FIFA & UEFA Stole Soccer from England?

David — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:11:19 +0000

Interesting quotes today from English Premier League chairman, Dave Richards. He essentially states that the world has forgotten where soccer began (England) some 150 years ago. (Click here for the story.)

“It started in Sheffield 150 years ago . . . (W)e started the game and wrote the rules and took it the world. The Chinese may say they own it but the British own it and we gave it to the rest of the world.”

What do you think, have FIFA and UEFA co-opted “the beautiful game” from England?

USA beats Italy for first time ever

David — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:46:57 +0000

The USA beat Italy for the first time in a series that began in 1934 with a 1-0 win in Genoa thanks to a well-constructed goal by Clint Dempsey — his 25th for the USA — in the 55th minute (Soccer America).

How Exercise Fuels the Brain

David — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 01:10:53 +0000

Researchers from Japan’s University of Tsukuba recently published an interesting article further supporting the benefits of exercise for brain health.

In their study (published in the most recent issue of The Journal of Physiology), exercising rats had significant decreases of glycogen in the brain following a single bout of exercise. However, if these rats were allowed to eat right afterward, the glycogen levels not only returned to baseline, they surpassed those baseline levels. It might seem discouraging to learn that after 24 hours, the glycogen levels decreased to pre-exercise levels.

However, if these rats participated in a four week running program, the post-exercise levels began to become the new baseline. Said differently, the baseline glycogen levels significantly increased with consistent participation in a running program!

Hideaki Soya, lead researcher of this study, wonders if this “may be a key mechanism underlying exercise-enhanced cognitive function . . . it is tempting to suggest that increased storage and utility of brain glycogen in the cortex and hippocampus might be involved in the development” of improved brain function.

So, re-read this post and drink some chocolate milk after your next workout!

(Originally read in the NY Times, 2/22/2012)

Messi Destroys Valencia

David — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:46:48 +0000

Lionel Messi . . . not too bad!

Ironman Lance

abowen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:43:46 +0000

Lance Armstrong got his start as a triathlete, competing by age 13 and becoming sponsored at 16. And this past weekend, at age 40, “old man” Lance returned to the sport in incredible form, finishing an extremely close second to New Zealander Bevan Docherty in the Panama 70.3.

Of course, Lance is best known for his incredible string of Tour de France wins. As he neared the end of his Tours, Lance began testing out his marathon legs. When he announced his intention to run NYC in 2006, speculation began running wild. Would Lance be a world-class marathoner? Could his legendary aerobic capacity (VO2 max reportedly 83.8 mL/kg/min) translate to a 2:15 marathon? Could Lance possibly set a marathon world record?! Completing three marathons between 2006 and 2008 (Boston once and NYC twice), Lance’s personal best was 2:46:43 – nothing to sniff at, but not world class.

Now back to his roots in multisport, Lance appears to have found his stride with a sizzling 3:50:55 half Iron distance debut (more detailed race report here). Official splits not yet up, but from various news sources, Lance posted 19:22 on the swim, 2:10:18 bike, and 1:17:01 run. Reports say that Lance led the run until the final mile and a half, when Docherty overtook him for the win (Lance +: 42 seconds). Docherty’s 1:12 half marathon was a full 5 minutes faster than Lance’s.

Next up for Armstrong: Ironman France this summer, and possibly Kona this fall. If Lance can overcome his challenges on the run, we may be in for some seriously fun spectating. With the right marathon training, could he win Kona? Let the speculation begin.

Pedal Power Comes with a Duty

David — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:09:46 +0000

Great NY Times article on not only the benefits of cycling, but the responsibility that comes with it . . . and not just for the cyclist, but others around us.

Click here for the article

Cristiano Ronaldo Seals Hat Trick With Sublime Strike

David — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:53:28 +0000

From Deadspin.com:

You are unlikely to see as perfect a soccer goal as this for a very, very long time.Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s hoarding goals at such a clip it’s as if he’s trying to make every Spanish soccer fan forget the name Messi forever, finished a natural hat trick against Levante with this shot, his 119th tally for Real Madrid and the 4000th in the club’s history at the Santiago Bernabéu.

I must agree, what a fantastic goal!

Click here to watch.

Adults Keep Dementia-Related Death at Bay with Exercise

David — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:09:53 +0000

From the American College of Sports Medicine:

Research released this month by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) finds that increasing physical activity may decrease the risk of dementia-related death. The study, titled “Cardiorespiratory Fitness as a Predictor of Dementia Mortality in Men and Women,” appears in this month’s issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official journal of ACSM. The article is one of the first reports to examine the relationship between objectively measured cardiorespiratory fitness levels and dementia-related deaths in a sample of nearly 60,000 adults.

Public health efforts in the U.S. have triggered gradual declines in deaths associated with heart disease, breast cancer and stroke over the past few years. Deaths related to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, however, have increased dramatically over the last 15 years, skyrocketing 46 percent between 2002 and 2006.

Researchers conducted baseline examinations and maximal exercise tests for 14,811 women and 45,078 men, ages 20-88 years, at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. Baseline examinations included self-reported personal and family medical history, a questionnaire on demographic information and health habits, blood chemistry tests, and other clinical measurements. Participants were grouped into one of three fitness categories – low fit, middle fit or high fit – based on their performance on the fitness test.

“A major strength of our study is the use of standardized and objective physical activity measurement,” said Rui Liu, Ph.D., currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. “Cardiorespiratory fitness is preferable to self-reported physical activity because it is an objective, reproducible measure that is more closely correlated with a person’s usual level of physical activity and many health outcomes.” Liu conducted the analysis as part of her dissertation at the University of South Carolina.

By Dec. 31, 2003 (an average of 17 years after the baseline examinations), there were 4,047 deaths. The National Death Index attributed 164 of these mortalities to dementia (72 vascular dementia and 92 Alzheimer’s disease). Of the 164 individuals whose deaths were related to dementia, 123 were in the low-fit category, 23 were in the medium-fit category, and 18 were in the high-fit category. Compared to the least-fit individuals, those in the medium- and high-fitness groups had less than half the risk of dying with dementia.

“These findings support physical activity promotion campaigns by organizations such as the Alzheimer’s Association and should encourage individuals to be physically active,” said Liu. “Following the current physical activity recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine will keep most individuals out of the low-fit category and may reduce their risk of dying with dementia.”

Is GPS All in Our Head?

David — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:00:17 +0000

Julia Frankenstein, psychologist with Germany’s University of Freiburg, wrote an interesting editorial in the New York Times. In her piece, she wonders aloud if GPS navigation is preventing us from developing mental maps. Dr. Frankenstein contends that using these electronic gadgets dulls our ability to navigate in the raw, so to speak.

“Navigating, keeping track of one’s position and building up a mental map by experience is a very challenging process for our brains, involving memory (remembering landmarks, for instance) as well as complex cognitive processes (like calculating distances, rotating angles, approximating spatial relations). Stop doing these things, and it’ll be harder to pick them back up later.”

So, that got me to thinking, has that occurred with runners and other endurance athletes? Has the use of GPS watches, power meters for bikes, etc. dulled our sense to self-regulate our paces and efforts?

The first marathon I ran was Chicago in 2004 and I did all non-treadmill training with one of the first Garmin watches. I have since had a few “free” runs without my newest Garmin watch and truth be told, I found it quite liberating. But, I always seem to come back to Mr. Garmin . . . it helps my effort/pace, it helps me keep track of my runs, and let’s be honest, this map and its associated data is pretty cool!

After reading her article, I will give an honest effort to go without my Garmin for some runs (don’t want to overly dull that mental map!) . . . unfortunately, I think I’m a bit too nerdy to quit altogether!

Dynamic Stretching for Endurance Athletes

David — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:18:28 +0000

I have written, posted and discussed stretching quite a bit over the past several years. The concept just fascinates me!

Why is it so fascinating?

When playing soccer and other sports as a child, teenager and in college . . . when learning about stretching in college . . . when watching people at the gym or on the trail, static stretching was (and remains) a staple of pre-exercise routines for the vast majority of people. It’s fascinating because recent research has overwhelmingly shown that not only does pre-exercise static stretching not prevent injury, it often negatively impacts performance!

So, in December of last year, I posted an article on the benefits of using a pre-run dynamic warm-up routine. In the February issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers from Florida State University reach the same conclusion and offer similar guidance.

In this study, participants had their VO2max determined and then either performed a series of novel dynamic stretches or did nothing. Following this period of dynamic stretching or rest, participants had their flexibility measured, then performed a 30 minute preload run at 65% of VO2max. This preload run was followed by a 30-minute performance run in which ”subjects were asked to cover their maximal distance possible for 30 minutes.” Participants in both groups covered just over 6km in that 30-minute performance run (approximately 7:55 minutes/mile pace). The authors conclude by stating, “in contrast to static stretching, dynamic stretching does not seem to decrease endurance performance and may increase performance in male elite runners during our particular experimental protocol.”

So, coupling these findings from Florida State with a 2010 study that showed static stretches held for 30 seconds before a long run decreased performance by approximately 5%, it is our conclusion that if pre-run stretching is to be performed at all, dynamic stretching is the preferred mode.