�Lets take a look at the 7 minute and 9 minute workout.
The New York Times has a new super quick workout routine that you can do anywhere, even if you can�t make it to the gym today. I tried it, though, and… hey, wait, am I the only one actually doing these?
Short, intense workouts seem like a good idea on paper. If you�re not already working out, it�s probably because you feel like you don�t have time to get to the gym. But does anyone do these short workouts? Sure, I have nine minutes and some floor space, but do I want to get my work clothes sweaty? And if I�m going to the trouble of changing, why wouldn�t I just head out the door for a run, or turn on Sworkit or Nike Training Club and get something a little closer to a full workout?
After all, the seven-minute workout that got the New York Times started on their repertoire of super short workouts has an odd history. It was published in a scientific journal, but that doesn�t mean any scientists tested whether it was easy to stick to or whether it gave the promised results. Instead, it was designed using hints from previous research, aiming to give people a mini strength workout at a fast enough pace to count as cardio. The designers were coaches at a corporate wellness institute. In other words, people that your boss pays to make you exercise.
We love to talk about these short workouts, but I�m not seeing any evidence that people care to get in a quick couple of minutes of strength or circuit training. The new nine-minute workout dropped earlier this month, but I�ve scoured social media and found almost nobody enthusing or complaining about what it�s like to do this workout�just post after post sharing the fact that it exists.
So, How Is the Nine Minute Workout?
First of all, the nine minute workout actually takes 11 minutes. I just want you to know that going in. There are nine exercises, though, and you do each for one minute. Here�s the structure:
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One minute of squats, one minute of push-ups, one minute of mountain climbers.
Rest one minute.
One minute of forearm plank, one minute of jumping split squats, one minute of single-leg hip bridges.
Rest one minute.
One minute of burpees with push-ups, geez, hardcore. One minute of single leg toe touches. One minute of leg raises.
This seems like an exercise program that doesn�t know what it wants to be. The NYT touts it as a strength program, but then says it�s designed according to the �principles of high-intensity interval training�known as H.I.I.T.�
It ends up being a hybrid that doesn�t accomplish either. If you want to build strength by fatiguing your legs doing split squats, you�ll be done before the minute is out. But if you try to stretch out the exercises to fill a full minute, you�ll have to do them at a slower pace than HIIT requires.
And that�s exactly how this workout went. One minute felt way too long for some exercises, too short for others, and overall it didn�t really feel like a strength session or an interval workout. It was fine for what it was, though! A little something that challenges your body in a much better way than sitting at your desk or on your couch for the same amount of time. Still, if that�s your goal, you can find better exercise plans than this awkward one.
Sciatica, medically defined as a set of symptoms rather than a single disorder, is commonly characterized by pain in the lower back and buttocks. This pain can radiate down one or both legs to the thigh, calf, ankle and foot. True sciatica occurs when pain begins to travel below the knee.
Sciatic pain frequently results when the nerve roots surrounding the spinal column are compressed or when pressure has caused the impingement of the spinal roots of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve systems are found in in the sacral regions of the back and the lumbar spine. Sciatic pain or sciatica could be identified as sharp, dull, burning, tingly, numb, constant, or intermittent and usually affects only one side of the body. It may radiate throughout the whole length of the nerve, in certain cases, all the way to the toes.
Sciatic pain is usually the result of a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or in exceptionally rare instances, infection or tumour. The cause of your pain determines your treatment options to relieve sciatica.
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Sciatica Treatment Options
Several of the most popular sciatica treatment options include: alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, chiropractic care, drugs, physical therapy, and surgical interventions.
Once a qualified and experienced healthcare professional has diagnosed you with symptoms of sciatica, many individuals with prevalent lower back pain are prescribed bed rest as a way to offer relief for aching bones and joints. Current research, however, has implied that bed rest alone cannot offer relief for those suffering from nerve pain due to sciatica.
Remaining active might be more beneficial for people who suffer with back pain. Not to say that you should be running marathons! Action means being mobile and active for periods of time which aren’t enough to cause additional pain and/or to aggravate other symptoms of sciatica. Specific exercises may be recommended by your healthcare professional or some may simply suggest walking.
Sciatica Pain Relief
Pain is best treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) such as ibuprofen or codeine (in acute cases).
In some instances, a cortisone-like drug may be injected to the epidural space enclosing the spinal column. This process is similar to the epidural used during childbirth, and it’s called an epidural steroid injection. A class of this sort of treatment may offer temporary relief, but it does not address the source of the issue.
Surgery for Sciatica Symptoms
Some patients with sciatica may discover significant relief from surgery. In the case of herniated discs, a surgical procedure called a laminectomy may be performed. In this process, a percentage of the posterior arch is removed to relieve pressure on pinched nerve tissues.
In cases of spinal stenosis, the part of bone that is putting pressure on the sciatic nerve system may be removed.
Operation is not for everyone. Nonetheless, for people who have shown no sign of improvement in 4 to 6 weeks and who have had CT scans (computed tomography) or MRI that show a herniated disc or spinal stenosis, surgery may offer considerable relief.
The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic and spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss options on the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 .
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
Additional Topics: Chiropractic and Sciatica
Sciatica is a common group of symptoms reported by a majority of the population alongside symptoms of back and low back pain. Sciatica, or sciatic nerve pain, is frequently the result of compression or impingement of the sciatic nerve and its nerve roots, generally from a spinal misalignment or subluxation. Chiropractic care is a safe and effective form of alternative treatment utilized to restore the natural alignment of the spine, ultimately reducing the pressure being placed against the sciatic nerve and relieving symptoms of sciatica.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez takes a look at parenthood and longer life.
Parents, take courage. If you survive the sleep deprivation, toddler tantrums and teenage angst, you may be rewarded with a longer life than your childless peers, researchers said Tuesday.
Fathers gained more in life expectancy than mothers, a team wrote in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health — and particularly in older age.
“By the age of 60, the difference in life expectancy… may be as much as two years” between people with, and those without, children, they concluded.
Researchers tracked the lifespan of men and women born between 1911 and 1925 and living in Sweden — more than 1.4 million people in total.
Data Was Gathered On Whether The Participants Were Married & Had Children
Men and women with at least one child had “lower death risks” than childless ones, the team concluded.
“At 60 years of age, the difference in life expectancy was two years for men and 1.5 years for women” compared to peers with no kids, the researchers wrote.
By age 80, men who fathered children had a remaining life expectancy of seven years and eight months, compared to seven years for childless men, said the team.
For mothers, life expectancy at 80 was nine years and six months, while for childless women it was eight years and 11 months.
The study merely pointed out a correlation, and cannot conclude that having children is the cause of the life expectancy gains, the researchers admitted.
But they theorised that parents may benefit from social and financial support from their children in older age, which childless people lose out on.
It Could Be That Childless People Live Unhealthier Lifestyles Than Parents Do
The association between having children and longer life was found in married and unmarried people, but appeared to be strongest in single, older men, said the study.
This could be because unmarried men relied more heavily on their offspring in the absence of a partner.
The study did not echo previous research which found that having daughters is more beneficial for longevity than sons.
Fewer and fewer people are having children in Sweden at the same time as older people are spurning old age institutions to receive care at home — often by their children.
“Therefore, to further investigate health and survival consequences for childless older individuals is of importance,” wrote the team.
A new study hints that young blood may harbor clues to a “fountain of youth” for older brains.
Researchers say blood from human umbilical cords appears to have helped reverse memory loss in aging mice.
The findings suggest that something in young blood is important in maintaining mental acuity.
No one, however, is saying that cord blood could be a magic bullet against Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.
For one, any effects seen in elderly rodents may fail to translate to humans.
Instead, the findings might set the stage for new drugs that target the dementia process, said study lead author Joseph Castellano. He’s an instructor in neurology at Stanford University School of Medicine.
“Part of what makes this exciting is that it suggests there’s more communication between the blood and brain than we’ve thought,” Castellano said.
The study builds on earlier work by the same Stanford team. There, the researchers found that old lab mice benefited from infusions of plasma (the liquid portion of blood) from young mice.
Specifically, the old mice showed improvements in learning and memory. This was measured by the ability to accomplish tasks like navigating a maze or building a nest.
The aim of the new study, Castellano said, was to see whether injections of human plasma given to mice could have similar effects.
It turned out that they did — at least when the plasma came from umbilical cords. Plasma from young adults had less of an impact. And plasma from older adults, ages 61 to 82, had no benefit at all.
That led to a critical question: What is it about umbilical cord blood that’s special?
The researchers found evidence that it might be a protein called TIMP2. It is present in high levels in cord plasma, they said, but declines with age.
What’s more, injections of TIMP2 benefited older rodents’ brains in the same way that cord plasma did.
Castellano said it was “surprising” that a single protein had such effects.
But, he noted, TIMP2 could be “upstream” of many biological processes. It belongs to a family of proteins that regulate other critical proteins. Those proteins, in turn, have the task of “chopping up” yet more proteins that exist in the matrix surrounding body cells.
But researchers know little about how TIMP2 acts on the brain, Castellano said.
“Now, we really need to get a better understanding of what it’s doing in the brain,” he said. “We are not saying we’ve found the protein that’s responsible for brain aging.”
Dr. Marc Gordon is a professor at the Litwin-Zucker Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.
He agreed that the study identifies a protein “target” that should be studied further.
“But this is not saying that cord blood is a cure for aging,” Gordon stressed.
And it’s probably unrealistic to use cord blood as a dementia treatment, said Castellano.
Nor can anyone predict whether TIMP2 will point researchers toward new drugs for dementia. Findings in lab animals often fail to pan out in humans.
Plus, Gordon said, this study involved mice that were old, but did not have an “animal model” of Alzheimer’s. That refers to lab mice that are genetically modified to have Alzheimer’s-like brain pathology.
“What this could mean for human disease is purely speculative,” Gordon said.
Drugs for age-related brain disease have so far been “elusive,” Castellano said. The available medications for dementia symptoms have limited effects, and cannot stop the disease from progressing.
“We’re excited,” Castellano added, “about this knowledge that there are proteins present in the blood that evolve over the life span, and may affect brain function.”
The need to take a daily run might be something that spreads person-to-person, new research shows.
How much people run can depend to a certain extent on their responses to other people’s running, according to the findings from the analysis of social network data worldwide, The New York Times reported.
The results of the study in the journal Nature Communications also suggest that if you want to improve your running performance, it might be a good idea to become virtual friends with people who are a bit slower.
The researchers concluded that “running can be socially contagious,” said study leader Sinan Aral, professor of management, MIT, The Times reported.
“In general, if you run more, it is likely that you can cause your friends to run more,” Aral said.
For many people, eating healthy means eating organic whenever possible. But choosing only organic foods can take effort and be costly. So when does it make the most sense?
Experts from the University of Texas suggest feeding young children organic foods whenever possible to limit their exposure to pesticides. Adults should make their primary goal to eat healthy in general. In other words, make sure you’re getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet before worrying about whether they’re organic.
Next, add in organic foods as your budget allows. Some organic fruits and vegetables are only slightly more expensive than non-organic varieties, so focus on them before the more expensive ones. You might also look for foods on which organic has the most impact. Generally, produce that you peel before eating will have less pesticide residue so it makes more sense to spend money on organic cherries than on organic bananas.
However, aside from limiting your exposure to pesticides, there’s little conclusive evidence that organic foods are healthier.
But there are other reasons — from taste to the idea of putting fewer chemicals in the soil — that might influence you to go organic. In the end, it’s often a very personal decision.
People who cycle to work have a substantially lower risk of developing cancer or heart disease or dying prematurely, and governments should do all they can to encourage more active commuting, scientists said on Thursday.
In a study published in the BMJ British medical journal, the researchers found that cycling to work was linked to the most significant health benefits – including a 45 percent lower risk of developing cancer and a 46 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to non-active commuters.
Walking to work was linked to a 27 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 36 percent lower risk of dying from it, though it also appeared to have no effect on cancer risk or overall premature death risk, the study showed.
The research involved 264,377 people with an average age of 53 whose data forms part of the UK Biobank – a database of biological information from half a million British adults.
Since the study was observational, no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, the researchers said. Its findings could also be affected by some confounding factors, they added, including that the mode and distance of commuting was self-reported, rather than objectively measured.
However, “the findings, if causal, suggest population health may be improved by policies that increase active commuting, particularly cycling”, they said.
These would include creating more cycle lanes, introducing more bike buying or hiring schemes, and providing better access for cyclists on public transport.
Lars Bo Andersen, a professor at the Western Norwegian University of Applied Sciences, who was not directly involved in the research but wrote a commentary on it in the BMJ, said its findings “are a clear call for political action on active commuting”, saying this had the potential to significantly improve public health by reducing rates of chronic disease.
“A shift from cars to more active modes of travel will also decrease traffic in congested city centers and help reduce air pollution, with further benefits for health,” he said.
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor Dr. Alex Jimenez discusses student-athletes and injuries.
Most injuries to student-athletes occur during routine practices, but only about a third of public high schools have a full-time trainer, according to the U.S.-based National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA).
“It’s important to have the right sports safety protocols in place to ensure the health and welfare of student athletes,” said Larry Cooper, chairman of NATA’s secondary school committee. “By properly preparing for practices and competitions, young athletes can excel on the field and stay off the sidelines with potential injuries.”
As Spring Season Approaches NATA Recommends Parents & Students Review Their Schools Policies On Sports Injuries
Here’s what to consider:
Who handles sports-related injuries? Know who will care for athletes who are hurt during practice. Consider that person’s experience and credentials, including first aid and medical training. Determine who makes medical decisions. Coaches and athletes may not make objective decisions about injuries and safety if they are concerned about winning.
What’s the emergency action plan? Every team should have a written plan detailing what to do if a serious injury occurs. An athletic trainer or first responder should review this plan.
Is all equipment in good working condition? Sports equipment such as field goals, turf, basketball flooring and gymnastics apparatus should be examined to make sure it’s safe. Medical equipment such as splints and spine boards should be checked routinely. Schools should have an automated external defibrillator (AED) and staff trained in its use.
Are high school coaches qualified? All coaches, assistant coaches and team volunteers should undergo a background check. They should have knowledge in the sport they are coaching and all credentials required by the state and athletic conference or league. Coaches should be trained to administer CPR, use an AED and provide first aid.
Are locker rooms and gyms sanitary? These areas should be cleaned routinely to prevent the spread of bacterial, viral and fungal skin infections. Athletes should never share towels, athletic gear, water bottles, razors and hair clippers.
NATA says parents should also help ensure their teens are both mentally and physically prepared to play sports. This includes a preseason physical to identify any health conditions that could limit their participation. Young athletes shouldn’t be pushed or forced to participate. Parents should make sure their child’s school, coaches and other staff have a copy of his or her medical history as well as a completed emergency medical authorization form.
NATA recommends parents, student-athletes and coaches keep these safety tips in mind when spring training begins:
Acclimate gradually. Athletes playing in hot weather should build up their endurance over one to two weeks. During this time, they should stay well hydrated and adjust their exercises according to weather. Athletes who must wear heavy protective equipment should gradually get used to playing in their gear. For example: wear only helmets on days one and two; then helmets and shoulder pads on days three and four, then full gear by day five.
Be aware of concussions. Student-athletes, coaches and school medical staff must be well educated on concussion prevention and management. Students with head injuries should speak up if they experience symptoms such as dizziness, loss of memory, lightheadedness, fatigue or trouble with balance.
Screen for sickle cell. All newborns are tested for this inherited trait that can lead to blockage of blood vessels during intense exertion. Athletes with sickle cell trait should take precautions. Warning signs include fatigue or shortness of breath.
Allow for recovery time. The body needs to rest between seasons. Incorporating recovery time into the year can help prevent injuries. Repetitive motions can put excessive stress on joints, muscles or ligaments, resulting in injuries from overuse.
“It’s critical that all members of a school’s sports medicine team (athletic trainers, physicians and school nurses) work together to help prevent, manage and treat injuries or illnesses should one occur,” Cooper said in a NATA news release. “With a team approach we can reduce acute, chronic or catastrophic injury and ensure a successful season all around.”
News stories are written and provided by HealthDay and do not reflect federal policy, the views of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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