Sports « Weekly Gravy

Running is a fantastic workout. It burns fat, improves heart function and strengthens bones. Yet, that first step out the door in a new pair of running shoes might seem intimidating. It can also cause injury if you’re not properly prepared. That’s why it’s helpful to know the basics about beginning this more intense exercise routine. “Too many people get injured running because they throw their sneakers on, walk to the end of the block and start running. The body must be primed and readied for exercise,” said Dr. Russell Camhi, who works in primary sports medicine at Northwell Health Orthopaedic Institute at East Meadow, in New York. The health benefits of running Running is credited with offering many positive health outcomes. Any amount of running was associated with a lower risk of early death, according to the Cleveland Clinic, which cited a study that pooled data from 14 other studies. “It’s a great cardiovascular exercise because it takes a lot of work for you to move through space with that quick repetitive kind of motion,” said Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Dominic King. “There’s a lot of work done by your quads, by your gluteal muscles and by your core to keep you upright. Running is kind of coordinated falling, so it’s actually a pretty complex mechanism for the body.” Health experts are divided on whether… read on > read on >

Often, patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are advised to lose weight, but that can be hard to do and takes precious time. Now, researchers report they have found another strategy can help lower liver fat in people with this condition, which affects nearly 30% of the global population. Exercise of about 150 minutes each week at a moderate intensity — the exact recommendation from public health experts at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — significantly reduced liver fat in patients, the new meta-analysis showed. “I spend a lot of my time trying to help improve the lives of our patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD],” said Dr. Jonathan Stine. He is an associate professor of medicine and public health sciences and a hepatologist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, in Hershey, Pa. “At this point in time, we still don’t have a regulatory agency-approved drug therapy or even a cure for this condition. And there are roughly a hundred million adults in this country that have this,” Stine noted. While research had shown that exercise can improve liver fat, physical fitness, body composition and quality of life, there was no known specific amount of exercise that would do this. For this study, the researchers considered a 30% relative reduction in liver fat — measured by MRI scans… read on > read on >

Many football fans fondly remember Rick Arrington as the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback from 1970 to 1973, but his daughter’s memories are tainted by years spent watching her dad suffer from late-stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma, CTE causes depression, suicidal thoughts, aggression and mood swings. Eventually, folks have problems with thinking and memory, and may ultimately develop dementia. Repeated blows to the head — even if they don’t cause concussions — are considered the main risk factor for CTE. Speaking about her father’s illness for the first time at a recent benefit for the Concussion Legacy Foundation, sportscaster Jill Arrington said she no longer enjoys watching football. “When I see players’ heads collide on the field, I see my dad’s face begging me through tears to end his misery. I see the strongest man I have ever known struggle to sleep for months on end … and unable to make a simple cellphone call,” she told the crowd. Though he had no history of concussions, Arrington said her dad suffered with CTE for more than 35 years. “His life was cut short by the sport he loved,” she lamented. Researchers at the Boston University CTE Center recently announced that they have now diagnosed CTE in the brains of… read on > read on >

Add high blood pressure to the list of problems associated with concussions among former pro football players. Researchers at Harvard University’s Football Players Health Study linked a history of concussions to elevated risk for high blood pressure among ex-NFL players. The results suggest that treating former athletes who have both high blood pressure and a history of concussions could help protect them against heart, blood vessel and mental (cognitive) decline. “If players, families, and physicians are aware of the cardiovascular effects of head injury, we have a better chance of protecting both their cardiovascular health and long-term cognitive health,” study author Rachel Grashow said in a Harvard news release. She is director of epidemiological research initiatives for the Football Players Health Study. Grashow headed up the new study with Dr. Aaron Baggish, professor of medicine at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and senior faculty member at the Football Players Health Study. The findings are based on a survey of more than 4,000 former National Football League players looking at various aspects of players’ health across their life span. Most research on mental decline in former pro football players has focused on neurodegeneration caused directly by repeated concussions, Grashow said. But heart disease is the leading cause of death and disability among former football players and Americans in general. And high blood pressure is the… read on > read on >

Want to stay healthy well into your golden years? Grab a bag of clubs and hit the green, new research suggests. Golfing beat walking or even Nordic walking (a full-body workout that consists of walking using specialized poles) when it came to improving several key measures of heart health in the small study. “The results of this study are meant to encourage older adults to spend more time on the golf course and play by walking,” said study author Julia Kettinen, a doctoral researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine/Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. “Golf is a great way to exercise, as it motivates individuals to move, often without even realizing the distance they’ve walked during the game.” For the study, investigators compared the heart health effects of an 18-hole round of golf to about 3.7 miles of Nordic walking or walking among 25 healthy golfers aged 65 or older. The researchers measured blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol. Participants also wore heart monitors and fitness devices to track distance, duration, pace, steps and calories burned. All three types of aerobic exercise improved heart health after a single session, but golf took the top prize, the study showed. Golf is a lower-intensity exercise than Nordic walking and walking, but an 18-hole golf game lasts around four hours, and players… read on > read on >

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is issuing a CPR challenge to promote use of the emergency procedure that saved his life on national television. Hamlin, 24, suffered cardiac arrest during a Jan. 2 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, moments after being tackled hard in the chest. A month later, Hamlin is teaming up with the American Heart Association (AHA) for his “3 For Heart CPR Challenge,” asking people to learn hands-only CPR and then spread the word to others. “It’s going to be an amazing opportunity to impact and educate millions of people on the importance of CPR. It literally saved my life,” Hamlin said in an AHA news release. The challenge has three steps: Learn – Go to heart.org/3 to watch a minute-long video and learn hands-only CPR. Give – Donate to the AHA to fund CPR education and training. Share – Use #3forHeart to challenge three friends to do the same on social media. To kick off the challenge, Hamlin tagged three prominent figures he called the “G.O.A.T.s” (Greatest of All Time) — LeBron James, Tom Brady and Michelle Obama. “You’ve all been challenged. And, one more thing, make sure you share your videos on all socials and tag me and have your hearts up,” Hamlin said in a video shared on Twitter. Hamlin has not gone into detail about his medical condition… read on > read on >

The saga of Damar Hamlin’s recent collapse during a football game has thrown the dangers of sports-related cardiac arrest into the spotlight. What about this happening to someone much older? A new study brings reassuring news: It’s rare for an older adult to have a sudden cardiac arrest during exercise, and those who do tend to have fewer health issues than those who experience this medical emergency outside of exercise, according to researchers. While exercise is among the most heart-healthy habits, a new study from Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles noted that it can trigger an irregular heart rhythm that leads to sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when an electrical malfunction causes a person’s heart to stop beating. Most people die within minutes. In recent years, rates of sudden cardiac arrest have increased for older adults. However, “the annual incidence of sports-related sudden cardiac arrest among older adults is extremely rare,” said senior study author Dr. Sumeet Chugh. He is director of the Heart Rhythm Center in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. For the new study, his team analyzed cases of sudden cardiac arrest in people aged 65 and older in Portland, Ore., and Ventura County, Calif. The data came from the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study, which began in 2002, and the Ventura Prediction of Sudden Death in Multi-ethnic Communities study, which… read on > read on >

It’s clear that staying active is key to being healthy, and fitness trackers and smartwatches have become popular tools for tracking activity. But just how many steps does someone need to take to lose weight? That’s not such a simple a question. While evidence is limited on exactly how many steps a day it takes to lose weight, experts say to get about 150 to 300 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise weekly, said Amanda Paluch, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology and Institute for Applied Life Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. That’s about an average of 22 minutes per day on the low end and 45 minutes on the high end, Paluch said. “And we do know that for weight loss and weight maintenance, you really need to get to that higher end,” Paluch said. “We do need to exercise more often at this moderate to vigorous intensity to really see weight loss,” Paluch added, but “we really haven’t figured out how much that equates to in terms of steps per day.” Tracking steps That doesn’t mean a person shouldn’t track their steps. “These types of devices can really help us with tracking and goal-setting,” Paluch said. Harvard Health cited a review of recent studies that found people who were overweight or obese and who had chronic health conditions were… read on > read on >

Starting a walking routine is simple because it requires so little: comfortable, supportive walking shoes and your own two feet. Unlike gym workouts, the initial expense is small and the schedule is flexible. “Walking’s a great way to work out because we can integrate it into our daily lives,” said Amanda Paluch, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology and Institute for Applied Life Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “And if you can just fit it around your house or within your neighborhood, it’s one of the most convenient options,” Paluch said. The benefits abound, too. Even a single bout of walking at a moderate-to-vigorous intensity can improve sleep, memory, ability to think and anxiety, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Harvard Health noted some surprising benefits, including that walking can reduce sugar cravings, ease joint pain, boost immunity, counteract obesity genetics and reduce breast cancer risk. More well-known benefits include lowering high blood pressure and the risk for type 2 diabetes, helping someone maintain a healthy body weight and strengthening the musculoskeletal system, according to Colorado State University. A Texas clinical trial credited a half-hour of power walking or jogging five times weekly with better blood flow in and out of the brain in research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. “Taking just a few more… read on > read on >

“Move it or lose it” the saying goes, but too much exercise or playing sports can lead to overuse injuries. These injuries include damage to bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles due to repetitive actions, such running, throwing, biking, lifting and swimming, to name a few. An overuse injury can be the result of poor training techniques such as doing too much too fast; not warming up or cooling down; failing to take enough time to recover after exercise; or not doing the proper cross training to support the activity. Shoulder impingement Shoulder impingement is an overuse injury in the rotator cuff — the muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint. It is caused by “repetitive overhead activities while the shoulder joint is in a forward rotated position,” said Jessica Moyer, owner of Viva Stretch in Jacksonville, Fla., and a sport rehabilitation specialist for nearly 20 years. According to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, pain is usually felt when lifting overhead, and is most common in active adults in their 30s and 40s. In a hospital release, Dr. Lawrence Gulotta, head of the shoulder and elbow division at the hospital’s Sports Medicine Institute, says this type of injury often stems from poor technique and rushing when lifting weights. How to prevent it: Moyer recommends strengthening the scapular, or shoulder blade, muscles.… read on > read on >