Exercise training is safe in heart failure patients, does not significantly reduce hospitalization or death, but is associated with several improved clinical outcomes, even in those already receiving optimal medical care, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008. The Heart Failure and A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training (HF-ACTION) was presented as a late-breaking clinical trial.

The trial is the world’s largest study of exercise training versus usual care in heart failure (HF) patients, said Christopher M. O’Connor, M.D., principal investigator and director of the Heart Center and professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

Source: Market Watch

What effect does exercise have on the cells and tissues of the body and how can we use the knowledge to combat conditions like arthritis, diabetes and heart disease?

These are just some of the questions that the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Musculoskeletal and Arthritis (IMHA) will tackle over the next five years through its strategic plan unveiled at the Saskatchewan University (SU).

“As Canada’s population ages and grows, the burden of arthritis, osteoporosis, and other musculoskeletal, oral and skin conditions on our health care system will increase,” said Jane E. Aubin, IMHA’s scientific director.

“We want to reduce this burden and improve the health and quality of life of Canadians of all ages by supporting research that increases our understanding of the relationship between physical activity, mobility and health,” she added.

Over the next five years, the Institute will work with its partners to fund peer-reviewed research and training projects in the area of physical activity and health, according to an IMHA release.

This research may range from the cellular behavior of joint tissues to the psychosocial aspects of exercise, activity and sports on populations. Specific activities may include investigating the prevention or reversal of disease through physical activity and mobility, among others.

The institute will also promote the application of the research results into new physical activity policies and programs in collaboration with partners and communities.

“I commend IMHA for choosing physical activity as a strategic research priority,” said Karen Chad, acting vice-president research at SU. “As a physical activity researcher, I know first hand the positive effect of regular exercise on health and quality of life.”

Source: Hindu.com

If you think there is a science to pretty much everything, you would be right. Add treadmill running to the list.

As the weather turns and our days shorten, the seasonal question emerges: Can indoor running or walking match up to your usual outdoor workout? Die hards will say no, but researchers provide some slack for the rest of us who don’t enjoy running in the cold or dark or both.

First of all, let’s be clear that “over-ground” runners, as exercise scientists like to call outdoor runners, might scoff altogether at treadmill use. No enjoying nature, braving the elements, taking advantage of Pacific Northwest fresh air — that approach.

Well, no problem. Own that view. It’s OK with the treadmill faithful, because they know that without the machine they likely wouldn’t be running at all. Going to the gym is habit and fits into their days. The axiom holds: The best exercise is one you do regularly.

What’s more, researchers like Philip Riches, who lectures on bone and sports bio mechanics at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, has published studies reporting that close attention to some details can improve the over-ground runner’s attempt to take the outdoors to the treadmill. What Riches found is that a motorless treadmill better simulates an on-road experience because you push off with each foot just like on asphalt or ground.

Now, some of you are clearly waving off this point. Motorless? No ability to punch in a customized workout on your treadmill electronic keypad? Aren’t they not as durable?

Riches’ answer is firm. Once you get up to speed — literally — on a motorless treadmill, you won’t notice much difference in the pace and feel, except you will be doing more comprehensive work for the body and, not unimportant, keeping the best body posture to prevent injury. Riches does concede that working up to your pace “can be a bit difficult.”

Yet if you are looking for more of a road feel, there’s an answer with lab evidence to back it up. Riches has published a number of studies in professional exercise science journals evaluating walking and running on treadmills compared to outdoors.

If you insist on a motorized, computerized model, well, that gets back to the best exercise is the one you do. Riches says no problem, but be sure to set some incline into your workout. That’s because he has found that runners and walkers who run flat (0 on the incline readout) tend to run with straighter-than-normal knees. Not good in most any activity — the goal is always some bend or what trainers call “soft” knees. If you set some incline, that action will add force to your workout that naturally corrects to make you bend your knees.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire tested runners in the mile both outside and on a treadmill on different days. The outdoor miles produced higher heart-rate levels during the workout, but not to a statistically significant difference. The exercise scientists concluded that, for most of us, running on a treadmill can reach a desired target heart rate compared to an outdoor run, while adding that elite runners would still be best running on a track (outdoors or inside) than a treadmill to reach peak training effect.

More treadmill science and what borders on heresy for die hard road racers: Kyle L. Cooper and colleagues at Elon University in North Carolina conducted a study to determine whether distractions of music or video can help treadmill runners get a better workout. They paced volunteer subjects through three 35-minute runs on separate days. One with no distraction, one with music and one with video.

Cooper found that overall mileage covered and conditioning effect (measured by some lab techniques) were both positively influenced by the music or video compared to the group with no distractions. They ran faster and to a better outcome.

That finding flies in the face of weight-training studies that show concentrating on proper technique is vital to the best training effect. One reason is that researchers have found that simply thinking about muscles contracted and relaxed boosts the training effect.

However, it makes sense that running or walking technique might have more “give” compared to the proper cadence and movements required for weight training. Plus, you could argue that even over-ground walkers and runners are distracted by what they see outdoors.

One suggestion: Go without music or video every week or two during your winter treadmill running to focus on your technique and — no small matter — how your body feels during speed changes.

Source: Seattlepi.com