exercise-and-fitness

Why exercising in the cold isn't such a bad idea after all

Did you know when our bodies are exposed to cold over time, they actually start to change to keep themselves warm?

"We start to build up a tissue ... that we call brown adipose tissue — so brown fat," Dr Dino Premilovac from the University of Tasmania said.

"It's more muscle-like than it is fat-like in what it does.

"If we expose our bodies to the cold environment, the way our bodies deal with it over a long period of time is to produce more brown fat."

Brown fat's purpose in the body is to produce heat to warm up the blood, in turn keeping the body warm.

Too much exercise could do more harm than good, Queensland researchers find

New research by a team at University of Queensland (UQ), led by muscle physiologist Dr Bradely Launikonis, found it was part of a protective mechanism stopping people from damaging themselves in the days following exercise.

In the world-first study, Dr Launikonis's team have mapped muscle fibres from thigh biopsies at three points in the exercise cycle.

"This is the first time this type of imaging has been done in human muscles, everything before that been done in mice and rats," Dr Launikonis said.

Burlesque a confidence boost for north Queensland women of all shapes and ages

"Coming in to this class I feel great, I feel sexy and I don't think a lot of women feel that anymore," said disability worker Jasmine, who signed up to try and improve her body confidence.

"I was very unsure of myself when I first messaged Vivienne. I said 'I'm a bigger girl, I am afraid of all my curves and my bits and pieces'.

"[Performing on stage] has helped me the most with my confidence and it has come through to my everyday life... I am sexy; it doesn't matter what the rest of you think."