Londisa's Fitness Tips

03/24/2026

https://youtu.be/rNxC16mlO60?si=uqFPrFggt_Q8Wxnc

NOTE FROM TED: Please do not look to this talk for medical advice. This talk represents the speaker's personal views and understanding of exercise, BDNF and ...

12/20/2024

Group fitness classes aren’t just about exercise, Mikala Jamison writes. https://theatln.tc/z5fhRvrd

When Jamison was teaching indoor cycling, she was the nicest version of herself: “warm, welcoming, and encouraging to the point of profound corniness, despite my usual caustic tendencies,” she writes. People that met in her class started dating; strangers went out for coffee. “These experiences have convinced me that group fitness classes are the best place to make friends as an adult,” she continues, “an idea supported by research that suggests that the glow of exercise’s feel-good chemicals has interpersonal benefits.”

Once, friendships were born in what the sociologist Ray Oldenburg called “third places”: physical spaces that aren’t a home or a workplace, don’t charge (much) for entry, and exist in large part to foster conversation. Group classes don’t quite fit in that definition—they can cost money, and their primary activities are “sweating, grunting, and skipping a few reps when the instructor isn’t looking,” Jamison writes. “But they fulfill many conditions that social-psychology research has repeatedly shown to help forge meaningful connections between strangers: proximity (being in the same place), ritual (at the same time, over and over), accumulation (for many hours), and shared experiences or interests (because you do and like the same things)”—a less awkward way to find people with similar interests than at work or at a party.

Even if you don’t find your next best friend at Zumba class, getting into a fitness habit might help you step out of your comfort zone and make more friends in other spaces.

“A room full of grown adults flailing, shouting, and running miles without ever going anywhere is a fundamentally ridiculous prospect,” Jamison continues. “Ridiculous things, however, play a crucial role in connecting with others: They make us laugh.”

Read more: https://theatln.tc/z5fhRvrd

🎨: Debora Szpilman

11/09/2023

Physical activity guidelines emphasize aerobic exercise as the primary form of exercise leading to improved health. Many guidelines also state that some form of resistance exercise is beneficial. The body of evidence supporting the health benefits of aerobic exercise has a far greater evidence base than those for resistance exercise; however, Phillips & colleagues propose that resistance exercise is emerging as a mode of exercise with greater similarity, rather than disparity, in health benefits as those associated with aerobic exercise.

Learn more in this interesting feature article in ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal: https://brnw.ch/21wEgjy

12/08/2022

07/25/2022

06/07/2022

USE IT OR LOSE IT - This picture (from a BBC programme on health & ageing) shows the muscle wastage of the thigh from 35-55-85 years old. The white in the middle is the femur, the red is the quads & hamstrings & then the white is subcutaneous fat.

Muscle strength is closely related to the absolute quantity of muscle mass, which is also reduced with aging. Between the ages of 40 and 50 years, we can lose 8% of our muscle mass; this loss accelerates to 15% per decade after age 75 years.

This decrease in muscle mass (sarcopenia) is thought to contribute to the development of functional limitations and disability in old age and potentially might explain part of the association between strength & mortality.

“Sarcopenia is the age-associated decline in muscle mass, strength, and quality that begins as early as the fourth decade of life and is a major contributor to poor health and disability in older adults.

The progressive loss of muscle mass and the concomitant decline in muscle strength (dynapenia) are associated with a large and diverse group of pathologies including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD), frailty and disability, increased risk of falls and fractures, loss of physical independence, cognitive decline and depression, lower quality of life, and all-cause mortality.

The etiology of this muscle loss is known to be multifactorial with reductions in activity levels and inappropriate nutrition playing central roles”

Exercise training and proper nutrition can have dramatic effects on muscle mass and strength. An optimal intervention program may include an exercise-training schedule that incorporates both resistance and aerobic exercise with adequate intake of total calories and protein.

Whether your goal is to build muscle, lose fat, improve your fitness or sports performance make sure you are doing some form of weights training, consistently, so you can age gracefully

There is no such thing as “too old to start” (Exercise at any age stimulates protein synthesis and increased muscle mass and strength) and there is no reason to ever stop.

Awesome post from !

04/23/2022

04/19/2022

We've all heard those people who say "running gives you a high" or "exercise is addictive," but for many of us, it's hard to love exercise. Some might even say they hate it, dread it, or the thought of going to the gym gives them anxiety.

04/10/2022

04/01/2022

There's no longer any doubt that exercise can be a serious mood booster for people with major depressive disorder. Even an hour of physical activity a week can be enough to reduce the risk of future episodes.

03/24/2022

What's the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today? Exercise! says neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. Get inspired to go to the gym as Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory -- and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzhe...