Is Serum 25(OH)D the Best Indicator of Vitamin D Status for Athletes?
Vitamin D plays an integral role in bone health through multiple direct and indirect mechanisms, including the regulation of calcium and phosphate metabolism. It is also well understood that severe vitamin D deficiency is associated with rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. However, the relationship between vitamin D and bone is not straightforward. For […]
Focus on Eccentric Loading for Enhancing Muscular Adaptation to Training
Resistance exercise is a fundamental aspect of athletes’ training programs, especially in sports where force- and power-production capabilities are keys for elite performance. In traditional strength-training programs, equal absolute load is applied during both the concentric and eccentric phases of muscle contraction. Skeletal muscle is capable of 30%, or more, force production during maximum eccentric […]
More Than Head Trauma: Understanding Factors Related to Negative Health Outcomes in Former Football Players
The long-term effects of sport-related head trauma have gained notable attention from the scientific community, sport governing bodies, and the mainstream media in the past two decades. Concussions and repetitive head impacts that do not result in clear clinical signs and symptoms have been investigated as risk factors for worse health-related outcomes in later life. […]
Biobanks and Advanced Genetics Bring New Tools to Exercise Sciences
To a varying extent, most human characteristics are heritable. The genetic component of physical activity behavior and many related physiological phenotypes has been established as polygenic. This means that variation in these phenotypes is explained by the contributions of hundreds or thousands of genetic variants, each of which has a small effect size. Advances in […]
25 Years of Physical Activity Time Trends Research
In developed countries, the life expectancy of adults has increased dramatically over the past century. This is largely due to decreases in smoking and reductions in infectious disease and cardiovascular disease brought about by modern medicine. However, due to a rise in labor-saving devices and electronic entertainment, many have suggested that we have engineered much […]
The Role of Acute Physical and Mental Activity in Concussion Recovery
The debate over the best methods for concussion recovery has been a key challenge to sports medicine providers over the last several decades. While rapid return to play, particularly when still symptomatic, is obviously inappropriate, the early recommendations suggested complete rest. This is sometimes referred to as “cocoon therapy,” where the patient is instructed to […]
From Bench-top to Bedside: Is Exercise Truly a Cancer Medicine?
In 2009 our team published the Australian guidelines on exercise and physical activity for people with cancer emphasizing the imperative that clinicians should reject the rest strategy. Rather, patients should be physically active most days using a combination of aerobic and resistance training aiming to accumulate 75 to 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise […]
One Number That Knows if You Are Active Enough
Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) is a physical activity monitoring approach invented by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology around five years ago. It uses heart rate data (e.g., from a wrist-worn monitor) to provide the user with a single metric. This number reflects the amount and intensity of aerobic exercise a person […]
How Should Adult Handgrip Strength be Normalized for Body Size?
Muscle strength refers to the ability of the muscles to produce maximal force. One assessment method is to measure handgrip strength, which involves the maximal isometric force of the finger flexors using a handheld device. Handgrip strength is a convenient, reliable, valid and safe measure that is an important indicator of general health and sports […]
Exercise and Glucose Intolerance during Pregnancy: Exercise Dose and Timing Matter
Glucose metabolism during pregnancy plays a pivotal role in maternal and fetal health. Impaired glucose tolerance in pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, is at the center of the “diabetes begetting diabetes” intergeneration vicious circle. It has been related to not only adverse obstetrics and perinatal outcomes, but also substantially increased risk of cardiometabolic disorders in […]