Sarcopenia (Muscle Loss with Aging) Linked to Inflammation
We can now add sarcopenia, loss of strength and muscle size with aging, to the list of medical problems associated with inflammation. Older people who suffer from sarcopenia are far more likely to have high blood levels of the markers of inflammation such as CRP, SED rate and adiponectin.
Exercise May Help to Prevent Dementia
More than 80 percent of North Americans over the age of 85 suffer from some form of dementia. A new study in rats helps...
Principles of Training
You will not become more fit by doing the same training regimen every day. Athletes train by taking hard workouts on one day, feeling sore on the next, and not taking another hard workout until the muscles stop feeling sore.
NSAIDs May Block Gains in Endurance and Strength
A new study io mice showed that taking NSAIDS (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs), to reduce muscle pain before, during or after exercise, can reduce the gains in endurance from aerobic training.
Side Stitch: Belly Pain while Running
When you get a side stitch, stop running and press your hand deep into your liver to raise it up toward your diaphragm. At the same time, purse your lips tightly and blow out. Pushing the liver up stops stretching the ligaments. Breathing against pursed lips retards fully emptying your lungs and doesn't let your diaphragm rise too high.
Competitive Athletes and Doping
An important article in the May 19, 2017 New York Times discusses the latest accusations that some of America's top athletes are using supplements, both legal and illegal, in the hope that they will improve athletic performance. I will present a brief review of some of the supplements that the accused U.S. athletes are taking and comment on their effectiveness or worthlessness, side effects and potential dangers to their health.
Benefits of Exercise from a Pill?
Don't believe that you can gain the benefits of exercise without exercising. Many products are promoted to give people bigger muscles and make them better athletes, as well as to help them lose weight and prevent diabetes and heart attacks. They are sold to unsuspecting consumers without needing prescriptions. These products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and are likely to be ineffective or even harmful.
Low-Carbohydrate Diets Harm Athletic Performance
A study of elite race walkers shows that a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet will slow their race times and training. Your muscles burn primarily fat and carbohydrates for energy. You have enough fat stored in your body to exercise for many days. However, you can store only 1600-2000 calories worth of sugar (carbohydrate) in your muscles and liver, and will start to run out of your meager supply of sugar after 70 minutes of intense exercise.
Eat to Compete
What you eat before and during a major competition can affect your performance enough to give you an edge over your peers. The days of "carbohydrate loading" are gone, but now athletes are being lured to try the LCHF fad -- a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet.
Slowing Loss of Bone and Muscle Strength with Aging
In a review of 37 studies of men and women over 60, researchers found that a proper exercise program enlarged and strengthened the muscles in 93 percent of the participants (Osteoporosis International, March 1, 2017).
Even a 100-Year-Old Can Improve with Training
You can improve athletic performance at any age with proper training, even if you are over 100 years old. Traditional feeling among scientists is that aging is progressive and inevitable, and that your genetic programming causes you to age no matter what you do. This paper shows that physical training can reverse established markers of aging.
Mild Dehydration Does Not Impair Exercise
There is no data anywhere to show that mild dehydration affects health or athletic performance. Fit humans can tolerate significant fluid loss before their performance suffers, and most cases of muscle cramps are not caused by dehydration or salt loss.
Robert Marchand Sets Amazing World Record at 105
On January 4, 2017, 105-year-old Robert Marchand rode his bicycle 14.01 miles to set the world record for his age for the one-hour ride. He rode 92 laps at the Velodrome National near Paris and as he completed his ride, the fans gave him a standing ovation, chanting "Robert, Robert" while dozens of TV crews and cameramen captured the moment.
Protein Supplements Don’t Make You Stronger
A researcher posing as a 15-year-old football player called 244 health food stores across the United States and asked if they would sell him protein supplements to give him larger muscles. More than two-thirds of sales attendants at the health food stores recommended that he buy the protein supplement, creatine.
Ten-Minute Workouts for Fitness
One minute of intense exercise can give you the same level of fitness as 45 minutes of more casual exercise. Two groups of out-of-shape men exercised three times a week for 12 weeks. . .
Retaining Strength with Aging
If you don't exercise regularly and vigorously, expect to lose a significant amount of muscle strength as you age, and expect that loss of strength to reduce the quality of your life. A 15-year follow-up study showed that older people who lift weights at least twice a week had a 46 percent lower death rate within the study period.
Lack of Fitness, Not Too Much Sitting, Shortens Lives
A new study suggests that it is the level of fitness, not time spent sitting, that predicts susceptibility to disease and longevity.
Caffeine Boosts Endurance and Strength
A review of 34 recent studies shows that taking caffeine before and during exercise can increase muscle strength and endurance.
Everyone Should Exercise After Meals
A study from New Zealand shows that walking 10 minutes after meals lowers high blood sugar by more than 22 percent in diabetics, which is more effective than 30 minutes of exercise done once a day.
Motor-Assist Bicycles: Benefits of Passive Exercise
Most bicycle shops are now selling motor-driven bicycles, which can be an ideal solution for a person who is out of shape or just not strong enough to ride a regular bike. Motor-driven stationary bicycles make it possible for just about anyone to gain the benefits of an exercise program, even those with severe disabilities.
How Exercise Affects Your Immunity
Several recent studies show that if you don't follow your hard workouts with easy ones, you may suppress your immunity to increase risk for developing infections such as colds and increase your chances of injuring yourself.
Cupping for Faster Recovery
When Michael Phelps won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay at the Rio Olympics, he was covered with red circles on his back and shoulders from cupping. Many of the U.S. swimmers and gymnasts at the Olympics are using cupping, along with massage, saunas, ice baths and compression garments, to help them recover faster after a race or a hard training session.
Some Athletes will Always Cheat to Win
Taking drugs that can harm you gives athletes a major unfair advantage over other athletes who do not take drugs. Many athletes at the highest level of sports are taking drugs that can harm them and this practice is extremely unlikely to diminish in the future.
Strength Training Guidelines
1. People need to learn a correct range of motion for each exercise that is within their capability and practice that with lighter resistance. 2. There is not a lot of convincing data on repetition duration, but what there is including work we have done here, suggests for each exercise taking about three seconds for the concentric part of the rep, and three seconds for the eccentric part.
Muscle Loss from Inactivity: 34 Percent in Just Two Weeks
A study from the University of Copenhagen shows that wearing an immobilizing knee brace for just two weeks caused men in their 20s to lose 22 to 34 percent of their leg muscle strength, while men in their 60s lost 20 to 26 percent.
Making Muscles Stronger
If you want to make a muscle stronger, you have to exercise it intensely enough to damage the muscle fibers and when they heal, they will be stronger than they were. You can tell you are causing muscle damage because of the burning you will feel during exercise and the soreness in that muscle you feel four to eight hours later.
Overnight Fasting to Increase Speed and Endurance
A new study from France shows that night-time fasting after intense workouts on alternate days helps athletes exercise longer and faster. The test group ate a low-carbohydrate dinner after their intense afternoon workout and then fasted for 13 hours before their morning recovery workout, then ate larger amounts of carbohydrates after their recovery workouts. The control group ate their meals as they wished, with no fasting requirement.
Our New Tandem Ti-Trike
Ever since we got our first tandem trike and installed the electric motor, we have been looking for someone who would build us a custom trike. Three months ago we met the makers of Ti-Trikes at a bike show and were impressed with their all-titanium single trikes. They had never built a tandem trike but agreed to do one for us, incorporating their many design innovations as well as our specifications. They brought us our new tandem trike two weeks ago, and we are delighted.
Cold Weather Can Kill
The majority of cold weather deaths are from its effects on the heart and lungs to cause heart attacks or pneumonia. The major causes of sudden death in cold weather are elevated blood pressure and increased clotting. High blood pressure damages arteries to cause heart attacks and strokes. If you have blood vessel disease, heart disease or lung disease, try to stay out of the cold.
Eat Carbohydrates During Competition, Not Fat
Taking extra fat during long distance running or cycling races will not help you to go faster or win the race. When you exercise intensely, your muscles burn mostly sugar and the more intensely you race, the greater the percentage of sugar that your muscles use.
