Training Load
Monitoring Training Load: What Tool is Best? Part 1
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Monitoring Training Load: What Tool is Best? Part 1

By |2020-05-20T16:55:51-05:00May 20th, 2020|Athlete Monitoring, Performance models, Sports, Training Load|

Athletic testing has become a vital part of the sports community. Monitoring an athlete's performance allows individuals and coaches to assess how the body is handling training and competition. When it comes to deciding which tools and models to utilize for monitoring training load - individuals are faced with a multitude of options. But which one is the best? A sport-science conference, "Monitoring Athlete Training Loads ⏤ The Hows and the Whys", was held in 2016 where experts came together to discuss and share research on modes of athlete training (4). A group of researchers gathered the key findings discussed [...]

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Youth Athletes: Is Their Fatigue Risking an ACL Injury?
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Youth Athletes: Is Their Fatigue Risking an ACL Injury?

By |2020-02-25T13:15:47-05:00February 25th, 2020|Fatigue, Fitness, Injury, Sports|

Whether our youth athletes compete for fun or intend on becoming professionals, we enjoy having them participate in sport activities. Their enjoyment, as well as their safety, are our highest priorities. That being said, there are thousands of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries every year and most of them are for high school athletes (5). How can this be? A 2005 study (6) found an increased risk for ACL injuries correlated with increased knee valgus. Dynamic knee valgus is when the knee "caves in" due to hip adduction and hip internal rotation. Studies have also related increased risk of dynamic [...]

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Overuse in Baseball. How to Catch it Ahead of Time.
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Overuse in Baseball. How to Catch it Ahead of Time.

By |2020-02-18T11:56:41-05:00February 18th, 2020|Baseball, Fitness, Injury, Overuse, Sports|

An athlete performs their best when their body is at its best. Therefore, protecting the athlete from overuse injury is (or should be) a primary concern in sports. For baseball players, monitoring the arm is a big deal. Baseball players, especially pitchers, can put their arms through the ringer with repetitive and forceful throwing motions. The stress of repeated throwing can cause microtrauma in soft-tissue structures. This puts players at risk for chronic injury (1-4) and excessive stretching of the soft-tissue. Chronic stretching of the anterior capsule and tightening of the posterior capsule can lead to trauma creating instability and [...]

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Women Athletics: How Your Sport Affects Your Bone Health
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Women Athletics: How Your Sport Affects Your Bone Health

By |2020-02-03T09:29:53-05:00February 3rd, 2020|Baseball, Basketball, Health, Sports, Swimming, Track, Volleyball|

Studies suggest women athletics influences change in bone and body composition (3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13). Furthermore, these changes may be sport-specific (2-5, 8, 10, 11, 13). Every sport has different approaches to training because each sport has different physical requirements and performance needs (2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14). Significant differences have been found in total body bone mineral density (BMD) among sports (2). BMD has been associated with sport-specific mechanical loading, bone strain, total body mass and lean mass (1, 3-5, 10, 11, 14). Weight-bearing physical activities, such as sports, are noted to promote bone density (1-3, [...]

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Soft-tissue injections: yay or nay? Part 2
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Soft-tissue injections: yay or nay? Part 2

By |2020-01-07T09:01:47-05:00January 7th, 2020|Athletic treatments, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Health, Sports|

Make you sure check out Part 1 of this series for background information! In the previous blog, we discussed costs and benefits of soft-tissue injections – specifically reviewing corticosteroid injections. Here we will discuss costs and benefits of 2 other soft-tissue injections: local anesthetic and Toradol. What are local anesthetics? To refresh, soft-tissue injections interfere with the normal healing process in order to get an athlete to return to play sooner. With local anesthetics, there is disruption to axonal nerve conduction (7, 24). What this does is it allows immediate pain relief for an athlete. There are a variety of [...]

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Soft-tissue injections: yay or nay? Part 1
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Soft-tissue injections: yay or nay? Part 1

By |2020-01-07T09:02:37-05:00January 6th, 2020|Baseball, Basketball, Football, Sports|

Being an athlete means bumps, bruises and strain on your body. In sports medicine, it is common practice to use soft-tissue injections to help relieve pain and/or inflammation caused by athletic activity. Soft-tissue injections are typically done into or near a muscle, tendon, bursa and/or fascia. Though this practice is widely accepted, there are potential serious side effects – especially in the pre-game setting. (16) Typical muscle injuries found in sports include strains and contusions (16). Contusions can result from blunt trauma (16). For example, a player tackling an opponent. Muscle strains can result from continuous/vigorous muscle contractions. For example, [...]

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sleep deprived athletes
Sleep Deprivation: Will caffeine get you back on track?
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Sleep Deprivation: Will caffeine get you back on track?

By |2019-12-13T14:48:08-05:00December 13th, 2019|Fatigue, Lifestyle, Sleep, Sports|

Sleep deprivation can be a great concern among athletes. With busy schedules and rigorous training, getting adequate sleep can be difficult. Sleep plays an important part in the recovery and performance of athletes (12). Therefore, it is vital athletes make time to rest. But when sleep is hard to come by many athletes choose to combat their weariness with caffeine. However, are you drinking enough caffeine? How tired are you? Let’s take a look at some of the science: A 2018 study (12), investigated the effect of sleep deprivation and use of caffeine on anaerobic capacity. Anaerobic exercise involves short [...]

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Grab and Go Energy: Is RedBull really the key?
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Grab and Go Energy: Is RedBull really the key?

By |2019-12-12T12:03:38-05:00December 8th, 2019|Fatigue, Fitness, Health, Lifestyle, Sports, Wellness|

As an athlete, it is important to be focused and perform your best. Many athletes, as well as exercising individuals, have begun integrating a quick pick me up before their event to enhance performance. In fact, according to some research (3) sugar-free energy drinks have become staples to athletes and health buffs who are looking to get an extra boost to edge out their competition. But do these drinks really work? Can an energy drink really make a difference in performance or is it all in our heads? And more importantly, is it safe? Let’s take a quick look at [...]

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