So oftern I find that I do not have time or am interested in long workouts and I always like those intense short workouts that kill you but also make you feel great a little while afterwards. Well apparently I am not the only one. The study below shows that this is a great way to raise your metabolism.

Sedentary people who find the idea of fitting regular exercise sessions into their lives so difficult that they don’t even try, may be interested to hear about a new study that found even regular short bursts of intense exercise, such as a short session of four to six 30-second high intensity sprints on an exercise bike every two days, showed a significant effect on the body’s ability to metabolize sugars and could be an effective way to cut the risk of diabetes.

This was the conclusion of a study by professor James Timmons and a team of researchers from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, that is to be published in the journal BMC Endocrine Disorders.

Most people know that regular physical activity is a good way to cut the risk of developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, but knowing it and doing it are not the same, and many people feel they just don’t have the time to do vigorous aerobic exercise for several hours week, as suggested by many of the current guidelines. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: BMC Endocrine Disorders, diabetes, Edinburgh, heart disease, Heriot-Watt University, high intensity exercise protocol, James Timmons, professor, Scotland

In a recent report from the New England Journal of Medicine it was reported that in Scotland where smoking in public places has been banned that at the same time, apparently as a result of this legislation, Coronary heart disease went down by 17%

I have yet to see many studies that show the result of banning smoking in public places. Back when I was a smoker and when I was quitting smoking I am not sure that this really made much of a difference. I wanted to quit smoking because it is so unhealthy, smoking was expensive even then and the banning of smoking in certain public places made it inconvenient.

The real problem with quitting smoking I believe is the fact that governments still love the money that they get from tobacco sales even though they have outlawed most of the places that people can smoke. Smokers are stuck being able to buy smokes but have less and less places to smoke them in. It is really time for governments to decide if banning places is enough or make smoking illegal. Come on one way or the other but as we all know most governments are spineless when it comes to pissing off anyone.

Anyway. I think that years ago I had so much trouble quitting because smoking is very difficult and there is not nearly as good a support system as is needed. Every non-smoker (that never smoked) just says that it is dirty and that you should just go ahead and quit. I know how difficult quitting smoking really is so I started a quit smoking email course to help people out. Check it out now, it is free and helpful.

Tags: coronary heart disease, heart disease, New England Journal, Scotland, The New England Journal of Medicine

As a parent of two small children I always try to make sure that the kids get a lot of exercise to stay healthy but it is my wife that makes sure that they eat well as well. A new report from the British Medical Journal tells us that diet is very important too. Another thing of note is watching how much the kids exercise, it seems many are more inactive than we would think.

Physically active preschoolers are on to a good thing, but exercise alone won’t keep obesity at bay as they get older, British researchers report. Instead, a combination of exercise and other lifestyle changes — especially improved diets — may be the only solution to the childhood obesity epidemic, experts say.

“Promotion of physically active play per se may not be sufficient to have an impact on the weight status of young children,” said lead researcher Dr. John J. Reilly, a professor of pediatric energy metabolism at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

His team published its finding in the Oct. 5 online issue of the British Medical Journal.

The researchers had already shown in earlier work that Scottish preschoolers have surprisingly inactive lifestyles. They typically get less than 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, in contrast to the recommended 60 minutes a day. In their study, Reilly’s team looked at whether exercise could reduce the weight of 545 preschool children. Some of the children took part in an active play program, which consisted of three 30 minute sessions each week. In addition, parents received guidance on how to increase physical play at home.

The researchers measured the children’s weight at six months and then again at one year. They also assessed the youngsters’ movement skills, and tracked whether or not the increase in activity reduced sedentary behaviors.

They found that exercise had some health benefits, but weight loss was not among them.

Exercise had little effect on weight, or on the activity behaviors of the children, compared with the children who did not take part in the program. However, for children in the program, additional exercise did help improve their motor and movement skills.
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Tags: Britain, David L. Katz, director, food, John J. Reilly, junk food, lead researcher, obesity, pediatric energy metabolism, Prevention Research Center, Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, professor of pediatric energy metabolism, Scotland, the British Medical Journal, United States, University of Glasgow, Yale University School of Medicine