Exercise While Watching Television. The American Council on Exercise offers these suggestions to get some exercise while you watch TV: ditch the remote and change the channel yourself, walk around the house or up and down the stairs during commercials, perform resistance exercises while watching TV, use a treadmill or stationary bike, and perform activities…

Daily Moderate Exercise Reduces Disability Risk in Seniors. Daily moderate exercise can mean the difference between becoming housebound or keeping up with everyday activities later in life. Researchers found that daily moderate exercise among participants ages 70 to 89 reduced loss of mobility by 28% and increased walking ability by 18%. The exercise involved walking…

Improves Motor Skill Development. Researchers have demonstrated that a single bout of acute cardiovascular exercise can improve an individual’s ability to learn new motor skills up to a week after performing the activity. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, August 2014

Small Amounts of Exercise Protect Against Memory Loss in Elderly. An animal study involving rats found that small amounts of exercise protected older rodents from memory loss and exaggerated inflammation in their brains following infection. This is the first study to show that voluntary exercise reduces aging-induced susceptibility to the cognitive impairments that follow a…

Exercise Positively Impacts Anxiety. New research sheds light on how exercise and relaxation activities can positively impact people with social anxiety. Researcher Dr. Adam Heenan found that exercise and activities like yoga can change the way people perceive the world and change it in a way that they view the environment as less threatening and…

Survival More Likely with Exercise-Related Cardiac Events. According to new research, individuals who have a cardiac arrest during or shortly after exercise are three times more likely to survive (45% survival rate) compared with those who have a cardiac arrest that is not related to exercise (15% survival rate). Lead author Dr. Arend Mosterd writes,…

Physical Fitness Can Prevent Youth Depression. Among sixth graders, those who are physically fit are less likely to report depression symptoms a year later. Researchers from Northern Texas surveyed 437 students as part of a county-wide program to assess physical fitness and found that physical fitness was associated with a decreased likelihood of depression when…

Sports During Adolescence Has Mental Health Benefits During Young Adulthood. Participating in school sports during adolescence appears to have a protective effect on mental health in young adulthood. Researchers surveyed 850 students for five years about their participation in school sports such as basketball, soccer, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics. Three years following graduation,…

Exercise May Benefit Pregnant Women with High Blood Pressure. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, are the most common and dangerous pregnancy complications, occurring in 5-8% of pregnancies. An animal study revealed that placental ischemia-induced hypertension in rats was alleviated by exercise. Researcher Jeff Gilbert explains, “The data from our study raise the possibility…

Exercise Improves Body Composition for Kids. A recent study referred to as “FITKids” demonstrated the extent to which physical activity can improve body composition, which is important as it contributes to overall health. The study included 220 eight- to nine-year-olds who were assigned to either a nine-month physical activity program that required 70 minutes of…