Best Cure for Fatique is Light Exercise

Geezer loves naps as much as the next lazy person, but even he has found the best way to beat the blahs is often a quick bike ride. Now comes the Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter, reporting  that researchers at the University of Georgia have shown that regular, low-intensity workouts—such as a leisurely stroll—can boost energy levels by 20 percent, and a light workout can delete feelings of fatigue by 65 percent.
The same journal directs our attention to a study by researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, which concluded that as little as 10 minutes of exercise a day improved not only metabolism and aerobic capacity, but also significantly enhanced the subjects’ quality of life. That study involved 464 sedentary, overweight postmenopausal women who were assigned to four exercise categories— no exercise at all or 70, 135 and 190 minutes of exercise per week—and who were supervised during their workouts on treadmills and stationary bikes. All the exercise groups lost modest amounts of weight, between three and four pounds. But that was only part of the benefit from getting going. Using the Medical Outcomes Short Form-36 questionnaire—which assesses eight areas of mental and physical function on a 100-point scale—the Penning - ton researchers found that the subjects’ scores on mental outlook, sociability and vitality rose significantly over six months.
Read more in the Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter.