Exercise Also Protects Against the Daily Grind
Not only does exercise help you live better in the later years of your life, it can also help reduce the emotional toll of life's daily grind. According a study by kinesiology researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health that was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, moderate exercise may help you to handle anxiety and stress for an extended period of time meaning that the benefits continue even after your workout is finished.
Participants were told to exercise for 30 minutes or to sit quietly. At first, both were equally effective at reducing anxiety levels. However, once the participants were emotionally stimulated, the "anxiety levels of those who had simply rested went back up to their initial levels, whereas those who had exercised maintained their reduced anxiety levels."
More: 10 Tips to Create Healthy Habits
Weight Gain Is Not Just for Freshmen College Students
It's not just the freshman 15 that you need to worry about if you're planning on attending college; the entire four years add pounds to your waistline. In fact, research appearing in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that 70 percent of college students who participated in the study gained almost 12 pounds over the four years. According to the researchers, "College and university students are often living away from home; they do not have a parent grocery shopping or preparing food for them." Tips for avoiding college weight gain.
More: How to Avoid the Freshman 15
Video Games Better Than TV? Should You Let Your Kids Play?
A very small study reported in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine demonstrated that "active video gaming" (key word "active" including games that involved dancing or boxing) "increased heart rate, oxygen uptake and energy expenditure." In another study completed at the University of Montreal, the researchers looked at "exer-games" including Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Sports and found that teenagers who participated in these games could achieve all the recommended activity levels. So if your kids insist on playing video games, try to encourage them to use Nitendo's Wii or Dance Dance Revolution.
Does Exercise Encourage You To Eat More? Are You Working Up an Appetite?
Not necessarily. Research from Brigham Young University reported in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that performing 45 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning actually reduced a person's motivation for food. The researchers also found that the 45-minute exercise bout resulted in an increase in total physical activity that day.
More: 5 Fun Activities to Help You Get Fit
Stay in shape in a fitness class. 