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    ‘A Tiny Bit of Math’ Might Improve Your Heart Health, Study Suggests

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    Your average daily heart rate is a useful metric; so is your daily step count. Combining the two might be even better.Many people use a smartwatch to monitor their cardiovascular health, often by counting the number of steps they take over the course of their day, or recording their average daily heart rate. Now, researchers are proposing an enhanced metric, which combines the two using basic math: Divide your average daily heart rate by your daily average number of steps.The resulting ratio — the daily heart rate per step, or DHRPS — provides insight into how efficiently the heart is working, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association.The study found that people whose hearts work less efficiently, by this metric, were more prone to various diseases, including Type II diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, stroke, coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction.“It’s a measure of inefficiency,” said Zhanlin Chen, a third-year medical student at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and lead author of the new study; his coauthors included several Feinberg faculty physicians. “It looks at how badly your heart is doing,” he added. “You’re just going to have to do a tiny bit of math.”Some experts said they saw wisdom in DHRPS as a metric. Dr. Peter Aziz, a pediatric cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said it appeared to be an advance on the information provided by daily steps or average heart rate alone.“What is probably more important for cardio fitness is what your heart does for the amount of work it has to do,” he said. “This is a reasonable way to measure that.”The metric does not look at heart rate during exercise. But, Dr. Aziz said, it still provided an overall sense of efficiency that, importantly, was shown by researchers to have an association with disease.The size of the study added validity to the findings, Dr. Aziz said. The scientists mapped Fitbit data from nearly 7,000 Smartwatch users against electronic medical records.Mr. Chen said that a simple way to grasp the value of the new metric was to compare two hypothetical individuals. Both take 10,000 steps a day, but one has an average daily resting heart rate of 80 — in the middle of the healthy range — while the other’s daily resting heart rate is 120.The first person would have a DHRPS of 0.008, the second 0.012. The higher the ratio, the stronger the signaling of cardiac risk.In the study, the 6,947 participants were divided into three groups based on their ratios; those with the highest showed a stronger association with disease than other participants did. The D.H.R.P.S. metric was also better at revealing disease risk than were step counts or heart rates alone, the study found.“We designed this metric to be low-cost and to use data we’re already collecting,” Mr. Chen said. “People who want to be in charge of their own health can do a little bit of math to figure this out.” More

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      Is Skipping Really a Good Workout?

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      It feels like play. Here’s what fitness experts say about using the activity as a training tool.When kids skip, it rarely looks like work. There’s something playful, almost primitive, about the urge to bound yourself forward through space, your body briefly levitating with each stride. And yet, as adults, many of us quit.But skipping has entered the social media conversation, thanks in part to a recent episode of Andrew Huberman’s podcast, during which the track coach Stuart McMillan touted the activity as an overlooked form of exercise for athletes of all levels.The enthusiasm is deserved, fitness experts told The Times. The movement, which is a form of plyometric training and basically involves a step and a hop on repeat, can help build power, agility and speed, and improve coordination, balance and mobility.Here’s how to make skipping work for you.Can skipping really improve your fitness?When you’re a kid, skipping is a key part of motor development — it helps you develop the power and coordination needed for running, and an awareness of where your body is in space, known as proprioception, said Mary Winfrey-Kovell, a senior lecturer of exercise science at Ball State University.As an adult, you can benefit from going back to these basics, she said. “You’re challenging just about every muscle in your body” when you skip, she added, particularly if you swing your arms — and you’re training your brain to react more quickly.Skipping can also improve balance and stability, since it requires hopping on one leg at a time, said Grayson Wickham, a physical therapist in New York City and the founder of the stretching and mobility app Movement Vault.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Can Exercise Help a Hangover?

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      If you overdid it last night, here’s how to know whether it’s wise to sweat through it.Electrolyte drinks, ibuprofen, a bagel overflowing with bacon, egg and cheese — everyone has their own way of nursing a hangover. There are also plenty of products that claim to make the experience less miserable, with little evidence to support them.But what about exercise? Some people swear that a workout can help cure, or blunt, a hangover. If it can, what type of movement could be most helpful?“There’s very few settings where exercise is not beneficial,” said Dr. Andy Peterson, a team physician at the University of Iowa. It’s “the closest thing we have to a miracle drug in medicine.”That includes hangovers — with some caveats — he said. Here’s what experts advise if you are thinking about sweating through a rough morning.How does a hangover affect your body?After a night of drinking, several things happen to your body at once, said Dr. Shaan Khurshid, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. You might be dehydrated and you might experience sleep disturbances, digestive issues or a spike in anxiety.While hangover symptoms and their severity can vary a lot between people — and even for the same person at different times — no one is going to be at their physical peak after drinking a substantial amount of alcohol, Dr. Khurshid said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Rest Days Are Good. Active Recovery Days Can Be Better.

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      Low-impact, easy workouts can offer relief for sore muscles.Rest is an important piece of any exercise routine, and on some days all your body needs is a long lounge on the couch. But active recovery, which falls somewhere between a full rest day and a workout, can help your body bounce back more quickly.Research has found that low-impact movement, such as walking or swimming, can be more effective than rest for reducing muscle soreness after exercise. That may be why competitive and elite athletes have long incorporated active recovery into their training schedules, though there’s not enough evidence to say that it improves athletic performance.If you’re exercising regularly, doing something on a recovery day is often better than doing nothing, said J. Jay Dawes, a professor of applied exercise science at Oklahoma State University, especially if your goal is to reduce soreness between workouts. Light movement like walking can increase blood flow and circulation, and “literally as little as a stroll can be beneficial,” he said.Here’s how to use active recovery to your advantage, according to exercise scientists and coaches.Why is active recovery helpful?When you exercise, your body cycles between periods of stress and repair. Your muscles may be sore or tight after a hard workout, but with proper recovery that short-term soreness gives way to increased fitness.Recovery days — both active ones and full rest days — allow your body to repair your muscles and replenish its stores of energy, said Kate Baird, an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Active recovery can provide some pain relief by reducing soreness, she added, and promote better mobility and range of motion.For anyone who follows a training schedule or exercises regularly, active recovery days can be mentally beneficial too, said Conrad Goeringer, who is an Ironman-certified coach and the founder of Working Triathlete, a coaching service. Continuing to move — however easily — can have a calming or meditative effect that full day of inactivity doesn’t always provide.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Can Exercise Help With I.B.S.?

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      Working out is not a cure-all for your gut, but it can be an important part of managing your symptoms.Exercise is often heralded as a “wonder drug” for just about every part of the body, whether it’s the brain, the heart, the pelvic floor or the lungs. But what about the stomach?While going for a jog with a sensitive stomach is rarely appealing, regular activity is an important part of treating many gut maladies, particularly irritable bowel syndrome. In fact, a lack of movement, perhaps because of an injury, can even be the initial trigger for I.B.S.“Exercise is part of lifestyle management, which is the first-line treatment for any patient with I.B.S. or other bowel-related issues,” said Dr. Anthony Lembo, the research director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Digestive Disease Institute.What does exercise have to do with a healthy stomach?Studies have consistently shown that I.B.S. patients who exercise regularly have fewer symptoms than those who don’t. But, while experts agree that mild to moderate exercise is beneficial, the reasons are a bit of a mystery.I.B.S. is caused by miscommunication between the brain and the gut, which leads to pain and bloating during the normal digestion process. For some people it primarily causes constipation, while others experience mostly diarrhea or a combination of the two.The digestive system has a complex network of neurons — sometimes called the “second brain” — that controls blood flow, secretions and hundreds of gut functions through the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to organs in the body. As such, the brain has an outsize influence on the digestive tract, and vice versa.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Is It Safe to Exercise When You’re Sick?

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      If you have a cold, Covid or the flu, here’s how to determine whether it’s wise to work out.It happens to all of us: Your alarm goes off for a morning workout and you roll over with a groan. You’re not just tired — your body feels off.If you’re starting to get sick, is it better to rest or push through an illness to get to the gym? And how sick is too sick to exercise?Look to your specific symptoms for answers, said Dr. Greg Summerville, a sports medicine physician at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.“Your body is speaking to you,” he said. Your symptoms are there for a reason. With fall virus season picking up, The New York Times asked doctors how to know when you should skip your workout and when it’s safe to get back to exercise.Use your symptoms as a guide.When you first feel an inkling of illness, Dr. Amy Comander, the director of the lifestyle medicine program at Massachusetts General Hospital, recommends evaluating how your whole body feels, and doing a “neck check.” If your symptoms are above the neck — say, a runny nose, congestion or a sore throat — you are probably safe to work out as long as you feel up for it.But if you are experiencing symptoms below the neck, such as muscle aches or an elevated heart rate, that is probably a sign that your body is working hard to fight off an infection, and exercising could set back your recovery time, she said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A 25-Minute Strength Workout for Beginners

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      If you’re new to lifting, navigating the weight room can feel like a bigger challenge than the workout itself. But it’s worth overcoming that initial intimidation; a regular strength training regimen can positively impact mental health, improve longevity and make it easier to accomplish daily tasks. That’s even more important as you age, when loss of muscle strength can put you at greater risk of falling.By focusing your workout on a combination of machines and free weights, you can create a simple and well-rounded program that can be easily progressed as your strength improves.A good rule of thumb for a comprehensive workout is to include one exercise that hits each of the fundamental movement patterns. In other words: “Push something, pull something, do something for your legs, do something for your core,” said Kelvin Gary, a New York City-based personal trainer and gym owner.While it may be tempting to design your workouts around aesthetic goals like bigger biceps, Mr. Gary recommends focusing instead on movements that improve overall strength by incorporating multiple joints and muscle groups. “Train movements, not muscles,” he said. OverviewTime: 25 minutesIntensity: MediumWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Beginner’s Guide to the Weight Room

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      Lifting at your local gym can be intimidating. Here’s how to get started.The first time I approached the weight room at my local gym, over a decade ago, I froze with fear in the doorway. The maze of complicated-looking equipment — and the crowd of people who already knew what they were doing — were immediately intimidating.After mustering the confidence to ask one of the in-house trainers for a tour, I learned that most weight rooms consist of two main sections: the free weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells) and the machines. You can build a well-rounded routine using one section or a combination of the two.Even one strength session a week can have a positive impact on your health. “Overall the biggest benefit comes from doing nothing to doing something,” said Lauren Colenso-Semple, a muscle physiologist. Strength training has been shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality, decrease symptoms of depression and minimize fall risks, among other benefits.Using both machines and free weights can also make it easier to perform daily tasks, by improving your joint mobility and range of motion. “Being a stronger and more muscular person makes you a more functional person,” Dr. Colenso-Semple said.Weight MachinesWeight machines are a great introduction to strength training because they are relatively safe and easier to master than free weights, said Kelvin Gary, a New York City-based personal trainer and gym owner. And, according to several recent studies, machines are just as good as free weights for improving muscle mass and strength.George Etheredge for The New York TimesGeorge Etheredge for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Do You Have Healthy Brain Habits? Take This Quiz to Find Out.

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      What can I do to take good care of my brain and lower my risk for a neurological disease? That’s the No. 1 question neurologist Dr. Jonathan Rosand hears from his patients (and their family members) at the Massachusetts General Hospital McCance Center for Brain Health. To help answer it, he and his colleagues, with […] More