Tag Archives: Exercise

StratfordProductions/Shutterstock Lewis Gough, Birmingham City University A significant proportion of people who contract COVID are left with ongoing symptoms, commonly termed “long COVID”. The nature of these symptoms and the duration of the illness differ between people. While some people are still suffering more than two years after their initial infection, others have recovered, or at least improved. As you’re …

Advocates of the weightlifting technique claim moving slower makes muscles work harder. Twinsterphoto/ Shutterstock Jack McNamara, University of East London Everyone wants to get fit, but many of us lack the time or patience required to get results – especially if our goal is to build a more muscular physique. While there’s plenty of advice online telling people about the …

You can’t exercise away a poor diet. (Shutterstock) Cassandra J. Lowe, Western University Every January, millions of individuals make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight or eat healthier, if not both. To achieve this goal, many individuals will begin strenuous exercise programs that incorporate too much exercise too soon, leading to fitness burnout or injury. Overtraining can actually prevent you …

All in the mind? pathdoc/Shutterstock.com Robin Bailey, University of Central Lancashire It’s January, so it’s likely that you have set yourself goals to be more physically active and less stressed in 2018. Paradoxically, better goals would be to stop worrying about how much exercise you’re getting and to stop worrying about being too stressed. A recent study of over 60,000 …

ANURAK PONGPATIMET/Shutterstock Alison Owen, Staffordshire University Lockdowns during the pandemic aimed to limit the spread of COVID-19 and related deaths. However, these lockdowns also affected how active people were. Children became significantly more sedentary. There is a risk that short term changes in children’s physical activity in reaction to COVID-19 may end up extending beyond the duration of the pandemic. …

Weightlifting isn’t as intimidating as it might look. PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/ Shutterstock Athalie Redwood-Brown, Nottingham Trent University and Angus Hunter, Nottingham Trent University Weightlifting has become increasingly popular with people looking to get in shape. Not only can it be a great way to lose weight, it can also build strength and prevent muscle loss as we age. But knowing …

Some people claim that stress from overtraining is the reason people struggle to lose weight. InesBazdar/ Shutterstock John Hough, Nottingham Trent University When it comes to improving our physical fitness, the time you don’t spend exercising (often known as “recovery”) is as important as the exercise and training you do. Not only is recovery important for anyone who wants to …

Our spines are designed to move. Stock-Asso/ Shutterstock Suzanne McDonough, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences; Joanne Marley, Ulster University, and Michael Thacker, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences After many months in lockdown, a lot of us are finding that we’re experiencing back pain that we hadn’t been bothered by before. There could be many reasons for …

El Nariz/Shutterstock Matthew Farrow, University of Bradford Everybody knows that exercising is good for your heart, so recent news that over-exercising can block up your arteries, may have come as a shock to many. The study, which was widely reported in the media, found that very active people have higher coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores than less active people. The …

Exercise is important for maintaining muscle mass. Tom Wang/ Shutterstock Helen Branthwaite, Staffordshire University We naturally lose muscle mass as we get older. This process starts around the age of 36, and by the time we are 80 we’ve lost about 50% of our muscle mass. Long periods of inactivity can also cause us to lose a greater amount of …