Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers

Background: The dose-response relationship between exercise and its benefits is described by a biphasic response following the principle of hormesis. This information is particularly important for office workers who tend to remain sedentary during working hours. Aim: To evaluate a variety of health-...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Siraprapa Panthong, Supawit Ittinirundorn, Wirungrong Nualpech, Kanokporn Leelartapin, Hirofumi Tanaka, Daroonwan Suksom
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ubiquity Press 2025-05-01
Series:Physical Activity and Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://account.paahjournal.com/index.php/up-j-pah/article/view/418
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849469451000348672
author Siraprapa Panthong
Supawit Ittinirundorn
Wirungrong Nualpech
Kanokporn Leelartapin
Hirofumi Tanaka
Daroonwan Suksom
author_facet Siraprapa Panthong
Supawit Ittinirundorn
Wirungrong Nualpech
Kanokporn Leelartapin
Hirofumi Tanaka
Daroonwan Suksom
author_sort Siraprapa Panthong
collection DOAJ
description Background: The dose-response relationship between exercise and its benefits is described by a biphasic response following the principle of hormesis. This information is particularly important for office workers who tend to remain sedentary during working hours. Aim: To evaluate a variety of health-related physical fitness, peripheral and cerebral vascular function, and cognition of middle-aged male office workers who had been regularly performing adequate physical activity or trail running. Methods: We studied two groups of middle-aged male office workers: one with moderate physical activity levels (Adequate PA, 40.5 ± 3.5 years, n = 14) and another who performed trail running on a regular basis (Trail runners, 40.2 ± 3.2 years, n = 15). Comprehensive measures of health-related physical fitness, peripheral and cerebral vascular function, and cognition were assessed. Results: Trail runners exhibited lower body fat percentage, while displaying higher aerobic fitness and muscle strength and endurance than Adequate PA (all p < 0.05). Arterial stiffness (as assessed by pulse wave velocity), wall thickness, and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) were more favorable in Trail runners than in Adequate PA (all p < 0.05). A moderate correlation was observed between FMD and the level of physical activity (r = 0.53, p = 0.003). Measures of cognitive function were not different between the groups. Following the mental stress tests, the pulsatility index of the middle cerebral artery was lower in Trail runners than in Adequate PA (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Male office workers who regularly participate in trail running demonstrate more favorable health-related physical fitness and peripheral and cerebral vascular function compared with their office working peers with moderate or adequate physical activity.
format Article
id doaj-art-cac8c0f06180465f8b7876589219c742
institution Kabale University
issn 2515-2270
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Ubiquity Press
record_format Article
series Physical Activity and Health
spelling doaj-art-cac8c0f06180465f8b7876589219c7422025-08-20T03:25:27ZengUbiquity PressPhysical Activity and Health2515-22702025-05-019183–9483–9410.5334/paah.418418Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office WorkersSiraprapa Panthong0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4849-4033Supawit Ittinirundorn1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4334-1502Wirungrong Nualpech2https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0296-835XKanokporn Leelartapin3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3793-0749Hirofumi Tanaka4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1780-7471Daroonwan Suksom5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9668-3317Faculty of Science, Chandrakasem Rajabhat University, BangkokFaculty of Sports Science, Chulalongkorn University, BangkokFaculty of Sports Science, Chulalongkorn University, BangkokBhumibol Adulyadej Hospital, Royal Thai Air Force, BangkokDepartment of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TexasFaculty of Sports Science, Center of Excellence in Exercise Physiology for Special Population, Chulalongkorn University, BangkokBackground: The dose-response relationship between exercise and its benefits is described by a biphasic response following the principle of hormesis. This information is particularly important for office workers who tend to remain sedentary during working hours. Aim: To evaluate a variety of health-related physical fitness, peripheral and cerebral vascular function, and cognition of middle-aged male office workers who had been regularly performing adequate physical activity or trail running. Methods: We studied two groups of middle-aged male office workers: one with moderate physical activity levels (Adequate PA, 40.5 ± 3.5 years, n = 14) and another who performed trail running on a regular basis (Trail runners, 40.2 ± 3.2 years, n = 15). Comprehensive measures of health-related physical fitness, peripheral and cerebral vascular function, and cognition were assessed. Results: Trail runners exhibited lower body fat percentage, while displaying higher aerobic fitness and muscle strength and endurance than Adequate PA (all p < 0.05). Arterial stiffness (as assessed by pulse wave velocity), wall thickness, and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) were more favorable in Trail runners than in Adequate PA (all p < 0.05). A moderate correlation was observed between FMD and the level of physical activity (r = 0.53, p = 0.003). Measures of cognitive function were not different between the groups. Following the mental stress tests, the pulsatility index of the middle cerebral artery was lower in Trail runners than in Adequate PA (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Male office workers who regularly participate in trail running demonstrate more favorable health-related physical fitness and peripheral and cerebral vascular function compared with their office working peers with moderate or adequate physical activity.https://account.paahjournal.com/index.php/up-j-pah/article/view/418health-related physical fitnessflow-mediated dilatationpulsatility indexcognitive functiontrail running
spellingShingle Siraprapa Panthong
Supawit Ittinirundorn
Wirungrong Nualpech
Kanokporn Leelartapin
Hirofumi Tanaka
Daroonwan Suksom
Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers
Physical Activity and Health
health-related physical fitness
flow-mediated dilatation
pulsatility index
cognitive function
trail running
title Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers
title_full Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers
title_fullStr Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers
title_full_unstemmed Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers
title_short Trail Running vs. Adequate Physical Activity on Physical Fitness, Vascular Function, and Cognition in Middle-Aged Office Workers
title_sort trail running vs adequate physical activity on physical fitness vascular function and cognition in middle aged office workers
topic health-related physical fitness
flow-mediated dilatation
pulsatility index
cognitive function
trail running
url https://account.paahjournal.com/index.php/up-j-pah/article/view/418
work_keys_str_mv AT siraprapapanthong trailrunningvsadequatephysicalactivityonphysicalfitnessvascularfunctionandcognitioninmiddleagedofficeworkers
AT supawitittinirundorn trailrunningvsadequatephysicalactivityonphysicalfitnessvascularfunctionandcognitioninmiddleagedofficeworkers
AT wirungrongnualpech trailrunningvsadequatephysicalactivityonphysicalfitnessvascularfunctionandcognitioninmiddleagedofficeworkers
AT kanokpornleelartapin trailrunningvsadequatephysicalactivityonphysicalfitnessvascularfunctionandcognitioninmiddleagedofficeworkers
AT hirofumitanaka trailrunningvsadequatephysicalactivityonphysicalfitnessvascularfunctionandcognitioninmiddleagedofficeworkers
AT daroonwansuksom trailrunningvsadequatephysicalactivityonphysicalfitnessvascularfunctionandcognitioninmiddleagedofficeworkers