Don't Worry... Be Happy! at 00:20

Spring break came and went extremely fast.  Especially since mine was cut short due to my senior design and inversion projects.  A large portion of my week was spent working on homework, but I was able to remain on my couch while still wearing my pajamas at two in the afternoon. Even though I was "relaxing" all week, by Sunday I felt more stressed than I did before spring break.  This could have been because I had a major assignment due Monday that was not close to being completed. On the other hand, as a good friend pointed out, it could have been spurred by my laziness. My physical activities were close to none during the week.  I always have known exercising induces endorphins- but what exactly does that mean?

Endorphins are a certain type of chemical in the brain that can be classified as neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters, found in various locations in the body, are triggered in times of high stress or pain. They are produced by the pituitary gland which is located at the base of the brain near the spinal cord, and react with the opiate receptors of the brain and spinal cord. When activated, the opiate receptors block pain and stress, resulting in temporary euphoric state.

So how does this relate to exercising? Only high intensity workouts induce endorphins. Studies show that simple weight training or casual workouts produce some, but not enough endorphins to notice a difference in pain levels.  High intensity workouts, such as running, cause the body to undergo large amounts of stress, which can be difficult for the body to endure.  The body kicks in and produces endorphins to numb the pain.  Ever wonder why it's possible to jog away the soreness from a previous workout? Endorphins kick in and mask the pain for a couple of hours or even up to a day. Since everyone is different, the chemical reaction has various magnitudes and durations for everybody.

Endorphins are a great way to relieve stress and feel happy in a completely natural way with no adverse side effects. Next time you're feeling down, lace up and go for a jog. 

Self Evaluation at 18:01

After the last evaluation period, I tried to make noticeable differences with my blog.  I attempted to take your constructive advice and apply it towards my blog and my blogging activity.  I have focused my blog on the health aspect of sports including medicines and injuries. My intent is to keep my blog conversational with the reader, while educating them on the possible encounters in the world of sports.  Not only have I focused my blog, I participate with other blogs now, which was a concern last evaluation period.  I am actively following Bre’s gymnastics blog, commenting on her posts that interest me.  Also, I am heavily involved with my Sports Scientists blog, commenting weekly; however, they show no interest in my blog. Blogs of similar material have been troublesome to find.  I know my areas of improvement include the amount and the timeliness of the posts.  As of right now, I am scheduled to have a guest post by the weekend. From here on out, I need to work on finding different medias of information, including more videos, pictures, interviews, guest posts and if possible, interactive content.

We're all equal....? at 11:27

 

Last night my favorite pup did something to her knee- as of right now hopefully its a tweak;however there is a possibility she tore her ligament.  I'm not any type of anatomy guru, and I'm not trying to relate a dog's knee to a human's knee, but the accident did surface a question I've always had.   I remember in high school my coaches always making sure we were "properly" conditioned to prevent knee injuries. They claimed women had to work harder than men to prevent this devastating injury which can ruin a career.  So my question is: do women truthfully have weaker knees than men?

  

The most dreaded knee injury is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. It just so happens that 

women are up to 6 times more likely to endure this injury (depending on the study the chance ranges from 4 to 6)! Although the main cause is unknown, there are several speculative causes. An important fact to keep in mind while reading the following is a woman's ACL is much smaller than a male's ACL.  

 

There are 4 main theories that attempt at explaining why women are more likely to injure their knees: intercondylar notch, pelvis, estrogen, and leg strength.

• The ACL runs in between the intercondylar notch (see picture to the right) in both sexes; however, a woman's notch is typically narrower than a man's.  This causes (theoretically) a woman's ACL to be wore down easier, because the ACL rubs on the bone. This is magnified in sports that require fast direction change (basketball, volleyball, softball...). As a result, the ACL becomes weaker over time and is more prone to tearing all the way. 
• Women also have much wider pelvises, which changes the angle of the femur (thigh bone) and the tibia (shin) at the knee. The more drastic angle can cause internal rotation of either bone which causes stress on the ACL. 
• The effect of estrogen  is not fully understood, but there are numerous studies that show females' tendons typically relax/loosen with higher levels of estrogen.  This relaxing of the tendons causes the knee to become more flexible, increasing the risk of overextending the ACL. 
• Leg strength can also incorporate men as well, but generally women have weaker leg muscles than men.  Not only do they have weaker legs, women focus on their quadriceps and not their hamstrings.  This unbalance causes uneven stresses on the knee, which can lead to a complete "blow out" of the knee (damage or complete tears on majority of the ligaments in the knee). 

Even though women are more prone to a knee injury, there are preventative measures.  This body building website has some great exercises that focus on the knee area.  Each move is demonstrated step by step with pictures to ensure you are conducting it properly.  Since the knee is such a valuable but complex area, it is important to use the right form. Otherwise, you could be doing more harm than good.

All Natural... at 00:20

Below are two videos that continue on my discussion on technology vs nature.  I'm still holding my grounds on running with shoes, but these two videos make me a bit more curious.  The second one is for those who really want to know the full logistics/science behind running barefoot.  It's a bit dry, but extremely informative!

These shoes were made for... running? at 15:07

Lately I've been trying to get back into running, which is becoming a bit difficult due lack of motivation.  I prefer activities such as basketball and lacrosse to stay in shape, but I've been thinking about running another half marathon with my sisters in May.  The other day a friend and I were discussing where to get shoes, when a third party interrupted and told me I should run barefoot.  He went on and explained his side that stated shoes actually are the cause of most injuries and it is better for your body to barefoot. In all honesty, I didn't believe - so I decided to do some of my own research. Are shoes really the cause of injuries? Even though it's an older article (2006), Athletic Footware and Running Injuries seems to agree with most articles I've read. So let's start with the basics:

Most running injuries are caused by impact, typically repetitive impact.  As you are running, your heal takes an impact that is 2.5 times your body weight.  This doesn't take into account the different road types, so the impact could actually be more than that.  Most stresses are absorbed from the knee down, causing over half of all running injuries to be located between the knee and ankle.

There have been several attempts to create shock absorbers and cushions to alleviate the forces your feet and legs endure.  There have been studies in the past that focus on the heal, sole, and ball of the foot; however, most research has overlooked the big picture: your entire body. Not to mention majority of the studies to improve shoes only focus on the physical mechanics of running. Even though these studies seem logical (we all wear shoes!) they go against the nature of the human body. 

When walking/running barefoot, the contact your skin makes with the ground is the most important action.  This informs the body how your heal should be struck down, or how your ankle needs to rotate.  Another aspect of running barefoot is the runners consciousness to the area. The runner sees the areas that need to be avoided.  While running with shoes, the sensory aspect is lost causing the body to become more comfortable, and in a way, lazy. The runner's foot does not rotate correctly, just habitually, and the runner is not as observant to where they are running because the shoe provides pseudo- stability. 

From everything I've read, shoes are counter productive (in all aspects: sports/running/walking).  Even though they are designed to aid our feet and legs by transferring some of the forces, our bodies were actually designed to take that impact.  By avoiding the forces, we actually do our body harm.  With that being said, I found no studies on how torn up your feet become by running shoeless, or how many diseases will be spread by going barefoot in public. Even though it may be damaging in the long run, I am going to stick with shoes.  I would rather take my chances with injury compared to coming down with some foot fungus.

Anything to Get Ahead? at 16:24

One of the most interesting blogs I've come across is Sports Scientists. The blog is written by Ross and Jonathan, who met in Cape Town while obtaining their PhDs. They both are indulged in sports including rubgy, cycling, running, swimming and other endurance sports.  A couple of days ago, the pair wrote a few articles obtaining to the cyclist vs rugby players doping incident.

Doping typically refers to take performance enhancing drugs- there is also "blood doping" which is another method of enhancing athletic performance.  Since doping is used to get ahead in competitive sports, it is typically viewed as unethical; however, the severity of the punishment differs from each sport. I will be blunt and admit I am not for steroid use or any enhancing drugs, but the arguments about the subject cause questions to arise. Why is it unethical if people have the same access to these drugs? Isn't the purpose of competitive sports to try every method  to better yourself against the competition?


In my opinion, the main focus of anti-doping is not the ethics behind the drugs- it is ultimately the health factor.  Since there is a range of different types of substances, the side effects vary, and in some cases contradict themselves.  There is a great article titled "Principal doping substances and their side effects" by Laurent Rivier, Martial Saugy and Patrice Mangin that discuss each doping mechanism; however, I will only discuss the side effects of steroids.

"Steroids" are the most well known, and the most readily available type of performance enhancing drugs on the market.  They belong to the Anabolic Substances group- a fancy way of saying the chemicals target muscle mass.  The main side effects for steroids include: liver tumors, excessive blood cholesterol, prostate cancer, diabetes, sleep apnoea, behavioral modification, addiction, irreversible masculinization in women, and feminization in men.

These side effects are due to the chemical imbalance steroids induce. When taking steroids, you are emitting high levels of testosterone into your body. At the same time, the steroids trick the body into creating more protein, and the excess amount of testosterone help process the protein. This is the main reason why muscles are built quickly when taking steroids.  Because of this, steroids can be helpful sometimes, especially when recovering from an illness or accident where muscle is lost.  With that being said, a body has a certain threshold for steroid use/muscle growth, and once that threshold is broken, the negative side effects begin occurring.

There are no quick fixes when it comes to weight loss or creating muscle mass.  The best answer is to monitor your diet and exercise.  Working with a fitness trainer can help target your areas of interest, and keep you true to your workout.  If that is too expensive, find a friend who wants similar results and find a workout schedule.  There are thousands of work out schedules and articles online magazines include: Men's Health, Fitness, and Men's Fitness