Mapping Metabolism
In this edition of The Rundown, metabolism gets a map, moving 10 more minutes a day saves lives and biomechanics explains what happens when an Olympic figure skater jumps.
Mapping Metabolism. How does exercise performed at different times of the day result in different effects on the body? In a new paper published in Cell Metabolism, an international team of scientists set out to answer the question by focusing on how the body produces various signaling molecules. These molecules influence sleep, memory, exercise performance and metabolic homeostasis. They turned the results into the Atlas of Exercise Metabolism, a map of the signaling molecules that show up in tissues following exercise at various times of day.
In addition to the map, the study also enhanced the understanding of how tissues communicate with each other, and how exercise might help readjust faulty circadian rhythms in certain tissues. Damaged circadian clocks have been associated with increased risks of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Study co-author Shogo Sato, assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University, hopes that the team’s work will direct further research on how exercise, if timed correctly, helps to improve health.
A Little Amounts to A Lot. A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicinefound that increasing some kind of moderate physical activity by as little as 10 minutes per day, could prevent over 100,000 deaths per year. The research team looked at 4,840 participants (age 40-85) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which asks a sample of the population about their exercise habits and health and gives them activity trackers. The team grouped the 4,840 people according to how many minutes they walked or moved most days and their names were checked against a national death registry to establish mortality risks for the different activity levels. The researchers adjusted for age, education, smokers, diet, and body mass index, among other health factors.
The statistical analysis found that if everyone began exercising moderately for an extra 10 minutes per day, in addition to the exercise they currently do, 111,174 deaths per year might be prevented. The takeaway, according to the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Pedro Saint-Maurice, is that “a little additional physical activity can have a huge impact.”
Olympic Science. In 2018, figure skater Nathan Chen was the first man to land a jump called the quadruple flip at any Olympics. As he chases gold this week in Beijing, the American College of Sports Medicine revisited Dr. Deborah King’s work on the science of figure skating. Dr. King, professor and grad chair, Exercise Science and Athletic Training, Ithaca College, New York, details how Chen and other skaters jump over 24 inches in the air, rotate faster than six revolutions per second and land on one foot on a 3/16 inch wide blade while skating over 15 mph.
Calculations from 3D motion analysis of a quadruple jump reveal that figure skaters average close to 150 foot-pounds of torque and 300 pounds of force against the ice as they jump into the air to attempt the quad. During the jump, a 150-pound skater is rotating so fast that their arms are being pulled away from their bodies with 180 pounds of force. The whole movement from takeoff to landing happens in less than one second.