Research/Exercise Science Articles

Lancaster Medical School in Lancaster, England, has been acknowledged throughout the United Kingdom and by the World Health Organization Europe for being the first medical school in the U.K. to integrate guidelines on how to prescribe physical activity. The initiative is referred to as the “Movement for Movement.”

You may want to start recommending exercise snacking, particularly for people who believe they have no time for training. A few minutes of vigorous stair climbing, spread out in three bouts per day, three times a week, improved cardio fitness in formerly inactive young adults. McMaster University and UBC Okanagan researchers in British Columbia conducted the 6-week study.

If you’re looking for a different way to progress a client’s lower-body strength, consider adding a weighted vest to the training program. Specifically, wearing a progressively heavier weighted vest while stepping may be effective in boosting lower-body power and functional ability among older women.

A study involving amateur female soccer players found that those who wore compression socks during a match experienced less game-induced fatigue than teammates who wore regular socks. Investigators evaluated fatigue by testing agility, standing heel-rise and other factors immediately after the match.

Recent findings reveal a trend toward increased risk for obesity-related cancers among young American adults. The study, published in The Lancet, found significant increases in six of 12 obesity-related cancers in young adults, with even greater rises in successively younger generations. Compared with people born 1945–1954, for example, those born 1980–1989 had double the risk . . . at the same age.

Resistance training volume (RTV) is the total amount of work performed during a session of lifting; in other words, RTV = reps x sets x load (the product of repetitions times number of sets times intensity of load) (Figueiredo, de Salles & Trajano 2018). Any one of these variables can be adjusted to increase volume in a resistance training (RT) program. For example, you can increase RTV by performing extra sets of an exercise, adding more repetitions or increasing the weight being lifted.

You don’t have to search very hard to find nutrition-focused research papers partially funded by companies that stand to benefit from the study subject being painted in a good light. For instance, a recent study in the Journal of Nutrition found that older adults who consumed hazelnuts daily (57 grams per day) for 4 months showed significantly improved vitamin E and magnesium levels, which may lower the risk of age-related health problems.

A healthy postexercise snack can kickstart recovery, whereas a poor food choice can quickly undo a good workout.

Do any of your clients struggle with weight gain? If so, let them know about new research that has found that media multitasking has now been linked to obesity. Research from Rice University indicates that mindless switching between digital devices is associated with increased susceptibility to food temptations and lack of self-control, which may result in weight gain (Lopez, Heatherton & Wagner 2019).

U.S. life expectancy has declined 3 years in a row, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The average American life expectancy was 78.6 years in 2017, down from 78.7 years in 2016. While that drop is small, it’s significant in that it represents the third consecutive year of decline. Experts attribute the trend to an increase in accidental and unintentional deaths from drug overdoses as a result of opioids.