fitness

Exercising while eating a low-calorie diet may have a negative effect on bone health, according to a new study out of the University of North Carolina Health Care. Unlike in cases of exercise without calorie restriction, eating fewer calories while exercising was found to cause a substantial increase in the amount of fat in bone marrow, something associated with lowered bone health. The effect was observed in cases of only mild calorie restriction.

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A large study out of Europe has linked physical fitness with healthy brains and better cognitive performance. The research was recently presented at the ECNP Congress in Copenhagen, where German scientists detailed the results of analyzing more than 1200 MRI brain scans collected under the Human Connectome Project, a very large database compared to many studies that involve MRI scans.

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Exercise is known to trigger a blood pressure-lowering effect in the hours after getting physical activity, but that benefit may be greatly reduced by the use of commonly available antibacterial mouthwash. The findings come from a study out of the University of Plymouth, where researchers studied two groups of people who exercised, one given antibacterial mouthwash and the other given ordinary mint-flavored water.

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There's only so much your smartwatch can tell you, so Fitbit has launched a new - and, maybe more importantly, cheaper - smart scale to add weight and BMI information to your overall health picture. The Fitbit Aria Air joins its more expensive siblings with a sub-$50 price tag, promising Bluetooth connectivity to your smartphone and the ability to measure and track multiple fitness metrics.

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Fitbit isn't just something you strap to your wrist to count your steps and log your workouts any more, with the launch of the Fitbit Premium subscription service to help guide users through getting healthier. Launching alongside the new Fitbit Versa 2, Fitbit Premium promises personalized coaching and thousands of workouts, which the company says were developed both from its experience in health tracking and by consulting experts.

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Smartwatches are a dime a dozen but the majority of them seem to be targeted as a specific class of users that prefer casual or classy looking timepieces. Even those designed for active users wouldn't really look out of place in a board meeting or gala. Athletes and fitness buffs, however, need more than just a handsome smartwatch. They need one that caters to their specific lifestyle and uses cases as well. Navigation expert Garmin might deliver exactly that in the upcoming Fenix 6 series of smartwatches headed to IFA next month.

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Fitbit, the company best known for its fitness trackers, offers its own version of a smartwatch called the Versa. Unlike pure activity trackers, the Fitbit Versa comes with a few extra features, including (depending on model) support for making contactless payments and streaming music. According to a new leak, the company may be planning to update this watch with a new model that includes a personal assistant and improved display.

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Google Fit is getting a dark mode, with the fitness tracking app promising to be easier on the eyes when the lighting is low, along with other changes for iOS and Android. Now, in addition to tracking movement and heart health, Google is building on Google Fit's sleep tracking support, along with workout mapping for iPhone users.

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Both Strava and Relive have made statements on their recent breakup, suggesting that the other was the one that was at fault. According to Relive, they worked with Strava and followed Strava's recent takedown request - but were blocked from the API nonetheless. Strava said Relive was simply abusing its API.

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Today, Polar is launching its newest fitness-focused smartwatch. Dubbed the Polar Ignite, this new smartwatch offers the standard feature set you'd expect to see in a fitness tracker with some extra smart coaching and sleeping tracking features. In its announcement today, Polar paints a picture of a smartwatch that can give you a more complete overview of your workout, including the recovery afterward.

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Fitness pills that promise instant athleticism - and the beach-ready body to go with it - may be wishful thinking, but new research suggests athletes could be carrying the key to better exercise for the rest of us around in their stomachs. A new study explores just what's going on in the gut bacteria of competitive runners, and why key parts of the microbiome there had a huge impact on performance when transplanted into another runner.

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Samsung's Galaxy Fit wearable is reaching store shelves, with the fitness tracker promising to be a lightweight, smarter way to track exercise without breaking the bank in the process. Announced alongside the Galaxy Watch Active and the Galaxy Buds - together with the Galaxy S10 family - back in February, the Galaxy Fit looks more like a Fitbit than a smartwatch.

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