October 2019 Step Frequency, Knee-joint Forces in Female Runners Running is mostly good for you. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated cardiovascular, metabolic, mental and musculoskeletal benefits galore. Furthermore they have recently shown that running does not cause knee osteoarthritis unless….you have had previous injury, poor mechanics or obvious alignment issues. Knee injuries are common in runners,Read More
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REAL News – September 2019
September 2019 Sprint Intervals, Body Composition & Menopause The hormone differences between males and females take a sharp turn at puberty such that females deposit more fat while males add more muscle. At menopause, when estrogen and progesterone levels decline, females lose some of the protections they offer but don’t lose their many years ofRead More
REAL News – August 2019
August 2019 High School Sports & Adult Bone Strength In May 2019, we reported on how youth sports injuries may impact adult-onset osteoarthritis, especially if proper care and training were not followed. Now this study from the University of Iowa reports that high school sports participation confers long-lasting bone health benefits compared to those whoRead More
REAL News – July 2019
July 2019 Running Faster Doesn’t Increase Joint Load, Possibly Most people, athletes included, think that running faster means running harder. That is, that the cumulative loads are increased by hitting the ground with more force per stride. Yet some studies have suggested that fast running, as in interval sprints, actually reduces the impact loads onRead More
REAL News – June 2019
June 2019 Do Kids’ Fitness and Fatness Affect Academics? Most studies that compare kids’ academic performance to their cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), motor function (MF) and body composition (BC) are cross-sectional. As other posts have noted, kids’ fitness affects future outcomes, as in this and this. That is, they compare groups of kids at a single momentRead More
REAL News – May 2019
May 2019 Youth Sports Injuries Contribute to Osteoarthritis Risk Later That little knee injury you suffered in PE or youth sports programs may impact your health by the time you graduate college. A Canadian study of adults who sustained an injury before they were 18 tried to summarize “various clinical, physiological, behavioral and functional health-relatedRead More
REAL News – April 2019
April 2019 How Much Do You Have to Lift to Get Strong…or Big? A study that evaluated the required volume of weight lifting exercises necessary to effect muscle strength and size (hypertrophy) made all the news at the end of 2018. In what might be considered a large study of this type, 45 healthy, youngRead More
REAL News – March 2019
March 2019 Old Folks’ Drop-Out Rates & Predictors Matter A multi-national study followed 1514 male and female Norwegians (avg. age 72) participating in a structured exercise program for 3 years. All subjects were tested for cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, body mass index (BMI), and mental and physical health, including medications. One half was offered 2Read More
Fit Happens – Spring 2019
Spring 2019 Another Fitness Myth, Busted! What’s it going to take before people stop believing that exercise is medicine; that exercise is beneficial to not just physical health but even brain health; not just brain health as in cognitive function but in emotional well-being? How much more data is required before even those who abhorRead More
REAL News – February 2019
February 2019 Just a Spoonful of Protein Helps the Knee Replacement Patient A University of Oregon study asked the question whether the supplementation of essential amino acids (EAA), the building blocks of protein, would safely help older total knee replacement (TKR) patients maintain leg muscle mass. The typical response to TKR is further atrophy ofRead More