Research/Exercise Science Articles

For all the mysteries of the human brain, one thing seems clear: The brain needs nutritious foods, just like the rest of the body. Research suggests that a healthy diet may support and even stimulate mental abilities and slow the advance of neurodegenerative disorders. Indeed, studies find that many foods enhance intellectual capacities such as memory, motor skills, attention and learning. Such foods may influence brain functions by stimulating signal transmission, improving blood flow or decreasing inflammation in the brain. Diet and Mental Performance

Fifteen minutes of aerobic exercise done immediately after practicing a new motor skill improves long-term retention of that skill, according to findings reported in NeuroImage (2018; doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.03.029). Lead study author Fabien Dal Maso, assistant professor at the University of Montreal, said, “This shows that exercise is not only good for the body; it is good for the brain.” Researchers conducted the study to explore brain mechanisms underlying motor learning and the impact of cardiovascular exercise on motor memory consolidation.

Keep reminding clients to drink plenty of fluids. New research shows that cognitive abilities—attention, coordination, complex problem solving and reaction time—begin to decline with as little as 1% loss of body mass from dehydration, with more severe impairments showing up at 2%. Dehydration affects attention first and with more severity than other cognitive abilities.

If you’re looking for a good cross-training technique for your more athletic clients, suggest they practice hot yoga, which may boost aerobic performance while minimizing exercise stress. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, researchers recruited 10 elite female field hockey players for observation. All athletes participated in 60-minute hot-yoga classes (30 degrees Celsius/86 degrees Fahrenheit) over 6 consecutive days, during which they did not engage in any other exercise. Following the intervention, the athletes played in a national-team camp.

National University College of Medicine in South Korea warns that sleeping more than 10 hours a night might be worse.

Arterial stiffness, which increases with sedentary living, is associated with higher risk of heart disease. It’s well known that exercise can help, but how much—or how little—is enough? “While near-daily, vigorous lifelong (>25 years) endurance exercise training prevents arterial stiffening with ageing, this rigorous routine of exercise training over a lifetime is impractical for most individuals,” noted the authors of a new study, which aimed to determine the least amount of exercise necessary to reduce arterial stiffness.

The secret to increasing strength and muscle mass may have more to do with how much training you do than how often you do it, according to a new report.

Research has supported exercise as having the potential to keep dementia at bay or at least to impede its progression. A recent study suggests that physical activity may not be as effective at warding off cognitive decline as previously thought. In this study, published in BMJ (2018; 361, k1675), 329 individuals were assigned to an exercise intervention, while 165 subjects received “usual care.” Average age was 77, and each participant had a clinically confirmed dementia diagnosis.

Could a cure for depression be found in the weight room? Data from a study published in JAMA Psychiatry (2018; 75 [6], 566–76) points to that conclusion. The meta-analysis of 33 clinical trials, featuring 1,877 participants, found a link between resistance training (RET) and a reduction in depressive symptoms.