The diagnosis of a stress fracture can be the most disheartening bit of news for any athlete. It means an immediate disruption in training and potentially the end to a competitive season. Not much can be done to speed up the healing other than wait it out and be compliant to rest and therapy. It’s been general knowledge that stress fractures happen primarily in female athletes. Sports that have a strong emphasis on ideal body weight can drive ...

With the 2015 race season drawing to a close its time to be honest about the type and amount of calories you are consuming.   Athletes often gain weight when the competition phase is over. Heading into cooler shorter days makes it easy to bring on the comfort foods and body fat. This is not all bad because trying to maintain a race weight all year is not good for your immune system and we need to enjoy eating. However, during ...

Many athletes consume alcohol without any thought that it can have a negative impact on recovery and performance. It’s not uncommon after long hot training sessions to go share a cold beer with friends. However, the downside to this is that it can impact any gains the athlete may have made from the training.

How Alcohol Challenges the Athlete’s Body:

• Acts as powerful diuretic and interfering with rehydration.
• Suppresses fat as a fuel source during exercise.
• Interferes with post-exercise recovery by slowing down glycogen ...

Since 2007, many studies have been looking at the role of inorganic nitrate to enhance health and exercise performance.  Beets have become newsworthy because they were found to be a source of dietary nitrate. Following ingestion, the body reduces nitrate to nitric oxide, which is responsible for dilating of blood vessels, resulting in increased blood circulation and oxygen delivery to cells.  The positive exercise effects of nitric oxide are derived from its ability to increase muscle blood flow and regulate several muscle functions, ...

We all know how good it feels to have a good night’s sleep. Solid deep sleep not only sets us up for peak physical performance, but also improved mental performance. Having a positive attitude definitely affects our physical performance, but in order to perform maximally the body needs to be fully recovered.  Without enough deep sleep many physiological and hormonal shifts can occur. Sleep deprivation causes a decrease in growth hormones, testosterone, elevation of cortisol, and insulin resistance can develop.  Lack ...