Feature Channels: Exercise and Fitness

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Study uses fMRI brain scans to document relationship between neural activity and risk for obesity

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High physical fitness is known to be related to enhanced blood vessel dilation and blood flow (endothelial function) in aging men. However, for women, endothelial function and the effect of exercise may be related more to menopausal status than fitness.

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Former police officer Martin Jarry ran a 10K, even though he has inclusion body myositis, a rare debilitating disease of the muscles.

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The Adaptive Sports Academy at Hospital for Special Surgery is enabling young patients with cerebral palsy, an amputation or other physical challenge to participate in athletic activities they never dreamed possible. Many are looking forward to a surfing trip on Long Island scheduled for August 14.

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A woman’s race and where on her body she packs on pounds at midlife could give her doctor valuable clues to her likelihood of having greater volumes of heart fat, a potential risk factor for heart disease, according to new research led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

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At the gym, on the web, and in print media, it is typical to see marketing messages touting the value of protein supplementation to enhance the gains that can be achieved with resistance exercise training.

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Even among people who had just joined a gym and expected to visit regularly, getting paid to exercise did little to make their commitment stick, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University.

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The UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind program, which fights childhood obesity by installing comprehensive fitness programs in middle and high schools, has formed an academic advisory council of leading experts in physical education, fitness and wellness.

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A new study finds that moderate exercise does not impair kidney function in some people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study—the first to analyze the effects of exercise on kidney disease that does not require dialysis—is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Renal Physiology.

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Stroke survivors may experience delayed recovery of limb function up to decades after injury, according to a new case study.

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Chemicals found in everyday plastics materials are linked to cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure in men, according to Australian researchers.

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Using a larger dataset than for any previous human movement study, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, have tracked physical activity by population for more than 100 countries. Their research follows on a recent estimate that more than 5 million people die each year from causes associated with inactivity.

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A team of researchers led by Robert Wessells, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University, has received a two-year, $423,500 grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health for the project, “Octopamine mediates benefits of endurance exercise in Drosophila.”

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Latest research highlights from ACSM

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Latest research highlights from ACSM

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Latest research highlights from ACSM

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Devoted runners suffer from a surprisingly high rate of injury. One reason for these injuries is that runners endure many shocks from the impact of running, and these cause vibrations that travel from the foot throughout the entire body. Delphine Chadefaux, a post-doctoral researcher who focuses on acoustics and biomechanics, studies these repetitive shocks and investigates how runners adapt their running patterns according to running conditions and will share some of the insights from her research during Acoustics ’17 Boston.

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Faculty, staff and graduate students are taking on one of society’s most vexing health challenges: how to prevent or slow the onset of dementia through changes in diet and exercise. And what sets the Lifestyle Interventions Group apart is its inclusion of disciplines beyond the typical confines of brain science.

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A University of Delaware research team is combating chronic kidney disease (CKD) with exercise. The team had patients engage in a specially designed exercise program and found that it improved their blood vessel health and exercise capacity.

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Moderate-intensity exercise can help even extremely obese older adults improve their ability to perform common daily activities and remain independent, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

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Children who take part in lessons which include physical activity show an increase in health-enhancing physical activity and academic performance, according to research carried out by Leeds Beckett University.

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Activity monitors or fitness trackers are fun and informative gadgets to help track daily physical activity. But as a source of objective data for research on the health benefits of exercise, they’re not yet fully up to speed, reports a paper in Progress in Preventive Medicine, the official journal of the European Society of Preventive Medicine. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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The first three months of sobriety pose the greatest risk for relapse, and the greatest challenge for intervention efforts. Results from a pilot study suggest that a lifestyle physical activity intervention supported by a Fitbit device can successfully supplement existing alcohol treatment among depressed women during early recovery. These results will be shared at the 40th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Denver June 24-28.

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An exercise program comprised of gentle exercises and taught by home care aides can help frail older adults perform basic daily activities, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago published in The Gerontologist.

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For college students, summer can be the time for a new lesson: how to take charge of their health.

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Highly active older adults experience no limitations in the lungs’ capacity to exchange gases (lung-diffusing capacity) during physical activity, researchers have found.

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UAB’s Stefan Kertesz, M.D., provides commentary on a new trial comparing yoga and physical therapy for those who suffer from low back pain.

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Research carried out at Leeds Beckett University suggests physical education (PE) in the United and United States may be failing both teachers and children.

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Ross Brownson, the Bernard Becker Professor and director of the Prevent Research Center at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded a $2.9 million grant from National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for a five-year project aimed at promoting physical activity in rural communities.

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Walking is probably the simplest, easiest and the most inexpensive way to remain fit. Experts link a bevy of health benefits with regular walking.

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Despite the fact that distance runners swear by them, a new study from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds compression tights don’t help runners go farther or faster.

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Getting outside on two wheels can improve health and fitness, build muscles and boost your mood. Plus, for most people, it’s fun.

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A new study finds that short, functional-movement and resistance training workouts, called functional high-intensity training (F-HIT), may improve beta-cell function in adults with type 2 diabetes. Beta cells in the pancreas produce, store and secrete insulin, which allows your body to use sugar for energy. The small study is the first one of its kind to analyze beta-cell function in F-HIT or resistance training.

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Exercise is good for older adults. But what kind is best? The answer to that question is important. It may mean the difference between an older person living independently or having to move into a facility where someone helps them with daily living activities.

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Most people know that regular exercise can keep a body looking and feeling young. What about the brain? Michigan Medicine researchers were recently awarded a two-year grant to further examine the role physical activity plays on the brain.

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Online pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was found to be as effective as face-to-face rehabilitation programs at improving patients’ exercise capacity and symptom control, according to new research presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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For the first time, UNC School of Medicine researchers show that exercising burns the fat found within bone marrow and offers evidence that this process improves bone quality and the amount of bone in a matter of weeks.

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Colon cancer patients who have a healthy body weight, exercise regularly and eat a diet high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables have a significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence or death, according to a research team led by UC San Francisco investigators. This finding represents an analysis of data collected on patients participating in a national study for people with stage III colon cancer.

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Children who take part in lessons which include physical activity show an increase in health-enhancing physical activity and academic performance, according to research carried out by Leeds Beckett University.

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The twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul edged Washington, D.C. in the 10th annual American Fitness Index (AFI) released by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Anthem Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Anthem, Inc.

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While regular exercise is known to reduce inflammation over time, it actually increases inflammation in the short term. This is a concern for children with sickle cell disease, a condition that is marked by increased inflammation that can cause severe pain. The pain episodes in sickle cell disease are due to the abnormally shaped red blood cells that can get clogged in the blood vessels, a situation that could get exacerbated by more inflammation. But is there a level of exercise that is safe for these children? Primary Investigator Robert Liem, MD, from Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and colleagues will address this question in a five-year multicenter study recently funded by a $2.7 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

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As published in JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a Gundersen Health System study found that most patients look for guidance on physical activity during cancer care, but oncologists do not feel equipped to give recommendations.

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Today, the Inclusive Fitness Coalition (IFC) launched a new charge focusing on building inclusive health communities that provide the 54 million people living with disability in the United States equal access and opportunities for healthy living.

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Finding time for strength-training exercises can be difficult for runners with busy schedules. Luckily, lifting weights doesn’t have to be time consuming, and runners can follow workout routines that take less than 20 minutes to complete. And, says Chris Kolba, a physical therapist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the results are well worth the time.

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Increasing the percentage of elementary school children in the United States who participate in 25 minutes of physical activity three times a week from 32 percent to 50 percent would avoid $21.9 billion in medical costs and lost wages over the course of their lifetimes, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

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Johns Hopkins researchers report that an analysis of survey responses and health records of more than 10,000 American adults for nearly 20 years suggests a “synergistic” link between exercise and good vitamin D levels in reducing the risk of heart attacks and stroke

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People are turning to Instagram as a place where they can log food intake and healthy eating behaviors by posting photos of everything they eat - and being held accountable by followers for sticking to their goals, a new study finds.