RSSFitness
Workout Wisdom for Those Over 40
Katherine Hobson
Whether you're planning to bike cross-country after you retire or you haven't put on sneakers since you were 6, there are things you need to know about exercising. Get comfortable. Find activities that are right for you. It's not all about aerobics. Start slowly, and embrace recovery. Switch it up. Mind old injuries. Don't underestimate yourself.
Exercise and dieting aside, behavior and biology appear to have a real influence on weight
Sarah Baldauf
Weight loss depends largely on getting the balance right between calories consumed and calories burned. Yet, as evidenced by individuals' struggle to control weight and also by the nation's alarmingly increased rate of overweight and obese residents in recent decades, mastering this seemingly simple formula is no small task. Here are factors that may be working against your efforts to control your own weight
Want to Age Well? Avoid Midlife Weight Gain
Deborah Kotz
Being overweight in middle age reduces your likelihood of gliding into your 70s without any health problems like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. It also reduces your odds of being able to walk up a flight of stairs or get through your day without crying. Certainly, body weight plays a role in long-term health, but it doesn't tell the whole story ...
Do Your Genes Determine Which Diet Means Weight-Loss Success?
Katherine Hobson
The more science learns about the marvelous diversity among human beings -- fueled by genetic, environmental, and other factors -- the clearer it becomes that a one-size-fits-all approach to diet is bound to fail
Counting Every Step You Take
Pedometer Powerful Exercise Motivator
Harvard Health Letters
Research has shown that pedometers are a good motivational tool, although maybe not by themselves. Several randomized trials show that it's the combination of wearing a pedometer and having a goal that's most effective. A common one is 10,000 steps a day, which is equivalent to about five miles, depending on the length of your stride
Fitness: Strength Training A Healthy Addition to Your Exercise Regimen
Harvard Health Letters
Physical activity guidelines say all American adults should be doing muscle-building exercises at least twice a week. These exercises are supposed to be of moderate or high intensity and involve all major muscle groups. They would most commonly involve a light weight-lifting program of some kind.
Personal Trainer: Walking - DS
David Thomas, Crispy Gamer
In case you missed this oddball trifle from Nintendo, the basic idea is that you walk around with a small digital pedometer in your pocket or clipped to your purse, and every day you sync the little doodad with your Nintendo DS. A creepy Mii then gives you fitness advice, shows you a graph of how many steps you have taken, and describes your walking pattern in terms of an animal.
Hamstrung! How to Prevent and Help Heal Hamstring Injuries
Katherine Hobson
This season, hamstring injuries have benched at least four members of the New York Mets. Then it got personal: my boyfriend started hobbling after one of our outdoor workouts, having suffered his own mild hamstring pull. What is this injury, anyway? And what makes everyone from pro athletes to weekend warriors susceptible to it?
Why You Should Think Twice Before Using Alli or Other Weight Loss Aids
Deborah Kotz
When it comes to losing weight, we'd all love that quick fix: a pill, shake, heck, even surgery to ease our efforts. Unfortunately, weight-loss aids -- even when approved by the Food and Drug Administration -- come with risks as well as benefits.
13 Ways to Add Fruits and Vegetables to Your Diet
Harvard Health Letters
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is a cornerstone of good health. It helps control blood pressure and cholesterol, keeps arteries flexible, protects bones, and is good for the eyes, brain, digestive system, and just about every other part of the body. But many of us have trouble putting that knowledge into practice and getting five or more servings per day.
Need To Lose Weight? 10 Ways to Conquer Emotional Eating
January W. Payne
Do you blindly turn to food as a source of comfort when you're feeling upset? Since emotional overeating doesn't provide any lasting satisfaction and can lead to health problems, it's far better to find other ways to deal with the stresses of daily life. That's the premise of a book out this month ...
Smart Choices Program Aiming to Improve Food Purchasing Decisions
Katherine Hobson
The Smart Choices program puts a green check on the front of products produced by participating manufacturers as long as the foods meet certain nutritional standards. (It also shows calories and serving size.) The program replaces the individual guidance systems that some companies had used.
Foods Surprisingly High in Added Sugar
Sarah Baldauf
Added sugars, which are sprinkled on and processed into packaged foods and beverages, have become all too common in the American diet, says the American Heart Association. The group argues that sugar bingeing is helping drive the uptick in metabolic changes in the American population, including the exploding obesity rate, and has now recommended an upper limit on daily consumption ...
Snacks Can Be Part of a Healthful Diet
Katherine Hobson
It used to be that someone who wanted to lose weight was advised to stick to three square meals a day. For adults, at least, snacking was considered an unnecessary source of extra calories, and if you were hungry between meals, well, tough; you'd just have to wait for the next one. Nowadays, it's a rare diet plan that doesn't include planned snacks.
Nutrition 101: Good Eating for Good Health
Good eating is not a punishment, but an opportunity. If you know why it's important and what to do, you'll find it enjoyable and satisfying. And if you establish an overall pattern of healthful nutrition, you'll have plenty of wiggle room to savor the treats that matter most to you.
Natural Cuisine From Around the World
Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer
It's no secret that people who follow traditional styles of eating are generally healthier than those of us who've adopted a Western-style diet. Cultures that enjoy diets that are based on natural foods, whole grains, fish, and limited unhealthy fats continue to reap the health rewards.
6 Reasons Your Athletic Performance May Be Lagging
Katherine Hobson
Athletic performance decline has a variety of possible explanations, most temporary and fixable but some more serious. Here's a field guide to what might be keeping you from doing your best.
5 Lessons for Over-35 Athletes From Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres
Katherine Hobson
Dara Torres is a role model for those who aspire to athletic success over the age of 35. Torres took up that mantle during the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and still holds it a year later. As Dara's profile rose, people clamored to know her secrets. They want to know about how she trains, what she eats, how she managed to compete in last week's world championships against people less than half her age -- and, yes, how she has that body after giving birth to a child.
Smart Snacking Key to Combating Obesity
Deborah Kotz
Big news today: We're getting fatter. Obesity rates in adults increased in 23 states and didn't decrease in a single state over the past year. Here's some types to help us all from the temptations of snacking.
Check Nutrition Labels Before You Buy
Lisa Tsakos
Manufacturers are required to declare the nutrition (both good and bad) in each serving of their product. Nutrition Facts are broken down into easy-to-read sections. They are listed and explained as follows ...
Tai Chi Health Benefits
Harvard Fitness Health Watch
This gentle form of exercise can prevent or ease many ills of aging and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life.
Tai chi is often described as meditation in motion, but it might well be called medication in motion.
5 Lessons From the Nation's Obesity Report Card
Katherine Hobson
We're still getting fatter, albeit at a slightly slower rate. That's the chief takeaway from a yearly report on the U.S. obesity epidemic, which found that rates of obesity rose in 23 states (last year, rates rose in 37 states). Almost two thirds of states now have adult obesity rates above 25 percent, according to the report
Common Queries About Weight Loss
While we know there's no such thing as a quick fix that amounts to permanent weight reduction, there are right and wrong approaches. The right approaches involve replacing unnecessary calories with natural, nutrient-dense foods and increasing physical activity
Weight Loss Drugs & Diet Pills Have Many Drawbacks
I wish we had a diet pill that could help people lose weight easily. None of the medicines on the market are worth using, if you ask me
Exercise Boosts Your Brainpower; Intensity May Matter
In an attempt to hang on to your cognitive function as you age, you may do crossword puzzles, join a book club, or keep up friendships to stay connected. But to do all you can to maintain your mental abilities, you really should be exercising.
3 Tips for Boosting Your Fitness as You Age: One Triathlete's Advice
It's easy to think that athletic improvement after age 40 is something reserved for those who can afford to spend the time and money it takes to
train full time. Debi Bernardes, a swimming and triathlon coach in King George, Va., was asked what she's done to keep
improving after three decades of competition. Here's what she thinks makes a difference, plus how you can apply it to your own training.
Smart Fitness for Grown-Ups: Tips for the Over-40 Exerciser
Whether you're looking forward to riding your bike across the country after you retire or you
haven't put on sneakers since you were 6, there are things you need to know about exercising after the age of 40.
Swimming: Take the Plunge for Your Heart
Any kind of exercise is better for your heart than no exercise at all.
Walking isn't necessarily the best exercise for the heart and general good health, but it's the best option for the greatest
number of people. More vigorous activities do even more for the heart than walking. The lion's share of research has focused
on running. Two new studies from the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas, highlight the health benefits of swimming.
JUKARI Fit to Fly Workout
In 1989, Reebok revolutionized women's fitness with the creation of Step Reebok.
Today, the company revealed its new launch of an innovative gym workout - JUKARI Fit to Fly.
JUKARI Fit to Fly makes fitness fun again by introducing a new way to move in a gym workout and is accessible to
all women, regardless of fitness levels.
Walking A Step in the Right Direction
Walking is one of the easiest ways to be physically active.
A brisk-paced walk can help you feel better, increase energy, and pick up your spirits.
Walking is a simple and flexible way to improve your health, and it�s practically free.
You can walk alone or with friends, indoors or outdoors, on a city sidewalk or a country trail, any time of the year.
Brisk walking can help control your weight, lower cholesterol, strengthen your heart, and reduce the likelihood of serious health problems in the future.
Power of Positive Thinking Is Psychology's Latest Focus
Positive psychology itself is a relatively nascent field. Formally founded a decade ago by the
University of Pennsylvania's Martin Seligman, its emphasis on what goes right with people was a sea-change from psychology's
traditional preoccupation with what goes wrong -- from depression and anxiety to mental illness of all flavors. ...
Drinking Coffee May Be Good for You
Despite past concerns about coffee, tea, and other sources of caffeine being detrimental to health, recent research suggests that regular coffee consumption may reduce the risk of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and liver cancer--and regular coffee drinkers might even live longer.
Energy Drinks Can Have a Variety of Adverse Effects on the Body
Having an occasional energy drink isn't necessarily bad, especially those that contain about the same amount of caffeine as a cup or two of coffee and a similar
amount of sugar as a can of soda. But many energy drinks contain much higher amounts of caffeine and other substances.
The Integrated Approach to Weight Loss
Two-thirds of American adults are overweight and one in three are considered to be obese. An integrative approach can be an effective strategy for losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight.
Spring Into Health With WIN Fitness
Taking better care of yourself doesn't have to be a grueling process. People often associate healthy eating and exercise with pain and suffering. However, simple changes to your eating and physical activity habits can make the process easier. The Weight-control Information Network (WIN), a program that provides the general public, health professionals, the media and Congress with up-to-date, science-based information on weight control, obesity, physical activity and related nutritional issues, suggests these tips to put you on the fast track to better health.
Play it Safe When it Comes To Concussions
More than 38 million boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18 participate in organized youth sports. And while sports can be a fun way to socialize and instill values such as teamwork, physical activity can also mean potential for injuries.
Fitness Programs Help Employees Shape Up
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a challenge for millions of Americans. Between hectic work schedules,
long commutes and juggling family and job responsibilities, most people say they cannot find time to exercise. In fact,
according to a Physical Activity Survey recently conducted by AARP, 50 percent of people age 18 years and older said that
lack of time prevents them from being active.
Create a Home Fitness Plan that Works
The Spinner Sport enables a low-impact, cardiovascular workout that burns as many as 500 calories in 40 minutes.
The Top 10 Places to Take a Walk
Love to walk? You might be living in one of the nation's 10 most walker-friendly cities. The American Podiatric Medical Association has released this year's list of top walking cities in the country.
30-Minute Circuit Training Program Saves Time and Burns Calories
In the age of 50-hour work weeks, it's easy to let fitness fall by the wayside. In fact, the number one reason why most people do not lead active lifestyles is because of a perceived lack of time. For this reason, 30-minute workouts are becoming increasingly popular.
Beat Aches & Pains with These Outdoor Activity Tips
When beautiful, sunny weather replaces the gray skies of winter, many take advantage by getting outside and participating in a variety of activities such as gardening, golfing and hiking. But after the fun is over, aches and pains can kick in which can considerably decrease your sunny, outdoor activities.
Help for Tired Muscles, Achy Joints
Fitness can really punish your body, especially your knees and other joints. This can be difficult to deal with, not only for athletes at the top of their game, but also for active seniors who enjoy such sports as golf or tennis.
Heading to the Gym? Follow These Hygiene Tips
After a workout, change out of your sweat-soaked clothes as soon as possible.
Nutrition Tops List of Consumer Concerns
As the baby boom generation turns 60 and beyond, health and wellness concerns are spiking. According to a recent survey, four in five consumers are more concerned about health, nutrition and fitness than they were a year ago, but nutrition beat out fitness as the top priority for the first time.
Make a Connection With Your Teen
Talking with teenagers about their health isn't always a parent's or a teen's favorite conversation. But parents have more influence on their teen's health than they think, according to researchers with the Prevention Research Centers (PRC) network.
Alcohol Health Benefit or Health Risk?
We've all heard the news about the potential heart-health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption. It's no wonder such stories grab headlines.
Lisa Tsakos
Mary Pickett, M.D.
Katherine Hobson
by Katherine Hobson
By Katherine Hobson
Health, Fitness & Exercise
Reebok & Cirque du Soleil Partnership Creates Innovative Gym Workout
Lindsay Lyon
January W. Payne
By Martha Grogan, M.D.- Mayo Clinic Medical Edge
Health & Nutrition