Looking for a safe way to exercise?
Try climbing at your neighborhood climbing gym.
According to a German study of a half million visits to climbing gyms, only 30 injuries were reported, most of which were minor and none fatal. The rate of injury — 0.02 injuries per 1,000 climbing hours — was lower than surfing, skiing, badminton and Nordic walking, among other activities.
“Rock climbing, especially indoor climbing is a very safe sport,” Dr. Volker Schoffl, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the Klinikum Bamberg in Bamberg, Germany, and lead author of the new study, told Reuters Health. “It’s a sport that we can have all ages of people perform together, kids and grandpas can go do the sport together.”
Most of the injuries were belay-related.
Read more here.

In other recent health-and-fitness-related science news:

Ball hog no more
There may finally be a cure for that guy in your pickup games who refuses to give up the ball.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.
According to a recent study presented at a meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, the bacteria was found to thrive on the surface of sports balls for three days “in typical storeroom conditions.”
Adds the ACSM: “And even if a ball is sterilized, it can accumulate the bacteria when it’s used.”
Read more here.

A good time for a walk
When is a good time to take a walk?
After a meal, according to a study out of Japan and published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
According to the study, folks who walked after eating lowered their level of triglycerides, high levels of which can put people at risk for cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and other heart-related conditions. The study’s primary investigator was Wataru Aoi, Ph.D., of Kyoto Prefectural University in Kyoto, Japan.
Read more here.

Cold water thrown on ice baths
Taking an ice bath after a workout doesn’t reduce soreness or strength loss, according to a study from the University of New Hampshire.
In the study, 20 college-age guys ran for 40 minutes. Afterward, 10 took a 20-minute ice bath in 40-degree water, 10 didn’t. They then walked down stairs and were tested for quad strength, thigh circumference and levels of inflammation in their blood. The ice bathers exhibited “possible mild reduction in inflammation, but the findings were not conclusive,” according to the study.
Advises the study’s lead researcher, Naomi Cystal, “Use them sparingly. Use them in tournament situations, use them with an athlete who has done something extraordinary. But for day-to-day athletes, I wouldn’t recommend them. They’re painful, and they’re time consuming.”
Read more here.

Another strike against the BMI
According to a story appearing on Science Daily, “Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine point out that the body mass index (BMI), based on the weight and height, is not an accurate measure of body fat content and does not account for critical factors that contribute to health or mortality, such as fat distribution, proportion of muscle to fat, and the sex and racial differences in body composition.”
Read more here.

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The post Play it safe: Go climbing appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Sleeping and driving. According to a report by the National Sleep Foundation’s Sleep and Teens Task Force: “Drowsiness or fatigue has been identified as a principle cause in at least 100,000 police-reported traffic crashes each year, killing more than 1,500 Americans and injuring another 71,000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, 1994). Young drivers age 25 or under cause more than one-half of fall-asleep crashes.  A North Carolina state study found that drivers age 25 or younger cause more than one-half (55 percent) of fall-asleep crashes … 78% were males. The peak age of occurrence was 20.”

Teen sleep needs. Adolescents require at least as much sleep as they did as pre-adolescents — in general, 8.5 to 9.25 hours each night. (Mary Carskadon, Brown University, et al., 1980)

Up all night (or, the vampire thing). Adolescents’ sleep patterns undergo a phase delay, that is, a tendency toward later times, for both sleeping and waking. Studies show that the typical high school student’s natural time to fall asleep is 11 p.m. or later. (Amy R. Wolfson, College of the Holy Cross, and Carskadon, 1998)

Your kids are right — school does start too early. Most high schools in Charlotte and the Triangle start between 7:15 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. The National Sleep Foundation advocates “Legislation to encourage starting high schools no earlier than 9 a.m.” The NSF also supports graduated licensing regulations to reduce the number of adolescents driving unsupervised at night (already in place in North Carolina) as well as child labor laws to restrict the number of hours and the time of day that adolescents are permitted to work.

What, did some high school kid come up with that 9 a.m. thing? No. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement has studied the issue (Kyla Wahlstrom and C.M. Freeman, 1997) and found that in high schools that start later:

• In suburban districts, students gain an extra hour of sleep each school day.
• Teachers report that more students are alert during the first two periods of the day, and fewer students fall asleep at their desks.
• More homework gets done during school hours because students are more alert and efficient during the day.
• Attendance increases and tardiness decreases.
• Some students reported eating breakfast more frequently.
• Teachers in suburban districts report noticeable improvements in student behavior: quieter hallways between classes and less misbehavior in the lunchroom.
• Counselors from suburban schools describe the school atmosphere as “calmer,” and report that fewer students seek help for stress relief due to academic pressures. (Urban teachers, however, observed no general improvement in student behavior.)
• A downside in urban districts: fewer students were involved in extracurricular and social activities, and the later school schedules resulted in conflicts or compromised earnings for students who worked after school.

Less time for afternoon mischief. National studies and analysis of data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation reveal that on school days, 45 percent of juvenile violent crime takes place between 2 and 8 p.m., with the sharpest rise occurring between 2 and 4 p.m. (Wahlstrom and Freeman, 1997; CSPV, 1998). (A 9 a.m. start would mean students being in school until about 4 p.m.) Also during these times: unsupervised adolescents are more likely to engage in acts of violence, as well as sex and recreational use of alcohol or drugs.

Pointers for Parents. From the National Sleep Foundation Sleep and Teens Task Force come these suggestions for parents to help their teens get a full night’s sleep.

• Educate yourself about adolescent development, including physical and behavioral changes you can expect (especially those that relate to sleep needs and patterns).
• Look for signs of sleep deprivation and sleepiness in your teens. Signs include: difficulty waking in the morning, irritability late in the day, falling asleep spontaneously during quiet times of the day, sleeping for extra long periods on the weekends.
• Enforce and maintain age-appropriate sleep schedules for all children.
• Talk with your kids. Look at their extracurricular and employment activities and see how it affects their sleep patterns. If there’s a problem, work with them to adjust their schedules to allow for enough sack time.
• Provide a home environment conducive to healthy sleep. Establish a quiet time in the evening when the lights are dimmed and loud music is not permitted. Do not allow use of the television, computer and telephone within an hour of bedtime. Keep the evening temperature of your house a sleep-friendly 68  to 70 degrees.
• Get enough sleep yourself. Even sleeping, you can be a good role model.

Tips for Teens. Here’s what the National Sleep Foundation Sleep and Teens Task Force suggests for teens.

• Sleep is food for the brain. Lack of sleep can make you look tired and feel depressed, irritable or angry. Even mild sleepiness can hurt your performance — from taking school exams to playing sports or video games. Learn how much sleep you need to function at your best … and strive to get it every night. You should awaken refreshed, not tired.
• Establish a routine, with a regular bedtime and wake time, and try to maintain that routine through the school week, the weekend, on those ubiquitous teacher work days and on vacation.
• Get into bright light as soon as possible in the morning, but avoid it in the evening. Light signals to the brain when it should wake up and when it should prepare to sleep.
• Understand your circadian rhythms. Then you can try to maximize your schedule throughout the day according to your internal clock.
• After lunch/noon stay away from caffeinated coffee and colas.
• Relax before going to bed. Avoid heavy reading, studying and computer games within one hour of bed. Don’t fall asleep with the television on — flickering light and stimulating content can inhibit restful sleep.

The post More tips for teen sleep appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

The story was about a study revolving around two questions: At what age do you you consider yourself to be old? At what age do you stop considering yourself to be young? The question was put to people in several countries and the results differed wildly depending upon local. The British, for instance, stopped seeing themselves as young at 35 and officially old at 59. The Greeks, on the other hand, thought themselves young until 51 and not teetering into geezerhood until 68. Speculation abounded among the experts interviewed about the discrepancy. (I’ll post a link to the story when it’s posted by the BBC.)

I wondered how Americans would answer this question. I especially wondered how Jack Stanley of Kernersville might answer. Stanley, at age 71, was the second oldest runner at Saturday’s Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI. He won his age category with a time of 26:05, meaning he ran the 3.1-mile race at a speed of 8 minutes and 25 seconds per mile.

Stanley finished 152nd overall. To put that in perspective, according to the race results he beat nearly two-thirds of the 441-person field. His time would have placed him 4th among the 15 boys age 15 and under in the race and it would have won the women’s 20-24 age group.

Bobby Christiansen of Greensboro would have had an interesting answer as well. Christiansen is 53 and finished 9th overall with a time of 18:18 — a time good enough to make him competitive on a high school cross-country team. Ditto 60-year-old William Menius of Greensboro, who ran the race in 20:19 to finish 28th overall, 61-year-old Karl Fields, who finished 30th in 20:41, and Bob Milan, also 61, of Greensboro, who came in 43rd overall with a time of 21:20.

Of the 441 runners on the tarmac Saturday, 44 percent fell into the 40-49 age demographic (79 women, 114 men), and 17 percent (19 women and 57 men) were 50 or older.

Social scientists speculating over the results of the study I heard on the BBC suspected that Greece’s more relaxed style of living may contribute to the Greek people’s perception of themselves as, if not forever young, at least young for a good long while. The explanation behind the extended youth of Jack Stanley, Bobby Christiansen and the other chronologically older runners at Saturday’s Blue Points 5K is likely the opposite: Stay young by not stopping. Both approaches appear to work, according to author/researcher Dan Buettner. For insight into the various ways people stay young, check out his “The Blue Zones,” which looks at several communities around the world where people tend to live longer. While the reasons behind longevity may vary, they all have one thing in common: A healthy approach to life in general.

As for me, I’ll stick with the don’t-stop approach. By continuing to chase the Stanleys, the Christiansens, the Meniuses, the Fields and the Milans, I hope to keep pace with their youth.

Photo: Runners at Saturday’s Blue Points 5K on the Runway at PTI: One way to stay young.

The post Running from old age appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

I had to: According to the National Institutes of Health, while 55 is when males generally start dropping weight (sorry gals, it doesn’t happen for you until around 65), I’m now more inclined to hang on to the weight I’m keeping — in the form of fat — around my midsection.

Some other interesting bits I learned from the NIH on getting older:

• Shrinking Coming into 55, I was worried I might start the geriatric shrinking process. Turns out I should have started worrying about that 15 years ago: According to the NIH, people generally shrink 0.4 inches every 10 years. After 70, your height can diminish by up to 3 inches over a decade. (That shrinkage, incidentally, is in the torso, not in the arms or legs.)
• Muscle and organ atrophy Muscles, liver, kidney and other organs start to lose cells. I’m not so worried about the liver and kidneys, but that loss of muscle can make them weaker, fatigue more easily and result in “reduced activity tolerance.” (Worried that might have happened overnight, I’ve also celebrated today with a 70-minute, 12-mile mountain bike ride at Lake Crabtree.)
• Slowed reflexes Did I mention that on the aforementioned mountain bike ride I reacted late to a tree root, hit the disc brakes and flew into, then over, the handlebars? This reduction is caused less by a slowing of nerve impulses and more by changes in the muscles and tendons.
• Dehydration A “change in body water” makes it easier for older people to get dehydrated. May be time to upgrade my Camelbak from a 70 ml bladder to 100.
• Stiff joints, less flexibility. Hips and knees, in particular, ankles less so. Seems the best way to keep them from stiffening up is to not let them stop moving.
• Wrinkly, sagging skin, gray hair, crow’s feet, less hair growing where I want it, more growing where I don’t … I’m ahead of the game on these counts, but who cares? Gray eyebrows don’t keep you from running a half marathon, droopy eyelids don’t keep you from riding a mountain bike.

So I’ll have a few more age-related challenges in the year ahead. All the more reason to be disciplined, and the best way I know to do that is to have goals. Thus, to mark the milestone of having turned 55 I’ve adopted the number 55 as my theme for the year ahead. That said, my goals (some of which are inspired by a book I’m starting to write on adventure sports in the Carolinas):

• Run 11 5Ks (11 x 5 = 55, for those of you who didn’t come here expecting math problems)
• Climb “The Mummy” at Linville Gorge, a 5.5-rated rock climb.
• Do a 55-mile backpacking trip.
• Do a 55-mile canoe trip.
• Do 55 straight push-ups. (I’ve been especially slack over the years on strength training; with my muscles atrophying staying strong becomes even more important.)
• 55: Total of my waist size (30) and BMI (25). I’m an inch or two away on the waist size, and while the body mass index is still woefully flawed, I’m still irked that my current rating of 26 makes me overweight in the government’s eyes.
• Resting heart rate of 55. Cheating a little on this one: Last time I checked my resting heart rate was 54.
• 55-mile mountain bike race. Still looking for a candidate for this one. Could come in a 6-hour endurance race, though the most miles I’ve racked up in one of those was 48. Yell if you know of any 55-mile mountain bike races.
• 55 miles on my mountain bike on my birthday. I cut this one short because I need to fetch kids from school starting a 2 p.m. Hopefully next week.
• Umstead 50-miler trail run. OK, so it’s five short. I’ll be dang lucky to make the 50. (Most runners in this race, btw, run 100 miles.)

As my 55th approached, I was asked a few times how I felt about turning 55. I gave the only answer that made sense: It beats not turning 55.

Besides, look at all the cool stuff I get to do!

The post 55 for 55 appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

“Dogs can be a great motivator for physical activity,” study author Mathew Reeves, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Michigan State University in East Lansing, told MedlinePlus. “People who walk their dogs, walk more. They walk about an hour longer each week,”  added Reeves, who is also a vet.

Of the 6,000 people, who participated in the 2005 Michigan Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, 41 percent owned a dog. Of those, nearly two-thirds reported walking their dog for at least 10 minutes at a time. The remaining one-third didn’t regularly walk their dogs. Overall, the dog owners were 69 percent more likely to partake in leisure-time physical activity than the non-dog owners.

If you’re now thinking of getting a dog for exercise, consider that the survey found that smaller dogs led to shorter walks, younger dogs afforded more exercise. The dog-as-exercise regimen proved especially helpful for folks 65 and older, and those earning $20,000 a year or less.
Read more here.

Running feet, runny nose

If you ran in yesterday’s Tobacco Road Marathon (congratulations to Chapel Hill’s Kipyegon Kirui for 2:24:27 first-place finish) and woke up today with itchy eyes, runny nose and congestion, there’s a reason: Turns our you’re more susceptible to allergies after running 26.2 miles.

A study of 150 runners from last year’s London Marathon found that one-in-three suffered allergy-induced symptoms following the spring race. Such symptoms are common after a race, but were thought to be the result of infections taking advantage of a run-stressed immune system. Blood tests of the London runners found the presence of immunoglobulin E antibodies, a sign of an allergic reaction. Only 8 percent of the runners were taking meds for allergies.

“These post-event sniffles might seem minor, but there are clear risks that people could go on to develop exercise-induced asthma and airway inflammation,” cautioned Dr. Paula Robson-Ansley, who lead the team conducting the study. In short: Don’t be so quick to write off those post-race sniffles.

Read more here.

Photo: Astro helped George Jetson keep trim.

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