Welcome to the May issue of FitNews.
The recent weather has given us a lovely start to the summer months, encouraging us to get outside and exercise in the sunshine. Although this is the way many of us would prefer to stay active, if this summer turns out to be a washout like last year, don’t fret just head to the shopping centre and we don’t mean for the summer sales! ‘Mallercise’ is the lasest craze sweeping the states, and where they lead the UK follow. Power walking through undercover shopping arcades, burning calories and all with a little window shopping provides a far more attractive option to the gym any day! Read on for more on this story…
This month we announce the new edition of the BASES career guide written in association with Human Kinetics. This fantastic guide gives all the necessary advice for those entering a career in sport and exercise science.
| New career guide from BASES and Human Kinetics |
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 The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) have published a new and fully updated edition of their career guide, A Guide to Careers in Sport and Exercise Sciences. The free, downloadable guide for prospective and current sport and exercise science students has been written in association with Human Kinetics, the leading information provider in the physical activity field. BASES are the recognised UK professional body for promoting sport and exercise sciences in the UK. Founded in 1984, BASES represent sport and exercise sciences nationally and internationally. With sport and exercise science fast becoming one of the most popular subjects to study at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, this career guide has been created to help students shape their future career paths, with information on the following:
Complete with useful websites and practical information, this easy-to-read guide will provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about careers in sport and exercise science, helping students on the journey to achieving their dream job. The BASES A Guide to Careers in Sport and Exercise Sciences is free to download from the BASES website www.bases.org.uk/newsite/studentcareers.asp |
| Make the right food choices with the best-selling sports nutrition guide! |
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 Boost your energy, manage stress, build muscle, lose fat and improve your performance with the excellent new fourth edition of Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook! With over 500,000 copies sold, this book has become the all-time best-selling sports nutrition guide on the market. An internationally known specialist in sports dietetics, Clark offers sound nutritional advice for active people. This updated edition includes the latest sports nutrition research on hydration and fluid intake, vitamins, supplements, energy drinks, organic foods and the role of carbohydrate and protein during exercise, as well as information on the new food pyramid. Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook will assist you in making the right food choices in supermarkets, restaurants and your own kitchen. Whether preparing for competition or simply eating on the go, sport’s leading nutritionist will demonstrate how to get the maximum benefits from the foods you choose and the meals you make. You will also learn how to eat before exercise and events, as well as how to refuel afterwards for optimal recovery. Whether seeking advice on losing weight, getting energised to exercise, or improving health and performance, Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook has the answers you can trust. PRICE: £11.99 (17.99 Euros) |
| The Olympics: Politics and Protest |
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 Leeds Metropolitan University’s Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education will be holding The Olympics: Politics and Protest, a conference which will take place at Leeds Met on 16th, 17th and 18th July 2008. On the evening of 16th July, there will be a Round Table Discussion on the Olympics chaired by Professor Franco Bianchini. On the 17th and 18th July, Keynote Speakers will present various talks. These include Professor John Horne from the University of Central Lancashire, presenting The Olympics: Power, Politics, Protest and Promotion and Professor Helen Lenskij from the University of Toronto, presenting Challenging Olympic Power and Propaganda. Sessions at the conference include, The Olympics ‘Race’ and identity, Paralympic Issues and The Olympics and the Media. The cost is £70 for two days and £40 for one day. There is a 50% discount for students and accommodation is also available. For more information, or to book onto the conference, please contact Anna Towers a.f.towers@leedsmet.ac.uk. The deadline for booking is 20th June 2008. |
| The London Massage Company Summer Skills Workshops |
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 Advance or refresh your skills in sports massage with The London Massage Company’s Summer Skills Workshops, taking place in central London throughout June 2008. Thirteen workshops will run back-to-back, giving attendees the flexibility to choose one or two workshops, or intensify their learning with the whole set. With each workshop attendees will receive an interactive workbook, as well as an attendance certificate. Workshops will take place from 2nd – 20th June and include topics such as ‘Deep Tissue Techniques’, ‘Muscle Energy Technique’, ‘Soft Tissue Release’ and ‘Mechanical Massage’. The workshops are £100 a-day and many professional awarding bodies count one-day workshops as five continuing professional development (CPD) points. For a full breakdown of all workshops and further information on dates and location, visit www.thelondonmassagecompany.com |
| Forget the gym. Head for the shopping centre |
|
 ‘Mallercise’ – power walking while window shopping – is a craze sweeping the US and catching on here. It’s free, safe and, because the weather’s not a problem, you can wear what you want. Shopping or the gym? If retail therapy comes top every time, then you might be the ideal candidate for mall- walking. It’s a fitness trend from the US that now seems to be catching on here. Losing pounds from your thighs, not your pocket, is the idea behind “mallercise”. It involves power-walking around shopping centres and marching up stairs and escalators while simultaneously doing a spot of window-shopping. So popular have such sessions become in the US and Canada that manufacturers now market special “mall- walker” shoes “to give extra traction for smoother, slicker mall floors”. Fans say the advantages of mall-walking include the fact that shopping malls are traffic free, weather resistant and safe. It can also get you reasonably fit. A 30-minute speed walk incorporating some stair climbing and lunges can burn around 200 calories. One of the first mall-walking schemes in the UK was at the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds where groups have been meeting every weekday morning since 2003. Initially part of a joint venture with the South Leeds Health For All (SLHFA) programme and the national Walking the Way to Health project, it now attracts an average of 60 shoppers a week, many of whom are referred by their GP. “We hold the walks on Monday to Friday, before the shops open their doors,” says Liz Greenough, who runs the initiative. “The ground-floor of the centre measures a quarter of a mile from one end to the other and is perfect for people just wanting a little gentle exercise.” Similar programmes now run at shopping centres around the country. The Guardian, 29th April 2008 |
| Bosses asked to wage war on obesity crisis by mixing work with play |
|
 Nipping out of the office for a game of tennis will no longer be considered bunking off under a government initiative to incorporate sport into the national working day. Ministers are due to meet trade union leaders and captains of industry, The Times has learnt, to discuss ways that employees can be involved in high-level sport without jeopardising their careers. This includes being given paid leave to compete or coach. Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, believes that employers could promote a more active lifestyle through their corporate social responsibility schemes. He will put his proposals, part of a broader Active England campaign before the London 2012 Olympics, to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and CBI in the next month. “A healthy workforce is a more productive workforce,” he said. The idea harks back to the 1950s era of factory sports teams, when almost every company fielded its own football and cricket sides. The corporate sector may argue that it already shoulders some of the responsibility for a fitter nation through subsidised gym membership and cycle-to-work schemes. And the City of London has a history of building state-of-the-art facilities; the Bank of England’s sports centre in West London is now home to the Lawn Tennis Association. The Times, May 9th 2008 |
| Gene sequence puts half of UK population at greater risk of obesity, researchers say |
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 A section of genetic code that puts half the population at greater risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease has been discovered by scientists who say those carrying the sequence are on average 2kg (4.4lb) heavier than others, with 2cm larger waistlines and a tendency to become resistant to insulin and vulnerable to late-onset diabetes. While 50% of the UK population carries the obesity-related sequence, it is a third more common among people of Indian Asian ancestry than among Europeans, the scientists said. The finding raises hopes of new measures to curb the soaring obesity rates, including genetic screening programmes to identify children most at risk of what has become one of the leading causes of poor health and mortality in the developed world. “A better understanding of the genes behind problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease means that we will be in a good position to identify people whose genetic inheritance makes them most susceptible,” said Professor Jaspal Kooner, lead author of the study at Imperial College London. “We can’t change their genetic inheritance, but we can focus on preventative measures, including lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise.” The Guardian, May 5th 2008 |
| Lack of exercise puts cancer survivors at risk |
|
 Cancer survivors could be putting their health at risk by being obese and failing to take enough exercise, research suggested today. A study found that breast cancer survivors were among those likely to be fat, which could make their prognosis worse. Obesity and taking little exercise is generally linked to poor disease outcomes, the authors said. In cancer patients, studies have have linked inactivity and being fat with recurrence of the disease, death and a reduced quality of life. More than 114,000 people were questioned for the study, published in the journal Cancer, and asked if they had participated in any activities from a list in the past three months. The activities included walking, jogging, skiing and weight-training, and people were also asked to name activities not listed. They were also asked how often they took part in the activity and how long each session lasted. The authors found that fewer than 22 per cent of survivors were physically active at the ideal level, with the lowest activity rates among female bowel cancer survivors (14 per cent), breast cancer survivors (17 per cent), female skin cancer survivors (19%), and male bowel cancer survivors (20 per cent). Just over 18 per cent of all cancer survivors reported being obese, with little variation among the cancer survivor groups. Obese breast cancer survivors were less likely to be active than obese women without a history of cancer. The Daily Mail, April 21st 2008 |
| Fat-but-fit is myth: Big women who exercise still have double risk of heart disease |
|
 New research challenges the notion that you can be fat and fit, finding that being active can lower but not eliminate heart risks faced by heavy women. “It doesn’t take away the risk entirely. Weight still matters,” said Dr Martha Gulati, a heart specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Previous research has gone back and forth on whether exercise or weight has a greater influence on heart disease risks. The new study involving nearly 39,000 women helps sort out the combined effects of physical activity and body mass on women’s chances of developing heart disease, said Dr Gulati, who wasn’t involved in the research. The study by Harvard-affiliated researchers appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Participants were women aged 54 on average who filled out a questionnaire at the study’s start detailing their height, weight and amount of weekly physical activity in the past year, including walking, jogging, bicycling and swimming. They were then tracked for about 11 years. Overall 948 women developed heart disease. Women were considered active if they followed government-recommended guidelines and got at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week, including brisk walking or jogging. Women who got less exercise than that were considered inactive. Weight was evaluated by body mass index: A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight, while obese is 30 and higher. Compared with normal-weight active women, the risk for developing heart disease was 54 percent higher in overweight active women and 87 percent higher in obese active women. The Daily Mail, April 30th 2008 |
| Have they really invented a miracle pill that will let you eat as much as you want and STILL lose weight? |
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 It is every dieter’s dream – a pill that allows you to lose weight safely without actually going on a diet. But such fat-fighting drugs are already the stuff of reality, according to researchers. They say tablets widely used to lower blood pressure could help melt away unwanted pounds as well. Experiments suggest that ACE inhibitor pills can speed up the metabolism, allowing excess weight to be lost quickly. The findings could lead to the pills, taken by millions to combat hypertension, being repackaged as fat-burners. Ultimately, they, or similar drugs, could allow the overweight to shed flab without even setting foot in a gym. With up to a quarter of Britons thought to be trying to lose weight and obesity rates the highest in Europe, such a pill would have mass appeal. Australian researchers made the breakthrough in experiments on mice genetically altered to lack an enzyme found in fat cells. Those lacking this angiotension-converting enzyme, as it is known, weighed 20 per cent less than other mice and had up to 60 per cent less body fat. The GM mice were no more active than the other creatures and ate just as much food but their metabolism was faster. They also processed sugar more quickly, suggesting they were at lower risk of diabetes, says a report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Daily Mail, April 29th 2008 |
| Fitness in the North Convention |
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 Northern Fitness & Education are pleased to announce the next Fitness in the North Convention on 21st June 2008, at Leeds Metropolitan University’s Headingley Campus. This year’s event is sponsored by Modern Pilates. This one-day fitness convention for fitness instructors, personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts, will provide an inspirational action packed day of aerobics, dance, step, aqua, circuits, body conditioning, yoga, pilates, mind/body, workshops, masterclasses and specialist lectures. The day is designed to give new ideas, motivate and educate and will ensure you can inject some enthusiasm into your teaching. Whether you are a group fitness instructor, gym instructor, aqua instructor, personal trainer or health professional there is something on offer for you. There are over 40 sessions to choose from and the fantastic early bird price of £39 includes comprehensive session notes. There will also be a Trade Show with a wide range of companies selling sportswear, music and training courses. Reiki and Sports Massage will also be available to book on the day for £5 per session. For more information, please call Northern Fitness & Education on 01943 879816 |
| Tecar Verona-Ghirada Team Sport Conference, From the Laboratory to the Field |
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 The Tecar Verona-Ghirada Team Sport Conference, From the Laboratory to the Field, will take place from 7-8 June 2008 in Treviso, Italy. This world-class conference presents the latest methods which have been proven to improve team-sport performance. The timing is perfect to provide you with new ideas for the upcoming competitive season. International experts who have experience not only in research, but also working with elite team sport athletes will be speaking at the event. This conference is a must for all researchers, trainers, coaches and students who work with team sports. For more information, please visit www.everywheretravel.it/vtsc2008/ |
| The Olympics: Politics and Protest |
|
|
Leeds Metropolitan University’s Carnegie Faculty of Sport and Education will be holding The Olympics: Politics and Protest, a conference which will take place at Leeds Met on 16th, 17th and 18th July 2008. On the evening of 16th July, there will be a Round Table Discussion on the Olympics chaired by Professor Franco Bianchini. On the 17th and 18th July, Keynote Speakers will present various talks. These include Professor John Horne from the University of Central Lancashire, presenting The Olympics: Power, Politics, Protest and Promotion and Professor Helen Lenskij from the University of Toronto, presenting Challenging Olympic Power and Propaganda. Sessions at the conference include, The Olympics ‘Race’ and identity, Paralympic Issues and The Olympics and the Media. The cost is £70 for two days and £40 for one day. There is a 50% discount for students and accommodation is also available. For more information, or to book onto the conference, please contact Anna Towers a.f.towers@leedsmet.ac.uk. The deadline for booking is 20th June 2008.
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| The London Massage Company Summer Skills Workshops |
|
|
Advance or refresh your skills in sports massage with The London Massage Company’s Summer Skills Workshops, taking place in central London throughout June 2008. Thirteen workshops will run back-to-back, giving attendees the flexibility to choose one or two workshops, or intensify their learning with the whole set. With each workshop attendees will receive an interactive workbook, as well as an attendance certificate. Workshops will take place from 2nd – 20th June and include topics such as ‘Deep Tissue Techniques’, ‘Muscle Energy Technique’, ‘Soft Tissue Release’ and ‘Mechanical Massage’. The workshops are £100 a-day and many professional awarding bodies count one-day workshops as five continuing professional development (CPD) points. For a full breakdown of all workshops and further information on dates and location, visit www.thelondonmassagecompany.com
|
| Forget the gym. Head for the shopping centre |
|
|
‘Mallercise’ – power walking while window shopping – is a craze sweeping the US and catching on here. It’s free, safe and, because the weather’s not a problem, you can wear what you want. Shopping or the gym? If retail therapy comes top every time, then you might be the ideal candidate for mall- walking. It’s a fitness trend from the US that now seems to be catching on here. Losing pounds from your thighs, not your pocket, is the idea behind “mallercise”. It involves power-walking around shopping centres and marching up stairs and escalators while simultaneously doing a spot of window-shopping. So popular have such sessions become in the US and Canada that manufacturers now market special “mall- walker” shoes “to give extra traction for smoother, slicker mall floors”. Fans say the advantages of mall-walking include the fact that shopping malls are traffic free, weather resistant and safe. It can also get you reasonably fit. A 30-minute speed walk incorporating some stair climbing and lunges can burn around 200 calories. One of the first mall-walking schemes in the UK was at the White Rose shopping centre in Leeds where groups have been meeting every weekday morning since 2003. Initially part of a joint venture with the South Leeds Health For All (SLHFA) programme and the national Walking the Way to Health project, it now attracts an average of 60 shoppers a week, many of whom are referred by their GP. “We hold the walks on Monday to Friday, before the shops open their doors,” says Liz Greenough, who runs the initiative. “The ground-floor of the centre measures a quarter of a mile from one end to the other and is perfect for people just wanting a little gentle exercise.” Similar programmes now run at shopping centres around the country. The Guardian, 29th April 2008
|
| Bosses asked to wage war on obesity crisis by mixing work with play |
|
|
Nipping out of the office for a game of tennis will no longer be considered bunking off under a government initiative to incorporate sport into the national working day. Ministers are due to meet trade union leaders and captains of industry, The Times has learnt, to discuss ways that employees can be involved in high-level sport without jeopardising their careers. This includes being given paid leave to compete or coach. Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, believes that employers could promote a more active lifestyle through their corporate social responsibility schemes. He will put his proposals, part of a broader Active England campaign before the London 2012 Olympics, to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and CBI in the next month. “A healthy workforce is a more productive workforce,” he said. The idea harks back to the 1950s era of factory sports teams, when almost every company fielded its own football and cricket sides. The corporate sector may argue that it already shoulders some of the responsibility for a fitter nation through subsidised gym membership and cycle-to-work schemes. And the City of London has a history of building state-of-the-art facilities; the Bank of England’s sports centre in West London is now home to the Lawn Tennis Association. The Times, May 9th 2008
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| Gene sequence puts half of UK population at greater risk of obesity, researchers say |
|
|
A section of genetic code that puts half the population at greater risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease has been discovered by scientists who say those carrying the sequence are on average 2kg (4.4lb) heavier than others, with 2cm larger waistlines and a tendency to become resistant to insulin and vulnerable to late-onset diabetes. While 50% of the UK population carries the obesity-related sequence, it is a third more common among people of Indian Asian ancestry than among Europeans, the scientists said. The finding raises hopes of new measures to curb the soaring obesity rates, including genetic screening programmes to identify children most at risk of what has become one of the leading causes of poor health and mortality in the developed world. “A better understanding of the genes behind problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease means that we will be in a good position to identify people whose genetic inheritance makes them most susceptible,” said Professor Jaspal Kooner, lead author of the study at Imperial College London. “We can’t change their genetic inheritance, but we can focus on preventative measures, including lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise.” The Guardian, May 5th 2008
|
| Lack of exercise puts cancer survivors at risk |
|
|
Cancer survivors could be putting their health at risk by being obese and failing to take enough exercise, research suggested today. A study found that breast cancer survivors were among those likely to be fat, which could make their prognosis worse. Obesity and taking little exercise is generally linked to poor disease outcomes, the authors said. In cancer patients, studies have have linked inactivity and being fat with recurrence of the disease, death and a reduced quality of life. More than 114,000 people were questioned for the study, published in the journal Cancer, and asked if they had participated in any activities from a list in the past three months. The activities included walking, jogging, skiing and weight-training, and people were also asked to name activities not listed. They were also asked how often they took part in the activity and how long each session lasted. The authors found that fewer than 22 per cent of survivors were physically active at the ideal level, with the lowest activity rates among female bowel cancer survivors (14 per cent), breast cancer survivors (17 per cent), female skin cancer survivors (19%), and male bowel cancer survivors (20 per cent). Just over 18 per cent of all cancer survivors reported being obese, with little variation among the cancer survivor groups. Obese breast cancer survivors were less likely to be active than obese women without a history of cancer. The Daily Mail, April 21st 2008
|
| Fat-but-fit is myth: Big women who exercise still have double risk of heart disease |
|
|
New research challenges the notion that you can be fat and fit, finding that being active can lower but not eliminate heart risks faced by heavy women. “It doesn’t take away the risk entirely. Weight still matters,” said Dr Martha Gulati, a heart specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Previous research has gone back and forth on whether exercise or weight has a greater influence on heart disease risks. The new study involving nearly 39,000 women helps sort out the combined effects of physical activity and body mass on women’s chances of developing heart disease, said Dr Gulati, who wasn’t involved in the research. The study by Harvard-affiliated researchers appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Participants were women aged 54 on average who filled out a questionnaire at the study’s start detailing their height, weight and amount of weekly physical activity in the past year, including walking, jogging, bicycling and swimming. They were then tracked for about 11 years. Overall 948 women developed heart disease. Women were considered active if they followed government-recommended guidelines and got at least 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week, including brisk walking or jogging. Women who got less exercise than that were considered inactive. Weight was evaluated by body mass index: A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered overweight, while obese is 30 and higher. Compared with normal-weight active women, the risk for developing heart disease was 54 percent higher in overweight active women and 87 percent higher in obese active women. The Daily Mail, April 30th 2008
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May 25, 2008 at 8:30 am |
[...] of interesting reading and resources identified in the April FitNews the April Academic News the May FitNews and the May Academic News. Happy [...]