Losing Weight by Exercising

An April 2021 study by the Technical University, Munich and the University of Nebraska found, 

"In the sports context, we have the phenomenon of people overeating after physical activity," 

"People want to reward themselves and their bodies for being active. So we use a hypothetical experiment to find out why people eat more after exercise compared to when they don't exercise."

"Based on this study, we were able to show for the first time that certain characteristics, such as the amount and 'urgency' with which a person wants to eat, change over the course of physical exertion," 

“These findings help us develop new interventions to optimize weight loss through exercise."

"The actual results suggest that physical exertion can entice those who do sport to eat larger amounts of food more quickly after the training session," 

"Since weight loss is a main motivation for exercising for many, and failure to achieve the desired weight loss makes it likely to quit exercising, it could be a good strategy to think about what you want to eat afterwards before you start to exercise."

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/uob-aig032921.php

Variety in Activities Better

A March 2021 study by the University of Basel suggest that, 

"activity alone is not enough to reduce symptoms of mental disorders, but can at least improve subjective well-being,” and that a variety of activities is better.

"Although the data were collected before the pandemic, the results are also relevant in light of the limitations during the coronavirus crisis," 

Muscles, Green leafy vegetables

A March 2021 study by Edith Cowan University found that, 

“… diets high in nitrate-rich vegetables may bolster your muscle strength independently of any physical activity,"

"Nevertheless, to optimise muscle function we propose that a balanced diet rich in green leafy vegetables in combination with regular exercise, including weight training, is ideal."

"We should be eating a variety of vegetables every day, with at least one of those serves being leafy greens to gain a range of positive health benefits for the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular system."

"It's also better to eat nitrate-rich vegetables as part of a healthy diet rather than taking supplements. Green leafy vegetables provide a whole range of essential vitamins and minerals critical for health."

Maintaining weight loss

A May 2021 study by University of Copenhagen and Hvidovre Hospital said,

A combination of moderate to vigorous-intensive exercise and appetite-inhibiting obesity medication is a useful way forward.

"This is new knowledge for doctors, dietitians and physical therapists to use in practice. This is evidence that we have been missing,"

"The problem is that people are fighting against strong biological forces when losing weight. The appetite increases simultaneously with decreased energy consumption, and this counteracts weight loss maintenance. We have an appetite-stimulating hormone, which increases dramatically when we lose weight, and simultaneously the level of appetite-suppressing hormones drops dramatically. In addition, a weight loss can provoke loss of muscle mass, while the body reduces the energy consumption. Thus, when the focus in obesity treatment has been on how to obtain a weight loss - rather than how to maintain a weight loss - it is really difficult to do something about your situation,"

"It is an important aspect to highlight, as you do not necessarily get a healthier body from losing weight if, at the same time, you lose a lot of muscle mass,”

"It is great news for public health that a significant weight loss can be maintained with exercise for approximately 115 minute per week performed mostly at vigorous-intensity, such as cycling. And that by combining exercise with obesity medication, the effect is twice as good as each of the individual treatments"

"Without a follow-up on whether people actually have support to perform exercise, the treatment will not be enough. Therefore, we also followed up with the participants on an ongoing basis to ensure that they received the support they needed in order to exercise. That is necessary, because maintaining weight loss is extremely hard. People need to understand this. Once you have lost weight, you are not "cured". 

"The ongoing exercise and effort will likely need to continue for many years,”

"Our study also demonstrates that without a structured treatment plan, there is a high risk of gaining the weight back. There were 12 individual consultations over the course of a year, including weighing and diet advice from Danish authorities according to guidelines for healthy weight maintenance. This was just not enough for the placebo group without exercise program, in this group all health benefits gained by weight loss during the eight week program were gone after one year, despite frequent weighing and diet and nutritional counseling based on official guidelines”.

"Therefore, it is important that there is a system for supporting people with obesity in maintaining the lifestyle change. Our study can help with this, because we can say this actually works to doctors, dietitians and municipalities, if they create a structured, joint treatment plan with the individual using ongoing follow-ups,"

Exercise and blood pressure

A March 2021 study by the University of Basel said, 

• "The goal of the recommendations … is primarily to lower blood pressure," 

• "Ultimately, through blood pressure reduction, we can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular disease - thereby spending more years of life in good health."

• "In people with hypertension, the blood pressure reduction that can be achieved with aerobic exercise is the same, or even slightly more, than taking a single antihypertensive medication," 

• "People with normal blood pressure, but who are at raised risk of developing hypertension, may be particularly motivated to keep their levels down," 

• "Obese individuals are very likely to develop high blood pressure if obesity persists over the years. Healthy individuals with a hypertensive parent are also at risk of developing high blood pressure, as are women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy (gestational hypertension). People in these groups can postpone or even prevent hypertension by exercising."

• "For most exercises, the blood pressure lowering effect lasts for about 24 hours, similar to medication, so it's best to be active every day if possible."

Exercise and the Brain

A March 2021 study by the University of Texas Southwestern reports,

"This is part of a growing body of evidence linking exercise with brain health," 

"We've shown for the first time in a randomized trial in these older adults that exercise gets more blood flowing to your brain."

"There is still a lot we don't know about the effects of exercise on cognitive decline later in life," 

“[mild cognitive impairment] and dementia are likely to be influenced by a complex interplay of many factors, and we think that, at least for some people, exercise is one of those factors."

"There are likely some people who benefit more from exercise than others," 

"But with the sample size in this study, it was hard to analyze subgroups of people to make those conclusions."

"Having physiological findings like this can also be useful for physicians when they talk to their patients about the benefits of exercise,”

"We now know, based on a randomized, controlled trial, that exercise can increase blood flow to the brain, which is a good thing."

Coffee before Exercise

A March 2021 study by the University of Granada found, 

“… acute caffeine ingestion 30 minutes before performing an aerobic exercise test increased maximum fat oxidation during exercise regardless of the time of day,"

Pink Drink

A May 2021 study by the University of Westminster said that you may be able to run better with a pink drink.

"The influence of colour on athletic performance has received interest previously, from its effect on a sportsperson's kit to its impact on testosterone and muscular power. Similarly, the role of colour in gastronomy has received widespread interest, with research published on how visual cues or colour can affect subsequent flavour perception when eating and drinking.

"The findings from our study combine the art of gastronomy with performance nutrition, as adding a pink colourant to an artificially sweetened solution not only enhanced the perception of sweetness, but also enhanced feelings of pleasure, self-selected running speed and distance covered during a run."

Strength Training - Getting Started

I am a fan of the Starting Strength programme to get started with strength training.

Weight Loss and Diabetes Risk

It appears that just a few kilograms in weight loss can significantly reduce the risk of diabetes.

A November 2020 study by the University of East Anglia said, "We have now shown a significant effect in Type 2 diabetes prevention, and we can be very optimistic that even a modest weight loss, and an increase in physical activity, in real world programmes like this have a big effect on the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.”

"This is really great news for the eight million people in the UK with a prediabetes diagnosis. The results of this trial, show that diabetes prevention is possible in the same prediabetes populations being treated in the NHS national diabetes prevention programme.”

"This is important to know, as the clinical methods for diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes have changed a lot in recent years."

Exercise Linked to Reduced Stroke Risk

A December 2016 study (of mice) by Georg-August-University suggests that, “physical exercise can be used as a preventive, as well as a therapeutic approach to aid recovery after a cortical stroke," It said, "We found that mice with free access to a running wheel throughout their life preserved a more juvenile brain into adulthood and were able to prevent the negative effects of a stroke."

Activity and Brain Size

A March 2020 study by Columbia University in New York said,

• “[These results] suggest that people may potentially prevent brain shrinking and the effects of aging on the brain simply by becoming more active,"

• "Recent studies have shown that as people age, physical activity may reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Our study used brain scans to measure the brain volumes of a diverse group of people and found that those who engaged in the top third highest level of physical activity had a brain volume the equivalent of four years younger in brain aging than people who were at the bottom third activity level."

• "Our results add to the evidence that more physical activity is linked to larger brain volume in older people."

• "It also builds on evidence that moving your body more often throughout one's life may protect against loss of brain volume."

Cholesterol Levels Slightly High

My annual blood tests show HDL/LDL cholesterol rates are slightly high.  It’s been at least three years since I had them tested and may not reflect the direction in which they are going, given my recent “Eat Clean & Train” programme.

I resolve to keep

• Increasing the amount of fibre, fruit and vegetables in my diet

• The gym programme (strength training – bench press, deadlifts and squats, every other day)

• Focused on reaching my annually-set personal weight and BMI targets

And to get my blood tests done annually now.

Sitting, Insulin Resistance, and Heart Disease

A February 2020 study by the Arizona State University College of Health Solutions said,

“We were surprised to observe such a strong negative link between the amount of time spent sitting and insulin resistance, and that this association was still strong after we accounted for exercise and obesity,"

"The findings of this study build upon earlier research including our own, which showed, among older women, that too much time in sedentary behaviors was associated with higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. Reducing sitting time improves glucose control and blood flow, and engaging in physical activities, even light-intensity daily life activities like cooking and shopping, show favorable associations with reduced mortality risk and prevention of heart disease and stroke."

"Health care providers should encourage patients, including older adults, to reduce their sitting time, take breaks in their sitting time and replace sitting with brief periods of standing or light physical activity."

Returning to Exercise, Taking it Easy

A February 2020 study by the American Heart Association said,

"Exercise is medicine, and there is no question that moderate to vigorous physical activity is beneficial to overall cardiovascular health. However, like medicine, it is possible to underdose and overdose on exercise - more is not always better and can lead to cardiac events, particularly when performed by inactive, unfit, individuals with known or undiagnosed heart disease,"

"More people are running marathons, participating in triathlons and doing high-intensity interval training. The purpose of this statement is to put the benefits and risks of these vigorous exercise programs in perspective,"

Pilates, Blood Pressure & Obesity

An April 2020 study "hypothesized that Mat Pilates might decrease the risk of hypertension in young obese women.”

The study found that, “Mat Pilates benefit[s] cardiovascular health by decreasing blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and body fatness in young obese women with elevated blood pressure. Because adherence to traditional exercise (both aerobic and resistance) is low in obese individuals, Mat Pilates Training might prove an effective exercise alternative for the prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular events in young obese adults."

Activity and Blood Pressure

A study in March 2020, part of the Framingham Heart Study, said,

• “Measuring habitual physical activity in community-based settings in this way distinguishes our study from prior studies that have looked at either self-reported physical activity or used accelerometers to measure daily activity for only a short amount of time, usually about a week,"

• "This study [result: more daily steps daily, tracked by a watch, lowers blood pressure] solidifies our understanding of the relationship between physical activity and blood pressure and raises the possibility that obesity or body mass index accounts for a lot of that relationship.”

• “Going forward, it would be useful to look at how smart devices might be leveraged to promote physical activity, reduce the burden of obesity and potentially reduce blood pressure."

Squatting and kneeling

A March 2020 study by the University of Southern California said,

• "We tend to think human physiology is adapted to the conditions in which we evolved … So, we assumed that if inactivity is harmful, our evolutionary history would not have included much time spent sitting the way we do today."

• "Even though there were long periods of inactivity, one of the key differences we noticed is that the Hadza [the group studied] are often resting in postures that require their muscles to maintain light levels of activity -- either in a squat or kneeling."

• "Being a couch potato -- or even sitting in an office chair -- requires less muscle activity than squatting or kneeling … Since light levels of muscle activity require fuel, which generally means burning fats, then squatting and kneeling postures may not be as harmful as sitting in chairs."

• “Preferences or behaviors that conserve energy have been key to our species' evolutionary success … But when environments change rapidly, these same preferences can lead to less optimal outcomes. Prolonged sitting is one example."

• "Replacing chair sitting and associated muscular inactivity with more sustained active rest postures may represent a behavioral paradigm that should be explored in future experimental work."

• "Squatting is not a likely alternative  … but spending more time in postures that at least require some low-level muscle activity could be good for our health."

Activity, Diabetes, and Blood Pressure

A March 2020 study by the University of Massachusetts said,

• "Walking is a widely accessible form of physical activity, and steps-per-day is an easy measurement and motivator that most people understand and can easily measure given the booming industry of wearable technologies or smartphones."

• "The results of our study add to the growing evidence about the importance of regular physical activity for improving heart health, and that preventive efforts can be effective, even as middle-aged adults move into older adulthood."

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School said,

• "Diabetes and high blood pressure are not inevitable. Healthy lifestyle changes, such as attaining and maintaining a healthy body weight, improving diet and increasing physical activity can help reduce diabetes risk. This study shows that walking is an effective therapy to decrease risk,"

• "For people who find the idea of a daily, extended exercise period and physical activity regimen daunting, shifting the focus to accumulating steps throughout the day may help them become more active … The more steps, the better."

10,000 steps again

Another piece of research about the mythical 10,000 steps. A February 2020 study by Brigham Young University found that,

• “Exercise alone is not always the most effective way to lose weight,"

• "If you track steps, it might have a benefit in increasing physical activity, but our study showed it won't translate into maintaining weight or preventing weight gain."

• "The biggest benefit of step recommendations is getting people out of a sedentary lifestyle,"

• "Even though it won't prevent weight gain on its own, more steps is always better for you."