Category: Weight Loss Exercise

Soccer has always been known as a great alternative to jogging as a great form of exercise but a new study seems to show that Soccer is actually much better as a form of exercise than jogging.

University of Copenhagen sports scientist Peter Krustrup and his colleagues conducted their research on 37 men. The researchers strapped heart monitors to their chests and compared blood samples and muscle tissue before and after matches and jogging sessions. The men were split into groups of soccer players, joggers, and couch potatoes.

After 12 weeks, researchers found that the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7 percent, compared to about 2 percent for the joggers. The soccer players also increased their muscle mass by almost 4.5 pounds, whereas the joggers didn’t have any significant change

So why these results? Well I think that the excitement that people feel when playing a team sport helps but more importnantly to play soccer means to jog around some and sprint some and the faster-slower type exercise confuses you muscles and helps you get in a much better workout.

Do you agree? Now that winter is coming it would be a great time to look into one of those fun indoor soccer leagues.

Dancing with the Stars starts it’s new season tonight and if you have ever watched the show before you already know how hard these contestents work to get the moves right and the dances very fluid and professional looking. This season there are two stars whos names you know that have had trouble losing some lately.

Jenny Garth who you might remember from Beverly Hills 90210 and Marie Osmond from the Donnie and Marie show as well as other stuff are on this seson of Dancing with the stars and both said that the dancing has helped them lose weight.

Said Marie Osmond:

I would love to go the whole way just because I said to them, ˜Look, I’ve got to lose some so I figure it’s better for you guys to pay for it than me

and Jennie Garth said:

The baby from baby number three did not go away as quickly as the other two, so for me this is a great opportunity to get in good shape.

The show for entertainments sake all comes down to whether ytou like to watch dancing, my wife watches and I just catch a little bit if I am not on the computer or playing with the kids. The show does not give you tips like the Biggest Loser does but it will show that any exercise that is active and fun will help you lose weight. Any exercise that is not fun will not work as well becuase if it feels like a burden then you probably will not do it enough for it to do some good ir even do it at all.

Ususally I am not to impressed with CNN articles as they seem to be a bit fluffy or alarmist but there is a great article about the FDAs warning against giving kids 6 or under certain cold medicines

FDA: Stop giving cold, cough meds to toddlers – CNN.com

I know that most parents are very nervous about kids having colds and I have always been one of them as well. The first real sign that my kids have a cough and I reach for the kids cold medicine, I guess maybe not anymore.

Here are some highlights of what the FDA has to say about cold medicines for kids:

“The basic question is, why should a product be so relentlessly marketed when it’s not safe or effective?” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore health commissioner. “It does not make sense, in the absence of information, to say ‘consult a physician,’ because they do not have superhuman powers. They cannot make a product safe or effective.”

And even more alarming is that there are deaths caused by the use of pseudoephedrine in kids cold medicine. Yes if you look on the bottle you will see that the adult versions cold medicine has pseudoephedrine as an active ingredient.

An FDA review of side-effect records filed with the agency between 1969 and September 2006, found 54 reports of deaths in children associated with decongestant medicines made with pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine or ephedrine. It also found 69 reports of deaths associated with antihistamine medicines containing diphenhydramine, brompheniramine or chlorpheniramine.