SportsGeezer understands that every one of his items will not delight and surprise. Sometimes, he knows, his revelations seem more like common sense than the findings of weeks of medical research, largely because they should be common sense. Take, for example, a recent study of back pain treatments whose results were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Seattle. L.A Times health writer Jeannine Stein reports on the research, which randomly assigned 120 people with chronic back pain to one of four groups for 12 weeks. Stein tells us that one group did a strength-training program two days a week, one did it three
days a week, and one did it four days a week. A control group did no
exercise but participated in a two-week exercise familiarization
program. Exercises in the program included bench presses, lat pull
downs and leg presses. According the Stein, those in the four-day-a-week program had
the greatest reduction in pain — 28 percent — compared with 14 percent for those who
exercised two days a week. The four-day group also reported having a
better quality of life and less disability than those who exercised
less. In addition, it showed the greatest strength gains. The control
group showed insignificant change in all areas.
Read more from Jeannine Stein. Read in abstract from the study here.
Read more from Jeannine Stein here.