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FRIDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) — Statins might quickly help reverse erectile dysfunction among men who have metabolic syndrome, new animal research suggests.
A threat to cardiovascular health, metabolic syndrome is also known to raise the risk for erectile dysfunction (ED). The current finding indicates that statins may reduce levels of a specific protein that contributes to ED.
“Each condition of metabolic syndrome phenomenon — high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity — independently raises the risk for erectile dysfunction just on their own,” explained study author Christopher J. Wingard, an associate professor of physiology with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. “And so, when all are present in combination as part of this syndrome, you have a situation where you don’t even need to be as diabetic or hypertensive as you might otherwise have to be to experience erectile dysfunction. And that fact has been raising concern among clinicians.”
“So, we followed up on case reports and anecdotal evidence that statins being used to lower cholesterol over a six- to eight-week period among patients with metabolic syndrome seemed to also quickly improve erections — even before cholesterol levels go down,” Wingard added. “And in an animal model, we found this to be the case.”
Wingard and his colleagues presented their findings recently at the American Urological Association Research Conference, in Linthicum, Md.
The effort to evaluate the possibility of using statins to treat ED focused on 16- to 20-week-old lean and obese rats, all of whom were given one of three statins on a daily basis for between three to five days.
The researchers then assessed erectile function in the rats. At the same time, they also measured any changes in levels of certain key proteins that they believed could be involved in triggering the onset of ED.
The authors found that the statins were able to quickly relieve some of the vascular constriction associated with metabolic syndrome that can bring about ED.
They further noted that the way in which the statins appeared to have their effect was by inhibiting the expression — and lowering the levels — of a particular protein known as Rho-kinase. This protein had previously been cited as a possible culprit in vascular constriction of penile smooth muscle.
Wingard suggested that more research is sure to follow, to explore whether the findings would apply to patients following a long-term regimen of statin treatment.
However, Dr. Arnold Melman, chairman of the department of urology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, described the findings as “very preliminary.”
“Statins are used by everyone under the sun, and, as far as I know, there’s been no hard evidence that it can be used to treat erectile dysfunction,” he said. “On the other hand, it may be that it could prevent or modify some of the other risk factors for erectile dysfunction.”
“This is because we do know that an increase in Rho-kinase leads to heightened tone of the corpus smooth muscle, which is one of the causes of erectile dysfunction,” Melman noted. “So, while I wouldn’t go too far with this, and I would probably not see statins becoming a primary treatment for erectile dysfunction, if these findings turn out to be true, then there could perhaps be an additional good use for statins.”
By Scott Quill, Men’s Health
Ovie Mughelli steps out of his Lincoln Navigator, and suddenly I feel—for the second time today—weaker than usual. The Ravens’ 6′1″, 255-pound fullback greets me with a smile and a grip that envelops my hand. He’s an easygoing guy—but with threatening pecs that look like they might burst through his shirt.
Earlier, another nice guy had knocked my body image 5 yards downfield. It was my trainer for the day, Jon Crosby, C.S.C.S., who had me do squat jumps on a Vertimax, a tool that improves lower-body power by laughing at you. The Vertimax’s cables are attached at one end to a square rubber platform, and at the other to a belt around your waist. As you jump, resistance from the cables yanks you back down. When you’re finished, though, you feel as if you could leap like an NFL defensive back.
This is my first workout at Velocity Sports Performance, Crosby’s 16,000-foot training center in Baltimore, which houses an indoor artificial-turf field, a three-lane sprinting track, and enough bumper plates to sink a navy destroyer.
Mughelli has been coming here for 3 years. He first worked with Crosby as a Wake Forest senior to prepare for the National Football League’s combine—the legendary battery of physical tests used to evaluate collegiate talent.
Getting Up to Speed for the Combine
Crosby and his team of trainers typically have 6 weeks to train players for the combine. Coaches and personnel directors look for strength, speed, power, flexibility, and agility. These players have plenty of that already. Crosby, who has put 100 players through his program in 7 years, gives them more of everything.
I wanted to see how he did it.
Mughelli, wearing black shorts and a black compression shirt that strains to contain his biceps, starts with an “active and dynamic warmup” on the track. He skips, does butt kicks, runs ladders, and does variations of the lunge while swiftly punching his knee back and forth.
He mixes in sumo squats, planks, and a pack of other exercises that get him moving in every direction and pausing in stretched positions. Fifteen minutes later, he’s ready to work.
“It’s definitely not the same as touching your toes a few times and going at it,” says Mughelli. “You don’t realize the difference this will make until you do it.” (For a sample routine, go toMensHealth.com/warmup.)
After his warmup, Mughelli rips through drills and exercises he first learned in training for the combine. Just 5 minutes in, he’s dripping with sweat and looking bigger and faster than before. I’d draft him.
Soon Crosby is putting me through a similar, though tamer, workout. I come out of it feeling beat, but better. Anyone need a cover corner?
Training for the combine’s main events can help you build a body that excels in any sport. Have a friend time your sprints and measure your jumps. Then do the drills and exercises and retest yourself every 6 weeks. It’s more fun than tracking how many workouts it takes to move up 5 pounds on the preacher curl — and more rewarding, too.
The Bench Press
The combine tests strength and endurance by seeing how many times a player can bench-press 225 pounds. Technique counts. If your hips rise off the bench on your second rep, for example, you’ll stay at two until you fix your form.
Lift as if someone were inspecting every repetition. “We’re trying to save energy by how we line up on the bench,” says Crosby. Using correct form eliminates unnecessary movement, allowing you to lift more weight more times.
Pay attention to your feet. Place them flat on the floor at the sides of the bench, with your knees bent at a slightly acute angle, just less than 90 degrees. Your feet should give you a wide base of support, says Crosby. Pull your shoulder blades back so there’s a natural arch in your lower back.
Keep a tight grip. “A lot of people let the bar roll back in their fingers, but you want a straight line from the elbow through the wrist,” says Crosby.
Improving your form will instantly boost your bench, but benching alone will only help you so much. “You have to work the triceps and the stabilizers of the shoulders, because once you fatigue the pecs, these other muscles finish the exercise to some extent,” says Crosby. Try dips for your triceps and Swiss-ball pushups to strengthen the smaller muscles of your shoulders.
In 2005, Brigham Young University offensive lineman Scott Young added endurance training to his bench-press routine, and it paid off. Young bench-pressed 225 pounds for an NFL-combine record of 43 repetitions. “If you increase your muscular endurance, you should be able to withstand more fatigue and increase your total number of reps,” says Mike Gough, C.S.C.S., Young’s trainer for the combine and owner ofwww. procombinetraining.com.
Frequency: Work on endurance every other time you bench-press, Gough suggests. Try bench-pressing 65 percent of your one-rep max (the weight you can bench-press only once) as many times as you can. Keep the bar moving fast, yet under control, Gough says. You can also try this chest routine:
Do 20 pushups, then 20 reps of a standing chest press using a resistance band. (Attach a band to a fixed object, face the opposite direction, and press the handles away from your chest. Allow the handles to move back to the sides of your chest, and repeat.) Using the bands allows you to develop strength and endurance in a full range of motion, says Gough. After the standing presses, try 20 chest flies with the band while standing and another 20 standing presses. If you’re still not fatigued, perform another set of pushups.
20-Yard Shuttle
This drill improves agility and quickness. It’s easiest on a football field, but you can place three sticks, cones, strips of tape, or any other markers in a row, 5 yards apart on your lawn. (See the illustration below.)
Stand at the middle line with one foot on each side of it. Squat and touch the line with your right hand. (This is the starting position.) Sprint to your right and touch the 10-yard line with your right hand. Then sprint across to the far line and touch it with your left hand. Finally, sprint across the starting line. When you start over again in the middle, reverse the motion, sprinting first to your left.
Shave seconds off your time by using a hockey stop to change direction. (Most men have trouble accelerating out of stops in this drill—and in games.) As you approach the line, drive both your feet into the ground while turning your hips 90 degrees away from the direction you’ve just been running in. Keep more weight on the leg you’ll push off with to run in the opposite direction.
Increase your speed by strengthening your core. The small muscles that support your hips, pelvis, abs, and back project your hips forward as you run—a key to speed. (More on hip projection in the 40-yard-dash section.) Try a variation on the drawing-in maneuver for your core.
Frequency: Do the shuttle three to five times in each direction, once or twice a week.
40-Yard Dash
The classic football measurement. But better sprinting speed will give you an edge in most other sports as well.
The key to acceleration is fast arms. The key to fast arms is your back muscles, Crosby says, because they help move your arms. “Move your arms from your shoulders, not your elbows,” says Crosby. Keep your arms bent and below your head as you pump — swinging your arms overhead can actually cause you to overstride.
Start the drill like a defensive end, left foot in front of right, right hand on the ground, and left hand on the left side of your butt. For the first 20 yards, lean forward 45 degrees. You’ll naturally move into a more upright position as you stop accelerating and continue to run at full speed.
A “wall sprint” accustoms you to running at the correct angle, because your torso stays steady as you pump your legs back and forth. (See the description on the previous page.) You’ll do eight to 16 repetitions of the wall sprint, pausing after each rep to make sure your body remains at a 45-degree forward lean. Progress to doing two steps before the pause, then three steps (left-right-left).
Frequency: Work on acceleration twice a week.
60-Yard Shuttle
This speed-and-stamina drill is best done on a football field. Place four markers in a row, 5 yards apart. (See the illustration below.)
Sprint 5 yards and touch the first line, then sprint back and touch the starting line. Next, sprint 10 yards to the second marker, touch the line, and sprint back to touch the starting line. Finally, sprint 15 yards, touch the line, and sprint all the way back.
Try the box blast. It will help you accelerate in the 40-yard dash.
Frequency: Do the shuttle three to five times, once or twice a week.
The L Drill
This exercise improves agility. Arrange three cones in a modified L, with each leg of the L 5 yards long. Call the end of one leg cone A, the corner cone B, and the last cone C.
Sprint from A to B, then back to A, touching your right hand to the ground near the cone each time. Next, sprint past cone B and slice between cones B and C so that your right shoulder passes to the inside of cone C. Continue around cone C (don’t touch it) and sprint around cone B (again passing the cone with your right shoulder) and finally back to A.
Practice the L drill in parts. For instance, work on just sprinting from cone A to cone B and back in one workout. Work on the loop around cone C in another workout. You can also try the drill in reverse.
Frequency: Perform the L drill three to five times in each direction, once or twice a week.
Vertical Jump and Long Jump
The combine uses a piece of equipment called a Vertec to measure your standing vertical jump. It’s basically a pole with plastic strips that you swipe with your hands at the top of your jump. In your gym, chalk or wet your hands and reach up to touch the wall, making a mark. Then jump, touching the wall as high as you can. Measure the difference to get your vertical jump. For a standing long jump, mark where you start and land, and measure the difference.
For better hops, add the box jump to your workout. “I want you to handle your own body weight in gravity before we start strapping things on you,” says Crosby. You’ll need a box, exercise step, or bench. See the description on the previous page.
After doing box jumps, try three to five rebound long jumps: Jump forward and land, then immediately spring up and out into your next long jump. You can progress to doing both box jumps and rebound jumps on one foot or with the added resistance of a weighted vest. You can also try long jumps starting with your feet in a staggered stance. Doing this not only improves your leg power, but will also help with your acceleration in each shuttle.
Frequency: Practice the box jump and re- bound long jump once or twice a week.
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By Michael Tennesen, Men’s Health, Researched by David Schipper
What surrenders first, the brain or the body?
Feels like the body, doesn’t it? When your stride gets choppy on the running trail or your form goes wobbly in the gym, you tell yourself to go a bit more, but your body won’t let you. So your mind drifts to a hot shower and a cold beer. It’s quittin’ time.
There it is: Your mind drifts. Your body’s got plenty more, and scientists have proved it. Researchers at the University of Cape Town in South Africa have pinpointed where the stop order comes from. It has to do with receptors in the brain called interleukin-6.
“Our brains turn on the pain before we actually run out of fuel,” says Timothy Noakes, M.D., a professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town. It’s a safety measure—the brain tells the body to shut down to protect it from injury.
In short, our brains screw with us. They stop us from getting the most out of our workouts, and from losing that last 10 pounds. Guys like Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps have figured out how to fool the brain and body into giving more. It’s a bit more than “I think I can.” But not much. Here’s what the experts say.
RUN ANOTHER MILE
Why you stop: You’re running low on glycogen, the primary fuel source for your muscles. But it’s not the only one. Any body fat you have is available. Your brain knows this, but it’s not telling you.
Keep going: Try this trick from Jane Hahn, a senior editor at Runner’s World magazine. If a runner is in sight, slowly reel him in. “Imagine there’s a magnet attached to him,” says Hahn, “and it’s pulling you toward him.” (Or her. Imagining it’s Scarlett Johansson works well.)
Some practical preparation: Include long runs in your training, no matter how short your races are. “Long runs teach the body to run more efficiently and to use energy stores more effectively,” says Hahn.
BENCH-PRESS YOUR LAST REP
Why you quit: You need an absolute goal. If you think that anywhere from six to 12 repetitions will suffice, then 12 is unlikely. Pick eight or 10, and nail it. Good form is essential—your body uses 32 muscles to lower and lift the weight. As you tire, your form can falter.
Lift more: Start with eight to 10 reps with an empty bar to reinforce your form, says C.J. Murphy, M.F.S., owner and head strength coach of Total Performance Sports in Everett, Massachusetts. Then pull your shoulder blades together and hold your elbows slightly in, not out at 90 degrees. Squeeze your lats and push the bar as fast as you can without losing control. Then lower it under control.
PEDAL FASTER
Why you slow down: You’ve run out of gas.
Speed up: Get off the bike. Bill Foran, strength and conditioning coach for the Miami Heat, suggests simple intervals.
Fours: Run four lengths of a basketball court “as hard as you can, with the goal of finishing in under 24 seconds,” says Foran. Rest 40 seconds and repeat eight to 12 times.
17s: Run sideline to sideline 17 times. The challenge is changing direction. Try to finish in about a minute. Rest 2 minutes; repeat for a total of four or five runs.
Suicides: These haven’t changed since high school. They’re still hard, still effective. Starting at one baseline of a basketball court, run to the near free-throw line and back, then continue back and forth to the midcourt line, the opposite free-throw line, and the opposite baseline. Try to run the whole thing in 30 to 33 seconds, then rest for a minute. Complete six to eight suicides.
SWIM ANOTHER LAP
Why you sink: The burning sensation in your muscles is partly a result of an accumulation of lactic acid, says Shawn Arent, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., an exercise scientist at Rutgers University. You reach a point called your lactate threshold, when your body can’t flush it out fast enough and you need to slow down. Any kind of interval training can push your threshold higher, but there’s another trick.
Swim farther: “You’ll send less lactic acid into your muscles if you’re relaxed,” says Joel Kirsch, Ph.D., a sports psychologist and director of the American Sports Institute. Removing the tension in your muscles lets your limbs fully extend and your stride—or stroke—lengthen, says Kirsch. “Check your muscles as you move and ask yourself, ?Are my legs moving freely, or am I pushing them?’ ” If you’re pushing, focus on easing the muscles. At your desk, practice tensing the muscles in your arms and legs, then slowly relaxing them. You’ll get the hang of controlling your muscles, says Kirsch.
DO THAT LAST CRUNCH
Or skip it: “I’d rather see you do 20 good reps than 30 crappy ones,” says Arent. Your abs, like any other muscle, grow in response to increased stress, not continual stress.
Do them well: Three keys to the proper crunch: Focus on lifting your shoulder blades off the floor, not pulling your head up with your hands. Pause at the top of the move and lower your body slowly. Keep your abs tight throughout the exercise. (And try the drawing-in maneuver in Malegrams, page 58.)
By Michael Mejia, Men’s Health
Here’s a sign of the times: You can actually hire people to come to your house and organize your closets. They’ll also do your garage, your attic, and the shed in your backyard. These people are tough on pack rats. They ask questions like “Why do you have this box of dog leashes, but no dog?”
My job isn’t all that different. As a trainer, if I see something in a client’s workout-or my own-that doesn’t belong there, I get rid of it. If I see a redundant exercise, it’s gone. Disorganized workout? I organize it. And if I see a client doing a program he got out of some old bodybuilding magazine, I throw the whole thing out and start over.
I can’t come to your gym and fix your workout (or organize your closets). But I can tell you what you need to know to organize your own regimen, based on your goals, your available time, and your experience. I’ll even throw in six sample workouts for beginner through advanced lifters. Now, about those closets . . .
Goals
I assume the closet lady would start by asking, “What do you need this closet to do for you?” Me, I’d ask the same question, substituting the word “workout” for “closet.” Usually, these goals fall into three categories:
Lose weight: If you’re a beginner, start with a circuit routine in which you do 10 to 12 exercises one after the other, 10 to 15 repetitions per set, with little or no rest in between. Do two or three circuits.
If you’re more advanced, try supersets. In these, you do two exercises back-to-back, rest 60 seconds, and then repeat once or twice. There are many ways to do supersets, but for fat loss, I’d like to see you use as much muscle as possible. One way is to pair exercises that work completely different muscles, such as squats and seated rows.
Build muscle: For most men, I recommend exercises that allow you to do eight to 12 repetitions per set. You can do them as straight sets-complete a set, rest about 60 seconds, do the next set of the same thing, and keep going that way until you’ve finished all your sets and are ready to move on to the next exercise.
If you have more experience, try supersets, but not the way you did them for fat loss. Pair synergistic exercises-two moves that work the same muscles. Usually, the first is a compound move to work a lot of muscles, the second a single-joint exercise to focus on one large muscle. So barbell bench presses might be followed by dumbbell flies. Shoulder presses could lead in to lateral raises.
Gain strength: There’s no secret here-heavy weights, low repetitions (usually three to five per set for the most important moves, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses), and longer rest (up to 4 minutes) between sets. You don’t have to do every exercise this way, of course. Start with low reps on your main moves, then do more repetitions with lighter weights and shorter rest periods on less important ones.
Available Time
This is akin to the closet lady saying, “What’s your budget?” Before I design a program, I need to know how much time you’re going to put in. I’m going to assume everyone is willing to work out 40 to 60 minutes per session.
To me, that’s a finite window, just as your closet is a finite size. If you want to do longer workouts, great, but I usually don’t go in that direction. If I can’t give you a system that gets it done in an hour or less, there’s something wrong with my program. To me, the big variable here is how many days a week you’re able and willing to work out.
Two days a week: No matter your level or goals, do total-body workouts. You want to hit your major muscles twice a week; otherwise, they’ll be completely rested between workouts and will have no reason to grow.
If you’re a beginner, stick to circuits, as I recommended above for fat loss. But if you’re more interested in building muscle than in losing fat, I suggest doing sets of eight to 12 reps, with perhaps a little more rest in between exercises.
Another option for saving time is to do antagonistic supersets. These pair up movements that involve opposite muscle actions, such as situps and back extensions.
Three days a week: If you’re not a beginner, you can adopt a split routine. The easiest to remember is the upper-body/ lower-body split. You alternate between them, so if you’re training three times a week, you’ll do upper-lower-upper 1 week, then lower-upper-lower the next.
If you’re working out four times a week, you’ll do upper on Monday and Thursday, and lower on Tuesday and Friday.
What you do during those split routines depends on your goals (explained above) and your experience (explained below).
Experience
Beginners make gains with just about any type of program, so it’s best to keep it simple and safe-fairly high repetitions, basic exercises, total-body workouts. The more experience you have, the more you’ll benefit from heavier weights and lower repetitions, more advanced exercises and techniques, and split routines.Another issue is recovery. A beginner can recover in 48 hours and do fine with three total-body workouts a week. A more advanced lifter needs to give his muscles more time to recover, since he’s hitting them harder.
Also, the more experienced you are, the less time you should spend on a program before moving on. A beginner can do the same program for 6 to 10 weeks without hitting a plateau. Grizzled iron vets may need to move on every 2 or 3 weeks. You probably fall somewhere in between.
Remember when you’d run around, climb trees, play games and get your exercise while enjoying every minute of it?
Why not go back to playing for fitness?
Join a softball team, go to the beach with friends and play Frisbee or walk/run along the beach. Take a long hike in the hills and stop for a picnic along the way.
Make your exercise fun again.
A weekend workout doesn’t have to be a 30-minute run, 45 minutes on the treadmill or a spinning class. Go back to the days of getting, and staying fit “by accident” by incorporating it into your life, your family, your weekends.
Think of swimming and running races, and long adventurous bike rides. Include your kids (or someone else’s if you don’t have any of your own at home) – they’ll remind you how to have fun with exercise.
Go ‘vintage’ with your training – put on your PF Flyers and play athlete.
Ask a group of guys what turns them on about a woman, and you’ll sometimes get the predictable answers: full lips, full bosom, full booty.
These are a few quick-and-dirty biological imperatives that will turn many a man’s head. But a lot of women fulfill those requirements already. So what makes certain women boy magnets, and leaves others spending Saturday nights watching Saturday Night Live skits?
As always, men are more complicated than a lot of people give them credit for, and when it comes to turn-ons, the masculine gender has plenty of surprises up their metaphorical sleeve. Here, some of the ways to effectively rev the masculine engine:
1. Standing Tall
Don’t get me wrong: it’s not that we want a woman who can balance a beer tray on her head. It’s what good posture says about her. A woman who stands tall typically a) dresses well, b) exercises often, and c) is confident about her body and what it’s good for. And if she’s proud of her figure no matter what shape or size, that makes men take notice, as well.
2. True Grit
Men know that women cry. Men know that women can get hurt. Men want to be there to help whenever they do. But there’s something insanely attractive about women who can bite their lips, buck up, and grit out some of life’s twists, turns, sprains, and pains.
Note: Before you throw e-daggers my way, I’m not suggesting that it’s not OK to cry or that women shouldn’t seek proper attention when they’re in pain, either physically or emotionally. (Nor am I saying that lots of men don’t need to heed this advice as well.) I’m simply saying we’re often drawn to partners who can walk off life’s minor insults.
3. Baseball Caps
When we were growing up, we used them to show our team allegiances. In college, we used them to hide bed head. Past the age of 30, we mainly wear them to cover our bald spots. But no matter what team we root for, we like a baseball cap the most when it’s worn by a woman. The look sends all kinds of messages about the kind of woman she is: sporty, strong, comfortable kicking back, Sox fan. (All the better if it’s a Cubs hat - she’s an optimist with a great sense of humor.)
4. Software Savvy
Maybe it’s a giant sexual metaphor, but women like men who know hardware, and men like women who know software. Show a guy a woman who knows her way around systems, networks, and connections, and he’ll be dazzled by her smarts - and appreciate her talents.
There’s something sexy about a woman who can click a few buttons and get something working exactly the way she wants it to. (That is, as long as the buttons she pushes aren’t his.)
5. Sexy Shampoo
Men typically are stereotyped as needing visual cues to feel attraction. While it’s true that men need their share of eye candy, they also are mightily turned on by the olfactory sweets, as well. Perfume and body lotion are nice and all, but the smell of her freshly washed hair that’s nestled up under the chin on a Sunday morning is a reminder of all that’s good about relationships.
6. Understated Underwear
Slinky and small lingerie works for anniversaries, birthday surprises, honeymoons, and other seduce-me moments. But the look that makes men feel both comfortable and excited is when she’s wearing boxers (waistband rolled) and a thin-as-can-be T-shirt that’s neither too tight nor too big. Call it supreme sexiness in the understated. The same effect can be achieved by wearing his old dress shirt and a pair of panties.
7. Dirt and Sweat
Of course, men like to see their women dolled up for a night out. But many men appreciate the exact opposite: The woman who hikes, bikes, mows the lawn, hacks trees and branches, and otherwise pulls her weight. Seeing the dirt, mud, sweat, and occasional road rash is something that stokes our primal side.
8. A Few “Duh” Moments
Men like smart women (see “software savvy,” above). But there’s a small part of a man’s brain that wants her to have an occasional dollop of ditziness. Why? Because if she can show that she may not know everything, it reinforces something deep inside a man that he’s needed, that he’s trusted, that he can be there to help.
And it says that when we screw up on occasion (and we will, oh yes, we will), she’ll understand. Hypercompetence is something we just can’t compete with. And ultimately, this game isn’t about competition, it’s about crossing the finish line together.
Belly fat in men: What you need to know
If you are carrying a few extra pounds — whether in the form of belly fat, love handles, a beer gut or potbelly — you’re not alone. In recent years, the number of people who are overweight has increased dramatically worldwide. Two-thirds of American men are overweight or obese. But this is one case where following the crowd is not the best idea, because extra weight — especially belly fat — can be downright risky. And while women often put on extra pounds in the hips, thighs and legs, men are much more likely to gain belly fat.
Michael Jensen, M.D., an endocrinology specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., answers common questions regarding belly fat and what you can do about it.
Why is losing belly fat important?
Although the link between belly fat and health is not entirely clear, experts do know that people with a lot of belly fat are at higher risk of health problems than are people who accumulate fat in other areas — and men are more likely than women to put on weight around the waist.
Our bodies are designed to store fat for release during times when there is not enough food. But when we put on weight and never have these lean times, fat cells begin to release fat molecules into the blood at a higher rate. This affects normal metabolism and the way the body uses insulin. These metabolic changes can worsen or increase your risk of health problems, including:
- Diabetes
- Some types of cancers
- High blood pressure
- Sleep apnea
- Abnormal lipids — high triglycerides and low HDL (”good” cholesterol)
- Insulin resistance
- Metabolic syndrome
When you lose fat through exercise and improved eating habits, you improve your metabolism. This reduces your risk of health problems — and may improve existing health problems.
What role does exercise play in losing belly fat?
To lose weight — and keep it off — you have to get regular exercise. This means doing something active most days of the week. Most people need at least 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise to stay healthy. But to shed the pounds in the first place, you may need longer periods of activity.
Aerobic exercise such as bicycling, swimming or strenuous yardwork — the kind of exercise that gets you breathing hard and gets your heart rate up — is the best kind of exercise to burn fat.
One great way to get regular aerobic exercise is to walk. Using a pedometer, a simple device that measures how many steps you take, can help you make sure you’re getting enough activity. For many men, walking 10,000 steps a day — plus eating right — is enough to stay at a healthy weight. Men with more weight to lose may need to walk farther. You may need to slowly build up the amount of exercise you get. Once you get the weight off, you may not need to do as much exercise to keep it off. But the more weight you lose, the more activity you’ll need to keep the pounds from coming back.
When To Call a Doctor
Seek care immediately if you use medication to treat an erection problem (erectile dysfunction) and the erection lasts longer than 4 hours.
Seek care immediately if you have taken phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (such as Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis) in the past 24 hours and are having chest pain. Tell your health professional you are taking this medication. Do not use any form of nitroglycerin if you have chest pain and have taken Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis in the past 24 hours.
Call a health professional if erection problems occur with:
- Any type of injury to the back, legs, buttocks, groin, penis, or testicles.
- A loss of pubic or armpit hair and an enlargement of the breasts.
Make an appointment to see a health professional within 1 to 2 weeks if an erection problem occurs more than 25% of the time and the problem:
- Occurs with a persistent backache.
- Occurs after you start taking a new medication or change the dose of a medication.
- Is affecting your self-image or sense of well-being.
- Has not improved despite self-care.
If your erection problem is occasional, there is no reason to call your health professional. If it occurs frequently but does not bother you or your partner, you may or may not choose to call your doctor. However, an erection problem that develops suddenly may be a sign of a disease; it is recommended that you see your doctor.
Watchful Waiting
Watchful waiting is a period of time during which you and your health professional observe your symptoms or condition without using medical treatment. A single episode of an erection problem is often a temporary and easily reversible problem. Do not assume it will happen again. If possible, forget about it and expect a more successful experience the next time. If you or your partner is concerned about it, talk about the problem and openly discuss your fears and anxieties.
If self-care has not helped after 2 weeks and you are concerned about your inability to have an erection, see a health professional who has experience in dealing with erection problems.
Who To See
Some health professionals, including doctors and mental health professionals, may not feel comfortable discussing sexuality and erection problems. Ask your health professional if he or she feels comfortable with and has experience in working with men who have erection problems.
The following health professionals can evaluate symptoms of erection problems:
- Family medicine doctor
- Internist
- Nurse practitioner
- Physician assistant
- Urologist
If it is possible that a psychological problem is contributing to your erection problem, your doctor may refer you to a health professional such as a:
- Psychiatrist.
- Psychologist.
- Certified licensed social worker.
- Counselor with special training in sexuality or relationship problems.
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