Different Types of Exercise - Different Effects

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Hi folks:

" Different exercise makes for different effects

Nov 09 (Reuters) - People too fat or too weak to start normal

exercise may get surprising benefits from a downhill stroll, Austrian

researchers reported on Sunday.

Hiking downhill appeared to specifically lower blood glucose levels,

in turn reducing the risks or effects of diabetes, according the

researchers' study carried out in the Austrian Alps.

" Walking downhill may be a starting mode for sedentary people to

begin with exercise, " Dr. Heinz Drexel, of the Voralberg Institute in

Feldirch, Austria, told a meeting of the American Heart Association.

Hiking may also affect cholesterol levels, Drexel said. Hiking uphill

reduced triglycerides, an important component of overall cholesterol.

In addition, the so- called " bad cholesterol, " low-density

lipoprotein (LDL), was lowered by hiking in either direction.

For the study, Drexel and his colleagues at the Vorarlberg Institute

persuaded 45 healthy but sedentary people to spend four months hiking

on a steep mountain.

For two months, three to five days a week, half of the people hiked

uphill and took a cable car back down, while the other half hiked

only downhill.

Then they swapped. Drexel's team checked their cable car tickets to

make sure they were complying.

A day and a half after a hike the researchers measured cholesterol,

including LDL and triglycerides, as well as blood sugar.

Although the researchers had had assumed that hiking downhill would

have little beneficial effect, the found that the downhill hikers

were better able to handle sugar while hiking upwards showed little

impact.

All exercise lowered LDL cholesterol, they found. Uphill hiking also

lowered overall triglycerides and helped participants better handle a

fat-laden drink.

Drexel said he now wants to test diabetes patients to see if walking

downhill will actually help them.

Drexel said that, being Austrian, he has a particular enthusiasm for

hiking in steep mountains. " Many groups are trying to find an

equivalent in a gymnasium and fitness centers ... but it is more fun

to do it in nature.

Dr. Gerald Fletcher of the Mayo Clinic in ville, Florida, said

different societies will have to apply the findings

appropriately. " We don't have mountains in Florida, " he noted.

Dr. Gibbons of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota,

suggested one adaptation. " I walk up five flights of stairs to my

office and take the elevator down, " he said. "

Rodney.