DailyDirt: You Know The First Guy To Run A Marathon Died Immediately After, Right?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Everything in moderation... including exercise. Exercise is undoubtedly good for you if you compare it to a sedentary lifestyle, but running marathons every day isn't going to do you any favors. But where is the optimal sweet spot for exercise? It's not the same for everyone, but it looks like most Americans aren't doing enough. Fortunately, the right amount probably isn't as much as you'd think.

• If you're exercising just to live longer, then you should probably optimize your workout because too much of a good thing has its risks. Any amount of exercise is better than none at all, but the minimum recommended dose isn't exactly clear. Still, it looks like walking for 450 minutes per week is about where the benefits plateau for a broad study of thousands of adults. [url]
• Some studies showed that exercising strenuously more than three times a week correlated with increased vascular risk. The benefits of moderate exercise peak at about 4-6 sessions of walking/gardening per week. [url]
• Exercise isn't going to help you lose weight necessarily. There's plenty of data to suggest that our bodies adapt to exercise -- and metabolisms slow down as people lose weight. Exercise is still good for you, but again, after some point, the benefits peak -- so for significant weight loss, you need to exercise and change your dietary habits. (duh?) [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: diet, exercise, fitness, health, minimum recommended dose, weight loss

DailyDirt: Changing Your DNA In 2015

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Your fate is not completely written in your DNA. Environmental conditions can certainly change your life significantly, and you can even control some risk factors to your benefit. Sure, some things like poverty aren't quite under anyone's direct control (and it has a measurable detrimental effect on kids' DNA). But if you're looking for some more good reasons to make a new year's resolution, maybe think about how you can change your epigenetics for the better?

• Exercise apparently changes how genes are expressed. The field of epigenetics isn't well understood yet, but there are a lot of factors that can change how our genes send signals to our bodies. By studying people riding a stationary bicycle using only one leg, researchers could find evidence of genetic differences in the muscles of legs that exercised and that did not. [url]
• CTRA or "conserved transcriptional response to adversity" looks at how stress affects gene expression in our bodies, and there are some correlations that suggest detectable health effects come from charitable actions. Presumably, activities that lower stress (such as volunteering, etc) have some effect on your well being that are different from actions that are merely self gratifying. [url]
• Drinking soda every day probably isn't great for your long term health. Correlation is not causation, but people who drink sugary sodas daily have shorter telomeres in their white blood cells. That doesn't mean if you stop drinking soda that these bits of DNA will grow back, though. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: aging, conserved transcriptional response to adversity, ctra, dna, epigenetics, exercise, gene expression, health, resolutions, soda, stress, telomeres

DailyDirt: Replacing Exercise With A Pill

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Some people really enjoy exercising. Some people really don't. And some people have physical limitations that restrict the amount or kinds of exercise they can do. If there were a pill that could provide some of the benefits of exercising, plenty of folks would take it. Not surprisingly, a lot of research is looking at how exercise affects the body -- and some projects might lead to a pharmaceutical solution for couch potatoes. Here are just a few examples.

• Drug candidate SR9009 sounds like a pill from The Jetsons that helps you lose weight and build muscle -- without exercising. Mice treated with this drug showed increased metabolic activity in skeletal muscle and improved athletic endurance for running. [url]
• Different colonies of intestinal bacteria may spur obesity or prevent it. Studies of lab rodent fecal transplants suggest that some kinds of bacteria can help keep fat mice lean when eating a low-fat, high-fiber diet. [url]
• Regular exercise may help boost autophagy processes in the body that clear out surplus proteins and other cellular detritus -- potentially leading to some anti-aging benefits. Researchers are just beginning to learn more about autophagy mechanisms (and maybe someday we'll get the benefits without the exercise). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: anti-aging, autophagy, bacteria, drugs, exercise, health, medicine, pharmaceuticals, sr9009

DailyDirt: Who Has Time To Exercise?

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There are all kinds of exercise fads, creating a vast array of gadgets that are supposed to help people get in shape or lose weight or magically make their lives better in every way. But no one really needs plastic handles attached to springs/elastic cords or wheels/pulleys or even weights to improve their health. It takes commitment. And usually that means dedicating some time to exercising regularly. The good news is that the minimum required time for exercise to have any impact seems to be pretty short. Here are some links for those of you looking to start exercising now that it's summer (in the northern hemisphere).

• The American Heart Association recommends about 30 minutes of aerobic activity for 3-5 days per week AND some muscle-strengthening activity for at least 2 or more days per week. But the AHA also says that something is better than nothing, if several hours of exercise per week sounds ambitious. [url]
• High intensity workouts have gotten a lot of media attention recently -- focusing on "7 minute" regimens and similar programs that try to speed things up a bit. CAUTION: these strenuous exercise programs are not for beginners! [url]
• Don't have time for seven minutes? How about just four minutes? Some researchers are even trying to determine if people can get away with less than four minutes, too. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: aerobic activity, exercise, fads, health, high intensity training, workout
Companies: american heart association

DailyDirt: Exercise The Right Way

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There are countless exercise videos and gadgets to help people exercise more effectively. Every fitness guru seems to have his/her own unique (and hopefully not patented) method for getting better results from physical activity. If you believe the infomercials, you can lose more weight in less time, just by following a few simple instructions (your mileage may vary). Here are just a few links on how you might improve your daily activity in some small ways.

• Is there a perfect technique to running? In 1874, the "100-Up" method was created and could be the best way to run. You don't need fancy five-toed shoes, and you should really avoid landing hard on your heels. [url]
• Just one minute of strenuous effort repeated about ten times (over about 20 minutes per day) seems to offer some significant health benefits. Studies of variations of high-intensity interval training techniques could help people optimize their exercise routines. [url]
• A lot of people are walking incorrectly with bad posture. Bending your elbows at a 90 degree angle might not sound like a big deal, but apparently, if you're not doing it, you're walking wrong. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: 100-up, exercise, fitness, interval training, posture, running, walking

DailyDirt: Who Wants To Live Forever

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Several discoveries in biology could lead to treatments that reverse the effects of aging and prolong lifespans. There isn't quite a magic bullet, but it's not unreasonable to think that people could live longer and longer lives. The Methuselah Foundation has several monetary prizes for researchers in the field of life extension interventions. Here are just a few other interesting research studies on aging.

• Little worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) on the International Space Station are actually living longer in a micro-gravity environment than their earth-bound relatives. Researchers have identified several genes that contribute to this unexpected lengthening of longevity, but living on a space station isn't the fountain of youth. [url]
• The cost of sequencing the human genome has fallen dramatically from $3 billion for the first one... to a few thousand dollars. Having access to the information in our DNA could lead to lifespans of 150 years, but getting hit by a bus would still be a problem. [url]
• Certain kinds of exercise may extend your life more than others. Aerobic exercise is correlated with living a bit longer than non-aerobic exercise -- so expect a few more infomercials to start plugging exercise equipment with claims of helping you live longer. [url]
• Senescent cells can no longer divide, and they might bring down neighboring cells and create various symptoms of aging. Eliminating these senescent cells could lead to more age-resistant organs -- and people living longer (perhaps as undead zombies). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: aging, biology, biotech, exercise, human genome, immortality, life extension, lifespan, longevity, senescent cells
Companies: methuselah foundation

Nintendo's Own Study Show Wii Not So Great As Exercise

from the honest-results! dept

There's been a little buzz around the news of a new study in the UK pointing out that playing games on the Nintendo Wii really isn't a particularly good substitute for real exercise, as some Wii-players would like to believe (and I'll admit that I'm guilty of playing some Wii boxing in lieu of real exercise). However, what may be even more interesting is the fact that the study was actually paid for by Nintendo. Perhaps we've just become so cynical about corporate "studies" like this in the past, that it's relatively shocking to find one paid for by a company that shows the opposite of what the company probably hoped to see -- and then to still see that study actually published somewhere.

Filed Under: exercise, wii
Companies: nintendo

Your Computer Thinks You're Lazy

from the get-off-the-couch dept

Anyone that watches late night television is constantly reminded of America's growing beltline. To combat our obesity epidemic, infomercials abound with the latest exercise gizmos that promise to make us all fitter. But, most of these gadgets end up gathering dust in the corner since they don't do anything to motivate us to actually use them. So, need help getting off that couch? Have your computer call you. Stanford researchers have found that an automated computer message reminding people to get out and exercise is nearly as effective as a human counselor. People who were called by the computer exercised an average of 157 minutes per week, as compared to 118 minutes for the people who weren't called. Not bad -- if only someone could figure out how to actually get the computer to do the exercising, that would truly be the killer app.

Filed Under: exercise, fitness