Research is constantly evolving, telling us things we never knew about how to best approach our fitness. Therefore, if you haven’t kept up on studies being released lately, here are five of them that will likely change the way you approach fitness…forever…
- Longer rest periods found to be better for muscle growth. Traditional advice has always been to use shorter rest periods between weight lifting sets, but new research from the University of Birmingham has found that five minutes of rest resulted in 152% increase whereas one minute of rest only resulted in 76% growth.
- Yoga beneficial to asthma sufferers. If you’ve been diagnosed with asthma and avoid any type of fitness-related program because of it, research has now found that there is one form of exercise that can potentially help, and that is yoga. One study in particular showed positive effects for people who’d been suffering with this condition for years.
- The amount of fat you eat affects your ability to sleep. You probably already know that the amount of fat consumed can impact your body weight, but new research by the University of Adelaide reveals that it can also affect your sleep. In other words, lowering your intake of this one macronutrient can help you feel more rested and able to power through your day.
- Lifting weights can lengthen life span, even if you start when you’re older. One study conducted by the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center found that people over the age of 65 who lifted weights twice a week had a 46% lower rate of death than those who didn’t.
- Dark chocolate good for athletic performance. On a strict diet because you have a fitness-related event coming up? Research released by Kingston University has found that a little bit of dark chocolate (40g) may actually help because it “dilates blood vessels and reduces oxygen consumptions – allowing athletes to go further for longer.”
