HEALTHY LIVING: RECENT RESEARCH #2
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| The Wall Sit Try to keep thighs as parallel to the ground as possible. |
This post on healthy living is a continuation of an earlier post, HEALTHY LIVING: RECENT RESEARCH. The topics covered in the earlier post were:
-Sleep: How Much?
-Diet: Eat More of This
-Alternative to Coffee for Increasing Attention
-Work the One-legged Stance into your Movement Practice
Below are some additional topics that help build a foundation of good health habits:
Blood Pressure and Isometric Exercise
When studying the impact of different exercise routines on blood pressure, scientists found isometric exercise to be at the top. In THIS RESEARCH REVIEW of 270 studies examining nearly 16,000 people, scientists reviewed the effects of these exercise routines on blood pressure: 1) High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), 2) Aerobic Exercise Training, 3) Resistance Training, 4) Combined Aerobic Exercise and Resistance Training, and 5) Isometric Training. The graphs below show the effects of exercise on systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The graphs indicate all five of these exercise routines reduce blood pressure readings to some degree. And, isometric training led the way, reducing systolic blood pressure by 8 mmHg, and diastolic by 4 mmHg. As shown in the top picture of this post, the wall sit was singled out by the authors of this report as being especially effective for lowering blood pressure. According to the authors, isometric exercise requires you to contract your muscles for a prolonged period. The longer a muscle is tightly contracted, the more nitric oxide your body releases when the muscle relaxes. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator that reduces blood pressure. Strength training coaches recommend doing four sets and building up to two-minute long wall squats. As everyone's starting point is a little different, start at a time where the wall squat seems easy and build from there. Do the wall squat, rest between 1 to 4 minutes between each set, and repeat.
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| The Effects of Exercise on Systolic & Diastolic Blood Pressure |
Drinking Water Before Meals
For a number of years I avoided drinking water both before and during my meals. The reason being is I read that water dilutes stomach acids in the digestion of food at meal times. However, this RECENT RESEARCH STUDY has led me to change my actions with drinking water before meals. In this study, scientists looked at what happens when you drink 16 ounces of water about 30 minutes before each of your three main meals. They found that water before meals in fact, BOOSTED DIGESTIVE METABOLISM, plus these other benefits : 1) increased fullness, 2) reduced dehydration (which helps manage hunger), 3) helped reduce cortisol (a hormone associated with the stress response), and 4) supported weight loss. In addition, athletes will likely find that drinking more water can help lead to better workouts.
Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Walking
I am sure you have heard this before: “I’ve been out for an hour walk (or run) that should increase my metabolism for the day.” This RECENT RESEARCH STUDY indicates there may be a better way to manage our metabolic health - with 10-minute walks at an easy pace after each of our three main meals. In a meta-analysis of seven studies, scientists found light-intensity walking to be a superior intervention in reducing glucose from the bloodstream after a meal compared to 1) standing (like standing at the sink doing dishes after a meal) and/or 2) prolonged sitting. And the speed or intensity of walking does not have to be much - just a stroll for 10 minutes seems to do the trick for reducing glucose from the bloodstream. Medical experts have found that light intensity walking at a speed of 1.5 mph is enough to reduce glucose levels, whereas, the average pace for walking is about 3 mph.
Stress Relief from Reading
The next time you can’t get your brain to slow down and too many thoughts are racing through your mind, grab a book and read a chapter. According to research carried out by Mindlab International at the University of Sussex, reading for only 6 minutes reduced stress levels by 68%. ANOTHER RESEARCH STUDY compared reading to other stress reducers - yoga and humour - and found that reading for 30 minutes lowered blood pressure, heart rate, and psychological distress just as much as 30 minutes of yoga and watching a comedy video. Personally, I find that reading a hard-copy book works much better for calming and reducing stress than reading material on my tablet or cellphone.
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Thank you for reading! For more, check out the Health Living section in the EOOC TABLE OF CONTENTS.
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Experiment of One Coaching covers topics ranging from running, strength training, health & wellness, sports nutrition to travel. I usually post once or twice a month.
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