Month: January 2015

Wow seems to make sense. If you do not exercise and if you sit all day long you are going to die earlier than those that move and exercise. But did I just make that up or is there a basis to that assumption?

There were two studies that came out in the last couple days that seem to be very interesting in that they confirm in one way something we already knew, but in another surprised me as well as I bet a lot of others.

Giant European Study on Exercise and Health

Exercise and Life Span

First the expected. There was a giant european study of 334,000 people where the test subjects were followed for a period of 12 years (no reason for double blind, placebo controlled study here). The study measured lots of things including height, weight, waist circumference and self-reported levels of physical activity.

So what did this study find? Well even a little exercise, the example was a 20 minute brisk walk a day (90-110 calories burned), could lower the chance of early death by 30%. The results were seen mostly in people that were a healthy weight but also in people that are overweight.

So as expected some exercise makes a huge difference in health over the long term. With a study this big it would be interesting to see what difference it made to people that started obese and started exercising regularly for over a year. I bet they could dig this info from all that data.

The study was just publushed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Do you hate cardio and still want to lose weight? This plan may be exactly what you are looking for Check it out now

Study On Sedentary Lifestyles and Exercise

The second study was a little shocking to me and this was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study was a meta-study, which means that the conclusions were made by looking at a whole bunch of studies and seeing what results can be gleaned from there.

The study looked at the results of 47 different studies on the effect of a mainly sedentary lifestyle on disease.

The shocking result to me is that the results seemed to show that even people that exercised regularly and have desk jobs seem to still have a higher average risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and early death.

I had always expected that getting exercise, like in the study above, would make a big difference in health but apparently it may not be enough of a difference.

Those who engage in regular physical activity but still spend a large proportion of their day in sedentary activity were found, on average, to be 30% less likely to die of any cause in a given period than were those who get little to no exercise.

But even those who punctuate a long day of sitting with a vigorous workout were estimated to be 16% more likely to die of any cause in a given time than were those who do not sit for long.

What Can We Learn From These Studies?

These two studies are a great basis to look at how we live and how exercise should be a part of our lifestyle. The way I look it, as a guy that works a desk job, is tht we should all be getting at least some exercise. You don’t need a lot of exercise but at least make sure that you are getting a good long walk or workout everyday (at lunch maybe?).

Also the whole idea of sitting at your desk and just digging away at work is bad anyway.

The best way to work according to the Pomodoro technique is to work for 45 minutes and then get up and away from work for 15 minutes. This system means that you get lots of work done and get very focussed time at your desk and theat you also get away and get the exercise and seperation that your mind and body both need to be healthy

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on Fitness

Wow seems to make sense. If you do not exercise and if you sit all day long you are going to die earlier than those that move and exercise. But did I just make that up or is there a basis to that assumption?

There were two studies that came out in the last couple days that seem to be very interesting in that they confirm in one way something we already knew, but in another surprised me as well as I bet a lot of others.

Giant European Study on Exercise and Health

Exercise and Life Span

First the expected. There was a giant european study of 334,000 people where the test subjects were followed for a period of 12 years (no reason for double blind, placebo controlled study here). The study measured lots of things including height, weight, waist circumference and self-reported levels of physical activity.

So what did this study find? Well even a little exercise, the example was a 20 minute brisk walk a day (90-110 calories burned), could lower the chance of early death by 30%. The results were seen mostly in people that were a healthy weight but also in people that are overweight.

So as expected some exercise makes a huge difference in health over the long term. With a study this big it would be interesting to see what difference it made to people that started obese and started exercising regularly for over a year. I bet they could dig this info from all that data.

The study was just publushed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Do you hate cardio and still want to lose weight? This plan may be exactly what you are looking for Check it out now

Study On Sedentary Lifestyles and Exercise

The second study was a little shocking to me and this was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study was a meta-study, which means that the conclusions were made by looking at a whole bunch of studies and seeing what results can be gleaned from there.

The study looked at the results of 47 different studies on the effect of a mainly sedentary lifestyle on disease.

The shocking result to me is that the results seemed to show that even people that exercised regularly and have desk jobs seem to still have a higher average risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and early death.

I had always expected that getting exercise, like in the study above, would make a big difference in health but apparently it may not be enough of a difference.

Those who engage in regular physical activity but still spend a large proportion of their day in sedentary activity were found, on average, to be 30% less likely to die of any cause in a given period than were those who get little to no exercise.

But even those who punctuate a long day of sitting with a vigorous workout were estimated to be 16% more likely to die of any cause in a given time than were those who do not sit for long.

What Can We Learn From These Studies?

These two studies are a great basis to look at how we live and how exercise should be a part of our lifestyle. The way I look it, as a guy that works a desk job, is tht we should all be getting at least some exercise. You don’t need a lot of exercise but at least make sure that you are getting a good long walk or workout everyday (at lunch maybe?).

Also the whole idea of sitting at your desk and just digging away at work is bad anyway.

The best way to work according to the Pomodoro technique is to work for 45 minutes and then get up and away from work for 15 minutes. This system means that you get lots of work done and get very focussed time at your desk and theat you also get away and get the exercise and seperation that your mind and body both need to be healthy

Related Blogs

• Related Blogs on Fitness

I was speaking to one of my colleagues at work a couple of days ago about the horrible rainy weather that we are having right now and she mentioned that she suffers from SAD, seasonal affective disorder.

This condition usually affects people in the winter in the northern latitudes, like here in Canada when there is not much sun during the Winter.

A doctor is the only one who can really figure out if the depression you feel is seasonal affective disorder or clinical depression or the “blues” that can all be treated in different ways

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

SAD is characterized by recurrent major depressive episodes that usually coincide with the seasonal decrease of daylight during autumn and winter.

The depressive episodes can last up to 6 months. Although patients with SAD may have depressive episodes during other times of the year, the diagnosis of seasonal affective disorder requires that the number of seasonal episodes substantially outnumber the non-seasonal episodes during the individual’s lifetime.

A major depressive episode is defined as the presence of 5 or more of the 9 core symptoms of major depression for at least 2 weeks.

The symptoms include: depressed mood; loss of interest; loss (or other or appetite changes); insomnia or hypersomnia; agitation or psychomotor retardation; fatigue; feelings of worthlessness or guilt; impaired concentration; suicidal thinking or behavior.

One of the 5 symptoms must be either depressed mood or loss of interest in activities.

Another essential feature of major depression is the presence of significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

How To Cure Seasonal Affective Disorder Naturally

Instead of just resorting to drugs to cure Seasonal Affetive Disorder you can also try other things first. Natural cures for these kinds of issues are always that best I think.

1. Get outside in the sun. As we all know the Vitamin D in your system is raised by being in sunlight although Winter sunlight is not the best but it makes you feel great

2. Instead make sure you are taking a vitamin D supplement and get outside just to be closer to nature which should help ground you and make you feel better.

Do you hate cardio and still want to lose weight? This plan may be exactly what you are looking for Check it out now

3. Get lots of sleep so that you are not fighting mood swings. Most people are at a sleep deficit and that always hurts us when we are trying to fight the winter blues.

4. Get a Blu Light. At least that is one brand. Having bright light will kick off hormones that will get your energy and mood up. Although I don’t have one myself I look lingingly at them everytime I am at Costco.

5. There are many essential oils that can help with Seasonal Affective Disorder including lemon or grapfruit for energy, frankincense and jasmine for your emotions, and lavender for helping you sleep.

6. Try using St. John’s Wort To help lift your mood, put 40 to 60 drops of  St. Johns Wort in a glass of cold water three times a day.

Once called “God’s grace” or “the blessed herb”, this home remedy now has a venerable reputation as a mild antidepressant.

Within the last 20 years, studies have shown that one of its components indirectly helps to increase the mood-boosting brain chemical serotonin. One drawback of St. John’s wort, however, is that it increases skin sensitivity to the sun

7. Supplement with 5-HTP. Supplemental use of 5-HTP may help balance levels of serotonin in the body, which can help you better control irritability, aggression, impatience, anxiety, and depression.

Many studies suggest that 5-HTP may aid in the treatment of depression but if you are already taking and antidepressants this substance may affect them, so be careful.

8. Also make sure you continue to take a multivitamin that contains vitamin B6, thiamin, and folic acid. Studies have shown that all of these B vitamins can benefit mood.

9. Avoid refined sugar like cookies, candy, and soda can alos be a problem as you will get that sugar rush that inevitably leads to a depressed mood when it wears off. Eat higer protein dense meals that can help increase alertness.

10. Finally, I think most importantly you need to get lots of exercise. Don’t try to wipe yourself out with your exercise but instead get in a daily workout that you can be proud of that makes you leave the gym invigorated instead of wiped out.

Just getting those endorphins rushing will make a huge difference to your mood. So get out there and get your workout in today

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