Jeff Scott Coombes

The University of Queensland | UQ · School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences

Menopause marks a major milestone in female reproductive ageing. It is characterized by the cessation of ovarian function and a concomitant decline in hormones such as oestradiol. Subsequently, females undergoing menopausal transition experience a progressive increase in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease risk. During menopause, reductions...

Age and sex may alter the cerebral blood flow (CBF) responses to acute isometric exercise, via associated elevations in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and sympathetic activation. Our aim was to determine the relationships between age, sex and exercise intensity on cerebrovascular responses to isometric handgrip exercise. In 78 healthy adults (18-80 y...

Objective The objective of this study was to compare the effects of novel, time-efficient, low-volume combined aerobic and resistance high-intensity interval training (C-HIIT), and current exercise guidelines (210 min/week of combined moderate-intensity continuous training (C-MICT)), with waitlist control (CON) on glycaemic control in people with t...

This study investigated the middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) response to constant work-rate moderate-intensity cycling exercise in 21 children (9.3±0.8 years), 17 adolescents (12.3±0.4 years) and 20 young adults (23.6±2.4 years). Participants completed an incremental ramp test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer, to determine maximal oxy...

Background Diet and exercise are important components of treatment for complex chronic conditions, however access to allied health support is limited. When available, support is often siloed and fragmented. Digital health incorporating patient choice may help to align health care services with preferences and goals. This study evaluated the impleme...

Objective The acceptability of being offered a choice from a suite of digital health service options to support optimal diet and exercise behaviors in adults with complex chronic conditions was evaluated. This study sought to understand many areas of acceptability including satisfaction, ease of use, usefulness and user appropriateness and perceive...

Purpose We compared the effects of low-volume combined aerobic and resistance high-intensity interval training (C-HIIT), combined moderate-intensity continuous training (C-MICT) and waitlist control (CON) on vascular health after 8-weeks of supervised training, and an additional 10-months of self-directed training, in adults with type 2 diabetes (T...

Physical activity participation is critical for optimal physical, psychological, and cognitive health in children and adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD). Majority of the general population are not sufficiently active, and with the added psychological, physical, and socioeconomic barriers faced by individuals with CHD, it is unsurpris...

Background and objectives: People with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) report fluctuating foot symptoms. This study used ecological momentary assessment to: (1) compare foot symptoms between days, time points and periods with/without preceding physical activity or pain medication; and (2) determine relationships between symptoms and endogenou...

Background Diet and exercise are important components of treatment for complex chronic conditions, however access to allied health support is limited. When available, support is often siloed and fragmented. Digital health incorporating patient choice may help to align health care services with preferences and goals. This study evaluated the impleme...

Background and objectives: People with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) report difficulty exercising. This study tested an innovative intervention to promote physical activity self-management and its impact on foot symptoms. Method: Ten adults with DPN not meeting exercise guidelines consented to four weekly sessions involving exercise taste...

Blood flow-restricted exercise is currently used as a low-intensity time-efficient approach to reap many of the benefits of typical high-intensity training. Evidence continues to lend support to the notion that even highly trained individuals, such as athletes, still benefit from this mode of training. Both resistance and endurance exercise may be...

Cold water immersion (CWI) following intense exercise is a common athletic recovery practice. However, CWI impacts muscle adaptations to exercise training, with attenuated muscle hypertrophy and increased angiogenesis. Tissue temperature modulates the abundance of specific miRNA species and thus CWI may affect muscle adaptations via modulating miRN...

Objectives: Social cognitive function often declines in older age but the mechanisms underlying these declines are not completely clear. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscular strength have been shown to be positively associated with broader cognitive function in older adults, yet surprisingly, no study has examined whether a similar relatio...

Objective: This review will evaluate the effectiveness of alternative versus traditional forms of exercise on cardiac rehabilitation program utilization and other outcomes in women with or at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Introduction: Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation programs improve health outcomes in women with or at high risk of...

Objective To quantify the agreement between left and right middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) responses to incremental and constant work-rate exercise in adults. Approach Seventeen healthy adults (23.8±2.4 years, 9 females) completed a ramp incremental test to exhaustion on a cycle ergometer, three 6-minute transitions at a moderate-inten...

Objective: This cluster-controlled pilot study assessed the efficacy and feasibility of 'Fit2Drive', a depot-delivered, high-intensity interval (HIIT) program to improve the cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) of truck drivers. Methods: Companies of local delivery drivers (44 men; mean [SD] age = 50.5 [9.8] years; Brisbane, Australia) were assigned...

Aims: To determine the efficacy of two doses of external counterpulsation (ECP) on glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and any persistent benefits 7 weeks following treatment. Methods: 50 participants with T2D were randomly assigned to either 1) 20x45-minute ECP sessions over 7 weeks (ECP45), 2) 20x30-minute ECP sessi...

Objectives: To examine the effect of high-velocity resistance training (HVRT) on the executive function of middle-aged and older adults with and without mobility limitations. Methods: Participants (n = 41, female: 48.9%) completed a supervised 12-week HVRT intervention (2 sessions/week; at 40-60% of one-repetition maximum). The sample included 1...

Background and Aims High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a therapeutic option for people with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, the perspectives and experiences of HIIT for people with NASH are unknown, limiting translation of research. We explored the experiences and perspectives of both professionally supervised and self-directe...

Cancer treatments exert vascular toxic effects that can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease. Exercise training has the potential to prevent or reduce cancer treatment–induced damage to vascular structure and function. This systematic review with meta-analyses aimed to determine the isolated effects of exercise training on vascular out...

Neurovascular coupling (NVC) is the matching between local neuronal activity and regional cerebral blood flow (CBF), but little is known about the effects of age and sex on NVC. This study aimed to investigate the relationships and interaction between age and sex on NVC. Sixty-four healthy adults (18-85 years, N = 34 female) completed a visual stim...

Objectives: To assess evidence on the impact of acute and chronic high intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (SIT) on work-related performance tests of cognitive function in adults. Methods: The databases PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles up to August 2...

Background: Exercise is a proven therapy for managing cardiometabolic risk factors in type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, its effects on patient-reported outcome measures such as quality of life (QoL) in people with type 2 diabetes remain unclear. Consequently, the primary aim of this study was to determine the effect of regular exercise on QoL in adu...

The risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease increases in ageing females, coinciding with the onset of menopause. Differences in peripheral and cerebrovascular function across menopausal stages, however, are poorly characterized. The aim of this study was to compare peripheral and cerebrovascular function between healthy premenopausal (PR...

Background High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) involves bursts of high-intensity exercise interspersed with lower-intensity exercise recovery. HIIT may benefit cardiometabolic health in people with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).AimsWe aimed to examine the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of 12-weeks of supervised HIIT compared with a sha...

Introduction Epidemiological evidence suggests that both poor cardiovascular fitness and low muscle mass or strength markedly increase the rate of cognitive decline and incident dementia in older adults. Results from exercise trials for the improvement of cognition in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have reported mixed results. Th...

Objectives To describe the quantity and cost of in-person and telehealth exercise physiology (EP) reimbursed under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) in Australia before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Methods This study uses publicly available MBS data to describe EP services (in-person and telehealth) reimbursed by M...

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease and mortality. We report the transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) findings of a predefined sub-study of the LANDMARK III trial, which compared the effect of a nurse-led model of care on CV risk factor modification. Methods: Adult patients with...

The effect of age and sex on intracranial and extracranial cerebrovascular function is poorly understood. We investigated the relationships between age, sex, and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to hypercapnia in 73 healthy adults (18–80 yr, n = 39 female). CVR to hypercapnia was assessed in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) using transcranial Doppl...

Alterations in body composition, in particular sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity, are complications of liver cirrhosis associated with adverse outcomes. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effect of diet and/or exercise interventions on body composition (muscle or fat) in adults with cirrhosis. Five databases were searched from inception t...

The aim of this study was to compare the kinetic response of middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) to moderate and heavy-intensity cycling in adults, and explore the relationship between maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O 2max ) and MCAv kinetics. Seventeen healthy adults (23.8±2.4 years, 9 females) completed a ramp incremental test to exhaustion on...

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of videoconferencing exercise interventions for people with chronic diseases. Design Systematic review incorporating meta-analysis. Data sources PubMed, Cinahl, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase and Scopus. Eligibility criteria The current literature was searched following Preferred Reporting Items for Sy...

Background While exercise training is beneficial in the prevention and management of many chronic diseases, the role of exercise training in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease is less understood. We sought to determine the safety and efficacy of exercise training in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease. Method...

Objective: Lower cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to hypercapnia is associated with increased risk of age-related cognitive decline and all-cause mortality. Despite the important clinical implications of CVR, evidence of the physiological changes across the healthy adult lifespan is conflicting, with limited findings in females. The aim of this st...

Introduction: Macro- and microvascular dysfunction elevate the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Heat therapy has the potential to improve vascular health and reduce CVD risk, but the optimal length of heat stress exposure is unknown. We hypothesized that 1) acute whole body heat stress (WBHS) would increase vascular function and 2) a longer W...

Objective This study aims to examine the effects of one-year, once-weekly high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on body adiposity and liver fat in adults with central obesity. Methods One-hundred and twenty adults aged 18–60 years with central obesity (body mass index ≥25, waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women). This is an asse...

People with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at a greater risk of cardiovascular disease than the general population. Both non‐modifiable (age) and modifiable (low aerobic fitness, high body fatness) factors are separately predictive of cardiovascular risk, although they often occur concomitantly. This study aimed to examine the (1) association between ag...

Objectives To develop Australian guidelines on physical activity/exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Design Critical 'umbrella' reviews of the scientific evidence, combined with adaptation of recently published guidelines. Method A five stage approach included: identification of key source documents (including national PA/exercis...

High blood pressure (BP) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The identification of high BP is conventionally based on in-clinic (resting) BP measures, performed within primary health care settings. However, many cases of high BP go unrecognised or remain inadequately controlled. Thus, there is a need for complementary setting...

BACKGROUND Background: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is common across many complex chronic disease groups. Advances in health technology have provided opportunities to support lifestyle interventions. Implementation of health technology driven services in a tertiary setting remains untested. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to test the feasi...

Background: The metabolic syndrome is common across many complex chronic disease groups. Advances in health technology have provided opportunities to support lifestyle interventions. Objective: The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of a health technology-assisted lifestyle intervention in a patient-led model of care. Methods: Th...

Exercise is positively associated with higher microbial diversity, but there is limited information on exercise intensity's effect on gut microbiome composition and function in clinical populations. This study examines whether different intensities of exercise exert differential effects on gut microbiome composition and function in low active peopl...

Background The gut microbiome has been associated with cardiorespiratory fitness. Objective To assess the effects of oligofructose (FOS)-enriched inulin supplementation on the gut microbiome and the peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) response to high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Methods The study was a randomized controlled trial. Forty sedenta...

Understanding the contribution of the autonomic nervous system to cerebral blood flow (CBF) control is challenging, and interpretations are unclear. The identification of calcium channels and adrenoreceptors within cerebral vessels has led to common misconceptions that the function of these receptors and actions mirror those of the peripheral vascu...

Background Supervised lifestyle interventions have the potential to significantly improve physical activity and fitness in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods To assess the efficacy of a lifestyle intervention in patients with CKD to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and exercise capacity over 36 months, we conducted a randomized cl...

Objectives To compare the short- and long-term effects of high intensity interval training (HIIT) with usual care moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) on systemic vascular function and stiffness in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation program. Design Randomized controlled trial. Methods Fifty-four pat...

Abstract Background Low cardiorespiratory fitness (V̇O2peak) is highly associated with chronic disease and mortality from all causes. Whilst exercise training is recommended in health guidelines to improve V̇O2peak, there is considerable inter-individual variability in the V̇O2peak response to the same dose of exercise. Understanding how genetic fa...

Background Cardiorespiratory fitness and fatness (notably central obesity) are mediating factors of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and consequent cardiovascular disease (CVD)/mortality risk. The fitness-fatness index (FFI) combines these factors and has been reported to be a better indicator of CVD and all-cause mortality risk, beyond the capacity o...

Objective To examine the changes in depression and anxiety symptoms among Brazilian adults over 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study design The present study used data from wave 1 (June/July, 2020) and wave 2 (December, 2020/January, 2021) of the Prospective Study About Mental and Physical Health (PAMPA) Cohort, a state-level, ambispective lo...

New findings: What is the central question of the study? What is the reliability of middle cerebral artery velocity cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) when using traditional and novel outcomes, as measured by transcranial doppler? What is the main finding and its importance? Traditional CVR approaches presented acceptable reproducibility but should...

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 5 years of supervised exercise training (ExComb), and the differential effects of subgroups of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), with control on the cardiovascular risk profile in older adults. Methods and results: Older adults aged 7...

Background Personal activity intelligence (PAI) is a single physical activity metric based upon heart rate responses to physical activity. Maintaining 100 PAI/week is associated with a 25% risk reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality and 50 PAI/week provides 60% of the benefits. The effect of utilising this metric within a cardiac population...

Blood flow restriction (BFR) with low-load resistance exercise (RE) is often used as a surrogate to traditional high-load RE to stimulate muscular adaptations, such as hypertrophy and strength. However, it is not clear whether such adaptations are achieved through similar cellular and molecular processes. We compared changes in muscle function, mor...

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a key target of interventions for obesity-related diseases. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) can estimate VAT, however its accuracy to measure longitudinal change in VAT compared to gold-standard techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has not been studied in adults. This study aimed to determine...

Introduction: Innovative strategies are needed to enable people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) to self-manage physical activity (PA). Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) is a new metric that uses the heart rate response to PA to inform the user as to whether they are doing enough PA to reduce the risk of premature mortality. The PAI score reflects PA...

We aimed to examine the agreement between submaximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) measures and peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) in adults with epilepsy. Data from a randomized controlled trial with adults with epilepsy (N = 21) were analyzed. VO2peak was assessed using indirect calorimetry during a treadmill graded maximal CPET. Oxygen...

Background Menopause and its associated decline in oestrogen is linked to chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, which may be difficult to disentangle from the effects of ageing. Further, post-menopausal women are at increased risk of cerebrovascular disease, linked to declines in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascu...

Introduction Loss of skeletal muscle mass is a well-recognised complication of cirrhosis. Bedside methods to assess skeletal muscle mass including anthropometrics and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) are negatively impacted by fluid overload in advanced cirrhosis and thus there is a need to identify alternatives. There is a paucity of data on...

From 2016 to 2040 the number of people with dementia in the United Kingdom is expected to increase by 57%, while 70% percent of it is due to a higher life expectancy. Thus, we analyzed the overall and age-stratified effect of physical activity on risk of dementia in participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) of the English Longitudinal Study...

Background: We address two aims; Aim 1 (Fitness Review) compare the effect of higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) (e.g. endurance athletes) with lower CRF (e.g. sedentary adults) on cerebrovascular outcomes, including middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) as assessed by Transcranial Doppler (TCD) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Aim 2 (Exe...

Davids, CJ, Raastad, T, James, L, Gajanand, T, Smith, E, Connick, M, McGorm, H, Keating, S, Coombes, JS, Peake, JM, and Roberts, LA. Similar morphological and functional training adaptations occur between continuous and intermittent blood flow restriction. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2021-The aim of the study was to compare skeletal muscle...

Background Cardiorespiratory fitness and fatness (notably central obesity) are mediating factors of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), and consequent cardiovascular disease (CVD)/mortality risk. The fitness-fatness index (FFI) combines these factors and has been reported to be a better indicator of CVD and all-cause mortality risk, beyond the capacity...

This study assessed cardio‐respiratory fitness (CRF), and 24‐hour sleep, sedentary behaviour (SB) and physical activity (PA) in Australian truck drivers. Participants (n=37 men) attended clinic sessions for an exercise test to exhaustion to establish CRF, and wore an accelerometer (ActigraphGT3X+) to estimate sleep, SB, and PA. Relative to normativ...

New findings: What is the topic of this review? We have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the current evidence for the effect of heat therapy on blood pressure and vascular function. What advances does it highlight? We found that heat therapy reduced mean arterial, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. We also observed that heat...