Nowadays, overweight is one of the major factors of health problems in Malaysia. There are various ways weight loss has been suggested to get the optimal effect. Recent findings show that the sprint single bout of exercise can be suggested as an alternative exercise method that is more efficient in terms of time saving to reduce weight. Sprint interval training (SIT) in 2 weeks shows a potential to lose weight in short period of times. In this study, the effects of SIT was assessed on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, body fat percentage, pulse rate and blood pressure among overweight individuals. The subjects are from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) (n=10, age 23.8±0.42) with categorized as overweight with BMI 25.0 to 29.9 (men 29.9±3.75 and women 28.74±2.6). The protocol of SIT is consist of 1- minute warm up, cycling sprinting (Wingate anaerobic sprint) for 30 seconds, followed by 2- minutes of cooling down and rest for 5-minutes for each repeated session. This study shows that there were no significant difference on the effects of SIT on BMI, waist circumference, body fat percentage, pulse rate and blood pressure among overweight individuals (p
The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge and awareness of dietary supplements among athletes in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). Athletes (n=95, age: 22.5±2.4) completed a questionnaire on Google Docs regarding their habits and perceptions of dietary supplement intake. Among all respondents, 37 out of 95 (39%) took dietary supplements with the primary reason to improve energy (66%), strength (60%) or performance (59%). Athletes who did not take any supplement (58 out of 95; 61%) reported high supplement’s cost as their main reason (28%). The most chosen supplements are protein (43%), mass and strength gainer (19%), vitamin C (11%), energy booster, omega 3, and multivitamin (8% each), creatine, fat burner, vitamin B complex and BCAA (5%, each). The athletes believed that supplements are associated with health risk (75%), supplements can enhance performance (86%) and exercise increase the need for supplements (74%). They also believed that supplements can lead to positive doping results (61%), supplements are needed with a balanced diet (58%) and require more information provided on supplements (96%). The athletes reported that they stop consuming supplements when they are not in training season (71%). Majority of the athletes claimed that they have knowledge of the active ingredients contained in the supplements taken by them (41%), and they also reported that their coaches were their main source of information (59%). Although 66% of them agreed to obtain medical advice before consuming any supplement, there is still a need to develop a system whereby people involved in sports (especially coaches) should have deep knowledge about the different supplements and their effects. The source of knowledge is a critical step to avoid any misleading information, given that doping is a serious offence in competitive sports.