Pump some iron, then some hand sanitizer

While at the gym the other morning we noticed a sizable bottle of hand sanitizer where none had been before. While our gym always stocks disinfectant cleaner and paper towels with which to wipe down machines, the sanitizer was something new, and we couldn't help question if it was a pre-emptive strike against the H1N1 flu, or even the seasonal flu, for that matter.

Wondering if other gyms were concerned with the spread of flu germs, we called Nanette Pattee Francini, president and founder of the Sports Club/LA, who said that although hand sanitizer has been available to members for years, trainers have recently been advised to use it, and have clients use it after every workout. "We've had it in the gym for years because it's a smart idea," she says. "With the trainers, we explained that it's good to get into the habit. And we're definitely asking any team member who is feeling sick to please stay home. But I haven't noticed anybody sniffling and sneezing at the club."

Most people know they should wipe down cardio and weight machines after using them, but not everyone does. Even if you don't see tell-tale sweat droplets on equipment before using it, health experts advise cleaning it anyway before hopping on. And of course, wash your hands before leaving the gym.

What flu-related changes have you seen at your gym? Extra signs asking people to clean off machines? Drum-size containers of hand sanitizer? People on the stair climber wearing protective face masks? Or is it business as usual? Let us know what's happening.

--Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Gregory Bull / Associated Press

To stay on your toes, pay attention to your arms

Dancers are known for their controlled movements, the result of years of training and practice. But not all dancers are created equal--some have better perception of their upper bodies than others, which could have implications for non-dancers as well, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan compared upper body proprioception levels for modern dancers and Irish dancers, the latter known for their fancy footwork while their arms stay mostly still. Proprioception is the sense of where one's limbs are as they move through space, and dancers, athletes and the like are typically very aware of arm and leg placement.

Ten modern dancers and eight Irish dancers were studied (each with an average 10 or more years of experience), plus a 10-person control group that had no long-term dance, sports or music training. Each group was given physical proprioceptive matching tasks using their arms. The modern dancers made fewer total errors than the Irish dancers or controls, and scored almost 30% better than the Irish dancers in tests measuring upper limb awareness.

Although the study was small, it suggests there may be a use-it-or-lose-it factor when it comes to limb awareness and movement, and physical therapy and rehab programs that target only the lower body to increase balance might need to include the upper body as well.

The study was presented recently at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Michael Le Poer Trench

Cycling is on the rise, but injuries may be, too

Bicycle riding is increasingly popular, thanks to more environmentally conscious people, a desire to be fit, and wanting to save money on gas. The downside, however, is that cyclists may be suffering more injuries.

That's the conclusion of researchers who looked at accident rates and severity from 1996 to 2006. Among 329 bicycle accident cases admitted to the Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center at Denver Health Medical Center, the length of stay increased substantially over those years. In addition, an increase was seen in chest injuries (up 15%), and abdominal injuries tripled over the last five years of the study. About one-third of 118 patients had head injuries.

In a Reuters story, lead researcher Dr. Jeffry Kashuk from the University of Colorado, Denver, said, "Although the public is very enthusiastic about bicycle use as a means of transportation, we think that infrastructure has lagged behind in the U.S. The government is pushing bike days, and rebates for bike use. Communities are putting in bicycle kiosks." He added that only limited data exist showing there are bikeways to support an increase in bike use.

The findings from the study were presented at the American College of Surgeons' 95th annual Clinical Congress being held this week in Chicago.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Breastfeeding moms: Want lovely bones? Do some exercise

Breastfeeding mothers do a lot for their babies, but the process of breastfeeding can shortchange moms when it comes to bone mineral density.

During pregnancy and lactation a woman's body can show bone mineral loss even greater than what the average woman experiences after menopause. While bone mineral density usually returns to normal levels when lactation stops, it doesn't return to pre-pregnancy levels in all women.

But exercise, according to a new study, may help shore up that bone loss. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro recruited 20 breastfeeding women, randomly assigning half to an exercise intervention group, and half to a control group that did no exercise. Neither group changed their diet.

The 16-week exercise program consisted of aerobic activity three days a week (brisk walking) and resistance training three days a week that emphasized increasing core strength. Individual exercises included squats, bench presses, push-ups, abdominal planks and dead lifts and were done at home with handheld weights and a stability ball. Since all study participants were sedentary at the beginning of the study, time and intensity of the exercises increased gradually.

All that exercise paid off--the workout group showed significantly less bone mineral density losses in the lumbar spine compared with the control group. The intervention group also showed greater muscular strength and improved endurance over the control group. That group also lost substantially less lean body mass than the control.

The study concluded: "Additional research is needed to determine whether these beneficial effects of exercise continue after weaning, resulting in higher [bone mineral density] and decreasing the risk of osteoporosis in later life."

The study appears in the October issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Barbara Peacock/CORBIS

Hang from straps, cycle with a celeb and defy gravity for a good cause

Fitness classes are a luxury for some, since they can be pricey or require membership to a gym. But this Saturday you can take classes to your heart's content for a minimum $20 donation at any Crunch gym. Yes, that means you can cycle like a whirling dervish or pretend you're Spider-Man in the BodyWeb with TRX System class.

This Crunch-a-thon is for a good cause--Augie's Quest, which raises money for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. It was started by Augie Nieto, former co-founder and president of Life Fitness, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2005. The fitness industry has rallied around Nieto, with Crunch throwing its support behind the effort with this event.

Members and nonmembers can take those exciting classes Crunch is known for for one donation. While registration is available Saturday, pre-registration is recommended. After all, you don't want to be shut out of the the AntiGravity Yoga "Wings" class. Personal training is also offered, and though that's an extra fee (30-minute sessions are $30 and 60-minute sessions are $50), the proceeds go to Augie's Quest as well.

All you "Biggest Loser" fans won't want to miss trainer Bob Harper's group cycling class at the Los Angeles club at 10:30 a.m. That's right. Bob. Harper.

The first 500 people to register will also receive a Crunch-a-thon T-shirt. The bragging rights alone are worth it.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo: The BodyWeb with TRX System class. Photo credit: Crunch

Stiff back and legs = stiff arteries, study says

Want to know whether your arteries have begun to stiffen, putting you at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease? Bend over.

Sit down against a wall, with your legs on the floor in front of you, that is, and try to touch your toes. In fact, reach beyond them if your yoga, Pilates or daily stretching routine make it possible.

For people over 40 -- even if they're a little overweight -- a new study shows that trunk flexibility may be a good indicator of arterial flexibility. Conversely, the study found, stiffness at the midsection seems to reflect arteries that have begun to lose their elasticity as well.

Elastic blood vessels help moderate blood pressure. Not surprisingly, then, researchers found that those who could not reach to or beyond their toes in the sit-and-stretch test were more likely than their flexible peers to have higher systolic blood pressure -- the peak pressure reading taken as the heart contracts). While midsection stiffness predicted arterial stiffness, the Japanese researchers found that subjects' muscle strength and cardio-respiratory fitness, as measured by their performance on an stationary bicycle, did not yield any clues to the shape their blood vessels were in.

The study, published today in the American Journal of Physiology, helps unpack the ingredients that make for a heart-healthy person. While regular exercisers have generally been found to have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, researchers have been in the dark about what part of regular exercise contributes most to that affect.

The Japanese study suggests that the key may be the flexibility that's a frequent side benefit of regular exercise. That's suggested by another recent study, which found that middle-age and older adults who undertook a stretching-exercise regimen significantly improved the flexibility of their carotid artery, which carries oxygen-rich blood to the brain (and which, when blocked, is the cause of an ischemic stroke).

So strike that yoga pose, strengthen your core and stretch your body, say the researchers: it may hold age-related arterial stiffening -- and cardiovascular disease -- at bay. "We believe that flexibility exercise ... should be integrated as a new recommendation into the known cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise," Kenta Yamamoto, a study author from Japan's National Institute of Health and Nutrition and the University of North Texas, said in a press release.

Need some help with those stretching exercises? Here are some tips from the American Heart Assn.

--Melissa Healy

Brain drain could affect your workout

You've worked a pedal-to-the-medal day and now it's time to head to the gym. But as you hop on the treadmill and start to jog, your legs feel like lead.

You're probably not alone. According to a new study, energy put toward one task may deplete energy for more undertakings, like exercising.

Researchers at McMaster University in Canada studied 61 college students who were randomly assigned to two groups. Both performed 15-minute sessions on a stationary bike. In between, the intervention group was given a Stroop test in which they were given a word like "red" that was printed in blue, and asked to read the word. The control group was asked to read similar words that appeared in their actual color. All participants were also asked to plan a future workout, estimating at what intensity they'd work out.

All study subjects did worse in the second cycling bout than in the first. However, the intervention group showed a larger decrease in the intensity of their exercise. This group also planned a lower-intensity workout than did those in the control group.

But this isn't a pass to skip a workout if exercising after a tough day is the only option, says lead author Kathleen Martin Ginis, professor of health and exercise psychology in the department of kinesiology. Listening to music while exercising is one way to get energy flowing, as is making a concrete date to exercise. To that we'll add having a workout partner, which is great for accountability.

Willpower can even be strengthened, Ginis says, by things like challenging yourself to resisting a piece of cake. "Willpower is like a muscle," she said in a news release. "It needs to be challenged to build itself."

The study was published recently in the journal Psychology & Health.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Sean Masterson

Exercise for moms-to-be may help them avoid having bigger babies

Babies are being born bigger, which isn't necessarily a good thing -- a high birth weight is associated with numerous complications for both mother and child, plus obesity.

But regular exercise during pregnancy may decrease the chance of giving birth to babies with excessive birth weight, according to a new study.

Researchers in Norway examined data from 36,869 single pregnancies documented in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, in which women were asked about their exercise habits. Among those pregnancies, 4,033 babies were born with excessive weight, defined by being in the 90th percentile for weight. More of those heavyweight newborns were born to women who had previously given birth (2,263) than first-time moms (1,770).

More differences were found: Women who had given birth before didn't exercise and tended to be more overweight compared with women who hadn't had a baby.

First-time mothers who exercised at least three times a week during their pregnancy, however, were less likely to give birth to a baby with excessive birth weight, even when the researchers controlled for high blood pressure, diabetes and preeclampsia. Although the results referred to exercise during pregnancy, the researchers point out that women who exercise regularly before becoming pregnant are likely to continue working out throughout their pregnancy.

Although the relationship between exercise and excessive birth weight wasn't as clear cut for women who had previously given birth, researchers believe exercise may provide an overall protective effect on excessive birth weight.

The study appears in the October issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

Exercise helps speed recovery for ICU patients

The wasting away of muscle tissue can be a serious problem for people who are hospitalized and confined to bed due to a critical illness. That lack of mobility and strength can ultimately affect recovery.

But by putting patients through neuromuscular electrical stimulation and having them do simple exercises (some with the aid of devices), muscles can be shored up, speeding recuperation and getting people back on their feet. In a report in the journal Critical Care Medicine published online today, researchers examined studies, which charted patients' increased muscle strength during recuperation.

A team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore has developed a special walker that helps severely ill patients move around more easily, and with fewer helpers. The Moving Our Patients for Very Early Rehabilitation (or MOVER) Aid was created with the help of biomedical engineering students at Johns Hopkins University. It has an equipment tower and a custom-designed walker; the walker comes with a built-in emergency seat so a staff member doesn't have to walk behind the patient with a wheelchair. The tower fits medical supplies and equipment into one neat unit that also allows for easy viewing of display screens. According to the study, "Through this technological aid, the number of staff required to ambulate a mechanically ventilated patient can be reduced from four to two."

The report also points out that cycle ergometers, cycling devices that patients can use while lying in bed, show promise for safely preserving leg muscles while bed-ridden. The machines have also been used on critically ill people who are sedated or immobile. The researchers also point to several studies that show the benefits of electrical stimulation, used often by physical therapists to preserve muscle strength.

"ICU-related muscle weakness is the number one factor in prolonging a patient's recovery and delaying their return to a normal life, including work and recreational activities," said lead author Dr. Dale Needham, a critical care specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in a news release. "Our ICU patients are telling us that they want to be awake and moving," he added. "Gone are the days when we should only think of critically ill patients on complete bed rest."

-- Jeannine Stein

You spin me right round, baby

Like a good pair of jeans, indoor cycling can be paired with just about anything -- movie watching, horoscope reading, even dissimilar workouts like yoga and Pilates. While all of those have been done, something recently popped into our e-mail inbox that looked new and different: indoor cycling combined with a graphic art installation.

Ride! is an all-day indoor cycling marathon at the Avalon in Hollywood Nov. 8 that includes original animated graphics projected on screens in front of about 100 bikes. For $30 riders can choose in which one-hour session they wish to cycle, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

They can also choose from an array of well-known instructors from studios around Southern California: Cindy Bell from Pedal Spin Studio in Montrose, Brandon Hament from The Cycle Annex in South Pasadena, Alan Harvey of Bike 2 the Beat in Newport Beach, Skip Jennings, a Schwinn master instructor, and Debbie Rocker of The Ride in Sherman Oaks.

The event is the brainchild of local computer graphic designer Anaitte Vaccaro, who combines her profession with a yearslong devotion to indoor cycling -- she even used to teach it. She describes the motion graphics, which she was working on when we spoke to her, as "animations of different worlds, and you're going into them. Each instructor will give me their playlist, and I'll edit my images to those." The idea for the event came from wanting to immerse cyclists in a fantasy world. "It's just like I do when I take an indoor cycling class," Vaccaro says. "My mind just wanders off."

Some of the proceeds from the event will benefit Olive Crest, which serves abused, neglected, and at-risk children.

-Jeannine Stein