Those of us who live in northern climes make sure to enjoy the sunshine during our brief spring and summer. Given the evolutionary importance of vitamin D and the role sunlight plays in testosterone regulation, lack of sunlight can play a critical role in health. For most weekend warriors and student athletes, fewer than 5(…)
Many people who participate in long distance running, cycling or swimming supplement with carbohydrate beverages. The idea is that over long-periods time, the glucose necessary for fatty acid mobilization becomes used up and the athlete ‘hits the wall’ or ‘bonks out’. With replenishment, they can continue properly mobilizing fatty acids to fuel the activity and(…)
We’ve both been around elite athletics and the science of training and rehabilitation for years. Rarely does an idea come to our attention that is completely new. Earthing is such an idea. Earthing also called grounding, is sleeping with a blanket that is electrically grounded. The idea being that an exchange of electrons occurs between(…)
Creatine has been around for over 20 years. Its uses for enhancing strength, size and endurance and the various regimens to get there have been well documented. At this point, secondary effects are being explored- for example, does creatine alter the oxidative stress profile of an athlete? Pecario et al, 2012 tried to answer this(…)
Non-specific low back pain is one of the most common ailments sending people to physiotherapy or chiropractic care. Given the numerous different mechanical, physiological and neurological reasons for back pain, many times, imaging and tests are inconclusive as to the origin of the back pain. The unfortunate patient is then lumped into NSLBP and given(…)
Mora-Rodriguez et al. (2012) completed a study on men who have already spent years weight training (avg time 7 years) and how caffeine influences morning workouts. The workouts included working up to a 1 rep max in bench press, squat and isometric grip. The subjects completed the workout in the AM on placebo, in the PM and(…)
Gokbel et al 2010 completed an 8 week randomized, double blind, crossover study. 15 healthy sedentary males were given placebo or 100mg of CoQ10 supplementation. The subjects performed 5 wingate tests several times over the 8 weeks. It was found that those taking the supplement had more power during their fifth and final trial of(…)
We have previously discussed that caffeine is an ergogenic aid which has been shown to improve endurance performance and reduce subjective perceptions of effort. A study published recently highlights the positive effect of caffeine ingestion on repeated sprint ability (RSA). 14 experienced male cyclists consumed either 6mg.kg of caffeine or placebo before participating in a(…)