The 7-minute workout that is as beneficial as a long run and a weights session

The Seven Minute Workout: The new exercise regime is very prescriptive in terms of the exercises you should do, the order in which you should do them and the length of time spent between each

A seven-minute exercise regime devised by scientists has been shown to provide as many health benefits as going for a long run and doing  a session of weight training.

The workout requires no more than a wall, a chair and seven minutes of your time.

However the experts say that you must be in pain when performing the regime in order to benefit.

The article, entitled High-intensity circuit training using body Weight: Maximum Results With Minimal Investment, is published in the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness.

It outlines 12 exercises that uses the body’s own weight to get the same amount of exercise as doing a long run and session of weight-training in just seven minutes.

Health and Fitness:HOW TO DO THE PERFECT PUSH- UPS

Push-ups — we’ve all done ‘em, but sometimes they just don’t look so pretty. Fear not! We’ve got the guide to get it right. Push-ups are a total-body functional movethat are great for increasing strength, much like bench-pressing, and have the added benefit of engaging the core and lower body (thanks, gravity!). The bodyweight exercise can be done just about anywhere — with a ton of variations to liven things up. So let’s drop down and do the perfect push-up.

THE BASICS

1. Get into a plank position with hands planted directly under the shoulders (slightly wider than shoulder width apart). Ground the toes into the floor to stabilize the bottom half of the body. Engage the abs and back so the body is neutral. In other words, flat as a… plank (ah, now we get it!).

2. Begin to lower the body — back flat, eyes focused about three feet in front of you to keep a neutral neck— until the chest nearly touches the floor. (Note: Some experts say a push-up isn’t a push-up unless the chest actually grazes the ground). Don’t let the butt dip or stick out at any point during the move; the body should remain flat from head to toe all the way through the movement. Draw the shoulder blades back and down, while keeping the elbows tucked close to the body, so the upper arms form a 45-degree angle at the bottom of the push-up position.

3. Keeping the core engaged, exhale as you push back to the start position as explosively as possible without leaving the ground (pow!). That’s one! Repeat for 10-20 reps or as many as can be performed with good form (no sagging those hips, ya heard?).

VARIATIONS

Changing the positions of both the elbows and hands will activate different muscles and amp up the intensity of the basic push-up. Ready? Here we go!

Bent Knee Push-Up

These push-ups are great for beginners to nail down form before graduating to other varieties. Come to all fours, hands directly under the shoulders. With the knees on the floor, lower to the ground the same way as a standard push-up, just with the knees helping to stabilize the body rather than the feet.

Alternating Med Ball Push-Up

This variety increases range of motion, and works core stability. Place one hand on top of the medicine ball, while the other stabilizes the body on the floor. Adjust the body into a plank (only this time, one arm is supported by the ball). Perform a standard push-up, then roll the ball to the other hand and repeat.

Single Leg Push-Up

This push-up is tricky, because the body is stabilized by only three points rather than four. Perform a standard push-up, but raise one leg up toward the ceiling, heel reaching toward the wall behind you. Alternate legs after each rep, or perform two sets (starting with one leg, then switching to the other for the next set). 

Clap Push-Up

These push-ups are all about plyometrics, meaning the hands lift off the ground,, clap, then return to the floor. To break it down: Perform a standard push-up, but at the exhale, swiftly straighten the arms and forcefully push off the floor. Bring the hands together into a clap, then return to the start position. Note: This is not a beginner’s exercise, and requires quite a bit of strength (and practice!) to perform correctly.

Handstand Push-Up

Handstands? Why not! These push-ups really amp up the demands. And we’re not kidding, they take a lot of practice and coordination (and usually a wall, maybe even a spotter for your first go at it). Position the body against a wall and practice a static handstand before lowering into the push-up. Once you’ve mastered that, slowly lower the body down a few inches then press back up to a full handstand. Eventually, work toward lowering down completely to the floor before pushing back up. Carefully lower those legs and it’s a wrap.  

Health and fitness: THE MOST COMMON PUSH-UP MISTAKES (AND HOW TO FIX THEM)

The Mistake: Focusing too much on the upper body.

The Fix: Sure, push-ups are known for strengthening the pecs, shoulders, and triceps, but they’re a total-body move. Pay attention to the glutes and legs, and keep ‘em tight! Tightening that tush can help keep the lower back from archingduring the move. Instead of letting the bum flop down first (and compromising the lower back), hit the ground chest first, keeping the hips in the same plane as the shoulders. Imagine the belly button drawing in toward the spine to help keep the torso flat.

The Mistake: Flaring the arms.

The Fix: Letting those arms pop out to 90 degrees can be really tough on the shoulders. Instead of forming a “T” with the arms and body, keep the elbows tucked close to the body.

The Mistake: Forgetting to breathe.

The Fix: Faith Hill had it right: Just breathe. Concentrating on form and reps can make it easy to forget one of the most important parts of working out — breathing.Inhale on the way down, and exhale on the way back up.

The Mistake: Cheating Yourself.The Fix: The key is quality over quantity. Make sure each push-up reaches a full range of motion by getting the chest as close to the floor as comfortable, then fully extending the elbows at the top. Having sloppy form will make for a less effective strengthening exercise that targets fewer muscles.

Autism: Early Vaccines and Autism Risk

There is no link between receiving a number of vaccines early in life and autism, researchers have said.

In a study slated to appear in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers said there is no association between receiving “too many vaccines too soon” and autism, despite some fears among parents around the number of vaccines given both on a single day and over the first 2 years of life.

As many as one in 50 U.S. school-age children have been diagnosed with autism, up 72 percent since 2007.Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and ABT  Associates analyzed data from children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a statement from the journal.

Researchers examined each child’s cumulative exposure to antigens, the substances in vaccines that cause the body’s immune system to produce antibodies to fight disease, and the maximum number of antigens each child received in a single day of vaccination, the journal’s statement said. The antigen totals were the same for children with and without ASD, researchers found.Autism runs a spectrum from a profound inability to communicate and mental retardation to milder symptoms seen in Asperger’s Syndrome.

While scientists believe genetics account for 80 to 90 percent of the risk for developing autism, a growing number of studies are beginning to suggest that a father’s age at the time of conception may play a role by increasing risks for genetic mistakes in the sperm that could be passed along to offspring.Worries about a link between vaccines and autism have persisted for years, despite a growing body of scientific evidence disproving such an association.

Milk, sugary foods increase risk of acne - Research

IT’S been a subject of debate for decades that some foods cause some individuals to have pimples, but the overview of research carried out over the past 50 years has found that eating foods with a high glycaemic index (GI) and drinking milk not only aggravated acne but, in some cases, triggered it.

Authors of the latest overview, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, indicated that eating foods with high glycaemic, including bread, white rice, sugary fizzy drinks, cakes and pastries, had a direct effect on the severity of acne, because of the hormonal fluctuations that were triggered.

High GI foods are absorbed into the bloodstream quickly, causing a spike in hormone levels, including insulin, thought to instigate sebum production.

Dr Jennifer Burris from the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, said ‘this change (in attitude) occurred largely because of the two important studies that are repeatedly cited in the literature and popular culture as evidence to refute the association between diet and acne.

“More recently, dermatologists and registered dieticians have revisited the diet-acne relationship and become increasingly interested in the role of medical nutritional therapy in acne treatment.”

Millions of adolescent and increasingly adults are affected by pimples, causing spots on the face, neck, chest and back.

While there is no danger from the spots, severe acne could scar as well as lead to anxiety, low self-esteem and depression.

Pimples is caused by a combination of the skin producing too much sebum and a build-up of dead skin cells which clogs the pores and leads to a localised infection or spot.

Since the late 19th century, research has linked diet to acne, with chocolate, sugar and fat singled out as the main culprits, but studies carried out from the 1960s onwards disassociated diet from the development of the condition.

Milk is thought to affect acne because of the hormones it contains, as a 2007 study carried out by Harvard School of Public Health found that there was a link between milk and pimples.