More sleep = less obese children? 

A study in Japan of 8274 children found that children who sleep less than 8 hours a night tend to be more obese than children who sleep between 9 to 10 hours a night.  They also found that long hours of watching T.V., parental obesity, and physical inactivity were significantly associated with childhood obesity.  OUR CONCLUSION: Allow your child to sleep more and it may help them become more active. Studies have also shown that children who don't get enough sleep also don't perform as well in school. Just another reason to let them sleep longer. The only problem I have with this study is whether they took into account that children who sleep more hours probably have parents who are also more involved? Just a point to consider when reading any childhood study. STUDY AUTHORS: Sekine M, Yamagami T, Handa K, Saito T, Nanri S, Kawaminami K, Tokui N, Yoshida K, Kagamimori S.

Consumption of carbohydrates increases sports performance

Of course this is not good news for you high protein low carbohydrate fans, but a study conducted at the department of exercises science at the University of South Carolina, Studied the effects of carbohydrates taken before a simulated sporting event. What they found was that compared to the placebo group the carbohydrate group was able to run 37% longer before fatigue set in and also had faster 20m sprint times. In addition to this, the carbohydrate group had a better perception of fatigue than the placebo group. Carbohydrates, when taken before physical activity, improved both physical performance and mental performance. OUR CONCLUSION: Eat some carbohydrates and electrolytes before physical activity to improve your performance. This is probably  not news to endurance runners who have been carb loading for many years now. STUDY AUTHORS: Welsh RS, Davis JM, Burke JR, Williams HG. 

Take the stairs if you don't have time for exercise!

Again and again I hear people say they don't have time to exercise, but by simply taking the stairs you can become fit. Researchers at the Sports Medicine and Research Center, Singapore Sports Council, found that using the stairs met the minimum requirement for cardio respiratory benefits. The subjects went up and down 11 stories of stairs. The subjects improved their cardio-respiratory function and benefited from the simple act of taking the stairs. OUR CONCLUSION: Use the stairs and you will burn more calories and increase your cardio respiratory ability. STUDY AUTHORS: Teh KC, Aziz AR.

Sumo or conventional deadlift? Belt or no belt

For those who deadlift, you may have wondered what the difference in muscle activity is between the sumo and conventional deadlift. You may have also wondered what the difference is between wearing a belt and not wearing a belt while deadlifting. A group of researchers at Duke University Medical Center studied these differences between both styles of deadlifting. What the researcher found was the sumo deadlift had significantly greater muscle activity of the quadriceps (the vastus medialis, vastus lateralis), and the tibialis anterior; while the conventional deadlift significantly increased activity of the medial gastrocnemius muscle. As for the belt, the researchers found that wearing a belt significantly increased the activity of the abdominal and significantly decreased the activity of the external oblique. OUR CONCLUSION: Switch between both styles and get the benefits of both. If you want to use the quads more, use the sumo deadlift, and if you want to work the hams and glutes more, use the conventional deadlifts. Use a belt in order to gain the most stabilization and protect that back. STUDY AUTHORS: Escamilla RF, Francisco AC, Kayes AV, Speer KP, Moorman CT 3rd.

Does exercising effect breast feeding?

Does exercise effect breast milk and the infants acceptance of breast milk? No, according to a study conducted at the Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences University of New Hampshire, which studied the effects of exercise on breast feeding. The researchers found that exercise did not affect the infants acceptance of post exercise breast feeding. Both high intensity and low intensity exercise did not affect the infants acceptance of breast milk. OUR CONCLUSION: If you heard that exercising affected breast feeding, you may have been misinformed. STUDY AUTHORS: Wright KS, Quinn TJ, Carey GB.

Aerobic exercise shown to reduce blood pressure.

As if you didn't already know, another study shows that aerobic exercise reduces blood pressure. The meta-analysis conducted at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, looked at studies with 2419 participants and found that there was a definite correlation between aerobic exercise and reduced blood pressure. OUR CONCLUSION: If you are looking to reduce your blood pressure, you should consider aerobic exercise as a key element in your efforts. STUDY AUTHORS: Whelton SP, Chin A, Xin X, He J.

High velocity training better than low velocity training for older folks.

A study conducted on 30 participants aged 73 and up showed that when comparing high velocity vs. low velocity training, the high velocity training significantly increased 1 rep max and peak power over the low velocity group. The study was conducted at Human Physiology Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University. OUR CONCLUSION: Lift faster for better results, but be careful and make sure you have been training for a while before lifting at a very high velocity. STUDY AUTHORS: Fielding RA, LeBrasseur NK, Cuoco A, Bean J, Mizer K, Fiatarone Singh MA.