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Why You Want to Add Yoga to Your List of New Year's Resolutions

For several years now, "Practice Yoga" would have been high on Geezer's list of new year's resolutions, if only Geezer had not resolved, several years ago, to refrain from making any such resolutions. For those who still believe that writing things down can result in self-improvement, however, recent research has found a few more reasons to add yoga to next year's recipe for a better you.
The Scientific American cites studies conducted in Sweden and India that demonstrate that yoga induces a feeling of well-being in healthy people,  whoever they are, and can reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated with metabolic syndrome.
Sciam reports that a study conducted at the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India, looked at the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation in 101 adults with features of metabolic syndrome. In the study, 55 adults practiced regular yoga including standard postures and Raja Yoga, a form of transcendental meditation daily, while the other group received standard care. At the end of three months, waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides were significantly lower, and "good" HDL cholesterol levels were higher in the yoga group as compared to controls. In the second study, Sciam reports, researchers at the University of Karlstad, Sweden, evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga-like breathing exercises on healthy volunteers.Fifty-five adults were advised to practice "Sudarshan Kriya," which involves cycles of slow normal and rapid breathing exercises. The exercises were practiced for an hour daily, six days a week for six weeks, while 48 controls were advised to relax in an armchair for 15 minutes daily. At the end of the study period, feelings of anxiety, stress and depression were significantly lower and levels of optimism significantly higher in the yoga group compared to the control group.
Read more about what yoga can do for you in The Scientific American.

Exercise May Help Repair Alcohol-Damaged Brain Cells

On the off-chance that it might encourage some healthful new year's resolutions (exercise more, drink less), psychiatrist Paul Steinberg writes on the New York Times Op-Ed page about the long-term damage that can be done by binge drinking. The good news, Steinberg reveals, is that exercise has been shown to stimulate the regrowth of normal neural tissue that has been damaged by alcohol. It's true, unfortunately, that this kind of regrowth has only been observed in mice. On the other hand, the neurogenesis was greater in the exercising former drinking mice than that induced by exercise in the control group that had never been exposed to alcohol. Read about more evidence that exercise improves memory.

Osteoporosis Isn't Just for Women Anymore

Women over the age of 50 whose doctors are not completely dense are usually advised that their bones may no longer be completely dense, either.  And men?  Not so much. Relatively few men give osteoporosis a second thought, and that, according to this piece in the L.A. Times, is not smart.  According to the Times. one in five osteoporosis sufferers is male. And while that adds up to 2 million men in the U.S., doctors are only recently paying attention.
Why men suffer from osteoporosis is not exactly clear. The Times tells us that, like just about every other medical condition, osteoporosis is influenced by genes, lifestyle and medical history.
Want more? Read what the American Family Physician has to say about men and osteoporosis.

The Ten Best Hotel Gyms of 2007

The Athletic-Minded Traveler, a website with the noble goal of hooking up travelers with running routes, lap pools, health clubs and fitness-friendly hotels and restaurants, presents this list of the Ten Best Hotel Gyms in the country:
1. Houstonian (Houston)
2. Renaissance ClubSport (Walnut Creek, CA)
3. Park Hyatt at the Bellevue (Philadelphia)
4. Four Seasons (San Francisco)
5. Embassy Suites Lakefront (Chicago)
6. Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine (La Jolla, CA)
7. Westin Atlanta Perimeter North (Atlanta)
8. Grand Hotel (Minneapolis)
9. Broadmoor (Colorado Springs, CO)
10. Venetian (Las Vegas)
To learn about the fitness attractions at these and other hotels, check out The Athletic-Minded Traveler.

Susan Powter Is Back, with Something New, But What Is It?

Remember Susan Powter, the relentlessly energetic queen of a fitness empire that included best selling books, videos and a river of infomercials? The L.A. Times reports that Powter, who took a nearly decade-long, reportedly stress-related break from the fitness biz, is back, with a website, a revised edition of an old book, and a new set of videos. Yes, all of this and much much more, some of which, Geezer notes, is just a bit confusing.  Want a preview of what awaits? Visit Powter's website , check out her videos, and see if you can figure out what she's talking about.

Alcohol, Calories, and Your Gut

How powerful, exactly, is the amazing fat producing influence of booze? Anahad O'Connor, the New York Times health answer man, says it depends. Mainly, it depends on how much and how regularly you drink the stuff. Beer, wine and spirits, O'Connor says, have a greater effect on belly fat in adults who drink sporadically than in people who drink regularly but in small amounts. The Times' expert reports on a study published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2003, in which a group of scientists followed more than 2,300 drinkers and nondrinkers. The researchers found — after controlling for a number of variables — that those who averaged a single drink per day had the lowest levels of abdominal fat. Those who drank occasionally but had four or more drinks in one sitting had the greatest levels. Several studies, says O'Connor, have shown similar results.O'Connor's Bottom Line puts it this way: Moderate drinking does not seem to increase abdominal fat. Excessive drinking might.
Read more in the New York Times.

Does Time Off Make You Sick?

Six years ago, researchers at Tilburg University in the Netherland surveyed 1,893 Dutch people, looking for a correlation between work days, vacation days, and sickness. As the Washington Post reports, about 3 percent of respondents said they seldom felt ill during work days, but got sick during weekends and vacations.
What's up with that? The short answer, the Post reports, is no one knows. Longer answers, still theoretical, include 1. people have less control on vacation than they have in the workplace, and that lack of control stresses them out; and 2. the stress of the workday keeps adrenaline levels high, boosting immune system and keeping sickness at bay. For more explanations, read the story in the Washington Post.

Even Better than Last Year's Opus: Joe Kahn's 2007 Holiday Poem

What does Joe Kahn's 2007 holiday poem have to do with health and fitness or outdoor fun?
Who cares? It's a pleasure to behold. Click here to watch a video of Joe reading this year's opus.

Three Great Fitness Vacations

Geezer's travel budget does not permit week-long visits to luxury fitness spas, but it can accommodate a short walk to the fashionably minimalist office of Geezer's global headquarters. There, he can find and pass along the knowledge of travel writers like Andrea Sachs (also known as Turbo Girl), who publishes these quick and easy descriptions of three fitness vacations in the Washington Post.
Sachs recommends lodgings ( The Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas, The Mountain Trek Fitness Retreat and Health Spa in British Columbia, and the Lodge at Woodloch in Hawley, Pa.), activities, and "indulgences" for three (high intensity, moderate intensity, low intensity) fitness vacations. Book today, call it a Christmas present and save yourself another trip to the mall. Read more about fitness vacations in the Washington Post.

Counting the Problems with Counting Calories

Has anyone ever not been disappointed with the number of calories allegedly burned during a workout?  Has anyone ever been thrilled to learn that forty minutes on the StairMaster has earned the right to wash down two chocolate chip cookies with half a glass of milk? About that calorie counting thing, Jane Brody has some good news: it's largely bogus. Reason number one for that, says Brody, is that two people of the same age, gender, height, weight and even the same level of fitness can burn a different amount of calories at the same level of exertion. The two reasons for reason number are genetics and efficiency. Brody reports that research conducted at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. found that people who rode a stationary bike six days a week for 12 weeks ended up burning ten percent fewer calories per session at the end of the 12 period than they did when they started. Another problem, says Brody, is that few people ever consider (and subtract) the calories they would burn during the time they exercise if they were not exercising. That number, says Brody, can wash out as much as 30 percent of the calories burned during exercise. For more reasons why counting calories is simply not worth the effort (which, sadly, doesn't burn calories) read more in the New York Times.