Fitness - Exercise
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Fitness and Exercise
NIH – NIA Exercise and Physical Activity: Getting Fit For Life “Four Ways to Be Active To get all of the benefits of physical activity, try all four types of exercise – 1) endurance, 2) strength, 3) balance, and 4) flexibility. 1. Be sure to get at least 30 minutes of activity that makes you breathe hard on most or all days of the week. That’s called an endurance activity because it builds your energy or “staying power.” You don’t have to be active for 30 minutes all at once. Ten minutes at a time is fine. Just make sure you are active for a total of 30 minutes most days. How hard do you need to push yourself? If you can talk without any trouble at all, you are not working hard enough. If you can’t talk at all, it’s too hard. 2. Keep using your muscles. Strength exercises build muscles. When you have strong muscles, you can get up from a chair by yourself, you can lift your grandchildren, and you can walk through the park Keeping your muscles in shape helps prevent falls that cause problems like broken hips. You are less likely to fall when your leg and hip muscles are strong 3. Do things to help your balance. Try standing on one foot, then the other. If you can, don’t hold on to anything for support. Get up from a chair without using your hands or arms. Every now and then walk heel-to-toe. When you walk this way, the toes of the foot in back should almost touch the heel of the foot in front. 4. Stretch. Stretching can help you be more flexible. Moving more freely will make it easier for you to reach down to tie your shoes or look over your shoulder when you back the car out of your driveway. Stretch when your muscles are warmed up. Don’t stretch so far that it hurts. Who Should Exercise? Almost anyone, at any age, can do some type of physical activity. You can still exercise even if you have a health condition like heart disease or diabetes. In fact, physical activity may help. For most older adults, brisk walking, riding a bike, swimming, weight lifting, and gardening are safe, especially if you build up slowly. But, check with your doctor if you are over 50 and you aren’t used to energetic activity. Other reasons to check with your doctor before you exercise include: 1. any new symptom you haven’t discussed with your doctor 2. dizziness or shortness of breath 3. chest pain or pressure, or the feeling that your heart is skipping, racing, or fluttering 4. blood clots 5. an infection or fever with muscle aches 6. unplanned weight loss 7. foot or ankle sores that won’t heal 8. joint swelling 9. a bleeding or detached retina, eye surgery, or laser treatment 10. a hernia 11. recent hip surgery “
NHS - Why be active? “Exercise is a great stress buster. It can help you keep the weight off but, more importantly, it will lower your risk of developing major chronic diseases. At least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on five or more days a week is all it takes for you to reap the health benefits. Children and young people need to be active for at least an hour every day, for example through active play, sport or walking to and from school. We know that reduced or no physical activity can have serious health consequences. Even a little bit of activity can lower the risk of developing major chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers and type two diabetes, by up to 50%. It can also cut the risk of premature death by about 20% to 30%. “
NHS – Low-impact exercise “Low-impact exercises can improve your health and fitness without harming weight-bearing joints. Research suggests that moderate intensity, low-impact activity is just as effective as high-impact activity in lowering the risk of heart disease. However, low-impact activities won’t help to maintain healthy bones to protect against conditions such as osteoporosis. Circumstances when high-impact exercise isn’t advisable include: • If you're pregnant. • If you have injured your joints, bones or connective tissue injuries. • If you have chronic problems, such as arthritis, osteoporisis or stress fractures. • If you're very overweight. • If you’re new to exercise. “Low-impact exercise doesn’t put the joints under much stress,” says Robin Gargrave, executive director of YMCAfit, one of the UK’s leading trainers of fitness professionals. “The idea is that it’s less likely to cause an impact-type injury, such as an ankle sprain or cartilage tear.” “
Highlighted Articles
Be smart, exercise your heart: exercise effects on brain and cognition. (Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008) “Lack of physical activity, particularly among children in the developed world, is one of the major causes of obesity. Exercise might not only help to improve their physical health, but might also improve their academic performance. This article examines the positive effects of aerobic physical activity on cognition and brain function, at the molecular, cellular, systems and behavioural levels. A growing number of studies support the idea that physical exercise is a lifestyle factor that might lead to increased physical and mental health throughout life.”
Rethinking Daily Exercise: Less Regular, High-Intensity Intervals May Be Best Bet for Metabolic Syndrome (2008) “According to the Norwegian investigators who tested two different exercise regimens, high-intensity exercise actually reversed most of the risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome; after just 16 weeks of the exercise program, almost half the patients enrolled in this arm of the trial no longer had metabolic syndrome, without making any changes to their diets. Less impressive gains were seen with consistent, moderate exercise.”
Physical Activity and Public Health in Older Adults. Recommendation From the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association (Circulation 2007) "Summary—The recommendation for older adults is similar to the updated ACSM/AHA recommendation for adults, but has several important differences including: the recommended intensity of aerobic activity takes into account the older adult’s aerobic fitness; activities that maintain or increase flexibility are recommended; and balance exercises are recommended for older adults at risk of falls. In addition, older adults should have an activity plan for achieving recommended physical activity that integrates preventive and therapeutic recommendations. The promotion of physical activity in older adults should emphasize moderate-intensity aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity, reducing sedentary behavior, and risk management."
Even Small Amounts of Exercise Are Beneficial (2007) "Even small amounts of physical activity — approximately 75 minutes per week — can improve cardiorespiratory fitness levels of sedentary overweight individuals, a study shows. While this level of exercise is lower than that currently recommended to produce weight loss, the current findings may be used to encourage those people who do not exercise at present to start doing some form of physical activity, the authors advise."
Internet SitesCDC - Growing Stronger - Strength Training for Older Adults
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Fitness and Exercise
General Information
NEWS:
Basketball, Track and Field, Other High-Impact Sports Good for Aging Bones
Exercise boosts older women's quality of life “Even modest amounts of exercise can improve older women's quality of life, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among more than 400 overweight postmenopausal women, those who took up an exercise program for six months showed gains in their physical and mental well-being -- measured by factors such as daily energy levels, social life, emotional well-being and physical pain. The more the women exercised, the greater the improvements in quality of life, the researchers report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. It is often said that exercise can improve a person's energy, stress levels and overall sense of well-being, but now there is proof of that from a clinical trial, according to the researchers.”
Exercise Extends Life of Kidney Patients "These data suggest that increased physical activity might have a survival benefit in the CKD population. This is particularly important as most patients with stage III CKD die before they develop end stage renal disease," wrote Dr. Srinivasan Beddhu, of Salt Lake City Veterans Administration Healthcare System and University of Utah, and colleagues.”
Exercise is healthy but can trigger side effects
Exercise May Lead to a Smarter, More Successful You “Any number of factors could explain why better cardiovascular fitness through exercising impacts brain function, including improved blood flow to the brain, diminished anxiety, enhanced mood and less fatigue, Whiteson said. "We've known that aerobic exercise has been associated with improved cognitive performance. We've known that from studies dating back from the '70s," he said. "They picked the area of young men which may not have had a lot of research. This confirms what we've already known about younger and older individuals."”
Exercise Reduces Leakage through the Blood Brain Barrier “Results show how regular exercise may have yet another benefit -- delaying the formation of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Both diseases are connected with leakage through the blood-brain barrier.”
Long-Term Physical Activity Has an Anti-Aging Effect at the Cellular Level “Intensive exercise prevented shortening of telomeres, a protective effect against aging of the cardiovascular system, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.”
Lots of Exercise in Midlife May Lead to Osteoarthritis “"This study and previous studies by our group suggest that high-impact, weight-bearing physical activity, such as running and jumping, may be worse for cartilage health," the study's co-author, Dr. Christoph Stehling, a research fellow in the radiology and biomedical imaging department at the University of California, San Francisco, said in a news release. "Conversely, low-impact activities, such as swimming and cycling, may protect diseased cartilage and prevent healthy cartilage from developing disease." Guettler, the Michigan surgeon, said that activities involving twisting, jumping and pivoting are especially hazardous. Don't overdo it when it comes to activities like basketball and soccer, he advised. Instead, consider alternatives like walking, swimming, biking, cross-country skiing and training on elliptical machines, he said. “
Marathoners Go the Distance on Heart Health: Even walking half an hour a day can boost longevity, study finds “They found that men who ran two or more marathons per year were 41 percent less likely to suffer from high blood pressure, 32 percent less likely to have high cholesterol, and 87 percent less likely to have diabetes than non-marathoners. … Study author Paul Williams found that the benefits of running marathons were largely independent of total number of miles run per year by participants. This indicates that isolated distance running bouts in preparation for marathons may have helped decrease the risk of disease. Even runners who didn't enter marathons, but did include longer runs as part of their usual exercise routines, were less likely to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes.”
Post-Exercise 'Glow' May Last 12 Hours
Walkers should aim for 100 steps per minute “People who walk for exercise should aim for a pace of 100 steps per minute to ensure their workout is intense enough, according to researchers. Many people who want to keep fit use a pedometer to keep track of how many steps they take. However, the device gives no information on how intensely they're exercising -- that is, whether their heart rate is being raised enough to improve physical fitness. In the new study, researchers found that the average walker should aim for 100 steps per minute at a minimum in order to get a moderate-intensity workout. Experts recommend that adults get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, five times per week. If those 30 minutes are achieved in one session, that means taking a minimum of 3,000 steps per session. However, the researchers point out in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, walkers can also break those steps down into several shorter exercise sessions throughout the day.”
Want to get healthy? Exercise 7 minutes a week “Rigorous workouts lasting as little as three minutes may help prevent diabetes by helping control blood sugar, British researchers said on Wednesday. The findings published in the journal BioMed Central Endocrine Disorders suggest that people unable to meet government guidelines calling for moderate to vigorous exercise several hours per week can still benefit from exercise. "This is such a brief amount of exercise you can do it without breaking a sweat," said James Timmons, an exercise biologist at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, who led the study. "You can make just as big as an effect doing this as you can by doing hours and hours of endurance training each week."”
What Is Exercise? The Benefits Of Exercise
Which City Is America's Fittest?
Women Who Run May Benefit From Extra Folic Acid
Young Adults Who Exercise Get Higher IQ Scores “The study shows a clear link between good physical fitness and better results for the IQ test. The strongest links are for logical thinking and verbal comprehension. But it is only fitness that plays a role in the results for the IQ test, and not strength. "Being fit means that you also have good heart and lung capacity and that your brain gets plenty of oxygen," says Michael Nilsson, professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy and chief physician at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital. "This may be one of the reasons why we can see a clear link with fitness, but not with muscular strength. We are also seeing that there are growth factors that are important."”
ARTICLES:
Calling All Walkers: Use This Minute Rule
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Cardiovascular fitness is associated with cognition in young adulthood. (Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009) “Cardiovascular fitness changes between age 15 and 18 y predicted cognitive performance at 18 y. Cox proportional-hazards models showed that cardiovascular fitness at age 18 y predicted educational achievements later in life. These data substantiate that physical exercise could be an important instrument for public health initiatives to optimize educational achievements, cognitive performance, as well as disease prevention at the society level.”
Effect of Physical Activity on Health in Twins: A 30-Year Longitudinal Study. (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009)
Exercise and bone mass in adults. (Sports Med. 2009)
Is exercise training an effective therapy targeting endothelial dysfunction and va scular wall inflammation? (J.Int J Cardiol. 2009)
Mortality and longevity of elite athletes. (J Sci Med Sport. 2009) “In conclusion, long-term vigorous exercise training is associated with increased survival rates of specific groups of athletes.”
Physical Inactivity Is Associated With Chronic Musculoskeletal Complaints 11 Years Later: Results From the Nord-Trondelag Health Study (BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2008)
Relationship of Incident Glaucoma versus Physical Activity and Fitness in Male Runners (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2009)
The early prevention of metabolic syndrome by physical exercise. (Antropol. 2009)
Time Course of Changes in Endurance Capacity: A 1-yr Training Study. (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009)
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