|
|
Volume 1, Issue 5
Kick the Habit: Exercise Can Help Smokers Quit
Fend off the Common Cold with Exercise
Feeling Tired? Don't Sit on the Couch, Go to the Gym!
Regular Exercise Can Help Prevent Hay Fever in Kids
Seniors Looking to Lose Weight Should Head to the Gym
Kick the Habit: Exercise Can Help Smokers Quit
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 70% of adult smokers want to quit. Unfortunately, quitting is almost always difficult and it can take several attempts before individuals are successful.
Resent research has found that exercise can help smokers quit.
After three months of participating in a hospital based cessation program, 80% of study participants who paired exercise with nicotine gum or the trans-dermal patch were successful at quitting as compared with only 52% who used the gum and patch without exercise.
1
Fend off the Common Cold with Exercise
It's almost winter, which means that once again cold season is upon us. While many people want to hibernate, and spend lots of time on the couch, new research published in the American Journal of Medicine indicates that regular exercise may help prevent against the common cold.
Researchers studied a group of women for a period of a year. Women who were previously overweight and sedentary engaged in 45 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 days per week had 3 times fewer colds throughout the year as compared with women who were inactive or less active. 2
Feeling Tired? Don't Sit on the Couch, Go to the Gym!
Given the hectic lifestyles that we live, many individuals claim that they are too tired to exercise. However, given recent research at the University of Georgia, this excuse is wearing thin.
Over the years many studies have found that sedentary individuals who begin a regular exercise routine experience an increase in energy levels. Researchers have compiled over 70 studies and found that exercise can help boost energy and fight fatigue, even among individuals suffering from chronic diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. 3
Regular Exercise Can Help Prevent Hay Fever in Kids
Anyone who suffers from seasonal allergies knows that the sniffling, sneezing and itchy eyes associated with hay fever can be miserable. But promising research out of Germany indicates that kids who exercise regularly while they are young are less likely to develop hay fever.
Researchers followed 1,700 children between the ages of 5 and 14 for 12 years and found that participants who were regularly active were 50% less likely to develop hay fever as compared with kids who were sedentary. 4
Seniors Looking to Lose Weight Should Head to the Gym
While maintaining a balanced and healthy diet is an important component of weight loss for seniors, recent research indicates losing weight via exercise has added benefits of maintaining strength and muscle mass while also increasing aerobic capacity.
The study separated participants into two groups, those who dieted using calorie restriction versus those who dieted with exercise. Both groups successfully lost between 9 and 10% of their total body weight, but those who only dieted lost muscle mass. In addition, those who exercised built muscle and reduced their risk for a variety of diseases and conditions.
5
Sources
1 Chest, 2006.
2 Chubak J, McTiernan A, Sorensen B, Wener MH, Yasui Y, Velasquez M, Wood B, Rajan KB, Wetmore CM, Potter JD, Ulrich CM. (2006). Moderate-intensity exercise reduces the incidence of colds among postmenopausal women. American Journal of Medicine, 119, 937-42.
3 Puetz TW, O'connor PJ, Dishman RK. (2006). Effects of chronic exercise on feelings of energy and fatigue: a quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 866-76.
4 Kohlhammer Y, Zutavern A, Rzehak P, Woelke G, Heinrich J. (2006). Influence of physical inactivity on the prevalence of hay fever. Allergy, 61, 1310-15.
5 Journal of Applied Physiology, online edition, 2006. |
