Lately I've been thinking about exercise. Mostly I've been thinking about my love-hate-guilt relationship with it. Once I'm up and moving, I usually love it (except for P90X—that was horrible). But then why is it so hard to start? I put it off like crazy, which makes no sense for an activity I enjoy. So I've been looking around for things to motivate--substantial incentives that will hopefully help counter the ever-available excuses to stay seated. And while I don't want this blog to turn into a list of the random things I've been thinking about, fitness is something that affects us all, so I feel like it merits a conversation topic post. And more than that, I've actually really enjoyed reading about the research that's been going on:
- Researchers in Belgium conducted a study of 28 healthy, active young men. They fed them a terrible diet (50% fat and 30% more calories than what they had been consuming) and divided them into three groups. The first did not exercise at all. The second and third groups submitted themselves to a rigorous workout routine (running and cycling hard for 90- and 60-minute sessions four times each week). The workouts were monitored to ensure that everyone did the same amount of work. The difference between the two groups was when they exercised compared to when they ate breakfast. The second group ate breakfast before their workout. The third group ate after. At the end of six weeks, everybody jumped on the scale. The sedentary group gained six pounds, along with plenty of other horrors: insulin resistance and extra fat storage within and between muscle cells. Group two gained only half the weight, but still showed increases in insulin resistance and storing fat in their muscles. Meanwhile, group three gained almost no weight, showed no signs of insulin resistance, and burned stored fat more efficiently. (Upside: Since reading about this study, I've been far more motivated to get up early enough to exercise before work. Downside: When I don't exercise before work, nothing in heaven or earth can convince me that it's still worth it to try to break a sweat.)
- Both Newsweek and The New York Times have published really interesting articles on how exercise makes you smarter. They're still conducting studies, but so far it looks very promising that both aerobic activities like running as well as strength training do the trick to measurably improve brain performance. So awesome!
- In a randomized trial, Virginia Tech scientists conducted a study of people age 55+ and overweight wherein everyone was given a low-calorie diet, but only half the participants were told to drink two glasses of water before every meal. After about three months, the water-drinking group had lost an average of 15.5 pounds, while the other group averaged a loss of 11 pounds.
- If you've just finished training for a marathon or you're finishing up a sports season where you've trained hard, you can cut back your workouts by about 2/3rds and still retain much of your strength and aerobic ability, in contrast to losing most of it if you stop exercising completely.
Fascinating stuff! I, too, share your love-hate-guilt relationship with exercise. The thing that has really surprised me is that I notice a huge difference in how I feel and how my workouts go when I'm adequately hydrated. Not scientifically-backed data, I suppose, but it's physically-evidence-based practice for me.
ReplyDeleteActually, Jenn is doing some of the oldest-style scientific psychology research there is: retrospection, made famous by William James. It's your experience; it's real for you--and probably millions of other people. Including me.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's back to exercising before breakfast :(
ReplyDelete