How to Train For a 10K

 

Want to tackle a 6.2-mile race? Try this intermediate running plan that helps you build to 60 minutes of continuous running.

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Running just might be the most convenient workout going. You don't need to be a skilled athlete, and there's no fancy equipment involved; just lace up your sneaks and go. It's also one of the most efficient ways to blast fat and burn calories—about 600 an hour.

Sure, walking has its benefits, but research shows that running kicks its butt when it comes to shedding pounds. One recent study of 47,000 runners and walkers, from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., found that the runners burned more calories and had a far greater decrease in BMI over a six-year period. The joggers who started out heaviest (those with a BMI over 28) lost up to 90 percent more weight than  the walkers did.

Dropping pounds and toning up are hardly the only benefits of this killer cardio workout: You'll also reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, boost your mood, temper stress and build muscle, especially in the lower body and core. You don't even need to dedicate a lot of time to reap these rewards; do 20 to 30 minutes, three to four days a week, and you'll see significant improvement.
Ready to hit the road? Here's a plan for intermediate runners. And it's smart to add in one day of cross-training (think cycling or swimming) to rev up calorie burn and help prevent injury. Soon enough, you'll feel as if you were born to run.
Your stats: You're a "sometimes" runner who does at least three miles without stopping a couple of days a week, most weeks.
The goal: Increase your endurance, run for an hour straight and tackle a 10K by the end of 10 weeks.
Your coach: Jonathan Cane is an exercise physiologist and co-founder of City Coach Multisport in New York City.
The plan: Do three different running workouts every week, on alternate days. In the first run, build speed through intervals; start with a two-minute speed burst at a challenging but sustainable pace, followed by three minutes of easier recovery jogging. Repeat six times for a total of 30 minutes. As the weeks pass, alternate between building up the speed bursts and balancing out the recovery time. For your second weekly workout, which focuses on mixing speed and endurance, begin with running for a couple of miles and build up to 4 ½ miles over the course of the plan. The third day helps you build endurance. Focus on covering the distance, not your pace. Kick off with a 2 ½-mile run. Over 10 weeks, try to work up to running 5 ½ miles.
HERE'S YOUR GUIDE: Intermediate 10K Training Plan
Train smarter!
1. Make three the magic number
If you're used to running twice a week, says Cane, "three times is your sweet spot—you'll get a big bump in both speed and endurance, but it's not so much more that you'll risk getting injured." And if weight loss is a goal, remember that adding just one extra day of running helps you burn an additional 300 to 400 calories, depending on your pace and size.
2. It's OK to hit the treadmill
Some running purists say there's no substitute for the outdoors, but all things being equal, "your heart and lungs don't really know the difference between the road and the treadmill," says Cane. So if it's late in the day, raining or just not a good time to go outside but you really want to keep up your training, feel free to hit the "on" button. To compensate for a lack of wind resistance and natural terrain changes, keep the treadmill deck set at a 1% incline.
3. Turn down the music
Yes, pumping JT through your earbuds can power you up that hill, but don't forget to tune in to how your body feels. "At this stage, you know you can already run for a while," says Cane. "But it's important to be aware of cues: how heavy you are breathing, or if you have a small twinge in your knee and need to slow down. It helps keep you from getting injured and makes you more aware of when you can bump up your pace or give a little more effort."

What to Do If You're Allergic to Your Pet

 

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If you could snap your fingers and make your allergies disappear, youd probably do it in a second. But what if your pet is the cause of your watery eyes, sneezing, and runny nose? Suddenly that oh-so-simple decision becomes a much tougher call. For some, the psychological misery of giving up a pet may outweigh the everyday misery of allergy symptoms.
The problem starts with dander, one of the most stubborn and common allergens. Cats, dogs, and other furry or feathered pets produce dander, which consists of microscopic, dandruff-like flakes of skin and proteins from saliva and urine that can trigger allergies and aggravate asthma. If youre allergic to dander, the easiest route to allergy relief is to find your pet a new home.

In fact, thats what most doctors will tell you to do. Yet this advice is rarely welcomed or followed, even when the pet is causing serious problems. “Some families cant fathom giving away their pet—its almost like giving away one of their children,” says Anne Miranowski, MD, an allergist at the Pediatric Lung Center in Fairfax, Va. “I see some children where exposure to their three cats is clearly making them sick, and the family insists on keeping all three cats.”
Physicians and health organizations recognize the attachment that people have to their pets. If a family is unwilling to remove a pet, experts recommend a host of alternative measures, such as limiting contact between the pet and the allergic person (by keeping pets outdoors or out of bedrooms, for instance) and using air cleaners. (Find out the best ways to reduce pet allergens in your home.)
These measures arent nearly as effective as giving away a pet, however, and going this route will likely have consequences—more symptoms, more medication, and a potential worsening of asthma—that should be weighed against the distress of seeing a cat or dog pitter-patter out of your life forever. And although there may be some breeds touted as better for people with allergies—think the Obamas and their Portuguese water dog, Bo—there are no cats or dogs truly free from dander.
You pet may not be causing your symptoms
Before you think about finding a pet a new home, its important to figure out if you—or your children—are in fact allergic. Though it seems as if pet allergies should be obvious, they are sometimes harder to recognize than you think.
If your eyes start to swell and you sneeze uncontrollably every time you are near a cat, then yes, you are probably allergic to cats. But some people with allergies or asthma who grow up around animals and are in contact with them every day may have more subtle symptoms. Instead of watery eyes and the other classic signs of pet allergies, they may experience chronic, low-level congestion, for instance.
“A lot of times people will say, ‘My dog or cat doesnt bother me, but when somebody is exposed to a pet day in and day out, they dont have the dramatic symptoms every time they see it,” says Andy Nish, MD, an allergist at the Allergy & Asthma Care Center, in Gainesville, Ga. “It may be a more subtle and chronic inflammatory process, and they may not realize that the pet is causing them problems.”
This phenomenon sometimes works in reverse: In some cases, people with asthma may believe that their pet is causing them more problems than it actually is. A respiratory condition in which the lung airways are chronically inflamed, asthma can be triggered by substances other than pet dander, such as dust mites, exhaust, smoke, and cold air, or even allergens from rodents and cockroaches. For some (but certainly not all) asthmatics, pets may actually be a relatively minor contribution to their symptoms, and some asthmatics may not be allergic to pets at all.
“Theres no reason to consider removing a pet unless you can demonstrate that there is a sensitization to that type of animal,” says Gregory Diette, MD, an asthma specialist and associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore. “One mistake Ive seen [physicians] make is to generally recommend that asthmatics not have cats, dogs, or other furred pets when they havent done the allergy testing to prove whether theres an abnormal response to that type of animal.”
The easiest way to pinpoint a pet allergy is to visit an allergist and get a series of skin tests, in which the skin is exposed to small samples of the proteins shed by cat, dog, and other allergy-triggering substances, such as pollen or dust. Allergists may also use a blood test known as a RAST as an alternative to or in addition to skin tests.

Pfizer to apply for early U.S. approval of breast cancer drug

 

 

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc, which is in the process of trying to acquire British rival AstraZeneca for more than $100 billion, on Friday said it planned to seek U.S. approval for palbociclib, its experimental drug for advanced breast cancer, in the third quarter.

The largest U.S. drugmaker said it made the decision to submit its application to the Food and Drug Administration following discussions with the regulatory agency about the results of a midstage clinical trial.

Palbociclib had received the FDA's new breakthrough designation given to help speed up the approval process for potentially important new medicines.

Pfizer presented data from the trial at a cancer meeting last month. Patients in the study who took the experimental Pfizer medicine plus the hormone drug letrozole went 20.2 months on average before their cancer began to worsen, compared with 10.2 months for those that received only letrozole.

Palbociclib is considered to be one of the most important medicines in Pfizer's developmental pipeline. A rival drug is also being developed by Eli Lilly and Co, which several analysts have said appears promising.

Pfizer shares were up 1.2 percent at $29.41 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Coração saudável requer pouco sal

 

Doença cardíaca é uma das principais causas de morte no mundo. O estilo de vida moderno, com muito estresse, ausência de atividade física e alimentação pouco saudável é responsável por aproximadamente 80% das doenças cardiovasculares. Dentre os vários fatores de risco que contribuem para doença cardiovascular, o principal é a pressão alta, responsável por 62% dos derrames e 49% dos ataques cardíacos.

Um dos fatores alimentares que é crítico para a o aumento da pressão arterial e suas consequências indesejáveis é o elevado consumo de sal. Resultados de estudos que avaliaram a redução do consumo de sal por um curto espaço de tempo indicam uma relação direta de dose resposta entre a ingestão de sal e a pressão arterial. A redução de 1 g de sal por dia contribui para a queda de um ponto (medido em milímetros de mercúrio - mmHg) da pressão sistólica (a mais alta das duas).

Agora, uma nova pesquisa, mais longa que as anteriores, realizada na Inglaterra, amplia a análise da relação entre sal e doença cardiovascular. No período de 2003 a 2011 houve uma redução de 15 por cento no consumo de sal. Neste mesmo período, as mortes por doença cardíaca caíram 40 por cento e por derrame 42 por cento. Esta associação expõe o impacto do consumo de sal na saúde da população.

Mesmo que vários outros fatores possam ter uma parcela de contribuição nestas reduções, é indiscutível a importância do sal como um fator isolado no controle da pressão arterial e de suas consequências.

Mesmo que tenha havido uma significativa redução no consumo de sal nos últimos anos, os pesquisadores alertam que o consumo na Inglaterra, continua acima do máximo recomendado por dia (que é 6g de sal). Isto ocorre em vários países ocidentais.

Uma das dificuldades para o controle da ingestão de sal é o crescente uso de alimentos industrializados na dieta do dia-a-dia. Estima-se que 75% do sal ingerido na dieta ocidental provenha da comida industrializada.

Estes resultados dão elementos para reforçar as campanhas institucionais para redução da ingestão de sal, reduzindo o risco de doenças cardiovasculares e promovendo a saúde.

Tabagismo e doença cardíaca nas mulheres

 

ABC da Saúde

O que as mulheres devem fazer para prevenir doença cardíaca

Hoje são conhecidos dezenas de fatores de risco que contribuem para o desenvolvimento de doenças e morte, sendo os principais: hipertensão, tabagismo, dieta pobre em frutas, uso de álcool, poluição ambiental, alto índice de massa corporal (sobrepeso e obesidade), aumento da glicose no sangue, baixa atividade física, dentre tantas outras. A importância específica de cada um destes fatores de risco pode, entretanto, variar conforme a região do planeta, sexo, faixa etária, etc. Um dos problemas das pesquisas na área da saúde - tanto básicas, quanto clínicas e epidemiológicas - é a dificuldade em considerar essas particularidades. Especialmente no que tange à saúde da mulher.

Pois agora, um recente estudo realizado na Austrália revela dados que podem contribuir enormemente para a prevenção de doenças cardíacas em mulheres. Os pesquisadores observaram, desde 1996, mais de 32 mil mulheres subdivididas em 15 diferentes grupos de idades, sendo o subgrupo mais jovem de 22 a 27 anos e o mais velho de 85 a 90 anos. As mulheres nasceram em diferentes períodos, de 1921 a 1926, de 1946 a 1951 e de 1973 a 1978.

O estudo analisou os quatro maiores fatores de risco para doenças cardíacas na Austrália - hipertensão, tabagismo, excesso de peso e sedentarismo - juntos, estes fatores são responsáveis por mais da metade das doenças cardíacas no mundo todo. A análise se concentrou na melhoria dos padrões de saúde com a ausência ou retirada de cada fator de risco, individualmente (nunca ter fumado ou manter peso ideal, por exemplo).

As mulheres do subgrupo mais jovem (22-27 anos) são as que mais fumam (28% do total), e isto aumentou o risco cardíaco em 59%. A proporção de fumantes se reduziu muito nos subgrupos mais velhos, chegando a 5% nas de 73-78 anos. Por sua vez a inatividade física vai aumentando dos 22 aos 90 anos. A conclusão dos pesquisadores é que nas mulheres acima dos 30 anos, até o final do 80s, o sedentarismo, individualmente, é o maior responsável pelas doenças cardíacas. Eles estimam que 150 minutos de atividade física por semana reduziria drasticamente o desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares, poupando milhares de vidas de mulheres anualmente. Nas mais jovens o tabagismo é o principal fator de risco.

Mulheres: Está claro que para viver mais e melhor, segundo as tendências atuais, o mais importante para as com menos de 30 anos é não fumar, e as com mais de 30 ter uma atividade física regular para o resto da vida.

Men and Women Smoke—and Quit—Differently

 

Studies have shown that after six months on nicotine replacement products, women slide back into the habit at higher rates than men.

In 2001, a group of young cigarette smokers was fitted with opaque goggles and nose clips at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. After lighting up, the women in the group collectively rated their cigarettes less "satisfying" than the men did. In another study, women who sampled both standard and low-nicotine cigarettes noted less of a difference in their enjoyment and perceived nicotine intake than male participants did.

These are just a few of the research findings into what has emerged as an apparent gender gap between male and female smokers. This research suggests that men smoke mainly for the nicotine, while women tend to care about the smell and taste, the hand-to-mouth sensation, weight control, and boosting their moods.
Although no one really understands what causes these differences, experts say considering them as you implement your quitting strategy might just give you an edge.

Nicotine replacement doesnt work as well for women

The sexes have about the same rates of success with prescription smoking-cessation drugs, but studies of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), such as the patch and nicotine gum, reveal differences. NRT seems to help both men and women get through those tricky first few months without cigarettes, but after six months, women slide back into the habit at higher rates than men.
On the other hand, gender differences in smoking addiction may also account for an interesting exception to the NRT gender gap: the inhaler, the small, plastic cigarette-holder-shaped device that provides a dose of vaporized nicotine when you take a determined drag from it. In a 2001 study of 504 smokers, inhalers proved more effective for women than for men (at least in the short term), while men experienced more success with the other three options: spray, patch, and especially gum.
"Women lose both the sensory cues and the nicotine when they quit smoking," Cora Lee Wetherington, PhD, explained in a 2002 article by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), where she is the women and gender research coordinator. "Therefore, replacing those cues—something the inhaler can do, but not the patch or gum—and learning ways to avoid or cope with those cues may help more women succeed in quitting."

Women shouldn't sweat weight gain, but should consider their periods

More than half of women smokers say in studies that weight concerns are a major obstacle to quitting. Theres no surprise there, but such research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) might be especially well suited to women trying to quit because it can help them leap that psychological hurdle and accept that, yes indeed, they will probably gain some weight when they quit. A 2001 study following more than 200 women who quit smoking found that after a year, those who received CBT stayed off cigarettes at higher rates—and gained half as much weight, on average—as those who entered a weight-control program.
Women might do well to combine their CBT with a glance at their menstrual calendars as well. Studies show menstruation has a unique effect on tobacco withdrawal symptoms.
"Our work and [the work of] others have shown that women who quit in the luteal phase had more nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and [they] suggest that quitting in the follicular phase may be best," says Michele D. Levine, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Translation: Women shouldn't exacerbate monthly moodiness (and withdrawal symptoms) by trying to quit smoking in the middle of PMS; it's best to wait until the first day after a period starts to toss those butts.

20 Ways to do a Plank

 

 

Hello abs! Change up your core workout with these fresh variations on the plank.

Cardio Workouts

 

 

5 Fat-burning body weight exercises

The Truth About Low-Carb Diets

 

More and more women are slashing carbohydrates, hoping to slim down, feel energized and beat disease. But new research suggests a carb-starved, protein-centric diet might be hazardous to our health. Here's what you need to know before you pass up the potatoes.

Travis Rathbone

Does a plate of pasta strike terror in your heart? A burger in a bun make you break out in a cold sweat? You're not alone. These days, we're skipping the bread basket in record numbers (the volume of bread, buns and rolls sold in U.S. stores fell by 9.1 percent between 2006 and 2011) and shunning starchy vegetables. It seems like a new low-carb eating plan bursts on the scene every few months. And nearly one in three adults report that they're cutting down on or completely avoiding gluten, according to market-research firm NPD Group. "Carb-phobia has really taken over people's minds," says Kim Larson, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
But here's the thing: Eliminating carbs is risky business. "It's preposterous," says David Katz, MD, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and author of Disease-Proof. "All plants are carbohydrate sources, so eating no carbs means eating no plant foods, period." Carbs are important for your brain and body; the right ones even reduce your risk of disease.
Yet the misconception that the fewer carbs you eat, the better persists among health- and diet-minded Americans. "Everyone is jumping on this bandwagon," Larson says. "But the science just does not bear it out." In fact, studies now suggest that going low-carb for a long period of time may be harmful to our health.
Related: The Truth About 10 Bogus Health Trends
You can't live without carbs
While many of us think of carbs as bread and pasta, they're in any food that comes from a plant, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and legumes. "It's a huge, diverse class of foods," Dr. Katz explains.
To make carbohydrates, plants trap the sun's energy inside molecules of glucose—a simple sugar—then connect the glucose molecules together (sometimes along with the other two basic sugar building blocks, fructose and galactose) to create longer carb molecules such as sucrose and starch. When you eat that plant, your digestive system breaks the longer carbohydrate back down into glucose, which travels through your bloodstream into your cells. The cells process the glucose, releasing the captured energy and using it for fuel.

Travis Rathbone

Far from being poison, then, glucose sparks life. "If you're in a hospital and they need to get some energy into you, they'll use a glucose drip," says Joanne Slavin, PhD, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota and chair of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on Carbohydrates. Dr. Katz adds, "If you don't have enough glucose in your blood, you're dead. It's that simple."
While you don't have to eat carbs to get glucose into your blood (your body can manufacture it if needed), "carbohydrates are the most efficient fuel source that we have," says Heidi Schauster, RD, a nutrition therapist in Boston. Low-carb advocates (most famously Robert Atkins, MD) point out that your body can also use other fuel sources, such as protein or fatty acids, to power itself. But many experts say that this method of converting fats into so-called ketone bodies, known as ketogenesis, is much less efficient than using glucose for energy. And when too many ketone bodies are produced, the body is in a state of ketosis. "Ketosis can be tolerated for a short time, but in severe cases it could have very serious effects in the long term for the brain, as well as the kidneys, liver and skeletal system," Dr. Katz says.
Related: 11 Women Who Lost Weight Eating Healthy Carbs
Besides providing much-needed glucose, plants are our only source of dietary fiber. Like other carbohydrates, fiber is composed of many bonded sugar units, but human enzymes can't chop it up, so it passes relatively unscathed through much of the digestive tract. And it benefits you in many ways. "People who eat more fiber have less cardiovascular disease," Slavin says. "They also weigh less and gain less weight over time."
You probably know that fiber helps move food through your body, keeping you regular. In addition, some forms of fiber (including resistant starch, found in bananas, lentils and many other foods) are prebiotics, a type of carbohydrate that feeds the growth of "good" bacteria in your gut.
Not to mention, skipping carbs could mean falling short on essential nutrients. "Cutting out whole grains eliminates a good source of great nutrition, such as zinc, magnesium and B vitamins," Larson says. Steer clear of fruits and vegetables and you miss out on many vitamins and powerful antioxidants. These nutrients play a critical role in keeping us healthy long-term. "When we look at population-level studies of people who live well across the span of a lifetime," Dr. Katz notes, "they almost universally eat diets high in good carbohydrates."

Scientists discover a natural molecule to treat type 2 diabetes: Molecule mimics some effect of physical exercise

 

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A natural molecule has been found with the potential to treat insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The molecule, a derivative of omega-3 fatty acids, mimics some of the effects of physical exercise on blood glucose regulation.

Researchers at the Université Laval Faculty of Medicine, the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute Research Center, and the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods have discovered a natural molecule that could be used to treat insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The molecule, a derivative of omega-3 fatty acids, mimics some of the effects of physical exercise on blood glucose regulation.

The details of the discovery made by Professor André Marette and his team are published today in Nature Medicine.

It has been known for some time that omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce insulin resistance caused by a diet high in saturated fat. In their earlier work, André Marette and his colleagues had linked these effects to a bioactive lipid called protectin D1. In investigating further, they discovered that another member of the same family named protectin DX (PDX) triggers the production and release of interleukin 6 (IL-6) in muscle cells, a response that also occurs during physical exercise. "Once in the bloodstream, IL-6 controls glucose levels in two ways: it signals to the liver to reduce glucose production and acts directly on the muscles to increase glucose uptake," explains the researcher who is also Scientific Director of Université Laval's Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods.

The researchers used transgenic mice lacking the IL-6 gene to demonstrate the link between PDX and IL-6. PDX had very little effect on the control of blood glucose in these animals. In similar tests conducted on obese diabetic rats, PDX was shown to dramatically improve responsiveness to insulin, the hormone which regulates blood glucose. "The mechanism of action described for PDX represents a new therapeutic strategy for improving glucose control," proposes the researcher. "Its efficacy may be comparable with that of certain drugs currently prescribed to control glycemia."

Even though PDX appears to mimic the effect of physical exercise by triggering IL-6 secretion in the muscles, André Marette warns that it is not a substitute for physical activity. "Exercise has cardiovascular and other hormonal benefits that go well beyond its metabolic effects on the muscles," adds the researcher whose work is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Professor Marette and Université Laval have filed a patent application for PDX and its therapeutic applications. "For us, the next step is to demonstrate the antidiabetic effects in humans and determine the receptor through which PDX acts."

In addition to André Marette, the study is authored by Phillip White, Philippe St-Pierre, Alexandre Charbonneau, Patricia Mitchell, Emmanuelle St-Amand, and Bruno Marcotte.

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Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Université Laval. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Phillip J White, Philippe St-Pierre, Alexandre Charbonneau, Patricia L Mitchell, Emmanuelle St-Amand, Bruno Marcotte, André Marette. Protectin DX alleviates insulin resistance by activating a myokine-liver glucoregulatory axis. Nature Medicine, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nm.3549