Sports « Weekly Gravy

Regular aerobic exercise improves blood flow to the brain, which should help keep seniors sharper as they age, a new trial has revealed. At least a half-hour of power walking or jogging four to five times a week promoted better blood flow in and out of the brain among a small group of older adults, said study co-author Rong Zhang. He directs the cerebrovascular laboratory at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, a collaboration between UT Southwestern and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. “The intensity was like if you’re rushing to a meeting where you are 10 minutes late,” Zhang said. “You’re brisk walking, and you feel a shortness of breath.” The brain requires about 20% of the body’s total blood flow to maintain its function as an organ, he said. But as people age, blood starts to flow less freely in and out of the brain, a condition called cerebrovascular impedence. Less blood flow means the brain is receiving lower levels of oxygen and nutrients, Zhang said. It also means that toxins could build up in the brain, since reduced blood flow is less able to carry away waste products generated by the brain’s high metabolism. To see whether regular exercise could help people maintain healthy blood flow to their brain, Zhang and his colleagues recruited 72 people between the ages of 60… read on > read on >

Extracurricular activities may have many benefits for young children, but researchers have discovered racial gaps in who takes part. Among a group of 401 kindergarten students in Ohio, white children were 2.6 times more likely to participate in the most common extracurricular sports than children of other races and ethnicities. The study found similar results for other after-school activities in this age group. “If racial-ethnic minority students and those from disadvantaged backgrounds don’t have access to extracurricular activities at a young age, they may miss opportunities that could help them succeed in school,” researcher Elise Allen said in an Ohio State University news release. She’s a graduate student in educational studies at the university. Other determining factors were family income and mothers’ education. The researchers found that 47% of children whose mothers had a high school equivalent or less education participated in athletics, while 96% of those whose mothers had a graduate or professional degree did. The study was part of a larger project examining children’s learning, achievement and social development in students in pre-k classrooms through third grade. The project is called Early Learning Ohio. While existing research on the benefits of extracurricular activities tends to focus on adolescents, “given the documented benefits for adolescents, we thought it was crucial to examine who is participating at earlier ages and what benefits they might receive,”… read on > read on >

A good workout can boost mood, making it an ideal routine as the days get shorter and darker. If you’re one of the millions affected by seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and you feel tired, unmotivated, down on life and crave carbs and sweets, staying active can help. An expert from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston offers some tips for maintaining an exercise routine. “With seasonal affective disorder, it is desirable to continue to exercise or maybe even increase your exercise,” said Dr. James McDeavitt, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. “Relatively sustained aerobic exercise effects mood positively, but you don’t just have to run or do aerobics — you can do things like yoga, tai chi or meditation, which help with symptoms of depression.” Habits are built through consistency, he emphasized. It takes about three months to form one. Taking a winter break will likely cause a person to lose the habit faster than he or she can build it. “You experience low serotonin and dopamine levels in SAD, depression or other conditions, but there is a benefit to boosting neurotransmitter levels through exercise,” McDeavitt said in a Baylor news release. To exercise outdoors safely in winter, wear reflective clothing and a clip-on light that blinks. Leave earbuds at home so you can be more aware of what’s around you, he added. Predictable… read on > read on >

A lot of people will be watching the Super Bowl this Sunday, but not everyone will be equally excited about it. A new study that considered the influence of gender and sexuality on sports fandom found that though 9 of 10 Americans say they enjoy sports at least a little, heterosexual men most commonly identify as passionate fans. In the study, about 60% of heterosexual men reported identifying as passionate sports fans. This was compared to 40% of both heterosexual women and lesbians, while only 30% of gay men reported being passionate sports fans. Data came from the National Sports and Society Survey, which is sponsored by Ohio State University’s Sports and Society Initiative. It was completed by nearly 4,000 adults from all 50 states and participants answered the survey questions between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019. Researchers weighted the study to reflect the makeup of the U.S. population. Previously, there hasn’t been good data on how a variety of gender and sexual identities were reflected in the larger sports fan community, explained study author Chris Knoester, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State. “One of the advantages of the survey data in this study is that it has a relatively large sample of individuals who identify as a sexual minority or as nonbinary in terms of their gender identity,… read on > read on >

College football players suffer more concussions and head hits in practice than they do actually playing the game, a new study suggests. Across five seasons of football, 72% of concussions and 67% of head impacts incurred by players on six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams happened during practice rather than on game day, researchers found. The incidence of concussion and head impacts also were disproportionately higher in the preseason than the regular season, said lead researcher Michael McCrea, director of the Brain Injury Research Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. “Our data suggest modifying preseason training activities and football practice throughout the season could lead to a substantial reduction in overall concussion incidence and head impact exposure,” McCrea said. The findings were published Feb. 1 in the journal JAMA Neurology. While these specific findings are new, experts and coaches have known for years that practice is at least as dangerous as actual play when it comes to head trauma, said Dr. Robert Cantu, medical director and director of clinical research at the Cantu Concussion Center at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass. That’s why the National Football League agreed in 2015 to dramatically reduce full-contact practices in its collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association, said Cantu, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new study. The NFL now has… read on > read on >

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial for homebound older adults to find safe and effective ways to exercise, an expert says. At-home workouts can help strengthen muscles, improve balance, increase blood flow to the heart, boost the immune system and reduce stress, according to Summer Cook, an associate professor of kinesiology and an expert on senior fitness at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham. “People in their 20s and 30s often set health goals like running marathons or losing weight, but as people age there is a point where they shift their priorities to maintaining health, not necessarily for athletics or looks but for improving the ability to do their daily activities,” she said in a university news release. Being inactive can worsen existing health problems, so it’s crucial for older adults to find ways to get extra exercise beyond their typical daily activities. “My goal is to keep older adults as independent as possible as they age,” Cook said. “And while most seniors find themselves not getting out of the house as much these days, it’s important for them to know that there are still plenty of ways to work on their health at home.” The first thing older adults should do is talk to their doctor about any exercise plan to ensure that it is safe and effective. The focus should be… read on > read on >