All posts tagged: Physical

A longevity-focused physical therapist says these are the five exercises you need to be doing as a senior to build strength and maintain independence

A longevity-focused physical therapist says these are the five exercises you need to be doing as a senior to build strength and maintain independence

Published by Jenni Sidey

If you’re over 70 and starting exercise for the first time, you’ll quickly realize that not all workouts are suitable for you. Some routines online are too challenging, while others are focused on getting big, bulging muscles. It’d be understandable if your goals might be more about staying mobile enough to get your groceries in from the car unaided. On top of that, if you’re stepping into a gym for the first time, seeing the array of machines and weights can be overwhelming. Latest Videos From So, I asked Jamie Bovay, founder and lead physical therapist at KinetikChain Denver, to outline a routine for any of our readers in the above position. He came back with give of the most important exercises for seniors to do as a once-a-week circuit workout. You may like “To best use your time, you can move into the next exercise with no break and then cycle through these five exercises for three rounds.” Here are the five exercises he suggests. Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips …

A physical therapist recommends improving your hip stability and mobility with this five-minute routine

A physical therapist recommends improving your hip stability and mobility with this five-minute routine

Published by Jenni Sidey

You’re probably aware that stiff hips can cause pain, limited mobility and impact other joints, potentially leading to more discomfort and injury. If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you probably know someone who has. While it’s natural to think of stretching as the remedy, did you know that it may not be enough to fix immobile hips? Physical therapist Thomas R. Denninger of ATI Physical Therapy says that hip mobility and stability are closely linked, and both need to be addressed. Latest Videos From “Improving one without addressing the other rarely leads to lasting results,” he tells Fit&Well. “The hips need enough freedom to move through their full range of motion, but they also need the strength and control to support those positions safely.” You may like He explains that when muscles around your hip joints provide adequate stability, you’ll have a better range of motion. “When that support is lacking, the body often responds with stiffness as a protective strategy. Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your …

If you’re a walker and want to start running, a physical therapist gives his best advice on how to make the change

If you’re a walker and want to start running, a physical therapist gives his best advice on how to make the change

Published by Jenni Sidey

The transition from walking to running might sound easy—it’s the same movement, but faster, right? However, the physiological load, injury risk and energy required are significantly higher when you run than when you walk. Catch Hurst, a board-certified specialist in orthopedic physical therapy with ATI Physical Therapy, says that rather than leaping from a walk to a run, you should aim to build a bridge between the two activities. Latest Videos From You may like “If someone has only been walking, I would not have them jump straight into a 20-minute run,” he says. “I’d keep the habit familiar and just add small pieces of running into the walk. “Walking breaks are not a sign you are bad at running. They are one of the best tools we have to build running tolerance without overloading the body.” He explains that the crux of the issue is not whether you can run. It’s about how well you recover after running. Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox. “Mild …

Physical Media Is Making a Comeback. The Next Console Generation Might Kill It

Physical Media Is Making a Comeback. The Next Console Generation Might Kill It

Published by skeptic

We all know next-generation consoles are in the works. Yes, we’re six years into the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, largely due to component shortages and cost spikes from AI demands on the wider tech sector, but Sony has already teased a “future console” in the next few years, and Microsoft confirmed the next Xbox is codenamed Project Helix, likely due in 2028. Gamers can probably expect all of the standard customary upgrades—faster processors, more powerful GPUs, more storage, all if component supplies and manufacturing capacities allow for them. But there’s one feature both Sony and Microsoft absolutely must keep, whatever the next gen ends up looking like: the not-so-humble 4K Blu-ray disc drive. Keep It Old School This might seem an odd argument to make. After all, both companies seem to have been retreating from discs since day one of the current generation. Both the Xbox Series S and the PS5 Digital Edition lack a disc drive, and Sony even dropped the feature from the more powerful PS5 Pro—though both that and the …

Scientists discover ordinary tape can store physical memories

Scientists discover ordinary tape can store physical memories

Published by Jenni Sidey

A simple roll of adhesive tape may seem far removed from advanced technology. Yet researchers at Penn State have uncovered something remarkable hidden in this everyday material. Ordinary pressure-sensitive tape can store memories of past events, retrieve them later and even perform a basic form of mechanical information processing. The discovery offers a new glimpse into how materials can “remember” physical experiences. It also hints at future devices that could process information without electricity. “Many materials or systems have a property called return-point memory that allows them to remember a sequence of events,” said Nathan Keim, associate professor of physics at Penn State and leader of the research team. “A common example is a combination lock that must remember the sequence of turns of the dial in order to open.” Unlike traditional memory systems, however, the tape stores information using only one-directional motion. That unusual behavior surprised the scientists and opened a new area of research into how materials store physical histories. The research team built an automated device that can peel tape to designated …

I Gave My OpenClaw Agent a Physical Body

I Gave My OpenClaw Agent a Physical Body

Published by skeptic

I recently gave my OpenClaw a real robot arm to play with. The results just about blew my own neural network. The AI agent was able to configure the arm, use it to see and slowly grab things, and even train another AI model to pick up and place specific objects. And they say AGI is still a few years away! (I’m joking, it probably is). The results have me convinced that we may be on the brink of a robotics breakthrough. Training and controlling robots used to require considerable skill. Today’s AI models can make it almost easy. “AI-powered coding is super exciting because it has the potential to bridge the gap between conventional engineering methods, which are reliable but don’t generalize, and contemporary vision-language-action models, which generalize but are not yet reliable,” says Ken Goldberg, a roboticist at UC Berkeley who is exploring the approach. I told OpenClaw to try moving its new arm and it came up with this little wave. I bought a prebuilt arm called a LeRobot 101. It’s part …

Adults with better math skills rely less on the brain’s physical movement areas

Adults with better math skills rely less on the brain’s physical movement areas

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex suggests that adults who are better at math tend to rely less on the brain areas associated with physical movement when processing numbers. These findings provide evidence that as people develop advanced math skills, their brains shift toward more automatic and abstract ways of thinking about numbers. Number processing relies on multiple mental formats. Scientists describe a verbal format for number words, a visual format for written digits, and a semantic format for the actual meaning or quantity. In recent years, scientists have proposed that an embodied format also exists, where physical experiences like counting on fingers help shape how the brain understands quantities. To explore how these mental formats interact at different life stages, the authors aimed to understand how physical representations of numbers relate to formal math competence in both children and adults. Xueying Ren, a postdoctoral scholar in psychology and human development at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, explained the motivation behind the research. “While we know that number processing is foundational for mathematical …

Want to get more out of your walks? Try these five physical therapist-recommended exercises to strengthen and stabilize your lower body

Want to get more out of your walks? Try these five physical therapist-recommended exercises to strengthen and stabilize your lower body

Published by Jenni Sidey

Walking is one of my favorite ways to exercise. It’s low-impact and gentle but still gets my heart pumping. I never regret getting out in nature, but I sometimes wonder if I could use the time spent walking more efficiently. While walking builds some muscle, it isn’t the most effective way to do so. I took my dilemma to Dr Ron Miller, the owner and founder of Pursuit Physical Therapy. Latest Videos From You may like He recommended the following five strength exercises, which can easily be incorporated into your regular walk. You can treat them as exercise snacks—stopping every five to 10 minutes to do one of them—or you can do them all when you’ve reached your destination. However you choose to do this routine, let me know how you get on in the comments below. 1. Walking lunge Walking Lunge Tutorial – Proper Form and Technique – YouTube Watch On Sets: 3 Reps: 10 each side Rest: 60sec Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox. …

Puberty hormones shape the adolescent female brain before physical changes appear

Puberty hormones shape the adolescent female brain before physical changes appear

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study has identified how specific puberty hormones relate to the physical structure and functional wiring of the adolescent female brain. The findings suggest that hormones like estradiol and testosterone are linked to distinct brain regions that support memory, emotion, and spatial awareness. This research was published in the journal Human Brain Mapping. Adolescence is a period of rapid biological and emotional change driven largely by puberty. During this time, the brain undergoes significant development, which scientists suspect is influenced by rising hormone levels. These changes coincide with a higher risk for mental health issues like anxiety and depression, particularly in young females. Exploring how hormones shape the developing female brain provides evidence that might explain the emergence of these emotional challenges. In the past, studies looking at the relationship between hormones and brain development in adolescents have produced mixed results. Many previous research efforts relied on small groups of participants. In addition, older studies often focused on only one type of brain imaging at a time. This specific focus can make it difficult …