Your Health: Shake it up to optimize strength training

Live strongerStuck in a strength workout rut?Harvard Medical School suggests a few ways to teach old muscles some new tricks.Muscles get used to a certain level of workout. To tax them differently and spur muscle growth, try rotating light, medium and heavy strength workouts over a period of seven to 10 days.This form of periodization reportedly can enhance strength gains, get beyond plateaus, and avoid overtraining.Or, change your workouts. Switch from machines to free weights one day, use a medicine ball and resistance bands another day, and try new exercises. Work out with friends and follow their routines.Just make sure you know what you're doing, and ask a pro if necessary. Hiring a trainer for even a session or two might be just the thing to get pumped up.Cancer preventionWhile prostate and breast cancer screenings have come into question because of debate over whether they've reduced deaths, new evidence supports screening for colon cancer.People age 55 to 64 who got a sigmoidoscopy cut their rate of colorectal cancer by one-third and reduced deaths by 43 percent, a new study has found.Flexible sigmoidoscopy uses a plastic scope to let doctors examine the rectum and lower colon to remove cancers and precancerous growths. The study by researchers in the journal The Lancet tracked almost 180,000 British men and women.In comparison, the more common, cheaper and easier tests of stool samples, the authors reported, reduced mortality by about 15 percent in previous studies.Colon cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the United States, and early detection is key to survival. The sigmoidoscopy saved one life for every 489 people screened, and authors believe it could reduce the need for expensive cancer drugs.At age 50, the American Cancer Society recommends a sigmoidoscopy and fecal occult blood test every five years, or a colonoscopy, which examines the entire colon, every 10 years.Cochlear successDeaf children who receive cochlear implants before age 18 months dramatically improve their ability to hear, understand, and eventually, speak, according to a new study.The research, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is believed to be the first nationwide look at timing in the success rate of the implants, which transmit electrical signals from the ear to the brain.Researchers led by a Johns Hopkins team followed 188 children with profound hearing loss, age six months to 5 years, for three years.Each year of delay, investigators said, can put a child a year behind in language development.They say all infants with suspected hearing loss, and those with a family history of deafness, should be monitored closely.Digital blurIf the world looks a little fuzzy after working on the computer all day, you're not alone.Blurred vision is a symptom of computer vision syndrome (CVS), a broad label the American optometric Association has come up with for a growing health problem linked to computer screens.Research suggests video display terminals do not cause permanent damage. But eyestrain, fatigue, headache, dry eyes and even double vision are among the symptoms of working on computers and other "near work."To reduce symptoms, try these steps:bull; reduce glare from lights by keeping the room darker or using glare screens.bull; keep the top of your screen at eye level or below so you look down slightly at it.bull; use artificial tears for dry eyes.bull; follow the 20-20-20 rule: take a break every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds, looking off at a distance of 20 feet.False20001288If the world looks a little fuzzy after working on the computer all day, you're not alone. False