Is that New Year’s resolution to improve your fitness already looking less likely? It can be tough to know where to start, said Benedikte Western, a research fellow at the University of Agder in Norway. “It takes time to develop new habits, but if you’re motivated, it is certainly not impossible,” Western said in a university news release. “As time goes on, your new lifestyle will become more ingrained as a habit and a natural part of your everyday life,” Western added. “You’ll discover strategies that work for you and gain experience in overcoming obstacles.” She offers a set of recommendations to help folks turn intention into action: Assess what you want out of exercise. Some people might want to be in better shape so they can play with their kids or go on a hike with friends. Others might want to reduce stress or improve their sleep. “Start by outlining the pros and cons you perceive in adopting a more active lifestyle. This will empower you with better control over the situation before you commence,” Western said. Find exercise you enjoy. It will be easier to stick to a workout plan that includes activities suited for you, Western said. Take into account your level of motivation, the time you have to spare and the equipment you have on hand. “If bad weather prevents you…  read on >  read on >

Because athletes young and old can suffer cardiac arrest, some states have mandated the placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in gyms, stadiums and other sports venues. But a new study finds the use of AEDs by bystanders for cardiac arrest at athletic sites didn’t improve much after states enacted these laws. The bottom line: “Legislative efforts alone may not be sufficient to improve bystander AED use,” contend the authors of a study published Jan. 2 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Recent high-profile cases, such as the collapse on the field of Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin exactly one year ago, have placed the spotlight on cardiac arrest among young athletes.  Hamlin was lucky enough to receive CPR plus the rapid application of an AED, and has since made a full recovery. Numerous states have enacted laws to have AEDs nearby at athletic venues, should similar crises occur.   The new study was led by Dr. Ahmed Kolkailah, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. His team analyzed data from a national registry on cardiac arrest events and survival, to track how often AEDs were used in states with or without such mandates. They focused on 13 states that had such laws in place before 2020, and 27 states that did not.  A total of 4,145 cases of cardiac…  read on >  read on >

Women are more likely to lose more muscle mass during space flight than men, a new lab study suggests. Females participating in the extended bed rest study lost more leg muscle mass at two months than the men had lost at three months, results show. The findings “suggest that women are more susceptible to weightlessness-induced muscle atrophy,” researchers concluded in their report published recently in the Journal of Applied Physiology. NASA’s decision to diversify space crews in future spaceflight missions means that more women will be subject to the rigors of weightlessness, researchers said in background notes. For example, the agency intends to send the first woman to the moon in 2024, researchers said. To see how space travel might affect health, researchers recruited a group of people to spend extended periods in bed. Men spent 90 days and women 60 days in a bed tilted 6 degrees head down, placing their head below their feet. This simulates the weightlessness experienced while traveling through space, researchers said. Both volunteer groups ate, slept, cleaned up, and performed all other activities in either a head-down tilt or a horizontal position. MRI screenings of the volunteers’ thigh and calf muscles taken before, during and after the trial showed that all participants lost a significant amount of muscle mass in both areas of the leg, the researchers said. However,…  read on >  read on >

Elite athletes who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest might have genetics that make them more vulnerable to heart disease, a new study suggests. Analysis of more than 280 top-level endurance athletes revealed that 1 in 6 have measures that would normally suggest heart disease and reduced heart function, researchers report in the journal Circulation. Those athletes also carried a rich load of genes associated with heart disease, researchers said. “The phenomenon of the athletes’ heart has long been known, but we were the first team to investigate the role an athlete’s genetic makeup plays in their heart function and structure,” researcher Dr. Diane Fatkin, a molecular cardiologist at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney, said in a news release. “What we have found is that there are far more profound changes than thought and that a high number of these athletes do have altered heart function,” she continued. A series of recent near-tragedies on playing fields and in gymnasiums have prompted increased interest in how heavy exercise can affect the hearts of elite athletes. In late July, University of Southern California freshman guard Bronny James – son of Lakers basketball star LeBron James — collapsed from a cardiac arrest during an offseason workout. And Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field cardiac arrest during a 2022 football game, following a hit to…  read on >  read on >