Upbeat music can sweeten tough exercise
Insufficiently-active people might benefit from choosing the right tunes
June 20, 2019
Science Daily/University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
New research coming out of UBC's Okanagan campus demonstrates that upbeat music can make a rigorous workout seem less tough. Even for people who are insufficiently active.
Matthew Stork is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences. He recently published a study examining how the right music can help less-active people get more out of their workout -- and enjoy it more.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) -- brief, repeated bouts of intense exercise separated by periods of rest -- has been shown to improve physical health over several weeks of training. But, cautions Stork, it can be perceived as gruelling for many people, especially those who are less active.
"While HIIT is time-efficient and can elicit meaningful health benefits among adults who are insufficiently active, one major drawback is that people may find it to be unpleasant. As a result, this has the potential to discourage continued participation," he says.
Previous research led by Stork and UBC Okanagan's Kathleen Martin Ginis has examined the effects of music during HIIT with recreationally-active people. Their latest study tested the effects of music with participants who were insufficiently-active, used a more rigorous music selection process and implemented a HIIT regimen that is more practical for less-active adults.
The study took place at Brunel University London and Stork worked with Professor Costas Karageorghis, a researcher who studies the effects music has on sport and exercise. First, Stork gathered a panel of British adults to rate the motivational qualities of 16 fast-tempo songs. The three songs with the highest motivational ratings were used for the study.
"Music is typically used as a dissociative strategy. This means that it can draw your attention away from the body's physiological responses to exercise such as increased heart rate or sore muscles," says Stork. "But with high-intensity exercise, it seems that music is most effective when it has a fast tempo and is highly motivational."
Next, a separate group of 24 participants completed what has been referred to as the 'one-minute workout' -- three 20-second all-out sprints, totaling 60 seconds of hard work. A short rest separated the sprints, for a total exercise period of 10 minutes including a warm-up and cool-down. Participants completed these HIIT sessions under three different conditions -- with motivational music, no audio or a podcast that was devoid of music.
Participants reported greater enjoyment of HIIT. They also exhibited elevated heart rates and peak power in the session with music compared to the no-audio and podcast sessions.
"The more I look into this, the more I am surprised," he says. "We believed that motivational music would help people enjoy the exercise more, but we were surprised about the elevated heart rate. That was a novel finding."
Stork believes the elevated heart rates may be explained by a phenomenon called 'entrainment.'
"Humans have an innate tendency to alter the frequency of their biological rhythms toward that of musical rhythms. In this case, the fast-tempo music may have increased people's heart rate during the exercise. It's incredible how powerful music can be."
Stork's research indicates that for people who are deemed insufficiently active, music can not only help them work harder physically during HIIT but it can also help them enjoy HIIT more. And because motivational music has the power to enhance people's HIIT workouts, it may ultimately give people an extra boost to try HIIT again in the future.
"Music can be a practical strategy to help insufficiently active people get more out of their HIIT workouts and may even encourage continued participation."
The study was published this week in the Psychology of Sport and Exercise. Stork received financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research over the course of this project.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190620100027.htm
High-intensity exercise improves memory in seniors
October 31, 2019
Science Daily/McMaster University
Researchers at McMaster University who examine the impact of exercise on the brain have found that high-intensity workouts improve memory in older adults.
The study, published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, has widespread implications for treating dementia, a catastrophic disease that affects approximately half a million Canadians and is expected to rise dramatically over the next decade.
Researchers suggest that intensity is critical. Seniors who exercised using short, bursts of activity saw an improvement of up to 30% in memory performance while participants who worked out moderately saw no improvement, on average.
"There is urgent need for interventions that reduce dementia risk in healthy older adults. Only recently have we begun to appreciate the role that lifestyle plays, and the greatest modifying risk factor of all is physical activity," says Jennifer Heisz, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University and lead author of the study.
"This work will help to inform the public on exercise prescriptions for brain health so they know exactly what types of exercises boost memory and keep dementia at bay," she says.
For the study, researchers recruited dozens of sedentary but otherwise healthy older adults between the ages of 60 and 88 who were monitored over a 12-week period and participated in three sessions per week. Some performed high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) while a separate control group engaged in stretching only.
The HIIT protocol included four sets of high-intensity exercise on a treadmill for four minutes, followed by a recovery period. The MICT protocol included one set of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for nearly 50 minutes.
To capture exercise-related improvements in memory, researchers used a specific test that taps into the function of the newborn neurons generated by exercise which are more active than mature ones and are ideal for forming new connections and creating new memories.
They found older adults in the HIIT group had a substantial increase in high-interference memory compared to the MICT or control groups. This form of memory allows us to distinguish one car from another of the same make or model, for example.
Researchers also found that improvements in fitness levels directly correlated with improvement in memory performance.
"It's never too late to get the brain health benefits of being physically active, but if you are starting late and want to see results fast, our research suggests you may need to increase the intensity of your exercise," says Heisz.
She cautions that it is important to tailor exercise to current fitness levels, but adding intensity can be as simple as adding hills to a daily walk or increasing pace between street lamps.
"Exercise is a promising intervention for delaying the onset of dementia. However, guidelines for effective prevention do not exist. Our hope is this research will help form those guidelines."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191031112522.htm
Working it out: Researchers find exercise may help fight depression in seniors
February 7, 2019
Science Daily/McMaster University
The benefits of exercise are widely known but kinesiologists have for the first time found that physical activity may help fight depression in seniors by stimulating muscle-generated mood boosters.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Physiology -- Cell Physiology, reveal that the underlying mechanisms which make us feel good when we exercise persist into old age and highlight the importance of staying active.
"A previous study demonstrated these mechanisms in healthy young adults, however, it was unknown whether the muscle deterioration which accompanies aging would preclude older adults from achieving similar exercise-induced benefits," explains David Allison, lead author on the study and a postdoctoral fellow in McMaster's Department of Kinesiology.
"This could have important implications concerning the use of exercise as a treatment or a preventative strategy for depression in seniors," he says.
Little is known about the relationship between skeletal muscle and mental health, or how exercise impacts this relationship.
Earlier research has shown that physical activity may help to 'turn on' genes within skeletal muscle which can then influence the key metabolic pathways that ultimately promote mood-enhancing chemicals, such as serotonin, within the brain.
Muscle loss is a common problem in the elderly which may restrict that pathway and therefore increase the risk for depression, says Allison.
For the study, a group of healthy men, aged 65 and over, followed a 12-week protocol of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on a stationary bike once a week combined with bi-weekly strength training sessions.
Researchers analyzed blood samples and changes to muscle and determined that three months of exercise was enough to enhance gene expression within the skeletal muscle.
"Even individuals who are already metabolically healthy -- with good weight, good blood pressure and blood sugar levels -- need to prioritize regular physical activity to maintain or improve upon their mental health," says Allison. "We have shown such benefits are still achievable in old age and further emphasize the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle."
In the future, researchers hope to explore the relationship between mental health and exercise among the clinically depressed to see if similar biochemical changes can be achieved.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190207111309.htm