December 1, 2021 — Let’s start with a disclosure of vested interests. It’s entirely possible that we hold strong biases about grandparenting and physical activity, since we engage in both with enthusiasm. Nonetheless, it is also objectively true that the active grandparent hypothesis is receiving considerable attention. A new article in PNAS by Daniel Lieberman and colleagues is prompting […]
August 30, 2021 — Exercise for weight loss is a durable concept. Some advocates even push for food labels to describe the exercise necessary to burn calories in a food serving. But the premise for this is false. A new study in Current Biology explains the problem better than ever before. It turns out that when a person does […]
August 3, 2021 — People are fond of saying you can’t outrun a bad diet. Taking that catchphrase to a more positive track, a new study in Circulation tells us that running to a better diet can deliver better heart health. The study showed the effects a healthy diet with a modest calorie reduction combined with moderate exercise. This […]
May 6, 2021 — Weight loss is a minor part of obesity care. It’s blindingly obvious, but most people have a tough time wrapping their heads around this basic fact. A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine today tells this story in a very elegant way. It’s all about controlling weight over time. Getting Weight Loss […]
February 10, 2021 — High intensity interval training (HIIT) is hot right now. It mixes short periods of very intense exercise with less intense recovery. Even before the pandemic, interest in HIIT had grown dramatically. Then it spiked when pandemic lockdowns began. But a new RCT published yesterday in JAMA suggests that it might not be a panacea for […]
January 29, 2021 — Writing for the New York Times, Gretchen Reynolds purports to tell us the best time of day for exercise. Except that she doesn’t. Instead, she describes a study that is too small and too flawed to support the claims its authors make in Physiological Reports. And finally, buried at the end of her article, she […]
January 11, 2021 — In the relationship between exercise and weight, one article of faith has held up for years. Exercise is a valuable tool for preventing weight gain. Though you can’t outrun a bad diet, experts are quite clear that exercise helps to maintain a lower weight. However, a new randomized study in Obesity asks a key question. […]
December 12, 2020 — Sometimes an idea firmly plants itself in the popular imagination. Once there, it takes root and persists like a weed. It simply will not die. So it is with the idea that exercise is an excellent tool for weight loss. This is a lie that won’t die. A Nice Little Study Gretchen Reynolds at the […]
August 9, 2020 — This is an anxious moment. And this moment is dragging on with seemingly no end in sight. Seeing an angle to advance their agenda, some politicians like to talk about the mental health effects of dealing with COVID-19 as being worse than the virus. But we would prefer to stick with facts. So we pay […]
July 31, 2020 — Nature Metabolism scored big this week with PR for a study on blood sugar and exercise. The study looked at hyperglycemia and exercise training. With lots of attention on Twitter and in the news media, it scored in the 98th percentile for commanding public attention. But the attention it got didn’t line up very well […]
