Bodies By M.E.

I always enjoy posting in the month of February not only because I am a romantic I also place a great emphasis on heart health.It has taken me a long time to find something that I thought was worthwhile your reading.

A recent study was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning research indicating that resistance training may also prove beneficial for heart health. The study included 10 male subjects who completed two forms of exercise, lower and upper body resistance training, consisting of 3 sets of 10 repetitions at 65% of a 1 repetition maximum and 30 minutes of cycling at 65% of VO2 peak.The goal of the study was to compare blood vessel response to each form of exercise.

After resistance training, the researchers noted a increase in blood flow to the extremities and a increase in central arterial stiffness. The cardiovascular exercise decreased arterial stiffness without increase of blood flow to the extremities. Resistance training was also associated with a greater degree of hypotension as opposed to cardiovascular exercise.

Take home message – Both form of exercise promotes a different but significant benefit for heart health. I strongly recommend participating in each form of exercise in order to achieve maximum cardiovascular health.

In a position statement that recently was published in ACSM’s Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise publication, physical activity is considered a key element in the prevention and control of Type 2 Diabetes. This joint statement was approved by the American Diabetes Association.

Several key points were made including that a combination of aerobic and strength training may be more effective in controlling diabetes than either one by itself. Milder forms of exercise such as stretching, yoga or tai chi have shown mixed results in blood glucose control. Although these are helpful supplements to exercise, they should not replace regular aerobic or strength training in the control or prevention of Type 2 diabetes.

Another key finding was that supervision by qualified exercise trainers is imperative since it showed the greatest effect on blood glucose. The belief is that participants received higher quality exercise counseling with supervised exercise sessions and therefore complied with their program better. Also noted is that persons with Type 2 diabetes should incorporate 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise spread over a minimum of 3 days per week.

Evidence also shows that higher levels of physical activity and moderate exercise intensities may reduce the risk of developing gestational diabetes.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Vol. 42, No. 12, December 2010. pp. 2282 – 2303. ACSM and the American Diabetes Association.

In a position statement that recently was published in ACSM’s Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise publication, physical activity is considered a key element in the prevention and control of Type 2 Diabetes. This joint statement was approved by the American Diabetes Association.

Several key points were made including that a combination of aerobic and strength training may be more effective in controlling diabetes than either one by itself. Milder forms of exercise such as stretching, yoga or tai chi have shown mixed results in blood glucose control. Although these are helpful supplements to exercise, they should not replace regular aerobic or strength training in the control or prevention of Type 2 diabetes.

Another key finding was that supervision by qualified exercise trainers is imperative since it showed the greatest effect on blood glucose. The belief is that participants received higher quality exercise counseling with supervised exercise sessions and therefore complied with their program better. Also noted is that persons with Type 2 diabetes should incorporate 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise spread over a minimum of 3 days per week.

Evidence also shows that higher levels of physical activity and moderate exercise intensities may reduce the risk of developing gestational diabetes.

Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. Vol. 42, No. 12, December 2010. pp. 2282 – 2303. ACSM and the American Diabetes Association.

Adding steps to our day may not only prevent middle age weight gain it helps to prevent or delay diabetes. A study recently reported by Terry Dwyer,AO , MD, MPH of Murdoch Children’s Research institute in Melbourne,Australia stated that Australians who increased their daily step count over a period of five years significantly increased insulin sensitivity .

Sedentary individuals who change their habits to walk an extra 2,0000 steps should expect to lose 0.16kg/m off their body mass index and boost insulin sensitivity by 2.76 units, the researchers estimated. If a inactive person reaches the goal of 10,000 steps more significant results can be achieved . A drop in BMI of 0.83kg/m and insulin sensitivity to increase to 13.85 can be expected.

Take home message- Get motivated and increase your steps to10,000/day and reduce developing diabetes three fold. Seems like a good investment!

Adding steps to our day may not only prevent middle age weight gain it helps to prevent or delay diabetes. A study recently reported by Terry Dwyer,AO , MD, MPH of Murdoch Children’s Research institute in Melbourne,Australia stated that Australians who increased their daily step count over a period of five years significantly increased insulin sensitivity .

Sedentary individuals who change their habits to walk an extra 2,0000 steps should expect to lose 0.16kg/m off their body mass index and boost insulin sensitivity by 2.76 units, the researchers estimated. If a inactive person reaches the goal of 10,000 steps more significant results can be achieved . A drop in BMI of 0.83kg/m and insulin sensitivity to increase to 13.85 can be expected.

Take home message- Get motivated and increase your steps to10,000/day and reduce developing diabetes three fold. Seems like a good investment!

Resistance, Repetitions, and Results

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends various ranges for repetitions when strength training ranging from 3-15 reps. However, there is little evidence that shows a specific number of repetitions will provide the best results relative to muscular strength, hypertrophy, or endurance. The basic recommendation is to perform the number of repetitions that can “be performed at a moderate repetition duration.”

Several studies have since been done by Chestnut and Docherty, Bemben, Wilborn, and still others and have found that low repetition exercisers and moderate exercisers have similar increases in strength and cross-sectional area. These studies were performed on various groups including young untrained males (Chestnut and Docherty), sedentary women between 41 and 60 years old (Bemben), and trained males with a mean age of 21 (Behm et al).

What most of these studies found was that setting appropriate weight to where the subject reach fatigue was important regardless if the repetitions were between 4-20 in order to increase strength and hypertrophy. These studies support ACSM’s position mentioned in the first paragraph.

Westcott, Wayne L. Ph.D. American College of Sports Medicine’s Certified News, July-September, 2010. Vol. 20, Issue 3. pp. 10-11.

A recent study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise determined that Americans don’t walk enough compared to other countries. The author of this study equipped 2,522 Americans aged 13 and older with accusplit pedometers.

The results of the research study reported that Americans scored lower than any other country. Americans subjects took an average of 5,117 steps per day. Australians averaged 9,695 steps, Swiss came in at 9,650 and the Japanese at 7,165.

Take home message – Numbers don’t lie and neither do the numbers that reflect the ever increasing cost of health care. If we could only learn to take responsibility for our health!

A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggest that pre-exercise static stretching may hamper athletic performance.

Included in this study 10 male college athletes who participated in a 60 minute treadmill run on two occasions. Participants of the first run performed static stretches for 16 minutes prior to exercise. While participants of the second run simply sat quietly for 16 minutes. The athletes from each group instructed to run as long as possible. Researchers found that performance was significantly greater in the non- stretching athletes with significantly greater energy expenditure.

Why does stretching prior to exercise hinder performance? According to Jason Seigler PHd of University of Hull in England”when you stretch prior to exercise or you are not warmed up you stimulate the protective mechanism within the muscle. Depending on the intensity of the stretch you override the muscle spindles and inhibit afferent neural pathways to the brain.

A better suggestion from running coach/personal trainer is to perform a more dynamic stretch that also acts as a warm up. An example of this type of exercise is a walking lunge, high knee running, butt kicks,side shuffle, straight leg March, and leg swings.

Widely used recommendation for determining heart rate maximum in women is being questioned. According to researchers the formula 220-age =HRmax may produce numbers to high for female physical health. After studying how heart rate response to exercise stress testing was associated with age and death rates among 5,437 asymptomatic women over 16 years, scientists settled on a new calculation 206-(age x 0.88)=HRmax.

Most of the studies on exercise and heart rate response were done on men which the original formula was derived from. The new calculation may be more appropriate for women. This study was published in Circulation.

http://nyti.ms/eLZKVr

GREAT ARTICLE

Eat food, mostly plants!