They say variety is the spice of life, but it’s also pretty darn integral to exercise, both in terms of keeping your mind engaged in the activity at hand and ensuring that your dedication to exercise continues to pay off, be it in gains of physical strength, endurance, or simply just feeling good about your body.
On the mental front, variety in your exercise routine can be one of the most important predictors of adherence to exercise. To test this theory, researchers from the University of Florida assigned 114 people to one of three exercise programs; one where the type of exercise varied between workouts, a second where members were required to perform the same exercise at each workout, and a third where exercisers where left to their own devices in terms of schedule and exercise type. At the end of the eight week program, 53 participants had left the program, leaving 24 people in the first group, 22 in the second group and 15 in the third group. In addition, participants in the first group enjoyed their workout sessions 20 percent more than the members of the second group and 45 percent more than members of the third group.
Posted By: Worker Bee
Last week we brought you news that the costs of treating neck and back pain had gone through the roof in the last several years but patients were actually getting less relief. As many of you wrote, the constantly lingering pain is enough to encourage patients to give multiple therapies a try. And research out of Northwestern University supports this strong motivation.
Using functional MRI, researchers compared the brain activity of those suffering from chronic back pain with that of a control group.
Posted By: Worker Bee
Last week, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Surveillance (CDC) released a report suggesting that cases of flu had peaked in recent weeks.
But rather than go crazy and hole up in your house until the flu season passes, we suggest you follow these tried and true tips for avoiding – and recovering from – the flu.
Posted By: Worker Bee
A collaborative meta-analysis of more than a quarter million cases of cancer around the globe finds clearer association between obesity and several types of cancer. The findings are reported in the latest issue of The Lancet.
Following on from findings reported by the World Cancer Research fund last year, the study reveals that risk is increased not only in common cancers such as breast, bowel and kidney, but also in less common cancers such as blood cancers (myeloma and leukaemia) and melanoma (a form of skin cancer). Dr. Andrew Renehan and colleagues from the University of Manchester and Christie Hospital, did a meta-analysis (a combined analysis of 221 previous studies), looking at over 250,000 cases of cancer, to determine the risk of cancer associated with a 5kg/m2 increase in body mass index (BMI). The researchers found in men, a 5kg/m2 increase in BMI raised the risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma by 52%, thyroid cancer by 33%, and colon and kidney cancers each by 24%. In women, a BMI increase of 5kg/m2 increased the risk of endometrial (59%), gallbladder (59%), oesophageal adenocarcinoma (51%) and kidney (34%) cancers. They also noted weaker, but significant, positive associations between increased BMI and rectal cancer and malignant melanoma in men; postmenopausal breast, pancreatic, thyroid, and colon cancers in women; and leukaemia, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in both sexes.
via Science Daily
Posted By: Worker Bee
We know by now that we need to work out, need to eat the right foods and do stuff that is “healthy for us,” but sometimes when we’re waking up at 5 am to hit the treadmill before work or shunning the donuts at the breakfast meeting, its easy to lose sight of what we’re doing this all for.
So here’s the quick & dirty, Mark’s Daily Apple top 10 reasons why you need and want to stay healthy. Stick this list up on your fridge, tuck it in your workout bag, heck, have it tattooed on your forehead… whatever it takes to keep you motivated to lead that healthy lifestyle!
Posted By: Worker Bee
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