Most Effective Moves Using Free Weights

Recently, I bit the bullet (is that how the expression goes ) and bought myself three sets of dumbbells: 3lbs, 5 lbs, & 15 lbs. This is in attempt to tone up (and drop body fat/lose weight), by working out at home when I have the time. I work shift work, all crazy hours, plus I'm in school, preparing for Med School yada yada, and with all the gyms here closing relatively early/opening at 7am, I knew this was the best way to go. 

I have belonged to a gym for a while in the past and I've been doing bicep curls, shoulder raises, squats, lunges, and overhead triceps (whatever they're called), but I do want to change it up. 

What have you guys to be the most effective exercises using free weights toning particularly the arms, shoulders and upper back?

-V

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Are drugstore foot-care products effective?

Posted June 22, 2013, 2:00 am

I see lots of products designed to treat foot problems — and I have lots of foot problems. Are the foot care products you can buy in the drugstore worth the money?

For some body parts, the drugstore has little to offer. But you’re right: There are many foot products. To find out if they’re really helpful, I checked with my colleague, Dr. James P. Ioli, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. Here are our thoughts on some common foot care products.

An arch bandage might make your arch feel better and more supported, but it won’t change the structure of your arch or fix serious problems. People with diabetes or poor circulation should avoid these because they could reduce blood flow through the foot. If you don’t have circulation problems, it might be worth a try. Some of my patients really find that arch bandages help their feet feel better.Callus and corn cushions are simple and effective. The doughnut shape keeps pressure off calluses and corns. Change them often; otherwise the skin underneath will start to break down.Stay away from callus and corn removers. The active ingredient, salicylic acid, can harm the healthy skin around the corn or callus.Detoxifying foot pads claim to absorb impurities from the body and aid “natural cleansing.” In a word — bunk! The best way to clean your feet is by washing them with soap and water.Foot files are OK, but use with care. Don’t scrape and scrape until you start to bleed. An old-fashioned pumice stone is a more gentle option for removing dead skin.Foot powders are better than many sprays and can help with sweaty and smelly feet. Some brands contain menthol, which creates a pleasant sensation and smell. Others have an antifungal medication.Moleskin products are cotton flannel with an adhesive backing, not actual moleskin. They are good for reducing friction points in shoes caused by bunions, calluses or corns. If you find yourself using a lot of moleskin, consider attacking the root problem: Switch to more flexible, better-fitting shoes.Nonprescription orthotics are worth a try before considering the prescription ones, which cost a lot and usually aren’t covered by insurance. The flat, foam and gel orthotics cushion the foot nicely. If you overpronate (if your foot rolls inward) or have arch problems, buy a pair with arch support.

Some doctors don’t take foot problems seriously. After all, they’re not fatal. I was probably like them until I developed some arthritis in my feet. It was then I realized how much we walk in the course of a day, and how irritating it is to experience pain whenever you walk.

So it’s good that simple over-the-counter solutions can help out with foot pain. Some are definitely worth trying; others are definitely not worth the money.

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What is the most effective way to do exercise, particularly Calisthenics?

I only like certain forms of exercise, hate running and the gym, so calisthenics and walking are my favourite ways to exercise at the moment. I like doing other things such as ice-skating, swimming, gymnastics etc but they aren't available to me because of location. By calisthenics I mean things like jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, squats and some other things that I don't know the names for.

So I was wondering, is calisthenics a good form of exercise?

And also, what is the best way to do it?

If I was to do 2 hours would it best to do it all at once, or in fragments?

Thanks for your help!

Ps. I know nothing about fitness, but I really want to get toned and more healthy.   

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Study: Older Whooping Cough Vaccine More Effective

But it was phased out because of side effects; newer version works, study notes

By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- The older vaccine for whooping cough that was phased out in the late 1990s is more effective than the current version of the vaccine, a new study contends.

Teenagers who received four shots with the older vaccine -- called whole-cell vaccine -- before they were 2 years old were significantly less likely to become infected with whooping cough during a recent outbreak in California, compared to children who received all of their immunizations with the new vaccines, called the acellular vaccine.

"Teens who were vaccinated with the acellular vaccine appear to have a six times higher risk of [whooping cough] than teens who received four doses of the whole-cell vaccine. And, the teens who received some whole-cell vaccine and some acellular had about a four times higher risk than teens who received all whole-cell vaccines," said the study's lead author, Dr. Nicola Klein, co-director of the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, in Oakland.

Whooping cough, which is also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection. In 2012, the United States had the highest number of whooping cough cases since 1959 with more than 41,000 infections and 18 deaths. Most of the deaths occurred among infants, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The whole-cell vaccine was used from the 1940s to the 1990s, but was phased out due to potential side effects. "The reason we switched away from the whole-cell vaccine was that there were some safety concerns, such as high fevers," Klein explained.

The acellular vaccine was introduced in the 1990s, and has few side effects. However, in recent years, a number of studies have found that the newer vaccine doesn't seem to work for as long as the older vaccine.

California experienced an outbreak of whooping cough in 2010 and 2011. This gave researchers the chance to see how effective the acellular vaccine was compared to the whole-cell vaccine in teens who may have received all of their shots with one or the other vaccine, or possibly with both.

The study included teens born from 1994 to 1999 who got their initial four shots of whooping cough vaccine before they were 2 years old at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Of the study participants, 138 teens had confirmed whooping cough. They were compared to 899 teens who'd had a lab test that confirmed they didn't have whooping cough, and to 54,339 "matched control" teens.

The researchers found that the fewer number of whole-cell vaccines a teen had received, the greater the risk of whooping cough.

Teens who had received all acellular vaccines had a 5.63 times greater risk of whooping cough than teens who'd gotten all whole-cell vaccines. Teens who received both acellular and whole-cell vaccines had a 3.77 times higher risk of whooping cough compared to those who had all whole-cell vaccines.

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Lap-Band Shown Effective for Long-Term Weight Loss

Jan. 18, 2013 -- More than 200,000 weight loss surgeries are performed each year in the U.S.

Several recent studies have questioned the effectiveness and safety of one type, gastric banding, which has led to a decline in its use as patients choose other surgical options.

But the largest and longest study yet of the procedure found that patients followed for up to 15 years maintained significant weight loss -- an average of about 60 pounds.

About half the patients in the study needed additional surgeries to adjust the bands or deal with other complications, but only about 1 in 20 patients opted to have the bands removed.

Researcher Paul O’Brien, MD, of Melbourne, Australia’s Monash University, was a pioneer of the Lap-Band procedure, and his latest study was supported by Allergan Inc., which markets the gastric band system.

He says gastric banding offers an effective, reversible, long-term solution for weight loss as long as patients get good follow-up care and are willing to carefully control the way they eat.

The study is published in the January issue of the Annals of Surgery.

“Placing the band is just the first step in the process,” he says. “Compliance and follow-up are critically important. There are plenty of people out there doing this surgery without a follow-up program for their patients, and they are setting them up for failure.”

The Lap-Band procedure is one of several weight loss surgeries performed in the U.S. and the only one that is easily reversible.

The band is an inflatable silicone ring that is wrapped around the upper part of the stomach to create a pouch the size of a golf ball, which limits the amount of food that can be eaten. The band can be tightened or loosened to increase or decrease the size of the opening to the lower stomach.

The most commonly performed type of gastric bypass surgery also reduces the size of the stomach to that of a golf ball. The surgery also bypasses a section of the small intestine, which limits calorie absorption.

The gastric sleeve procedure involves the surgical removal of a portion of the stomach to create a "sleeve" that connects to the small intestine.

Just a few years ago, gastric banding was widely seen as less risky, less costly, and less invasive than either of the other surgical options, and about half of weight loss procedures in the U.S. involved banding.

But that has changed as the long-term data comparing weight loss surgeries has come in, says Ronald H. Clements, MD, who directs the bariatric surgery program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

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Yoga shown effective for treating chronic neck pain

Nov. 27, 2012 — According to published estimates, some 20 percent of the population suffers from chronic neck pain caused by a variety of structural dysfunctions in the neck, resulting in impaired quality of life and lost work time. A German study published in The Journal of Pain showed that yoga appears to be an effective treatment for neck pain and provides added benefits of improved psychological well being and quality of life.

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The Journal of Pain is the per-review publication of the American Pain Society.

The mainstay of conservative treatment for neck pain is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, and the evidence of its effectiveness is contradictory while side effects, such as nausea and dizziness, are well known. The authors noted that one type of yoga, called lyengar yoga, has been shown effective in other pain syndromes, including low back pain. This activity uses supportive props and the sequences of postures can be tailored to address an individual's medical problem. No randomized controlled clinical trials have been published to assess the efficacy of lyengar yoga for adults with chronic neck pain.

Researchers at Charité-University Medical Center in Berlin and other sites in Germany and Austria studied 77 volunteer patients. Thirty-eight were assigned to the yoga group and 39 to a group treated with exercise. Unfortunately, the dropout rate was higher than anticipated as 24 subjects withdrew or were lost to follow-up. This reduced the study sample to 25 patients in the yoga group and 28 in self-care exercise. They were asked to complete a standardized questionnaire at the outset of the study, after four weeks, and after ten weeks.

The findings showed there was a significant and clinically important reduction in pain intensity in the yoga group. The authors reasoned that yoga might enhance both the toning of muscles and releasing of muscle tension. Relaxation responses, therefore, could reduce stress related muscle tension and modify neurobiological pain perception. They concluded, based on the study data, that lyengar yoga can be a safe and effective treatment option for chronic neck pain. The study results are consistent with the demonstrated benefits of yoga for treating low back pain.

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