درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose: The main purpose of this research was to study the challenges, opportunities and solutions of the championship sports for Iranian women. Method: The research method was mixed,and different methods were applied to serve the purpose of this research. The research sample was selected from the main population (N=172) following Morgan’s sample size determination (118). Open and closed questionnaires were used to measure the effect of each of the challenges and opportunities with a Likert's five-item scale. Results: The findings showed that 9 opportunities and 19 challenges exist regarding Iranian women’s championship sports. Conclusions: Though investigations of women’s sports in internal and external fields show progress in Iranian women’s sports, they do not show any desirable growth compared to male sports, which isdue to social restrictions and other factors.

Background and Purpose: Overweight and obesity in childhood are associated with the potential risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of moderate endurance training on lipid profile and body composition of overweight girls. Material and Method: The present study was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design, in which 19 overweight girls aged 8 to 12 were randomly selected. Before and after intervention, body composition of subjects was measured under fasting conditions by BODY LOGIC BODY FAT ANALYZER and biochemical indices were measured and recorded by enzyme-calorimetric method. Results: Statistical analysis showed that 12 weeks of endurance training resulted in a significant reduction in triglycerides levels (p<0.025) and body fat percentage (p<0.002), while no significant change was found in cholesterol serum levels and body mass index. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggested that moderate intensity endurance training lead to improvement of body composition and biochemical parameters related to obesity in overweight girls, which reflected the vital role of these training in preventing obesity and related cardiovascular diseases among children and adolescents.

Introduction: Training at altitude or in a hypoxic environment has gained attention among athletes, coaches, and scientists to enhance sea-level performance. However, the efficacy of “Living-Low, Training-High, Training-Low” (LLTHTL) strategy to escalate the mechanisms associated with enhancing performance in the human athletes is still unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the LLTHTL on Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) and peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor-Gamma Coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1α) levels in elite endurance runners.  Methods: The study has a crossover design in University laboratory. Eight elite male runners (Mean±SD age: 24.50±3.96 years; Mean±SD height: 179.75±4.62 cm; Mean±SD body mass: 67.37±3.42 kg; Mean±SD body mass index: 20.85±1.11 kg/m²) took part in the research. After 4 weeks of Living-Low (LL), the athletes performed 4 weeks Training-High (TH) and then, 3 weeks training-low (TL). Main Outcome Measures: Anthropometric parameters, time trial (1500 m), PGC-1α, and HIF-1α levels were measured in four different time points: pre-LL, post-LL, post-TH, and post-TL.  Results: There were no significant differences between the 4 time points for body mass and body mass index (P>0.05). The time trial was improved significantly (p <0.001) at post-TH as well as post-TL compared with the pre-LL and post-LL. TH decreased HIF-1α level but did not affect PGC-1α. Besides, TL increased both HIF-1α and PGC-1α.  Conclusion: Training at altitude reduces HIF-1α and training at sea-level increased PGC-1α and HIF-1α levels. Both types of training induced an improvement in the time trial. Athletes and coaches seek advice on the effective training strategy to enhance performance at different altitudes.