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I recently attended the 27th annual sports nutrition conference sponsored by SCAN , the Sports and Cardiovascualr Nutritionists’ group of the American Dietetic Association. One of the speakers was Stuart Phillips, PhD, Professor of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Toronto. Here are a few of his key points:
• While the US government’s current RDA of 0.8 g protein/kg body weight is deemed “adequate” to prevent protein loss in the average person, Dr. Phillips pointed out the American College of Sport Medicine, the Am... [read more]
Disagreements, verbal disputes, and physical confrontations have become far too common in today’s sports setting. Sadly, such acrimony seems more prevalent than ever before between adults—parents of athletes and their son’s or daughter’s coaches—that should be seeking many of the same aims. A rash of parent-coach incidents in 2005 prompted the New York Time to bring this problem to national attention, and anecdotal evidence suggests that since then, if anything, parent-coach relationship problems are even more numerous and intense now. Ask coaches w... [read more]
During a particularly grueling spin class, the instructor admitted to spending $15 on the bottle of coconut water sitting atop her handlebars. In the conversation after class, one fellow cyclist said, "I read that coconut will hydrate you way better than water!" Well, not really. Here’s the real truth behind the craze.
Back in the ’70’s, coconut water was used as a rehydration beverage in remote areas where cholera outbreaks occurred, and severe dehydration resulted. Coconuts were plentiful, but safe drinking water was not. Coconut water was used to provide the much
Long distance runners are known to take NSAIDs before a competitive event to prevent or reduce pain. This carries the risk of adverse medical effects. A viable alternative is to look towards the healing power of food. For example, tart cherry juice taken for 7 days before a 12 mile run and on the day of the run significantly reduced post-run pain (1).
While the folks who sell tart cherry juice products funded that research, the bottom line is that all colorful fruits and their juices are very powerful in terms of reducing pain associated with inflammation. That&rsq... [read more]
Youth and high school sports have changed in significant ways over the past 45 years. Of course, technology, culture, family, and education are dramatically different today than they were four decades ago, as well. Time passes and the accompanying alterations of the landscape of life continue, though we may wince that perhaps a better way has been lost.
Not so long ago, the term sports seasons meant football, volleyball, cross-country, or soccer in the fall, basketball, wrestling, swimming, and gymnastics in the winter, and baseball, softball, golf, and track and field in the... [read more]
To lose weight and keep it off, you must keep in perspective you did not gain the weight quickly and you should not plan to lose the weight quickly. The better plan is to chip away at slow but steady weight loss, targeting 0.5 to 2 pounds a week.
Why, by just knocking off 100 calories at the end of the day (one cookie, one heaping spoonful of ice cream), you can theoretically lose 10 pounds a year. Knock off 200 calories at the end of the day (16 ounces of cola, 4 Oreos), and you’ve lost 20 pounds a year.By eliminating just a few hundred evening calories, you will lose... [read more]
Here’s what the International Olympic Committee has to say about fueling for top sports performance. Eat wisely and perform well!
Nancy
IOC Consensus Statement on Sports Nutrition 2010
Diet significantly influences athletic performance. All athletes should adopt specific nutritional strategies before, during and after training and competition to maximise their mental and physical performance. Evidence-based guidelines on the amount, composition, and timing of food intake have been defined to help athletes perform and... [read more]
ACSM recently released survey results to predict the top 10 fitness trends for 2011. (See the full ACSM release here .)
I was pleased to see that at Human Kinetics, we’re ahead of the curve. Better yet, in some areas, we have been for quite some time. We have books, DVDs, online courses, and other resources to help fitness professionals deliver programs to their clients in 8 of the 10 top areas for 2011! Take a look at our report card:
Educated and experienced fitness professionals. This area is of special interest to me because of... [read more]
Rarely does a day pass that an incident or article pertaining to head injury in sports does not surface. This firestorm of awareness and interest has been brewing for some time, dating back to 2006 when the Brain Trauma Foundation reported that as many as 3.8 million sports and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States each year. But only recently has concern about this problem reached critical mass.
Additional alarming research findings and true heart-tugging stories of afflicted athletes have been widely disseminated through excellent journalist... [read more]
If you’ve always wanted to attend a workshop that presents the latest sports nutrition research and offers tips to help you fuel better and perform better, here’s your chance!
Exercise physiologist and protein researcher Dr. William Evans PhD and I will be teaching a two-day workshop on Nutrition & Exercise: From Science to Practice:
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