Tag: fitness

Getting It Straight

Sit up straight! This common request may have been how you first heard about posture, the way you hold your body. Posture isn’t just about how you look. How you position yourself can help or hurt your health over your lifetime. “Posture is not only about how well you sit, but how well you move…


3 Simple Ways to Hit Reset on Your Diet After Labor Day

Summer can feel like one long semi-vacation — and it’s easy to fall into the trap of the “anything goes” vacay mindset for, oh, three whole months. If you’ve indulged more often than you planned (hello, barbecue, ice cream and many glasses of frose!), you may be itching to get back on track and recommit…


Why Do We Get Middle-Age Spread?

Did you know that the average young U.S. adult gains 30 pounds by the time they reach age 50? This weight gain happens even though most people tend to eat less over this time. Researchers have long known that losing weight and maintaining the ability to exercise tend to get harder beginning between ages 30…


Minding Your Metabolism

As you age, you may notice you have less muscle and energy and more fat. Carrying those extra pounds may be harming your health. It’s easy to be confused by advice about diet and exercise, but they’re key to avoiding weight gain as you get older. As you move through your 30s, 40s, 50s, and…


Want to Maintain Muscle? Frequency of Workouts Is Key

Whether the goal is bulging biceps or just a bit more strength and mass, a relatively light workout several times a week beats a more intense one done just once a week. That’s the conclusion of a small Australian study in which researchers spent a month tracking muscle-building progress among 36 college students. “We have…


Are You Among the ‘Diet-Resistant’? Workouts May Be Key to Weight Loss

“You can’t run from the fork.” It’s an old weight-loss saying, reminding folks that diet is more important than exercise when it comes to shedding excess pounds. But is that true for everyone? New research suggests there’s a category of “diet-resistant” people who need to work out and watch what they eat if they want…


Can You Lengthen Your Life?

Want the secret to living a longer and healthier life? Scientists have found ways to prolong the healthy lifespans of worms, mice, and even monkeys. Their work has revealed exciting new clues about the biology of aging. But solid evidence still shows that the best way to boost the chance of living a long and…


Why You Need to Tend to Your Vagus Nerve

Known as the wanderer, the vagus nerve, or cranial nerve X (10), is a long nerve that runs from the cranium to the colon, connecting and controlling all the organs in between. The vagus nerve is the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control…


Maintain Your Muscle

You’ve likely heard that exercise can help you live a longer, healthier life. When you hear the word ‘exercise,’ you might think of going for a run or hopping on a bicycle. Or maybe playing soccer with your kids or basketball with your friends after work. But these activities don’t include all the types of…


Dr. Roger Fielding on Strength Training for Older Adults

Excerpts from our conversation with Dr. Roger Fielding, an NIH-funded exercise and aging specialist at Tufts University. NIHNiH: Are the benefits of strength training different for different age groups? Fielding: The benefits of strength training across the lifespan are relatively similar. But as people get older, there’s a progressive decline in the amount of muscle mass and muscle…