Vitamin D as a Factor Modifying Adaptation to Exercise

Physical activity is a recommended, indispensable element of a healthy lifestyle as well as a countermeasure against many diseases often accompanied by the acute or chronic low grade inflammation. Papers published in recent years have demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effect of exercise. Based on current knowledge of the topic, own experience and preliminary work, it is expected the proposed research to provide information on the mechanism either determining or limiting pro-healthy effects of exercise in different age groups of people. Three different training programmes will be investigated. Specific goals of the project include the following: 1. Establish, whether regular Nordic Walking training and HIIT can reduce the low-grade systemic inflammation and which type of training is the most effective at doing so. 2. Establish, whether regular training can prevent muscle sarcopenia and assess if those changes are related to the concentration of the autophagy-inducing stress protein, HMGB1. 3. Establish, whether regular Nordic Walking training alters iron metabolism and evaluate its correlation with the inflammatory markers and bone-morphogenesis. 4. Establish, whether muscle-released irisin signals growth in the BDNF concentration in response to exercise and if these changes improve cognitive function. 5. Establish, whether Nordic Walking or HIIT training effectively improve the blood lipid profile and aerobic capacity, and if these effects correlate with the blood 25-OHD concentration. 6. Establish, whether concentration of vitamin D alters adaptation to training and modifies immunological response to regular training process.