| By Dennis Johnston |
| Published:
| 231
Comments | 218
Recommend |
Between the stairsteppers, stationary cycles,
cross-country ski simulators and the
dozens of other pieces of cardio
equipment jamming today’s typical gym,
trying to figure out which of these machines is best for burning fat can be a real guessing
game.
Fortunately, there are exercise scientists like Dr.
Niall Moyna who actually test this sort
of thing.
Recently Dr. Moyna and colleagues from the
Center for Sport Science and Health in
Dublin, Ireland, pit the popular cardio
machines against one another in a battle for fat-burning supremacy.
And as it is with so
many things, it seems basics are best for burning fat, as
well.
Of all the latest, greatest
newfangled cardio contraptions, the
time-honored treadmill came
out on top.
Subjects performed three exercise tests at
selected intensities
corresponding to ratings of perceived
exertion (RPE): fairly light, somewhat
hard and hard.
Energy expenditure (calories burned)
at each RPE was
highest on the treadmill for all subjects. Energy expenditure at all RPEs
was lowest on the stationary
bike.
“Our results
indicated that there are large differences in energy expenditure between exercise machines,” the researchers write.
“Subjects can expend more
calories at the same RPE during
treadmill exercise, for example, than
during exercise with other devices.”
And remember, more
calories burned equals
more fat
lost.
Exercise Increases Brain Power, New Study
Suggests
 A team of researchers at the University
of Illinois
in Urbana-Champaign has just given a new significance to the ancient
Greek ideal mens sana in corpore sano.
Dr. Chuck
Hillman and
colleagues recently reported at the annual meeting of the Society of
Psychophysiological Research in Montreal, Canada, that it’s true
—creating a
strong, healthy body through exercise can help lead directly to
a strong, healthy mind.
In the study, the
researchers, using an electroencephalogram (EEG), measured the
thinking ability of 20 men and
women asked to perform a computer test before and 30
minutes following intense
treadmill running.
According to Dr. Hillman,
exercising increased the speed of the
decision-making process by an average of
35 milliseconds — quite a significant improvement as far as brain activity goes, he
says.
What’s more, study
participants answered test questions more
accurately after exercise than they
did when they had not
exercised.
|
| Research
Update |
| New Study Reveals the Best
Exercise for Toning Your
Stomach |
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Using an electromyograph
(EMG)
machine,
researchers at San Diego State
University recently
measured abdominal
muscle activity
of subjects asked to perform
13 types of
ab exercises.
The
traditional
crunch was used as the
benchmark for
the ratings. Surprisingly,
the top-rated
stomach strengthener, according
to the researchers, was the
bicycle
maneuver, which created almost
250
percent
more muscle activity in
the rectus
abdominus muscles —
the six-pack
set — than a crunch did.
To
do it, lie flat on the floor
with your lower
back pressed to the ground.
Put your
hands beside your head.
Bring your
knees up to about a 45-degree
angle and
slowly go through a bicycle
pedal motion.
Touch your left elbow to your
right knee,
then your right elbow to your left
knee.
|
| Study: Lift Your Spirits
with
Exercise |
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If you’re feeling down in the dumps, hit the
gym. It’s the best way
to
perk
yourself up, according to a growing
number of
studies.
In
fact,
researchers
are now saying vigorous exercise may be
just as effective —
if not more
so — than such “mood-boosting” drugs as
Prozac for fighting
depression.
The latest evidence that
exercise can be a powerful natural
antidepressant
comes from
a German study of people with clinical
depression.
Dr.
Fernando
Dimeo and colleagues at Freie University
in Berlin found that
as little
as a half-hour of cardiovascular exercise
improved the patients’
symptoms —
faster, in fact, than antidepressant
drugs typically do.
The study, which is presented
in the
British
Journal of Sports Medicine,
reports
that half the patients had improved
significantly.
“Our results indicate that,
in selected patients with major
depression,
aerobic
training can produce a substantial
improvement in
symptoms
in a short
time,” the researchers
write.
This is just one study in
a
recent
flurry of research
suggesting
exercise to
be the
best way to
beat depression.
Another recent study
from
Duke
University also found
physical
activity to be more
effective
at combating
depression
than
prescribed medication.
Hopefully, this new wave
of
research
will change the way
some
depressed patients are
treated —
especially those
who are not
interested in taking
antidepressants,
which
oftentimes
carry unwanted
side
effects.
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