All Exercise & fitness Articles

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- While exercise is constantly touted as the best way to have a fit and healthy body, it may also be the single most important tool to combat everything from obesity to depression to ADD and Alzheimer's, according to research by one Harvard professor. Moderate exercise, even just five or 10 minutes at a time, can help supercharge the brain's mental circuits and help beat Read more...

He's an 84-year-old diabetic with one lung that doesn't work. She's his 84-year-old wife, a survivor of a nearly fatal aortic aneurysm. About a dozen years ago, they stared old age in the face and made a decision. Instead of letting themselves go, they would get themselves going. So, Stanley and Josephine Ewasiuk of Clearing, Ill., started attending exercise classes and walking in the Read more...

Chocolate milk, the drink mothers give children as a treat, is gaining popularity as a post-workout recovery drink. Why? Research has shown that chocolate milk, loaded with carbohydrates and protein, refuels muscles, reduces muscle breakdown and rehydrates the body. Studies at Indiana University, George Mason University and elsewhere suggest that drinking low-fat chocolate milk after Read more...

They all have plenty of reasons not to run. Brain tumor surgery, sleep apnea, liver failure. Age. "Anyone can make excuses," explains Richard Irons, 75. But they don't. They get up and run, several times a week. And they race. Irons qualified for the Boston Marathon twice in recent years and is training for Tulsa's Route 66 Marathon. He placed second in last year's Tulsa Read more...

Bob Willette clocks 110 miles each week on his road-racing bike, mostly while he commutes the 26-mile round trip to work. He also whacks tennis balls with his doubles group. And he pushes himself in a regular hoops game, where "something's always twisted or stubbed. Or bleeding," he said. The trim North Coventry, Penn., scientist is 53 years old. As with many baby boomers, his Read more...

Postmenopausal women respond much like younger women to regular, vigorous exercise, U.S. researchers found. Study leader and exercise physiologist George Brooks of the University of California at Berkeley said despite changes in hormones and changes in body composition, postmenopausal women can make significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on extreme diets. The Read more...

People and their dogs need physical activity to fight obesity, a U.S. veterinarian said. However, Dr. Susan Nelson of Kansas State University in Manhattan said there are many benefits besides weight loss when humans and dogs exercise together. "Exercising with your pet also promotes the human-animal bond," she said in a statement. "People like dogs because of their Read more...

Shoes that reduce cellulite? Shirts that burn calories? Clothing that helps you lose weight without ever going to a gym? It sounds too good to be true, but experts say those promises may not be too far-fetched, as basic fitness principles meet the latest in physiological technology. Sophisticated sneaker designs can up the intensity of your walk, and specialized fabrics may stimulate your Read more...

A British researcher won a prize for work that may help reverse the muscle loss that leaves many senior citizens with too-thin limbs. The Blue Riband Award was presented in Dublin, Ireland, by The Physiological Society to Beth Phillips for confirming leg blood flow in the elderly slowed after eating, but weight-training helped reduce this effect. "She found that three sessions a week Read more...

It happens every year: Cold weather and shortened days lure us toward hibernation and carb-heavy comfort foods. Fight the urge -- put down that muffin and keep moving. Need a little inspiration? Consider hiring a personal trainer to ward off wicked winter blues. Here's how to get started. Training on a Budget Check out your workplace. If it has a wellness or fitness center, it might Read more...

If you want to exercise, it doesn't get much easier than walking. That's why so many of us are breaking out the sneakers for lunchtime power strolls. In 2006, 87.5 million Americans walked for exercise. But like anything else, walking can get old. To prevent that, there are many ways to power your walk into a workout. Setting goals for one -- walking farther, faster or uphill can take Read more...

Women, particularly African-American women, experience greater cardiovascular benefits than men as a result of exercise, U.S. researchers found. The study, published in the Journal of Lipid Research, said the long-term study of more than 8,700 middle-aged men and women provides race- and gender-specific data on the cholesterol effects of physical activity -- with women experiencing greater Read more...

The average 50-year-old is now healthier and fitter than someone half their age, a study has revealed. It found the average 25-year-old in Britain consumes more than 2,300 calories a day, exercises only three times a week and scoffs 12 types of junk food a month. But the typical 50-year-old has only 1990 calories each day, does at least four forms of exercise and treats themselves to Read more...

EL PASO, Texas -- Some of the most popular workout trends offer sessions so intense or fun that they block out the stress of the day. Gregory Florez, founder and CEO of fitadvisor.com health coaching services, said the more-bang-for-your-buck classes are attractive because they offer an outlet for stress while providing workouts that exercise many muscle groups in a short period. Such Read more...

Every weekday morning, Laura De Martino wakes up early to go for a walk with her friends on St. Simons Island, Ga. "Anne Marie Stirewalt, Gay Barron and I leave our houses at 6:15 each weekday morning. We walk to the Coast Guard Station, then down the beach as far as we can," she said. "If we must get off, we still walk down to and through the Village, then back down Mallery, Read more...

Finding a reason to not go to the gym is easy: It's expensive. It's time-consuming. You feel fat, slovenly and humiliated in front of the cute girls on the treadmill. You don't have the right clothes. There's no parking. Put away the excuses. For about the same price as an annual membership at a fitness club, you can build an at-home gym that can be stored easily under a bed or in a closet Read more...

Though it may seem like child’s play – and it is – jumpping rope is tops for improving stamina, agility and coordination and cooks through up to 14 calories per minute. It’s the perfect workout for any adult who’s tight on time, cash or space. In case you haven’t jumped rope since you were 10, here are a few tips to refresh your memory on proper technique. Line Up Length. Read more...

If misery ever loved company, it's during exercise. There are thousands of fitness nuts who bike, run, kayak, power walk or other activities alone and with no prompting. Then there are the rest of us. The ones who need a leader or at least others in a class to help us stay motivated to work out. And the class has to be fun, something to look forward to, or we find reasons to skip. So we Read more...

Michelle Obama has never revealed the workout that gave her those well-known, well-toned arms. She doesn't have to. Everyone knows she has a garden. A garden can be just as good, or even better, than a gym routine. It's a muscle machine, if you know how to use it in the right way. But best of all, when you work out in a garden, you'll be building a great body while growing the most nutritious Read more...

As we watch Barack Obama take office, we can learn some lessons that will help us all be healthier in 2009. Obama's personal health choices have drawn praise from Men's Fitness Magazine, which named him one of this year's "25 Fittest Guys in America" for avoiding fatty foods and beginning most days with a vigorous aerobic workout. Both Barack and Michelle Obama get points Read more...