Feb. 17, 2011 (San Diego) — Stretching before a run won’t prevent injury, but it won’t cause it, either, according to a new study that has a surprising twist.
The surprise finding? Runners in the study who switched routines for the sake of research were at a higher risk of injury, says Daniel Pereles, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon in Potomac, Md.
Pereles will present the findings here Friday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
“If you are used to stretching, there is no reason not to stretch,” he tells WebMD. “If you aren’t used to stretching, there’s no reason to start.”
Pereles, a runner, assigned 2,729 runners who ran 10 or more miles weekly to one of two groups: a stretch group or a non-stretch group.
In our culture, we associate one day of year with love, Valentine’s Day. We most often direct this love toward another person. But us yogis like to practice Bhakti Yoga–known as the yoga of love and devotion–every day of the year. More than just a single day, bhakti is an entire practice dedicated to love. It teaches us that we can have union (the meaning of word yoga) when we devote ourselves to connecting with love. This love could come from anywhere, explains San Francisco yoga teacher Rusty Wells.
“Bhakti is the yoga of love and devotion to the god of one’s own unique understanding,” says Wells, who teaches a style he calls Bhakti Flow. “There’s no dogma involved. Want to know more?
Can you become “immune” to a diet?
Sort of. Research shows that the more diets you try, the harder it becomes to lose weight. Chronic calorie restriction causes you to pump out more of the hormone that makes you hungry (ghrelin) and less of the one that makes you feel full (leptin). Plus, you tend to lose metabolism-boosting muscle mass when you diet, and without muscle around to crush extra calories, a diet that may have worked in the past may not be as effective in the future. Avoid fad diets and focus on eating low-calorie but high-nutrient foods in portion-controlled amounts. And add strength-training sessions to your routine.
Working out with a hula hoop burns about as many calories per minute as step aerobics, boot camp, or very brisk walking, a new study shows.
For the study, researchers recruited 16 women between the ages of 16 and 59 and had them learn a 30-minute aerobics routine that uses weighted hula hoops twirled around the waist, arms, and legs.
After two practice sessions to get familiar with the moves, volunteers wore portable oxygen analyzers and heart rate monitors to record their exertion.