The bare minimum amount of exercise you need to stay healthy (it's less than you think!)

We've heard time and time again that people should be active almost daily to stave off weight gain and disease. But busy people want to know: What's the least amount of exercise I can get away with and still stay healthy? The answer will shock you...
What number did you guess? An hour a week? A half hour? Try seven minutes.
Check out these exercise trends for 2009!
According to British researchers, just seven minutes of exercise weekly may prevent diabetes by controlling your blood sugar. Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 246 million adults worldwide and accounts for 6 percent of all global deaths. People with this condition gradually lose the ability to use insulin to convert food to energy.
Here's the catch: The exercise has to be vigorous. (We're talking on the level of an all-out sprint.) But at seven minutes a pop, I can deal with that! And you don't even have to do those seven minutes all at once, either. In the study, volunteers rode exercise bikes four times a day in 30-second spurts twice a week. After two weeks, subjects had a 23 percent improvement in how effectively their body cleared blood sugar from their bodies.
Studies show that vigorous exercise also reduces the risk of breast cancer.

St-Pierre crushes Penn to retain welterweight title at UFC 94

By Sergio Non, USA TODAY

BJ Penn's dream of holding two belts disappeared beneath four rounds of non-stop pressure from welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
St-Pierre, of Montreal, thoroughly dominated Penn with a grinding, unrelenting ground-and-pound barrage over the last three rounds of their fight on Saturday at UFC 94, in Las Vegas. Although scheduled for five rounds, the fight was stopped after the fourth round on the advice of the ringside doctor.

Penn never managed any meaningful offense. He spent much of the second and almost all of the third and fourth rounds on his back, smothered by St-Pierre, who wore down Penn with a steady stream of strikes that left Penn bruised and bleeding.
Although Penn resisted St-Pierre's wrestling in the first round, the welterweight titlist started scoring takedowns at will in the second round. The French Canadian said he wanted to neutralize the excellent boxing of Penn, UFC's reigning lightweight champion.

"My strategy was in the first two rounds to make a wrestling match with him, because he has very quick hands and his shoulder is made for boxing," St-Pierre said immediately after the bout. "Because he has small shoulders, by making him wrestle, all the blood would have (to) go into his shoulder and it would have become stiff, and his hand would not come out as it is usually."
The matchup was billed as a bout between two of the world's most skilled fighters, with St-Pierre and Penn rated among the top four in several pound-for-pound ranking lists, including those of Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports. Online oddsmakers listed St-Pierre as a slight favorite.
St-Pierre (18-2) has won both of his fights against Penn (13-5-1), whom he beat via split decision in March 2006.
Saturday's bout was only for the belt of the welterweight division (170 pounds). St-Pierre said he now views rising star Thiago Alves as the top contender for the welterweight championship.
Machida KOs Silva
On a night filled with bouts decided by judges' scorecards, it took a light-heavyweight fighter known for decision wins to pull off the show's only conclusive finish outside of the main event.
Lyoto Machida kept his perfect record intact with a first-round knockout of previously undefeated Thiago Silva (13-1). Machida (14-0) followed his usual pattern of evading damage, but with Silva coming straight ahead, the eventual winner took advantage of several openings to land combinations and score takedowns against his fellow Brazilian.
Machida knocked down Silva twice with punches in the first four minutes of the contest, but the final shot had the most impact. As the first round came to a close, Machida tripped down Silva as they clinched against the fence and followed it with a downward right hand that knocked Silva unconscious as he lay on the mat, milliseconds before the bell.
Going into Saturday's event, Machida had won four of his five UFC fights via decision.
After the bout, Machida played to the crowd as he clamored for a championship fight in the light-heavyweight division (205 pounds). "People, do I deserve a title shot?" he asked as the audience cheered.
Other results from UFC 94:
• Light heavyweight: Jon Jones def. Stephan Bonnar via unanimous decision
• Welterweight: Karo Parisyan def. Dong Hyun Kim via split decision
• Lightweight: Clay Guida def. Nate Diaz via split decision
• Welterweight: Jon Fitch def. Akihiro Gono via unanimous decision
• Lightweight: Thiago Tavares def. Manvel Gamburyan via unanimous decision
• Welterweight: John Howard def. Chris Wilson via split decision
• Light heavyweight: Jake O'Brien def. Christian Wellisch via split decision
• Welterweight: Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo via split decision

Puyol: "El Barcelona ya pasó su bache"

El capitán del Barcelona, Carles Puyol, pasó por los micrófonos de Radio MARCA, en 'El Intermedio' de Paco García Caridad. Los perseguidores esperan un bache azulgrana para recortar distancias, Puyol advierte: "Todos los equipos pasan baches, sí. Pero nosotros ya hemos pasado el nuestro, en las dos primeras jornadas, que perdimos y empatamos. Fue duro, veníamos de dos temporadas difíciles, pero confiamos en el método de trabajo".
Preguntado por la posiblidad del triplete, el capitán mantuvo la cautela, en la línea de declaraciones del resto de estamentos del club: "Somos conscientes de que esto es muy largo y de que aún no hemos ganado nada. El triplete es muy complicado. Por ejemplo, en la Copa tienes un partido malo y te vas".
"Lo tendrán dificil para llevarse a Messi"Puyol habló de la situación del Real Madrid. "Hay que respetarle, es un gran equipo que lleva 5 victorias seguidas". A propósito del comentado juego 'aburrido' de los blancos: "Lo importante son los puntos, esos te dan confianza y con la confianza llega el buen juego".
¿Qué piensa Puyol del rumor de Messi al Real Madrid? "En el fútbol a veces se publican estas cosas, pero con Messi lo tienen complicado, es feliz aquí". Sobre la gran temporada del argentino, el capitán azulgrana afirmó tajante: "Es el mejor del mundo, no deja de crecer".
A propósito del cambio del Barcelona de la temporada pasada a la actual, Puyol no cree "justo" cargar las culpas en antiguos compañeros como Deco o Ronaldinho: "No es justo, son jugadores que han dado mucho al equipo. Los culpables somos todos, el equipo entró en un bache".

Australian Open midterm grades

After a week of play, the 2009 Australian Open has reinforced what most already thought to be the case in tennis: the men's game is gripping on account of the consistently excellent performances of the top players. The women's game is gripping because of the inconsistency at the top, and the wide open fields it creates. Herewith our midterm grades.
A
Jelena Dokic: The Week 1 story. Back from her exile -- and poignantly candid about what she endured -- the former top-five player reached second the week by winning four three-setters.
Rafael Nadal: For all the talk about his lack of a hardcourt Grand Slam, the Spaniard has looked as sharp as anyone through the weekend.
Andys: Roddick and Murray, both former Brad Gilbert charges, cruise into Week 2 without much challenge.
Mother Russia: Even with Maria Sharapova injured, nearly half of the players in the round of 16 come from the same country.
Father France: Even with Richard Gasquet losing a five-set heartbreaker, three hommes -- Gael Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon -- remain alive at the time of this writing
A-minus
Roger Federer: Looked decidedly mortal for two sets against Tomas Berdych. But what a comeback, pulling out a five setter.
Amer Delic: Former Illini star serves his way to round three and gave Novak Djokovic a workout.
B
American TV coverage: One wishes the times were more standard but the ESPN/Tennis Channel partnership continues to work well
The Williams Family: Serena is angling for still another title, but Venus goes crashing out early.
Ex-girlfriends of Spanish players: Flavia Pennetta and Gisela Dulko (who gave Serena a good match) impress, while Ana Ivanovic crashes.
B- minus
American men: Roddick and James Blake carry all the water again as the "B" team musters little
The Serbs: Djokovic, the defending champ, is still going strong. But both Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are upset early. In Jankovic's case, she'll almost surely lose the top ranking as a result.
C
Ivanovic: The backsliding continues. A finalist a year ago -- and world No.1 just last summer -- AI lacks the answer as she falls to Alisa Kleybanova in Round 3. (Get a coach!)
Nicole Vaidisova: Boy, have the wheels fallen off this train.
Ethnic violence: And here we thought "tennis hooligan" was an oxymoron.

Duke makes claim to No. 1 ranking by blasting Maryland

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Jon Scheyer was a freshman on the Duke team that lost four straight games to end the season and fell out of the Top 25. So he can't help but feel a little bit of excitement about the possibility of being No. 1 — even if he's quick to say rankings don't matter much.
"Watching Duke when I was in high school, it did seem like they were No. 1 a lot," the junior said. "I feel like this is where we belong."
Gerald Henderson scored 17 points to help the second-ranked Blue Devils rout Maryland 85-44 on Saturday, a victory that likely will propel the Blue Devils to the No. 1 ranking next week.
Scheyer scored 12 points for Duke (18-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which dominated from the opening tip and led 40-15 at halftime. From there, the lead only grew, including a couple of dazzling transition scores that pushed the Blue Devils to a 60-20 lead less than 4 minutes into the second half.
GAME REPORT: Duke 85, Maryland 44
Duke led by as many as 44 points, handing the Terrapins (13-6, 2-3) their worst loss under coach Gary Williams. It was the fourth-largest margin of defeat in school history.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Duke Atlantic Coast Conference Virginia Tech Wake Forest North Carolina State Blue Devils Mike Krzyzewski Terrapins All-America Henderson Terps Gary Williams Jon Scheyer Kyle Singler Nolan Smith Kay Yow Greivis Vasquez Scheyer Brian Zoubek
The Blue Devils haven't been ranked No. 1 since the final poll of 2005-06, but that could change after Wake Forest's home loss to Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Duke had been ranked No. 1 at least once every season from 1998-2004 under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, but had not reached the top spot in the past two seasons.
Fittingly, the Blue Devils' next game is at Wake Forest on Wednesday night.
"It'll be a big deal for our guys and it's a big deal for us because it means we're playing really well," Krzyzewski said of a No. 1 ranking. "We talked about it last week that, just don't worry about anything, let's just play. It's the same thing we're going to tell them going into this next week.
"It's an honor and it says you're playing real well. You don't get anything from it except a really big headline when you lose."
Duke shot just 43%, but hit 12 of 25 three-point attempts and finished with a 56-38 edge in rebounds. More importantly, the Blue Devils completely shut down Maryland's offense early to take the big lead and didn't let the Terrapins have much room to operate after that.
Maryland shot 28%, including 2-for-12 from three-point range.
"I wouldn't use (the word), 'Surprised,"' Henderson said of the lopsided result. "I know how good this team can be when we're playing together and playing defense like we did the entire game. We can be pretty spectacular and explosive. I feel like we should play like that all the time."
It was Maryland's worst defeat since a 39-point loss to Wake Forest in 1963. It was also the Terps' worst ACC loss ever.
Landon Milbourne scored 19 points to lead Maryland, but the rest of the team shot 9-for-48 (19 percent) for the game.
"It wasn't how good they are defensively. What makes them good is their intensity," said Greivis Vasquez, who managed four points on 2-for-10 shooting. "If you don't play as hard as they do, you're not going to win games in here. You've got to play hard. If you don't, you're going to lose by 40."
The frustration was evident early when Dave Neal of Maryland flung his arms into the air in and cursed in disgust after Duke's 7-footer Brian Zoubek beat several Terps to the ball for the second offensive rebound of the possession before drawing a foul.
Things didn't get any better in the second half, which opened with a stretch in which Duke seemed more like it was putting together a highlight reel than playing an ACC opponent.
First came a three-pointer from Nolan Smith, followed by another three from Henderson. Then, after a missed shot, Henderson threw an underhanded alley-oop pass in transition to Kyle Singler for a dunk.
Finally, after another Maryland turnover, Scheyer saved a ball from going out of bounds near midcourt in transition, leading to a perfect touch pass from Smith to Henderson for another score that capped a 14-0 run and pushed the lead to 40 points with 15:28 to play.
"The start of the second half, for about 4 or 5 minutes there, that was as good a basketball as can be played," Krzyzewski said. "It was lights-out basketball for about 5 minutes. I was proud of my team because with a lead, you can have a tendency to let down. And they didn't."
Before the game, there was a moment of silence to honor longtime North Carolina State women's coach Kay Yow — who died Saturday morning after a two-decade fight with cancer — and Bill Werber, who was the oldest living ex-major leaguer and Duke's first All-America basketball player. Werber died Thursday.

Brady on knee injury: '(Expletive) happens'

Patriots QB Tom Brady appeared on a Toronto radio station today and offered a frank explanation for his devastating Week 1 knee injury.
"(Expletive) happens," Brady said on the Fan 590. The station did not censor the swear from its internet broadcast.
Brady, promoting the pain cream Myo-Med, said that his rehab is "going really well," but did not address the infection that plagued him after knee surgery in October and gave no estimate of when he will be back on the field.
"There's some good days, some bad days," Brady said. "You've just got to plug through them. It's a process.
"It tests you in a lot of ways."
The Patriots quarterback, who chose California doctor Neal ElAttrache to perform his surgery, has been rehabbing at the team's New England facility. "I'm the most well-taken-care-of knee patient in history," Brady said.
The Patriots finished 11-5 and did not make the playoffs, just the second team since 1985 to miss the playoffs with 11 wins. Brady suggested he's frustrated that the tiebreakers fell against the Patriots while the Arizona Cardinals, whom New New England beat 47-7 in Week 16, won the NFC West with a 9-7 mark and advanced to the Super Bowl;
"We had a great year, being that we finished 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs," Brady said. "And the team that's in the Super Bowl, the Cardinals, we beat by 40 points."
Brady compared the Cardinals' postseason success to the New York Giants' emergence as a wild card in last year's playoffs before spoiling the Patriots' perfect season in Super Bowl XLII."You get hot at the right time," Brady said, who noted the NFL prides itself on allowing teams like the Cardinals a chance to reach the big game."The rules that are in place are to bring everybody back to the middle," Brady said. "That's the way it's set up."Other notes from Brady's appearance:-- He said used the pain cream Myo-med on his arm in recent years for "pretty bad tendonitis" and again on his ankle before last year's Super Bowl. Brady appeared on the Patriots injury report for several seasons with a mysterious shoulder ailment that the team rarely clarified, and the team offered very few details on his foot injury before Super Bowl XLII.Brady is a paid endorser of Myo-med, an agreement that launched before he hurt his knee.-- Brady brushed off the departures of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and general manager Scott Pioli. "It's the responsiblity of the people who are still with the Patriots to worry about the Patriots," Brady said."As long as we have coach (Bill) Belichick, I always think we're going to be just fine."

Armstrong more prominent in second stage Down Under

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Lance Armstrong gave his comeback to professional cycling new credibility when he took a prominent role in the second stage of the Tour Down Under on Wednesday.
Armstrong was always near the front of the peleton, joined in two attacks in the late uphill stages of the 145-kilometer (90-mile) stage and finished 45th of 133 riders, 13 seconds behind the Australian stage winner Allan Davis.

"I feel OK, but it was very hard," said Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner who is making his return to cycling after three years in retirement. "Attacking on the hills wasn't the smartest thing to do.
"It felt pretty good. It's going to take a while to adapt to race speed and today proved that. The long drags uphill were never my long suit and when you get into the race and it's fast and guys are strong it's a suffer-fest. But I like to suffer, although it sounds weird."
Armstrong, 37, took part in an 11-rider breakaway as the stage through rural South Australia state neared an uphill finish in front of more than 10,000 fans at Stirling, 30 minutes outside the state capital Adelaide.

He then attacked again in a two-man breakaway with Australian Jack Bobridge, a rider 18 years his junior. On both occasions he came back to the bunch but he fulfilled a pre-race promise to be close to the front of the race and to take an opportunity when it presented itself.
"It's fun to be at the front of the race and as they say over here (in Australia), to give it a twist, to give it a crack," he said.
Davis led the race on general classification after two stages, with a three-second advantage over first-stage winner Andre Greipel of Germany. Armstrong was officially 68th on overall standings and 23 seconds behind the leaders with four stages remaining.
The race ends Sunday.