Physical Activity

by Sheri R. Colberg, PhD
Adequate fluid intake is essential to living well at any age, and being dehydrated can impact your health and your athletic endeavors. While it is harder to stay hydrated when exercising in the heat, you can dehydrate under other conditions—even during exercise in cold temperatures if you wear lots of clothing and sweat underneath it. As people grow older, they also begin to lose some of their normal thirst sensations, thereby increasing the risk for dehydration unless they make a conscious effort to drink more.

Is there a difference between morning (in fasting condition) vs. afternoon resistance training? 

By Sheri Colberg, PhD, FACSM
The human body only has insulin to lower blood glucose but has five hormones that raise it (with some overlap). This hormone redundancy tells you that, at least from a survival standpoint, your body is desperate to make sure you do not run out of blood glucose; it is not as concerned about you having too much.

An increase in exercise can save your life -- in more than just heart health.

How often have you heard things about physical activity and exercise training that you thought sounded correct, but found out later they were totally wrong? If you hang out at a gym or even talk with training coaches, you’ll hear about everything, including contradictory statements about how to be active the right way. Should you work out in a “fat burning” range? Is weight training going to make you bulk up? Will your muscles turn to fat if you stop working out? Do you need to eat a lot more protein to get bigger muscles? Confused? Here is the truth about some of the more common myths you’ll hear about being active.

Thirty years of follow-up data show significant reductions in morbidities and mortality in patients with prediabetes who initiate lifestyle modifications.

The PREVIEW study examined which lifestyle interventions make a difference in preventing prediabetes from progressing to type 2.

If you can’t hit 10,000 steps a day… don’t worry.

By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD, FACSM
In some circumstances, elevated blood glucose levels can be indicative of medical concerns like insulin deficiency. People with type 1 diabetes are more susceptible to insulin deficiency since they have almost no ability to produce any insulin; therefore, they need to receive instruction on why and when to check for ketones. This is especially important if the individual is using an insulin pump. If ketones are present, then the higher blood glucose levels are a result of insulin deficiency, and corrective action should be taken immediately.

Impaired glucose tolerance causes a decrease in quality of life, which can increase morbidity and mortality.