Sports « Weekly Gravy

Exercise may do more than build body strength: New research shows it might also keep brain cells in shape. According to the study, exercise helps maintain the brain’s gray matter, which is linked to various skills and thinking abilities. So, keeping your gray matter intact may help prevent thinking declines, the German researchers explained. The report was published online Jan. 2 in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. “This [study] provides indirect evidence that aerobic exercise can have a positive impact on cognitive function in addition to physical conditioning,” said Dr. Ronald Petersen, a Mayo Clinic neurologist. “Another important feature of the study is that these results may apply to older adults, as well. There is good evidence for the value of exercise in midlife, but it is encouraging that there can be positive effects on the brain in later life as well,” said Petersen, who co-authored an editorial that accompanied the report. The German researchers, led by Katharina Wittfeld, followed more than 2,000 adults in northeastern Germany from 1997 through 2012. Over the study period, fitness was measured and participants underwent MRI brain scans. Although the study found an association between exercise and brain health, it couldn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship. According to Mayo Clinic experts, moderate and regular exercise — about 150 minutes per week — is recommended. Good fitness also involves: Not smoking. Following… read on >

Gymgoers who’ve accidentally left their headphones at home might be all too familiar with this frustrating feeling: Exercising without music is a much harder go. And now a broad new review of nearly 140 studies — the first of its kind — suggests there’s real science to back that up, with clear evidence that music not only makes exercise seem easier and more enjoyable but actually results in a more productive, efficient workout. “No one would be surprised that music helps people feel more positive during exercise … [but] the fact that music provided a significant boost to performance would surprise some people,” said lead author Peter Terry, dean of graduate research and innovation at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. “And the fact that music was shown to improve physiological efficiency would certainly raise eyebrows.” Terry and his team reviewed studies that were conducted as far back as 1911 and as recently as 2017. Collectively, they included almost 3,600 people. The focus was restricted to studies that explored music’s impact on either sport-related activities or exercise routines. So while walking as an exercise was included, gardening and housework were not. Nor were music-based experiences such as dance, gymnastics and ice skating. Music’s impact was assessed by the way it made a person feel during workouts; how it affected perceptions of exercise difficulty; and… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Bruises occur when blood vessels below the skin rupture, says Cleveland Clinic. Most bruising is caused by minor accidents, medications and age. Bruises caused by minor injuries usually disappear within a week or two. Cleveland Clinic suggests getting a bruise checked by your doctor if it: Shows no signs of improvement after a week. Is located on a part of your body where injury or accident is unlikely. Keeps occurring or comes back. Involves unusually large, unprovoked bruising.

Lose weight. Eat healthier. Quit smoking. These are all popular New Year’s resolutions that are often only kept for a short time, if at all. About 40% of Americans make a New Year’s resolution, most of which are abandoned by February, according to researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. But Bernadette Melnyk, vice president for health promotion and chief wellness officer and dean of the College of Nursing at Ohio State, has some tips to help you make your resolutions stick: Set a realistic, specific, 30-day goal. The more specific and realistic the goal, the more likely it will be achieved. Break big goals down into small ones, and try to tackle one small change for 30 days. Many resolutions fail because people try too much, too fast. Write your goal down and put it where you can see it every day. Keep a journal of your successes and write encouraging messages to yourself. Visualize yourself accomplishing your goal and celebrating your success. If you have a positive attitude, you’re more likely to achieve your goal. Share your resolution with a friend or family member, and enlist them to help support your effort with encouraging texts and calls as you let them in on your progress. Work toward your goal one day at a time. You can always start again if you fall… read on >

If you plan to make a New Year’s resolution about improving your health, the American Medical Association (AMA) has some good suggestions. “With too many holiday sweets and not enough exercise likely in the rearview mirror, now is the perfect time to consider your personal goals and how you can make positive health choices in the coming year,” AMA President Dr. Patrice Harris said in an association news release. “The good news is that there are a few easy steps you can take that will set you on the right track for a healthier 2020,” Harris added. Learn your risk for type 2 diabetes and take steps to prevent or delay the onset of the disease. Get the recommended amount of physical activity. For adults, it’s at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity. Know your blood pressure and, if you have high blood pressure, take steps to get it under control. Doing so will reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke. Cut back on processed foods, especially those with added sodium and sugar. Eat less red meat and processed meats, and eat more plant-based foods, such as olive oil, nuts and seed. Reduce your consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and drink more water instead. If you’re prescribed antibiotics, take them exactly as directed. Antibiotic resistance… read on >

If you travel a lot for business or pleasure, you may think that the most exercise possible is lugging your bags in and out of a car or through an airport. But it’s important to get in real exercise even when you’re away from home. If you’re a business road-tripper, look for snippets of time to move those muscles, like when you stop for gas. Any bodyweight calisthenics will do. Think: squats. There are many varieties, but the basic is a powerhouse move. Stand with feet a little more than shoulder-width apart, arms out in front of you. Bend the knees and push your hips back, lowering your body until your thighs are below your knees if possible. And then return to standing position. Do three sets of 10. At your hotel, do planks or push-ups and some crunches. If stuck in a car or on a plane for any length of time, try isometric exercises, where you can contract your muscles without needing to move around a lot. Put the palms of your hands together and press as hard as you can. That will engage your chest muscles. Contracting your gluteal muscles can help your lower back. Remember to hold each isometric exercise for 10 seconds. Do a few sets of 10 reps each. Once you get to your destination, if you don’t have… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Sports such as skiing, snowboarding and ice skating can sometimes lead to sprains, dislocations and fractures. In fact, some 200,000 people are treated for winter sports-related injuries every year, says the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. To avoid hurting yourself, the academy suggests: Never engage in a winter sport alone. Keep in shape and warm up sufficiently. Wear appropriate protective gear and layers of water-resistant clothing. Check that equipment is working before use. Take lessons from a qualified instructor. Drink plenty of water before, during and after the sport. Be aware of how to get help if frostbite or hypothermia occur. Pay attention to weather updates and storm warnings. Abide by all rules of the sport.

It’s hard to escape all the fanfare surrounding HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, which prevents plateaus by keeping your body at your max heart rate for very short intervals. But another training approach called steady-state training, or SST, may be just as important, if not more so, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. Steady-state training is the opposite of HIIT yet, at the same time, is complementary to it. It involves maintaining a specific heart rate below your target maximum for an extended period of time. Using a treadmill workout as an example, with HIIT you walk for two minutes and then run all out for one minute. With SST, you walk at a brisk pace the whole way through. While HIIT is a known calorie torcher, there are plenty of pluses to SST. It’s great for strengthening the heart: Maintaining a steady state of aerobic output forces the body to become efficient at pumping oxygenated blood through the body. A constant steady state also helps the body burn fat for fuel. There also is less chance of injury than when you change pace in high-intensity interval training. So does SST have any downside? The answer is yes. You are at a higher risk for stress or repetitive injury simply because you are doing the same thing for a longer period of time over… read on >

Bad balance is a common cause of dangerous falls, especially among older adults. Falls send more than 2 million adults to the emergency room every year and often result in lengthy rehab stays. Preventing falls is a priority for staying healthy and preventing painful broken bones as you age. Easy strength and balance exercises that you can do anytime, anywhere, such as tai chi and yoga, can help you stay steady on your feet. But first it’s important to know how good (or lacking) your balance is. Grab a friend or loved one, a sturdy chair and a stopwatch to check your balance with a quick test called the single leg stance. It basically involves standing on one leg, and doctors use it to predict who might be at risk of falling. Stand barefoot in front of the chair but don’t touch it. Cross your arms. Lift one leg up off the floor and start the timer. As you feel yourself start to sway, immediately steady yourself with the chair and stop the timer. Here are the average times that indicate good balance when you stand on one leg based on age: Ages 18-39: 43 seconds for men and women Ages 40-49: 40 seconds for men and women Ages 50-59: 36 seconds for women, 38 for men Ages 60-69: 25 seconds for women, 28 for… read on >

Leave your car in the garage if you can: A new study suggests that walking or biking to work could cut your risk of a heart attack. The researchers analyzed 2011 data from 43 million working adults in England and found that 11.4% were active commuters, with 8.6% walking to work and 2.8% cycling to work. In areas where walking or cycling to work were more common in 2011, the incidence of heart attacks fell among men and women over the next two years. Major heart disease risk factors include inactivity, being overweight, smoking and diabetes, the study authors noted. After adjusting for those factors, the investigators found that women who walked to work in 2011 had a 1.7% lower risk of heart attack in the following year, and men who cycled to work had the same reduction in heart attack risk. The University of Leeds study was published online recently in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The findings show “that exercise as a means of commuting to work is associated with lower levels of heart attack. The benefits of regular exercise are numerous and we support initiatives to help everyone become and stay active,” study co-author Alistair Brownlee said in a university news release. Lead author Chris Gale added, “Whilst we cannot conclusively say that active travel to work lowers the risk of… read on >