Media mentions: Evans discusses recent study with WUGA; O’Connor highlights relationship between exercise and energy; Tomporowski links exercise with increased focus, memory retention

**Evans discusses recent study on strength and function with WUGA**

Ellen Evans, associate dean for research and graduate education and professor in the Department of Kinesiology, discussed her recent study on strength and function in older women with WUGA.

The study revealed that while exercise during weight loss is critical to preserving muscle strength and function, a higher protein diet, when combined with exercise, does not appear to result in any added benefits to body composition and muscle strength in overweight older women.

“We hypothesized that the higher protein exercise group would be the best group, but what we found was that all three groups lost the same amount of weight,” Evans said. “The protein treatment really didn’t have much effect. This study highlighted the importance of exercise during weight loss for older women.”

[Listen to the interview on the WUGA website](https://www.wuga.org/post/athens-news-matters-older-women-and-exercise#stream/0).

**O’Connor highlights the relationship between exercise and energy**

Patrick O’Connor, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, was recently quoted in a Shape article about the relationship between exercising and feeling energized, particularly with cardio-core circuits.

“Exercise induces changes in several neurotransmitters—brain messengers that play a role in wakefulness and pleasure—and that is likely important in the response,” he said.

Exercising over time will have a lasting effect. Even just one, 10-minute session can boost energy in the moment. O’Connor has researched the exercise-energy link for years. One of his main findings showed doing low-intensity exercise could boost energy levels by 20%.

“It takes four to six weeks of regular exercise for the brain to adapt in a way so that you regularly feel more energetic,” O’Connor said.

[Read the full story on the Shape website](https://www.shape.com/fitness/videos/energizing-cardio-core-circuit).

**Tomporowski links exercise with increased focus, memory retention**

According to Phillip Tomporowski, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology, a run or boot camp class will make your memory sharper the next day.

Sensory reactions due to increased movement, heart rate, and respiration flow back to your brain, resulting in a spark in neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine. “If you exercise before learning information, the physiological arousal will give you a boost in attention,” he said.

Additionally, if you study then exercise, another theory holds that you retain the input better. Both methods are powerful and have been proved to enhance information recall. “Twenty minutes at a moderate pace seems to be the region of exercise intensity that systematically produces the effect,” Tomporowski said.

[Read the full story on the Shape website](https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/how-to-stay-focused).