Fitness

For adults with congenital heart disease, old age and poor endurance contribute to feeling less confident about doing physical exercise. Starting endurance training with guidance from healthcare providers can help regain confidence.

IJC Heart & Vascular

Modest weight gain was associated with a decreased ability to taste sweet and salty flavors for male college students, but not for females.

People are more motivated to run and can run faster when they are racing with someone they consider a rival (compared to a competition without perceived rivals).

Postmenopausal women who increased their step count for 12 weeks using a pedometer reported better sleep quality.

Climacteric

Mice on a ketogenic/"keto" (very low carb) diet ended up with more beneficial gut bacteria, increased blood flow to the brain, reduced blood sugar levels, and reduced body weight as well as a potentially reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Scientific Reports

In an analysis of 33 NBA playoff series, teams facing elimination were more likely to lose than expected, suggesting that adding extreme pressure does not improve performance.

Active cyclists over 55 years old were more similar to young adults in many measures of immune system performance than less active people their age.

Declines in physical abilities related to aging were apparent in adults as early as their 50s. This suggests that efforts to maintain basic strength and endurance should not wait until later years.

For teenage boys, active commuting (such as walking or biking to school) was associated with lower levels of central body fat by age 18.

PLOS ONE

A single session of fast-paced dynamic stretching before running was found to increase the amount of time, and thus distance, that a small sample of track athletes were able to run.

The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Fitness