Wellness
Archive
Make those nebulous resolutions last by turning them into habits. The key? The right reward.
Take a random day off—it’ll work wonders for your happiness and health
Your bowl of oatmeal may get boring, but it’s the key to better meal choices throughout the day
Something about messing up has us tiptoeing around mistakes, but embarrassment can help us get ahead by making risk-taking seem a little less risky
Nothing in this world is certain, except death, taxes, and traffic on the morning commute
Sitting is the new smoking—but the cure isn’t just more standing
Cue: A sleep deficit, a Saturday morning. Reward: Fun dreams, self-awareness, less stress.
I'm training for an upcoming marathon, and my company's giving out influenza vaccines the week of my race. Will the shot impact my performance?
I'm planning to spend a lot of time at the gym this winter. How do I know that mine gets a clean bill of health?
It's still possible to be what you wanted to be when you were a kid.
Five business icons share how they flipped the switch on their careers—and how you can follow in their footsteps.
100 companies that believe the secret to success is empowering employees to live bigger, better lives.
An eight-step plan for rebooting your career and finding a job that you love.
I like to exercise in the afternoon or evening, but I often feel too tired to motivate myself. Could a quick rest help?
As patients jettison insurance plans for concierge care, some are looking to optimize their fitness level along with their health.
No, don't stop using it. But you need to go beyond SPF and add more protection to your arsenal.
Don't listen to the headlines—you need more than seven hours of sleep to play hard.
More gear companies are making running sunglasses that are both stylish and functional—to improve your vision and your PR
An inspirational story about the healing power of wilderness. When Veteran Josh Brandon was a Company Commander, he and his lieutenants taught themselves to climb and found it to be better than any kind of medication or therapy they were getting at the time. Since then, the mountains have become a…
I usually sleep for a full eight hours, but lately my new baby has been waking us up every few hours. Does interrupted sleep still count as sleep?
That magic threshold is, well, bogus. And we've known it for years. So why are we still so obsessed with logging 10,000 hours of deliberate practice?
If you’re the type of person who regularly burns the midnight oil, the thought of waking up for a 6 a.m. workout may be pretty unappealing to you. And you’re not alone: A study presented at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies’ annual meeting last week reported that…
Some good foods contains natural SPF—and you should be eating more of them
It's not just mental. Even mild amounts of anxiety and stress can subvert your performance.
Microbes in your stomach support the multi-billion-dollar probiotics industry, your workout, and possibly even your sex drive.
At last, researchers may have a tool to diagnose the little-understood and controversial post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.
Stillness is something we often forget. Mountain Hardwear‘s latest Days You Remember episode honors what we often love most about the outdoors.
Sorry, night owls. Regardless of whether you feel fine during the day, consistently losing out on sleep can have serious consequences to your health and well-being. Case in point: A Chinese study published last week revealed that 18- to 34-year-olds insomniacs are eight times more likely…
You can’t win, can you: It’s finally warm enough to enjoy outdoor exercise, but now you’re inundated with itchy eyes, a runny nose, and sneezing fits that feel like a workout in themselves. Luckily, there’s plenty you can do to reduce your misery and feel like yourself again.
The idea is that one can perform just as well—mentally and physically—on three hours of sleep apportioned in six equal-sized naps taken throughout the day. And it's hogwash.
If you're anything like the nearly 30 million Americans who treat their joints with glucosamine, recent research suggests it's time to reconsider.
Scientists have known for years that rates of hypertension are higher in the winter and in countries farther from the equator, but they haven’t known why—until now. A new study from the universities of Southampton and Edinburgh suggests that exposure to sunlight plays a large role, by…
Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars states that Claudius intended to pass a law “‘allowing to all people the liberty of giving vent at table to any distention occasioned by flatulence,’ upon hearing of a person whose modesty, when under restraint, had nearly cost him his life.” Modern day…
A recent study suggests that Lyme disease might be sexually transmitted. Just how seriously should you take the findings?
Poo-phoria occurs when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve, which descends from the brainstem to the colon.
Tell your cryophilic boss to go eat a snow cone. Most studies peg somewhere between 70 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit as the optimal temperature for productivity. If that’s not exact enough for you, don’t worry. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory wanted to find the single most productive degree,…
In a perfect world, we'd get plenty of both. But this is reality—and we have to choose. But can science really balance sleep against training?
Cleanses, specifically store-bought ones, are almost always bunk. No weeklong celebrity cayenne pepper diet or colonic lemonade spritz can rid your body of the gunk you’ve been exposed to—from alcohol and nicotine to pesticides and air pollution—says Mark Moyad, a urologist at the University of Michigan. Luckily, you’re already equipped…
Researchers are showing everyday athletes how to train their brains to perform like the pros
It’s possible sports victories trigger local baby booms. In fact, a study published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal claims just that. On May 6, 2009, Spanish researchers wrote, Football Club Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta scored a last minute goal against Chelsea FC, earning Barça…
Cherish the silence of your sleeping time. Nocturnal noises negatively affect endurance and lead to health complications.
There's scant evidence for the effectiveness of most supplements. But here are a few to consider—and a few to shy away from.
The debate is on: just useless, or truly dangerous?
Are you taking too many pills? New studies question the vitamin gospel.
I have a giant stick of Old Spice that seems like it’s never going to run out. I think I’ve had it for four years. I don’t see an expiration date, so does it still work? Does deodorant expire?
Getting older doesn’t have to mean getting slower. Not with a leg up from the frontiers of science.
We know too much time spent on the couch is deadly, but what about the hours you spend in the saddle or on the trail? Is there really such thing as too much exercise?
I like to ride my bike to and from work. I use the same outfit for both rides, which my coworker says is nasty. If I lay my clothes out in the sun while I’m working, won’t the sun kill the bacteria on them? (Please say yes or I’ll lose a bet.)
New technology has made it easier than ever to keep real-time tabs on an endless array of fitness metrics. Don't drown in the data stream.
I’ve read that tomato paste, green tea, and even chocolate can keep me from getting sunburned. Is that true? And what SPF are we talking here?
I'm a 31-year-old professional who sits on his butt a lot. I used to find getting into shape easy, but now es no bueno. I'm not overweight, I just can't get into an exercise routine which actually helps me get fit and buff. Can you give me advice on how to get fit enough to be rocking in the sack again?
Where did the myth that a woman’s uterus would fall out if she participated in sports come from?
I feel like whenever it’s cold outside, I have to pee more. Same thing goes for swimming in cold water. What’s going on?
I live in Minnesota, so for half of the year I either exercise indoors or am pretty covered up. How often should I be screened for skin cancer?
I want this to be the year that I finally get in shape and stay in shape—but I say that every year. How can I actually make my resolutions stick for once?
Is bar soap clean because it’s soap, or can it transfer bacteria commonly spread among athletes like MRSA?
These days, screen-addicted Americans are more stressed out and distracted than ever. And there’s no app for that. But there is a radically simple remedy: get outside. Florence Williams travels to the deep woods of Japan, where researchers are backing up the theory that nature can lower your blood pressure, fight off depression—and even prevent cancer.
When his wife Amy showed up with a Labrador Retriever, Jeff Supergan wasn't sure it made sense. He had never had a dog before, and, being confined to a wheelchair, didn't know if he could handle it. But when Amy's doctors discovered an unexpected brain tumor, the dog ended up taking care of them both.
As an athlete who spends a lot of time in the sun, I wonder if I should be taking sunscreen pills. Do they work as well as lotions?
Wildness is all around. Photo: Katie Arnold Last week, I was hiking with a friend on a trail in town. We’ve been doing this once a week for two years, and in that time, we’ve developed a system: On the way up, we hike in silence…
I like to work out during my lunch break, but I just switched jobs and my new office building doesn’t have showers. How important is it that I shower after working out?
How can you have both a career and enough time for adventure? The new video series Balance offers its answer to that question by profiling three men who have found different ways to make a living and enjoy their favorite outdoor sports. Catch the trailer above, and a new episode…
Rick Paulas takes a look at Allen Carr's The Easy Way to Stop Smoking and wonders if the author might actually be right
It seems like every time I complete a race that lasts longer than a few hours, I get sick afterward. Why is that, and is there any way to prevent it from happening?
I only put sunscreen on the uncovered parts of my body, but should I be using it under my clothes, too? How well do my clothes protect me against the sun?
Is it safe to participate in my triathlon club’s ocean swims while I’m menstruating, am I more likely to get attacked by a shark?
My mom always said to stay inside during dust storms because the dirt could make me sick. Can racing a muddy, dusty event make me ill?
Duties: regular workouts, mandatory lunch hours, and the occasional rafting trip. Benefits: international adventure travel, personal training sessions, and sweet swag. These jobs really do exist.