Javier S. Morales

• PhD in Sport Sciences
• PostDoc Position at University of Almería

Objective The objective of this paper is to quantify muscle load using Theraband elastic bands across seven resistance intensities. Methods Bands were profiled using a force sensor, standardized to 200 cm length, and manually stretched. Measurements for each band were twice recorded at 11 distances and converted to percentages for standardization....

CONTEXT Mixed evidence exists on whether physical exercise interventions influence intelligence measures in children and adolescents. OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of exercise interventions on intelligence in children and adolescents. DATA SOURCES Relevant articles were identified in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus (until Februar...

Background Unsupervised exercise intervention (UNSUP) appears to be a practical and beneficial strategy for older adults, although its feasibility and effectiveness compared to supervised exercise intervention (SUP) remains unknown. We aimed to compare the safety, attendance/adherence rates, and effectiveness of SUP versus UNSUP on physical functio...

Background Growing evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) could improve cognitive performance in youths, but whether these effects occur from early childhood remains unclear. Objective To summarize evidence on the effects of PA interventions on cognitive performance in early childhood. Methods We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Sc...

Background: Physical behaviours (ie, physical activity and sedentary behaviour) might have a role in the development of sarcopenia, although the evidence is unclear. We aimed to explore the association of total and intensity-specific levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour with sarcopenia and its components (ie, muscle mass, muscle stre...

Objective There is a growing prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), a condition associated with a higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We assessed the association between self‐reported physical activity (PA) and CKD and also studied whether PA attenuates CKD‐associated CVD risk. Methods A cohort of Spanish adults (18–64 years) participat...

Background: There has been an increase in the number of studies examining the effect of acute and chronic physical activity on academic outcomes in children and adolescents in the last two decades. We aimed to systematically determine the acute effects of physical activity on academic outcomes in school-aged youth and to examine possible moderator...

The combination of both a healthy lifestyle and avoiding detrimental environmental exposures could be an important public health strategy as a companion measure to develop effective vaccines and medications for the prophylaxis and treatment of future pandemics. A comprehensive paradigm that considers the effects of different endogenous and environm...

Physical activity is essential for the prevention of numerous noncommunicable diseases and has also been suggested as a protective behavior against COVID-19. However, a major part of adults and even youth individuals are physically inactive while their inactivity raises with the age. Many noncommunicable diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases,...

Background: Advances in cancer treatments, particularly the development of radiation therapy, have led to improvements in survival outcomes in children with brain tumors. However, radiation therapy is associated with significant long-term neurocognitive morbidity. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the neurocognitive...

Background: Physical exercise is effective at attenuating ageing-related physical decline in general, but evidence of its benefits for older adults in residential care, who often have functional dependency, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy, is inconclusive. We aimed to establish the effects of exercise interventions on the physical function of thi...

Background. Engaging in physical activity (PA) has been associated with lower sarcopenia rates, whereas the role of sedentary behavior (SB) as a sarcopenia modulator has been scarcely investigated. The recent incorporation of objective physical behaviors monitoring allows a better characterization of the exposure and might contribute to a better un...

INTRODUCTION: Although it has previously been shown that unsupervised home-based (UHB) exercise training can provide health benefits for reducing the detrimental effects of aging (1), we still do not know how effective an UHB exercise program can be compared to one that is supervised. Thus, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to...

INTRODUCTION: Although it has previously been shown that unsupervised home-based (UHB) exercise training can attenuate the detrimental effects of aging (1), the effectiveness of UHB when compared to supervised center-based (SCB) training remains unclear. PURPOSE: To analyze whether a supervised exercise program would improve body composition sign...

Purpose The strict lockdown implemented due the COVID-19 pandemic is generating a great impact on wellbeing and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with cancer. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of an online home-based exercise intervention performed during a lockdown period analysing its effects on body composition, ph...

We analysed the association between self-reported sleep characteristics and the prevalence of major cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors attending to the potential effect of physical activity (PA) and weight status. A large cohort of Spanish workers (n = 527,662; 32% female, 44 ± 9yrs) participated in this cross-sectional study. We assessed pa...

Background Professional athletes seem to have a lower overall mortality risk than the general population, but controversy exists about whether athletes in sports associated with repetitive head impacts have a higher risk of mortality from neurodegenerative diseases. Objective We aimed to determine the risk of mortality from neurodegenerative disea...

Background Exercise training can positively impact the immune system and particularly natural killer (NK) cells, at least in healthy people. This effect would be of relevance in the context of cancer given the prominent role of these cells in antitumor immunity. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to summarize current evidence on...

Background Sleep is known to affect cardiovascular health, but some controversy exists on the independent association between different sleep characteristics (duration, restfulness, difficulties falling asleep) and specific risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to assess the association between self-reported sleep characteristics...

Simple Summary Childhood cancer survivors are at risk of developing important adverse effects, but there is growing evidence that physical exercise could help in this regard. The present review summarizes the history of pediatric exercise oncology and the main milestones achieved along the way. Overall, physical exercise appears to be safe and bene...

Growing evidence supports the importance of lifestyle and environmental exposures—collectively referred to as the ‘exposome’—for ensuring immune health. In this narrative review, we summarize and discuss the effects of the different exposome components (physical activity, body weight management, diet, sun exposure, stress, sleep and circadian rhyth...

Chronic exercise reduces clinic and ambulatory blood pressure (BP), but the short-term effects of an acute exercise bout on ambulatory BP have not been studied widely. We reviewed the literature regarding the short-term effects of acute exercise on ambulatory BP in patients with hypertension and considered moderating factors (medication status and...

Aims To assess the potential multi-domain benefits of exercise interventions on patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as well as to determine the specific effects of different exercise modalities (aerobic, strength, or combined training). Methods A systematic search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science until March 2021 for randomized contr...

Objective To determine the risk of mortality from mental disorders and suicide in professional sports associated with repeated head impacts. Methods A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus (since inception to June 8, 2021) to find studies comparing the incidence of mortality from mental disorders or sui...

Neurodegenerative disorders are associated with reduced levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We aimed to assess the effect of exercise interventions on plasma BDNF levels in individuals with neurodegenerative disorders. Eighteen randomized controlled trials (RCT) assessing the effects of exercise interventions versus no exercise on p...

Engaging in very high physical activity (PA) levels or strenuous endurance sports might increase the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). There are, however, potential confounders in previous research, such as the use of unclear—or non-validated—methods for AF/PA assessment or the inclusion of heterogeneous cohorts (e.g. with both recreational and com...

Background We aimed to summarize evidence on the safety, adherence and effectiveness of home-based resistance training (UHBRT) for improving health-related endpoints in community-dwelling older adults. Methods Randomized controlled trials of UHBRT in older adults (≥60yrs) were included after a systematic search (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, SPORTDisc...

Background: Regular exercise, particularly moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), can improve immune function. Natural killer (NK) cells, a subset of lymphocytes that react to infections, are the most responsive innate immune cells to exercise, but the mechanisms underlying this are poorly understood. A type of exercise training that is ga...

Oral ketone supplements have gained popularity in recent years. There is biological rationale for a potential ergogenic effect of this type of supplement, as they might not only alter muscle fuel preference during exercise (and promote glycogen sparing, with potential benefits for endurance performance) but also favor cognition performance during e...

Kidney transplant recipients are at risk of developing important adverse effects after transplantation. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a 10‐week supervised resistance exercise‐based intervention in kidney transplant recipients. Sixteen participants were randomized to a training (n = 8, 49.7 ± 9.6 years) or control gro...

We assessed the clinical effects of a supervised exercise (aerobic + resistance) intervention performed during inpatient hospitalization for pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Patients were placed in an exercise (n = 65 (47 and 18 with allogeneic (allo-) and autologous (auto-) HSCT, respectively)) or a control (n = 53 (39 and...

Dear Editor We sincerely appreciate the nice comments by Drs. P.V. da Costa Ghignatti and R. Pereira de Lima 1 concerning our recent meta-analysis assessing the effects of physical exercise interventions on cardiovascular endpoints in childhood cancer survivors 2. They are quite right to remain that even non-significant improvements in cardiorespir...

This study compared the effects of two supervised concurrent training interventions in breast cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue at baseline. Twenty-three female breast cancer survivors (50±8 years) were randomized to a high- (n=13) or a moderate-intensity (n=10) training program. Both interventions lasted 16 weeks and included the same r...

Although there is no unanimity, growing evidence supports the value of regular physical exercise to prevent Alzheimer’s disease as well as cognitive decline in affected patients. Together with an introductory summary on epidemiological evidence, the aim of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on the potential biological mechanisms unde...

Aims: to assess the association between physical activity (PA) or sports practice and risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, SportDiscus, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception to 21st October 2019 to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining the relationship between PA or...

Questions Does neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) applied during haemodialysis sessions improve functional capacity in people with end-stage renal disease? Does NMES used in this way also improve muscle strength, muscle mass/architecture, psychological outcomes, cardiovascular outcomes and biochemical variables? Does it have any adverse ef...

Background Acute hospitalisation can have adverse effects in older adults, notably functional decline. We aimed to summarize evidence on the effects of exercise interventions in acutely hospitalised older adults. Methods Relevant articles were systematically searched (PubMed, Web of Science, Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Source, and EMBASE) unt...

Physical exercise is considered a well-tolerated adjuvant therapy to mitigate cancer-related side effects, but its impact on metastasis is unclear. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the evidence on the effects of exercise on metastasis in animal cancer models. A systematic search was conducted to identify controlled...

This systematic review aimed to summarize evidence on the effects of physical exercise interventions in childhood cancer survivors (CCS) who had finished anticancer therapy ≥ 1 year before the study. Relevant articles were identified in the electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus (from inception to June 27, 2019). The PEDro sca...

Purpose: To determine the acute effects of ketone supplementation on exercise performance (primary outcome) and physiological and perceptual responses to exercise (secondary outcomes). Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus (since inception to July 21, 2019) to find randomized controlled trials asse...

This study analyzed the effects of physical exercise interventions on cardiovascular endpoints in childhood cancer survivors. Relevant articles were systematically searched in PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases (since inception to 11th September 2019). We performed a meta-analysis (random effects) to determine the mean difference (express...

Purpose Several supplements are purported to promote muscle hypertrophy and strength gains in healthy subjects, or to prevent muscle wasting in atrophying situations (e.g., ageing or disuse periods). However, their effectiveness remains unclear. Methods This review summarizes the available evidence on the beneficial impacts of several popular supp...

Purpose: Exercise improves the commonly impaired physical fitness and cardiovascular health of transplant recipients. However, concerns remain about the safety of strenuous physical exercise in this population. This case report describes the physiological effects of ultra-endurance exercise in a renal transplant recipient. Methods: Preceded by a 25...

Childhood cancer patients are at risk of developing important adverse effects, mortality and disease relapse after treatments, which has a substantial economic impact on healthcare systems. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of supervised inhospital exercise on clinical endpoints during childhood cancer treatment. 169 children...

Societies are progressively aging, with the oldest old (i.e ., those aged >80–85 years) being the most rapidly expanding population segment. However, advanced aging comes at a price, as it is associated with an increased incidence of the so‐called age‐related conditions, including a greater risk for loss of functional independence. How to combat sa...

Societies are progressively aging, with the oldest old (i.e., those aged >80–85 years) being the most rapidly expanding population segment. However, advanced aging comes at a price, as it is associated with an increased incidence of the so‐called age‐related conditions, including a greater risk for loss of functional independence. How to combat sar...

Background: An increase in survival rates of childhood cancer is associated with long-term health issues in survivors. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing health status-related endpoints in childhood cancer survivors (CCS) versus controls. Results: Eighty-six studies (n = 98,480 participants, 62% CCS) were inc...

Protein supplementation might improve body composition and exercise performance. Supplements containing whey protein (WP) have received the most attention, but other protein sources such as beef protein (BP) are gaining popularity. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared the effects of exerci...

Background Recovery from sport injuries commonly involves a muscle disuse situation (i.e., reduction in physical activity levels sometimes preceded by joint immobilization) with subsequent negative effects on muscle mass and function. Purpose To summarize the current body of knowledge on the effectiveness of different physical strategies that are...

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to summarize evidence on the acute responses of individuals with Prader‐Willi syndrome (PWS) to physical exercise, and on the effectiveness of long‐term exercise interventions to improve the clinical manifestations of this syndrome. Design/methods: Relevant articles were identified in the electronic...

Purpose: Physical exercise training might counteract the weakening effects of both pediatric cancer and anti-cancer treatment. We aimed to analyze the prevalence of “responders” and “non-responders” to inhospital exercise training in children with cancer and to identify the factors that could influence responsiveness, which might help personalize e...

Introduction: Physical capacity and quality of life (QoL) are typically impaired in children/adolescents with cancer. Our primary objective was to examine the effects of exercise training performed after diagnosis of any type of pediatric cancer on physical capacity-related endpoints, survival, disease relapse and adverse effects. Methods: (a) S...

Purpose: Hemodialysis patients commonly have impaired physical performance and mental health. We studied the effects of an intradialytic exercise program on these variables. Methods: 27 patients (33% women; 68 ± 13 years) were enrolled in a 14-week intradialytic endurance-resistance training program (‘exercise’ group, 40 programmed sessions per pat...

Mobile phones have become indispensable not only for young people but also for older generations, with their current use extending far beyond making calls or texting in low, mid and high-income countries. There are millions of mobile applications (Apps) now available for different purposes, including health promotion, which has led to a new concept...

Societies are progressively aging, with the 'oldest old' (i.e. those aged 85-90 years and above) being the most rapidly expanding population segment. Among them, centenarians are not only the survival tail of the population, but also a model of healthy aging as they have managed to postpone (and sometimes even avoided) major chronic diseases and th...

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and the Lactate Threshold (LT). Methods: 20 male cyclists performed an incremental test in which the LT was determined. At least 48 h later, they performed a 20-minute time trial and 95% of the mean power output (P20) was defined as FTP. Participants...

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of an in-hospital exercise intervention during neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the inflammatory profile and immune cell subpopulation in 20 children with solid tumors (control [n = 11] and exercise group [n = 9]). Although no significant interaction (group × time) effect was found with an analysis of...

OBJECTIVES: Muscle wasting in patients with cancer has been linked to an increased activity of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and higher circulating levels of activin-A (ActA), a negative growth factor for muscle mass. Baicalin is a natural flavonoid that can reduce skeletal muscle atrophy in animal models of cancer cachexia by inhibiting NF-κB. This pi...

The so-called toxic triad of factors linked to cancer, namely obesity, poor cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical inactivity, increase the risk of cancer and, when cancer is present, worsen its prognosis. Thus, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle have been linked to an elevated cancer risk whereas regular physical exercise and good CRF diminis...

The aim of this study was to establish the factors which affect the level of participation among players of different youth male volleyball teams. Number of transitions, continuity, point finalization and its result, were analyzed. The study was focused on the 2002 Male under 14 Scholar Spanish Championship, through a synchronic, symmetric and mult...