WEDNESDAY, July 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A quick daily "workout" for the breathing muscles may help people lower their blood pressure to a similar degree as exercise or even medication, a small study suggests.The technique is called inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST), and it involves using a device that provides resistance as the user inhales — essentially working out the diaphragm and other breathing muscles.Researchers found that over six weeks, the exercises lowered study participants' blood pressure by nine points, on average.And all it took was five minutes of training per day, said lead researcher Daniel Craighead, an assistant research professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.There are caveats, he said: Study participants had higher-than-normal blood...

FRIDAY, July 2, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Wearing a mask while you exercise may be uncomfortable, but a new study should reassure gym-goers that it poses no actual health risks."What we found was, that it is safe to run at peak exercise in both an N95 mask and a cloth face mask," said researcher Dr. Matthew Kampert, of the Cleveland Clinic.His team looked at 20 healthy people, average age 37, who ran on a treadmill to peak exhaustion while wearing an N95 mask, a cloth mask and no mask.None of the participants had any safety issues while working out in either type of mask, and monitors showed no abnormal heart rhythms or unsafe drops in oxygen. The main reason participants stopped running was due to mask discomfort, according to the study published online June 30 in JAMA Network...

THURSDAY, July 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Poor quality sleep can shave years off your life, and these effects may be magnified if you don't get enough physical activity.That's the bad news. The good news is that getting more exercise may help counter some of the health risks known to accompany poor quality sleep, new research shows.Folks who scored low in both sleep and exercise categories were 57% more likely to die from heart disease, stroke and cancer over more than a decade of follow-up when compared with those who reported getting better sleep and more exercise."Physical inactivity seems to amplify the health risks of poor sleep patterns in a synergistic way," said study co-author Emmanuel Stamatakis. "The mortality risk from physical inactivity and poor sleep combined is larger...