Exercise – Page 2 – Lacto Bacto

Outside Walks May Have More Brain Health Benefits Than Inside Walks

SimaJanuary 27, 2023Leave a comment

Another study was just published with results that may motivate us to go outside more. A small study with college students found that taking a walk outside in nature results in more mental health benefits (improved brain functioning) than taking the same length walk inside.

The walks were short - only 15 minutes long, and yet there were differences in health benefits. This was seen in the brain EEGs done during tasks before and after the walks. One health result which benefited more from outdoor walks is in how the brain functions, which the researchers call cognitive function.

Keep in mind: All exercise has health benefits, including for the brain - whether the exercise/physical activity is done indoors or outdoors. Exercise or physical activity is always better than no exercise or physical activity.

Other studies also show that exercising outdoors in natural environments produces more benefits to the brain than exercising indoors. Outdoor exercise enhances "executive functions" of the brain (such as attention, memory, and control of inhibitions) more than indoor exercise.

Bottom line: Get out and take a walk, even if only for a brief time. It's good for you!

From Medical Xpress: Going for a walk outside found to have more mental health benefits than walking indoors

A team of researchers at the University of Victoria, working with a colleague from York University, both in Canada, has found that going for a short walk outdoors provides people with more mental health benefits than going for a same-length walk inside. In their study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group asked volunteers to walk indoors or outdoors and tested them before and after their walk. ...continue reading "Outside Walks May Have More Brain Health Benefits Than Inside Walks"

Exercise Snacks Can Be An Easy Way To Improve Fitness

SimaJanuary 7, 2023January 8, 2023Leave a comment

Some good news for those finding it hard to find time or motivation for lengthy exercise sessions. It turns out that frequent little bursts of exercise about 1 to 2 minutes long also have tremendous health benefits, even if you spend most of the day sitting. Think of them as "exercise snacks".

An exercise or activity snack is a "brief snippet of exercise, usually lasting a minute or two, and done frequently during the day". There are studies (exercise snacking research!) finding it a good way to improve fitness, especially cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic health. The benefits of exercise snacking can be comparable to lengthier traditional workouts.

Some examples of exercise or activity snacks: walking quickly up and down a staircase, walking quickly around a room, rising and lowering 15 times from a chair, and jumping up and down. Ideally anything that'll raise your heart rate and breathing briefly. Sounds easier than going to a gym, doesn't it?

The Washington Post has a nice article about exercise snacking. Below that is an example of recent exercise snack research.

From The Washington Post - These 2-minute exercise bursts may be better than your regular workout

Here’s an easy and effective way to add physical activity to your daily routine during the new year: turn your exercise into a snack.

New research shows exercise “snacks,” which consist of brief spurts of exertion spread throughout the day, can improve metabolic health, raise endurance and stave off some of the undesirable changes in our muscles that otherwise occur when we sit too long.

...continue reading "Exercise Snacks Can Be An Easy Way To Improve Fitness"

Higher Physical Activity Levels Associated With Less Severe COVID-19

SimaDecember 31, 2022January 1, 2023Leave a comment

The more physically active a person is before getting COVID-19, the lower the rates of hospitalization, deterioration events, and death from COVID-19 infection. In other words, physical activity is protective.

The results of a Kaiser Permanente member analysis of 194,191 adults with COVID-19 infection found a strong dose-response relationship - with higher physical activity levels before COVID-19 associated with less severe outcomes.

What levels of exercise were reported by patients? In the 2 years before a COVID-19 infection, physical activity/exercise levels reported by patients were categorized as: always inactive (10 minutes per week or less), mostly inactive (0 to 60 minutes per week), some activity (60 to 150 minutes per week), consistently active (greater than 150 minutes per week), and always active (always greater than 150 minutes per week).

No matter the sex, race, ethnicity, age, BMI categories, whether one had cardiovascular disease or hypertension - the results were generally consistent for everyone. Bottom line: Aim for 150 minutes of physical activity or more every week. [similar results earlier study]

From Medical Xpress: More exercise linked to less-severe COVID-19 outcomes

Kaiser Permanente members who were more physically active prior to being diagnosed with COVID-19 had a lower risk of severe outcomes, according to research published Dec. 15, 2022, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. ...continue reading "Higher Physical Activity Levels Associated With Less Severe COVID-19"

Walking Teabag Style For A Few Minutes Is A Fun Way to Exercise

SimaDecember 30, 2022December 31, 2022Leave a comment

Monty Python silly walks Credit: Wikipedia

Every December the British Medical Journal publishes some lighthearted studies. Included this year is a fabulously wacky study finding that doing a "funny walking style", called the "Teabag style" from the 1971 Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch, is a great exercise for health.

Specifically, the researchers estimated that adults could achieve 75 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week by walking in Teabag style (instead of normal walking) for about 11 minutes per day. They called this high energy walking style "inefficient walking". Hah! But lots of fun.

See a short video (scroll down) comparing how the participants walked Teabag style with the original Monty Python sketch. Try it and enjoy yourself!

From Medical Xpress: Walking 'Teabag style' for a few minutes a day could help adults meet physical activity targets

Adults could achieve global physical activity targets by walking inefficiently for just a few minutes each day, finds a study in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. ...continue reading "Walking Teabag Style For A Few Minutes Is A Fun Way to Exercise"

Walking Is A Good Treatment For Knee Arthritis

SimaDecember 23, 2022Leave a comment

Walking may be the best way to deal with arthritis pain in the knees (knee osteoarthritis) and to slow its progression. Yes, rather than resting arthritic knees, the best treatment appears to be walking.

A study of individuals over the age of 50 found that walking for exercise prevented flare ups of arthritis knee pain from becoming persistent pain. This might be because consistent movement can help create muscle mass, strengthening ligaments around the joints that have osteoarthritis.

The study also found that walking for exercise is an effective way to slow the damage that occurs within the knee joint. Who would have guessed?

From Science Daily - Walking Towards Healthier Knees

A new study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals that walking for exercise can reduce new frequent knee pain among people age 50 and older diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. Additionally, findings from the study indicate that walking for exercise may be an effective treatment to slow the damage that occurs within the joint. ...continue reading "Walking Is A Good Treatment For Knee Arthritis"

Ten Days of Unhealthy Lifestyle Has Greater Effect on Young Men than Women

SimaNovember 3, 2022November 3, 2022Leave a comment

All of us should be concerned about harmful health effects from a sedentary lifestyle, along with drinking lots of sugary soda. However, according to a (very) small study, ten days of adopting this lifestyle seems to have more of a negative effect on healthy young men than on women, at least in the short term.

Even just 10 days of reducing physical activity (from greater than 10,000 steps to less than 5000 steps per day) and increasing soda intake (to 6 cans a day!) was enough to have a negative effect on insulin levels (vascular insulin resistance) in healthy young men. But the Univ. of Missouri researchers found no real effect on the young women.

From Medical Xpress: Sedentary lifestyle and sugary diet more detrimental to men, study finds

A new study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine is the first evidence in humans that short-term lifestyle changes can disrupt the response to insulin of blood vessels. It's also the first study to show men and women react differently to these changes. ...continue reading "Ten Days of Unhealthy Lifestyle Has Greater Effect on Young Men than Women"

Physical Activity May Be More Important Than Genes In Longevity

SimaAugust 25, 2022August 25, 2022Leave a comment

For a long time we thought that our genes determine how long we will live (longevity). A new study says not so fast - how we live is more important than our genes. Specifically, how much physical activity and sedentary time (time spent sitting) both have an effect on whether we die early or later, no matter our genetic make-up.

Researchers found that among older women - having higher weekly amounts of light, moderate, or vigorous physical activity was associated with a lower risk of early death. Having higher amounts of sedentary (sitting) time was associated with a higher risk of early death. It didn't matter if there was a genetic predisposition for longevity or not - the findings applied to everyone.

Bottom line: Get off the sofa or out of your chair and move, move, move. All types of physical activity are good for longevity and to lower risk of disease. While this study looked at older women, the findings are also thought to apply to older men.

From Science Daily: Physical activity may have a stronger role than genes in longevity

Previous research has shown that low physical activity and greater time spent sitting are associated with a higher risk of death. Does risk change if a person is genetically predisposed to live a long life? ...continue reading "Physical Activity May Be More Important Than Genes In Longevity"

Exercising After Getting Vaccine Boosts Antibodies

SimaJuly 22, 2022Leave a comment

There is something easy you can do to make flu or COVID-19 vaccines that you receive even more effective. Get some exercise after the jab and the antibodies your bodies produce in the following month will increase. It's a way to get an extra immune boost.

How much exercise? Iowa State Univ. researchers found that 90 minutes of light to moderate exercise (e.g. exercise bike or brisk walk) effective in boosting antibody production, but no benefit from 45 minutes of exercise or no exercise after vaccination.

The exercise should be started soon after getting the vaccination (in the study it was 30 minutes after getting vaccinated). By the way, the exercise did not increase vaccine side-effects.

From Science Daily: Exercise post-vaccine bumps up antibodies, new study finds

Researchers at Iowa State University found 90 minutes of mild- to moderate-intensity exercise directly after a flu or COVID-19 vaccine may provide an extra immune boost. ...continue reading "Exercising After Getting Vaccine Boosts Antibodies"

Exercise Slows Down Tumor Development

SimaJuly 1, 2022July 4, 2022Leave a comment

More and more research over the past decade has stressed the importance of exercise for our health, but it turns out it is also important in slowing down tumor development. Yes - it actually reduces the growth of cancer.

During a presentation at a 2022 medical conference in Spain, researcher Adrián Castillo García stated that a prescription for exercise (physical activity) should be part of cancer treatment.

Physical exercise also works to make cancer treatments more effective. For example, physical exercise (physical activity), in combination with chemotherapy, reduces the progression of cancer and on tumor volume (doesn't grow as much). Garcia thought that resistance exercise, such as cycling, was especially effective.

Other studies also find that exercise slows down tumor growth (e.g., colon cancer growth in persons with colorectal cancer is reduced by high intensity interval training), and lowers the risk of developing bowel cancer.

Bottom line: View exercise as anti-cancer.

From Medscape: Nutrients and Exercise Affect Tumor Development

...continue reading "Exercise Slows Down Tumor Development"

Walking Benefits the Knees

SimaJune 9, 2022June 10, 2022Leave a comment

Walking for exercise has another great health benefit - this time for the knees. A study found that frequent walking reduces frequent knee pain in people already diagnosed with knee arthritis (osteoarthritis), but not yet experiencing daily knee pain. It may also be a good way to slow damage from arthritis that occurs within the joint.

Frequent walkers reported 40% less new frequent knee pain (compared to persons who didn't walk for exercise). All the 1212 study participants were 50 years or older.

In other words, get out there and walk, preferably every day - it helps the knees!

From Science Daily: Walking Towards Healthier Knees

A new study published today in Arthritis & Rheumatology led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals that walking for exercise can reduce new frequent knee pain among people age 50 and older diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. Additionally, findings from the study indicate that walking for exercise may be an effective treatment to slow the damage that occurs within the joint. ...continue reading "Walking Benefits the Knees"