All posts tagged "Fitness"

Maybe a co-worker has talked you into taking part in the upcoming company run. Or you've resolved to take on more sporting challenges and registered for a 10-kilometre run or half marathon in your city. How best to prepare? If you're an inexperienced runner, you should consider your fitness level and whether you're really up to the undertaking. "It's probably a bad idea to prepare for a marathon if, for example, you're overweight or have a cardiovascular disease," says sports medicine physician Dr Thomas Schneider. He advises novice runners to first consult their GP, who can give them a medica......

Researchers in the UK are seeking hundreds of people to take part in the first large study into whether outdoor swimming can reduce symptoms of depression. Open water bathing has been praised as a way to improve well-being in the last few years, with emerging evidence that it can have a positive impact on mental health, experts said. The number of adults experiencing moderate to severe depression in the UK doubled to nearly one in five between March and June 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, compared to one in 10 before the crisis. The research call comes after the first clinical trial into i......

The growing trend of wearing make-up at the gym or on runs is likely to be causing skin damage, according to scientists based in South Korea and the US. After testing the effects of applying foundation cream before exercise, the team concluded that it "can reduce skin oil, causing dryness." "Additionally, make-up can clog pores and increase sebum production," they said, warning in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology that people with dry skin are likely to be worst affected by slapping on make-up before working out. From the University of San Antonio and Korea National University of Education, ......

Male joggers, swimmers and cyclists could be cutting their risk of nine cancers, a new study suggests. Researchers found that men with good cardiorespiratory fitness are far less likely to go on to develop cancers of the head and neck, stomach, pancreas, liver, bowel, rectum, kidney, lung and oesophagus. Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to a person’s ability to do aerobic exercise, such as running, cycling and swimming for sustained periods, or even to climb stairs. The new study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, saw experts from Sweden track just over a million men for an ......

A stiff, aching hip seems like one of those inevitable problems of getting older. And yet some light stretches and strengthening exercises is all that's needed to prevent, relieve and delay hip pains. Pain in the hip can have very different causes - often wear and tear of the joint is behind it. To prevent hip problems and alleviate the discomfort, it can help to stretch and strengthen the muscles there, says orthopaedic surgeon Martin Rinio. "But please don't exercise your way to hip pain," he says. If the pain is too sharp, it's better to just take it easy on the hip joint. In any case, exer......