exercising

By Lee Bowman Are crosswords and number puzzles, brainteasers or memory games part of your New Year's fitness regime? Regularly exercising the mind -- along with the body -- can pay off with improved mental performance among people of all ages, numerous studies have demonstrated in recent years. The first evidence that people need to "use it or lose it" when it comes to Read more...

If you have high blood cholesterol like an estimated 100 million Americans, then chances are you're trying to change the way you eat. Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your risk of getting heart disease, which remains the country's No. 1 killer. Diet often is the first defense before a doctor turns to drugs to lower cholesterol levels. Losing weight, exercising and cutting Read more...

Here are some tips for how to avoid injury while exercising as you age. Warm up and stretch first. Muscles are not as flexible as they used to be. Don't be a "weekend warrior." People who exercise three to five days a week are at less risk for injury that someone who does nothing all week then goes full throttle on the weekend. Take lessons, even if you're not a Read more...

Many automatically equate personal training with gyms full of hard-core strength trainers and body builders. This is only part of the picture. More and more people, novice and veteran exercisers alike, are working with personal trainers because they offer a practical and affordable means of getting and staying healthy. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) shares the following top 10 reasons why Read more...

All that fierce exercising down at the gym is well and good, but with a little more time, a simple brisk walk can do just as good a job at keeping you in top physical shape. The good news is that both can significantly reduce the danger of heart disease. The Harvard School of Medicine and the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston teamed up for a eight-year study of 72,500 nurses between the Read more...

Supplements are the only feasible way for heart patients and others to receive appropriately large doses of Vitamin E. That's the conclusion of a clinical review in the December issue of the medical journal Archives of Family Medicine. Authors Drs. David Emmert and Jeffrey Kirchner say dietary sources cannot provide enough of the vitamin to make a difference in the prevention of heart Read more...

It's never too late to begin exercising regularly, but new research points out the importance of the phrase "easy does it" when you first start. A report in the Nov. 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests people who have been very inactive need to be especially careful as sudden physical exertion could put them at increased risk for a cardiac event. The Read more...

Exercising to keep your body in good running order is all well and good, but just how much -- or perhaps how little -- is necessary? British health expert Tony Stephens says three sessions a week of about a half-hour of aerobics should do nicely -- and he provides a way to gauge the effectiveness of your workout. Stephens, exercise physiologist at the BUPA health insurance company, says any Read more...

Doctors at Baltimore's Veterans Affairs Medical Center measured regular aerobic activity among 32 men 46 years and older with sedentary lifestyles and found they lost an average of 18 pounds and enjoyed a host of heart-related health benefits. This time the scientists were attacking the subject from the angle of metabolism and declining energy requirements. They measured energy expenditure Read more...