Exercise and Fitness Archive

Research we're watching

Regular, moderate-to-vigorous exercise may help prevent atrial fibrillation (afib), according to a study in the May 2020 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Previous studies looking at the connection between afib (which causes a rapid, irregular heart rate) and exercise have produced conflicting results. But those studies relied on participants to self-report their exercise habits. For the new study, the 5,147 participants wore devices that measured their activity levels for four to seven consecutive days.

On call

Q. Exercise guidelines recommend a certain number of hours per week, depending on whether it's moderate or vigorous intensity. So how do I measure exercise intensity?

A. Outside of a physiology laboratory, there really is no standard agreement on how people should gauge their level of exercise intensity.

Active-play video games may encourage adults — including those with heart disease — to be more active.

Looking to liven up your indoor exercise routine? You might want to try exergaming — a fitness trend that incorporates exercise into a video game. Also called gamercising, the workouts may be more motivating and fun than a traditional exercise video.

"One advantage to exergaming is that the game choices are so broad, you can tailor the exercise to your own particular interest," says Dr. Ashwin Babu, a sports medicine physiatrist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Depending on the video gaming system, you can choose from a wide array of simulated sports and recreational activities, including baseball, bowling, boxing, cycling, football, golf, table tennis, track and field events, skateboarding, skiing, tennis, and volleyball. Some offer muscle-strengthening workouts, balance and stretching, aerobic exercises, dancing, and martial arts. Others feature adventure games that you "play" with your body movements, such as moving your arms, jumping, squatting, running in place, and sidestepping.

In the journals

Slower gait speed and cognitive decline may be related, according to a study published online April 12, 2020, by the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Scientists recorded the gait speed and cognitive health of 370 people in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA). Cognitive health was measured with a test that assessed orientation to time and place, attention, recall, language, and other aspects. Gait speed was measured with a timed 10-foot walk.

Lifestyle improvements, such as quitting smoking and exercising more, can reduce your risk of a stroke.

A stroke may seem like a sudden, uncontrollable event — a lightning strike out of the blue. But in reality, stroke risk often builds over time, and many strokes are preventable. A study published in the May 2020 issue of Stroke found not only that lifestyle changes can help you head off a potential stroke, but also that you can still reduce your risk even if you don't make these changes until later in life.

"What is novel about our study is that we found that even in middle-aged women, changing lifestyle has a large effect on preventing stroke," says Dr. Goodarz Danaei, senior author of the study and the Bernard Lown Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Even in the sixth decade of life, lifestyle changes can still prevent up to a quarter of all strokes." The average age in women for a first stroke is 75.

Ask the doctors

Q. I've heard that walking could reduce my risk of breast cancer. Is this true?

A. Yes, it's true. Walking is not only a great form of exercise to help keep your heart healthy, it could potentially reduce your risk of breast cancer. One 2013 study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, found that women who walked seven hours a week — an hour a day on average — had a 14% lower chance of getting breast cancer when compared with women who walked three hours a week or less. The benefit was seen even in women who were at higher risk for breast cancer, including those who were overweight or who were taking hormone therapy. It's not clear how walking helps, but experts speculate that physical activity might help keep the body's levels of estrogen and insulin in check. Both of these hormones can fuel breast cancer, so regulating them more effectively could reduce your risk.

Ask the doctors

Q. I'm hoping to prevent urinary incontinence. Is there anything I can do?

A. Nearly half of all women experience some type of urinary incontinence during the course of their lives. It may not be possible to prevent all of these cases, which can be caused by pregnancy, childbirth, or hormonal shifts that occur around the time of menopause. Here are some strategies that may help to reduce your risk.

Many lifestyle factors can influence the development of atrial fibrillation, and doctors now better understand the importance of these factors in treating afib. Those who are at risk of developing afib can take action to improve their health, and in some cases they may be able to reduce their symptoms.

Playing youth sports is a great way for children to be active and learn important socialization skills, but the risks of COVID-19 mean parents with children who participate in sports must consider a number of factors when deciding whether to play.