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- Curcumin from Turmeric for Inflammation and Disease
- Are Omega-3 Fatty Acids Like Fish Oil Effective for Treating Asthma?
- Vitamin B6: Functions, Complexities, and History
- Quercetin for Hypertension? A Review of Efficacy and Mechanisms
- Vitamin E and C for Strength and Bodybuilding: Should You Take Them for Exercise Induced Oxidative Stress?
- Performance enhancement with Supplements: Incongruence Between Rationale and Practice
- Sports and Supplement Use: Is there a Disagreement Between Rationale for Supplements and Actual Use?
- Vitamin D, Calcium Insufficiency, and Health
- Understanding Acute Ankle Sprains
- St. John's Wort Safey Issues and Product Labels
Recent Blog Posts
- Vitamin E and C for Strength and Bodybuilding: Should You Take Them for Exercise Induced Oxidative Stress?
- Keep It Simple Stupid: Simplicity Gone Wrong
- Gripper Guide Continued
- Philosophical Thought
- Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Dinosaurs Go Extinct
- Bodyweight Exercises: The Wide Eyed Effect
- Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Assumptions are Critical
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Vitamin E and C for Strength and Bodybuilding: Should You Take Them for Exercise Induced Oxidative Stress?
by 
EricT on 1268266539|%c|agohover
Oxidative stress is an imbalance between free radicals (pro-oxidant molecules) and the body's oxidative defense mechanisms. Primarily the free radicals in our bodies are derived from the consumption of oxygen but there are many possible radical species. The basic definition is a particle that contains one or more unpaired electrons and this can be true of many different substances. However the most important ones for us are those derived from oxygen or nitrogen. They are called reactive oxygen/nitrogen species or RONS for short….
Comments: 2
Vitamin D, Calcium Insufficiency, and Health
by EricT on 1267993437|%c|agohover
An inadequate supply of vitamin D and calcium has negative effects on bone health at all ages, inasmuch as it causes rickets in infants, retards acquisition of an adequate bone mass during skeletal development in adolescents, and is finally responsible for accelerated bone loss in adulthood in both women and men, leading to the development of osteoporosis. Importantly, there is also evidence from epidemiological studies, clinical intervention trials as well as from studies with animal models of human diseases that a compromised vitamin D status and inadequate calcium nutrition are predisposing conditions for a great number of other diseases, including various types of cancer, chronic infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders, as well as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (Table 1 omitted ; for details, [1-3]…
Comments: 0
Gripper Guide Continued
by 
JoeWeir on 1267371903|%c|agohover
The original Gripper Guide focused on the beginnings of gripper training. In that post I used CoC grippers as my standard gripper (hence the table is based on CoC resistances only) and laid out some suggestions for picking resistances and how to train. The reason I use CoC is simple. They were among the first to take grippers to the next level and they have a very good product. This part of my guide is centered around the very first thing you will do in your grip training. Buying a gripper! I've also got some other training tidbits and advice thrown into the mix….
Comments: 5
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Anatomy, Risk Factors, and Rehabilitation
by EricT on 1267200261|%c|agohover
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is a term for a variety of pathologies or anatomical abnormalities leading to a type of anterior knee pain [1]. Knowledge of the anatomy of the patellofemoral (PF) joint is essential to developing an understanding of the pathogenesis of PFPS. The symptom of anterior knee pain is associated with the conditions listed in Table 1. Pain may be caused by increased subcondral bone stress attributed to the stress of articulation or from cartilaginous lesions on the patella or distal femur [2-4]. Nearly 10% of all sports injury clinic visits by physically active individuals are attributed to PFPS [5], with more than 2/3 of patients being successfully treated through rehabilitation protocols [6-8]….
Comments: 0
Reverse Breathing
by EricT on 1266955924|%c|agohover
Previously I've called upper chest breathing either inverted or paradoxical breathing. In case you haven't gotten the news flash, it's bad. Now, I'm seeing something called 'reverse breathing' being promoted for martial artists. Wikipedia says that it is "Ancient Chinese Secret".
The practice appears to be an almost perfect instruction on incorrect breathing. The idea is to expand your abdomen while breathing out and pull your stomach in while breathing in. Absolutely ridiculous and a good way to 'gas out' for a martial artist. Here is a some excerpts from an article at DragonDoor. It's full of nonsensical gobbledygook but these are the highlights of the instruction:…
Comments: 0
Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Dinosaurs Go Extinct
by EricT on 1266369050|%c|agohover
As you peruse the internet you will come across fitness and strength writers who have written a great many articles or at least whose opinions are freely available in some form. Chances are you'll find someone who was writing articles in the year 2000 and is still writing them today, in 2010. Pay attention to the dates. Pay attention to the evolution. Ten years is a long time. Heck even five years is a long time and for me one year is long enough to turn my thinking on a subject one hundred sixty degrees….
Comments: 0
Bodyweight Exercises: The Wide Eyed Effect
by EricT on 1266087092|%c|agohover
The bodyweight boom is on. To hear people talk you'd think that calisthenics and bodyweight exercises in general had just been invented last year and were the best thing since the camp fire.
Gymnastics skills have been joined to the traditional and well known exercises to create a very popular market. A perfect example is the handstand pushup. A google search will reveal countless articles and also a great many very expensive products supposed to teach you to achieve one….
Comments: 5
Muscle Fiber Type: Contractile and Metabolic Properties
by EricT on 1266025523|%c|agohover
Skeletal muscle demonstrates a remarkable plasticity, adapting to a variety of external stimuli (Booth and Thomason 1991; Chibalin et al. 2000; Hawley 2002; Flück and Hoppeler 2003), including habitual level of contractile activity (e.g., endurance exercise training), loading state (e.g., resistance exercise training), substrate availability (e.g., macronutrient supply), and the prevailing environmental conditions (e.g., thermal stress). This phenomenon of plasticity is common to all vertebrates (Schiaffino and Reggiani 1996). However, there exists a large variation in the magnitude of adaptability among species, and between individuals within a species. Such variability partly explains the marked differences in aspects of physical performance, such as endurance or strength, between individuals, as well as the relationship of skeletal muscle fiber type composition to certain chronic disease states, including obesity and insulin resistance….
Comments: 0
Caffeine And Sports Performance
by EricT on 1265040416|%c|agohover
Research on the physiological effects of caffeine in relation to human sport performance is extensive. In fact, investigations continue to emerge that serve to delineate and expand existing science. Caffeine research in specific areas of interest, such as endurance, strength, team sport, recovery, and hydration is vast and at times, conflicting. Therefore, the intention of this position statement is to summarize and highlight the scientific literature, and effectively guide researchers, practitioners, coaches, and athletes on the most suitable and efficient means to apply caffeine supplementation to mode of exercise, intensity, and duration….
Comments: 0
Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Assumptions are Critical
by EricT on 1264802374|%c|agohover
Assumptions are a perfect subject for this third post in the series. The first two I think held no real surprises. For this one, I wanted to write about something that would challenge your assumptions so I decided to write about assumptions themselves.
A good fitness article must make assumptions. There, I'll bet that threw at least some of you. I mean, aren't the best fitness writers omniscient?…
Comments: 0
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