Exercise and Fitness Archive

In the journals

Regular exercise is good medicine, but more may be better, suggests a study published online Jan. 12, 2021, by PLOS Medicine. Scientists asked more than 90,000 people without heart disease to wear a fitness tracker for a week to measure the duration and intensity of their physical activity. Five years later, they found that the most active people were less likely to have had a heart attack or stroke or be diagnosed with heart disease.

That's no surprise, but the researchers also discovered that risk continued to shrink as weekly minutes of activity and intensity rose. People who exercised the most and at the highest intensity had the best odds of maintaining good cardiovascular health. Guidelines recommend people get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, but these findings suggest that trying to do a little extra — whether in time, intensity, or both — offers more reward.

Rapidly becoming a racquet sport favorite, pickleball serves up various physical, mental, and social benefits.

You keep hearing that older adults need to stay active physically, mentally, and socially. But what if you could do all three at once? You can if you play the racquet sport pickleball, one of the country's fastest-growing forms of recreation.

"In many ways, pickleball is the ideal activity for older adults," says Timothy Rivotto, a physical therapist and tennis coach with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. "It can accommodate people with different fitness levels and still offer a good aerobic workout. Pickleball also requires using key brain skills and is an exciting way to interact with others."

News briefs

Living a healthy lifestyle may be one of the best things you can do to tame the heartburn of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), suggests a research letter published online Jan. 4, 2021, by JAMA Internal Medicine. Harvard researchers analyzed the self-reported health information of about 43,000 middle-aged women who were followed for 10 years. Women who adhered to five healthy lifestyle factors, regardless of whether they took heartburn medication, appeared to prevent nearly 40% of their GERD symptoms each week. The pill-free approaches included maintaining a healthy body weight (a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9); not smoking; getting 30 minutes daily of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; limiting coffee, tea, or soda to no more than 2 cups per day; and eating a healthy diet. "Each one of these factors may prevent the inappropriate relaxation of the sphincter muscle between the stomach and the esophagus, helping to keep acid from refluxing up and causing heartburn. For example, carrying extra weight around the waist can push on the stomach, forcing stomach acid up into the esophagus," says Dr. Raaj S. Mehta, lead author of the study and a gastroenterology fellow at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Image: © kate_sept2004/Getty Images

Strengthening your core will rev up your balance and stability.

After a long winter with lots of isolating and maybe too little physical activity, it might be time to give your core muscles more attention.

These muscles, located throughout much of your trunk, are the key to supporting your lower back and helping you stand, get out of a chair, bend, lift, and maintain your balance. So regular maintenance and tune-ups of the core muscles are important.

Research we're watching

Surveys show that about one in five Americans uses a smartphone app or tracker for monitoring exercise. Evidence for the benefits of these tools is mixed, but a new review suggests they may encourage people to move a bit more.

Researchers pooled findings from 28 studies involving a total of nearly 7,500 people who took part in studies using a smartphone app or activity tracker. They found that these tools have a small to moderate effect in boosting physical activity, motivating people to take an average of 1,850 additional steps per day.

A good one can provide motivation and customized advice on a safe, effective, and well-rounded exercise routine.

Exercise is one of the pillars of heart disease prevention. But at some point, you may need help shoring up your workout habits. Maybe you exercise only in fits and starts, without sticking to a regular routine. Or perhaps you're in a rut, doing the same old 30-minute trudge on the treadmill every day.

Another possibility: You have a health condition (such as high blood pressure or arthritis) or another physical problem (an old knee or back injury, for example) that makes you hesitant to exercise. For all of these reasons and more, hiring a personal trainer can be a sound investment.

This example of a Calming Practice yoga exercise can be done any time of day. If you're anxious or worked up over a stressful situation, the ujjayi breath exercise can center and relax you. It's among dozens of exercises featured in "Intermediate Yoga," a special health report from Harvard Health Publishing. To learn additional intermediate yoga exercises, visit: www.health.harvard.edu/iy

"Lion's breath," because of its starting position, is also called "five-pointed star into goddess with lion's breath." It's among the Energizing Practice routines in "Intermediate Yoga," a special health report from Harvard Medical School. To learn additional intermediate yoga exercises, visit: www.health.harvard.edu/iy

The Energizing Practice routine described in "Intermediate Yoga"—a Harvard Medical School special report—involves vigorous breathing to bring more oxygen to your body and brain. The result: physical and mental energy. Breath of joy is among the featured exercises. To learn additional intermediate yoga exercises, visit: www.health.harvard.edu/iy

"Intermediate Yoga," a special health report from Harvard Medical School, includes a Strengthening Practice routine with multiple exercises that help develop both mental and physical strength. Among them is "bellows breath." To learn additional intermediate yoga exercises, visit: www.health.harvard.edu/iy