Exercise & Fitness Archive

This old-school exercise offers a real-time assessment of your strength and motivates you to improve your fitness.

Image: kieferpix/ iStock

Push-ups have long been the symbol of optimal fitness. They are still used by the U.S. Army and the Presidential Physical Fitness Challenge to assess strength and endurance.

For older men, the simple push-up can be used as a snapshot of their current fitness. "Push-ups are the classic bread-and-butter exercise," says Dr. Edward Phillips of Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. "How many you can do at one time offers a measurement of your strength and is an easy tool to help you improve. You can do them anywhere and at any time, and only need a few minutes."

Researchers are developing pills that provide many of the effects of exercise. But none provides all the benefits of physical activity.

Image: Dmitry Fischer/ Thinkstock

Health experts are fond of saying, "If exercise were a pill, everyone would want to take it." And scientists seem to agree. Over the past several years there has been an accelerated push to develop drugs that mimic the effects of exercise. The promise is enormous—such medications could be a boon to people whose physical activity is limited by medical conditions or injuries. They could provide a head start for people who are beginning an exercise program. They could also confer the health benefits of exercise on healthy people who can't fit physical activity into their schedules or just don't want to get off the couch.

"While the idea of an exercise pill is a good one, it has many, many limitations," says Dr. Laurie Goodyear, head of the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Harvard-affiliated Joslin Diabetes Center. Just as a vitamin capsule won't provide all the benefits of a healthy diet, a single pill is unlikely to provide all the benefits of exercise.

Sitting has been described as the “new smoking.” While that may sound discouraging if you’re always driving long distances or sitting in an office chair for hours on end, there is something you can do about it. Moderate exercising like walking the dog or riding a bike for just an hour a day could alleviate or even eliminate the dangers caused by sitting all day. And if you’re worried about a full hour, benefits still come from spreading those 60 minutes out throughout the day.

A pessary and pelvic floor exercises can improve symptoms of pelvic floor prolapse. 

Strong core muscles and overall fitness are linked to shorter surgical recovery times.

Going for a ride is good for your heart and muscles, and it may improve how you walk, balance, and climb stairs.

Image: DTStockPhotos

They say you never forget how to ride a bike, so maybe it's time to climb aboard a two- or three-wheeler and enjoy the health benefits of cycling. "It's socially oriented, it's fun, and it gets you outside and exercising," says Dr. Clare Safran-Norton, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Check out the main physical benefits.

Fellow exercisers may keep you motivated, and learning proper form can help you avoid injuries.

 Image: Purestock/Thinkstock

Is your solo walking or cycling routine getting a little humdrum? Maybe it's time to try a group fitness class at your local gym or community center. Working out with others in a class led by a trained instructor may help you stick to an exercise routine, which is a vital part of keeping your heart healthy.

"We know that in a broad sense, the more fit you are, the longer you live," says Dr. Meagan Wasfy, a cardiologist at the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Exactly how you achieve that fitness doesn't seem to matter—the main thing is making it happen. Group fitness classes, which come in a wide range of styles and intensities, may offer certain advantages toward that goal.

People who are more physically fit in their mid-to-late 40s may be less likely to have a stroke after age 65 than those who are less fit.

Trainers offer extra motivation to meet your fitness goals.

 Image: Barryj13 /Thinkstock

You always want a good return on your investment, especially when you reach retirement age. That goes for your fitness, too. One of the best moves for a lucrative long-term payoff is to invest in a personal trainer.

"The exercises that worked when you were younger probably are not what you need now and going forward," says Vijay A. Daryanani, a certified personal trainer with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Outpatient Center. "A personal trainer can identify your needs and formulate the proper routine as well as keep you motivated and focused, all of which can help keep you active."

For people suffering from knee osteoarthritis, one long-standing solution to knee pain was the use of “unloading” shoes. These shoes use stiffer soles and slightly tilted insoles that help to reposition the foot and ‘unload,’ or decrease, the pain on the knee. But a new study revealed that these shoes might not be any better than good walking shoes at relieving pain from knee osteoarthritis.