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| Weight loss |
Many people develop an increase in body weight in middle age, and it occurs gradually and is somewhat imperceptible. Of course, some resort to a strict diet or exercise, but some attempts fail due to the nature of the busy lifestyle, family and social obligations and working hours.
Two new studies offer hope in the form of small-change approaches to weight loss and improved health, with proven promises of promising, science-based results.
In her research study, Loughborough University Professor of Behavioral Medicine, Professor Amanda Daly and her research team, analyzed data from 19 trials involving more than 3,000 people to see if a simple, careful approach yields enough changes to help maintain a healthy weight, or lose weight. overload. The results showed that participants who adhered to the small changes approach - such as walking 1,000 extra steps per day or cutting 100-200 calories by choosing healthier alternatives to highly processed, sugary, calorie-dense foods - lost about 1 kg less compared to those who did not follow these methods. Over eight to 14 months. And while the amount doesn't seem like much, Professor Daly says it was enough to stave off weight gain.
Small goals that are easy to achieve
Prof Daly says: "Adult weight gain is not usually the result of short-term lack of exercise and excessive food intake, but is often the result of a gradual decrease in activity levels and an increase in energy intake, the effects of which are cumulative and affect over time."
Prof Daly adds that providing guidelines that ask people to make big changes to their health, such as cutting calories by 500 or more a day or taking 10,000 steps from scratch from scratch, is a lot and it may be better to "make them realize that it's OK Just making one small change the first time and gaining confidence in achieving it," she said, noting that "big changes, by their nature, make it difficult for some to achieve."
Small changes in food
In the second scientific study, published in Nature Food, researchers from the University of Michigan report how small changes in food choices can also help get you extra minutes of healthy living. By classifying 5,800 foods according to their “nutritional burden of disease,” the researchers found, for example, that a dietary shift as small as eating 30 grams of nuts and seeds per day provides a 25-minute gain of healthy living — as would be expected through an increase in life expectancy. Disease free expected. “The message from researchers now is that doing the little things, being active, eating a little better, and shifting thoughts to an initial change approach can make a difference to human health, and it's also a catalyst that can lead to thinking,” says Daly. in greater long-term changes.
Simple ways to get active
1- Strengthening the gluteal muscles while sitting
A 2019 study from Wichita State University, published in Peer J, shows that squeezing the gluteal muscles in the buttocks while sitting in a chair can enhance strength and endurance, and possibly reduce the risk of injury. Study participants were asked to sit straight in a chair—hips and knees at right angles, knees shoulder width apart, feet together—and squeeze their butt muscles as hard as they could for five seconds before relaxing and repeating. The exercise does not require any weights or training tools. After eight weeks of doing this for a cumulative 15 minutes a day, where one doesn't even need to do them all at once, lab results showed it increased gluteal muscle strength by 16% compared to an 11% increase in the control group who was asked to do the same. The same amount of traditional gluteal bridge exercises.
2- Jumping 10 times twice a day
The slightest amount of exercise can make all the difference when it comes to maintaining bone strength throughout life, balancing the risk of osteoporosis. For a trial, the results of which were published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, 60 premenopausal women aged 25 to 50 were asked to perform 10 or 20 jumps with a 30-second rest between jumps, twice daily for 16 weeks, to see how well they effect on their bones. The results showed that daily jumping resulted in a 0.5% increase in bone density, while the control group that did not jump showed a 1.3% decrease in bone density over the four-month trial.
3- Reducing 10% of red and processed meat
In a University of Michigan study, researchers calculated that for every gram of processed meat a person consumes, 0.45 minutes of their life span are lost. If a person eats a lot of red or processed meat, the researchers' advice is to replace 10% of it with a mix of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, which can add 48 minutes to a healthier life.
4- Climb up 4 sets of stairs in less than a minute
Last year, researchers at a conference of the European Society of Cardiology reported that being able to climb four flights of stairs, the equivalent of 60 stairs, in less than a minute is a strong indicator of good heart health. "If it takes you more than a minute and a half to climb four flights of stairs, your health is suboptimal, and it would be a good idea to consult a doctor," says study author Jesus Petero, a cardiologist at Spain's University Hospital Coruña.
5- Jump rope for 10 minutes a day
Daily 10 minutes of jumping over 6 weeks has been shown to lead to improvements in cardiovascular health that are as good as jogging for 30 minutes a day, as well as strengthening bones.
6- Spend 60 minutes outdoors
Getting out of the house for an hour a day is, in short, the exact translation of better health, according to the results of a study to be published in the December issue of Affective Disorders. Sean Kane, associate professor of psychology at Monash University in Australia, studied the effects of daylight exposure on the mood and health of more than 400,000 participants at Biobank in the UK. He discovered that UK adults, on average, spend about 2.5 hours of the day outside, and that every hour of daylight exposure is associated with easier awakening in the morning and a reduced feeling of fatigue overall. "Getting a bright light in the daytime is just as important as avoiding light at night for sleep," says Keane.
7- 1000 extra steps per day
Instead of aiming for 10,000 steps or more, start by logging an additional 1,000 steps per day. Henrietta Graham, a researcher in sports and exercise sciences at Loughborough University, and her colleagues, and lead researcher on the latest scientific study. “People who take low steps per day and try to get 10,000 steps per day from day one are more likely to give up.” Even that many extra steps, i.e. just 1,000 steps, would pay off. In May, researchers from the University of North Carolina set up a study of the walking habits of 16,732 women aged 60 or older. Presenting their findings at the American Heart Association's Conference on Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle, Heart Health, and Heart Metabolism, they showed that, compared to women who did not take daily steps, each initial increase of 1,000 steps per day was associated with a 28 percent lower risk of dying during it. percent, during the eight-year follow-up period, and women who took more than 2,000 steps per day in continuous shifts had a 32% lower risk of death. It can simply be measured without the need to use a pedometer in another way, as you can walk for two minutes every hour of the work day, or about 20 minutes per day, a goal that the team from the University of Utah School of Medicine showed was associated with a 33% lower risk of death.
8- Jog for 5 minutes
Prof Daly says you can start by setting small goals before you aspire to run a marathon "for distances of about 10 kilometers or more". Small, consistent but moderate exercise patterns can make a big difference. One study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, including 55,137 adults showed that running at a controlled pace for just five minutes a day was associated with an increased life span of an adult by about three years.
9. Stick to 20-second training sessions
If you really can't find the time (or motivation) to exercise, making lighter batches is something to consider. Martin Gibala, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada and the principal investigator for a study on light-dose training, found that just 20 seconds of hard effort, such as going up 60 stairs, exercising three times a day led to a 5% increase in fitness and an improvement in strength. Leg muscles after six weeks. The same amount of any activity will help, Graham says, "You can walk or run around, anything that makes you breathe hard will help. Any amount of activity is better than none."
10- Do 15 minutes of yoga every day
If one can't stick to a 90-minute yoga class, start with 15 minutes of simple exercises, and you'll get major benefits. A study, the results of which were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, reported how practicing yoga and deep breathing for a quarter of an hour reduced blood pressure by 10% and reduced heart rate for at least 24 hours in a group of 78 patients with high blood pressure. The light.
11- Standing on one leg for 20 seconds a day
In a person's body, by the time they reach the age of twenty, there are about 70,000 specialized nerve cells, the motor neurons, and they are concentrated in the lower part of the spinal cord, which communicates with the leg muscles to control balance. But researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University show that by the age of 75, 40 percent of these motor neurons are lost in even the most fit individuals. The result is a deterioration in movement coordination and balance. Whereas young adults can stand on one leg, eyes closed, for 30 seconds, the average 70-year-old can stand for only four to five seconds. But the time period can be improved with practice. The goal should initially be to stand on one leg for 20 seconds a day, then gradually develop the command and repeat the exercise with the eyes closed. "You can stand on one leg while you brush your teeth or wait for the water to boil [to make tea or coffee," Graham says.
12- Lifting weights for 13 minutes
Not everyone needs or can head to the gym just to train to lift weights in small doses for short periods. Indeed, exercise physiologists at Lehman College in New York have come up with the possibility of not going to the gym and achieving good results. They asked participants in a scientific study to perform 8 to 12 repetitions of exercises with weights in three weekly sessions, and raise them until their muscles become too tired to be able to do nothing else. While the researchers asked some to perform five sets of each in a 70-minute gym session, they limited the other participants to only three 40-minute sets and one set of each exercise, and the gym group spent only about 13 minutes doing weight lifting. After two months the muscles were worked up. The researchers revealed that strength gains were similar across all groups and that those who did the fast routine, i.e. 13 minutes of exercise in the gym, had similar results to those who trained at home for longer periods of time and training sessions.
Source alarabiya
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