Frequency of injuries

In today’s New York Times, there is an interesting article about the frequency of injuries, who they are, and why it happens.  Health columnist, Gina Kolata, poses the questions: why do some people get injured even when they try to do everything right, while others who do the wrong things avoid injury?  How do we [...]

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Shoe cushioning wears fast

Peak Performance reports a new study about the cushioning in running shoes.  Basically, you shouldn’t buy shoes for a sole factor of cushion.  The study tested different shoe properties of gels, springs, and air and wearability.  They tested 200 miles of road running and found that as shoe cushioning decreased, runners changed their biomechanics to [...]

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Regenerative medicine and its applications

Recently, I read an interesting article on regnerative medicine.  Researchers at Georgia Tech used skin cells to make artificial bone which blended to become tissues like tendons and ligaments.  The idea is for the artificial tissue to integrate better with the actual bone and be able to handle weight well.  You can read about the [...]

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Does massage play a role in exercise recovery?

This is an interesting article that came out about the possible application of massage post-exercise.  This study was used with sedated rabbits.  One group received simulated intense execise (through a mechanical device) immediately followed by 30 minutes of simulated “Swedish” massage on their muscles.  The other group received the simulated intense exercise but did not [...]

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What makes better athletes?

A recent study out of the Mayo Clinic looks at what has made athletes better over the last 125 years. Is it genetic, cultural, physiological? According to Dr. Michael Joyner, it comes down to the fact that athletes are training harder and longer. Improved medical care, shoes, more people throughout the world participating in sports, [...]

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Expert says ‘exercise pill’ does not replace exercise

I had a feeling there would be rebuttals to the exercise pill article recently reported in the media. Essentially, Dr. Frank Booth out of University of Missouri, an expert on the science of physical inactivity with 40 years of research experience, said how the study did not test many of the common benefits of exercise. [...]

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Fitness in a pill

In today’s New York Times, there is an interesting article about drugs offering fitness. The two drugs are Aicar and GW1516 which activate the muscle remodeling system in mice. In studies of mice running on a treadmill, Aicar increased endurance by 44% after 4 weeks of treatment. This is without any type of training. GW156 [...]

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Gene doping, mice, and Mt. Everest

Since the Olympics are fast approaching, the use of doping is a hot topic of debate.  We’ve seen many high profile athletes fail drug tests or admit to have using performance enhancing drugs.  Now, researchers are looking at another way to test for gene doping.  This week, they embarked on their journey to go to [...]

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