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Eating Disorders Among Athletes

Almost everyone wants to lose weight and drop that extra 5 or 10 pounds. But some people take that desire to extreme measures and will literally starve themselves to be thinner. While we usually associate eating disorders with sedentary clients, the truth is that more and more elite athletes are falling prey to unhealthy eating and e…

Sports Stretch on the Ball

Mobility and stability are essential elements of functional performance. An athlete may have acquired exceptional skill and be able to perform at an elite level; however, if the athlete hasn’t enhanced her foundation of mobility and stability to keep pace with the developing skill, performance m…

Injury Prevention for Triathletes

Are you intrigued by the idea of participating in a triathlon, but concerned about injuring yourself since you’re new to the sport? If so, consider these suggestions from Catherine Logan, MSPT, a physical therapist, certified personal trainer and Pilates instructor at Sports and Physical Therapy Associates in Boston. 1. Appropriate Preparation To wa…

Core Conditioning and Athletic Performance: Is There a Connection?

Core conditioning has quickly become a major component of many athletic training programs; however, recent research questions the validity of claims that it enhances athletic ability. The Indiana State University study tested the core strength of 29 NCAA Division I football players and compared the results to the athletes’ abilities in three strength variables and four performance
varia…

Do Ergogenic Aids Help or Hinder Athletic Performance?

Almost daily, people ask fitness professionals
about the latest and greatest dietary supplements
that claim to enhance physical performance.
Although it is outside the scope of practice of personal
trainers and fitness instructors ever to recommend
a particular ergogenic aid to anyone,
clients want to know if these products produce
the results promised in the ads. There is no denying
that …

Too Much of 2 Good Things?

The overall landscape of training methods and individuals who participate in recreational exercise is vast and varied.Who are these individuals, and what do they do? Let’s use “David” as an example. This fictional recreational-exercise client is an avid basketball player for an all-men’s league.
His team plays twice a week, but David still wants to stay conditioned and maintain his strength. Ther…

Identifying, Understanding and Training Youth Athletes

Who will be the next Tiger Woods, Mia
Hamm, Michael Jordan or Venus
Williams? Many parents believe that,
given the right amount of training,
coaching and perseverance, it could be
their child. There is a certain mystique
about talented athletes, whether they are
amateur Olympians or professionals,
because of their sports mastery and the
skills they display. It is not an easy path…

Neuromuscular Control in Female Athletes May Help Prevent ACL Injuries

Valgus knee movement in women is considered a major contributor to the incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, according to an article published last fall in the Strength and Conditioning Journal (2006; 28 [5], 44–54). The article also states that women are four to six times more likely to suffer ACL injury than men and that, upon load, a 5-degree valgus angle at th…

Preparticipation Screening May Save Athletes’ Lives

If you train athletes, you may want to know about the validity of prescreening. In 1982, Italy introduced a mandatory nationwide screening process to reduce the incidence of sudden cardiovascular death (SCD) in athletes during competition. The screening process includes a detailed history, a physical exam and an electrocardiogram.
A study published recently in the Journal …

No Words Necessary

Perhaps the greatest professional satisfaction a coach can feel is when he sees the radiant joy of his athlete achieving a personal best. No matter the athlete’s age, sport or level of ability, that person has reached a pinnacle that both she and her coach have worked countless hours to attain. The moment of personal victory is sweetly savored, tucked away not far from reach and tak…

Create a Pilates Conditioning Program for Golfers

Golf. Even the name of this sport evokes a sense of calm and leisure, played out on a quiet field in front of a hushed crowd. Yet every golfer knows that golf is a sport that only looks easy. In fact, golf requires muscular strength, joint flexibility, neuromuscular training and the perfect balance between mobility and stability. The game hinges on the ever-important golf swing, a …

NFL Player Practices Pilates and Yoga

Seattle Seahawks fullback Mack Strong credits Pilates and yoga with keeping him in great shape and extending his professional career. “I just felt myself being just a little more stiff. Not as fluid,” Strong told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “Years and years of pounding, your body gets stiff. . . . When I started doing [yoga] 3 years ago, it was the best I&rsq…

Performance Enhancing Drugs

Let’s face the facts: The use of performance-enhancing drugs is becoming relatively mainstream. Approximately 1&ndash 3 million people in the United States have used anabolic steroids (Silver 2001), with usage rates as high as 12% among young men and 2% among young women (B…

More Good Reasons for Athletes to Do Yoga

More and more athletes swear by how their yoga programs improve their sports performance. A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2004; 18 [4], 723–29) adds one more great reason to cross-train with yoga: a decrease in delayed-…

Competitive Athletes at Risk for “Superbug”

In the past, outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been mainly connected with healthcare institutions. Recently, however, physicians have been seeing more infections— including skin boils and pneumonia—caused by drug-resistant bacteria.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that outbreaks among “pla…