Latest Fitness Industry News
The latest fitness industry news at your fingertips.
- Eating less not equal to weight loss [news]
- Eat less, weigh less. It turns out it's not quite that simple. Losing weight is simple in principle. The rule of thumb has been that if you cut out 2100 kilojoules a day - the equivalent of two large lattes or a blueberry muffin - you will lose about half a kilo a week until you reach that magic number on the scales. Simple - but, as it turns out, probably way too simple. It now appears that dietitians, doctors and others may have been getting it wrong all these years. There's a lot more to losing weight than just kilojoules in/kilojoules out. When you start to lose weight, your body slows down your metabolism. In other words, you use less energy for the same activities.
- Scientists Identify Protein That Stimulates Brown Fat to Burn Calories [news]
- Scientists have identified a protein which regulates the activation of brown fat in both the brain and the body's tissues. Unlike white fat, which functions primarily to store up fat, brown fat (also known as brown adipose tissue) burns fats to generate heat in a process known as thermogenesis. The research, discovered that the protein BMP8B acts on a specific metabolic system (which operates in the brain and the tissues) to regulate brown fat, making it a potential therapeutic target.
- How Exercise Affects the Brain: Age and Genetics Play a Role [news]
- Exercise clears the mind. It gets the blood pumping and more oxygen is delivered to the brain. This is familiar territory, but Dartmouth's David Bucci thinks there is much more going on. "In the last several years there have been data suggesting that neurobiological changes are happening -- [there are] very brain-specific mechanisms at work here," says Bucci, an associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
- Vigorous Physical Activity Associated With Reduced Risk of Psoriasis [news]
- Psoriasis is an immunologic disorder characterized by systemic inflammation and scaling of the skin. Physical activity has been associated with a decreased risk of disorders characterized by systemic inflammation, including type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, coronary artery disease and breast cancer, according to the study background. "Among the individual vigorous activities we evaluated, only running and performing aerobic exercise or calisthenics were associated with a reduced risk of psoriasis. Other vigorous activities, including jogging, playing tennis, swimming and bicycling were not associated with psoriasis risk," the authors note. "The highly variable intensity at which these activities are performed may account for this finding."
- Pregnant obese women face birth risks [news]
- Australian and New Zealand pregnant women who weigh more than 140 kilograms are at greater risk of complications including gestational diabetes and caesarean section deliveries, new figures show. These women have a body mass index greater than 50 or weigh more than 140 kilograms. A healthy adult BMI is between 20 and 25. The figures, to be presented today at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists conference in Perth, showed extremely morbidly obese women were twice as likely to require a caesarean delivery than other pregnant women.
- Dinner in 15 minutes [news]
- There are some evenings when time and energy to spend in the kitchen are in short supply - that’s why supermarkets have freezers and chillers packed with ready meals and there’s a queue at the local takeaway. But somewhere between the frozen pizza and the home-cooked pork belly with parsnip remoulade, there’s a middle ground – fast food made from cupboard staples that deliver healthy dinners in minutes.
- “Too much, too soon” The hidden dangers of exercise post-pregnancy [news]
- Jennifer was a 33 year woman who came to see me for physiotherapy treatment eight months after the birth of her second child. She had been experiencing urinary leakage since 30 weeks pregnant, but was distressed that it hadn’t resolved, despite doing regular pelvic floor exercises. She had also recently noticed a feeling of “something coming down” in her pelvic region, which was always worse at the end of the day or after a run. During our initial consultation, Jennifer told me that she had started running at about 4 months post-birth, in an attempt to lose her extra baby weight and help with her wobbly tummy. She was concerned that she was still 6 kilograms heavier than pre-pregnancy, so she had been running at least 3-4 times a week and was now running around 8km each session..
- Supersets supercharge fitness [news]
- The exercise gadgets advertised on TV are often expensive. If you buy one, the DVD usually ends up being ignored after a few months; or the equipment ends up unused and gathering dust. The reason is a common one - boredom. You were bored with your training program and wanted something different that would speed up the desired results. After getting the DVD or the machine, buyers learn the inescapable fact: It takes time to build muscle, lose fat and get stronger. Nothing will speed up that time. And soon, you become just as bored with your new exercise device as you were at the gym. Advertisement: Story continues below But if boredom is inescapable reality, you can at least use a routine that's efficient; one that gets your workout completed in a shorter amount of time. That's where supersets come in. Supersets are a new buzzword in training, but they've been around forever. Most elite athletes use them.
- How to fuel a better mood [news]
- There's no argument that the right food and exercise help keep our bodies in good nick, but do they matter for our mental health too? Last month Spanish researchers put the food-mood link on the table again with a study of 8964 people that found that those eating the most junk - meaning commercial baked goods like croissants and doughnuts, and fast food like burgers and pizza - were more likely to be depressed than those who ate little or none. It's one of a few studies now suggesting that too much over-processed food could be bad for our mood, while a more Mediterranean-style menu with fish, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, olive oil and grains may improve it. Still, it's hard to know what comes first - does eating junk contribute to a low mood, or do we eat junk because we're feeling bad?
- Are you more of a dog or a ferret? [news]
- The science behind runner's high could prove the vital place of exercise in the evolutionary history of humankind. Ferrets don't often figure in studies of exercise, perhaps because they don't exercise much. They slink like fog through tunnels, sprint briefly over open ground and spend much of their time sleeping. They are, in biological terms, what's called a non-cursorial species, meaning they are reluctant and lousy distance runners. Which is why they were ideal subjects for an experiment conducted at the University of Arizona in Tucson looking at whether humans and other species evolved to like running. Many anthropologists and distance runners believe that running guided the evolution of early humans. We ran in search of dinner and to flee from predators. But running is costly, metabolically. It incinerates energy. It can also cause injury. A twisted ankle would have removed your typical early human from the gene pool.
- Survival of the fittest means running all night [news]
- WHILE you were likely sleeping, Tomas Bystron edged a little closer to his toughest goal yet, a six-pack. ''The only things I do, I work, I study, then I go to the gym,'' the 20-year-old hospitality worker from the Czech Republic said as the clock inside Jetts, a new 24-hour gym in Haymarket, neared midnight. The convenient gym hours, cost and easy access fuelling Mr Bystron's rapid development is doing the same for the 24-hour fitness sector, at a time when analysts foresee slower growth for the broader industry.
- Lack of sleep could lead to weight gain [news]
- Getting too little sleep can have all kinds of negative consequences, including making you cranky and impairing your driving. A growing body of evidence suggests an addition to that list might be in order: Lack of sleep might also make you fat. The intriguing prospect that sleep duration may play a role in how much we weigh has researchers busily conducting studies to tease out the potential relationship between shut-eye and BMI.
- A little sugar not all that bad [news]
- I have struggled with sugar for most of my life. My mom recalls finding candy wrappers under my bed when I was a kid. I’d think nothing of devouring a whole bag of candy corn around this time of year. But for all my interest in sugar, and despite my being a nutrition writer, I’ve never really known much about sugar as a nutrient. With Halloween — one of sugar’s high holidays — coming up, I figured this was a good time to get the scoop on sugar.
- Why fad diets don't work [news]
- Ask any nutritionist, dietitian or health professional whether fad diets work, and I'm picking you'll get the same answer. Our obsession with our weight and appearance - which, in the interest of honesty and transparency, I'd have to admit is fuelled, on some level, by me and my fitness colleagues - is seemingly without end. Far from abating, this obsession is gathering even more momentum, if our constant ambushing by the-latest-weight-loss-trend-taking-Hollywood-by-storm is anything to go by.
- Learning to love exercise [news]
- It may be hard to believe that someone can go from dreading exercise to dreading a day that passes without it. But that's just what happened to me. Learning to love exercise wasn't a miraculous conversion, but a gradual evolution that could happen for anyone. I'm proof. In younger years, I avoided gym classes, team sports and the outdoors. Like a lot of my friends, I just didn't want to exert myself.
- Oil linked to anti-ageing [news]
- AVOCADO oil may have anti-ageing properties like those attributed to olive oil, researchers say. Fat pressed from the exotic fruit could be a potent weapon against conditions such as heart disease and cancer, it is claimed. Avocado oil is similar in composition to olive oil, which is associated with unusually low levels of chronic disease in some Mediterranean countries.
- When weight problems start in the womb [news]
- Am I getting enough iron, folate or calcium? Is this food safe? These are the things you think about when it comes to eating in pregnancy. But a new book suggests adding something else to the list: how do I keep my blood glucose levels healthy? “In pregnancy glucose is the main fuel for the baby’s development and when the levels are too high the baby will grow too fast and be born with excessive body fat,” says Dr Kate Marsh.
- Children's soft drink use linked to disease [news]
- PRECURSORY signs of cardiovascular disease can be seen in children as young as 12 who have a high intake of sugary drinks, Sydney researchers have found, which could have implications for the rates of the disease in the future. While narrowed blood vessels inside the eye are a known precursor to cardiovascular disease in adults, researchers from the Westmead Millennium Institute for medical research have for the first time looked at the link between carbohydrates, which includes sugars, and the retinal health of children.
- Shoulder posture is not a case of "shoulders back and down!" [news]
- Scapula positioning is vital for shoulder function and clients are often advised by the well-meaning therapists to “pull the shoulders back and down” for good posture. This has a number of problems attached. Firstly the action of bracing the shoulders back and down limits the mobility of the scapulae and therefore glenohumeral joint functionally. The scapula and glenohumeral joints should be stabilised using minimal effort, not bracing, while allowing movement at the same time. Secondly the muscles used for the "back and down" positioning are rhomboids (back) and latissimus dorsi (down), neither of which are key stabiliser muscles for the scapula. These muscles will downwardly rotate and depress the scapulae respectively. This can restrict scapula movement and cause impingement at end range flexion/abduction.
- Exercise and the Hidden Pelvic Flaw [news]
- March 2012 Evening News….Yet another Silver Fern has made an early comeback just weeks after giving birth. Many viewers probably think this is heroic. I wonder if her coach knows the high risks to her pelvic floor and the association between urinary incontinence and sports like netball. As health and fitness professionals we know the importance of regular, weight-bearing exercise. It not only helps one feel good, but it actually reduces the risk of developing or dying from many of the leading causes of death and illness. However, lesser known is that every exercise affects the pelvic floor; and certain exercises can actually harm these muscles, contributing to, or causing pelvic floor dysfunctions such as incontinence and prolapse.
- Escape the marauding zombies… and burn calories at the same time [news]
- An innovative British mobile app Zombies Run! mixes fitness and fun – and is taking the gaming world by storm. A new smartphone game developed by two Britons, one an award-winning novelist, with funds raised by crowd-sourcing and no budget for marketing, has become the world's highest-grossing health and fitness app during its first fortnight of release, beating even such giants as Nike. Released just weeks ago, Zombies, Run! describes itself as "an ultra-immersive running game for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android" with a narrative edge. Instead of focusing on fitness, it casts the user as the struggling survivor of a zombie apocalypse. Players undertake sorties to gather supplies, with the drama playing out in fully scripted audio; success is measured in further segments of the unfolding story.
- Those who eat chocolate regularly and exercise tend to have lower body mass index [news]
- HEALTHY people who exercise and also eat chocolate regularly tend to have a lower body mass index than those who eat chocolate less often. A US survey of a population of more than 1000 adults, published as a research letter in the Archives on Internal Medicine, reinforces the notion that chocolate packs heart healthy benefits, despite its high calorie and sugar content. People in the study reported eating chocolate an average of twice a week and exercising an average of 3.6 times a week. Their average age was 57. Those who said they ate chocolate more often than the norm tended to have a lower ratio of weight over height, a calculation made by taking a person's weight and dividing it by their height times two.
- Weight-loss surgery puts diabetes in retreat [news]
- WEIGHT-LOSS surgery can reverse and possibly cure diabetes. Two studies, released yesterday, found clear proof that surgery helped far more patients achieve normal blood-sugar levels than medicines alone did for "diabesity" - Type 2 diabetes brought on by obesity. The results were dramatic: some people were able to stop taking insulin as soon as three days after their operations. Cholesterol rates and other heart risk factors were also greatly improved. In one study, most surgery patients were able to stop all diabetes drugs and have their disease stay in remission for at least two years. None of those treated with medicines alone could do that.
- Veggies 'aid weight control' [news]
- EATING broccoli, brussels sprouts and carrots is not just a healthy food choice. It might also stop you over-eating. New research by the Smart Food Centre at the University of Wollongong has discovered a solid serving of vegetables is one of the best ways to control your weight. But the finding applies only if vegetables are eaten in chunks or slices. Pureed, juiced or mashed vegetables are less effective in warding off hunger pangs. The weight control benefits of vegetable consumption are not a direct result of their low calorific and high vitamin content, but relate instead to a secondary attribute of all vegetables -- they make one feel very full or satiated.
- Don't let myths, misinformation keep you from exercise [news]
- If you still think sit-ups will reduce your belly flab, we've got some depressing news: You've fallen for one of the all-time great exercise myths. Fitness misconceptions are rampant, in part due to misleading infomercials, but also because scientific results are mixed on some commonly held beliefs. Meanwhile, what works for one person doesn't necessarily benefit another. Some fitness myths are harmless half-truths. Others, however, scare people away from working out or lead to injury.
- How to feed teens, nutritiously and inexpensively [news]
- “The key is to keep saturated fat to a minimum,” experts advice. “But if their cholesterol, weight and blood pressure are all within normal limits, they can afford” some flexibility in their diet. Georgia Orcutt, author of the 2007 book “How to Feed a Teenage Boy”, knows what we're up against, having raised two boys herself. Here’s her advice, based on her experience: Orcutt believes it’s “critically important” for parents to help their children and teens develop healthful eating habits, which set the stage for good health through adulthood. She talked with her sons about what she calls the “political” aspect of making food choices. “Your dollar is a vote,” she told them, explaining that she was “not going to vote for those foods” by buying junk. “They got it right away,” she says, and began making their own healthful choices with their allowances.
- Foods that benefit various body parts [news]
- There’s no question that maintaining a nutritious diet can help keep your body healthy. But when it comes to which foods can specifically benefit which body parts, science remains surprisingly sketchy. For all the hype about the health benefits of, say, antioxidants and probiotics, a scan of the scientific literature reveals how much we don’t know. Here’s a guide to foods whose benefits to the body are supported, to varying degrees, by reputable research.
- 5 so-called health foods you should avoid [news]
- Eating healthy can be harder than you think, thanks to an enterprising food industry that wants us to consume more than we need. That’s because our country’s agricultural system produces twice what most people require, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. This encourages creative marketing to unload the excess, much of it with minimal nutritional value. As a nutrition consultant, I know that words such as “low fat,” “high fiber,” “multigrain” and “natural” can fool even the most sophisticated customers into believing what they’re buying is healthful. So what can you do?
- Shoulder posture is not a case of "shoulders back and down!" [news]
- Scapula positioning is vital for shoulder function and clients are often advised by the well-meaning therapists to “pull the shoulders back and down” for good posture. This has a number of problems attached. Firstly the action of bracing the shoulders back and down limits the mobility of the scapulae and therefore glenohumeral joint functionally. The scapula and glenohumeral joints should be stabilised using minimal effort, not bracing, while allowing movement at the same time.
- Physical Activity Yields Feelings of Excitement, Enthusiasm [news]
- People who are more physically active report greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm than people who are less physically active, according to Penn State researchers. People also are more likely to report feelings of excitement and enthusiasm on days when they are more physically active than usual. "You don't have to be the fittest person who is exercising every day to receive the feel-good benefits of exercise," said David Conroy, professor of kinesiology. "It's a matter of taking it one day at a time, of trying to get your activity in, and then there's this feel-good reward afterwards."
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