Running is a fantastic workout. It burns fat, improves heart function and strengthens bones.

Yet, that first step out the door in a new pair of running shoes might seem intimidating. It can also cause injury if you're not properly prepared.

That's why it's helpful to know the basics about beginning this more intense exercise routine.

“Too many people get injured running b...

Starting a walking routine is simple because it requires so little: comfortable, supportive walking shoes and your own two feet.

Unlike gym workouts, the initial expense is small and the schedule is flexible.

“Walking's a great way to work out because we can integrate it into our daily lives,” said

Millions of adults spend too much time at a desk or in front of a screen, and experts have long advised them to sit less, move more.

But if lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar and a mood boost are the goals, what's the bare minimum of movement that will get the job done?

Apparently just five minutes of walking every 30 minutes.

That's the finding of a small, new study that...

After COVID-19, resuming regular exercise may be harder, and new research suggests this may be one more symptom of long COVID.

For the study, the researchers reviewed 38 published studies that tracked the exercise performance of more than 2,000 people who had had COVID-19. Ulti...

Kids who walk, skateboard or ride their bikes to school when they are young are more likely to keep it up as they get older, reaping the health benefits, recent research suggests.

“The walk to school is a wonderful moment in the day that provides children a glimpse of living an active lifestyle,” said study...

It might seem incongruous, but new research suggests that teens who engage in more physical activity may vape m...

Looking for a new reason to work out?

Here's a good one: Regular exercise appears to significantly reduce your risk of getting COVID-19, a large international research review has found.

And, if you do get COVID, the study found, routine moderate and/or intense exercise dramatically lowers your...

Children are not as physically fit as their parents were when they were kids, and this will likely harm them as the Earth warms, new research claims.

The findings are based on a comprehensive review of more than 150 studies that looked at how children maintain physical activity, exercise and cope with heat, as well as how thi...

Medical and recreational marijuana use has surged across the United States as more states legalize the drug, but young female athletes may want to think twice before taking a toke.

A new study from the University of Northern Colorado connects regular cannabis use in fit young wome...

Want to get fit and stay fit? Arlington, Va., may be the city for you: For the fifth year in a row, it has been named the fittest city in America.

Meanwhile, the title of the least fit city goes to Oklahoma City, according to the annual fitnes...

Keeping your body well-fueled and hydrated is a must during outdoor summer sports and exercise, a nutrition expert says.

"For summer workouts, it's important to make sure that adequate carbohydrates, fluids and electrolytes are consumed," said sports dietitian Kristen Chang, assistant director of the master's program in nutrition and dietetics at Virginia Tech University.

"You need...

If there was something you could do to ward off Alzheimer's disease, would you do it?

If so, a new study has a suggestion: Get moving.

Participants who were most physically fit were 33% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than the least fit, the researchers found. And those whose fitnes...

Alan Holman didn't stop exercising when told he had cancer, and he's glad of it, now that U.K. researchers say moderate exercise may improve chemotherapy outcomes in esophageal cancer patients.

Holman, 70, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December 2016, shortly after retiring from his job as a facilities manager at a shopping mall in Britain. Like many patients, he underwent

Don't let a picture-perfect snowfall turn deadly.

Shoveling snow can cause heart attacks or sudden cardiac arrest in folks with heart conditions and even in those who are unaware that they have heart disease, the American Heart Association (AHA) warns.

"Shoveli...

Seniors, looking for a way to stay mentally quick and physically strong? Start scrubbing.

Researchers from Singapore say housework may be a key to keeping your brain sharp as you age.

Their new study found that in older adults, cleaning house was tied to a better memory and attention span, a...

Better health and self-image might just be a samba or some funky moves away.

That's true for postmenopausal women who, a new study says, can dance their way to better physical and emotional health.

"In addition to the positive effects on physical, metabolic and mental health aspects, dance promotes a moment of leisure, fun, socialization, self-knowledge and many other b...

Your health and fitness apps may have privacy issues that put your personal information at risk, researchers warn.

"This analysis found serious problems with privacy and inconsistent privacy practices in mHealth [mobile health] apps. Clinicians should be aware of these and articulate them to patients when determining the benefits and risks," lead study author Muhammad Ikram and his co-aut...

People hospitalized for COVID-19 are often discharged in much worse shape than before their illness - underscoring the value of preventing severe cases with vaccination.

In a new study, researchers found that during the pandemic's early months, almost half of COVID-19 patients discharged from their health system had some degree of "functional decline."

That's a broad category includ...

A native South American population that lives a pre-industrial lifestyle may have a slower rate of brain aging than the typical Westerner, a new study finds.

The study focused on the Tsimane population, whose roughly 16,000 members dwell in a remote part of the Bolivian Amazon. They live by farming, hunting, gathering and fishing - a lifestyle devoid of processed food, couch time and stre...

For people worried about developing dementia due to their family history, a preliminary study offers some good news: A healthy lifestyle might curb your risk.

Researchers found that older adults with healthy habits had a lower risk of developing dementia, versus the less health-conscious -- even if a parent or sibling had suffered from the brain disease.

Lifestyle choices did not er...

Critical care nurses with poor mental and physical health are more likely to make mistakes, but a more supportive work environment could improve the situation, a new study suggests.

"It's critically important that we understand some of the root causes that lead to those errors and do everything we can to prevent them," said lead author Bernadette Melnyk, dean of the College of Nursing at ...

A U.S. hospital has seen a surge in the number of kids with a life-threatening complication of type 2 diabetes.

The trend at Children's Hospital Los Angeles highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic may be affecting kids' health in unexpected ways, according to a new study led by Dr. Lily Chao, interim medical diabetes director.

Her team noticed in March 2020 that an increasing number of...

If you plan to resume running after an extended break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you need to ease back in, one expert advises.

"There are a lot of good programs, including Couch to 5K or C25K, that focus on increasing running slowly up to about 3 miles or 30 minutes," said physical therapist Grace Neurohr, a running and bio-motion specialist for the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthope...

Extra padding around the belly can spell trouble for the heart, even if you're not technically overweight.

That's among the conclusions of a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA), where experts lay out the heart risks of being "apple-shaped."

It encourages doctors to dust off those old-fashioned tape measures and make waist circumference part of patients...

Most people know obesity can lead to diabetes or heart disease, but excess weight can play a role in cancer, too, researchers say.

A new study found that breast cancer survivors who are overweight have a statistically significant increased risk of developing a second primary cancer - one not connected to their previous cancer.

The risk likely owes to shared risk factors between the ...

Dialysis is time-consuming, making it hard for kidney failure patients to keep fit. But cycling during treatment sessions could boost patients' heart health and cut medical costs, new research shows.

Dialysis can lead to long-term scarring of the heart, which can eventually lead to heart failure, so British researchers decided to find out if exercise could reduce these side effects.

A cloth mask can limit your ability to exercise, so it might be a good idea to alter your workouts when wearing one, researchers say.

Some previous studies have assessed how surgical face masks might impact exercise, but few have looked at cloth masks.

In a new study, researchers compared the exercise performance of 31 healthy adults (aged 18 to 29) who ran on a treadmill to the poi...

Turning down the music at your fitness classes won't affect the intensity of your workout, researchers say.

It's common for fitness instructors to crank up the volume -- sometimes to levels loud enough to damage hearing -- because they think it will help students work harder.

But researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found there's no link between music volume ...

If you're getting back into walking, running or outdoor sports this spring after months on the couch, you could be at risk for a common injury known as a stress fracture.

It's a small break or crack caused by repeated impact on a bone that is starting to weaken from overdoing it, and feet are particularly vulnerable, according to Dr. Mark Drakos. He is an orthopedic surgeon specializing i...

Looking to shed some of those pandemic pounds? A new analysis says wearables like Fitbit and Apple Watch can help people slim down.

The researchers examined studies involving commercial health wearables and adults who were overweight/obese or had a chronic health condition.

After daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for a period between a month and a year, participants lost ...

People really do vary in how fast they age, and the divergence starts in young adulthood, a new study suggests.

The researchers found that by the tender age of 45, people with a faster pace of "biological aging" were more likely to feel, function and look far older than they actually were. And that relative sprint toward old age began in their 20s.

The findings, the study authors sa...

If you're a 20-something who wants to stay sharp, listen up: A new study suggests poor health habits now may increase your risk of mental decline later in life.

Its authors say young adulthood may be the most critical time for adopting a healthy lifestyle in order to keep your brain sharp when you're older.

That's the upshot of an analysis of data from about 15,000 adults who were p...

If you saunter and shuffle instead of scurry when you walk, you are at higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19, British researchers warn.

For the study, the investigators analyzed data from more than 412,000 middle-aged Britons and found that among those whose weight was normal, slow walkers were more than twice as likely to develop severe COVID-19 and 3.75 times more likely...

You're about to hop on an exercise bike and peddle your heart out, but will having to wear a face mask make it harder to breathe while you work out?

Not according to new research that suggests healthy people can safely wear a face mask while doing vigorous exercise.

The scientists assessed the breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels of 12 volunteers as the...

If you think you can safely exercise without your mask in a gym during the pandemic, two new government reports show you are mistaken.

Coronavirus outbreaks at fitness centers in Chicago and Honolulu last summer were likely the result of exercisers and instructors not wearing masks, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered.

In the Chicago study...

The link between heart-lung fitness and brain health may begin at an early age, new research shows.

The study revealed that 4- to 6-year-olds who could walk farther during a timed test also scored higher on tests of thinking abilities and other measures of brain function.

Most studies of the link between brain health and heart-lung ("cardiorespiratory") fitness have focused on older...

Heart attack patients are less likely to die on the spot if they have been physically active, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 28,000 people in Europe who suffered a heart attack in order to see how active or more 'couch potato' lifestyles affected their risk of death.

They found that about 18% of patients died within 28 days of their heart attack. ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it's crucial for homebound older adults to find safe and effective ways to exercise, an expert says.

At-home workouts can help strengthen muscles, improve balance, increase blood flow to the heart, boost the immune system and reduce stress, according to Summer Cook, an associate professor of kinesiology and an expert on senior fitness at the University of New...

Exercise programs that are standard for heart attack survivors can also benefit people who've suffered a stroke, a new pilot study suggests.

Researchers found that a three-month cardiac rehabilitation program improved fitness levels and muscle strength in 24 stroke survivors.

While the study was small, the researchers said it offers evidence of what's intuitive: People recovering fr...

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in middle age and beyond might help keep your brain healthy, a new study suggests.

"Our study suggests that getting at least an hour and 15 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity a week or more during midlife may be important throughout your lifetime for promoting brain health and preserving the actual structure of your brain," s...

If the pandemic has shut down your gym, you can still stay or get fit with a simple home exercise plan, researchers say.

The Canadian study was modeled on a fitness plan known as "5BX," or Five Basic Exercises, which was originally developed in the 1950s for the Royal Canadian Air Force. The plan doesn't depend on special equipment and can be adjusted to individual fitness levels.

...

Kids and teens may be eager to return to their regular sports routines when it's possible to play again, after being sidelined by COVID-19 restrictions.

But a sports medicine specialist in California says they should take it slow to avoid injury.

"I understand the excitement about returning to sports, but sometimes kids can get too excited and rev up too soon," said Dr. Bianca Ediso...

A New Year's resolution to take better care of yourself is one you should keep, especially in the era of COVID-19.

Wearing a mask, maintaining a safe distance from others and washing your hands frequently are going remain important in 2021. But don't forget to prioritize a healthy lifestyle that improves your overall health and quality of life, and helps prevent cancer, according to exper...

Young men's attitudes about body image and fitness can be affected by Instagram influencers, according to a new study.

It included 300 American men, ages 18-30, who were shown images of bare-chested men and male fashion images similar to those posted by Instagram influencers, as well as other types of images.

The participants were significantly less satisfied with their own bodies a...

You might be onto something if you suspect your mental and physical health declined during the COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year.

Stay-at-home orders appear to have had an overall bad effect on people's health around the world, a global survey shows.

People reported that they gained weight during the lockdown, were less active, suffered from poor sleep, and experienced increased s...

It's long been said that early to bed, early to rise can make you healthy, wealthy and wise. Now, new research supports at least the health benefits.

A study of people with type 2 diabetes found that night owls -- people who go to bed late and get up late -- tend to get little exercise, putting their health at greater risk.

Understanding how sleep time can affect physical ...

People born with a hole in their heart may lose 20% or more of their exercise capacity as they age, even if the defect is repaired.

A ventricular septal defect is a hole in the wall separating the heart's pumping chambers. It can be surgically closed or left alone. People born with this defect have poorer exercise ability than healthy people.

A new study suggests that ...

With evidence mounting that COVID-19 can damage the heart, experts urge people to take precautions when doing vigorous exercise.

Up to 30% of patients hospitalized with coronavirus infection have signs of cardiac injury, according to Dr. Sunal Makadia, health director of sports cardiology at LifeBridge Health in Baltimore.

The prevalence of heart damage in milder cases o...

Physically fit patients with the irregular heartbeat atrial fibrillation (AF) are most likely to benefit from ablation, a new study finds.

Patients who are less fit are hospitalized more often, continue to use anti-arrhythmic drugs longer and have higher death rates, researchers say.

"AF does not occur in a vacuum but rather represents one manifestation of the impact of po...

Want to live longer? Take the stairs, stretch or toss a volleyball around, a new study suggests.

Those activities were among several tied to lower rates of early death in an Arizona State University study of nearly 27,000 U.S. adults between 18 and 84 years of age.

Researchers wondered which of the more socially oriented exercises -- such as team sports -- contribute to lon...