An online social network to increase walking in dog owners: a randomized trial.

Purpose: Encouraging dog walking may increase physical activity in dog owners. This cluster-randomized controlled trial investigated whether a social networking Web site (Meetup™) could be used to deliver a multicomponent dog walking intervention to increase physical activity.

Methods: Sedentary dog owners (n = 102) participated.

Sex differences in insulin action and body fat distribution in overweight and obese middle-aged and older men and women.

Controversy exists as to whether there are differences in insulin action between older men and women, and what factors contribute to these differences. This study tests the hypothesis that sex differences in regional fat distribution contribute to a disparity in insulin sensitivity in older men vs. older women.

Physical characteristics and incidence of injuries in adult figure skaters.

Purpose: To examine relationships between physical characteristics and injuries in adult figure skaters.

Methods: One hundred thirty adult figure skaters (113 women and 17 men, 43 +/- 9 and 55 +/- 10 y old, respectively) completed study questionnaires concerning health, height and weight, exercise habits, and injuries in the preceding year.

Results: The men were older and taller and weighed more than the women (P < .

Effects of aerobic and resistive exercise training on glucose disposal and skeletal muscle metabolism in older men.

Background: Aging is associated with insulin resistance, primarily as a result of physical inactivity and increased abdominal obesity. We hypothesized that aerobic (AEX) or resistive (RT) exercise training would result in comparable improvements in glucose disposal in older men, but that there would be different metabolic adaptations in skeletal muscle.

Methods: Thirty-nine older (63+/-1 years, mean+/-standard error of the mean), overweight and obese (body mass index=30.

Metabolic effects of the addition of resistive to aerobic exercise in older men.

The metabolic changes associated with the addition of 4 months of resistive exercise to an existing aerobic exercise program (AEX+RT, n = 7) were compared to a maintenance aerobic exercise program (AEX, n = 8) in overweight, older men. The subjects in this study had recently completed a 6-month aerobic exercise program (treadmill walking, 45 min/d, 2 d/wk). The AEX+RT group added 6 exercises on upper- and lower-body pneumatic-resistance machines (2 sets, 15 repetitions each, 2 d/wk) to an aerobic exercise program at > or = 70% heart rate reserve for 30-40 min, 2 d/wk on treadmill, while the AEX group continued the same maintenance treadmill AEX program.

Differences in adipose tissue metabolism between postmenopausal and perimenopausal women.

Changes in adipose tissue metabolism may contribute to the changes in body fat distribution seen during the menopause transition. We compared in vitro abdominal and gluteal sc adipose tissue metabolism [basal and stimulated lipolysis and activity of adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (AT-LPL)] in postmenopausal and perimenopausal women (n = 12/group), matched for race, body mass index (29.5 +/- 3.