Pope Meets with Arnold Schwarzenegger to Plan Father Universe Competition

We originally ran this story in 2010, then come April 1st of 2012 we could not resist re-publishing it. An April Fool, but it really could be a good idea. Maybe more organisations should start running their own fitness competitions to motivate staff and members to get in shape. Weight loss clubs are not uncommon in offices around the world, so why not Mr. Corporate Universe competitions?

We love MotleyHealth.com

The Chair is a Killer – The Truth About Exercise

Michael Mosley, the medical researcher and reporter for the BBC, has presented yet another excellent documentary about health and weight loss called The Truth About Exercise. In this latest feature he decided to tackle the issue of exercise, and looked specifically at why some people just do not seem to benefit so much from exercise as others do. Michael Mosley starts the documentary by telling us, “Exercise, I know I should do it …… but I hate it“. A sentiment echoed by many people. Health advisers tell us we need to exercise for good health, but few people actually listen. Mostly that is because we do not enjoy the experience much! However, scientists are changing view of exercise. Some extraordinary research shows that we all respond to exercise in very different ways and that we can get many of the healthy benefits of exercise in just 3 minutes a week. Michael Mosley says the research has altered the way he lives his life already and is convinced that everyone can benefit in the same way. In short, this research shows how we can all live healthier and longer lives without exercise! During the documentary Michael Mosley spoke with many experts [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

Why Should We Care About Celebrity Diets and Workouts?

We live in a world where celebrities are practically worshipped. It seems that while more and more people become overweight we are becoming more and more obsessed with how celebrities lose weight and get fit. Why is this so? What do celebrities offer us that fitness instructors, school physical education teachers and biologists cannot? Why do so many people look to famous people for guidance on losing weight? And why do people think that following a celebrity diet will help them lose weight? Celebrities – The new Role Models and Teachers This may seem a surprising idea, if not a totally ridiculous one. But it is a fact. For many people today there is a vacuum in their understanding and knowledge of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, a well balanced diet and how to exercise. The school curriculum has failed many people so that they leave school not knowing how to prepare healthy meals or how to exercise by themselves. Schools focus more on kitchen hygiene than healthy eating, and sports focus more on competitive team sports than on empowering children to exercise by themselves. Social Sport Ends At School Team sports may produce more competitive people with better social [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

50 Ways To Improve Health, Get Fitter and Lose Weight

There are 2 ways to effectively improve health and fitness, which are to be more active and to eat healthy foods. However, many small lifestyle adjustments are needed to really make a permanent change. Here is our list of the most important changes that you can make. We have divided the 50 tips into Lifestyle Changes, Healthy Foods Choices, Rules For Getting Fit and the Root Causes of Weight Gain. 10 Lifestyle Changes 1. Walk – Get More Active Walking is an excellent form of exercise and over a set distance you burn just as many calories as jogging. Try to walk for at least 1 hour every day. This can be split up, say four 15 minutes walks per day. 2. Shop on Foot Shopping on foot can burn a lot of calories. If you spend Saturday afternoon wandering around the shops you may cover several miles in total and ou may walk for almost an hour when you go shopping.. Plus the work effort involved in carry bags of shopping will increase the energy you burn. Shop ’til you drop (weight)! 3. More Intensive Exercise Whether it is sweating down the gym, walking to and from work or a weekly five-a-side tournament, [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

Stress, Your Health and Your Weight

For a while now we have known that there is a link between stress and weight gain. However, it was always thought that the reason why people gained weight when stressed was simply because they tend to eat more for comfort. Recent research published in the American Journal Of Epidemiology has now explained exactly what happens when we become stressed. When we become stressed our bodies respond by going into a survival mode and prepare for the possibility of a long period without food. Metabolism slows down, more of the food we consume is stored as fat and stress hormones flood the stomach area which also cause further weight gain, and specifically accumulation of stomach fat. The research also revealed that women suffer more in terms of weight gain than men. There are various different types of stress and women seem to suffer more. Most common problems are money and job problems. Women also suffer more from relationship problems, low self esteem and feelings of inertia in their lives. What are the Warning Signs of Stress? Stress leads to a craving of sugar rich foods such as pasta, crisps, chocolate and beer. These food types, high in carbs, increase levels [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

Health and Fitness During Pregnancy

Regular exercise is perfectly safe for most women well into their pregnancy. Paula Radcliffe was in the press a lot when she was pregnant. She told one newspaper that she was running 14 miles a day, the the Daily Telegraph reported her 10km charity run while seven months pregnant. The NHS advise to carry on doing your usual fitness activities for as long as it feels comfortable. This really makes sense as prehistoric women would not have had the luxury of putting their feet up for 6 months, they would have been hunting, gathering, migrating and generally very active. So if you are fit already then the best advice is to stay active. With the exception of extreme exercise (force marching for example) exercise during pregnancy is safe. Heavy lifting should be avoided though, we discuss this further below. As for nutrition, women should not “eat for two”. Many women gain weight during pregnancy simply because they eat far too much food and excessive weight can make child birth more difficult. So eat normally, with a few extra snacks, but do not consume vast amounts of food  - definitely do not eat 2 portions of each meal! What is more important during pregnancy is that you follow [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

The Relationship Between Diet, Lifestyle and Cancer

Most health scientists have been aware of the many links between diet, obesity and poor diet, smoking, alcohol and inactivity with cancer for a long time now, however, much of the research fails to reach the public. Here we share several studies from the last few years that have provided substantial evidence for the link between diet and cancer. The Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine Study The major study was carried out by Professor Max Parkin of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine for Cancer Research UK and published in the British Journal of Cancer. Although the research looked at cancer in the UK, the results are relevant for all countries. The key findings are that 1 in 3 cancer cases can be prevented if people adopt a healthier lifestyle. The full report can be read here: The Fraction of Cancer Attributable to Lifestyle and Environmental Factors in the UK in 2010. Major Lifestyle and Environment Risk Factors The study examined the following 14 lifestyle and environmental risk factors (of which diet accounted for 4 of the factors): Tobacco – still the biggest problem, accounting for 23% of all cancer cases in men. Poor Diet – a diet lacking in fruits and vegetables, too [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

The Global Obesity Crisis

The Obesity Crisis continues to deepen across the world. It is not longer a disease affecting the wealthiest population from developed nations, it affects people across all social classes in all countries. So what is causing it, what problems is it creating, what are the treatments and solutions and are they effective?

We love MotleyHealth.com

Thanksgiving and Christmas Survival Tips

From Thanksgiving dinner in November through to Christmas and New Year celebrations the late autumn and early winter are the hardest times to keep slim and in shape. Many people put on weight during the holiday season and then struggle to lose it again.

We love MotleyHealth.com

Einstein Explains that Weight Loss is not Rocket Science

The General Theory of Weight Loss, According to MotleyHealth. Weight Loss = healthy diet + 45 minutes of exercise daily. By weight I really mean mass of adipose tissue. I have talked about weight and fat previously but this is important ground to cover as so many people get confused about this. One image created as a bit of a joke can actually teach us a lot about being fit and healthy!

We love MotleyHealth.com

Completely Free eBooks to Help You Get Fit and Lose Weight

If there is one great thing about the Internet it is the vast amount of high quality, free information available to help you in just bout any pursuit. Here at MotleyHealth.com we of course specialise in health, fitness and weight loss. It is our belief that you should always be able to obtain this information for free. However, what happens when you are offline? Well, if you have a Kindle, iPad or other mobile device on which you can read eBooks, then being offline is no longer a problem as you can download many free ebooks now. What follows is a brief round-up of some very useful ebooks that are free to download. Some of these books are rather old and provide a fascinating insight into how our ancestors kept in good health. Some are new. And of course, we provide our very own eBook which provides you with some useful information which you can refer to at any time. Gymnastics for Youth Gymnastics for Youth by Johann Christoph Friedrich Guts Muths and Christian Gotthilf Salzmann is a Harvard University publication from 1803 of 403 pages. You can find this on Google Books. It is described as “A Practical Guide [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

Christmas Greetings from MotleyHealth.com

Merry Christmas, Happy Mid-Winter and a Prosperous New Year To You All Thank you to all of our our readers and faithful community who have made this a great year for MotleyHealth. This is our third full calender year operating as a full time business. There have been many new developments in this last year. We have redesigned and restructured the whole site and are now able to provide richer content and a better user experience. We hope you all are enjoying the new site. In 2012 we will continue to improve our diet and nutrition section and also develop the content in the fitness and strength sections. These sections are really at the root of health and fitness. Whether you are trying to lose weight, run a marathon or just be healthier, these topics are at the heart of the plan and key to success. If you are planning to re-start your weight loss plans in in the New Year then we will be here to guide you and help you to reach your goals. We have some exciting developments lined up for 2012 and hope to be able to offer more personalized fitness and diet advice to help you [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

British Heart Foundation Report on Junk Food Marketing Success

The British Heart Foundation has issued a report in collaboration with the Children’s Food Campaign entitled “The 21st Century Gingerbread House“. The report has examined how major brands are promoting their products online. The report says that some brands are using free gifts and online games to attract youngsters. The claim is rejected by the food industry who say that all the appropriate regulations are being followed. Junk food commercials are already banned on television to protect children from aggressive marketing tactics. However, it appears that there is a danger that children are still being subjected to cunning advertising and marketing tricks online. The British Heart Foundation is arguing that online advertising by companies such as Kellogg’s is specifically aimed at children and that they are deliberately trying hook children using the Internet behind their parents backs. Facebook and Twitter are now key platforms for makers of sweets, snacks and cereals. Major food manufacturers will have pages for each main brand, each page being designed to draw in their target clients. In the report the British Heart Foundation highlighted Kellogg’s Krave cereal. It is 30% sugar and contains chocolate, making it a cereal that is aimed at people of all [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

ELLE Talks to the Fitness Industry’s most in-demand Experts

ELLE Magazine asked MotleyHealth to provide some fitness tips to help people get in shape and make the most of their daily workouts. Here we share the advice that we gave to Elle along with 11 other fitness industry experts who were also consulted. Add each of these little gems to your fitness workouts and you should see improvements in no time!

We love MotleyHealth.com

Increase Muscle and Fitness to Fight Diabetes

Studies have shown that increasing muscle mass helps to increase insulin sensitivity. This is more effective than losing weight. When you lose weight through dieting alone you tend to lose both muscle tissue and fat. It is good to lose fat, but losing muscle tissue in unhealthy. The new research has shown how increased muscle tissue makes your body more sensitive to insulin. Insulin is the hormone which is released when blood sugar levels rise. “participation in regular PA (physical activity) improves blood glucose control and can prevent or delay T2DM, along with positively affecting lipids, blood pressure, cardiovascular events, mortality, and quality of life.” American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association, 2011. In a healthy person blood sugar levels rise after eating and the insulin aids the uptake of the blood sugar into the liver and muscles. When insulin is not present (in Type 1 Diabetes) or when it is in short supply or the body is just insensitive to it (Type 2 Diabetes) blood sugar levels rise rapidly. This leads to both short term and long term health problems. The long term damage caused by high blood sugar is the main risk factor for diabetes as it [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

The Power Plate – Home Fitness Solution or Gimmick?

In the first of our instalments of home fitness equipment reviews, we shall look at the power plate. The power plate is a vibration device designed to work the muscles without you actually having to move. At first glance power plates appear to be an easy way to exercise at home, however a surprisingly large amount of effort is required when fighting the machine – and it does at times feel like a fight! By assuming different stances on the Power Plate you stimulate different muscle groups, apparently in a more effective way than standard resistance exercises. The Power Plate also takes up much less space than a multi gym (and you can hang your coat on it). A word of caution – Power Plates are quite heavy and the vibrations are noisy too – similar to an old washing machines with a failed drum bearings. Best used on the ground floor and not near to adjoining wall with neighbors! Some results can be seen within a few weeks of using this machine. However, you have to decide whether this will be your desired approach to training in the long term, as it is a very expensive piece of equipment [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

Power Racks Make Weight Training Safer At Home

Investing in a home gym can be a great way to motivate yourself to get fit. Whereas commercial gyms have opening hours, communal changing rooms and annual subscriptions, your home gym is just for you 24 hours a day. However, safety precautions are important, especially with weight training. A power rack not only makes lifting by yourself much safer but also allows you to perform an excellent full body workout with pull ups and dips.

We love MotleyHealth.com

More People Seek Gastric Band Surgery To Lose Weight

More people are failing to lose weight with diet and exercise programs and instead opting to go under the knife. Gastric band operations are becoming more common. However, are people sufficiently aware of the risks involved? Also the are reports that many people are find ways to continue to over-eat even after gastric band surgery.

We love MotleyHealth.com

What Is A Perfect Man? Strong, Lean or Fat?

The question of the perfect man, the holotype of the human male, came up on QI. It turns out that there is not an official perfect man as previous attempts to chose one failed. It was suggested that Leondardo’s Vitruvian Man represents a perfect man, which is inspired from the works of a Roman architect, Vitruvius. Vitruvian Man “The drawing is based on the correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise De Architectura. Vitruvius described the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the Classical orders of architecture.” Source: Wikipedia It is interesting to see that this representation of perfect is very similar to an average endurance athlete today. It is not as muscular as a bodybuilder or pro footballer and not as lean as a long distance / marathon runner, but sits nicely somewhere in the middle. This body type is also common amongst many martial artists (at least those that do not increase their weight to fight heavyweight by building up muscle). It is essentially a typical, lean, strong and fit person. This is really what all men should strive for (at least [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com

Healthy Lifestyle Makes You More Attractive

Researchers at St. Andrews University have found that people find healthier faces more attractive. Diet and exercise actaully makes people look more attractive than make up. Women all over the world are applying make up to try to improve their good looks, when really they should be applying themselves to a better lifestyle. Diet and exercise both have a direct impact on the quality and color of our skin. When people follow a poor diet the skin becomes dull, dry and often eyes become sunken. Exercise and vitamins revitalise the skin, helps to hydrate it and makes the skin tighter and smoother. Healthy people simple look more attractive. “We knew from our previous work that people who have more blood and more oxygen colour in their skins looked healthy, and so we decided to see what other colours affect health perceptions. This has given us some clues as to what other skin pigments may relate to a healthy appearance.” How the face looks can give an insight into a persons health, and it is thought that humans have learnt how to spot these signs, and this is essentially how we determine if someone is attractive. For example, skin that is [...]

We love MotleyHealth.com