After many months in lockdown, a lot of us are finding that we’re experiencing back pain that we hadn’t been bothered by before. There could be many reasons for this, including increased stress during the pandemic, moving less and spending more time sitting in one position.

Some media reports say that eating at night makes you gain weight, others say that it has no effect on body weight. So who is right?

In 2021, more than one fifth of the EU population was aged 65 and over. Current demographic trends suggest there will be 130 million Europeans over the age of 65 by 2050. By 2040, according to the World Health Organisation, the global population aged 65 and over will surpass 1.3 billion.

If you don’t have time for hours of exercise every week, short, intense efforts might work instead. Less than 40% of Australians achieve the minimum amount of physical activity recommended by government and professional organisations. This contributes to the fact 60% of Australians are overweight or obese.

High-intensity interval training it can be done on a bike, treadmill, or however you can achieve the desired intensity. When it comes to health and fitness, there are rarely any quick fixes. But if you’re struggling to get the recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day, micro workouts might be just the thing you need to start improving your fitness.

You probably won’t need to train as much as Jakob Ingebrigtsen to get in shape. Elite athletes – like Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who won gold for the men’s 1500m race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – train almost ten to 14 times per week, clocking up numerous hours on the track and in the gym. But for the rest of us, getting into shape does not necessarily mean such an arduous regime.

At this time of year, we are bombarded with books and TV shows telling us what we should be eating and how best to lose weight. Particularly in vogue are low-carb diets, Paleo diets and intermittent fasting diets. But which diet is the most effective for sustained weight loss – not to mention good health?

If you slow your workout down, you’ll have to increase the time you spend doing it. Though we know exercise is important for our overall health, and that more is typically better, many of us don’t have hours a day to devote to working out. This might be why fitness regimes like high-intensity interval training (HIIT) have become so popular in recent years. 

‘We see a lot of apps that would claim to help you lose weight, but none maintain weight loss, and few of them are evidence-based,’ said Professor Berit Heitmann, at Frederiksberg Hospital in Denmark.

Resistance-band exercises have been all over social media during the pandemic. In case you aren’t familiar with them, resistance bands are similar to an elastic band, usually made from a synthetic fibre like latex or rubber. You can loop them around your legs or arms, for example, which helps create more tension while you work out. This tension makes it more difficult to do movements, and engages more muscles, which some claim will help you build strength and muscle.

The more muscle you build, the more calories you body requires at rest. Weight lifting, also known as resistance training, has been practised for centuries as a way of building muscular strength. Research shows that resistance training, whether done via body weight, resistance bands or machines, dumbbells or free weights, not only helps us build strength, but also improves muscle size and can help counteract age-related muscle loss.

Research has proved that 75% of people who sit for too long are at high risk of pain and injuries, contributing to overall poor health. Stretching your body regularly keeps you away from chronic diseases. It calms your mind, improves your posture, and relaxes your muscles, preventing injuries.

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This is a common question. Research shows that it's important to get all types of exercise: aerobic, endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility (stretching). Each one has different benefits.

It may come as little surprise that taking exercise is a way to lose weight. However, a debate about the best type of exercise for weight loss is likely to divide opinion.

Exercise is recommended for people who are overweight or obese as a way to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But people don’t always have time to exercise as much as they would like, so finding ways to increase the health benefits of exercise is important. Our latest research has found a way to do just that, and it’s to do with timing. This means you might be able to get away with doing less exercise if other commitments, such as family and work, always seem to get in the way.