According to the Washington Post, practicing the most popular form of yoga will yield strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, and flexibility - but not a significant amount of calories.

…women participated in three 55-minute hatha classes a week; the others were barred from any form of intentional exercise. The yoga group showed improvements in strength, endurance, balance and flexibility but burned only 144 calories in a session, similar to the energy consumption of a slow walk.

ACE said in a statement that its study was the first to examine the aerobic potential of hatha yoga. Research published last summer linked regular yoga practice with successful weight control, but those findings were based on subjects’ self-reported behavior — a notoriously unreliable method — and did not consider whether respondents engaged in other exercise.

Some experts contend that yoga can provide an aerobic workout, provided the poses are done quickly, repetitively and linked together.

“The key questions,” he said, “are: What postures did they do? How fast? How long did they hold them? How did they link them together?” Hatha beginners cannot expect significant aerobic benefit, Schumacher said, because it takes time to learn how to do the poses correctly before increasing intensity. In fact, Porcari led a companion study of 15 people that showed that power yoga, in which participants move rapidly through hatha poses, burned about 237 calories in 50 minutes and boosted heart rates to 62 percent of maximum on average — a light aerobic workout.

But, Porcari cautions, the more aerobic the yoga practice, the less benefit practitioners derive in flexibility and relaxation. “By moving quickly through the poses, you will not get the same [muscle and tissue] stretch as you would in slower poses.

Stability balls are known by number of names: Swiss balls, Pilates balls, yoga balls, exercise balls, and balance balls. The durable vinyl spheres first started showing up in Europe in the 1950’s - used by patients seeking muscular and neurological rehabilitation.

Stability balls, which are durable vinyl spheres, are now a serious part of fitness and exercise programs in gyms and fitness clubs nationwide. They are used in Pilates classes, in aerobics classes, in weight training, and by personal trainers for a host of exercises - from stretching to relaxation to strenuous all-around workouts.

The stability ball didn’t move beyond the realm of physical rehabilitation and enter the fitness scene until the late 1980s, and then only on a limited basis. Mike Morris, president of the Resist-A-Ball, Inc. was one of the first to use stability balls as a fitness tool in the United States. He rolled out his Resist-A-Ball at fitness trade show in 1993.

Experts say that the balls are an excellent, low-impact way to improve existing workouts. The balls are found health clubs and are small and sturdy enough to be used at home.

Stability balls ranging from 21 to 24 inches in diameter are suitable for most people, although people more than 5-feet-7 inches tall might choose a larger diameter ball.

When a person does a basic sit-up on the ball, his or her back is pushing into the ball and forcing the exerciser to work harder. It’s a big improvement over a floor sit-up, when a person’s back naturally tends to rise up off the floor.

(Quoted material from The Monitor.)

Jillian Michaels, the trainer who guided her team to victory on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” was online last week with the Washington Post sharing tips on getting and staying in shape.

Michaels’ team won the reality show weight loss competition with a collective 450 pounds shed in three months.

Manhattan, N.Y.: Are you ever concerned that someone might lose weight too quickly just to help the team on the television show? How do you monitor that people are losing weight properly?

Jillian Michaels: Hey there,

Good question. I love this one because it allows me to dispel dieting myths which is one of my favorite things. I dedicate an entire chapter to explaining questions like this in my book.

We’ve all heard that saying, “losing 1-2 lbs a week is healthy”. Not so… it’s REALISTIC. That’s the difference.

Losing weight quickly when done through exercise and not starvation is not dangerous at all. In fact there is no true scientific evidence to suggest otherwise. The only complication that could occur are gallstones, however if the person is taking in plenty of fiber, exercising, and staying hydrated the chance of a gallstone is next to none.

In fact, I think the evidence has shown quite the opposite. If you look at our contestants on the show they come in with all kinds of afflictions: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc. When they leave the show they are in better shape then me and off of all their various medications.

After the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, the number of cardiovascular deaths jumped to 51 - nearly 3 times the normal average.

Researchers were curious why.

In the understated language of The New England Journal of Medicine, “emotional stress may precipitate cardiac events in people who are predisposed to such events.” To put it simply, they were scared to death.

Its been long been common knowledge that fright or stress can precipitate heart attacks (e.g. as Fred Sanfords heart clutching running gag on the 1970’s sitcom Sanford and Son illustrates) but never really understood why.

What researchers are learning is that psychological effects have a far greater impact on heart health than previously believed.

Take depression. It at least doubles an otherwise healthy person’s heart-attack risk, says Dr. Michael Frenneaux, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Birmingham in England. And for people who have suffered a heart attack in the past, depression quadruples or even quintuples the risk of a second one. Hostility is an increasingly important risk factor, too. High hostility levels, as measured by a standard test, increased the chances of dying from heart disease by 29 percent in a large study of patients at Duke—and by more than 50 percent in people 60 and younger.

Just as depression and anxiety increases heart risk, optimism and happiness decrease it.

Even laughter is starting to look like a cardiac elixir. In one recent study, Dr. Michael Miller of the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that watching a funny movie for 15 minutes relaxed people’s peripheral arteries and increased blood flow for as long as 45 minutes afterward—comparable to the effect of aerobic exercise. He now recommends 15 minutes of hearty laughter daily—chuckling, giggling and smiling haven’t been studied yet—as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Laughter and good thoughts probably won’t replace traditional pharmacological remedies anytime soon, but future treatments may very well include a prescription good dose of laughter.

Read the original article on Newsweek…

Jake Steinfeld turned a penchant for bodybuilding into a successful Hollywood personal training business, working with such clients as Priscilla Presley and Steven Spielberg.

As much as businessman as health fanatic, Jake turned his reputation as a personal trainer into the wildly successful “Body by Jake” franchise.

Steinfeld established a successful business in Los Angeles as a personal trainer with celebrity clients like Priscilla Presley and Steven Spielberg. He went on to found the hugely successful exercise and fitness company Body by Jake. In 1993, Steinfeld launched FitTV, the first 24-hour fitness network, then sold it to Fox Broadcasting four years later for $500 million. He helped found the country’s first professional lacrosse league, now in its fifth season. His Exercise TV!, a fitness video-on-demand channel, will make its debut in January.

Now Jake has a new book out, called I’ve Seen a Lot of Famous People Naked, and They’ve Got Nothing On You!: Business Secrets From The Ultimate Street-Smart Entrepreneur.

Newsweek caught up with Jake recently regarding his thoughts on fitness and health in America.