more quickly recovered from. 

Resistance/Strength training - is a type of physical exercise specializing in the use of resistance to induce muscular contraction which builds the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles. Training commonly uses the technique of progressively increasing the force output of the muscle through incremental weight increases and uses a variety of exercises and types of equipment (dumbbells. medicine balls, kettle balls ect) to target specific muscle groups.

Sarcopenia - is the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass (0.5-1% loss per year after the age of 25), quality, and strength associated with aging.

Scientific journals - In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research

Sedentary behaviour - refers to any waking activity characterized by a low energy expenditure (≤ 1.5 metabolic equivalents) and a sitting or reclining posture.  This means that any time a person is sitting or lying down. Common sedentary behaviours include TV viewing, video game playing, computer use (collective termed “screen time”), driving automobiles, and reading.

Statistics - is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.

Statistical significance - is the probability that an effect is not due to just chance alone.

Systematic review - is a review of peer-reviewed scientific literature focused on a research question (e.g. the effects of vigorous-intensity exercise on fitness) that tries to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question

Validity - is the extent to which a measurement is well-founded and corresponds accurately to the real world

Vigorous-intensity physical activity - have MET values of >6 and require a large amount of effort and cause rapid breathing and substantial increases in heart rate. Examples of vigorous -intensity physical activity include, jogging, participation in aerobics classes, and fast swimming. 

VO2 Max (Aerobic capacity) - VO2 Max is the maximal functional capacity of the cardiorespiratory system (heart, lungs and blood vessels). A VO2 max test measures aerobic capacity whereby a subject will undergo progressively more strenuous exercise on a treadmill or stationary bike, from an easy walk through to exhaustion. Also, submaximal tests can be performed in which an individual is not pushed to exhaustion. 

Washout period - A period in a study during which subjects receive no treatment for the indication under study and the effects of a previous treatment are eliminated (or assumed to be eliminated).

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