Okay everyone, gather round.  I have some really good news for you.  You know how we are always telling you to run or walk or go to the gym, dance or play a sport at least 4 times a week for 30 minutes, and more would be better? Well, I just found out that that’s all phooey!  You don’t have to exercise for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week.  The guys in the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada – who study the effects of motion on the body – say all you need is 6 minutes – three times a week!

Six minutes! That’s just about the same amount of time it takes to boil two eggs! Or make a decent cup of tea.

Imagine all the gyms and sports clubs closing due to the lack of people participating in those 30 minute ab classes.  How about all those dance classes, squash courts, and swimming pools becoming idle, because everyone can get all the exercise they need in just 6 minutes…gee you could even brush your teeth while you are doing your 6 minute regime!

The new study was published in the Journal of Physiology. The lead author of the study, Professor Gibala, says by alternating short bursts of intense activity with brief rest periods participants experience the same benefits as traditional types of long term exercise, and they do it in less time and with less overall exercise.  Wow!

Interval training is a method of exercise where you make an  “all out” effort, like a really intense sprint followed by walking, but this new study showed that interval training does not have to be “so extreme” to  be effective.  That means us ordinary folks can benefit from a less intense effort and still reap the abs!

Professor Gibala put a group of 10 students on stationary bikes and had them ride for 50 minutes at a moderate pace five days a week, while another group of 10 were told to grind through four to six sets of 30 second sprints on the bikes just three days a week.  Both groups had equal gains in “blood vessel elasticity,”  which indicates reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.  This supported an earlier study Prof Gibala did which showed that both groups increased their energy levels which resulted in longer sustained performance.

So there you have it, and it’s simple to recreate your own routine into an interval training session.  Whatever you do, whether it’s jogging, biking or swimming, just alternate one minute sprints followed by one minute of coasting.  Just 6 minutes, imagine, you will never again be able to say, “I just can’t find the time to exercise!”

This past weekend Kevin and I took a hike.  Our original thought was to hike the famous trail in Mill Valley called the Dipsea.  Every summer the Dipsea trail is used for one of the most famous running races in the U.S.  It is a race from Mill Valley up the hill and over what is usually a lovely hiking trail to Stinson Beach.  It’s one of  the oldest running races in the United States, second only to the Boston Marathon.  It’s just 7.2 miles long but it’s not the length of the race that is challenging it’s the terrain.  It’s uphill right out of the gate… straight up a flight of more than 650 stairs - the equivalent of running to the top of a 50 story building - then it’s another  6 1/2 miles of winding, challenging dirt and sand trails with ruts and ditches, dips (hence the name) and ledges.  In short, it’s brutal.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8BJW-rxAcw

I had lived in Mill Valley for years but never entered the race or even taken the trail, so Kevin and I were interested in lollygagging around at a nice friendly hiking pace and finding out what the big deal was.  After all, over 1,500 people enter this race every year.  7 year olds run it, and a gal named Shirley Matson who is 61 has won 3 times!  Go Shirley!

The race is staggered depending on your handicap, youngest and oldest go first,   so that it’s more balanced,  22 year olds are set loose later and have to pass all the runners ahead of them and that itself is a challenge since the course is so steep and is on a single thin trail; that’s difficult enough let alone having to pass hundreds of other runners to get to the front!  And they do, you see the Dipsea is a first come first served race.  That is, the first one to cross the finish line wins!

Anyway, Kevin and I knew that the Dipsea Trail was in Mill Valley just outside Old Mill Park, so we set off to begin our quest.  I knew that the stairs were the beginning challenge of the race and I honestly thought, “Gee only 7 miles?  That’s nothing!” But finding the start of the trail proved to be more challenging than we thought.

Well after about an hour of hiking up and down trails following what we thought may or may not be the Dipsea we realized that whatever trail we were on it wasn’t Dipsea but what the heck, we were still having fun. We were passing through a forest of gorgeous redwoods, past raging streams and waterfalls. How bad can that be!

In fact, we didn’t find the trail until we were on our way back down the through the hills of Mill Valley, when we saw a sign with an arrow that read, “Dipsea”.  As it happened we found ourselves at the very top of the stair cases that begin the treacherous race.   We were descending, but there were a number of people running up the stairs.  Since we were at the top the first of these intrepid athletes were pretty tuckered out.  Heavy breathing, sweaty, and all  pretty excited to see the end of the last stairway so near.  Most were affable and able to say “Thanks” as we cheered them on!

I would say all and all these folks had taken these stairs before and were in pretty good shape, but about half way down the stairs there was an elderly man, about I’d say between 40 and 65.  I say elderly, because he could be a forty year old in really bad condition, or he could have been a 65 year old just beginning to add exercise into his life.  Whatever he was, he was really pooped.  He could not even say “hi”, he was really exerting himself to the max.  I’ll bet this guy said, “Today, I’m going to get in shape!”  but I wondered how he would feel tomorrow.  I could already feel his pain!

Here’s the thing.  Exercise is something you add into your life and you keep adding in small doses until your mind and your body are ready to really work those muscles.  This guy looked like he was really not enjoying this trek.  I was worried that he might collapse from over-exertion.  So here are some signs to lookout for when you exercise, from Chris Dunn an  exercise physiologist.

You should be able to talk and hold a conversation during the activity, if not, you may be over doing it.  If you can’t finish, you’re overexerting.  If you feel faint or nauseated…you’re doing too much.  If you have muscle cramping or joint discomfort. Stop and consider realistically how you can change your routine.

Did you hear that? I said routine and that is key.  Be realistic, if you haven’t trained for a while take the time to start slow and progress gradually.  Allow time for your body to adapt to your new exercise regime or it will be too painful to do it on a regular basis.

For Kev and I, we’re going to continue walking down the Dipsea Stairs, and maybe someday we’ll turn around and take the challenge.

Sometimes it feels as if you can’t turn around without bumping into another study that tells you how wonderful exercise is. Most of it is stuff you probably already know – at least it is if you read Health and Simple regularly – but once in a while you come across some fun new benefit that makes you think “cool”.

We’ll get to that in a minute.

But first.. Just Being Fat Increases a Kids Risk of Heart Disease
Now, we all know that more and more children are becoming overweight or even obese. Not just here in the U.S. but throughout Europe and other developed and affluent nations. Now a new study says the consequences of that may be far graver than we thought.

The study, in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, found that as early as age 7, being obese may raise a child’s risk of future heart disease and stroke, even if they don’t have any other risk factors for cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure.

That’s a wake-up call to parents, schools and pediatricians that they need to be more aggressive in working with kids with weight problems, to tackle them early and often so that those kids don’t grow up overweight or obese. The longer the problems persist, the greater the risk of future health problems.

Now, the news that fat kids start showing signs of heart disease early on is not new. But this adds an extra wrinkle. This shows that even if the kids are otherwise healthy and show no other indications of heart problems, just being fat shows they are heading for a world of health problems, unless we act quickly.

Move More Live Longer, and Healthier
OK, stop me if you heard this before. Exercise or physical activity is linked to a friggin’ host of wonderful things such as reduced risk of:

• arthritis
• falls
• fractures
• heart disease
• lung disease
• cancer
• diabetes
• obesity
• watching the Kardashians (OK, the evidence isn’t all in on this one but hopefully if you workout regularly you won’t have time to watch this dreadful, awful, scripted “reality” show) (note from Shirl:  I kinda like it…love the make-up!)

But now a bunch of new studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine show that exercise can have benefits in all sorts of fun, new ways

• Among women who are 70 or older, those who exercise regularly during middle age are healthier in many areas of health from less risk of chronic disease to lower risk of heart problems or dementia
• Exercise programs are associated with denser bones in older women. Why is that good? Because stronger bones mean less likely of fracture or other serious problems if you fall – either fall in love or fall in the shower
• Here’s my favorite. Resistance training can improve some cognitive skills in older women. This is such a cool study. The researchers found that doing resistance training just once or twice a week can not only improve attention and concentration skills among older women, but it can also improve conflict resolution skills. Amazing eh. Better conflict resolution skills. But then I figured that no one wants to argue with an old woman who’s built like Arnold Schwarzenneger so maybe that explains it. But what a cool granny eh!

If your idea of a good workout is driving around a golf course in a cart and playing a round of golf, say bye bye to your brain! A new study says to help protect your mind against the ravages of dementia you need to up the ante a bit. But the good news is you don’t have to do too much more, just get out of the cart and walk!

In one study, done by the lovely people at the Mayo Clinic, researchers found that moderate physical activity performed in midlife or later can reduce the risk of memory loss or other mental problems. At the other end of the scale, in a study out of the University of Washington School of Medicine,  researchers found that people who already have those mild cognitive problems can reduce them or even reverse them, just with some vigorous exercise. Cool eh!

If you want to read the specific details of the studies the research is published in the January issue of Archives of Neurology.

What’s important is that both point to the role that exercise can play in reducing or even reversing memory problems as we get older.  In both cases the researchers were focusing on a condition called mild cognitive impairment, that’s a kind of interim stage where you have trouble remembering things, or learning new things, it’s not normal but it’s not completely losing your marbles. While you might think what’s the big deal, the big deal is that every year around 10-15 percent of people with mild cognitive impairment develop dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, compared to only one or two percent of the general population.

So if getting out of the golf cart and walking can help save your brain, what the heck are you doing sitting there! Get up and move it.

High Blood Pressure, Dementia and Older Women

And if you are looking for another way to reduce your risk of dementia, here’s one, lower your blood pressure. A new study found that older women with high blood pressure are at increased risk of developing brain lesions that can lead to dementia later in life. And while this study was just done in women there’s no reason to think the findings don’t also apply to men.

Researchers with the Women’s Health Initiative followed some 1,403 women over the age of 65 over the course of eight years. At the beginning of the study the women all had their blood pressure measured and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They underwent similar tests at the end of the eight years.

They found that women who had high blood pressure at the beginning of the study (140/90) had significantly higher amounts of what they called “white matter lesions” in their brain at the end of the study. Those lesions have been shown to interfere with the ability of nerve cells in the brain to communicate with each other. There is also evidence indicating that the greater the number of lesions in white matter, the bigger the risk of dementia.

So, want to keep your brain healthy? Then keep your body healthy. A great way to lower your blood pressure is a diet low in sodium, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, and lots of exercise. Simple eh!

So, I was racking my brains trying to come up with a great new exercise to enthrall and engage you. Then it came to me, windsurfing! It’s fun, it’s great exercise and you get to look cool in a body-fitting rubber suit. – like Batman but without the cape and mask. Then I remembered I had only tried windsurfing once and even then it was in a very small pond on the outskirts of London on a very windy day and I kept getting stuck in the corner of the pond and couldn’t get out.

So then I thought, indoor rock climbing. Brilliant. But I haven’t done that. I’ve seen it. It looks like fun. But let’s face it, it isn’t exactly a household activity and if it is it’s only in rather high income households. It costs a lot of money to pretend to be climbing mountains indoors.

So then I decided oh screw it, let’s just stick with what we know works and hurts and doesn’t cost anything. So. The Plank. Pirates make you walk it. Personal Trainers make you do it. It’s simple, and really tough. Quite a delightful combination.

You get into the standard push up position with your body flat on the ground. Then you push up and create a kind of bridge with your forearms and toes supporting your weight. Once there, you simply hold it.  Don’t move. Keep that position for as long as you can.

Why? Because it’s great for your core and abdominal muscles, as well as your back and arms and shoulders. At first, as you hold yourself up on your arms you’ll think “how is this good for my core” but after about 20 seconds you’ll feel it and go “oh, ow, ouch” and understand what I’m talking about.

* Not really true. It just sounded good.

There are exceptions to every rule. Take, for example, the rule that ‘what goes up must come down’. That’s not always the case. British singer Amy Winehouse’s drug consumption never seems to decrease, nor does the cost of health care. But in most other cases the rule is true.

For instance, I work on the fifth floor and to get to my office I have to go up. Well, duh!! To go home I have to go back down. Unfortunately the only way to do that is by taking the elevator because the stairs, for reasons unknown, are locked and can only be used in emergency, so you could take the stairs down but the only floor you can get out on is the ground floor, which isn’t much good if you want to just go down one flight.

At a time when so many Americans are overweight and when many of us have jobs that are pretty sedentary, it seemed crazy to me to shut off one of the most readily available and easily accessible forms of exercise, namely walking up and down the stairs.

Taking the stairs is a great way to pack in a little extra activity. It gets the legs moving, the heart thumping and the blood pumping. Even just going up one or two flights several times a day can be a great way to help you lead a more energetic lifestyle.

So, I asked our building manager if we could open the stairwells. It was a pretty simple request, it didn’t cost anything, didn’t require any special added services or equipment or security personnel and it had a number of obvious advantages in that it helped people be more active and decreased use of elevators – thereby saving the company money. However, because I happen to be a lowly peon in the organization, nothing happened. Even when my boss supported the idea it went nowhere; quickly and quietly.

Then I was at an event where my uber boss, the hospital CEO, talked about the power of “Two down one up”, namely, if you are going down two floors or up one then don’t take the elevator, take the stairs. He doesn’t just talk this particular talk, he also walks the walk and regularly climbs the seven flights to his office (clearly he works in a different building than I do).

I mentioned the conundrum at work and our inability to use the stairs. He said to try again only this time to say he supported it.

So, I did and lo and behold a mere two weeks later the stairs were opened and people were able to walk up and down. Going to the top helped us open doors, literally, and enable us to go up and down at will.

Now, besides the obvious frustration at the fact that the power of an idea was clearly less important than the source of its support, it makes you wonder how many other simple ideas to help improve health are being stymied because the people who can make things happen don’t have any incentive to do so. Until, that is, the boss steps up and says “do it”.

I still don’t know why the stairs were locked. But I do know why they were opened. Quite whether anyone will actually walk up and down I have no idea, but I’m hopeful that they’ll at least use them when going up or down one or two flights. It may even be that some people challenge each other to see how often they use the stairs instead of the elevator.

One other thing I do know. Because I was the one who opened his big fat mouth and got the doors open I can never again be seen in an elevator in my own building. I have a horrible feeling I am going to live to regret it.

Have you noticed that every men’s health magazine ever published has a picture of a man on the front with ridiculously well-defined, sculpted, six pack abs – accompanied by a story on how you too can get a washboard tummy in just five minutes a day.

Oh, if only it were that simple. Getting those kinds of abs requires huge amounts of effort, losing most of your body fat, and even then you need to use photo shop to get the picture to look that good.

But even if the vast majority of us will ever have a belly that beautiful we can still do a lot to tighten our tummies so they don’t spill out over the top of our trousers.

Some researchers in the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University did a study comparing 13 different kinds of stomach and abdominal exercise to see which one is the best.

The one they said beat the others was that old standby, the bicycle crunch. It’s an easy one to do and you don’t need to be in the gym or even belong to one to be able to do it.

Here’s how you do the bicycle crunch.

First, lie flat on the ground with your feet flat on the ground and your knees bent at about a 45 degree angle.

Place your hands behind your head, with the fingers interlaced.

The next step is to begin to move your legs through what looks like a bicycle pedal motion, with one knee coming up and towards your head while the other leg is extended straight out.

As you are bringing your right knee forward raise your upper body a little and twist so that your left elbow comes across to touch your right knee.

Then straighten out your right leg, bend your left knee and bring that forward and touch that with your right elbow.

Repeat, slowly, steadily, breathing throughout the exercise. Make sure you are not pulling your neck with your hands as you raise your upper body.  The upper body action should be centered in the abs and shoulders.

It’s a great way to strengthen your stomach muscles, which will not only pull your gut in, they’ll also ease the strain on your back too.

Want to see how it’s done? Check this out.

Have you ever looked at those health magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store? Of course you have, what else are you going to do while waiting for the woman in front to figure out which coupons go with which item and then do a lengthy search through her purse for her rewards card that gives her another discount only she can’t find it because she has dozens of other discount cards there and they’re all mixed up.

Anyway, have you noticed how the front pages of those magazines – the health ones, the ones we’re talking about, pay attention here – always have such alluring headlines; “Six Ways to a Sexier You”; “Five Tips To Get Six-pack Abs”; “Seven Slimming Secrets of Stars”. They always have a number in there and a way of making it seem that with just a little effort you too can be slim and glamorous.

Well, now a new study in a magazine you never see in the checkout line, The New England Journal of Medicine, has an equally simple recipe for weight loss. Only this one actually works.

The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), looked at whether fad diets, ones that restricted the kinds of food you ate, are better at promoting weight loss than those that focus more on how much you eat.

Now, we’ve all seen those cabbage soup diets, or all-meat diets, or even the chicken soup diet (you eat a normal breakfast then as much chicken soup, but only chicken soup, throughout the rest of the day). They basically work by limiting how much you eat by cutting out lots of categories of food.

Those diets all work. For a while. The problem is that it’s hard sticking with such a restrictive way of eating. For a start, it gets really boring really fast.

Anyway, the researchers in this study got more than 800 adults to follow one of four diets which were all low in calories but had varying degrees of fat and protein. The participants also had to exercise for 90 minutes a week.

They tested the folks at regular intervals and found, at the end of two years, that they lost an average of 8.8 pounds, regardless of which diet they followed.

What was equally interesting was that the number of people who were still sticking with the diet after two years had plummeted, presumably because it was hard sticking with the same way of eating for that length of time.

The researchers say the good news is that this seems to show that losing weight may actually be simpler than we think, that it has less to do with what kinds of food you are eating and more to do with how many calories you take in.

If you consume more calories than you need and are not doing enough exercise to burn off the surplus, then you’ll put on weight. If you reduce the number of calories you consume, and maybe even increase your activity level, you’ll lose weight.

It’s simple. But didn’t we already know that? Did we really need yet another publicly funded study to tell us that it we eat too much and don’t exercise we’ll get fat? Apparently we did because that is precisely what we got.

But maybe the fact that obesity is on the rise shows that most people still haven’t made that connection, so we have to try and remind them of it. Again. Maybe this time it will work.