Speed Bump

Last week I co-hosted an Exercise is Medicine conference at my institution. 160 like-minded exercise enthusasists and researchers in one room left me feeling energized and reinvigorated about my own fitness goals, as well as my research interests in exercise and disease. Given the new numbers published today that 1 in 4 American teenagers may be diabetic or prediabetic (23%, up dramatically from 9% in 2000) some good news is definitely in order. I'll post the big take home messages from the exercise conference later this week. But first, I wanted to share my favorite abbreviated workout and some thoughts on obesity and weight loss. Interval training - easier than you think. Have you ever tried interval training? It is a great way to enhance your every day exercise routine whether you walk, run, bike or row. Interval training allows you to work at a level of intensity you couldn't sustain for a longer period of time. Th...

Anyone that knows me at all knows that I have a love affair with chocolate. So I had to share this tidbit of good news about new potential health benefits of chocolate. We’ve been hearing for some time that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, is good for us and the antioxidant properties of chocolate have been linked favorably with insulin sensitivity, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels.   News this week focused on the association between chocolate and body mass index (a ratio of body weight to height used to estimate body fat). In the study published by Golomb from the University of California San Diego, they asked a simple question to approximately 1000 men and women: “How many times a week do you consume chocolate?” The individuals that consumed chocolate more frequently had consistently lower BMIs. And this relationship was maintained even when factors such as age, sex, activity levels, calorie and saturated fat consumption, and mood were factored in. Wh...