Exercise & Fitness Archive

Sedative effects of drinking can also initiate other physical responses in the body

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Many people think that a little nightcap will help them sleep soundly through the night. Although alcohol's sedative effects can make you drowsy, they also have other effects that can interfere with quality sleep.

Several hours after that nightcap, the alcohol raises the body's level of epinephrine, a stress hormone that increases the heart rate and generally stimulates the body, which can result in nighttime awakenings. Indeed, alcohol may account for 10% of cases of persistent insomnia. Alcohol also relaxes throat muscles, and this relaxation can worsen sleep-related breathing problems and contribute to sleep apnea. What's more, alcohol may increase the need to urinate during the night — just another way in which it can disrupt sleep.

Lifestyle changes may not always be enough to control biologically driven body changes.

You spend hours in the gym every day. You eat nothing but grilled chicken, fish, and salads. Yet the numbers on the scale don't budge — or worse, they slowly creep up, along with your waist measurement.

Welcome to menopause.

"The change" actually does bring changes for many women, including weight gain that can resist even the most diligent efforts to reverse it, says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Ask the doctors

Q. I have arthritis and my doctor recommended I start exercising, but I'm worried it will make my pain worse. Should I follow her advice?

A. Yes, your doctor is right. Although it may seem counterintuitive to move more when your joints hurt, studies have shown that exercise can reduce arthritis-related pain, fatigue, and stiffness. Exercise is also important for your overall health and can help reduce your risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Keeping your shoulder muscles flexible will help prevent injury.

The shoulder is the body's most complicated joint. It's where the ends of the collarbone, upper arm bone, and shoulder blade meet. And it's prone to arthritis (a wearing away of the cartilage between the bones), as well as tears or tendinitis (inflammation) in the rotator cuff — the group of tendons that helps you raise and rotate your arm. Shoulder pain can keep you from being able to raise your arms to get dressed, or reach up to a cupboard or out to a door.

But an easy way to stave off shoulder problems is to regularly stretch the muscles that support the joints. "The muscles need to be long and flexible to stay healthy. You're more vulnerable to injury when your shoulder muscles are tight and restricted," explains Clare Safran-Norton, clinical supervisor of rehabilitation services at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

News briefs

Vitamins and supplements won't help stave off dementia, but a healthy lifestyle might, suggest new guidelines released May 19, 2019, by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO warns that the number of new dementia cases around the world — currently 10 million per year — is set to triple by 2050. While there's no cure for any kind of dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia), the WHO says it may be possible to delay the onset of the disease or slow its progression. The key: managing modifiable risks, such as chronic disease and unhealthy habits. The guidelines recommend that you keep your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar under control; get lots of exercise; and eat a Mediterranean-style diet (which emphasizes olive oil, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish; minimizes red meats and processed meats; and includes a moderate amount of cheese and wine). The WHO also advises that you don't smoke and you avoid harmful use of alcohol (no more than one drink per day for women, no more than two drinks for men). But don't count on supplements to help you stave off dementia. The WHO says there's no evidence that vitamin B, vitamin E, multivitamins, or fish oil supplements help reduce the risk for dementia. The agency recommends against using supplements as a means to ward off cognitive decline.

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Sedentary time is one of the greatest threats to heart health.

First, the good news: more Americans than ever are considered active. A new report on heart disease and stroke statistics, published March 5, 2019, in Circulation, found the proportion of active adults increased from about 60% to 73% between 2007 and 2016.

Now, the bad news: despite this impressive increase, the same report found that almost one-quarter of American adults still don't meet the federal guidelines for physical activity.

Resistance bands offer an easy way to get an all-around strength workout at home.

They are cheap and lightweight. They travel well, and you can do almost any kind of muscle-strengthening exercise with them. They are giant rubber bands known as resistance bands, and they should be part of every man's exercise toolbox.

"Whether you need to focus on specific areas or need to better control exercise resistance — like when recovering from an injury or dealing with joint pain — bands offer something for almost anyone, no matter his physical health, limitations, or fitness goals," says physical therapist Shawn Pedicini with Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.

Research we're watching

People who walk at a brisk clip may live longer than those who walk slowly — regardless of how much they weigh, a new study finds.

Researchers looked at data from nearly 475,000 adults in the United Kingdom Biobank study, which recruited middle-aged participants from 2006 to 2010. The participants, most of whom were slightly overweight, were asked to describe their usual walking pace as slow, average, or brisk.

If you’re trying to take 10,000 steps a day, it can be discouraging to miss that well-known target. But why is 10,000 steps the goal? And is it really necessary to take that many steps every day?

Aquatic therapy can reduce pain and pressure while providing an effective workout.

When you're struggling with joint pain, gravity can make exercise an unpleasant experience. But exercising in water, also known as aquatic therapy, can change all that. "It enables you to do many of the same exercises you'd do on land without applying the same force on your joints," says Gayle Olson, a certified athletic trainer at the Sports Performance Center at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.