Meet the editor

Dr. Hasan Sözen is an associate professor in the Sport Sciences Faculty, University of Ordu, Türkiye. His primary research interests include sport and exercise physiology, physical fitness, and athletes' health. Dr. Sözen received his Ph.D. from the Health Science Institute, Department of Physical Education and Sport, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Türkiye. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Department of Biomedical

Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Italy. The fellowship was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye.

## Contents



Preface

Physical inactivity is considered the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), which refers to the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to provide oxygen during physical activity, is an important component of physical fitness and can be enhanced by regular physical activity. Lower CRF is associated with higher risks of Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, depression, poor physical fitness level, vascular dementia, and metabolic syndrome. In addition, CRF is inversely

"Cardiorespiratory Benefits of Exercise", examines the benefits of exercise on the cardiorespiratory system. Chapter 2 by Dr. Postolache et al., "Assessment of Exercise Capacity: A Key Element in Pulmonary Rehabilitation", discusses issues related to pulmonary rehabilitation, exercise capacity, and physical training in patients with CARF. Chapter 3 by Dr. Marques et al., "Promoting Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Young People: The Importance of the School Context", offers suggestions for increasing the CRF levels of school-aged children. The authors emphasize the importance of physical education lessons and physical education teachers in schools. Chapter 4 by Dr. Costa and Dr. Nakamura, "Assessment of Autonomic Cardiac Activity in Athletes", provides information about autonomic cardiac activity in athletes. It discusses the use of noninvasive and time-efficient methods to record and/or calculate heart rate variability in athletes. Chapter 5 by Dr. Wu, "Swimming Exercise-Induced Improvements in Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF) are Caused by Nitric Oxide Functional Adaptations in the Oxygen Transport System", argues that swimming exercise is a good way to increase metabolic rate and heat burning as well as improve heart rate and oxygen circulation. The chapter summarizes the roles of physiological nitric oxide in improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness. Chapter 6 by Dr. Močnik and Dr. Varda, "The Role of Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Children with Cardiovascular Risk", provides valuable and comprehensive information about the benefits of physical activity on children with cardiovascular risk to prevent further reduction of cardiorespiratory fitness and the development of other comorbidities. Chapter 7 by Dr. Sen and Dr. Baruah, "Effect

of Hypertension on ECG Parameters," examines the relationship between ECG variables and blood pressure in medical school students. Chapter 8 by Dr. Joseph and Dr. Vadasseril, "Diabetes – A Silent Killer: A Threat for Cardiorespiratory Fitness", discusses type 2 diabetes mellitus, including its prevalence, risk factors, signs and symptoms, pathophysiology, and pathogenesis, as well as underlying mechanisms of diabetes as a disease, its acute and chronic complications, and measures to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and control diabetes. Finally, Chapter 9 by the editor, "Relationship Between Vastus Lateralis Electromyography Activation and VO2max Values Obtained in Bicycle Ergometry", presents an experimental study investigating the relationship between the maximum oxygen consumption values obtained from a bicycle ergometer and the EMG activity values of the vastus lateralis muscle during

This book includes nine chapters on CRF. Chapter 1 by Dr. Wang et al.,

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the test.
