Sports « Weekly Gravy

Doing the right amount of exercise every day is a top health goal. To make sure you’re getting all the right types of exercise, you want to get familiar with these key exercise terms. Then you can be sure these activities are all part of your weekly plan. Aerobic Exercise, AKA Cardio Aerobic exercise means activity that requires a continuous amount of oxygen to the muscles being used. For heart health, the exercise must raise your heart rate to within the ideal range for your age, usually 70% to 80% of 220 minus your age. Cardio activities include running, brisk walking, swimming and cycling. High-intensity interval training is a popular approach. Within a cardio workout, you alternate a few minutes of slow or no movement with shorter bursts of the activity at an all-out pace. Cross training is simply varying your choice of cardio activity within the same exercise session or on different days of the week. This lets you use different muscle groups, helps prevent overuse injuries and keeps things interesting. Anaerobic Exercise, AKA Strength Training You need strength training for healthy muscles, essential for everyday activities like just getting up from the sofa. Also called weight training or resistance training, these exercises work various sets of muscles. Strength training is anaerobic, because it doesn’t require extra oxygen. It should be done every second… read on >

If you’re looking for incentives to hit the gym, new research suggests that staying in good shape may help preserve brain structure, boost memory, and improve the ability to think clearly and quickly. The finding follows an analysis of fitness and brain health among more than 1,200 young adults, average age 30. All underwent brain scans; tests to measure memory, sharpness, judgment and reasoning; and a speed-walking trial to assess cardiovascular fitness. (Muscle strength was not assessed.) The investigators found that study participants who moved faster and farther over the two-minute walking test performed better on thinking tests than their less-fit peers. Fitter men and women were also found to have healthier nerve fibers across the white matter portion of the brain. White matter is critical for high-quality neural communication, the researchers noted. Study lead author Dr. Jonathan Repple offered several theories as to what might explain a strong body/strong brain connection. For one, “exercise decreases inflammation, which then, in turn, is beneficial for brain cells,” said Repple, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist with the University of Muenster, in Germany. Being fit may also promote better nerve-fiber insulation, and greater growth across nerve cells and nerve connections, he explained. It may also be that fitter men and women simply have a “better blood supply to the brain,” Repple added. Dr. David Knopman, a professor of neurology… read on >

Moderate exercise is known to improve blood pressure — and that may include activities that are more exotic than a brisk walk, two preliminary studies suggest. In one, researchers found that “hot” yoga classes lowered blood pressure in a small group of people with modestly elevated numbers. In the other, hula dancing showed the same benefit for people who had stubbornly high blood pressure, despite medication. Experts said the findings underscore the importance of exercise when it comes to blood pressure — and the value of finding an activity you enjoy. Hot yoga classes are held in a room that’s heated — usually to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit, though some centers keep the temperature less extreme. The practice is often touted as having health benefits, such as cleansing “toxins” from the body via sweat. For the study, Stacy Hunter and her team at Texas State University recruited 10 adults, ages 20 to 65. All participants had mildly elevated blood pressure: Their systolic pressure (the “top” number) ranged between 120 and 139 mm Hg, and their diastolic pressure was 89 mm Hg or lower. (Readings below 120/80 are considered normal.) The researchers randomly assigned five people to take hot yoga classes three times a week, for 12 weeks; the rest served as a comparison group. Over the 12 weeks, those who did yoga saw their systolic… read on >

The Alexander Technique has been used for more than 100 years to improve performance, posture and other body mechanics, yet it’s arguably the least well known method for achieving these benefits. Though some people call it a form of bodywork, practitioners describe it as an educational method, because it teaches you to recognize and then unlearn negative habits, like bad posture and tensing muscles in reaction to stress. The Alexander Technique shows you how to do everyday activities with less effort and greater ease. Business people can benefit by using it to improve vocal projection and voice quality when making presentations. Benefits include: Better mobility and reduced stiffness. Pain relief through better coordination of your head, neck and back. Enhanced performance for athletes as well as performing artists, through better breathing and speed and accuracy of movement. The self-named technique was developed by actor Frederick Matthias Alexander, who was plagued by chronic hoarseness that doctors couldn’t explain. Thinking that the problem could be related to how he was using his voice, he identified habits that were indeed causing it and then how to undo them. Though the number of lessons you’ll want to take varies based on your needs, one study on back pain, published in the BMJ, found that just six one-on-one lessons with an Alexander Technique teacher followed by a home plan was… read on >

Decades spent on couches, chairs and otherwise not exercising could mean much shorter lives, new research shows. A Norwegian team who tracked health outcomes for more than 23,000 adults over 20 years found that those who were inactive over that time had twice the risk of a premature death, compared to those who were physically active. The take-home message from the study: “To get the maximum health benefits of physical activity in terms of protection against premature all-cause and cardiovascular death, you need to continue being physically active,” said study author Dr. Trine Moholdt of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. And it’s never too late to get off the sofa. “You can also reduce your risk by taking up physical activity later in life, even if you have not been active before,” Moholdt stressed. Her team was scheduled to present the findings Saturday at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), in Paris. The study involved Norwegians aged 20 and older who were grouped according to their activity levels, and assessed in two time periods (1984-1986 and 2006-2008). People were placed into one of three categories: inactive; moderately active (less than two hours of physical activity a week); or highly active (two or more hours per week). By the end of 2013, those who were inactive in both time periods… read on >

It can happen when you’re stuck in traffic, or hunched over for hours at your desk, or even sitting in the stands watching your child’s lacrosse game — that painful twinge in the back of your neck. These fast and easy stretches can help, and you can do them anywhere. Repeat each one up to three times unless otherwise indicated, and rest for 10 seconds between each exercise. Stretch No. 1: Lower your chin to your chest as far as you can go without causing any pain. Hold for 20 seconds. Return to start, rest and repeat. Stretch No. 2: Without moving your shoulders, turn your head to the right as far as you can go. Hold for 20 seconds. Slowly bring your head all the way to the left and hold for 20 seconds. Return to center, rest and repeat. Stretch No. 3: Tilt your head to bring your right ear to right shoulder without moving the shoulder. Hold for 20 seconds. Switch to the left side and hold for 20 seconds. Return to center, rest and repeat the sequence. Stretch No. 4: Turn your head to the right and look behind you. From this position, raise your chin toward the ceiling. Hold for 20 seconds. Slowly return to start and repeat. Then switch to the other side and repeat. Stretch No. 5: Gently… read on >

Even seniors who never exercised regularly can benefit from a workout program, researchers say. A new study found that men in their 70s and 80s who had never followed an exercise regimen could build muscle mass as well as “master athletes” — those of the same age who had worked out throughout their lives and still competed at the top levels of their sports. The U.K. researchers took muscle biopsies from both groups in the 48 hours before and after a single weight-training session on an exercise machine. The men were also given an isotope tracer before the workout in order to track how proteins were developing in their muscles. It was expected that the master athletes would be better able to build muscle during exercise, but both groups had an equal capacity to do so, the University of Birmingham team found. The study was published Aug. 30 in the journal Frontiers in Physiology. “Our study clearly shows that it doesn’t matter if you haven’t been a regular exerciser throughout your life, you can still derive benefit from exercise whenever you start,” lead researcher Leigh Breen said in a university news release. He’s a senior lecturer in exercise physiology and metabolism. “Obviously a long-term commitment to good health and exercise is the best approach to achieve whole-body health, but even starting later on in life… read on >

Pro football players who had long careers at key positions are more likely to have concussion-related problems such as confusion, memory loss, depression and anxiety, a new study finds. In a survey of nearly 3,500 former NFL players (average age 53), 1 in 8 (12%) reported serious cognitive problems. That compares to about 2% of the general U.S. population. Age didn’t appear to be a factor. Former players younger than 52 had a rate (13%) of problems similar to that of other ex-players. Even those 45 and younger had an increased risk. In fact, 30% of those 45 and younger who suffered the most serious concussions had severe problems with thinking and mental health, the study found. Those who played 10 or more seasons were twice as likely to have severe problems than those who played just one season (12.6% versus 5.8%). The risk rose with each season played, and every five seasons of play was associated with a nearly 20% increase in risk. Kickers, punters and quarterbacks had the fewest concussion symptoms per season, followed by wide receivers, defensive backs, linemen and tight ends. Running backs, linebackers and special teams players had the most. The risk of serious problems was twice as high among former players with the most concussion symptoms (15%) than in those with the fewest (6%). Those with the most concussions… read on >

For most healthy women, exercise during pregnancy is as important as it is at all times of life. It brings benefits such as better overall health, preventing back pain and keeping you regular, which can be a challenge for some women. While low-impact aerobic activities like walking are often emphasized, research has found a surprising benefit to working out in the weight room. It turns out that, beyond keeping muscles toned, strength training can ease the fatigue and low energy that affects so many women when they’re expecting. For a study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 26 women did six low- to moderate-intensity resistance exercises twice a week from week 23 to week 35 of their pregnancies. Each session started with a five-minute warmup of walking on a treadmill followed by seated resistance machines — dual leg extensions, leg presses and leg curls, arm lat pulldowns and back extensions. Each exercise was done for two sets of 15 reps each at a controlled pace with a minute of rest between sets and two minutes of rest between machines. The participants also did two sets of a standing ab exercise using only their body weight. The results were clear: Nearly all of the women felt more energized and less fatigued, both physically and mentally, starting after a single workout. Strength training is… read on >