New research published in the medical journal, Neurology, shows a link between increased physical activity and decreased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study followed 716 people with an average age of 82. Those in the lowest 10 percent of physical activity levels were more than twice as likely to develop the debilitating disease.

Physical activity, known to to increase the size of blood vessels in the brain and the number of neurons, may be the key to staving off Alzheimer’s.

At CORE Fitness, we have more than 70 classes per week, including classes designed with seniors in mind as well as group exercise, barre, and Pilates Reformer, to help you keep you fit.  No contracts, no monthly dues, just low, affordable pay-as-you-go rates to keep healthy and fit.

In keeping with that spirit, we’re delighted to announce that we’re adding Step Aerobics to our group exercise schedule Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m.  beginning next Wednesday, May 3 with Victor.

Some of you know Victor from his packed classes at that other fitness place (you know, the around the clock fitness factory that’s the opposite of what we are). So, we’re excited to bring you this champion of step aerobics who brings fun, energy, and one heckuva fat-burning, thigh-toning workout to every class.

First class is free. Come check out. Bring a towel, you’re going to sweat. We’ve got the bottled water (free) to rehydrate.

Yes, say researchers from the University of Illinois’ Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. How do they know? An experiment they performed using mice.

The scientists divided mice into four categories: mice living in environments rich with things that stimulate the brain (good food, toys, colorful surrounding); mice living in environments rich with things that stimulate the brain and an exercise wheel; mice living in a relatively dull environment and fed plain kibble; and mice set in an environment with no stimulus except the exercise wheel.

The researchers tested the animals’ intelligence before the experiment and again, several months later. “Only one thing mattered,” when it came to improved intelligence, said the lead researcher, Justin S. Rhodes, Ph.D., “whether they had a running wheel.”

The mice who exercised had healthier brains and performed “significantly better” on cognitive tests.  The exercise, it seems, made new neurons, which are essential for improving cognitive function, more agile and more easily able to adhere to existing neurons. The findings reinforced those of an earlier experiment where senior-age subjects were asked to walk routinely and others asked to remain exercise-free. Those seniors who walked had knocked almost two years off their brain’s aging process.

So, although the scientists aren’t completely sure why it works, they do know that exercise can make you smarter or at the very least prevent you from becoming, for lack of a better word, dumber, as you age.

We can’t promise good food or brightly colored toys at CORE Fitness, but we can promise a host of great group exercise classes ranging from Zumba to Pilates Reformer, Ultimate Barre Workout, and dozens more. Check out our schedule and see which one you’ll choose to make yourself smarter!

These are the benefits you gain when you have core fitness:

1. Your deep abdominal muscles, known as the transversus abdominis, surround your waist, including your back. When your transversus abdominis is fit, you are fit.
2. With a strong core, your lower back is stabilized. When your lower back is stabilized you have less, or no, lower back pain.
3. When you have core fitness, your balance and coordination are improved. Improved balance and coordination help you move easier throughout everything you do. It also reduces the risk of injury.
4. Core fitness provides increased flexibility. Increased core flexibility relieves stress and strain on your lower back. Again, no back pain.
5. When you have a fit core, respiration and lung capacity are improved. Better respiration and lung capacity means more oxygen and more oxygen improves brain function, cardio function, and any athletic endeavors you undertake.

Not coincidentally, core fitness is at the heart of everything we do at CORE Fitness. We are Silicon Valley’s leading provider of Pilates Reformer training with nearly 40 classes per week. We also offer mat Pilates classes and other group exercise classes designed to help you get a strong core. Call us for details, we’re here to help you achieve total fitness, which is to say, core fitness.

Their apprehension was clearly visible in their faces as they entered the room and they each explained why on camera: They can’t dance, they’re going to feel intimidated by the other people in the class, they don’t want to be embarrassed on national television showing just how uncoordinated they thought themselves to be.

It didn’t take long however for the group of “losers” to figure out what a Zumba workout is all about. It’s about the party atmosphere. It’s about letting go and having fun. It’s realizing that no one else is watching you, they’re too busy doing their own thing and worrying about themselves.

Soon after they got moving to the Latin beat, they explained later, that they decided to throw caution to the wind and make the best of the situation. Once they did that, they rocked it! They learned that Zumba is about the fun as much as it is about the fitness and that you have so much fun, you soon forget that it is fitness and you’re burning calories like nobody’s business.

At CORE Fitness, we not only get Zumba, we give Zumba — 7 times a week, morning noon and night. We have great instructors ready to challenge all comers from the beginners to the most experienced so, join the losers and be a winner. Take a Zumba class and see what the party’s all about!

Some exercise programs, for example those that require lifting substantial amounts of weights, are based on tearing muscle and allowing the muscle to repair itself over time, thus building muscle. That’s what weightlifters do.  Tearing muscle may be OK but it’s generally not something you want to do to your body everyday. That’s why weightlifters work alternate muscle groups on alternate days, to allow the muscles to repair.

Ballet, Pilates, and yoga, however stretch your muscles, they do not tear the muscle. That’s why, in large part, ballet, Pilates, and yoga energize you when you’re done working out. You are not working the muscles to exhaustion as you do when you lift weights.

And that’s why, you can do a barre workout as often as you like, even everyday. You don’t have to do the Ultimate Barre Workout™ everyday, but you could if you wanted to, without causing yourself any harm.

How often should you do a barre workout? That’s up to you. That more often you do a barre workout, the more quickly you will see results. The more often you do a barre workout, the better shape you will stay in .

We offer almost 10 Ultimate Barre Workout™ classes each week. Try our introductory offer of a month of unlimited barre classes for $99 and come as often as you like!

The study, published in the The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, followed about 3,100 people over a six-year period to determine whether the consistent exercise they did could offset the adverse effects of carrying additional weight.

The answer, it seems, is largely, “No.’

Over three visits in the six years, the researchers followed cardiovascular health, including blood pressure, cholesterol profile, abdominal girth and body fat percentage. They also measured the patients’ aerobic fitness using treadmill tests.

The first visit showed no signs of illness. The second visit, two years later, showed no signs of heart disease and improved fitness.

But by the time they showed up for their third checkup several years later, nearly 25 percent had developed several adverse symptoms including high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels or several risk factors in combination, known as metabolic syndrome.

Those who had slipped in their fitness levels and gained weight showed the most decline in health with a 71 percent chance of increased risk for metabolic syndrome. Those who had maintained their fitness but gained weight, had a 22 percent lower risk.

The researchers’ conclusion: Exercise alone doesn’t eliminate the risk of extra body fat, but it can mitigate them. “Both fitness and fatness matter, separately and together, for heart health,” says Duck-Chul Lee, a research fellow at the University of South Carolina who led the study.

“The message is simple,” Dr. Lee concludes. “So much attention gets focused on weight reduction, but reducing body fat is very difficult for most people. Our study suggests that,” in terms of heart health, “maintaining your fitness over your lifetime is just as important, and for most people is probably more achievable.”

The thinking goes that those with more fat hold heat in and raise their core temperatures more quickly while exercising than those who are leaner.

By just holding onto a cold thermos or cold water bottle while doing their cardio exercise, body temperatures rose more slowly, thereby delaying fatigue and improving performance.

The delay in fatigue and improved performance led the exercisers to work out longer and more often resulting in better attendance at workouts and  more weight loss. Duration and speed increased on treadmills and improvements were seen in blood pressure, heart rate, and waist size.

All you have to do, say the Stanford scientists, is hold a bottle of frozen water during your workout. To which we add, “and take one of the awesome cardio classes at CORE Fitness, such as Zumba, Piloxing, U-Jam or Turbokickboxing.

Dwayne Wade, the Miami Heat’s superstar shooting guard who has won nearly every title the NBA has to offer is also a Pilates Reformer regular. He came by it honestly. Last year’s labor dispute and player lockout led Wade to a new trainer, one who recommended yoga. When Wade persuaded teammate LeBron James to try yoga with him, James reciprocated and suggested Wade join him for Pilates Reformer training.

“I really felt the Pilates loosen up my muscles,” Mr. Wade recently told the Wall St. Journal. The attention to stretching has been more than worth it. “I recall making a move, and the basketball ended up on my foot and I almost did a split on the ball. Normally, that’s a groin pull, but I bounced back.”

It’s no surprise to us. Our CORE Fitness clients often tell us similarly amazing stories: Their doctors tell them they’ve grown an inch since doing Pilates. They were there to save their elderly parents from a fall and had the strength to help them. Their back pain has gone away and they haven’t injured themselves since starting Pilates Reformer.

We’re Silicon Valley’s leading Pilates Reformer provider with more Reformer classes than anyone around and the most competitive rates at that. So, come check us out. You may not be an NBA All-Star, but that’s okay, you’ll be superstar in your own life and that of your family.

Well, not exactly smarter, you won’t go from average IQ to Einstein because you exercise, but recent studies show that people who exercise regularly have better cognitive functioning than those who do not.

What the researchers found was that among the subjects being studied (in this case, lab rats), the level of glycogen, a biochemical necessary to fuel cognitive function in the brain for thinking and memory, remained consistently higher when the rats exercised moderately and consistently over a four-week period.

What does that mean for you? Well, it may mean that if you work out with us two to three times per week in Pilates Reformer, Zumba, Barre, U-Jam, Piloxing, or any of our other group exercise classes, you are likely to think better, faster, more clearly at home, work, even when minding your little ones! And that doesn’t even take into account all the other benefits of exercise–look better, feel better, less prone to injury, better balance, reduced risk of disease or heart attack, and so much more.

So, what are you waiting for? Call, click, or come in and get moving!