Use Weights, Not Aerobics, To Ease Back Pain, Study Suggests

People who use weight training to ease their lower back pain are better off than those who choose other forms of exercise such as jogging, according to a University of Alberta study.

The study, done in conjunction with the University of Regina, showed a 60 per cent improvement in pain and function levels for people with chronic backache who took part in a 16-week exercise program of resistance training using dumbbells, barbells and other load-bearing exercise equipment.

In contrast, people who chose aerobic training such as jogging, walking on a treadmill or using an elliptical machine to ease their back pain only experienced a 12 per cent improvement, said Robert Kell, an assistant professor of exercise physiology at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus.

The resistance-training group showed improvements in pain and function of about 60 per cent, while those who took aerobic training experienced only a 12 per cent improvement.

"Any activity that makes you feel better is something you should pursue, but the research indicates that we get better pain management results from resistance training." The extra benefits stem from using the whole-body approach required in resistance training, Kell believes. "We tried to strengthen the entire body and by doing that, we decreased the fatigue people felt throughout the day. They were better able to perform their activities of daily living." Aerobics training generally works just the lower body, he added.

Approximately 80 per cent of North Americans suffer from lower back pain at some point in their lifetimes, and for 85 per cent of them the pain is chronic.

Both types of training did provide other fitness benefits, such as lower body fat, the study showed.

The findings are to be published in early 2009 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of Alberta. 

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Can You Do Low Carb & Low Cal at the Same Time?

Low-carb diets are based on inducing a state of ketosis in the body. When deprived of incoming carbohydrates, the body uses up its glycogen reserves -- glucose stored in the muscles and liver -- and must resort to burning fat for energy. As a result, low-carb diets do not require dieters to restrict calories -- the idea is to change the composition of their diets to favor proteins and fats over carbs and eat to the point of reasonable satiety. Although dieters might in fact consume fewer calories than usual because of the increased satiety they get from protein, according to Atkins in his book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," restricting calories too much could backfire by creating a "starvation" situation for which the body compensates by decreasing its metabolic rate and holding on to fat.

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Grandmother's amazing weightlifting talents will inspire you to hit the gym

Two years ago, 78-year-old Shirley Webb's exercise of choice was mowing the lawn.

"That's about the only exercise I ever got," she told ESPN.com.

That all changed when she walked into the Club Fitness gym in Wood River, Illinois, two years ago. Back then, she couldn't climb the stairs without getting winded. These days? She's a state and national record holder for the deadlift. A recent video posted to Facebook showed the strong woman lifting 225 pounds three times — and her maximum is 245 pounds.

"I have no intention of stopping right now," Webb told ESPN. "When I go to the gym and work out, when I leave, I feel so much better than I did when I went in, and I just feel so good. I feel tremendous."

Last year she won two competitions — including one in November 2015 where she dead-lifted 237 pounds to set an Illinois state record for her age group.

"I've seen such a remarkable difference in myself,'' Webb told Today.com. She's also inspiring others with her badassery.

"I'm glad that people are getting inspired by me doing this," she continued. "I had one lady come in the gym and say, 'I saw your video and I decided to come down and join this club.' That makes me feel good."

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Red meat consumption linked with increased risk of developing kidney failure

A new study indicates that red meat intake may increase the risk of kidney failure in the general population, and substituting red meat with alternative sources of protein from time to time may significantly reduce this risk. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Increasing numbers of individuals are developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), and many progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant. Current guidelines recommend restricting dietary protein intake to help manage CKD and slow progression to ESRD; however, there is limited evidence that overall dietary protein restriction or limiting specific food sources of protein intake may slow kidney function decline in the general population.

To examine the relationship between dietary intake of major sources of protein and kidney function, a team led by Woon-Puay Koh, MBBS (Hons), PhD (Duke-NUS Medical School and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in National University of Singapore) analyzed data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a prospective study of 63,257 Chinese adults in Singapore. This is a population where 97% of red meat intake consisted of pork. Other food sources of protein included poultry, fish/shellfish, eggs, dairy products, soy, and legumes.

After an average follow-up of 15.5 years, the researchers found that red meat intake was strongly associated with an increased risk of ESRD in a dose-dependent manner. People consuming the highest amounts (top 25%) of red meat had a 40% increased risk of developing ESRD compared with people consuming the lowest amounts (lowest 25%) No association was found with intakes of poultry, fish, eggs, or dairy products, while soy and legumes appeared to be slightly protective. Substituting one serving of red meat with other sources of protein reduced the risk of ESRD by up to 62%.

"We embarked on our study to see what advice should be given to CKD patients or to the general population worried about their kidney health regarding types or sources of protein intake," said Dr. Koh. "Our findings suggest that these individuals can still maintain protein intake but consider switching to plant-based sources; however, if they still choose to eat meat, fish/shellfish and poultry are better alternatives to red meat."

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Energy expenditure and body composition changes after an isocaloric ketogenic diet in overweight and obese men

The carbohydrate–insulin model of obesity posits that habitual consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet sequesters fat within adipose tissue because of hyperinsulinemia and results in adaptive suppression of energy expenditure. Therefore, isocaloric exchange of dietary carbohydrate for fat is predicted to result in increased EE, increased fat oxidation, and loss of body fat. In contrast, a more conventional view that “a calorie is a calorie” predicts that isocaloric variations in dietary carbohydrate and fat will have no physiologically important effects on body fat.

Objective: We investigated whether an isocaloric low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (KD) is associated with changes in EE, respiratory quotient (RQ), and body composition.

Design: Seventeen overweight or obese men were admitted to metabolic wards, where they consumed a high-carbohydrate baseline diet (BD) for 4 wk followed by 4 wk of an isocaloric KD with clamped protein. Subjects spent 2 consecutive days each week residing in metabolic chambers to measure changes in EE (EE_chamber), sleeping EE (SEE), and RQ. Body composition changes were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Average EE during the final 2 wk of the BD and KD periods was measured by doubly labeled water (EE_DLW).

Results: Subjects lost weight and body fat throughout the study corresponding to an overall negative energy balance of ∼300 kcal/d. Compared with BD, the KD coincided with increased EE_chamber (57 ± 13 kcal/d, P = 0.0004) and SEE (89 ± 14 kcal/d, P < 0.0001) and decreased RQ (−0.111 ± 0.003, P < 0.0001). EE_DLWincreased by 151 ± 63 kcal/d (P = 0.03). Body fat loss slowed during the KD and coincided with increased protein utilization and loss of fat-free mass.

Conclusion: The isocaloric KD was not accompanied by increased body fat loss but was associated with relatively small increases in EE that were near the limits of detection with the use of state-of-the-art technology. This trial was registered atclinicaltrials.gov as NCT01967563.

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