StrongWomen Newsletter

Issue 98, November 2006

I hope you find this newsletter helpful, and that you share it with your friends. Feel free to forward, post or reprint it – but please credit strongwomen.com for the information and don’t change the content.

By Miriam E. Nelson, PhD
Author of
Strong Women Stay Young
Strong Women Stay Slim
Strong Women, Strong Bones
Strong Women Eat Well
Strong Women and Men Beat Arthritis
The Strong Women’s Journal
Strong Women, Strong Hearts
Strong Women, Strong Backs
Founder of www.StrongWomen.com

IN THIS MONTH'S ISSUE 

• Regular exercise may help to prevent colds
• StrongWomen Workshops
• Reader Questions and Answers
  • What exercises are safe for a woman with osteoarthritis of the spine?
  • Are resistance bands an effective strength- training tool?
• From the Mailbox - Success Stories
• Recipe – Roasted Sliced Brussels Sprouts

REGULAR EXERCISE MAY HELP TO PREVENT COLDS

The nights are getting colder and the days are getting shorter, a sure sign that it’s almost that time of year again: cold season. If you are looking to stay cold-free this year you should consider taking a walk. Why? Because a recent study in the American Journal of Medicine suggests that exercise may be an effective way to prevent catching a cold.

The study examined whether regular, moderate- intensity exercise could reduce a woman’s risk of catching a cold. One hundred and fifteen sedentary, overweight/obese, postmenopausal women were recruited to participate in this randomized-control trial. The women were divided into two groups. Half of the women were in the exercise group (cases). They performed at least 45-minutes of moderate- intensity exercise (i.e. walking on a treadmill or outside, biking on a stationary bike) five days per week for 12 months. The other half of the women did not exercise regularly (controls). Instead, they attended a 45-minute stretching session one time per week for 12 months. Neither group changed anything about their diet.

All of the participants filled out questionnaires at the beginning of the study and at three-month intervals throughout the study. The questionnaires were used to determine how many episodes of allergies, respiratory tract infections (colds and flu), and other infections each woman had experienced during the previous three months. At the end of the 12-month period, the women in the exercise group had reported fewer colds than the women in the stretching group. In fact, in the last three months of the study, the women in the stretching group were three times more likely to have a cold than the women in the exercise group, which suggests that participating in a long-term exercise program is an effective way to prevent catching a cold!

While more research is needed to fully understand this relationship, this is great news! It gives us one more reason to keep up with a routine of regular exercise, especially through the cold winter months.

Lifting women to better health,
Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D.

(Reference: Chubak J, McTiernan A, Sorensen B, et al. Moderate-intensity exercise reduces the incidence of colds among postmenopausal women. Am J Med. 2006;119:937.)

2006 STRONGWOMEN SUMMITS

Do you or your workout and nutrition plan need a boost of energy and enthusiasm?

Don’t miss the chance to hear from the experts at the last StrongWomen Summit of the year. I will be hosting the summit with other renowned LLuminari experts Dr. Christina Economos, a leading researcher on obesity at Tufts University as well as Dr. Merville Marshall, a leading African American diabetes authority associated with the Endocrine Institute.

Start your holiday season with a renewed commitment to live a stronger and healthier life. Get the information and inspiration to make it possible at Seton Hall University on Saturday November 11th.

Ticket prices are: $29 per ticket, $22 per ticket when you register for 2 or more and $15 per ticket for those over 55 & Students.

A portion of the proceeds are being donated to charitable groups who work on women’s health. You can help your friends, colleagues and community members take that first important step in living a healthier life by inviting them to this conference. For more information, please visit www .StrongWomen.com/summit06 or call 1 800- 947- 1103.

UPCOMING STRONGWOMEN WORKSHOPS

Several upcoming StrongWomen Program workshops are scheduled for the next few months. In order to be eligible for StrongWomen training, you must be actively strength training right now, and you must have a firm commitment to starting a program in your community. This training is to teach you how to “lead” a StrongWomen Program, and should not be attended simply for informational/personal purposes.

Date: Dec. 6, 2006
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
To register: http://www.uaex.edu/depts/ FCS/strong_women/December_6_2006.pdf

Date: December 12, 2006
Where: Tufts University, Boston
To register or for questions, contact Rebecca Seguin at rebecca.seguin@tufts.edu or 617-636-3740

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Be sure to check out the other questions posed to Miriam Nelson, PhD and Rebecca Seguin, MS, CSCS at: www.StrongWomen.com/faqs/index.htm

Q: I have recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the spine top and bottom. Is it ok to do all the exercises in Strong Women and Men Beat Arthritis or can you recommend any special back exercises for me to do?

A: The exercises in Strong Women and Men Beat Arthritis should be great for you. I would also recommend my newest book, Strong Women, Strong Backs. This should be a good reference for you. Also make sure you have your physician's approval before performing any new exercise program.

Q: Are resistance bands an effective strength training tool?

A: Optimally, resistance bands are part of a multifaceted exercise program that also includes some other equipment. Bands are portable, lightweight, and easy to use, which makes them a great option when you are traveling or when you don’t have access to dumbbells or machines. In addition, they are great for strengthening some areas of the back that are hard to get to with free weights, that is why I use them in my newest book. They also are great to use to add variety to your strength training routine. However, resistance bands should never replace free weights and machines completely. Bands are most effective if they are used as a supplement to your regular dumbbell/ankle weight/weight-machine strength training program and as a stand-in when they're all you have access to.

FROM THE MAILBOX: SUCCESS STORIES FROM INSPIRING WOMEN

I haven't liked exercising in the past, but I'm enjoying this! I've not used free weights before. Thank you for such a fact-based approach to becoming and staying healthy.
- Suanne

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

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