Inversion tables did not reduce back pain across 32 trials and 2,762 people
A systematic review of traction for low back pain found little or no effect on pain, function or return to work. Hanging upside down also roughly doubles eye pressure within seconds.
A massage gun does not loosen muscle, it raises your pain threshold
One to two minutes per muscle adds range of motion without costing force output. What it does not do is speed up tissue repair or break up adhesions.
Sauna frequency, not temperature, is what moved the numbers in 2,315 men
Four to seven sessions a week carried 63% lower sudden cardiac death risk than one. But that data came from 80°C traditional saunas, not 60°C infrared cabins.
If your first step out of bed stabs, stretch the calf as well as the foot
Nearly 1 in 10 Americans get plantar fasciitis, and 98% find relief without surgery. A physical therapist's four stretches target the plantar fascia along with the gastrocnemius and soleus.
Adding red light therapy to resistance training did not raise 1RM
A meta-analysis of 11 randomised trials in 456 people found that photobiomodulation combined with periodized resistance training produced no significant gain in maximal strength over sham.
Zone 2 cardio is a between-sets recovery tool, not muscle loss
About 70–80% of max heart rate, at a pace where you can still talk, for 30–40 minutes twice a week. That intensity builds the mitochondria that protect your second set.
GLP-1 drugs raised resting heart rate 3.2 bpm and cut HRV by 6.2 ms
Weight comes off while performance markers go down with it. A 12-week study of 66 active adults documented the effect, and much of the cause is not the drug but the eating it prevents.
One rest day a week is the floor — walk on it, but do not mow the lawn
A rest day does not mean lying on the sofa. What actually ruins it is the stuff that does not look like exercise but still loads the body all day.
Alcohol costs you strength for 24–60 hours — from about 1g per kg of bodyweight
The idea that moderate drinking protects the heart disappears once lifestyle factors are controlled for. For lifting, dose is the dividing line: no clear effect at 0.5g/kg, a consistent strength drop at 1g/kg.
Four hours of sleep costs you about 2–3% of your strength
A meta-analysis of 69 studies found performance drops roughly 0.4% for every hour awake before training. Strength suffers less than skill, but enough to ruin a one-rep max attempt.
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