Effects Of Outdoor Exercise And Vitamin D3 Capsules Supplementation Interventions On Vitamin D Deficiency Of Swat Trainees
Liu, Yuxin Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: July 2020 - Volume 52 - Issue 7S - p 300-301
BACKGROUND: The Chinese special weapons and tactics (SWAT) trainees came from high school graduates, who have often lived in an indoor life style in China so long that many of them suffered from vitamin D deficiency, which made them at high risk of health problems that instructors had to face.
PURPOSE: To investigate the therapy effects of outdoor exercise and Vitamin D3 Capsules Supplementation, and their combination on vitamin D deficiency symptoms of SWAT trainees.
METHODS: 158 SWAT trainees with low Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were divided randomly into 3 groups:
Outdoor exercise (O),
Vitamin D3 Capsules group (C), and
their combination (OC).
Participants in O-group maintained the outdoor training for four months (4 hours per day) while C-group used oral Vitamin D3 Capsules, (2000IU per day) with indoor training (in the gym), finally OC-group took both outdoor exercise and Vitamin D3 Capsules at the same time. The healing rates (Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level went beyond 30ng/ml was considered as healing) were compared 4 months later. The Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, the whole body muscle mass increment (kg) and the heart rate change (beats per minute) on Head-up Tilt (HUT) were tested both before and after the intervention.
RESULTS: The healing rates of O, C and OC groups were 78.0, 90.9, 100%, respectively; the average Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in OC (32.28±5.74) group after the intervention was higher than O (26.99±7.83, p < 0.05, ηp2=0.58) and C (31.11±7.59, p < 0.05, ηp2=0.20), and the whole body muscle mass increment (2.28±0.54) was significantly higher than that in other two groups (p <0.05, for OC vs O, ηp2=0.28 ; for OC vs C, ηp2= 0.21). However, the heart rate change showed no statistically significant change.
CONCLUSIONS: A combination of outdoor exercise and Vitamin D3 capsules supplementation was effective for the 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in serum and could get a better result in the four-month vitamin D deficiency intervention.