NCSF Blog

Your activity tracker beeps drawing your attention. Then you receive a notification from Instagram that someone just commented on your picture of lunch. Then your sister texts you. Distractions in our daily life, specifically digital ones, are increasing and making it tougher to focus on the moment.

New research by investigators from the Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences in Osaka, Japan as well as other collaborative universities examined the effects of wearing a compression garment during overnight sleep on recovery from high-intensity eccentric lower-body exercise.

How are you going to maintain your workout routine over Thanksgiving? The gluttony of Thanksgiving does not need to be paired with laziness. Whether you are traveling home for Thanksgiving or having friends over for a “Friendsgiving” you can still find the time to sneak in a Holiday workout. Chances are you do not have a complete gym at home, so a bodyweight circuit is a great substitute.

The good morning exercise is excellent for developing core strength, hip extensor flexibility, and function synchronicity between the hips and trunk. It is favorable for enhancing the posterior kinetic chain as the movement requires cooperative force couples action across multiple joint segments. It is preferred for erector spinae development over back extension machines as the posterior chain work is closed-chain. The mechanics of the exercise require significant work from the erector spinae, gluteus maximus and hamstrings when full range of motion (ROM) is performed. The long resistance arm at the end-point of the eccentric phase tells the trainer that significant loading will not be needed or even useful/safe for most clients. Considering the flexibility and coordination requirements, trainers must make sure the client has the ROM, trunk stability, and lumbo-pelvic rhythm to maintain proper form. The traditional good morning exercise usually involves axial loading with a barbell, but many modifications can be employed (e.g., reaching a stability ball overhead or a medicine ball against the chest).

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published by the American Association for Cancer Research examined the impact of exercise on insulin-like growth factor-axis, adiponectin (glucose regulator and fatty acid metabolizer), and other inflammatory cytokines associated with breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is the perfect time to examine common questions concerning the devastating form of cancer. About 12% (1 in 8) women are expected to develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2017, an estimated 252,710 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the U.S alone. Symptoms of breast cancer can include a lump in the breast, bloody discharge from the nipple, extreme swelling, skin changes and/or changes in the shape or texture of the nipple or breast. Oftentimes breast cancer will not present with any symptoms – making regular screening very important. Consequent treatment depends on the stage of cancer; which may consist of chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery.

Considering breast cancer’s high prevalence and distressful effects, let’s take a look at some frequently asked questions concerning breast cancer risk and related issues.

Research published in Nature Cell Biology investigated a specific potential pathway by which obesity may increase the risk for breast cancer progression and metastasis (development of secondary malignant growths at a distance from the primary site of cancer).

There are various ways to load a given exercise or execute a given movement – successful trainers know how to choose the loading or movement pattern for each activity that best reflects the client’s training goal(s). Common loading patterns include, but are certainly not limited to: bilateral, unilateral, contralateral, ipsilateral, asymmetrical and unfamiliar.

Due to today’s deskbound culture and desire for anterior aesthetic development, exercise enthusiasts are more likely to perform forward sagittal and overhead pressing actions rather than pulls. Without complimentary pulling actions, this greatly increases the risk for shoulder injuries and long term postural deviations. Shoulder horizontal abduction and hyperextension often go by the way side.

This is not to say that some people do not enjoy pulling more than pressing, but most people can attest to the fact that it is easier to find an open pull-up bar at the gym as opposed to a bench press (especially on Mondays).

In recognition of Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month we are investigating the different lifestyle factors that can have a positive impact on your brain health and relative risk for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) later in life. Previously discussed are various dietary factors that may have an impact on one’s risk, summarized below.