Big Waist Increases Death Risk


Written on August 9, 2024 - 11:31 pm | by EmmyW

Men and women who are very large around the middle are at much greater risk of dying from any cause than people with thinner waists, a new study says.

Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, and colleagues at the Atlanta-based American Cancer Society, examined associations between waist circumference and the risk of death in 48,500 men and 56,343 women aged 50 and older.

They found that people with very large waists — 47 inches or more for men and 42 inches and more in women — were about twice as likely to die, compared to thinner people, and not just from weight-related problems.

All participants had completed a mailed questionnaire about demographic, medical, and behavior factors and provided information about weight and waist circumference during the 1990s.

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Tags: Risk

Which Is The Best Weight-Loss Diet?


Written on August 7, 2024 - 5:33 am | by Terra

The best diet for weight loss is still intensely debated and there has been very few well conducted studies which looked at this issue. Is a high protein diet better, or high carb or a high fat diet better?

A recent study looked at this very issue and received a lot of good attention.

What were the strengths of the weight loss study?

  • Large number of participants:
  • There were 811 participants from diverse backgrounds irrespective of age, income, geography and included a large percentage of men. Obviously the largest RCT related to weight loss diets.

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Tags: Diet

Obesity Rates Still Rising, CDC Says


Written on August 4, 2024 - 2:02 pm | by EmmyW

More Americans are becoming obese. Obesity rates inched up 1.1% between 2007 and 2009, according to a new report released by the CDC.

In just the past two years, 2.4 million people have joined the ranks of the obese. About 72.5 million U.S. adults are now obese, the report found. That’s 26.7% of the population, compared to 25.6% in 2007.

Some states are more affected than others, says Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, who presented the data at a teleconference Tuesday.

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Tags: Cdc, Obesity Rates

Are Push Ups Necessary if You Have Access to Free Weights?


Written on August 2, 2024 - 1:45 pm | by Terra

People who have trained in the gym for years often look at something like the simple push up as a beginner’s exercise. I mean, why would they want to perform push ups when they can get a “real” chest workout with heavy sets of bench presses. This is a big mistake, and one that I have been guilty of. It is easy to look at the simple push up as working the exact same muscles as the bench press, but with less resistance. I would like to talk about why you should include the push up in your routine, even if you are someone who trains with free weights.



[Here are a few guys “benching” on the edge of the River Thames in London using decent form.

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Tags: Push Ups, Ups