Do you also occasionally wonder how some folks manage to go to the gym three or four times per week for an hour or more? I do, because with kids, house, garden and last but not least, two jobs squeezing out time for the gym seems impossible. I do know, it’s recommended – still, I don’t have time for it and this is no excuse. Now, at least, I don’t need to feel guilty anymore about the little exercise I do.
A study at McMaster University in Canada has shown that doing several times per week high-intensity interval training (HIT) is as beneficial for your health as traditional long term exercise. For the study, volunteers did three times per week ten one-minute sprints on a stationary bike with one minute rest in between. In total they got 30 minutes of exercise. The results of the study were published in the March issue of the Journal of Physiology .
What I learned from this study is that in good conscience I can replace hours of endurance training, for which I don’t have time in my busy life,  with a few minutes of intense exercise on my stationary bike. Works for me.
Christiane is Life coach and psychologist. Contact her at www.coach4u.net
Tomorrow is April Fool’s day and here I am with a fitting question: Is laughter really the best medicine?
Based only on my gut feeling, I would wholeheartedly say yes. I always feel so relaxed and stress free after a good laugh. This must be good for my body and health, don’t you think so?
Imagine my surprise when I discovered, researching the topic “laughter and health” that there are actually conflicting results with respect to the stress-reducing effect of laughter.
Laughter evolved to bring people together. It’s a social activity, and consequently we laugh much less when we are alone. The physiological effects are described as an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
According to a Swedish study, laughter activates the fight or flight system and thus increases the release of certain stress hormones. Another study points to a stress relieving effect of laughter, and consequently a reduction in stress hormones.
Studies about another supposed effect of laughter convey less confusing results: Laughter seems to make people less sensitive to pain.
One effect for sure is: We are in a better mood, if we have something to laugh about.
Therefore, any ideas for April fool’s day?
CNN lists today the 10 best pranks; among them all female employees told the boss confidentially that they are pregnant: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/03/31/fool.pranks.work/index.html
The top ranked prank on the list of the Museum of Hoaxes is a BBC TV story. In 1957, BBC announced that thanks to a mild winter Swiss farmers would have a record spaghetti harvest. The report showed footage of people pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. After the show, many people called BBC wanting to know where they could get a spaghetti tree. BBC’s advice: “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.” This story and 99 more pranks at: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/index
(Information about laughter is based on an article by Robert R. Provine, Ph.D., published in Psychology Today, 11/01/2000)