Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use in Sports, Health and Society | ACSM Consensus Statement
As we were writing ACSM’s consensus statement on “Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use in Sports, Health and Society,” one piece of information that stood out to me was that users of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) spent an average of 268 hours researching AAS before initiating use! That is a LOT of homework, and there is no way that the vast majority of […]
Sports, Physical Activity and Sun Protection
Each year the U.S. spends over eight billion dollars treating skin disorders and cancers. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US, affecting around one in five Americans.1 Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer has been on the rise for the last forty years even though we know one of the major causes […]
Why We Must Prioritize Equitable Access to Physical Activity for Children with Disabilities
Providing children with disabilities equal access to quality education is a central tenet of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This four-part American legislation governs how states, schools and public agencies provide special education and related services to more than 6.5 million children across the country. Within this legislation, students are entitled to free […]
Mythbusting | Youth Resistance Training
Myth: Lifting weights is unsafe for children and will stunt their growth. One of the most common myths associated with youth fitness programs is that resistance training is unsafe and harmful to the developing skeleton of children. Unfortunately, these outdated views persist today and some parents and caregivers question if children should lift weights in […]
Gunnar A.V. Borg (November 28, 1927 – February 2, 2020) | A Multilayered Legacy
It is a rare achievement for a researcher’s name to be recognized, and for a body of work to be appreciated, across all the diverse subdisciplines of exercise science. Gunnar Borg is one such name, and his research on perceived exertion is one such body of work. Gunnar Borg passed away earlier this month, at […]
Disparities in the Quality of Physical Activity Environments
There are race, ethnic and socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in physical activity. The disparities differ by domain of physical activity (e.g., occupation, transportation), but there is consistent evidence that leisure time physical activity is lower among individuals with lower income and members of most race and ethnic minority groups. One possible explanation of these disparities […]
How to Craft Your Article Title to Increase Views and Citations
Most academics use the citation count of their peer-reviewed publications to assess the impact of their research. Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of published articles are poorly cited, which suggests a minimal contribution by this work to the knowledge in a field. For example, Kortlever et al. found that 36% of the 135,029 articles published in 204 orthopedic journals between […]
Training the Nervous System after Stroke
Neurotraumatic injury such as stroke is not typically symmetrical. So, it is no surprise that such damage results in a more affected side, which results in more dramatic muscle weakness and spasticity. However, evidence suggests that some human movements have conserved neural linkages even post-stroke. Thus, training the more affected side made indeed enable the […]
Physical Activity and Function in Older Age: It’s Never too Late to Start!
Despite the known benefits of physical activity to health and physical function in aging, the proportion of older adults meeting recommended physical activity guidelines remains low (27%). Since the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans were published, considerable evidence has emerged regarding the relative benefits of various modes or combinations of physical activity, such as progressive resistance training, multicomponent […]
High-Intensity Interval Training: For Fitness, for Health or Both?
That which was old is new again. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been a common component of exercise regimens designed to improve fitness and performance for many generations. In recent years, research interest has surged. A simple search of PubMed for the term “high-intensity interval training” reveals a more than 20-fold increase in the number […]