Our understanding on the mental and emotional health benefits of exercise continues to grow each year. Research studies have shown not only an association between higher levels of mental health and physical fitness, but also an ability to improve mental health variables including depression, anxiety, cognition, and memory in affected individuals. Exercise has a positive...
Exercise remains one of the best interventions to improve cognition, memory, and executive function in older adults, as well as, those with a decline in these functions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The research has developed from correlational studies showing more active individuals demonstrated higher cognitive function to more recent studies showing the impact...
It seems there is not much eccentric exercises cannot do between healing injured tissue, improving mobility and strength, and now possibly contributing to muscle size. We have long known muscles gain the majority of their strength gains after training because of the eccentric or lowering portion of any lift. Participants who skip or speed through...
The United States witnessed a significant increase in life expectancy over the 20th century with much of the improvement attributed to improved sanitation, vaccinations, medications, and access to healthcare. In addition, significant improvements in lifestyle factors were also noted including nutrition, smoking cessation, and exercise. Exercise plays a unique role in aging due to its’...
Strength training creates a positive stress on the nervous and musculoskeletal systems leading to well established gains in mental, emotional, and physical health. This stress must be continually progressed in a gradual fashion to ensure these gains do not plateau. It is no surprise many novice exercisers, and some patients in Physical Therapy, quit their...
It has been said you can tell a person’s priorities by examining their check book and calendar. Tasks and activities which are urgent or important to us are more likely to be done on a busy day, but others like sleep or exercise may be pushed to the back burner. This is despite the overwhelming...
In a strength training exercises two main phases of the lift are experienced by the participant. The first is the concentric contraction involving a shortening of the muscle under load as the weight is moved to the end of the movement. The second or eccentric contraction involves the lengthening of the muscle under load as...
Bone density loss is most commonly associated with diagnoses including osteopenia and osteoporosis where affected individuals fall below the mean bone density levels of their peers. In our previous blog we described recent research indicating these individuals can improve their bone density through progressive weight training and jump training. This study challenged previously held incorrect...
Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve our current mental, emotional, and physical health. In addition, aerobically trained individuals experience significant health benefits including decreased risk of chronic disease and premature death compared to their sedentary peers. In addition to these health benefits, scientists are also researching the impact of exercise on the aging process....
Previous research reports older adults who remain active are able to slow the physiological effects of aging including increased body fat, decreased muscle mass, and muscle weakness. Other systems in our body also show a decline with aging including the immune system. Immunesenescence, the decline in immune system function due to aging, is an established...