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Sport and Exercise Medicine
Any exercise boosts mood and reduces depression
For people leading a sedentary lifestyle, simply getting out of your chair and moving around can reduce depression and lift your spirits, found a...
Resistance training: Lower more than you lift
Two recent studies show that greater benefits occur when lowering (eccentric) a greater load than is lifted (concentric) during resistance-training.
Individuals that trained with accentuated...
Stair walking can increase energy more than caffeine
For young women running on little sleep, 10 minutes of stair walking increased energy more than the amount of caffeine in a soft drink...
More beneficial to fast before a workout
In a first of its kind study, University of Bath researchers concluded that exercise in a fasted state might provoke more favourable changes in...
Interval training rapidly improves diabetics' glucose metabolism
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases glucose metabolism in muscles as well as insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetes, with glucose uptake in thigh muscles...
Substantial health benefits from active commuting
Active commuting by bicycle is associated with a substantial decrease in the risk of death from all causes, cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD), compared...
Kidney injury and repair biomarkers in marathon runners
The physical stress of running a marathon can cause kidney injury, although kidneys of the examined runners fully recovered within two days, according to...
Long-term, weight-bearing exercise promotes bone growth in men
A researcher in the department of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia has published the first study to show that long-term, weight-bearing exercises...
The role of running ability and gender in marathon performance decline
In elite male marathon runners, performance starts to decline by about two minutes per year at age 35, while for an average runner the...
Supervised exercise training helps patients with heart failure
Contrary to what was previously assumed, physical exercise does not lead to harmful ventricular enlargement.
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the...
Long-distance running makes muscles work more efficiently
Those who regularly ran 30 miles or more a week showed neuromuscular changes that improved their running efficiency, meaning they needed to do less...
Sport has potential to increase substance addiction risk factors
The prevalence of substance abuse in sports settings might be under-represented in extant literature and poses heightened risk of addiction for individuals who are...
Yoga benefits in chronic non-specific lower back pain – Cochrane review
A Cochrane systematic review suggests that yoga may lead to a reduction in pain and functional ability in people with chronic non-specific lower back...
Successful minimal- or non-surgical options for Achilles rupture
A literature review has found successful outcomes for an Achilles tendon rupture with either minimally invasive surgery or non-surgical bracing with a removable boot,...
Weekend warriors win important health benefits
Weekend warrior and other physical activity patterns characterised by one or two weekly sessions may be sufficient to reduce all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer...
In high-intensity training, fewer reps could be more beneficial
For the first time, there is evidence that cardio-respiratory fitness levels are improved more by doing fewer repetitions of high-intensity exercise, according to a...
Running actually lowers inflammation in knee joints
In younger individuals, inflammation markers actually decrease in the knee joint after running, and running thus may help delay the onset of joint degenerative...
Gelatin supplement plus intensive exercise helps build tissue
Consuming a gelatin supplement, plus a burst of intensive exercise, can help build ligaments, tendons and bones, found a small study from Keith Baar's...
Physical activity slashes mortality risk in elderly men
Half an hour of physical activity for six days a week linked to 40% lower risk of death in elderly men and the impact on health is as good as giving up smoking, suggests a large 12-year Norwegian study. Men who regularly engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity during their leisure time lived five years longer, on average, than those classified as sedentary.
Steroids don't improve sporting performance
Doping is damaging the athlete health without benefiting their results, found a University of Adelaide study that collated sporting records (including Olympic and world records) of male and female athletes across 26 sports, between 1886 and 2012.
'You can't outrun a bad diet' – BMJ experts
Regular exercise is key to staving off serious disease, such as diabetes, heart disease, and dementia, write experts in an editorial in the British Medical Journal, but calorie laden diets now generate more ill health than physical inactivity, alcohol, and smoking combined.
Type of exercise 'less important' – study
A Spanish clinical study suggests that the type of exercise regimen – strength training, endurance exercise or a combination of both – may be less important than previously thought, in combatting obesity.
Salt beefs up triathletes' performance
Spanish research found that athletes who added salt to their usual hydration routines during the competition took 26 minutes less to complete a medium-distance triathlon course than those who only used sports drinks.
Mussels benefiting muscles
A pre-exercise supplement of a marine oil lipid derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel, has 'significant' positive effects on post-exercise muscle damage, claims an Indiana University study.
Treadmill performance predicts mortality
Johns Hopkins cardiologists have developed a formula that estimates overall mortality risk based on ability to exercise on a treadmill. Fitness level was the single most powerful predictor.
Heart risk lower in active older women
Middle-aged women who are physically active a few times each week have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and blood clots than inactive women, according to a University of Oxford study. More frequent physical activity does not appear to lower the risks any further.
High impact training can help ‘dicky’ knees
Progressive high-impact training improved the patellar cartilage quality of the post-menopausal women who may be at risk of osteoporosis, as well as at risk of osteoarthritis.
Body clock's role in sporting performance
University of Birmingham research showed sporting performance times varied by 26% throughout the day. Early risers reached their athletic peak around lunchtime, while night owls were best in the evening.
Beetroot juice and athletic performance
A Penn State study found that while beetroot juice did not enhance muscle blood flow or vascular dilation during exercise, it did 'de-stiffen' blood vessels under resting conditions, potentially easing heart workload.
Benefits of outdoor walking groups
Individuals who participated in outdoor walking groups had reductions in BP, resting heart rate, total cholesterol, BMI, risk for depression and other health benefits, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Inactivity twice as dangerous as obesity
A University of Cambridge study of over 334,000 European men and women found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to physical inactivity compared to obesity, but that just a 20 minute brisk walk could reduce risk by up to 30%
Sitting time cuts lifetime
The amount of time a person sits during the day is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and death, regardless of regular exercise, according to a Canadian meta-analysis.
Aerobic and weight training for best results
Healthy men who did 20 minutes of daily weight training had less of an increase in age-related abdominal fat compared with those doing aerobic activities, according to a Harvard School of Public Health study.
Mind is critical to muscle strength
Researchers have found that the mind is critical in maintaining muscle strength following a prolonged period of immobilisation and that mental imagery may be key in reducing the associated muscle loss.
Exercise improves heart rate variability in seniors
Seniors who maintain or boost their physical activity levels are less likely to suffer a heart attack. Health24 reports that researchers say exercise improves...
Short bursts of intense exercise lower premature death risk
Running for as little as five minutes a day could significantly lower a person’s risk of dying prematurely. The New York Times reports that...
Heat stroke the real risk for endurance runners
Endurance runners are far more likely to die of heat stroke than an undetected heart condition. HealthDay reports that researchers found that endurance athletes...
Concussion and neck injuries share common symptoms
Athletes and others reporting cognitive difficulties after a head injury are usually diagnosed as having had a concussion. But Science Daily reports that a...