[News release] New music strategy shows 70 per cent increase in exercise adherence

From the 20 May 2015 University Health Network (Toronto) news release

The use of personalized music playlists with tempo-pace synchronization increases adherence to cardiac rehab by almost 70 per cent—according to a study published in Sports Medicine –Open.

“Cardiac rehab has been proven to improve long-term survival for someone who’s had a heart event by 20 per cent,” said Dr. David Alter, Senior Scientist, Toronto Rehab, University Health Network, and Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. “Our challenge is there is a high drop-out rate for these programs and suboptimal adherence to the self-management of physical activity.”

In Dr. Alter’s study, each research subject’s personalized playlist was the music genre they enjoyed with tempos that matched their pre-determined walking or running pace.

“The music tempo-pace synchronization helps cue the person to take their next step or stride and helps regulate, maintain and reinforce their prescribed exercise pace,” explained Dr. Alter, who is also Research Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention and Metabolic Rehabilitation at Toronto Rehab, UHN.

…

[News article] Playtime at the pool may boost youngsters’ bodies and brains

Ok, the emphasis is on “may”. “…[L]earning to swim early in life may give kids a head start in developing balance, body awareness and maybe even language and math skills.”
Am blessed to be able to swim at work during lunch. The campus has a gym, with swim privileges at the hotel pool on campus. Maybe the swim is keeping some math skills intact!

From the 20 May 2015 Science News article

…

Loosely based on something our mother told us, it’s that learning to swim early in life may give kids a head start in developing balance, body awareness and maybe even language and math skills.

Mom may have been right. A multi-year study released in 2012 suggests that kids who take swim lessons early in life appear to hit certain developmental milestones well before their nonswimming peers. In the study, Australian researchers surveyed about 7,000 parents about their children’s development and gave 177 kids aged 3 to 5 years standard motor, language, memory and attention tests. Compared with kids who didn’t spend much time in the water, kids who had taken swim lessons seemed to be more advanced at tasks like running and climbing stairs and standing on their tiptoes or on one leg, along with drawing, handling scissors and building towers out of blocks.

Hitting milestones related to motor skills isn’t so surprising, the authors note, since swimming is a very physical activity. A bit more unexpected, they say, are the swimming kids’ advanced skills in language and math — tasks like counting, naming objects and recognizing words and letters. Kids who swam also seemed to be better at following directions. And, in some areas, kids had proportionally better scores on the development tests relative to how long they had been taking lessons.

The authors admit that they can’t conclusively claim that swimming alone is responsible for the developmental advances because the analysis was based on survey data and limited testing with young children. “Simply, we can say that children who participate in swimming achieve a wide range of milestones … and skill, knowledge and dispositions … earlier than the normal population,” the researchers write.

…

Related articles

• Clumsy? Not stupid, possibly dyspraxia
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[News release] ​ Workplace Lifestyle Intervention Program Improves Health, Reduces Diabetes and Heart Disease Risks

In the past I’ve posted items that argue against workplace health programs. Perhaps some programs are better than others.

From the 6 March 2015 University of Pittsburg news release

A healthy lifestyle intervention program administered at the workplace and developed by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Healthsignificantly reduces risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, according to a study reported in the March issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The program was well-received by participants at Bayer Corp., who lost weight and increased the amount of physical activity they got each day, when compared with a control group in the study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

“Health care expenditures associated with diabetes are spiraling, causing widespread concern, particularly for employers who worry about employee health and productivity,” said lead author M. Kaye Kramer, Dr.P.H., assistant professor in Pitt Public Health’sDepartment of Epidemiology and director of the school’s Diabetes Prevention Support Center. “This leads to an interest in workplace health promotion; however, there are very few evidence-based programs that actually demonstrate improvement in employee health. This study found that our program not only improves health, but also that employees really like it.”

This demonstration program is based on the U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), a national study that found people at risk for diabetes who lost a modest amount of weight through diet and exercise sharply reduced their chances of developing diabetes, outperforming people who took a diabetes drug instead.

[Press release] Smartphone apps just as accurate as wearable devices for tracking physical activity

English: Image of an HTC Touch2 smartphone, also known as the HTC MEGA or HTC T3333. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Smartphone apps just as accurate as wearable devices for tracking physical activity 

From the 11 February 2015 Penn State press release

JAMA Paper Among the First to Compare Smartphone App vs. Wearable Device Accuracy

PHILADELPHIA — Although wearable devices have received significant attention for their ability to track an individual’s physical activity, most smartphone applications are just as accurate, according to a new research letter in JAMA. The study tested 10 of the top-selling smartphone apps and devices in the United States by having 14 participants walk on a treadmill for 500 and 1,500 steps, each twice (for a total of 56 trials), and then recording their step counts. Led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, this study is a follow-up to a recent JAMA viewpoint suggesting that there’s little evidence that wearable devices alone can change behavior and improve health for those that need it mos

…

“Since step counts are such an important part of how these devices and apps measure physical activity, including calculating distance or calories burned, their accuracy is key,” said senior author Mitesh S. Patel, MD, MBA, MS, assistant professor of Medicine and Health Care Management at Penn and an attending physician at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. “Compared to the one to two percent of adults in the U.S. that own a wearable device, more than 65 percent of adults carry a smartphone. Our findings suggest that smartphone apps could prove to be a more widely accessible and affordable way of tracking health behaviors.”

 

[Repost] Sitting for long periods increases risk of disease and early death, regardless of exercise — ScienceDaily

Sitting for long periods increases risk of disease and early death, regardless of exercise — ScienceDaily.

Excerpts from the 19 January 2015 article

Source:

University Health Network (UHN)

Summary:

The amount of time a person sits during the day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and death, regardless of regular exercise, according to a review study.

The amount of time a person sits during the day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and death, regardless of regular exercise.

Credit: © elen31 / Fotolia

The amount of time a person sits during the day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and death, regardless of regular exercise, according to a review study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

“More than one half of an average person’s day is spent being sedentary — sitting, watching television, or working at a computer,” said Dr. David Alter, Senior Scientist, Toronto Rehab, University Health Network (UHN), and Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. “Our study finds that despite the health-enhancing benefits of physical activity, this alone may not be enough to reduce the risk for disease.”

……

The authors found the negative effects of sitting time on health, however, are more pronounced among those who do little or no exercise than among those who participate in higher amounts of exercise.

……

“Avoiding sedentary time and getting regular exercise are both important for improving your health and survival,” said Dr. Alter. “It is not good enough to exercise for 30 minutes a day and be sedentary for 23 and half hours.”

In the interim, Dr. Alter underlines strategies people can use to reduce sitting time. The target is to decrease sedentary time by two to three hours in a 12-hour day.

…..

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[Repost] The Healthy Woman: A Complete Guide for all Ages

 

The Healthy Woman: A Complete Guide for all Ages | Publications.USA.gov.

Can be downloaded for free!

A comprehensive reference with helpful charts and personal stories. The guide covers major diseases, aging mental health, reproductive health, nutrition and alternative medicine. It also provices advice on common screening tests and immunizations you may need. (Previous item number: 107W)

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Released: 2008
Pages: 500

[Repost] Active aging is much more than exercise

Active aging is much more than exercise

“30 years ago, the elderly were not expected to be active at all – they were actually advised not to exercise as it was considered dangerous. Playing cards were seen as a more fitting activity. Today, we are all expected to live active, healthy lives until the day we die – in good health – at the age of 90. Old age has, in a sense, been cancelled, says PhD Aske Juul Lassen from University of Copenhagen’s Center for Healthy Aging.

Aske Juul Lassen has just defended his PhD thesis entitled Active Ageing and the Unmaking of Old Age for which he has conducted field work in two activity centres for the elderly in Greater Copenhagen and analysed WHO’s and EU’s official policy papers on active ageing.

“I compare the EU and WHO perceptions of ageing with the everyday activities I have observed among the elderly. The elderly do a lot of things, which I consider active ageing and which give them an enhanced quality of life, but they are also activities that would never be characterized as “healthy” by health authorities. The question is how we define “good ageing” and how we organise society for our ageing generations.”

Billiards and beer can also be active ageing

One of the everyday activities Aske Juul Lassen observed was billiards: In one of the activity centres for the elderly, in which he conducted field work, 10-15 men between the ages of 70 and 95 meet to play billiards four times a week.

“Playing billiards often comes with a certain life style – drinking beer and drams for instance – and I am quite sure this was not what WHO and EU meant when they formulated their active ageing policies. But billiards does constitute active ageing. Billiards is, first of all, an activity that these men thoroughly enjoy and that enhances their quality of life while immersing them in their local community and keeping them socially active. And billiards is, secondly, very suitable exercise for old people because the game varies naturally between periods of activity and passivity and this means that the men can keep playing for hours. Not very many old people can endure physical activity that lasts five hours, but billiards enables these men to spread their physical activity out through the day,” says Aske Juul Lassen.

“We therefore need a broader, more inclusive concept of healthy and active ageing that allows for the communities the elderly already take part in and that positively impact their everyday lives, quality of life, and general health. It must also allow for the fact that the elderly do not constitute a homogenous group of people: activities that for some seem insurmountable will be completely natural for others.”

According to Aske Juul Lassen, one of the positive side effects of the activities at the activity centres for the elderly is that the activities take their minds off illness; they do not focus as much on their ailments when they are engaged in billiards or some of the other activities that the centres have on offer.

###

Contact
Contact: Aske Juul Lassen
ajlas@hum.ku.dk
45-22-92-02-12
University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Humanities

Press officer Carsten Munk Hansen
Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen
Cell: +45 28 75 80 23

Go4Life – Great Outline on Four Types of Exercises from the US National Institute on Aging

Go4Life.

Great ideas on a variety of exercises. Not for seniors only!

[Reblog] Public Health: A New Frontier for Exercise Science Professionals

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Move and Be Well

Many people are confused about what the term public health means.  As I have been working on the development of an academic course I have found myself having to explain to others what public health is.  Public health is a field that encompasses many disciplines in an effort to promote and protect health and prevent disease and disability in defined populations and communities. We’re not talking about individuals and their health behaviors. Public health deals with large groups of people and health issues which can be defined very differently depending on what health issue we are talking about.  Groups of people can be defined by things like location or where they physically live, for example, by city.  Or, populations can be defined/grouped by a demographic like age, gender, and so on.

Why am I blogging about public health?  I feel it’s necessary for all allied health  professionals to have a…

View original post 520 more words

[News article] Exercise as Potent Medicine

Believe there is some truth to this. Once I started exercising regularly (at least 30 minutes four times a week), my LDL was raised considerably.  My doctor was a bit taken aback.

 

“…drugs and exercise produced almost exactly the same [risk of dying] results”

From the 11 December 2013 New York Times article

Exercise can be as effective as many frequently prescribed drugs in treating some of the leading causes of death, according to a new report. The study raises important questions about whether our health care system focuses too much on medications and too little on activity to combat physical ailments.

For the study, which was published in October in BMJ, researchers compared how well various drugs and exercise succeed in reducing deaths among people who have been diagnosed with several common and serious conditions, including heart disease and diabetes.

…

The results consistently showed that drugs and exercise produced almost exactly the same results. People with heart disease, for instance, who exercised but did not use commonly prescribed medications, including statins, angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors or antiplatelet drugs, had the same risk of dying from — or surviving — heart disease as patients taking those drugs. Similarly, people with diabetes who exercised had the same relative risk of dying from the condition as those taking the most commonly prescribed drugs. Or as the researchers wrote in statistics-speak, “When compared head to head in network meta-analyses, all interventions were not different beyond chance.”

On the other hand, people who once had suffered a stroke had significantly less risk of dying from that condition if they exercised than if they used medications — although the study authors note that stroke patients who can exercise may have been unusually healthy to start with.

Only in chronic heart failure were drugs noticeably more effective than exercise. Diuretics staved off mortality better than did exercise.

…

“We are not suggesting that anyone stop taking their medications,” he said. “But maybe people could think long and hard about their lifestyles and talk to their doctors” about whether exercise could and should be incorporated into their care.

Related articles

• Exercise IS medical therapy! (getsane.org)
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Commuting’s Hidden Cost – NYTimes.com

Commuting’s Hidden Cost – NYTimes.com.

Excerpts

…

Millions of Americans like her pay dearly for their dependence on automobiles, losing hours a day that would be better spent exercising, socializing with family and friends, preparing home-cooked meals or simplygetting enough sleep. The resulting costs to both physical and mental healthare hardly trivial.

Suburban sprawl “has taken a huge toll on our health,” wrote Ms. Gallagher, an editor at Fortune magazine. “Research has been piling up that establishes a link between the spread of sprawl and the rise of obesity in our country. Researchers have also found that people get less exercise as the distances among where we live, work, shop and socialize increase.

“In places where people walk more, obesity rates are much lower,” she noted. “New Yorkers, perhaps the ultimate walkers, weigh six or seven pounds less on average than suburban Americans.”

A recent study of 4,297 Texans compared their health with the distances they commuted to and from work.It showed that as these distances increased, physical activity and cardiovascular fitness dropped, and blood pressure, body weight, waist circumference and metabolic risks rose.

The report, published last year in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine by Christine M. Hoehner and colleagues from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Cooper Institute in Dallas, provided causal evidence for earlier findings that linked the time spent driving to an increased risk of cardiovascular death. The study examined the effects of a lengthy commute on health over the course of seven years. It revealed that driving more than 10 miles one way, to and from work, five days a week was associated with an increased risk of developing high blood sugar and high cholesterol. The researchers also linked long driving commutes to a greater risk of depression, anxiety and social isolation, all of which can impair the quality and length of life

….

Read the entire article here

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Wellocracy aims to help trackers choose and use health apps and devices

From the 25 October 2012 blog post by Patrick J. Skerrett, Executive Editor, Harvard Health

There’s something satisfying about getting immediate feedback about exercise, sleep, and other activities. That’s why more and more people are joining the “quantified-self” movement. It involves formal tracking of health and habits, usually using apps and devices that feed data to them—from heart rate, activity, and sleep monitors to Bluetooth connected scales. I haven’t yet become a full-fledged member, partly because having so many apps and connected devices on the market makes it hard to decide which ones are worth trying.

I’m hoping that Wellocracy will help. This website, launched by the Harvard-affiliatedCenter for Connected Health, aims to give people like me impartial information about fitness trackers, mobile health apps, and other self-help technologies.

Wellocracy lists dozens of sleep trackers, wearable activity trackers, mobile running apps, and mobile pedometer apps, each with a mini-review and a “what we wish it had” listing. The site lets you compare apps and devices in each of the four categories. The compare feature isn’t yet as helpful as those from Consumer Health Reports, but that may be coming.

The site also provides a guide for beginners like me, and offers tips for adding activity “bursts” throughout the day.

“There are millions of people struggling to eat well, exercise, manage a chronic disease or decrease other health risks. Wellocracy will help them select and use digital health tools, understand their individual motivations, and make incremental lifestyle changes that can easily be incorporated into busy schedules,” said Wellocracy founder, Dr. Joseph C. Kvedar, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.

One theme the site promotes is “stickiness.” That means finding motivational strategies, apps, and devices that help you stay on track to achieve your goals. You can calculate your “stickiness factor” on the website.

Maybe the information on Wellocracy is enough to nudge me from contemplation to action.

Related Information: Exercise: A program you can live with

Related Resources

Health and Wellness Information Apps for locating information for personal health and wellness Health and Fitness Tracking Apps to help you enter and store your personal health and fitness information quickly   These may be helpful when selecting health apps   How to Choose A Better Health App (by LEXANDER V. PROKHOROV, MD, PHD  at KevinMD.com on August 8, 2011) contains advice in the following areas Set realistic expectations Avoid apps that promise too much Research the developers Choose apps that use techniques you’ve heard of See what other users say Test apps before committing  iMedical apps has mobile medical app reviews and commentary by medical professionals. Most apps are about  apps geared toward professionals and are not free.          The iMedical app forum now includes a medical librarian corner, with some patient/consumer apps

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[Reblog] All work and no play… Could too much sitting at work be affecting your health?

From the 11 October 2013 post at Cardiac Exercise Research Group  – The K.G. Jebsen Center for Exercise in Medicine’s blog about exercise and cardiac health

There remains little doubt that lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle represent key health problems in today’s modern society. A quick search on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) website and you’ll find that physical inactivity ranks 4^th in the global leading risk factors for mortality, with many countries around the world demonstrating a trend for women to be less active than men. While health organisations around the world are making a concerted effort to encourage the general public to incorporate exercise into their leisure and free time, this may not be the only period of our day that is dominated by sedentary behavior. Work forms one of the largest segments of sedentary time for employed individuals, and current trends have shifted parts of the working population into less active, ‘sitting’ jobs.

But what does this mean for our long-term health? One study, published last month in PLoS ONE, aimed to answer this question by assessing the impact of occupational sitting on the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality from a large number of British men and women. Stamatakis and colleagues gathered data from identical health surveys conducted in England and Scotland between 1994 and 2004. Subjects (5380 women, 5788 men) were classified based on whether the majority of time in their job was spent walking, standing or sitting. Subjects were further categorized on levels of physical activity during free time, alcohol intake, smoking, socioeconomic status, and whether they had cardiovascular disease or cancer at the time of the survey. The mortality rate (number of deaths) was then monitored over a 13 year follow-up period.

The major findings reported by this study were that standing/walking occupations carried a lower risk of mortality from either all-causes or cancer, in women but not men. When the researchers further compared groups based on free-time physical activity levels, they found that in both men and women, high levels of free-time physical activity coupled with a standing/walking occupation was associated with a lower risk of cancer and all-cause mortality versus low free-time activity coupled with sitting occupation. At first glance, it could be easy to take the results at face value, but there are limitations to the study design which the authors themselves highlight: Much of the data is self-reported, which may introduce bias, especially when it comes to levels of physical activity during free-time. In addition, there was no information available on how long individuals had been in their current jobs, nor was there any data for people switching jobs during the 13 year follow-up, which may have eventually placed them into a different category. The findings are also surprising given that a similar study published earlier in the year, found that even moderate free-time exercise was enough to reduce the risk of both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, regardless of levels of physical activity in work.

The issue still seems unresolved, and it has also been discussed here on the blog earlier. Current exercise recommendations from the Norwegian Directorate of Health suggest daily physical activity levels should be at least 30 min, a total 3.5 hours per week, which has been shown in a number of studies to confer significant benefits to health and an overall decrease in mortality rates. However, a busy lifestyle, coupled with raising a family may make this target difficult to reach during our leisure time, making activity levels at work a significant factor in overall health. Everything is better than nothing, and maintaining a physically active lifestyle outside of work hours will contribute significantly to achieve the health benefits of exercise. However, if you’re still worried and have been sat at your desk for the last few hours, when you reach the end of this sentence, why not stand up and take a walk?

Allen Kelly, post doc at CERG.

 

 

Read the entire article here

Related articles

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Water Exercises

IF you’re only swimming laps when you’re in the water, then you’re missing out on a fun strength-training workout.

Water offers 12 times as much resistance as air, so it’s easy to do a total body workout quickly with the help of just a kickboard.

Sara Haley, a Santa Monica, California-based celebrity trainer who has developed workouts for “Cirque du Soleil” and created the DVD Sweat Unlimited(amazon.com), has put together this water workout, which provides cardio and toning. You may repeat the entire sequence two to three times.

Lunge and swoosh

Muscles targeted: Chest, glutes and legs

Warm up with this move. Stand in shallow water with your feet together, holding a kickboard at your chest. Since this is a warm-up, keep light resistance, with only about a third of the kickboard in the water.

Step out to the right in a plie squat (hips rotated out). As you squat, swoosh the kickboard (or just your arms if you don’t have a kickboard) in a big half circle to the right. Repeat to your left.

Continue alternating right and left – four on each side.

The ‘jog and kick’.

Jog and kick

Muscles targeted: Quads, hamstrings, back, triceps and core

With straight arms, hold the long sides of the kickboard above your head. Alternate lifting your knees to your chest eight times. Then, push the kickboard down into the water to chest level so one side is facing you.

To keep the kickboard under the water with straight arms, you’ll need to squeeze your shoulder blades together, engaging your triceps and back. As you hold the kickboard, alternate kicking your bottom, doing hamstring curls eight times.

Repeat the entire exercise eight times, trying to increase your speed. It should be difficult to breathe by the time you’re done.

Push and lift

Muscles targeted: Chest, core, legs and glutes

Begin with your feet together, holding your kickboard against your chest. Step one foot forward into a lunge position, pushing the kickboard forward so your arms are straight.

The deeper the kickboard is, the harder this exercise will be.

Hinge at the hips and lift your back leg up as if you are trying to kick your foot out of the water. Point your foot and pulse your back leg up so that your foot flutter kicks out of the water six times.

Lower your leg, step back together, bringing your kickboard back to your chest and repeat on the other side. Continue alternating right and left for a total of eight times.

Cowboy knees

Muscles targeted: Obliques

Hold the kickboard behind your head to help open your chest. Turning out from your hips, lift your right leg up. As your knee lifts, your upper body should also lift up and over toward your knee so your knee and elbow come closer together.

Repeat 10 times on the right side and then 10 times on the left. Finish by alternating right and left at a quick pace 10 times.

Bye-bye saddlebags

Muscles targeted: Outer thighs and glutes

Hold your kickboard on your left side for support. Your left forearm rests on the board and your right arm crosses in front of your body so your right hand can also rest gently on the board. The kickboard will help support your balance.

Let your left leg turn out (your knee may bend slightly – this will be your supporting leg). Lift your right heel up to the side to hip level. Lift and lower 10 times. On your last rep, keep your leg lifted and pulse it up 10 times. Repeat on the other side.

Upper-body blast

Muscles targeted: Back, biceps and triceps

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold your kickboard like a plate. Slowly push the kickboard straight down into the water, and then curl it back up toward your chest.

Repeat the sequence eight times. Count to four as you lower and lift it again.

Abs tuck and twist

Muscles targeted: Abs and obliques

You don’t need your kickboard for this one. Start with your feet together and your elbows bent so your hands are up at your chest. Soften your knees and then jump, bringing your knees to your chest.

As your knees come up, push your hands into the water. Repeat eight times.

Then, repeat the entire exercise but angle your knees to your right, keeping your torso to the front so you can work your left oblique, repeating eight times. Do the same to the left.

Finally, tuck to the front, angle to the right, tuck to the front, angle to the left and repeat four times. – Chicago Tribune/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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Paleo diet for nutrition and long term health?

“the main reason is that early humans did not suffer from those chronic diseases is that they did not live long enough (life expectancy ~30-40 years). They were also physically active and had lower energy intakes than most people do today.”
Good observation

USDA Supertracker -Our Third Week of Tracking Nutrition & Physical Activity

My husband and I are on the third week of using the USDA online tool Supertracker to monitor our daily nutrition intake and physical activity.

We have begun to change our eating habits. For example, I am eating more fruit and drinking more milk to get calcium and potassium.
Unsalted unbuttered air popped popcorn has been re-discovered as a whole grain. Meat consumption has decreased. Cocoa powder is not as tasty as the chocolate in store bought chocolate milk. But another source of high fructose corn syrup no longer is in our fridge.

It is a good thing I am using this as a lifestyle tool, not with a goal to lose weight. My weight has stayed the same despite sticking to overall calories and having a great physical activity report. So, although I would like to lose 10 pounds, I will have to look at other factors, as sleep quality.

As noted in a previous post, I am going to be looking into vegan nutrient sources to replace some of my dairy and meat.

Some thoughts on the pros and cons of Supertracker.

Pros

• One place to go for tracking both nutrition and physical activity
• Easy to use.  food and activity selections are made by entering a word or phrase and then selecting from the resultant options
• Throughout the day one can monitor levels of consumed fats, oils, calories, nutrients as well as see how one’s food choices stack against daily food targets.
• Entered foods can be modified (as portion size) or deleted. This is a great decision making tool, including snack options later in the day.
• One can opt for calorie allotment based on previous week’s physical activity

Cons

• Does not include all foods (especially convenience/packaged foods)
• When entering homemade,  you are probably best off entering ingredients individually.  USDA food options having several ingredients tend to be convenience/packaged which are are high in sodium.
• Physical activity tracker seems to be a work in progress. For example, the range of weight lifting activities seems to be sparse.
• Physical activity options are “canned”. They do not allow for individual heart rates.
• Long range reports can be done for data on individual nutrient levels. However overall long range reports for nutrition are only averages.
• It does take time to enter one’s data!

Exercise Could Fortify Immune System Against Future Cancers

Physical exercise (Photo credit: zhaffsky)

 

From the 10 October article at Science News Daily

 

Researchers may soon be able to add yet another item to the list of exercise’s well-documented health benefits: A preliminary study suggests that when cancer survivors exercise for several weeks after they finish chemotherapy, their immune systems remodel themselves to become more effective, potentially fending off future incidents of cancer. The finding may help explain why exercise can significantly reduce the chances of secondary cancers in survivors or reduce the chances of cancer altogether in people who have never had the disease…

..

“What we’re suggesting is that with exercise, you might be getting rid of T cells that aren’t helpful and making room for T cells that might be helpful,” Bilek says.

She adds that this finding highlights the importance of exercise for all, including those with cancer and cancer survivors. These two populations might benefit especially from the heightened “cancer surveillance” — the ability of the immune system to seek out and destroy budding cancers — that this study suggests exercise brings, Bilek explains.

“There’s a litany of positive benefits from exercise,” Bilek says. “If exercise indeed strengthens the immune system and potentially improves cancer surveillance, it’s one more thing we should educate patients about as a reason they should schedule regular activity throughout their day and make it a priority in their lives.”

 

Related articles

• Exercise Helps Immune System Protect Against Future Cancers (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Small Pilot Study Suggests That T Cells Become More Responsive In Exercising Cancer Survivors Weeks After Chemo Ends (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Exercise Helps Immune System Protect Against Future Cancers – Medical News Today (drugstoresource.wordpress.com)
• How the Immune System Attacks Cancer (restoreimmunehealthdotcom2.wordpress.com)

 

Healthy outlook leads to a healthy lifestyle: study

 

Healthy outlook leads to a healthy lifestyle: study.

From the 13 September 2012 press release

Researchers from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research analysed data on the diet, exercise and personality type of more than 7000 people.

The study found those who believe their life can be changed by their own actions ate healthier food, exercised more, smoked less and avoided binge drinking.

Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark, Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, said those who have a greater faith in ‘luck’ or ‘fate’ are more likely to live an unhealthy life.

“Our research shows a direct link between the type of personality a person has and a healthy lifestyle,” she said.

Professor Cobb-Clark hoped the study would help inform public health policies on conditions such as obesity.

“The main policy response to the obesity epidemic has been the provision of better information, but information alone is insufficient to change people’s eating habits,” she said.

“Understanding the psychological underpinning of a person’s eating patterns and exercise habits is central to understanding obesity.”

The study also found men and women hold different views on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

Men wanted physical results from their healthy choices, while women were more receptive to the everyday enjoyment of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Professor Cobb-Clarke said the research demonstrated the need for more targeted policy responses.

“What works well for women may not work well for men,” she said.

“Gender specific policy initiatives which respond to these objectives may be particularly helpful in promoting healthy lifestyles.”

###

The study used data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.

Related articles

• Healthy outlook leads to a healthy lifestyle, study suggests (sciencedaily.com)
• 10 Ways to Be Healthier (apartmentguide.com)
• Keeping Up a Healthy Lifestyle Pays Off in Added Years (nlm.nih.gov)
• Healthy lifestyle prevents dementia like Alzheimer’s (foodconsumer.org)

 

30 Minutes Of Exercise Each Day Is Better Than One Hour

Working Out (Photo credit: Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums)

From the 24 August 2012 article at Medical News Today

According to a study published in theAmerican Journal of Physiology, 30 minutes of daily exercise is just as effective for losing weight as 60 minutes

30 participants were assigned to engage in exercise for one hour per day, wearing a heart-rate monitor and calorie counter. The other 30 participants were assigned to 30 minutes per day. The team found that 30 minutes of daily exercise was enough to lose weight.

Mads Rosenkilde, Ph.D. student, Department of Biomedical Sciences said: “On average, the men who exercised 30 minutes a day lose 3.6 kilo in three months, while those who exercised for a whole hour only lost 2.7 kg. The reduction in body mass was about 4 kg for both groups.”

Rosenkilde continued:

“Participants exercising 30 minutes per day burned more calories than they should relative to the training program we set for them. In fact we can see that exercising for a whole hour instead of a half does not provide any additional loss in either body weight or fat. The men who exercised the most lost too little relative to the energy they burned by running, biking or rowing. 30 minutes of concentrated exercise give equally good results on the scale.”

According to the researchers, one explanation for their findings is that half an hour of exercise is so doable that study participants had the desire and energy for more physical activity after their daily exercise session. Furthermore, those who exercised for 60 minutes per day probably ate more, thus their weight loss was slightly less than anticipated.

Rosenkilde said:

“The participants in our study trained every day for three months. All training sessions were planned to produce a light sweat, but participants were expected to increase the intensity and give it gas three times a week.

Another interesting scenario is to study exercise as a form of transport. Training is fantastic for your physical and mental health. The problem is that it takes time. If we can get people to exercise along the way – to work, for example – we will have won half the battle.”

..

Related articles

• Why weight loss advice may be unethical (KevinMD.com)

  An issue of Newsweek quotes me as saying, “A lot of our weight-loss recommendations are unethical because we shouldn’t be saying lose weight when there is no chance people will keep it off.“

  This quote appears in the context of a lengthy article by Daniel Heimpel that examines whether or not the obesity epidemic is being oversold.

  While I personally do not think that the obesity epidemic is being oversold, I do stand by my statement that most of the weight loss advice given to patients with overweight or obesity is unethical.

  In medical school, I was thought the principle of “primum non nocere” or “first, do no harm.” This principle begs us to always consider the possible outcomes (including the unintended ones) of any actions that we take with our patients, including of course the advice we give them.

  So what are the potential ethical concerns about telling someone to lose weight?..

  [Read the rest of the article here]

   

• ‘Fitness and Fatness’: Not All Obese People Have the Same Prognosis; Second Study Sheds Light On ‘Obesity Paradox’(Science Daily)

People can be obese but metabolically healthy and fit, with no greater risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer than normal weight people, according to the largest study ever to have investigated this seeming paradox…

..

“There are two major findings derived from our study. Firstly, a better cardio-respiratory fitness level should be considered from now on as a characteristic of this subset of metabolically healthy obese people. Secondly, once fitness is accounted for, our study shows for the first time that metabolically healthy but obese individuals have similar prognosis as metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals, and a better prognosis than their obese peers with an abnormal metabolic profile.”

The researchers say their findings have important clinical implications. “Our data suggest that accurate BF% and fitness assessment can contribute to properly define a subset of obese individuals who do not have an elevated risk of CVD [cardiovascular disease] or cancer,” they write.

Dr Ortega added: “Physician should take into consideration that not all obese people have the same prognosis. Physician could assess fitness, fatness and metabolic markers to do a better estimation of the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer of obese patients. Our data support the idea that interventions might be more urgently needed in metabolically unhealthy and unfit obese people, since they are at a higher risk. This research highlights once again the important role of physical fitness as a health marker.”..

[Read entire article here]

 

• Can Two-Minute Sprints Burn as Many Calories as a 30-Minute Workout?(Time.Healthland)

Studies suggest you should be squeezing in some heart-pumping cardio, no matter how little time you have to spare

• 30 minutes of exercise ‘better than an hour of training’ for weight loss (todayonline.com)
• Less Is More With Exercise, Study Says (news.health.com)
• 30 minutes exercise ‘better than an hour of training’ for weight loss (telegraph.co.uk)
• Exercising 30 Minutes Daily As Good As 60 For Weight Loss (medicalnewstoday.com)
• 30 Minutes of Exercise Is More Than Enough (losethattyre.co.uk)
• News Flash: Thirty Minutes Of Exercise Is All You Need To Lose Weight (new102.cbslocal.com)
• Study: Work out less to lose more weight (kshb.com)
• 30 minutes of daily exercise does the trick (eurekalert.org)

30 Minutes of Daily Exercise Does the Trick: Same Effect in Half the Time

 

From the 22 August 2012 article at Science News Daily

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have shown that 30 minutes of daily training provide an equally effective loss of weight and body mass as 60 minutes. Their results have just been published in the American Journal of Physiology.

On average, the men who exercised 30 minutes a day lost 3.6 kilo in three months, while those who exercised for a whole hour only lost 2.7 kg. The reduction in body mass was about 4 kg for both groups,” reports Mads Rosenkilde, PhD student, Department of Biomedical Sciences.

30 minutes of exercise training provide an extra bonus: “Participants exercising 30 minutes per day burned more calories than they should relative to the training program we set for them. In fact we can see that exercising for a whole hour instead of a half does not provide any additional loss in either body weight or fat. The men who exercised the most lost too little relative to the energy they burned by running, biking or rowing. 30 minutes of concentrated exercise give equally good results on the scale,” explains Mads Rosenkilde.

Motivation to exercise

Mads Rosenkilde postulates that some of the explanation for the surprising results is that 30 minutes of exercise is so doable that participants in the study had the desire and energy for even more physical activity after their daily exercise session. In addition, the study group that spent 60 minutes on the treadmill probably ate more, and therefore lost slightly less weight than anticipated.

Related articles

• 30 Minutes Of Exercise Each Day Is Better Than One Hour (medicalnewstoday.com)
• 30 minutes of daily exercise does the trick (eurekalert.org)
• Study: Work out less to lose more weight (kshb.com)
• 30 minutes of exercise ‘better than an hour of training’ for weight loss (todayonline.com)
• Exercising 30 Minutes Daily As Good As 60 For Weight Loss (medicalnewstoday.com)
• 30 Minutes of Daily Exercise Does the Trick: Same Effect in Half the Time (sott.net)
• Less Is More, Guys (lewrockwell.com)
• 30 Minutes of Daily Exercise Enough to Shed Pounds (webmd.com)
• 30 minutes exercise ‘better than an hour of training’ for weight loss (telegraph.co.uk)
• 60 Minutes Of Working Out Doesn’t Make You Lose More Weight Than 30 Minutes (businessinsider.com)

 

Free exercise video library

A few months ago I was looking for a resource where one could search for exercises associated with muscle groups.
To be honest, I gave up.
Then this morning I came across this via a comment here on this blog.

http://www.exercise.com/exercises

A few caveats

• The About page really doesn’t identify who they are and what their professional qualifications are
• No mention where their information comes from
• No mention of the purpose of the Web site or sources of revenue

 

Research debunks bodybuilding myth: Growth-promoting hormones don’t stimulate strength

Muscles! (Photo credit: Unlisted Sightings)

From the 14 June 2012 EurekAlert

New research from scientists at McMaster University reveals exercise-related testosterone and growth hormone do not play an influential role in building muscle after weightlifting, despite conventional wisdom suggesting otherwise.

The findings indicate that bodybuilders who look to manipulate those hormones through exercise routines are wasting their time.

In two separate studies, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology and the European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers found anabolic hormones—long thought to be essential for building a muscular frame—do not influence muscle protein synthesis, the process that leads to bigger muscles.

“A popular mindset for weightlifters is that increased levels of hormones after exercise play a key role in building muscle,” explains Daniel West, lead author of both studies and a graduate student in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster. “That is simply not the case.”

In the first study, researchers examined the responses of both male and female participants to intense leg exercise. Despite a 45-fold difference in testosterone increase, men and women were able to make new muscle protein at exactly the same rate.

“Since new muscle proteins eventually add up to muscle growth, this is an important finding,” says West.

“While testosterone is definitely anabolic and promotes muscle growth in men and women at high doses, such as those used during steroid abuse, our findings show that naturally occurring levels of testosterone do not influence the rate of muscle protein synthesis.”

In the second study, researchers analyzed the post-exercise hormonal responses of 56 young men, aged 18 to 30, who trained five days a week for 12 weeks in total.

The men experienced gains in muscle mass that ranged from virtually nothing to more than 12 pounds, yet their levels of testosterone and growth hormone after exercise showed no relationship to muscle growth or strength gain.

Surprisingly, the researchers noted that cortisol—considered to have the opposite effect of anabolic hormones because it reduces protein synthesis and breaks down tissue—was related to the gain in muscle mass.

“The idea that you can or should base entire exercise training programs on trying to manipulate testosterone or growth hormone levels is false,” says Stuart Phillips, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology. “There is simply no evidence to support this concept.”

 

Related articles

• Research debunks bodybuilding myth: Growth-promoting hormones don’t stimulate strength (esciencenews.com)

NINIH-funded study examines use of mobile technology to improve diet and activity behavior

From the May National Institutes of Health (NIH) press release

A new study, supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, suggests that a combination of mobile technology and remote coaching holds promise in encouraging healthier eating and physical activity behavior in adults. The study focused on the best way to change multiple health behaviors.

The study results will appear Monday, May 28, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, with an accompanying commentary authored by William Riley, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and program director for the NHLBI.

Scientists from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, along with colleagues from other institutions, studied 204 overweight and obese adults. Prior to enrollment, participants had a diet high in saturated fat and low in fruits and vegetables. They also engaged in little daily physical activity and had high amounts of sedentary leisure time.

Each participant was assigned to one of four groups:

• Increase fruit and vegetable intake and increase time in moderate/vigorous physical activity
• Increase fruit and vegetable intake and reduce time in sedentary leisure activities
• Decrease fat intake and increase time in moderate/vigorous physical activity
• Decrease fat intake and decrease time in sedentary leisure activities

All participants received mobile devices and were trained on entering information about their daily activities and eating patterns. Coaches studied the data received and then phoned or emailed participants to encourage and support healthy changes during the three-week study. Participants were also asked to continue to track and submit their data over a 20-week follow-up period. Financial incentives for reaching study goals during the study and continuing participation during the follow-up period were offered.

All four groups showed improvements in reaching the assigned health goals, with the most striking results occurring in the group asked to increase fruit and vegetable intake and reduce sedentary leisure activities. The researchers found after 20 weeks of follow up that this group’s average daily servings of fruits and vegetables increased from 1.2 to 2.9; their average minutes per day of sedentary leisure activity dropped from 219.2 to 125.7; and the percentage of saturated fat in their daily calories went from 12 to 9.9.

In his commentary, Riley noted that the use of mobile technology to improve cardiovascular health is worth further study of the effects on health outcomes and costs. Mobile technology offers the chance to deliver key health messages without waiting for intermittent visits with health care providers, he said.

Related articles

• Leaving the couch, eating more fruits and vegetables may lead to sustained … – CBS News (cbsnews.com)
• Just Making Two Lifestyle Changes Spurs Big And Lasting Results (medicalnewstoday.com)
• How Your Phone Could Help You Lead A Healthier Lifestyle (huffingtonpost.com)
• NIH-funded study – mobile technology used to improve diet and activity behavior (ehrandsocialservices.com)
• Study examines use of mobile technology to improve diet, physical activity behavior (medicalxpress.com)
• Cash, Coaching May Boost Healthy Living (nlm.nih.gov)
• NIH-funded study examines use of mobile technology to improve diet and physical activity behavior (eurekalert.org)
• Cash, Coaching May Boost Healthy Living (news.health.com)

Exercise and a Healthy Diet of Fruits and Vegetables Extends Life Expectancy in Women in Their 70s

From the 29 May 2012 article at Science News Daily

Women in their seventies who exercise and eat healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables have a longer life expectancy, according to research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society….

…Researchers at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University studied 713 women aged 70 to 79 years who took part in the Women’s Health and Aging Studies. This study was designed to evaluate the causes and course of physical disability in older women living in the community.

“A number of studies have measured the positive impact of exercise and healthy eating on life expectancy, but what makes this study unique is that we looked at these two factors together,” explains lead author, Dr. Emily J Nicklett, from the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Researchers found that the women who were most physically active and had the highest fruit and vegetable consumption were eight times more likely to survive the five-year follow-up period than the women with the lowest rates…

Related articles

• Exercise and a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables extends life expectancy in women in their 70s (eurekalert.org)
• Popular Ways to Increase Life Expectancy (termlifeinsurance.org)
• Jogging increases life expectancy (toddlohenry.com)
• Study: New Jersey Residents Have Longest Life Expectancy In Nation (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Life spans in many U.S. counties compare to the poorest nations (kansascity.com)
• Regular jogging shows dramatic increase in life expectancy (esciencenews.com)
• 100 Years of Carrots? How Much Does Diet Really Affect Longevity? (organicauthority.com)
• Leaving the couch, eating more fruits and vegetables may lead to sustained … – CBS News (cbsnews.com)

How Exercising In Different Natural Environments Benefits Your Health And Well-Being

From the 22 April Medical News Today article

Katherine Ashbullby and her colleagues from the two institutions studied data from 2750 English respondents drawn from Natural England’s two-year study of people’s engagement with the natural environment. They looked at people who had visited urban parks, the countryside and the coast.

They found that all outdoor locations were associated with positive feelings (enjoyment, calmness, refreshment), but that visits to the coast were most beneficial and visits to urban parks least beneficial. This finding remained when the researchers took account of factors like people’s age, how far they had travelled, the presence of others and the activity they undertook.

Dr White, a lecturer in health and risk from the ECEHH, says: “There is a lot of work on the beneficial effects of visiting natural environments, but our findings suggest it is time to move beyond a simple urban vs rural debate and start looking at the effect that different natural environments have on people’s health and well-being.” …

Digital games emerge as new tool to foster health, exercise: Playing for health

Entire Gaming Setup (Photo credit: Cinder6)

The Wii console by Nintendo. Featured with the Wiimote. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Digital games emerge as new tool to foster health, exercise: Playing for health

From the Nation’s Health

These days, students at Halcyon Elementary School in Montgomery, Ala., cannot wait to get to physical education class.

As part of Alabama’s Wee Can Fight Obesity campaign, Halcyon Elementary is one of dozens of schools that received a free Nintendo Wii Fit, a video game system that requires players to move around to earn points, also known as ‘exergaming.’

“They don’t even realize they’re exercising,” said Audrey Gillis, the school’s PE teacher. “It’s fabulous.”

Gillis’ students use the Wii two to three times a week during the 30-minute PE class and “they just love it — we actually had some of the little children cry because it wasn’t their Wii day,” she said.

“These kids are active for 30 minutes straight — they don’t stop,” Gillis told The Nation’s Health. “If we can get them to enjoy physical activity as children, then they’re more likely to stay physically active as adults.”

Gillis’ experience is just one example of the growing intersections between public health and digital games. While using game-related challenges in public health endeavors is not new, video games and avatar-based simulations are emerging as an effective way of teaching healthy behaviors.

Related articles (including refutes)

• Active Wii video games don’t mean kids exercise more (parentcentral.ca)
• Make Fitness Fun (education.com)
• Wii isn’t making kids fit (canada.com)
• Active Video Games and Children’s Physical Activity (expsychlab.com)

Exercise helps us to eat a healthy diet

Exercise helps us to eat a healthy diet

From the 29 November Eureka News alert 

		IMAGE: Exercise helps us to eat a healthy diet.Click here for more information.

A healthy diet and the right amount of exercise are key players in treating and preventing obesity but we still know little about the relationship both factors have with each other. A new study now reveals that an increase in physical activity is linked to an improvement in diet quality.

Many questions arise when trying to lose weight. Would it be better to start on a diet and then do exercise, or the other way around? And how much does one compensate the other?

“Understanding the interaction between exercise and a healthy diet could improve preventative and therapeutic measures against obesity by strengthening current approaches and treatments,” explains Miguel Alonso Alonso, researcher at Harvard University (USA) who has published a bibliographical compilation on the subject, to SINC.

The data from epidemiological studies suggest that tendencies towards a healthy diet and the right amount of physical exercise often come hand in hand. Furthermore, an increase in physical activity is usually linked to a parallel improvement in diet quality.

Exercise also brings benefits such as an increase in sensitivity to physiological signs of fullness. This not only means that appetite can be controlled better but it also modifies hedonic responses to food stimuli. Therefore, benefits can be classified as those that occur in the short term (of metabolic predominance) and those that are seen in the long term (of behavioural predominance).

According to Alonso Alonso, “physical exercise seems to encourage a healthy diet. In fact, when exercise is added to a weight-loss diet, treatment of obesity is more successful and the diet is adhered to in the long run.”

The authors of the study state how important it is for social policy to encourage and facilitate sport and physical exercise amongst the population. This should be present in both schools and our urban environment or daily lives through the use of public transport or availability of pedestrianised areas and sports facilities….

Related articles

• Exercise can make it easier to eat healthy (news.bioscholar.com)
• Exercise helps people eat healthier: study (vancouversun.com)
• Exercise ‘makes people eat better’ (thehindu.com)
• Obesity Gene’s Effect Reduced By Exercise (medicalnewstoday.com)

Exercise May Encourage Healthy Eating Via Brain Changes

 

Image via Wikipedia

From a 24 Nov 2011 Medical News Today article

Exercise may encourage healthy eating by changing parts of the brain that influence impulsive behaviour, according to a new review of the available literature by researchers from Spain and the US published in Obesity Reviews. The researchers conclude that in a society where we are surrounded by temptations and triggers that facilitate over-eating and excess, the part of the brain responsible for “inhibitory control” undergoes “relentless strain” (they note it has limited capacity anyway), and doing exercise on a regular basis enhances it.

“By enhancing the resources that facilitate ‘top-down’ inhibitory control, increased physical activity may help compensate and suppress the hedonic drive to over-eat,” they write. ……

Related articles

• Exercise can make it easier to eat healthy (news.bioscholar.com)
• It’s Not Too Late to Improve Your Health: Tips for Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for Seniors (prweb.com)

Physical activity impacts overall quality of sleep

Image via Wikipedia

Physical activity impacts overall quality of sleep

From the Eureka News Alert item of Tue Nov 22, 2011 13:48

(Oregon State University) People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study concludes.

A nationally representative sample of more than 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.

The study, out in the December issue of the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, lends more evidence to mounting research showing the importance of exercise to a number of health factors. Among adults in the United States, about 35 to 40 percent of the population has problems with falling asleep or with daytime sleepiness.

“We were using the physical activity guidelines set forth for cardiovascular health, but it appears that those guidelines might have a spillover effect to other areas of health,” said Brad Cardinal, a professor of exercise science at Oregon State University and one of the study’s authors.

“Increasingly, the scientific evidence is encouraging as regular physical activity may serve as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to improve sleep.”

After controlling for age, BMI (Body Mass Index), health status, smoking status, and depression, the relative risk of often feeling overly sleepy during the day compared to never feeling overly sleepy during the day decreased by 65 percent for participants meeting physical activity guidelines.

Similar results were also found for having leg cramps while sleeping (68 percent less likely) and having difficulty concentrating when tired (45 percent decrease).

Paul Loprinzi, an assistant professor at Bellarmine University is lead author of the study, which was conducted while he was a doctoral student in Cardinal’s lab at OSU. He said it is the first study to examine the relationship between accelerometer-measured physical activity and sleep while utilizing a nationally representative sample of adults of all ages.

‘Our findings demonstrate a link between regular physical activity and perceptions of sleepiness during the day, which suggests that participation in physical activity on a regular basis may positively influence an individual’s productivity at work, or in the case of a student, influence their ability to pay attention in class,” he said.

Cardinal said past studies linking physical activity and sleep used only self-reports of exercise. The danger with this is that many people tend to overestimate the amount of activity they do, he said.

He added that the take-away for consumers is to remember that exercise has a number of health benefits, and that can include helping feel alert and awake.

“Physical activity may not just be good for the waistline and heart, but it also can help you sleep,” Cardinal said. “There are trade-offs. It may be easier when you are tired to skip the workout and go to sleep, but it may be beneficial for your long-term health to make the hard decision and get your exercise.”

Related articles

• Physical activity impacts overall quality of sleep (eurekalert.org)
• Teens & Sleep: How (and Why) to Help Your Teen Get Some Rest (psychologytoday.com)
• Can sleep apnoea be eased by a Mediterranean diet? (time4sleep.co.uk)
• Daily exercise, minimized computer time for optimal sleep in teens (medicalxpress.com)
• The secret to a better brain, a younger face and a longer life. (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
• How much exercise do I need? (bupa.com.au)
• A More Restful Night Awaits You When You Use These Three Approaches to Coping with Insomnia (bigsexymedia.com)

Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety

Before and after example of greened vacant lots. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety.

ScienceDaily (2011-11-17) — Greening of vacant urban land may affect the health and safety of nearby residents. In a decade-long comparison of vacant lots and improved vacant lots, greening was linked to significant reductions in gun assaults across most of Philadelphia and significant reductions in vandalism in one section of the city. Vacant lot greening was also associated with residents in certain sections of the city reporting significantly less stress and more exercise.

Read the entire article at Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety.

Related articles

• Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety, study finds (medicalxpress.com)
• Rehabilitating vacant lots improves urban health and safety, Penn study finds (eurekalert.org)

NIH research model predicts weight with varying diet, exercise changes

From the 25 August 2011  NIH press release

Findings challenge one-size-fits-all weight assumptions

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have created a mathematical model — and an accompanying online weight simulation tool — of what happens when people of varying weights, diets and exercise habits try to change their weight. The findings challenge the commonly held belief that eating 3,500 fewer calories — or burning them off exercising — will always result in a pound of weight loss.

Instead, the researchers’ computer simulations indicate that this assumption overestimates weight loss because it fails to account for how metabolism changes. The computer simulations show how these metabolic changes can significantly differ among people. Findings will be published Aug. 26 in a Lancet issue devoted to obesity.

However, the computer simulation of metabolism is meant as a research tool and not as a weight-loss guide for the public. The computer program can run simulations for changes in calories or exercise that would never be recommended for healthy weight loss. The researchers hope to use the knowledge gained from developing the model and from clinical trials in people to refine the tool for everyone.

“This research helps us understand why one person may lose weight faster or slower than another, even when they eat the same diet and do the same exercise,” said Kevin Hall, Ph.D., an obesity researcher and physicist at the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the paper’s first author. “Our computer simulations can then be used to help design personalized weight management programs to address individual needs and goals.”

The online simulation tool based on the model enables researchers to accurately predict how body weight will change and how long it will likely take to reach weight goals based on a starting weight and estimated physical activity. The tool, at http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/, simulates how factors such as diet and exercise can alter metabolism over time and thereby lead to changes of weight and body fat….

Read the article

Related articles

• Judith J. Wurtman, PhD: Are You Losing More Than Fat on Your Diet? (huffingtonpost.com)

Four Specific Health Behaviors Contribute to a Longer Life

From the short US Centers for Disease Control feature article,
Four Specific Health Behaviors Contribute to a Longer Life

 

 

Four health risk behaviors—lack of physical activity, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption—are responsible for much of the illness and death related to chronic diseases. Seven out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic diseases.¹ Heart disease, cancer, and stroke account for more than 50% of all deaths each year.¹

A new CDC report finds that people can live longer if they practice one or more healthy lifestyle behaviors— not smoking, eating a healthy diet, getting regular physical activity, and limiting alcohol consumption.² Not smoking provides the most protection from dying early from all causes.

People who engaged in all four healthy behaviors were 66 percent less likely to die early from cancer, 65 percent less likely to die early from cardiovascular disease, and 57 percent less likely to die early from other causes compared to people who did not engage in any of the healthy behaviors.²

What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and Longer Life

Avoid Excessive Alcohol Use:

• Drink alcohol in moderation (men should have no more than two drinks per day; and women no more than one drink per day).

Avoid Tobacco:

• If you do not smoke, don’t start.
• If you currently smoke, and want to quit, call 1-800-Quit-Now, a free telephone support service that can help you to stop smoking or using tobacco.

Improve Nutrition:

• Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood.
• Eat fewer foods with sodium (salt), saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, and refined grains.

Engage in Physical Activity:

• Participate in moderate intensity physical activity 5 or more days per week (150 minutes), such as brisk walking, or
• Practice vigorous physical activity 3 or more days per week (75 minutes) such as jogging or race walking.

Reference

1. Kung HC, Hoyert DL, Xu JQ, Murphy SL. Deaths: final data for 2005. National Vital Statistics Reports 2008;56(10).
2. Ford ES, Zhao G, Tsai J, Li C. Low-risk lifestyle behaviors and all-cause mortality: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III Mortality Study. American Journal of Public Health., published online ahead of print August 18, 2011.

More Information

• Alcohol and Public Health
• Smoking & Tobacco Use
• Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity
• Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
• Winnable Battles

CDC works 24/7 saving lives, protecting people from health threats, and saving money to have a more secure nation. A US federal agency, CDC helps make the healthy choice the easy choice by putting science and prevention into action. CDC works to help people live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

Related articles

• Physical Activity Levels Linked to Employment Status (nlm.nih.gov)
• Lifetime legacy (bbc.co.uk)
• Too Much Salt in Diet, and Too Little Exercise, Can Risk Cognitive Decline (sciencedaily.com)
• Benefits of daily exercise are comparable to giving up smoking (guardian.co.uk)

Want to keep your exercise resolutions? New research offers pointers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New research reveals factors that helped some commit to a year-long exercise program.

From the 16 August 2011 Eureka news alert

Sticking with an exercise routine means being able to overcome the obstacles that invariably arise. A key to success is having the confidence that you can do it, researchers report. A new study explores how some cognitive strategies and abilities increase this “situation-specific self-confidence,” a quality the researchers call “self-efficacy.”

“You can apply the concept of self-efficacy to every single health behavior you can think of because in many ways that really is what gets us through the day, gets us through the tough times,” said University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Edward McAuley, who led the research. “People who are more efficacious tend to approach more challenging tasks, work harder and stick with it even in the face of early failures.”

Those lacking self-efficacy often won’t even try to start a new routine, or will quit at the earliest sign of difficulty, McAuley said. “Almost 50 percent of people who begin an exercise program drop out in the first six months,” he said.

All is not lost, however, for those with low self-efficacy, McAuley said. Research has shown that there are ways to increase your confidence in relation to specific goals. Remembering previous successes, observing others doing something you find daunting and enlisting others’ support can increase your self-efficacy enough to get you started. Every step toward your goal will further increase your confidence, he said….

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Daily TV quota of six hours could shorten life expectancy by five years

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From the 15 August 2011 Science Daily article

Watching TV for an average of six hours a day could shorten the viewer’s life expectancy by almost five years, indicates research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The impact rivals that of other well known behavioural risk factors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, the study suggests.

Sedentary behaviour — as distinct from too little exercise — is associated with a higher risk of death, particularly from heart attack or stroke. Watching TV accounts for a substantial amount of sedentary activity, but its impact on life expectancy has not been assessed, say the authors….

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Related articles

• 15-minute exercise plan ‘healthy’ (bbc.co.uk)
• Daily exercise can extend your life by three years (mirror.co.uk)
• 5 Countries with the Highest Life Expectancy (5facts.org)

Personal Feedback May Aid Fitness Progress & Some Related Apps

Researchers show that daily reinforcement helps adults stick to their exercise goals

From the 12 August 2011 Health News Today article by Robert Preidt

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) — Using personal digital assistants (PDAs) to give daily feedback to adults about their fitness progress helps them stick with an exercise program, a new study says.

University of Pittsburgh researchers followed 189 overweight adults for six months. The participants were assigned to one of three self-monitoring programs — paper records only, PDA without daily feedback messages, or PDA with daily feedback messages.

An example of a message for participants who met their exercise goals for the day: “Super job on the physical activity. Try to repeat this tomorrow.”

For those who didn’t achieve their daily goal, the message might have said: “Don’t get disheartened; you still have time to meet your physical activity goals. Hint: Take a walk; it will pay off!”…

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Some related apps
(Go to Fitness and Web 2.0 on Webicina.Com for more Apps and related  fitness social media links (support groups, news, podcasts, etc,)

• My Fitness Pal
• All Sport GPS
• Couch to 5K (C25K)
• Fitness Builder
• Gym Goal
• My Personal Trainer

The achievement culture problem in our country

From the 8 August 2011 posting by CLAIRE MCCARTHY, MD at KevinMD.com

My friend Nancy went for physical therapy for her back pain the other day, and was really surprised by what she saw there: the place was full of kids.

“Yeah, it’s like this now,” said the therapist when Nancy asked about it. “It’s the sports.”

It’s not that kids are getting clumsier or having more accidents. The injuries that are sending kids to physical therapy are overuse injuries. Kids these days are specializing in a sport as early as elementary school, and spending many more hours a week in practice than we ever did as kids—and we’re seeing the consequences.

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Exercise Intensity: Why It Matters, How It’s Measured

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Exercise Intensity: Why It Matters, How It’s Measured

 

From the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research Page

When you work out, are you working hard or hardly working? Exercising at the correct intensity can help you can get the most out of your physical activity — making sure you’re not overdoing or even underdoing it. Here’s a look at what exercise intensity means and how to make it work for you.

Understanding exercise intensity

When you’re doing aerobic activity, such as walking or biking, exercise intensity correlates with how hard the activity feels to you. Exercise intensity also is reflected in how hard your heart is working.

There are two basic ways to measure exercise intensity:

• How you feel. Exercise intensity is a subjective measure of how hard physical activity feels to you while you’re doing it — your perceived exertion. Your perceived level of exertion may be different from what someone else feels doing the same exercise. For example, what feels to you like a hard run can feel like an easy workout to someone who’s more fit.
• Your heart rate. Your heart rate offers a more objective look at exercise intensity. In general, the higher your heart rate during physical activity, the higher the exercise intensity.

Studies show that your perceived exertion correlates well with your heart rate. So if you think you’re working hard, your heart rate is likely elevated.

You can use either way of gauging exercise intensity. If you like technology and care about the numbers, a heart rate monitor might be a useful device for you. If you feel you’re in tune with your body and your level of exertion, you likely will do fine without a monitor…

The article goes on to explain the differences and signs of light, moderate, vigorous, and overexertion exercising.

Source: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Related MedlinePlus Page: Exercise and Physical Fitness

Related Articles

• Exercise and Physical Activity: What’s the Difference? (everydayhealth.com)

Exercise May Help Beat the Common Cold

Each bout of aerobic actvity revs up the immune system, study authors suggest

From a November 2 Health Day news item

MONDAY, Nov. 1 (HealthDay News) — There may not be a cure for the common cold, but people who exercise regularly seem to have fewer and milder colds, a new study suggests.

In the United States, adults can expect to catch a cold two to four times a year, and children can expect to get six to 10 colds annually. All these colds sap about $40 billion from the U.S. economy in direct and indirect costs, the study authors estimate.

But exercise may be an inexpensive way to put a dent in those statistics, the study says.

“The physically active always brag that they’re sick less than sedentary people,” said lead researcher David C. Nieman, director of the Human Performance Laboratory at the Appalachian State University, North Carolina Research Campus, in Kannapolis, N.C.

“Indeed, this boast of active people that they are sick less often is really true,” he asserted.

The report is published in the Nov. 1 online edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
[Available online at many health and medical libraries, fee may be charged. Ask a reference librarian for details]