Exercise and Fitness Archive

Here are the best ways to stop painful cramps — and prevent them from returning.

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A muscle cramp always feels like a surprise. The involuntary contraction strikes without warning, whether it's a charley horse in the middle of night or a back spasm as you reach for an everyday object. But don't let that cramp throw you for a loop. "When it suddenly strikes, don't exercise or tighten the muscle. Just gently stretch it to your tolerance. That helps to relax the muscle and relieve the uncontrolled contraction," says Madhuri Kale, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

What causes cramps?

Exercising without properly warming up the muscles can lead to cramps. Cramps also occur when a muscle is not able to relax properly (such as from a deficiency of magnesium or potassium in your diet) or when it becomes irritated by a buildup of lactic acid (which can happen if you don't rest your muscle after it has exercised a lot). Dehydration can worsen both of these problems. Kale says older adults often don't drink enough water at night because they want to avoid having to go the bathroom, and they end up dehydrated.

Strengthening your core muscles doesn't have to be overwhelming. You can do these simple exercises anywhere and adapt them as you gain fitness.

The office workout

The following routine is a great way to ease into core work. You can do these four exercises at work, without your colleagues being any the wiser. You can do these exercises at home, too, thanks to simple variations. The front plank, for example, can be done while either leaning on your desk or using the kitchen counter to support your weight.

Exercise is as effective as antidepressants in some cases.

One in 10 adults in the United States struggles with depression, and antidepressant medications are a common way to treat the condition. However, pills aren't the only solution. Research shows that exercise is also an effective treatment. "For some people it works as well as antidepressants, although exercise alone isn't enough for someone with severe depression," says Dr. Michael Craig Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

The exercise effect

Exercising starts a biological cascade of events that results in many health benefits, such as protecting against heart disease and diabetes, improving sleep, and lowering blood pressure. High-intensity exercise releases the body's feel-good chemicals called endorphins, resulting in the "runner's high" that joggers report. But for most of us, the real value is in low-intensity exercise sustained over time. That kind of activity spurs the release of proteins called neurotrophic or growth factors, which cause nerve cells to grow and make new connections. The improvement in brain function makes you feel better. "In people who are depressed, neuroscientists have noticed that the hippocampus in the brain—the region that helps regulate mood—is smaller. Exercise supports nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, improving nerve cell connections, which helps relieve depression," explains Dr. Miller.

Thinking about exercising is great, but just jumping in is often the best way to blast past mental or emotional barriers. You don’t need a complex workout program; start small and focus on making activity a daily habit. Here are easy ways to add activity to your day.

Research we're watching

Couples who live together tend to have similar health habits. But only about one in five couples falls into the "ideal" category for heart-healthy habits and risk factors, suggests a study in the Oct. 26, 2020, issue of JAMA Network Open.

Researchers looked at health data on 5,365 couples from diverse racial and economic backgrounds throughout the United States. Most were in their 40s and 50s. Based on risk factors from the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (smoking status, body mass index, exercise, diet, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting blood sugar), researchers categorized individuals and couples as poor, intermediate, or ideal for each factor and over all.

Research we're watching

Doing vigorous exercise for just 12 minutes triggers changes in blood levels of substances linked to cardiovascular health, new research finds.

The study used data from 411 middle-aged adults from the Framingham Heart Study. Researchers measured levels of 588 substances involved in metabolism (metabolites) in the volunteers' blood before and immediately after 12 minutes of vigorous exercise on an exercise bike.

Strengthening your core using plank exercises can help ease back pain. The plank position is essentially the high part of a push-up. People who can't hold this position can try a modified version by bending their knees and resting them on the ground. Build strength by practicing holding a plank for as long as you can, and then progressively working to hold it for longer each time.

News briefs

Ever wonder how much exercise time it takes to start reducing your risk for heart disease and diabetes? It could be as little as 12 minutes, according to a Harvard study published Nov. 17, 2020, in Circulation. Scientists analyzed blood from more than 400 middle-aged men and women before and just after they'd pedaled for 12 minutes on cycling machines, reaching a vigorous rate. In particular, scientists measured levels of almost 600 natural body chemicals (metabolites). Exercise produced significant changes in most metabolites. For example, the level of one metabolite linked to heart disease and diabetes fell by 29%. Another metabolite tied to diabetes risk and liver disease fell by 18%. That suggests, but doesn't prove, that 12 minutes of daily exercise (that includes vigorous activity) might reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes. What if you're more of a moderate-intensity exerciser? "We don't know yet if moderate-intensity exercise would have a similar effect on metabolites. But study participants started off with very light exercise, and each minute the intensity increased," says Dr. Gregory Lewis, the study's senior author and a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

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Experts say there's little evidence that low-dose aspirin therapy brings benefits, and there are some risks.

In recent years, there's been a lot of talk about the potential benefits, and risks, of a regular regimen of low-dose aspirin. While much of the discussion has centered on whether taking low-dose aspirin can head off cardiovascular disease, some of the focus has also been on breast cancer. Can regular doses of this over-the-counter pain reliever reduce your risk of this common cancer?

For a while there were hints that the evidence was leaning that way. Back in 2017, this area of research, while still inconclusive, was somewhat promising. For example, a 2017 study published in Breast Cancer Research found that among some 57,000 women, those who reported taking low-dose aspirin (81 mg) at least three times a week had a 16% lower risk of breast cancer over all and a 20% lower risk of a specific type of hormonally driven breast cancer.

Flexibility helps you stay active and injury-free — and you don't need to do much to see and feel the benefits.

Flexibility is like the famous joke about the weather often attributed to Mark Twain: "Everyone talks about it, but no one ever does anything about it."

People understand the importance of good flexibility as they age. Flexibility keeps them active and helps them safely perform everyday movements.