Ashril Yusof

University of Malaya | UM · Centre of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Arterial stiffness, an age-dependent phenomenon, is improved with exercise, which in turn may prevent cardiovascular diseases in women. However, there is a lack of consolidated information on the impact of exercise on arterial stiffness among healthy women. The aim of this review was to (i) analyse the effect of exercise on arterial stiffness in he...

Children's physical attributes, especially balance and leg strength, need to improve to reduce injury during football training. Playing football involves acceleration, declaration, rapidly changing direction, running, jumping, and landing. It requires good physical attributes and strength to avoid injury. The FIFA Medical and Research Centre F-MARC...

The publications on elbow pain (EP) in overhead sports are increasing. The results of previous studies mostly focus on the influence of EP in the ball game and throwing sports. Thus, a bibliometric analysis of these publications may show the direction of hot topics and future research trends. The purpose of this study is to identify the research tr...

The purpose of the present study was to examine errors for an isometric goal-directed aiming task during familiarization at different hand orientation. Interaction between neutral and pronated hand orientations with and without directional feedback would provide insights into short-term adaptations and the nature of control. In this study, 30 healt...

Background: Preexercise food intake enhances exercise performance due, in part, to the provision of exogenous carbohydrate. Food intake also suppresses hunger, but the specific influence of hunger on exercise performance has not been investigated. This study aimed to manipulate hunger by altering preexercise meal viscosity to examine whether hunge...

Background: Studies that investigate the effect of hydration on soccer performance in the heat are mostly carried out in a laboratory-controlled environment or simulated setting. Generally, on site, hydration is measured subjectively. Hence, the relationships between objective and subjective hydration measures during actual soccer matches in natur...

Objectives: This study aimed to determine and compare the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with injury between elite Malaysian able-bodied and para-badminton players. Methods: Medical records from July 2007 to December 2017 were reviewed. Results: Among 209 able-bodied players, 1010 injuries were reported. The injuries affected the lower...

Objectives This study aimed to determine and compare the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with injury between elite Malaysian able-bodied and para-badminton players. Methods Medical records from July 2007 to December 2017 were reviewed. Results Among 209 able-bodied players, 1010 injuries were reported. The injuries affected the lower...

Background When treating knee osteoarthritis (KOA), rehabilitation exercise is often combined with low-level (LLLT) or high-intensity laser therapy (HILT). However, the effectiveness of these combinations is still uncertain. Objective To examine the effects of LLLT or HILT combined with rehabilitation exercise (LLLT + E or HILT + E) on pain, stiff...

Background: Poor muscle strength, balance, and functional mobility have predicted falls in older adults. Fall prevention guidelines recommend highly challenging balance training modes to decrease falls; however, it is unclear whether certain modes are more effective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether traditional balance training (...

Eurycoma longifolia supplementation increases testosterone levels in humans via activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and/or the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis mainly in older adults and nonhealthy populations. This study aimed to assess the impact of Eurycoma longifolia on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pi...

Context: Badminton continues to be a highly competitive sport where training is introduced at an early age and load has intensified. This exposes players to a greater risk of injuries, in particular when assessing related training outcomes such as strength, agonist-antagonist ratio, and bilateral deficit among adolescents where age- and sex-associat...

An energy-deficit (ED) diet increases lipid mobilisation, while endurance exercise improves lipid profile by promoting formation of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) among moderately active population. However, it is not clear whether ED with high-intensity exercise training can improve lipid profiles. Therefore, 20 recreationally active males (20.3...

Purpose: Peripheral and central factors play important roles in the reduction of motor performance following damaging eccentric exercise and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Following this regime, contralateral limbs could also be affected; however, the factors involved remain inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to distinguish the peri...

Given the common view that pre-exercise nutrition/breakfast is important for performance, the present study investigated whether breakfast influences resistance exercise performance via a physiological or psychological effect. Twenty-two resistance trained, breakfast-consuming men completed three experimental trials, consuming water-only (WAT), or...

Carbohydrate (CHO) mouth rinse has been shown to improve endurance performance and maintain the central drive of contracting muscles. Salt (NaCl) mouth rinse solution, often used in dentistry to desensitise the oral cavity to pain, could also activate cortical areas of the brain. Hence, the objective of this preliminary study was to investigate whe...

Bench press 1-RM test is a common assessment to measure maximal strength of the upper body musculatures. Most protocols recommend a rest period between the maximum contraction trials to avoid fatigue which may confound the assessment. Factors that influence fatigue are strength level and fatigue recovery rate especially among sedentary population....

The aim of this study was to investigate the antiviral property of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (EL) against dengue virus. A propriety standardized extract of Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Physta ®) was tested for anti-viral activity after viral adsorption in Vero cell line. Viral yield was measured by qRT-PCR in four serotypes of dengue virus. The antivir...

Context: Phyllanthus amarus Schumach. and Thonn. (Euphorbiaceae) is traditionally known to improve general liver health. However, its effect on hangover is unknown. Objective: This study evaluated PHYLLPRO™, a standardized ethanol extract of P. amarus leaves for protection against oxidative stress and recovery from hangover symptoms. Material and m...

Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. f.) Lindau (C. nutans) has been reported to lower blood glucose level; however, evidence on its efficacy in lowering diabetic complications is limited. The antidiabetic properties of C. nutans aqueous leaf extract on serum metabolic indices, sorbitol production, and aldose reductase enzyme activities in the kidneys, lens,...

Bin Naharudin, MN, Yusof, A, Shaw, H, Stockton, M, Clayton, DJ, and James, LJ. Breakfast omission reduces subsequent resistance exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2019-Although much research has examined the influence of morning carbohydrate intake (i.e., breakfast) on endurance performance, little is known about its effects...

Sports can be a non-pharmacological way to improve general human health. This study aimed at evaluating mental health among healthy male adults following swimming intervention as one of the recommended sports in Islam. A total of 28 adults aged 19-33 years old were randomly divided into two groups, swimming group (n=14) and control group (n=14). Tw...

Background The use of alternative and complementary medicines to alleviate stress has increased to avoid the negative effects of pharmaceutical drugs. Objective This study investigated the safety and efficacy of Eurycoma longifolia in combination with multivitamins (EL+MV) versus placebo on improving quality of life (QoL), mood and stress in moder...

Introduction: Poor physical function and obesity are well documented in kidney transplant patients. Significant health benefits result from regular physical activity, many of which are important for kidney transplant patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of 10-week combined exercises on Interferon Gamma (IFNγ), b...

Both the quantity and quality of pre-exercise carbohydrate (CHO) meals have been shown to improve endurance performance. However, their role in attenuating central fatigue (CF) is inconclusive. The use of neurophysiological techniques, such as voluntary activation (VA) and the central activation ratio (CAR), alongside maximum voluntary contraction...

Introduction: Honey consists mainly of carbohydrates (CHO), minerals, and vitamins which are properties that are believed able to improve exercise performance and general health. This review aimed to elucidate findings on the effects of honey on exercise performance as well as combined effects of honey and exercise on health-related outcomes. Metho...

Many physically active individuals have undertaken intermittent fasting to reduce their daily caloric intake. However, abstaining from meals for a specific length of time may lead to the acute disturbance of highly carbohydrate-dependent exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to observe the effect of 10 days of intermittent fasting on...

Fatigue is a natural physiological phenomenon where the body’s capability to do work is reduced, and in general carbohydrate (CHO) depletion has been attributed to the aetiology of this condition. However, its composition in iso-caloric meals has never been investigated on capacity of sustained force production following a prolonged exercise. Aim:...

Studies have shown that usage of EL could promote lipid lowering and improvement in muscle strength. In view of that, lipid mobilization and utilizations would be the main mechanisms involved. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether acute consumption of Eurycoma longifolia Jack extract would influence lipolysis among athletes. Ten...

Covalent hemoglobin binding to membranes leads to band 3 (AE1) clustering and the removal of erythrocytes from the circulation; it is also implicated in blood storage lesions. Damaged hemoglobin, with the heme being in a redox and oxygen-binding inactive hemichrome form, has been implicated as the binding species. However, previous studies used str...

The aim of this study was to investigate the responses of atherosclerosis plaque biomarkers to purslane seed consumption and aerobic training in women with T2D. 196 women with T2D were assigned into; (1) placebo (PL), (2) aerobic training+placebo (AT + PL), 3) purslane seeds (PS), aerobic training+purslane seeds (AT + PS). The training program and...

Carbohydrate (CHO) depletion is linked to neuromuscular fatigue during exercise. While its role at peripheral level is relatively well understood, less is known about its impact centrally. The aim of this systematic review was to critically analyze the effects of CHO on central fatigue (CF) assessed by various neurophysiological techniques. Four da...

The changes in knee laxity and relaxin receptor expression at different phases of rodent estrous cycle are not known. Here, changes in the parameter were investigated in rats at different phases of the estrous cycle. Estrous cycle phases of intact female rats were determined by cytological examination of the vaginal smear. Following phase identific...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment alongside rehabilitation compared with rehabilitation alone on inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-6, IL-6), creatine kinase muscle type (CKM), and antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT) following hamstring injury. This stud...

Saffron is consumed as food and medicine to treat several illnesses. This study elucidates the saffron effectiveness on diabetic parameters in-vitro and combined with resistance exercise in-vivo. The antioxidant properties of saffron was examined. Insulin secretion and glucose uptake were examined by cultured RIN-5F and L6 myotubes cells. The expre...

The objective of the present preliminary study was to investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment alongside rehabilitation programme compared with rehabilitation programme alone on antioxidant enzymes' (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT) activity and time to return to play (RTP) following hamstring injury among Malaysian a...

Objective: Obesity, hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, are major risk factors. However, natural therapies, dietary components, and physical activity may effect on these concerns. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of aerobic exercise and consumption of liquid ginger extract on lipid profile of Male rats with a high-fat fed diet. Materia...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143323.].

Background Urtica dioica (UD) has been identified as a traditional herbal medicine. This study aimed to investigate the effect of UD extract and swimming activity on diabetic parameters through in vivo and in vitro experiments. Methods Adult WKY male rats were randomly distributed in nine groups: intact control, diabetic control, diabetic + 625 mg/...

Applying several energy systems and concurrent performing of various training models have a more effective role in preventing precocious occurrence of many diseases compared to training single energy system. This can be seen in case of physiologic and metabolic adaptations of the human body too. The present study attempted to investigate the effect...

Background/objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fenugreek seed extract in combination with swimming exercise compared to glibenclamide consumption on type 2 diabetic rats. Design: The acute toxicity test was carried out to choose the safe doses and identify the toxicity effects of the fenugreek seed extract....

Purpose: Running at high speed and sudden change in direction or activity stresses the knee. Surprisingly, not many studies have investigated the effects of sprinting on knee's kinetics and kinematics of soccer players. Hence, this study is aimed to investigate indices of injury risk factors of jumping-landing maneuvers performed immediately after...

Purpose: The high risk of knee injuries in female may be associated with sex-steroid hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle by its effect on ligaments and tendons stiffness. This study examined changes in knee range of motion in presence of estrogen and progesterone and investigated the interaction of their antagonists to relaxin receptor...

Background: A hamstring injury is one of the most common types of injury affecting athletes. Despite this, the optimal management of hamstring muscle injuries is not yet defined. The effect of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy on the recovery of hamstring injuries is unclear. Purpose: To investigate the effect of a single PRP injecti...

Objective: To elucidate the testosterone hormone influences on knee joint range of motion (ROM), and the suppressory role of its antagonists; flutamide and finasteride on relaxin receptors in the patellar tendon and collateral ligament. Methods: forty-two ovariectomized females Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats 8-10 weeks, 180-200g of weight were distributed...

Ovarian steroids such as estrogen and progesterone have been reported to influence knee laxity. The effect of testosterone, however, remains unknown. This study investigated the effect of testosterone on the knee range of motion (ROM) and the molecular mechanisms that might involve changes in the expression of relaxin receptor isoforms, Rxfp1 and R...

Acute muscle injury is one of the commonest injuries that often result in loss of training and competition time. The best management for muscle injury has not been identified. Sports medicine practitioners used several approaches in attempt to accelerate time to recovery from muscle injury. More recently growing interest focussed on autologous bloo...

Unlabelled: The incidence of non-contact knee injury was found higher in female than in male and is related to the phases of the menstrual cycle. This raised the possibility that female sex-steroids are involved in the mechanism underlying this injury via affecting the expression of the receptors for relaxin, a peptide hormone known to modulate li...

Muscular strength is an important factor which is crucial for performance and injury prevention in most sports. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the FIFA's Medical Assessment and Research Centre 11+ and HarmoKnee injury prevention programs on knee strength of young professional male soccer players. Thirty-six soccer players...

The study investigates the effects of the 11+ and HarmoKnee injury prevention programmes on knee strength in male soccer players. Under-21-year-old players (n=36) were divided equally into: the 11+, HarmoKnee and control groups. The programmes were performed for 24 sessions (20-25 min each). The hamstrings and quadriceps strength were measured bila...

Relaxin is a hormone structurally related to insulin and insulin-like growth factor, which exerts its regulatory effect on the musculoskeletal and other systems through binding to its receptor in various tissues, mediated by different signaling pathways. Relaxin alters the properties of cartilage and tendon by activating collagenase. This hormone i...

Since hypohydration commonly occurs in sports, studies on anaerobic exercise performance under this condition have been extensively carried out. When describing anaerobic performance, authors usually refer to a drop in anaerobic performance as fatigue index (FI) which is conventionally calculated using peak and low power data points. Meanwhile, ano...

In this study, crude petroleum benzene, chloroform, methanol and water extracts of six selected vegetables namely, garlic chives (Allium tuberosum), celery (Apium graveolens (L.)), sweet potato leaves (Ipomoea batatas (L.)), curry leaves (Murraya koenigii (L.)), winged beans (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and sweet leaves (Sauropus androgynus) were...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the active knee extension (AKE) test among healthy adults. [Subjects] Fourteen healthy participants (10 men and 4 women) volunteered and gave informed consent. [Methods] Two raters conducted AKE tests independently with the aid of a simple and inexpensive stabilizing apparatus....

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the 11+ and HarmoKnee warm-up programs on performance measures in professional soccer players. Thirty-six male professional soccer players (age: 18.9 ± 1.4 years) were divided into 3 groups, the 11+, HarmoKnee and control group (n = 12 per group). The experimental groups performed the programs...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of muscle injuries and the factors that predict the return-to-play duration among Malaysian athletes. This is a retrospective review of the case notes of athletes who attended the National Sports Institute Clinic in Malaysia. The medical records of athletes with muscle injury, diagnosed on cl...

ABSTRACT Anthropometric factors such as body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), wiast and hip circumference are indices for predicting of health problems such as obesity and cardiovascular risk. This aim of this study was to investigate the effects of injury prevention warm-up programs on anthropometric factors measures of professional mal...

Purpose: To identify the effect of additional elastic force on the kinetic and kinematic characteristics, as well as the magnitude of leg stiffness, during the performance of accentuated countermovement jumps (CMJs). Methods: Fifteen trained male subjects performed 3 types of CMJ including free CMJ (FCMJ; ie, body weight), ACMJ-20, and ACMJ-30 (...

This study investigated bilateral and unilateral asymmetries of strength and flexibility in male young professional soccer players. Thirty-six soccer players (age: 18.9 ± 1.4 years) participated in this study. A Biodex Isokinetic Dynamometer was used to assess the hamstring and quadriceps strength at selected speeds of 60°/s, 180°/s and 300°/s. Hip...

ABSTRACT: The study investigates the effects of the 11+ and HarmoKnee injury prevention programs on knee strength in male soccer players. Under-21-year-old players (n=36) were divided equally into: the 11+, HarmoKnee and control groups. The programs were performed for 24 sessions (20-25 min each). The hamstrings and quadriceps strength were measure...

The study investigated the effects of FIFA 11+ and HarmoKnee, both being popular warm-up programs, on proprioception, and on the static and dynamic balance of professional male soccer players. Under 21 year-old soccer players (n = 36) were divided randomly into 11+, HarmoKnee and control groups. The programs were performed for 2 months (24 sessions...

We aimed to investigate the effect of FIFA 11+ (11+) and HarmoKnee injury preventive warm-up programs on conventional strength ratio (CSR), dynamic control ratio (DCR) and fast/slow speed ratio (FSR) in young male professional soccer players. These ratios are related to the risk of injury to the knee in soccer players. Thirty-six players were divid...