According to a new study from the Medical University of South Carolina, the percentage of the American population leading a healthy lifestyle, defined as exercising regularly, eating lots of fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy weight, drinking alcohol in moderation and not smoking, is on the decline. The authors of the study compared the results [...]

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In recent years the tide has turned in research on hydration during exercise, and during running in particular. Studies have shown that there is no performance or thermoregulatory advantage to be gained from drinking to completely offset dehydration. In the context of this trend comes a new study by Taiwanese researchers that looked at correlations [...]

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In an interesting new study, Belgian researchers investigated whether a novel but self-explanatory variable called the television-to-exercise ratio could predict overweight in adolescents. The authors of the study surveyed 1,276 13- and 16-year-olds to find out how much time each spent daily watching television and exercising, and used this information to calculate a television-to-exercise ratio [...]

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Men and women seek out cognitive behavioral therapy for all kinds of issues: depression, stress, anxiety, phobias, smoking cessation and so forth. But can the same method also motivate obese individuals to lose weight to keep it off? Yes it can, according to the results of a new study from the University of Sydney, Australia. [...]

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A large number of studies have shown that consuming carbohydrate, for example in a sports drink, after exercise accelerates muscle glycogen resynthesis as compared to consuming water or nothing. But most of these studies have been performed on athletes in a fasted state and involved no carbohydrate intake during exercise, whereas in the real world, [...]

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Here’s an interesting question: Which of the following two changes would improve health-related quality of life indices in obese individuals more: weight loss or increased cardiovascular fitness? Obviously, there’s a lot of overlap between the two, but inasmuch as they can be separated, which is more important?
Researchers from the University of Florida recently answered [...]

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Researchers from the University of Texas recently compared the effects of cereal and low-fat milk and a sports drink on parameters of post-exercise muscle recovery. Eight male and four female endurance athletes (cyclists and triathletes) completed a two-hour stationary cycling workout at 60-65 percent VO2max on two separate occasions. The subjects were randonly assigned to [...]

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A large team of researchers representing multiple institutions recently studied the independent and combined effects of a popular exercise program (the Curves circuit strength training program) and four different diets on body weight and body composition, plus other related mesaurements, on obese women. The 161 participants were divided into a no diet and no exercise [...]

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Past research has shown that a type of fat known as medium-chain triglycerides (MCT’s) are metabolized more efficiently than another type known as long-chain triglycerides (LCT’s) and therefore may be a more effective fuel for endurance exercise. In a new study, Japanese researchers compared the effects of MCT’s and LCT’s on endurance exercise performance. A [...]

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Free radicals are typically thought of as having only negative effects on the body, but in reality they have both positive and negative effects. This is the case in the specific context of exercise. Free radicals formed during exercise cause acute muscle fatigue and muscle cell damage, but they also stimulate some of the physiological [...]

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