Category: general fitness
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How Sleep Affects Athletic Performance
By Laird Harrison During a week of canoeing in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, something odd happened. I had only a thin inflatable pad between me and the rocks and roots. My mosquito bites itched. And some of my companions snored. But getting away from the hum and glow of civilization relaxed me so much that…
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Exercisers Prize Personal Trainers
by Karen Ashley Personal trainers are playing a large role in Americans’ exercise routines, a new survey shows. The survey of 300 people in the United States who work out at least three times a week found that 43 percent have used the services of a personal trainer. Among the other findings:
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How Much Pain is Too Much?
A friend of mine ran into a disappointment recently. She had to drop out of a 100-mile race because her kidneys hurt for 30 miles. And she was peeing blood. Still, she came in second in the 100-kilometer (62-mile) division of the race. Me, on the other hand, I recently walked the last mile of an…
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Can You Exercise Yourself to Death?
It’s pretty hard to exercise too much. That’s the conclusion from a new analysis of physical activity published in June in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. The authors combined results from six studies with a total of 661,137 people. In each of these studies, the researchers asked participants how much of their leisure time they spent exercising.…
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A Low-Carb Diets for Athletes?
By Laird Harrison Just about everyone I know has at least flirted with a low-carbohydrate diet — Atkins, Zone, Paleo, Southbeach — and lots swear by the weight-loss effects. But a low-carb diet for athletes goes against the standard recommendations of sports nutritionists. In fact, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) personal training text book…
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High-Intensity Interval Training May Not Save Time
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has captured a lot of attention lately because of its simple message: If you exercise hard enough, you can get just as fit in less time. Even the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services buys this concept to some degree. It recommends at least 2.5 hours per week of moderate…
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Quitting Sports May Be as Dangerous as Smoking
If you’re thinking about quitting sports because you’ve gotten a few injuries as you age, think again. You might be exchanging your shinsplints for a heart attack. That’s the implication from the latest studies on physical activity and aging.
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Treadmill Desk Distraction Measured
Just how much will walking on a treadmill at your desk… wait, what was I saying? Sorry I was distracted there for a second by my treadmill. Oh, right: How much does a treadmill interrupt your work? The answer is important because lots of evidence shows that sitting too much shortens your life, even if…
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Vigorous Exercise More Valuable
If you thought that a casual stroll or a little gardening provides all the exercise you need, no one can blame you. That’s been the implication of official health recommendations for years. But a new study suggests that you get more benefit from sweating and puffing than you do from just moving around.
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Get Your Partner to Work Out: 4 Tips
You hit the gym day after day, becoming lean and powerful. But you come home to find the love of your life sprawled in front of the TV every time with a bowl of potato chips. Even some personal trainers say getting your partner to work out can be harder than bench pressing 500 pounds.
