Fitness

Fitness face-off – Harvard Health

Published

1 year ago

January 18, 2025

What’s in style? The question doesn’t just relate to fashion. Indeed, even exercise styles go in and out of vogue, echoing trends fueled by social media and other cultural drivers.

Case in point: high-intensity bursts of exercise have grabbed headlines over the past couple of years, with scientists generating an array of studies examining the health benefits of short spurts of movement lasting from one to three minutes. That might consist of jumping jacks, lunges, running in place, jumping rope, air boxing, running up stairs, or any other high-intensity activity.

Meanwhile, plenty of research continues to focus on the health advantages of moderate-intensity, continuous movement. Mainstay choices for these sessions include brisk walking, cycling, jogging, and elliptical and treadmill use.

Given the swings in popularity between the differently paced alternatives, perhaps the most pressing question is which one is better for us. It might seem certain exercise patterns might prove superior to others, but we should resist the temptation to believe that, says Dr. Meagan Wasfy, a sports cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

“There are always trends, and each one claims to be the latest and best way to move your body,” Dr. Wasfy says.

Breaking down the data

What health benefits does each approach offer? A sampling of recent studies and official health guidance weighs in.

Evidence supporting exercise bursts includes the following:

A 2022 analysis of data collected on more than 25,200 people who didn’t otherwise exercise (average age 62, 56% women) published in Nature Medicine found that those who routinely did brief bursts of vigorous activity — defined as three bouts, each lasting a minute or two — had significantly lower odds of dying or developing cardiovascular disease over the following seven years than participants who didn’t.
A 2023 analysis in JAMA Oncology of more than 22,000 people who didn’t exercise (average age 62, 55% women) suggested that even short, intermittent periods of intense movement — a minute at a time, three or four times a day — was linked with 18% lower cancer risk over the following 6.7 years, especially for cancers of the breast, uterus, or colon.

Evidence supporting longer, moderate-intensity exercise includes the following:

Adults who do any amount of moderate-to-vigorous exercise derive health benefits, including reducing their risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer, according to the CDC.
A 2022 analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine involving 78,000 people (average age 61, 55% women) found their risk of heart disease, cancer, and premature death dropped by 10% over the following seven years for every 2,000 steps they logged each day, with the benefit peaking at 10,000 steps.

Sense a theme from the findings? Regardless of intensity, it’s apparent that any movement is good for your health.

“No one comes out ahead with regards to the long-term outcomes,” Dr. Wasfy says. “What matters most is moving your body and doing more of it. The sum of movement, over the course of a year or decades of your life, is what matters.”

Exercise caveats

One clear advantage to exercise bursts — or its cousin, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) — is that any high-intensity activity enables you to fulfill recommended exercise guidelines in less time. Health organizations advise adults to get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (or some equivalent combination of the two) per week. For an HIIT workout, you alternate vigorous, short sprints with brief periods of rest or lower-intensity movement.

“It’s a time-efficient way to get your recommended exercise dose in less time,” Dr. Wasfy says.

High-intensity exercise does pose a few drawbacks, however. These include a greater risk of injuries and inflammation to joints and muscles. Additionally, for people with heart disease or its risk factors, sudden bursts of exercise could be more likely to bring on new cardiac symptoms.

“If you’re writing an exercise prescription not knowing anything about someone’s health history, you’d write it for moderate-intensity, continuous exercise,” Dr. Wasfy says.

If you’d like to increase your exercise intensity but have existing heart disease — or symptoms such as chest pain with vigorous movement — talk to your doctor in advance. Older adults who’ve noticed their ability to exercise has declined should also speak up.

Ultimately, Dr. Wasfy says, you should choose a style of exercise you really like — and will do consistently — and disregard fitness trends. “If you’re healthy,” she says, “it’s really your choice.”

Image: © Luis Alvarez/Getty Images

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Fitness

The HFA Show 2026 Demonstrates the Power of Community With Strong Turnout and Programming – Health & Fitness Association

Published

5 hours ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

The HFA Show 2026 Demonstrates the Power of Community With Strong Turnout and Programming – Health & Fitness Association

From the HFA Hall of Fame to Innovation Alley to the launch of new products from more than 60 companies, The HFA Show 2026 delivers a standout week.

The 2026 HFA Hall of Fame inductees pose together (left to right): Cirulli, Eschbach, Landers, Mills, Runyon, and Elaine LaLanne. Missing are Dave Mortensen, who could not attend, and Jack LaLanne, who received the award posthumously. In the second photo, Keith Morrison, a correspondent for Dateline NBC, presents Elaine LaLanne as an inductee.

The HFA Show 2026 recorded 10,300 registrants, 380 exhibitors, 52 sponsors, and 150 speakers for the March 16-18 event in San Diego, according to the Health & Fitness Association (HFA). It was also the launching pad for new products and services from more than 60 companies.

“What an incredible week full of high energy, dynamic networking, insightful learning, and new product discoveries,” said HFA President and CEO Liz Clark. “It was gratifying to support such an extraordinary group of industry leaders and innovators from around the world with this year’s show. Our team has poured more than a year of work into this event, and we’re already energized to make next year’s gathering in Las Vegas on March 10–12, 2027, even more spectacular.”

Clark went on to thank additional groups beyond HFA team members.

“We’d like to thank all our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, and board members for making this year’s event such a strong and inspiring showcase for the industry,” Clark said. “Your commitment and partnership helped create a world-class experience that truly moved our industry forward.”

The unofficial launch of the event occurred on the evening of March 15, with 240 people gathering for the HFA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, sponsored by The Bay Club Company, to honor the organization’s second class of inductees: Gainesville Health & Fitness CEO Joe Cirulli, Exhale and ResetOne Founder Annbeth Eschbach, Fitness Formula Founder Gale Landers, Les Mills Founder and Managing Director Phillip Mills, Purpose Brands Co-founders Dave Mortensen and Chuck Runyon, and fitness icons Jack and Elaine LaLanne. Ticket sales and sponsorships for the HFA Hall of Fame ceremony raised more than $200,000 for the HFA Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity that works to support health through exercise.

The evening also included a celebration recognizing Elaine LaLanne’s 100th birthday, which was March 19. Keith Morrison, a Dateline NBC correspondent and friend of Elaine, presented Elaine and her husband Jack, who passed away in 2011, for induction. Celebrities such as Billy Crystal, Mark Wahlberg, and Tony Danza sent videos congratulating her on her 100th birthday.

HFA handed out three other awards at the event. The Jim Worthington Advocate of the Year Award went to Chris Craytor, CEO of ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers, for his service to the fitness industry and HFA. The John Holsinger Global Leader Award was given to LifeFit Group CEO Martin Seibold. Bodytech Colombia Co-founder and Executive Vice President Gigliola Aycardi received the Woman Leader Award in Honor of Julie Main.

This year’s keynoters (left to right): Dhawan, Itzler, and Ohno.

The HFA Show included annual President’s Address by Clark as well as three keynote addresses:

March 16 – Clark recapped the highlights of the past year for HFA and urged even further engagement by industry leaders as global influence and expectations grow for the industry.
March 16 – Author and teamwork expert Erica Dhawan shared strategies for building trust, fostering agility, and strengthening collaboration in the age of AI. Her keynote was sponsored by Zenoti.
March 17 – Author and entrepreneur Jesse Itzler shared lessons about creating opportunity, cultivating resilience, and building a life that achieves big goals without sacrificing what matters most. His keynote was sponsored by Matrix.
March 18 – Olympic speed-skating champion Apolo Ohno shared lessons on reinvention, adaptability, and performance in a rapidly changing environment in his keynote, sponsored by ROR.

Other highlights of the conference program were:

The 29th Annual Financial Panel, which was renamed the Rick Caro Financial Panel in honor of Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, who created the panel 28 years ago and had moderated it each year until his death in August 2025. This year’s panel was sponsored by AltaDX.
The Women’s Leadership Summit and Reception, sponsored by Daxko.
The Brazilian Forum and the Latin American Forum, both sponsored by ABC Fitness.
The Canadian Forum, EMEA Forum, and APAC Forum

Highlights of the trade show floor were:

Innovation Alley (sponsored by Sweatworks) featurinh the following companies: Alchemy Innovations LLC, AI Advertising by Mixo Ads, BELLIX, Bolt Recovery, Buzz Bomb Caffeine Company, DetecFit, Fit – M.O., Fit-X, HipDoc, InSquare, MatFresher, Milton AI, Nervō Labs, ObliQ Fitness, OmniFit, OnSight, Silient, Superset App, and xplate.
Innovation Alley Pitchfest, which featured many of the Innovation Alley companies offering a three-minute pitch of their product. The winners of the Pitchfest will be announced soon. They will receive a complimentary booth at The HFA Show 2027 and will be recognized in a future issue of Health & Fitness Business.
The New Product Zone featuring nine companies: Body Energy Technology, Buzz Bomb Caffeine, Core Champion, Echelon Fit, Escape Fitness, Linear Bar, Martoni Bikes, The Abs Company, and WeGym
The Pickleball Experience
The Demonstration Stage
The Recovery Lounge (outside the trade show floor) with products from Am-Finn Sauna Company, CryoBuilt, Silent, WellFit, and WellnessSpace Brands.

“What stood out this year wasn’t just the scale of the event, but the strength of the conversations happening across every part of the show,” Clark said. “From the keynote stage and education sessions to the trade show floor, industry leaders came together to share ideas, explore innovation, and build the relationships that will help shape the future of health and fitness.”

HFA would like to acknowledge Alloy Personal Training Solutions, LLC for authorizing the use of its registered trademark “Stronger Together” as the theme for The HFA Show 2026. The HFA Show 2027 will take place March 10-12, 2027, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Fitness

I Tried Jennifer Aniston’s 10-Minute Arm Workout. These Exercises Had My Upper Body on Fire

Published

17 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

I Tried Jennifer Aniston’s 10-Minute Arm Workout. These Exercises Had My Upper Body on Fire

I like a challenge when I work out and over the years I’ve enjoyed trying different types of exercise. It doesn’t matter how long the routine is (ideally under an hour), as long as someone tells me what to do and I feel the burn.

So when I got the opportunity to work out with Jennifer Aniston’s trainer, Pvolve VP of Training Dani Coleman, and do the actor’s 10-minute arm workout, I jumped on it. I’m fairly active and do about 3-4 workout classes a week, including HIIT, circuit training and Pilates. However, I do feel like I have room for improvement when it comes to my upper-body strength.

“The Morning Show” star uses just one simple fitness tool to get her enviably toned arms. What I didn’t expect was how mine would feel like noodles instantly — and for days after!

The Basics: Cost and Equipment

Pvolve can be practiced at home through a membership that starts at $24.99 a month or $224.91 a year.

For this specific routine, we used the P.band, a resistance banded glove that helps strengthen the arms, back and shoulders. It costs $44 and comes with a 14-day free membership.

“This is one of (Aniston’s) favorite pieces to take with her when she’s on set or on the go. It’s a fun travel piece,” Coleman tells TODAY.com.

While I tried a specific 10-minute workout, members can get access to Jen’s Express Series: Arms & Abs — a collection of the actor’s six new on-demand workouts led by Coleman that are all under 15 minutes.

Additionally, Jen’s Arms & Abs Bundle (priced at $204) includes the P.band, P.ball, P.3 Trainer, plus one month of streaming with access to over 1,700 workouts.

Jennifer Aniston’s 10-Minute Arm Workout

For those who don’t have the P.band, Coleman suggests substituting any type of resistance band. The workout consists of performing 10-12 reps for most movements, with 5-8 reps for combo sets.

Movement 1: Band Pull-Apart at Hip Level

Keeping your elbows glued to your sides, bend the elbow at a 90-degree angle so that your forearms are reaching straight out in front of you. Making sure there is resistance on the band. Keeping your elbows tight to your sides, open both arms out to the side, hold and come in nice and slow. Repeat.
End with arms wide with 1-inch pulses reaching back.

Movement 2: Band Pull-Apart at Chest Level

Start with both arms straight out in front of your chest, making sure there is resistance on the band. Open both arms wide to the sides, hold and bring it in nice and slow. Repeat.

Movement 3: Up and Down Flutters

Start with both arms out straight in front of your chest, making sure there is resistance on the band. Begin pulling the band in pulses as you move your arms up four counts to the hairline, and bring it back down for four counts. Repeat about 5-6 times.

Movement 4: Right-Left, Combo

Hold both arms straight above your head. Pull the right arm down toward your hip, keeping your left hand still. Lift back up.
Pull the left arm down toward your hip, keeping the right hand still. Lift back up.
Pull both arms down toward your hips. Lift back up.

Movement 5: Tricep Kickbacks With Pulses

Stand with feet hip-width apart and hinge at the hips until your torso is at a 45-degree angle with the floor. Bend your left arm up toward your chest and hold here, with your elbow glued to your side. Start with the right elbow bent and your bicep glued to your side. Straighten the arm straight back moving only at the elbow. Hold for a beat and return to start.
End with a round of pulses with right arm back, bending just an inch or two.

Movement 6: Punch Up

Hold both arms at shoulder height, with some slack in the band. Your right arm should be bent at a 90-degree angle and your left arm will stay straight.Keeping the bend in your right arm, punch up toward the ceiling. At the same time, move the left arm down toward the floor. Bring both arms back to center and repeat.

Repeat Movement 5 and 6 for Left Arm

Movement 7: Plank Finisher

Start in a plank position with your feet wide. Open up to the right side, pulling the right elbow toward the sky. Lower back down. Open up to the left side back down, pulling the left elbow toward the sky. Lower back down. Continue alternating. To modify, come down onto the knees.
Finish with at least a 1-minute plank hold to get to the 10-minute mark for the workout.

My Experience Trying Jennifer Aniston’s Arm Workout

I’m not going to lie, I underestimated the workout. I would consider my arms to be a weak point, but I was not expecting to feel the burn right away. I would say the P.band is a medium resistance and it’s important to keep tension in it throughout the workout.

As I was completing the pulse portion in the first movement, I could already see myself using my breath to make it through the hard parts.

Coleman was great at reminding me to keep my shoulders down and stand up straight. As someone who sits for a lot of their work day, pulling my arms apart at chest level and the flutters were where I started to fatigue — and I was only 2:30 minutes in.

I could already feel it in my shoulders and back, noticing how my arms would struggle to pull apart the band. My breath really kept me steady when I needed an extra push.

I noticed my arms getting weaker when we did the right-left, combo movement. At this point, Coleman mentioned how this exercise helps target the back muscles that “typically, most of us are a little weaker in” because we’re on our phone, computer or driving.

Giving them “extra love,” I persisted through the fire that was now consistently burning — even though we were only 4 minutes in.

When it came to the tricep kickbacks, Coleman gave me a modification of gripping the arm in front toward me instead of having it straight out with knuckles facing away.

“Nice and relaxed,” she reminded me, though I was anything but that.

I continued to power through, there were no big rests in between movements — and this, in my opinion, helped to keep things moving forward.

During the plank portion, Coleman said to perform the move in 1-minute increments, or as long as you can hold each one, to complete reach the 10-minute workout total. The fatigue was really setting in. I had to put a knee down to hold myself up. Determined to complete the workout, I quickly pushed myself back up and completed them as best as I could — but I was wiped out!

Overall, the movements were simple enough (despite me feeling weak) and her guidance helped me keep my form in check.

My arms instantly felt sore, and that same feeling continued throughout the day and into the next. I could tell that I had worked different muscles that I did not regularly use when using weights.

Fitness

Tip of the day: Do this exercise every week to improve your memory

Published

1 day ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Tip of the day: Do this exercise every week to improve your memory

Exercise is revered time and again as one of the best ways to keep your body fit and agile. It helps prevent many lifestyle diseases. It is recommended to stay active and do some basic exercises regularly to maintain your fitness.

ALSO READ: Pain in knees when you walk? Cult Fit founder shares 5 exercises to strengthen joints

Find out which exercise helps to improve your brain health. (Picture credit: Freepik)

But beyond physical health, your brain also reaps rewards. Skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, reasoning, and especially memory are strengthened from staying active.

When talking about exercise, the intensity also matters. There are different levels, from light activities to moderate and vigorous workouts. Each of them has its own advantageous but some offer slightly greater benefits than others.

For today’s tips, let’s see which exercise can help improve your memory.

Tip of the day: Do HIIT exercise

Exercise offers protective benefits for your brain health, improving cognitive functions. According to a study published in Ageing and Disease, researchers identified a particular type of exercise that helps strengthen memory and learning, especially in older adults. Higher-intensity training (HIIT) was found to be the most beneficial.

In the study, the researchers followed participants aged 65-85, divided into three groups based on exercise intensity: low-intensity training, medium-intensity training, and high-intensity training. The participants performed these exercises for six months. The results showed that those who did HIIT experienced improvements in hippocampal function.

How often should you do HIIT exercise?

HIIT is a form of intense exercise performed in short bursts, including sprints, skipping rope, jump squats, and mountain climbers. It works by helping brain cells grow and develop connections. In fact, the benefits can last up to five years. The researchers also recommended that just three HIIT sessions per week for six months could improve your brain health.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.