Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of our most common neurological diseases. The development of the disease often make the affected persons live with it for a long time. There are two types of the disease, the first is a progressive type and the other is relapsing remitting. Strengthening exercises isn?t commonly used as a treatment method although muscle weakness and fatigue are common symptoms.

AbstractElderly people are going to be a growing number in Europe. Between one third are going to be 60 years or older at 2025. For Sweden the situation is going to be similar. A reduced muscle function could lead to complications for the individual to perform daily tasks and will lead to a higher rate for falling and getting bone fractures. The positive sides are that for men and women there are a possibility for maintaining physical function and strength even in older years.

Many everyday tasks and also many sports require good grip and forearm strength. Everything from carrying boxes and lifting a child to grab the arms and legs in various martial arts, or holding a tennis racket involving the hand and forearm muscles in various ways. It is therefore important to train these muscles to prevent injuries and congestion and to perform well in sport. A well known way to train functional strength in the hand and forearm muscles is weight training with thick handles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in muscle activity in the upper arm and forearm muscles as well as the deltoids between two bars of different diameter (28mm and 57mm) in two different weight training exercises using electromyography (EMG).

In cooperation with Hälsoteamet Halmstad a pilot study was made to see if whole body vibration exercise has any effect on muscle strength, movement and experience of pain in people with knee osteoarthritis. Today whole body vibration exercise is a revolutionary exercise method that needs more studies to show the positive and negative effects. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease where more cartilage is destroyed than replaced. The most common symptoms are pain, stiffness, restricted movement, muscularly atrophy, tenderness and instability. The cartilage needs pressure to rebuild, it is therefore important that the patient exercise.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: Alcohol consumption after training and its effects on muscle gain and recovery adult menAuthor: Frida Carlstedt, Puck JanssonSupervisor: Frode SlindeExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: April 09, 2014Background: Today, the Swedish population exceeds the recommendations for alcohol intake while advised to move at least thirty minutes a day. It is well established what happens if you drink alcohol before a workout or if you workout the day after an alcohol intake, but it is less well established how muscle gain and recovery are affected by an intake of alcohol in the phase of recovery.Objective: The objective of this review is to investigate if there is a relation between alcohol intake after a workout and effected recovery and muscle gain. This was performed by measuring the outcomes cortisol, testosterone, creatine kinase as well as different measures of muscle strength. The issue was ?Does an intake of alcohol after training affect recovery and muscle gain??Search strategy: A systematic review in the databases PubMed and Scopus with the MeSH-terms: exercise, muscles, recovery of function, training, athletic performance, performance, sport, alcohol drinking, alcohols, alcohol and ethanol.Selection criteria: Criteria for articles to be included in this review were that they would be RCT- and human studies in healthy subjects as well as containing an ethanol intake after a physical activity that consisted of weight training in the form of resistance training or other forms of activity that promotes strength.Data collection and analysis: A systematic search for literature as mentioned above (search strategy) was performed as well as an analysis with the SBU quality review template for randomized studies, and a quality review for each measure of outcome according to Gothenburg University summarized evidence template for measures of outcome.4Main results: Many studies are authored by the same group of researchers and/or are of a lower quality.

Electromyography (EMG) is a technique that measures muscle activity, whichmeans detecting the electrical signals that travel through the muscle in connectionwith muscle contraction. This project deals with how EMG can be used tocontrol a computer game.The project is centered around the game 'EMG Track Game' which has beenconstructed as part of this work. 'EMG Track Game' is controlled by twoelectrodes fastened on the player. These are attached to two selected musclesand control the motion in one direction each, one up and the other one down.The game is constructed in the purpose of being used in several elds of application.Among these are as entertainment, training equipment and a tool inresearch related to EMG and muscles.To highlight a possible application a study concerning muscle control has beenconducted. It answers the question of whether players score better with theirdominant arm in comparison with their non-dominant one.

Crossfit is a recently developed form of training which is based on a number of functional resistance exercises performed at high intensity, often to the point of muscular failure. Crossfit has since its introduction 30 years ago, reached vast popularity all around the world, including Sweden. Its practitioners considers Crossfit to be an effective training method for achieving a functional and total trained physique thru improvements in VO2max, muscle strength, endurance, balance and speed. Few scientific studies has been published in the subject which is why this study sets out to examine the effect of Crossfit on VO2max (measured with Åstrands submaximal cyclingtest), maximal strength capacity in lower- and upper body muscles (measured with 1 RM tests in bench press and leg press), rapid strength capacity and strength endurance capacity in upper body muscles (measured with push-up test in 30 seconds) and explosive strength capacity in lower body muscles (measured with sergeant jump test). Five women with an average of 33(±5) years of age all new to Crossfit, performed these tests at two separate occasions with a training period of four weeks consisting of 12(±3,67) Crossfit sessions in between.The result showed a significant improvement in the maximal strength capacity of the leg extension muscles (p=0,025).

AbstractTitle: The effect of caffeine on performance during resistance training ?A systematic overviewAuthor: Amanda Jonsson and Erica BenderSupervisor: Mette AxelsenExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: 2015-03-31Background: Products with high content of caffeine has in recent years become popular for optimizing physical performance. Caffeine affects mechanisms in our body which can be beneficial to perform better during exercise, but the theories have not yet been systematically reviewed.Objective: The purpose of this review article, is to examine the acute effect of caffeine intake before strength training on athletic performance with the outcome muscle endurance.Search strategy: A systematic literature search in databases PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane using keywords: ?Caffeine?, ?strength?, ?muscle?, "resistance training", "muscle strength", "strength training", "athletic performance", ?repetitions to failure?, ?muscular endurance? and ?endurance training?.Selection criteria: Healthy subjects, 16-50 years old, with experience in strength training. Studies with a caffeine intake > 5 mg/kg body weight, which participants performed dynamic strength exercises on a weight > 60% of their 1 RM.

Sahlgrenska AcademyAt University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstract:Titel: Effect on muscle building associated with alcohol intake after exerciseAuthor: Frida Bond och Linnea DanielssonSupervisor: Frode SlindeExamminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDatum: May 26, 2014Background: Drinking alcohol is often used as something to spice up weekdays as well as more festive occasions. The reverse aspect of alcohol consumption is that the body sees alcohol as toxic and therefore the basis for a number of diseases. Exercise and physical activity have been proven to be good for several welfare diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Among people in general, opinion is divided as to how exercise combined with alcohol affects muscle building, but what do science say? Objective: The purpose of this review article is to analyze and summarize the existing scientific data about how the structure of muscles is affected in relation to alcohol intake after exercise.

AimThe aim of the present study was to evaluate physical performance according to ?fysprofilen? in skiers of the Swedish mogul ski team and to compare their physical performance at three test occasions during one year.MethodsAll eight elite mogul skiers at the Swedish national mogul ski team during the seasons 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 participated voluntarily in this study. The test battery ?fysprofilen? was performed at three test occasions, October 2011, May 2012 and October 2012. Muscle strength was evaluated with squats, bench press and grip strength; power was evaluated with power clean, squat jump, countermovement jump with and without arm swing, Harre´s test and the 30 meters sprint.

Aim: To investigate if physical exercise in combination with coaching will reduce pain and improve knee function in patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis in the knee compared to physical exercise alone.Method: The study consisted of 42 patients who were randomized to either an intervention group or a control group. Both groups followed a standardized training program at home, but the intervention group received additional support with regard to the aim of their training, as well as extra coaching during the training period of ten weeks. A Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the patients? pain. A 10 metre walking test, the Index of Muscle Function (IMF) and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) were also used to evaluate knee function.

Dysfunction of the upper respiratory tract is a common cause of impaired performance and intolerance to exercise in racehorses and include several upper airway obstructions. The ones termed dynamic obstructions are primarily seen during physical exertion and affected horses often appear to be normal during endoscope examination at rest. The correlation between diagnoses made at rest respectively exercise is low, suggesting that an examination at rest alone is likely to be insufficient. The upper respiratory tract is exposed to great differences in pressure throughout the respiratory cycle; variations that are further altered during strenuous exercise and affect the rigidity of upper airway structures. In presence of great fluctuations in pressure, stability is achieved through coordinated and synchronous neuromuscular mechanisms. Due to nerve damage or anatomical abnormalities, these functions may be disrupted and further cause a dynamic collapse of the upper respiratory tract when pressure changes become too severe. The etiology behind the neuromuscular dysfunction is not yet fully understood.

To get the maximal output of your exercise in gym machines, there are different factorsto be considered. For example the strength of the muscle varies dependent on the positionof the muscles. To get the best results of the exercise the load has to reduce and increaseat specific positions.This study was made in cooperation with Caretaker Scandinavia AB, a company forsales, marketing and development in health care. They are general agent for Nordic Gymwho works with manufacturing of equipment and machines for gym and fitness.The aim of this study was to generate a method of measurement to evaluate and controlthe biomechanics of Nordic Gym´s workout equipment. A protocol for an ergonomicanalysis on the equipment has also been elaborated.One of the methods to measure the biomechanics was to measure the torque through thewhole movement.

BackgroundHeart failure is an increasing chronic disease in the western world due to an aging population and a changed lifestyle. The basic treatment is pharmacological with substantial lifestyle changes. Much is known about physical exercise in middle aged and younger patients but in the patients over the age of 65, little is known. AimThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of physical exercise on patients aged over 65 with congestive heart failure. MethodA systematic review was undertaken in the databases Cinahl and PubMed.

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate 1RM and what power could be generated in bench-press and half squat concentric at certain percentages of 1RM. Special interest was put to evaluate men (M) and women (K), strength trained (ST) verses non strength trained (EST) in generating absolute power as well as power relative to 1RM.Method: In total 59 subjects mean (± SD) age 24.9 ± 4.1 years divided into four test groups: 20 male non strength trained GIH-students (EST M), 20 female non strength trained GIH-students (EST K), 10 male strength trained - sprinters on national/regional level (ST M), 10 female strength trained - sprinters (ST K) on national/regional level. They did two tests on 1RM and power in events of concentric bench-press and half squat in a Smith machine. In the first test session 3 ? 5 lifts were made to measure 1RM in each event.