2021 Fitness and Exercise

A new study conducted by researchers from the German Center for Diabetes Research explored some of the ways consumers with prediabetes can improve their health. 

According to their findings, lifestyle interventions, including following a healthy diet and engaging in a regular exercise routine, are important ways for prediabetics to boost their health. This was especially true for consumers who had the highest risk of developing diabetes. The researchers said intensifying these lifestyle interventions can help improve blood sugar levels and overall cardiometabolic health. 

Finding the right lifestyle intervention

The researchers had over 1,100 prediabetic participants involved in the study. They were divided into either low-risk or high-risk groups depending on their insulin secretion, liver fat content, and insulin sensitivity. 

High-risk participants were divided even further to receive either typical lifestyle interventions (LIs) or more intense interventions that call for more exercise. Participants in the low-risk group were assigned to either a typical intervention plan or a control group with no treatments. 

The study showed that making long-term lifestyle changes was beneficial for the participants. High-risk pre-diabetics benefited the most from adopting more intense interventions, which involved double the amount of recommended exercise. At the end of the study, participants in the high-risk group had better cardiometabolic health, blood glucose levels, and liver fat content. Participants in the low-risk group who followed the traditional lifestyle interventions also experienced improvements to their metabolic health. 

“After three years, glucose tolerance was more likely to normalize in participants with conventional LI than those in the control group,” said researcher Hans-Ulrich Häring. 

Moving forward, the researchers hope these findings allow health care providers to better identify patients who have the highest risk of becoming diabetic. Starting them on a more intense lifestyle intervention plan is more likely to yield better health outcomes long-term. 

“Our study results show that an individualized LI based on the risk phenotype is beneficial for diabetes prevention,” said researcher Andreas Fritsche. “For successful prevention, we need to identify high-risk patients in the future and focus on providing them with an intensified lifestyle intervention.” 

While previous studies have highlighted the ways that regular exercise can help reduce chronic inflammation, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Nottingham may explain exactly why this happens. 

Their work showed that the body produces endocannabinoids after exercise that help reduce inflammation. They say the substance is similar to cannabis and can help reduce symptoms of conditions like arthritis. 

“Our study clearly shows that exercise increases the body’s own cannabis-type substances,” said researcher Dr. Amrita Vijay. “Which can have a positive impact on many conditions.” 

Improving health conditions with exercise

For the study, the researchers had nearly 80 people with arthritis participate in a six-week exercise program. Half of the group did muscle-strengthening exercises for 15 minutes per day; the other half of the group didn’t exercise. 

The researchers learned that the participants who were consistently exercising for six weeks had better health outcomes than those who weren’t exercising. 

The researchers noticed that those who exercised produced more endocannabinoids and had fewer inflammatory markers throughout their bodies. Participants who exercised also reported feeling less pain overall. 

The researchers hope these findings can help consumers who are struggling with conditions that are known to increase inflammation, including heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. 

“As interest in cannabinoid oil and other supplements increases, it is important to know that simple lifestyle interventions like exercise can modulate endocannabinoids,” Dr. Vijay said. 

Recent research has highlighted the ways that following healthy habits, including diet and exercise, can benefit consumers’ mental health. Now, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Gothenburg found that regular exercise may be an effective way to reduce anxiety-related symptoms. 

“These findings strengthen the view that physical exercise represents an effective treatment and should be more frequently made available for persons with anxiety within primary care,” the researchers wrote. “Exercise has few side effects, is inexpensive, and overall beneficial for general somatic health.” 

Keeping anxiety symptoms at bay

For the study, the researchers had nearly 300 patients with a history of anxiety participate in different exercise trials. Over the course of 12 weeks, the participants engaged in either strenuous or moderate exercise for one hour three times a week; a third group was given advice on exercise but wasn’t required to do it. The group also answered questions about their anxiety symptoms when the study began and again at the end of the 12 weeks. 

Ultimately, the researchers found a positive relationship between consistently exercising and improvements in anxiety. Participants in either one of the exercise groups reported better anxiety-related outcomes than those who were taught about the benefits of exercise. 

“There was a significant intensity trend for improvement -- that is, the more intensely they exercised, the more their anxiety symptoms improved,” said researcher Malin Henriksson. 

The researchers found that the higher intensity workout group saw their anxiety symptoms lower by a factor of nearly five. The moderate-intensity workout group experienced a reduction in symptoms by a factor of more than 3.6. 

The majority of patients in this study had been experiencing anxiety for at least a decade, and consistently exercising proved to be beneficial at improving symptoms. Moving forward, the team hopes experts utilize these findings with their patients to provide chronic anxiety sufferers with some needed relief. 

“Doctors in primary care need treatments that are individualized, have few effects, and are easy to prescribe,” said researcher Maria Åberg. “The model involving 12 weeks of physical training, regardless of intensity, represents an effective treatment that should be made available in primary health care more often for people with anxiety issues.” 

A new study conducted by researchers from the American Cancer Society is emphasizing the protective health benefits associated with regular exercise. According to their findings, consumers may lower their risk of some cancers, including stomach and endometrial cancers, by exercising for at least five hours every week. 

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the U.S. Cancer Statistics database to better understand how physical activity can work to reduce cancer risk. The team looked specifically at consumers aged 30 and older between 2013 and 2016; they assessed the risk for seven different cancers: stomach, kidney, esophageal, colon, bladder, breast, and endometrial. 

The researchers learned that regularly exercising for at least five hours per week does provide some protective health benefits related to cancer. However, they learned that the opposite was also true -- inactivity can increase the risk of cancer. In this study, 3% of all cancer cases, or nearly 47,000 cases, were a result of sedentary lifestyles.

Experts say exercise must be encouraged

The researchers also learned that there were different risk factors associated with physical activity for different types of cancers. Stomach cancers topped the list, as nearly 17% of all cases of stomach cancer were linked with inactivity. Comparatively, 11% of kidney cancer cases and nearly 4% of bladder cancer cases were associated with sedentary lifestyles. 

While these results highlight how beneficial exercise can be for long-term health, the researchers explained that the findings also emphasize disparities in access to recreational physical activity. 

“These findings underscore the need to encourage physical activity as a means of cancer prevention and implement individual -- and community-level interventions that address the various behavioral and socioeconomic barriers to recreational physical activity,” the researchers wrote. “Understanding and reducing the behavioral and socioeconomic barriers to physical activity is essential for optimizing intervention strategies targeting at-risk groups across the country.” 

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Buffalo explored one way that young athletes can optimize their recovery time after a concussion. According to their findings, starting an aerobic exercise routine within 10 days of a head injury can help reduce symptoms by nearly 50%. 

“The study clearly demonstrates that strict physical rest until symptoms spontaneously resolve is no longer an acceptable way to treat sport-related concussions in adolescents,” said Dr. John J. Leddy. “Our findings show that to accelerate recovery and reduce the risk of delayed recovery, physicians should not only permit, but they should consider prescribing sub-symptom threshold physical activity early after sport-related concussion.” 

The benefits of aerobic exercise

Nearly 120 athletes between the ages of 13 and 18 who had sustained a concussion playing a sport were involved in the study. One group was told to do stretching exercises for at least 20 minutes a day for four weeks; another group wore heart monitors and completed the Buffalo Concussion Treadmill Test, which has participants walk on a treadmill with increasing speed and incline. 

“Since we know that regular aerobic exercise is good for brain health, the goal was to use sub-symptom threshold exercise to see if it could help the concussed brain recover,” explained Dr. Leddy. 

The researchers learned that consistently exercising within the first 10 days of a concussion can speed up the recovery process. Participants who only stretched following their head trauma fully recovered in just under three weeks; however, those who were on the treadmill every day recovered in two weeks.

The researchers explained that there are several brain benefits associated with regular aerobic exercise, including better blood flow and cognitive function. Following a concussion, they say this type of exercise can also help repair neuron damage. 

“What we discovered is that participants were quite diligent in following their prescription, and further, that those who followed the prescription or may have even exceeded the exercise prescription of 20 minutes per day recovered much faster than those that did not follow the prescription,” said researcher Barry S. Willer, Ph.D. “This finding is important because delayed recovery comes with substantial cost to adolescents, including academic difficulties, risk for depression, and reduced quality of life.” 

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of New South Wales explored some of the benefits consumers can gain from incorporating strength training into their exercise routines. Contrary to popular belief, they say activities like lifting weights can be a great way to burn fat. 

“A lot of people think that if you want to lose weight, you need to get out and run,” said researcher Dr. Mandy Hagstrom. “But our findings show that even when strength training is done on its own, it still causes favorable loss of body fat without having to consciously diet or go running.” 

The benefits of staying active

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 60 earlier studies that included information from 3,000 participants. While each study was different, all of the participants worked on strength training about three times per week for as long as an hour per day. The researchers measured their body fat over the course of five months to see how this kind of exercise affected them.

Ultimately, the study showed that regular strength training helped reduce the participants’ body fat by 1.4%. The researchers explained that consumers don’t always get the most accurate reading of body fat when they weigh themselves.

“Resistance training does so many fantastic things to the body that other forms of exercise don’t, like improving bone mineral density, lean mass, and muscle quality,” said Dr. Hagstrom. “Now, we know it also gives you a benefit we previously thought only came from aerobics. 

“If you’re strength training and want to change how your body looks, then you don’t want to focus on the number on the scale too much, because it won’t show all your results,” she continued. “Instead, think about your whole body composition, like how your clothes fit and how your body will start to feel, and move, differently.” 

The study highlights that there isn’t just one way to exercise to lose body fat. As long as consumers stay active and eat healthily, they’re likely to reap the benefits of those habits. 

“If you want to exercise to change your body composition, you’ve got options,” Dr. Hagstrom said. “Do what exercise you want to do and what you’re most likely to stick to.” 

Regular physical activity is an important part of living longer. Now, researchers from the European Society of Cardiology have found that it’s never too late to pick up an exercise routine. 

According to their findings, consumers that start exercising at an older age are likely to reduce their risk of mortality at a similar rate as those who have been active for longer periods of time. 

“The results show that continuing an active lifestyle over the years is associated with the greatest longevity,” said researcher Dr. Nathalia Gonzalez. “However, patients with heart disease can overcome prior years of inactivity and obtain survival benefits by taking up exercise in later life. On the other hand, the benefits of activity can be weakened or even lost if activity is not maintained. The findings illustrate the benefits to heart patients of being physically active, regardless of their previous habits.” 

The benefits of getting active

For the study, the researchers analyzed previous studies that included information from more than 33,000 older participants with coronary heart disease. All of the studies tracked the participants’ physical activity over nearly eight years and evaluated what role exercise played in their longevity. 

The study showed that participants who adopted a regular exercise routine over time had better heart health and lived longer than those who either became inactive over time or stayed inactive for the duration of the study. 

Compared to those who never started exercising, participants who started exercising over the course of the study were nearly 30% less likely to die from heart-related complications and 45% less likely to die from any cause. If those participants were able to stay active over time, those figures both increased to 50%.

The researchers hope consumers are encouraged by these findings because they show that starting an exercise program in later life can still be beneficial to heart health. 

“These encouraging findings highlight how patients with coronary heart disease may benefit by preserving or adopting a physically active lifestyle,” Dr. Gonzalez said. 

Physical activity has been linked with longer life for all consumers. Now, a new study conducted by researchers from the American Academy of Neurology suggests that there are specific benefits that stroke survivors can enjoy from staying active. 

According to the findings, having a regular exercise routine can significantly lower the risk of death for consumers who have survived strokes. 

“A better understanding of the role of physical activity in the health of people who survive stroke is needed to design better exercise therapies and public health campaigns so we can help these individuals live longer,” said researcher Dr. Raed A. Joundi. 

“Our results are exciting, because just three to four hours of walking a week was associated with big reductions in mortality, and that may be attainable for many community members with prior stroke. In addition, we found people achieved even greater benefit with walking six to seven hours per week. These results might have implications for guidelines to stroke survivors in the future.” 

Staying active, living longer

For the study, the researchers compared data from nearly 100,000 older adults with no history of stroke with nearly 900 older adults who had survived a stroke. All participants answered questions about their physical activity, and the team followed up with them regularly over the course of more than five years.

The researchers learned that regular exercise was associated with a lower risk of death for stroke survivors. When participants exercised more, they tended to live longer. The study showed that stroke survivors under the age of 75 who consistently exercised had an 80% lower risk of death than those who didn’t exercise. Comparatively, stroke survivors over the age of 75 who exercised regularly reduced their risk of death by 32% when compared to their less active peers. 

The team found that the minimum amount of exercise needed for these results was three to four hours of walking per week or two to three hours of biking per week. Sticking to this regimen was associated with the lowest risk of death for stroke survivors. Looking to the future, the researchers hope these findings encourage stroke survivors to stay as active as possible. Doing so can lead to longer life and better overall health outcomes. 

“Our results suggest that getting a minimum amount of physical activity may reduce long-term mortality from any cause in stroke survivors,” said Dr. Joundi. “We should particularly emphasize this to stroke survivors who are younger in age, as they may gain the greatest health benefits from walking just thirty minutes each day.”

Peloton has launched its first fitness game, describing it as an experience that straddles the line between gaming and exercise. Ultimately, Peloton is hoping the game will incentivize its members to work out more. 

The stationary bike maker said the fitness game is the result of months of design and research, but more feedback is needed. To collect that feedback, it’s started actively testing an early version of the game with its members. 

“Lanebreak is a rhythm-based game on Bike and Bike+ rooted in something core to Peloton’s DNA, music,” Peloton explained in an announcement. “Players are challenged to match and sustain their resistance or cadence according to the cues on the tablet to get the highest score possible, which they can then compare with other Members.” 

“Along the virtual track, riders control their cadence with their leg speed and can ‘switch lanes’ left or right by turning the resistance knob. They face multiple obstacles, all synchronized with the beat of the music,” the company added. 

There are different levels, workout types, and lengths to choose from, and each level is set to a different playlist. Each level has difficulties ranging from beginner to expert. 

Early access mode

Lanebreak is in early access mode, but a full launch is planned for this winter. The company is hoping that tests of the early version will help it glean some insight into “how non-gamers react to and engage with this experience.”

Peloton said it found through early tests that people who previously wouldn’t have used Peloton but were interested in the fitness game concept were more likely to work out. The company said it sees connected fitness as “an opportunity to open up the power of gaming to a new audience” and build off of what works in Peloton classes.

“Just like Alex Toussaint would challenge you to finish the last 30 seconds of a tough interval, games offer a way to not only cue you to do so, but to reward you in real time for your actions,” the company said. 

Peloton isn’t the first company to offer a fitness game. It joins rivals including Zwift, which offers an app with multiplayer cycling and running in a virtual world, and “Supernatural” -- a company that offers VR workouts in “stunning destinations” on Oculus Quest.

Earlier studies have identified the ways that regular exercise can benefit older consumers’ brain health and cognitive function. Now, experts from Boston Children’s Hospital are exploring the brain benefits teens can gain from consistently engaging in physical activity. 

According to their findings, teens that exercise on a regular basis are more likely to have better brain function. 

“It didn’t matter what kind of physical activity children were involved in -- it only mattered that they were active,” said researcher Caterina Stamoulis, Ph.D. “Being active multiple times per week for at least 60 minutes had a widespread positive effect on brain circuitry.” 

The benefits of being active

To understand the brain benefits related to teens’ exercise habits, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 6,000 adolescents enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The team tracked the participants’ physical activity, analyzed MRI scans of their brains, and evaluated their body mass indices (BMIs). 

Ultimately, the researchers learned that physical activity was associated with better brain function. They focused on the brain connectome, which is a diagram of the organ’s internal connections. Teens that were exercising regularly had MRIs that showed the strongest brain function, including a better ability for the brain to organize. This indicates that each section of the brain is communicating efficiently with each other. 

“This organization optimizes the efficiency of information processing and transmission, which is still developing in adolescence and can be altered by a number of risk factors,” said Dr. Stamoulis. “Our results suggest that physical activity has a protective effect on this optimization process across brain regions.” 

The researchers hope these findings serve as another resource for parents who want to encourage their kids to become more physically active. Exercise is an important component of an overall healthy lifestyle, and keeping kids active can have benefits on their brain health at a pivotal developmental age. 

“Early adolescence is a very important time in brain development,” said Dr. Stamoulis. “It’s associated with a lot of changes in the brain’s functional circuits, particularly those supporting higher-level processes like decision-making and executive control. Abnormal changes in these areas can lead to risk behaviors and deficits in cognitive function that can follow people through their lifetime.” 

Spending hours in the gym isn’t possible for all consumers. However, a new study conducted by researchers from the Physiological Society found that this level of dedication may not be necessary to improve physical fitness. 

According to their findings, incorporating short bursts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) throughout the day can be a great way for consumers to boost their health. The study shows that finding ways to be active for just a few minutes at a time over the course of a workday can yield significant health benefits, especially for those who are still working from home. 

“While the [World Health Organization] guidelines may serve their purpose at a populational level, individualised and tailored low-volume HIIT interventions delivered by appropriately trained exercise professionals may be more effective at an individual level, especially for time-poor individuals,” said researcher Dr. Angelo Sabag.  

Putting HIIT to the test

The researchers focused on the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) physical activity guidelines, which recommend that consumers engage in 75-100 minutes of intense exercise each week. The team analyzed studies from the last 10 years that looked at the impact of low-volume HIIT workouts on consumers’ health and wellness; in these exercise sessions, consumers engage in vigorous exercise for less than 15 minutes, plus a warm-up and cool down. 

The study showed that low-volume HIIT workouts led to similar results as longer, more traditional workouts. However, for those who may be strapped for time, these findings are important because there are still benefits to exercising even if it’s not for extended periods of time. The researchers explained that regularly engaging in low-volume HIIT workouts can improve heart health, including artery health and overall heart function. 

In another recent study from this same group of researchers, HIIT workouts as short as four minutes were found to be effective at boosting metabolic health for diabetic consumers. The researchers noted improvements to cardiorespiratory fitness, blood pressure, and blood sugar, among several other measures that were directly tied to these short bursts of activity. 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have had to get creative over the last year with their physical activity routines. These findings highlight how regularly incorporating a little exercise throughout the day can provide lasting benefits. 

“This research is especially important now as people are looking for new and exciting ways to engage in regular exercise, after a year of lower physical activity due to the pandemic,” Dr. Sabag said. 

A new study conducted by researchers from the American Heart Association explored what steps consumers can take to protect their health into older age. 

According to their findings, adopting a healthy lifestyle during middle age is likely to lead to the best health outcomes down the road. For example, the team found that following a healthy diet and engaging in regular exercise in midlife was associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome in later life. 

“Health care professionals could use these findings to further promote and emphasize to their patients the benefits of a healthy diet and a regular exercise schedule to avoid the development of numerous chronic health conditions in the present and in later life,” said researcher Vanessa Xanthakis, Ph.D. “The earlier people make these lifestyle changes, the more likely they will be to lower their risk of cardiovascular-associated diseases in later life.” 

Protecting long-term health

The researchers evaluated long-term health outcomes from more than 2,300 participants enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study. For eight days, the participants wore hip monitors that tracked all of their physical activity, and they also tracked their diets and answered food questionnaires. The participants received regular health exams during their time in the study, which the researchers compared with the data from their activity and food logs. 

The team referenced U.S. guidelines for diet and physical activity to determine where the participants fell compared to national recommendations. Participants who met both standards for diet and exercise were 65 percent less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, which is a series of conditions -- including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar -- that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, less than 30 percent of the participants involved in the study successfully met recommendations for both standards.

When looking at participants who met only one of the standards, the researchers learned that both still led to better health outcomes individually. Those who exercised regularly were more than 50 percent less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, and those who only followed a healthy diet were 33 percent less likely to have long-term health concerns. 

To ensure health and longevity, the researchers recommend that consumers adopt healthy habits as soon as possible.

“It is noteworthy that we observed a dose-response association of adherence to diet and physical activity guidelines with risk of cardiometabolic disease later in life,” said Dr. Xanthakis. “Participants who met the physical activity guidelines had a progressively lower risk of cardiometabolic risk as they increased adherence to dietary guidelines.” 

Recent studies have highlighted the benefits associated with eating anti-inflammatory foods. Now, a new study conducted by researchers from Duke University found that exercise also helps reduce chronic inflammation. 

“Lots of processes are taking place throughout the human body during exercise, and it is difficult to tease apart which systems and cells are doing inside an active person,” said researcher Nenad Bursac. “We discovered that the muscle cells were capable of taking anti-inflammatory actions all on their own.” 

The power of exercise

For this study, the researchers utilized a platform they created that includes fully-functional replicas of human muscles. They exposed the muscles to interferon gamma molecules in several different experiments to simulate the effects of inflammation. The team wanted to see how these molecules affected muscles and whether exercise could be used to combat any negative effects. 

The first part of the study involved introducing interferon gamma to the human muscle models for one week straight. After that week, the muscles received both the interferon gamma molecule and a simulated exercise routine to try to combat the inflammatory properties. 

Prior to the exercise regimen, the researchers observed that the interferon gamma led to a significant loss of muscle mass and general strength. However, introducing simulated exercise eliminated nearly all of the negative effects of this exposure. 

“Not only did we confirm that interferon gamma primarily works through a specific signaling pathway, we showed that exercising muscle cells can directly counter this pro-inflammatory signaling independent of the presence of other cell types or tissues,” Bursac said. 

Moving forward, the researchers hope that the technology they used in this study can serve future projects that also benefit consumers’ health care needs. 

“When exercising, the muscle cells themselves were directly opposing the pro-inflammatory signal induced by interferon gamma, which we did not expect to happen,” said Bursac. “These results show just how valuable lab-grown human muscles might be in discovering new mechanisms of disease and potential treatments. There are notions out there that optimal levels and exercise regimes of exercise could fight chronic inflammation while not overstressing the cells. Maybe with our engineered muscle, we can help find out if such notions are true.” 

Getting kids to exercise or engage in any kind of physical activity can be difficult for a lot of parents. But researchers from the University of Jyväskylä have found that poor motor skills aren’t a hindrance to kids’ physical fitness. In fact, they say kids with poor motor skills are just as likely as their peers to have exceptional physical fitness.

“The key message of our study is that even a child who is unfit can be motorically adept and the heart of a clumsier kid can be as fit as his or her more skillful peer,” said researcher Eero Haapala, PhD. “In addition, high levels of varied physical activity and reduced sedentary behavior are central to the development of motor skills and the prevention of excess weight gain since childhood.” 

Keeping kids physically active

The researchers assessed the motor skills, body fat content, and aerobic fitness levels of over 330 kids between the ages of seven and 11 involved in the study. To do the latter, the researchers had the kids take a cycle ergometer test, which requires them to slowly ramp up the intensity of a bicycle workout. As the kids exercised, the researchers measured their VO2 max, which is an indication of physical fitness based on how well the body utilizes oxygen during exercise. 

The study revealed that the kids’ motor skills didn’t play a role in their performance in the aerobic fitness test. Those with weaker motor skills were just as physically fit as other kids in the study who had stronger motor skills. 

The researchers also learned that the kids’ weight wasn’t an indication of their physical fitness. These findings align with those from another recent study, which found that kids being active is more important for their overall wellness than their body mass index (BMI). It’s important for kids to have the tools and information to understand the importance of exercise so they can establish healthy habits that last beyond childhood. 

“Our study clearly demonstrated that aerobic fitness is not linked to motor skills when body composition is properly taken into account,” Dr. Haapala said. “Also, aerobic fitness was not strongly associated with overweight or obesity. Therefore, it seems that the role of poor aerobic fitness as a risk factor for poor motor skills and excess body weight has been strongly exaggerated.” 

The researchers hope that these findings are encouraging for parents -- especially for those with clumsier kids; having a regular exercise routine is both important and possible for consumers of all ages.