Fitness
Exercise Could Help Your Heart by Calming the Brain: Study
MONDAY, April 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — You know exercise is great for your cardiovascular health, but new research suggests that your brain has a lot to do with it.
It’s all about physical activity’s ability to lower stress levels within the brain, explained a team at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston.
Bolstering that finding, their study found that exercise brought the greatest heart benefits to people with histories of depression.
“Physical activity was roughly twice as effective in lowering cardiovascular disease risk among those with depression,” noted study lead author Dr. Ahmed Tawakol. He’s an investigator and cardiologist in the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Center at MGH.
The study was published April 15 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
In the research, Tawakol’s team looked at a median 10 years of data on more than 50,000 people enrolled in the Mass General Brigham Biobank database. All of the participants kept records of their physical activity.
A subset of 774 also underwent brain scans and other tests measuring their stress-linked brain activity.
Over the decade of follow-up, almost 13% of the participants went on to develop heart disease, the researchers reported.
However, folks who met standard recommendations for physical activity were 23% less likely to receive such a diagnosis.
Those individuals also had markedly less brain activity associated with stress than people who exercised less, Tawakol’s team found.
Specifically, fitter folk tended to have greater activity in the brain’s decision-making, impulse-control center, the prefrontal cortex. This area is known to wield some control over the brain’s stress centers, the Boston team explained.
Overall, it appeared that lowered stress levels did have a big role to play in improved heart health, the researchers said. The fact that exercise seemed to especially help folks with a history of depression reinforced that notion.
“Effects on the brain’s stress-related activity may explain this novel observation,” Tawakol said in an MGH news release.
He believes that doctors should mention the brain-heart connection whenever they counsel patients about the benefits of exercise.
More information
Find out more about exercise’s brain benefits at the Cleveland Clinic.
SOURCE: Massachusetts General Hospital, news release, April 15, 2024
Fitness
‘I Keep Myself Very Fit’: Rod Stewart’s Age-Defying Exercise Routine at 81
Sir Rod Stewart is proving that age really is just a number. At 81, the British rock legend still delivers an energetic stage presence that’s stood the test of time – something that wouldn’t be possible without a dedicated, carefully planned training routine.
With 37 dates announced for his 2026 tour, Stewart is gearing up for another demanding year of performances across the US and Europe. He’s more than fit enough to handle it, too, with an indoor swimming pool, gym, golf course and running track all located on his English estate.
‘I keep myself very fit,’ Stewart told AARP. ‘I played soccer all my life – don’t so much anymore, because I had a knee replacement. And I’ve always had a trainer – same guy for 38 years.’
That trainer, Gary O’Connor, works to three key principles when it comes to fitness. ‘You have to look at what’s attainable, what’s repeatable – in other words, it has to be something you can do on a regular basis – and it’s got to be relevant to your lifestyle,’ O’Connor told The Times.
Sir Rod Stewart’s
Underwater Swimming
Stewart’s unconventional pool work traces back to advice from Frank Sinatra, who once told him that strong lungs are built by swimming underwater and holding your breath. Since then, the Maggie May singer has made aquatic training a regular feature of his routine. After consulting with someone from the SBS (Special Boat Service), O’Connor adapted elements of underwater training to suit Stewart.
‘We do a lot of underwater training, where the trainer throws a brick into the pool and I have to dive in, push the brick to the end of the pool, and come up,’ Stewart said. Flippers and rebreather tubes – a closed-circuit diving system that allows him to stay underwater longer by recycling his breath – also feature, though bricks remain a constant. Stewart will tread water holding a brick overhead, retrieve bricks from the bottom of the pool, or move them from the deep end to the shallow end.
‘He really likes doing this because he says it helps his singing. This is all about holding your breath,’ O’Connor explained. ‘We have obstacles and he’s the kind of guy who says, “Time me,” and then tries to beat it. These aren’t just swim sessions – they’re almost military type workouts.’
Chasing a 100m Record
Stewart isn’t training solely for the stage. In 2025, he revealed his ambition to break the 100m world record for his age group. ‘I got it [his 100m time] down to 19 seconds by learning how to push off,’ he said. ‘I’m going to try and do 17 seconds, which I think is a world record for an 80-year-old.’
With American Kenton Brown clocking an extraordinary 14.21 seconds at the 2024 Nevada Senior Games, Stewart would need to make significant gains to become the fastest ever in the 80-plus category. His private track certainly helps, while O’Connor regularly has him running on a treadmill under medical supervision. ‘I work with a definitive maximum heart rate rather than a calculated one,’ he said.
Build strength, add muscle and strip body fat in 2026 with this simple four-week training plan from Men’s Health fitness director Andrew Tracey. You’ll also get a fully comprehensive nutrition guide, giving you the tools to create a smart, sustainable calorie deficit – without compromising your training. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to the Men’s Health app and start training today.
Click here
Pre-Show Warm-Up
Performing for two hours on stage multiple times a week would be demanding for anyone, let alone someone in their 80s. Stewart understands the importance of preparation and sticks to a thorough pre-show warm-up to stay consistent night after night.
‘I’ll do my vocal warm-up, which takes half an hour, and ride a stationary bike to pump my legs up,’ Stewart said. O’Connor then adds deep-tissue massage, percussion therapy and a full-body mobility routine to loosen him up. The bike work, meanwhile, is short and intense.
‘We’ll do perhaps three to five one-minute pushes out of the saddle just to pump your thighs up so that you feel ready to go,’ O’Connor added.
Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram or on X
Fitness
Buy Home Fitness Exercise Equipment Packages Sale Announced by Strongway Gym Supplies
Coventry, UK – February 09, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –
Strongway Gym Supplies has announced the sale of home fitness exercise equipment packages through its online platform. The bundled packages combine multiple pieces of training equipment at set prices, now available for purchase across the United Kingdom.
The packages usually come with a mix of barbells, weight plates, benches, and storage racks that are meant to work together as full training setups. This method solves the problem of buying separate items that don’t fit or work together, which is a common problem when people build their own home gyms over time by buying different things.
Package options vary in scope, with entry-level bundles covering basic equipment for users just starting out and more comprehensive sets including power cages, cable systems, and heavier weight plate selections. The pricing structure reflects the total equipment included, with larger packages costing more but offering better value per item compared to buying each piece separately.
Depending on the bundle, the weight plates in the packages are either made of cast iron or rubber-coated steel. Rubber coating cuts down on noise and damage to floors, which is important in homes where equipment sits on concrete, wood, or tile floors. Cast iron versions are cheaper, but users need to be more careful with them so that the surface doesn’t get damaged when loading or stacking plates.
Barbells included follow Olympic specifications with rotating sleeves that accommodate the weight plates packaged alongside them. The rotation reduces wrist strain during dynamic movements where the bar needs to spin freely, such as cleans or snatches. Standard seven-foot bars appear in most packages, though some bundles include shorter bars suited to tighter spaces.
Mandip Walia, Co-Director at Strongway Gym Supplies, said the package approach emerged from customer feedback about the complexity of building home gyms from scratch. “People often don’t know where to start or what actually works together,” he noted. “A barbell might look fine on its own, but if the sleeves don’t match the plates or the bench height doesn’t align with the rack, it creates problems. Packaging compatible items together removes that trial and error. Home-based training can improve muscle strength, endurance, power, and balance across different age groups, which highlights why having proper equipment at home matters.”
Benches in the packages offer adjustable positions ranging from flat through to incline and decline angles. The adjustment mechanisms use pin systems that lock positions without requiring tools, letting users switch angles between exercises. Some packages include benches with leg attachment points for curl and extension movements, whilst basic bundles stick to flat or minimally adjustable designs.
For more details about these deals, readers can vist: https://strongway.co.uk/collections/ultimate-package-deals.
Some packages come with storage solutions, like dumbbell racks or plate trees that keep weights in order between workouts. These changes are important in homes where equipment needs to be kept in one place instead of spread out over the floor. Vertical storage options take up less floor space because they stack weights up instead of out.
Power cages are included in higher-level packages. They come with safety bars and J-hooks for barbell work, as well as built-in cable systems for pulldowns and rowing. The cages combine different types of exercise into one frame, which is great for people who don’t have a lot of space but still want to be able to do a lot of different types of workouts.
Delivery arrangements cover the packages across mainland UK addresses. Items ship in multiple boxes due to component size and weight distribution. Heavier packages may require additional handling, with delivery timelines specified during the ordering process based on total weight and destination.
Additional information regarding home fitness equipment is available at: https://strongway.co.uk/collections/home-fitness.
Randeep Walia, Co-Director at Strongway Gym Supplies, remarked that more and more people are understanding the importance of home fitness. “Remarkably, there is no significant difference in the results of home-based fitness routines compared to gym exercise routines. People end up saving costs on gym memberships, with an added benefit of designing their own exercise schedules, independent of gym timings.”
The rise of home fitness has been accompanied by an increase in products from equipment suppliers, including Strongway Gym Supplies, giving consumers a range of home gym configurations at different price points.
For readers interested in exploring other equipment besides the package deals, the full product range can be accessed at: https://strongway.co.uk/.
###
For more information about Strongway Gym Supplies, contact the company here:
Strongway Gym Supplies
Mandip Walia
+44-800-001-6093
sales@strongway.co.uk
Strongway Gym Supplies, 26 The Pavilion, Coventry CV3 1QP, United Kingdom
Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. XPRMedia and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact pressreleases@xpr.media
Fitness
Why ‘Eat Less, Exercise More’ Fails Most People With Type 2 Diabetes
Last Updated:
‘Eat less, exercise more’ sounds logical but it often fails people with Type 2 diabetes. Dr Gagandeep Singh explains why insulin resistance requires smarter strategies for reversal
Type 2 diabetes, can be reversed in many patients but only when we stop offering motivational clichés and start offering science-backed, biologically aligned solutions.
Every doctor has said it. Every patient has heard it: “Eat less, exercise more.” It sounds logical, almost unchallengeable. But after years of treating patients with Type 2 diabetes, Dr Gagandeep Singh, MBBS, Founder, Redial Clinic | Specialist in Reversing Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity & PCOS without Medication is unequivocal, “It is one of the most well-intentioned yet harmful pieces of advice in modern medicine.”
Not because diet and exercise don’t matter they absolutely do but because this oversimplified prescription ignores the metabolic reality of what is actually happening inside a diabetic patient’s body.
The Problem Isn’t Laziness It’s Biology
Type 2 diabetes is not a discipline problem. As Dr Singh explains, it is a complex metabolic dysfunction involving insulin resistance, fatty liver infiltration, and impaired beta-cell function. “When you tell a patient with significant insulin resistance to simply eat less,” he says, “you’re asking their body to run on less fuel while their cells are already starving for glucose they can’t absorb efficiently.”
The predictable outcome is compensatory hunger, fatigue, and eventual relapse. Calorie restriction without metabolic context, Dr Singh notes, is like asking someone to drive farther with a leaking fuel tank. “You haven’t fixed the leak, you’ve only reduced the supply.”
Why Generic Exercise Advice Backfires
“Exercise more” is equally incomplete advice. According to Dr Singh, a patient who starts walking for 30 minutes a day is certainly doing something positive but walking alone rarely changes insulin sensitivity in a meaningful way. “Muscle is metabolically active tissue,” he explains. “It acts as a glucose sink, pulling sugar out of the bloodstream even at rest.”
Yet most patients are never guided to prioritise resistance training. Instead, they are told to “be more active,” which often translates to moderate cardio that barely moves the metabolic needle. Worse still, crash diets combined with excessive cardio can lead to the loss of lean muscle mass, the very tissue required to reverse insulin resistance.
“The scale may go down,” Dr. Singh cautions, “but metabolic health often worsens underneath.”
What Actually Works
After more than twelve years of practising intermittent fasting himself and implementing structured metabolic protocols with hundreds of patients, Dr. Singh has found that success does not come from simpler advice, but from smarter systems.
“Body recomposition matters far more than weight loss,” he explains. Losing visceral fat while preserving or building lean muscle leads to far more durable metabolic improvement than chasing a number on the scale. Time-restricted eating typically 14 to 16-hour fasting windows combined with adequate protein intake of 25 to 30 grams per meal, improves insulin sensitivity far more reliably than calorie counting ever does.
Most importantly, reversal requires coordination. As Dr Singh emphasises, effective outcomes come from a system where a physician adjusts medications in real time, a nutritionist customises meal plans around the patient’s lifestyle, and a fitness professional builds progressive resistance training habits. “This is the model that succeeds,” he says, “where ‘eat less, exercise more’ fails every time.”
The Real Failure
The failure, Dr Singh stresses, is not the patient’s. It is the medical system’s reliance on oversimplified slogans for a deeply complex metabolic disease. “Patients aren’t lacking willpower,” he says. “They’re lacking a protocol that respects the biology of their condition.”
Type 2 diabetes, Dr Singh concludes, can be reversed in many patients but only when we stop offering motivational clichés and start offering science-backed, biologically aligned solutions.
February 09, 2026, 14:28 IST
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