Exercise Psychology Unit, University of Toronto
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Health Benefits of Walking: How Many Steps Are Needed
Advice, Health, Fitness, Ask a Fitness Expert
Recent reports suggest that 30 minutes of moderate daily activity are not enough to stay healthy. Instead, 60 minutes are now necessary - particularly if you want to lose weight.
Don't panic! For those of you who don't like gyms or spinning classes, or don't have the time to find 60 minutes in your busy day for moderate physical activity, there is a solution - walking. You probably already know that walking can provide many health benefits. But how much walking do you have to do to complete 60 minutes of daily moderate physical activity?
First, in terms of health benefits, walking has been associated with improvements in both physical and mental health. For example, a US study conducted at Arizona State University found that women who accumulated more steps per day (on average more than 10,669 steps per day) had a lower body mass index (BMI), a lower percentage of body fat, smaller waist circumferences, lower levels of serum leptin, C reactive protein, and insulin, suggesting less risk of chronic disease, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Treat Depression with Exercise
Advice, Happiness, Health, Fitness
Depression is the most common mental illness in Canada. In particular, young adult women experience a higher rate of depression than at any other period across the lifespan and the rate of depression in women aged 18–24 years is at least two times higher than the rate in men in the same age group. Medication and/or talking therapies are the front-line treatment strategies for depression. However, many people do not seek treatment, or wait too long to receive treatment.
Health professionals can never fully meet the need for treatment in mental health care and thus it's also useful to look at other strategies that could reach a broader population who can't access therapy or prefer not to use medication. One alternative strategy may be exercise.
Getting in Shape is a Privilege: Sport for Women in the Developing World
Happiness, Health, Ask a Fitness Expert
We've all heard that fat is a feminist issue, but how many of us have considered that physical activity is a feminist issue? At the Exercise Psychology Unit, we do research on how best to get people more active and enjoy the benefits of physical activity. However, when I watch news coverage about recent natural disasters, I am reminded that access and opportunities to engage in physical activity and sport can be a taken-for-granted privilege that is not always available outside western countries. Sadly, I have learned that due to political, socio-economic, cultural and religious barriers, many girls and women who live in socio-economically-deprived regions that are war-torn, gender-oppressed, and racist, lack these very same opportunities to be active that we so readily enjoy.
CrossFit and Boot Camp: Are These Programs for You?
Advice, Health, Fitness, Ask a Fitness Expert
Like many people this year, I decided to make a New Year's resolution that would see me become more physically active. After years of performing the same workout three to four times per week, I wanted a change and to try something new.On the way home from work one evening, a friend recommended I try CrossFit and after telling him that I had no idea what CrossFit was, he responded: "Allow me to introduce you to Angie, Elizabeth, and Cindy."
Over the next three days I became very familiar with Angie, Elizabeth, and Cindy. Not individuals, but rather the names of exercise programs given by CrossFit: Angie, Elizabeth, and Cindy represented sheer physical and mental exhaustion. For instance, Angie consisted of 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats in thirty minutes. Elizabeth and Cindy weren't much easier.
What exactly is CrossFit?
Want to Improve Your Sex Life? Start Exercising
Sex, Advice, Fitness, Ask a Fitness Expert
It is a common assertion that "sex sells," which begs the question, can sex be used as motivation to get people more active? Some of the recent posts published by the Exercise Psychology Unit team have talked about some of the social benefits of being physically active. For example, physical activity not only improves a person's body image and self-esteem, but other people also tend to perceive physically active people to be friendlier, more sociable, and more attractive. So being active may be giving individuals greater opportunities to develop social contacts and relationships -- but with sexual implications? While it may be superficial, physical attractiveness is one evolutionary quality in choosing a partner. So after all the sweat and tears of physical activity to look and feel better, does it have a positive effect on one's sex life?
Can You Fight the 'Obesity Gene'?
Hold on a second. There's a gene for obesity? Really?! Wow. Man, that's bad news. Wait (panic kicks in)... What if I have it? Oh, I bet I have it. Great. So what, you mean I'm just "destined" to be fatter than your average bear? Seriously, what a cruel twist of fate that is.Was that your reaction when you found out that there was actually a gene that could make you fatter? For those of you who don't have a clue what I'm on about, here's what happened: In April 2007, news broke about a gene found to increase the susceptibility to obesity. The UK research team discovered the gene (known as FTO) in a group of 2,000 diabetics while conducting a genome-wide search for susceptibility to type-2 diabetes. The FTO gene was strongly linked to body mass index (BMI).
The strength of the genetic influence depends on whether you have inherited one or two copies of the FTO gene variant. For the unluckiest, who have inherited two copies, you are likely to weigh, on average, 7 lbs (3 kg) more (and are about 70 percent more likely to be obese) than those who do not have the FTO variant at all. For those who have escaped with just one copy, you could weigh, on average, 2.6 lbs (1.2 kg) more than the genetically risk-free group. Sadly, the odds of escaping without a single copy, my friend, are not good. Over 50 percent of people of European descent will have one or two copies, with 16 percent of those having both.
Is Your Neighbourhood Hurting Your Fitness Goals?
They say you are what you eat, but perhaps you are also where you live. Decades of research in exercise psychology have tended to examine individual factors in an effort to motivate people to exercise, make them more confident and to persuade them to think more positively about the benefits of being active, but a recent body of research has started to look at how the environments we live and work in help or stop us from being physically active.For example, a recent Canadian study examined how the presence and location of parks is related to the amount of physical activity people get. Researchers recruited over 900 participants in Waterloo, Ontario and using a mapping tool, they located each participant's home on a map and counted the number of parks and total area of those parks within one kilometre from the home. They also measured the distance to the closest park from their home. Finally, participants were asked to record the duration, intensity, and location for each physical activity bout that was longer than 10 minutes, for seven days.
Want to Impress People? All it Takes Is Exercise!
Happiness, Fitness, How to Be Happy
I'm sure many of you have heard, time and time again, about the numerous health benefits that exercise can provide for you, such as protection against cancer, heart disease and obesity. However, did you also consider the benefits exercise can have on your image? That's right, being active can also help to bolster the impressions that others form of you (a fact that may have come in handy for this past Valentine's Day).Self-presentation is a term that refers to processes by which people attempt to monitor and control the impressions others form of them. At work, one may laugh at a colleague's joke that is not funny at all, while on a first date one may skip dessert to avoid seeming overindulgent. These are all examples where self-presentation comes into play. Exercise is not an exception.
Many studies have shown the self-presentational benefits of exercise (known as the 'exerciser stereotype'). A recent study conducted at two Canadian universities (University of Alberta and University of Western Ontario) illustrates the exerciser stereotype among 470 respondents. In this study, participants were instructed to "think of people who do not exercise regularly" and were then asked to rate them on a series of personality (e.g., motivated, happy, undisciplined) and physical (e.g., healthy, fat, energetic) characteristics. They were then asked to "think of people who exercise regularly" and to rate them on the same list of characteristics.
Who do you suppose had the better rating?
Want to Curb Your Cravings? Get Moving!
If diamonds are a girl's best friend, then what are chocolates? It is not uncommon to find yourself in a love-hate relationship with chocolates. You love that sweet, savoury taste as they melt gently and smoothly on your tongue to the warmth of your mouth. But, soon after consumption, you begin to wonder if you might have had just a few too many. You bust out the mental calculator, and using your chocolate-stained fingers, you start playing the game of counting calories. Then you make (empty) promises to yourself about how next time, there will be more self-control, or how next time, it will be different. Not long after this bout of will power and a period of chocolate abstinence, there it is again, that devilish voice in your head. It seems to be a mind reader, and it's even more reliable when you are feeling upset or when stress has gotten the better of you. Then the voice starts putting imaginary tastes in your mouths and thoughts of how gratifying it would be to just have another piece flood your brain. Now, all you want is to indulge in that decadent, sugary goodness.
Well, looks like you're in a bind. Or rather, a chocolaty, sticky situation...
Sitting Too Much: What's an Office Worker to Do?
There's been something I've been meaning to get off my chest. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure I've enjoyed for some time now and I don't think I'm alone. It may not seem horrible to you, but trust me, it's deadly. My guilty pleasure began two months ago and to be honest, I'm not exactly sure what brought it on. It could be the result of the cold winter temperatures, the recent acquisition of a Fritz Hansen chair, a botched appendectomy, or the fact that I've grown addicted to watching television programs on the Internet. Frankly, I'm not sure which it could be, but the fact remains I have developed a bad habit. You see, I've grown a fondness for sitting. This is a major problem for me because I research physical activity for a living. Now, I should be clear, this is additional sitting time on top of my already necessary sitting time. Like many people, I commute to work, eat at a table and work in an office environment. The reality is that we all have to sit during the course of the day. Chances are you're probably sitting right now, reading this story. There's no way around it -- we spend a lot of time sitting.
