Health/Fitness « Weekly Gravy

Think you need to spend hours lifting weights to build muscle or get stronger? Researchers at Florida Atlantic University say just a few smart, focused sets may be all it takes this summer to see real gains. The study — available as a preprint on SportRxiv — reviewed results from dozens of earlier studies on training volume. Volume means how many sets you do during a workout, while frequency refers to how often you train each week. “Our findings show that you don’t need lengthy gym sessions to get stronger or build muscle,” senior author Michael Zourdos, a professor of exercise science at FAU, said in a news release. “There’s a tipping point where the benefit of doing more becomes very questionable – and in some cases, it may even work against you when considering fatigue, time and so on,” he added. “This challenges the common assumption that more volume always equals more gains.” His team looked at how training volume affects muscle growth and strength. It found that doing more sets can help — but only up to a point. The benefits for muscle growth increased until about 11 fractional sets per session. For strength, the sweet spot was even smaller — just two direct sets per session. “It’s important to understand the difference between direct and fractional sets,” Jacob Remmert, the study’s lead… read on > read on >

With their goofy grins and feathery gills, axolotls have become stars of the pet world and video games like Minecraft. But these small, smiling salamanders are also helping scientists explore a medical mystery: Can people someday regrow arms or legs? Axolotls are special because they can regrow body parts no matter the age. Lose a leg? They’ll grow it back. Damage to their heart, lungs or even brain? They can also repair that! “This species is special,” lead researcher James Monaghan, a biologist at Northeastern University in Boston, told The Washington Post. They have “really become the champion of some extreme abilities that animals have.” In a new study — published June 10 in Nature Communications — Monaghan’s team used genetically engineered axolotls that glow in the dark to learn how this amazing process works. One mystery in limb regrowth is how cells “know” which part of the limb to rebuild. If an axolotl loses its upper arm, it grows back the entire arm. But if the injury is farther down, only the lower arm and hand regrow. “Salamanders have been famous for their ability to regenerate arms for centuries,” Monaghan said. “One of the outstanding questions that has really plagued the field is how a salamander knows what to grow back.” The answer may be a small molecule called retinoic acid. It’s related to… read on > read on >

The TikTok video shows a teenage girl in braces applying a series of 14 beauty products to her face, an arsenal that costs nearly $350 all told. It’s one of many such videos where girls share their beauty regimens — but then something goes wrong. “This is what my skin looks like. It is very glowy right now, I love it! But also, I just had some allergic reaction to something that I tried, so ignore how red my face is,” says the girl, as her skin turns crimson and inflamed. “I don’t know what’s happening. But if anybody knows how to get it to stop burning, that would be greatly appreciated, because it actually hurts a lot,” the girl tells her audience. This real-life example captures the genuine risks that lurk behind the glamor of “get ready with me” TikTok videos, researchers argue in a new study. Popular TikTok videos featuring teens’ personal skin care routine frequently feature products that carry a high risk of skin irritation and allergy, researchers reported June 9 in the journal Pediatrics. The top-viewed videos contained an average of 11 potentially irritating active ingredients, researchers found. These could cause a higher risk of skin irritation, sun sensitivity, and a full-blown allergic reaction, researchers said. “That high risk of irritation came from both using multiple active ingredients at the same… read on > read on >

A Texas woman has died after using tap water in a sinus rinse, leading to a rare but often fatal brain infection, health officials report. The 71-year-old woman died from a condition called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which is caused by a microscopic organism called Naegleria fowleri. This brain-eating amoeba can live in warm freshwater and sometimes in untreated tap water, CBS News reported. A case study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the woman used tap water from an RV’s water system at a Texas campground for her nasal rinse. Four days later, she developed a fever, headache and confusion. Doctors suspected PAM and began treatment, but her condition got worse. She had seizures and died eight days after symptoms began, CBS News said. “Improperly maintained municipal water and recreational vehicle (RV) water systems can be a source of waterborne disease. CDC recommends the use of distilled, sterile, or boiled and cooled tap water for nasal irrigation,” the report said. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain. This often happens during diving or jumping in warm freshwater or hot springs, CBS News said. The CDC says only the following should be used for nasal rinsing: Distilled or sterilized water Boiled and cooled tap water When swimming in fresh water, the CDC also recommends… read on > read on >

You’re not just getting older, you’re probably getting bigger. Between their 20s and 40s, most Americans can expect to put on 10 to 25 pounds — and after 30, exercise may not have the same payoff it once did. It’s not just you, but Mother Nature at work. “Your metabolism tends to slow down as you get older, but your appetite and food intake do not,” said Rafael de Cabo, an expert on aging at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “So you have a steady increase of body weight with age.” Unfortunately, most of that gain is fat tissue, which settles around your internal organs, secreting chemicals that boost the risk for heart disease and diabetes. At the same time, lean muscle begins to disappear, especially when folks become less active or spend most of their lives at a desk. And this shift can lead to further muscle loss and fat gain, according to de Cabo, who studies the effects of diet changes on health and longevity. So, as you get older, you’ll have to make adjustments, de Cabo recently told NIH News in Health. Here’s what de Cabo recommended: Eat right: With a slower metabolism, you need fewer calories, but still have to get the nutrients your body needs. A focus on nutrient-dense foods such as fresh veggies and fruit, seafood, lean meats,… read on > read on >