Sports « Weekly Gravy

(HealthDay News) — A bruise typically forms when small blood vessels near the skin’s surface break from an injury, says Mayo Clinic. Blood then leaks from the vessels, appearing as a black-and-blue mark. Some people are more prone to bruising than others. Bruising easily may be triggered by: Gender and age-related factors. Aspirin and other medications that affect clotting. Use of corticosteroid medication. Dietary supplements, such as ginkgo. Sometimes, bruising easily can indicate a serious blood-clotting condition. Mayo Clinic urges people to see a doctor if bruising is frequent or sudden, or if there is a family history of bruising easily.

If you’re a runner, the wrong running shoe could sideline you, a foot expert says. Choose carefully, or you risk discomfort, pain and injuries such as shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, irritated nerves or the loss of a toenail, warned Dr. Christina Rowe-Bauer, a podiatrist with Penn State Health Sports Medicine. If you’re new to running or an experienced runner with foot or leg pain, see a doctor to learn about your general health, foot type and running style. “Bring old athletic shoes; the wear patterns can give the doctor clues about things like foot overpronation (rolling inward) or supination (rolling outward),” Rowe-Bauer said in a Penn State news release. “Be honest about any pain experienced during or after running.” When it comes time to buy shoes, there are certain factors you should consider, such as foot type, running style and terrain, she suggested. Are your feet high-arched, flat or neutral? What is your running style? Some runners strike the ground first with the heel and roll through to push off the toes to their next stride, while others strike first with the forefoot and push immediately into the next stride. And, finally, what type of surface are you running on? Shoe tread and cushioning should be appropriate for the surface, whether it’s treadmills, asphalt or dirt trails, Rowe-Bauer said. When buying shoes, do… read on >

While there will always be a place for sit-ups for ab definition, many trainers now suggest standing exercises that not only train abs but back muscles, too. They’re more practical than getting down on the floor, and they may also be more effective because the moves strengthen the body’s core muscles, making everyday movements — forward, backward and side-to-side — easier. Training them may also help you avoid the low-back pain that typically comes with age. Start with side bends. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and hold a light dumbbell in each hand, hands at your sides. Slowly bend to the right as far as you can without twisting your upper body. Your right hand will dip slightly toward your right knee. Hold, slowly return to start position and then bend to the left. Repeat 10 times to each side. Next, move to hip hinges. Stand facing a wall, feet shoulder-width apart. Press your hands into the wall and contract your abs. Bend and lift your right knee in front of you until your thigh is parallel to the ground. Moving like a hinge from the hip, open your knee as far to the right as you can, then move back to center and across to the left. Repeat the entire sequence 10 times with each leg. For the standing twist, knees are slightly bent… read on >

If you’re looking for simple yet effective exercises to work chest muscles, put the pec press and pec fly on your list. Both also target the shoulder muscles, and the press works the triceps of the upper arm. For the pec press, lie on your back on a weight bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Knees are bent with feet flat on the floor. If you don’t have a bench, you can do the press lying directly on the floor, but you won’t get as wide a range of motion. Position the dumbbells at your sides, palms facing in and elbows pointing down. Now use your arms to press the dumbbells straight up to the ceiling. Hold for a moment without locking elbows, then slowly lower to start position. As you work, keep your head, shoulders and butt pressed into the bench, but have a slight arch in your lower back. Work up to two sets of 10 to 15 reps. Rest for 30 seconds between sets. For the pec fly, start from the same position on the bench, a dumbbell in each hand. Press the dumbbells straight up, palms facing each other. Keeping your arms straight, slowly lower the dumbbells out to the sides in an arc shape. Don’t let shoulders or elbows go below the exercise bench. Keep your wrists straight and… read on >

Brian Duncan doesn’t know why his brain still works as well as it does. Duncan, 67, got his bell rung more than once during his life — as a professional football player, an amateur boxer and a bull rider at Texas rodeos. He remembers one time he got slammed into the ground by L.C. Greenwood, a 6-foot, 6-inch defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers, so hard that he hallucinated he was back playing high school football. “We used to play a team that had a feed lot behind their football stadium,” Duncan said. “I’m all of a sudden thinking I’m in high school. I’m seeing cows and stuff behind the stadium, and I’m thinking, what in the world? I’m in Three Rivers Stadium. I was in a different world.” Despite that history, Duncan is one of the lucky athletes whose past punishment has not caught up to him. Duncan and players like him highlight what continues to be a point of ferocious debate among brain researchers — the effect of repeated head trauma on both brain structure and the brain’s ability to think, remember and reason. He’s part of a recent study of National Football League (NFL) players that found no link between impaired brain function and either the number of concussions players received or the number of years they played in the NFL. Study… read on >

(HealthDay News) — Athlete’s foot is a contagious fungal infection that commonly occurs in people whose feet become sweaty in tight-fitting shoes. The infection typically begins as a scaly rash between the toes. To treat mild athlete’s foot, Mayo Clinic suggests using an over-the-counter antifungal ointment, lotion, powder or spray. If athlete’s foot does not respond to treatment, your doctor may prescribe a stronger medication.

You don’t have to go to the gym to get a great muscle-building workout. You don’t even need equipment. There are many bodyweight-only exercises for strength training that you can do anywhere — at home, when traveling, even at work if you’ve got a space you can exercise in. Here are two to try. The Advanced Leg Extension: For this move, stand up straight with feet together and your arms at your sides. Lift your right knee until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Hold briefly, then lower the leg and, with control, swing it behind you as you reach forward with your upper body. Your arms should be extended in front of you, in line with the leg extended behind you. Your body forms one straight line parallel with the ground. Return to the start position and repeat 10 to 15 times, then repeat the entire sequence with the left leg. The Tabletop Bridge With Arm Extensions: For this move, sit on the floor with knees bent, feet flat and hip-width apart. Your hands should be flat on the ground with your fingers facing forward, in the same direction as your feet. Squeeze glutes and core muscles and press hands into floor as you lift your torso and hips into the tabletop bridge. Head, back and thighs form a straight line. Now,… read on >

Two very different studies show that dancing is more than just fun. It can keep your mind sharp and your heart healthy. The first was done in the United Kingdom and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Researchers pooled results from 11 surveys that included a total of 49,000 people. The investigators compared the health effects of walking and dancing, and found that moderate-intensity dancing was associated with a lower risk of dying from heart disease. Note that it took moderate-intensity activity to bring about these results, so if you’re a fan of slow dancing, you’ll need to pick up the pace. The heart-health benefits of dance are likely due to its interval-training-like bouts of high-intensity movement and it being a stress-relieving hobby you can do for life. While many kinds of dance can make for great calorie-burning cardio, a separate study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience and conducted by researchers at a number of U.S. universities found that learning dance choreography can confer cognitive as well as physical benefits. Researchers specifically looked at the effects of learning the steps of a country dance and found this can stimulate a key area of the brain and slow down natural brain aging. Both studies also restated the positive effects that stem from dance as a social activity, a known brain booster. While it’s… read on >

If you skip or skimp on breakfast, grab a quick lunch and then load up at dinner, your food intake is likely out of sync with your body’s needs. Not getting calories when you really need them (hint: during the day) could be why you’re having a hard time shedding pounds or finding the energy to exercise. Here’s how to rebalance your calorie intake. One approach, recommended by sports fitness dietitian Nancy Clark, is to divide your daily intake into four equal meals — breakfast, lunch, a second lunch eaten midafternoon, and dinner — with the calories for the second lunch coming from the ones you’re probably taking in during late-night snacking. This keeps your body fueled throughout the day so you have the energy you need when you need it. Front loading calories also seems to speed weight loss, according to research published in the International Journal of Obesity. Researchers from the University of Murcia, in Spain, tracked 420 participants on a 20-week weight-loss program. All followed a Mediterranean lifestyle with lunch being the main meal of the day. Half were “early” lunch eaters, eating before 3 p.m., and half ate later. Over the study, the early lunch eaters lost significantly more weight than those who ate later (and who also tended to skip or eat less at breakfast than the early lunchers), even… read on >

Even if you are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a little more exercise may buy you time, new research suggests. Folks with elevated levels of a brain protein called beta amyloid tend to be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and experience rapid brain decline later in life, previous research has found. But apparently they can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s through regular exercise, scientists report. “People who had elevated levels of amyloid, which is one of the earliest changes you see with Alzheimer’s disease, had slower rates of cognitive decline and brain volume loss over time if they had greater levels of physical activity,” said lead researcher Jennifer Rabin. She is a scientist with the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto. It didn’t take much exercise to enjoy this protection, either. The data suggests that people who walked 8,300 to 8,900 steps per day significantly delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s, Rabin said. Previous studies have shown that older people who exercise generally tend to stay sharp longer into old age, but this new research shows physical activity is specifically protective for folks who have these early brain changes related to Alzheimer’s, said Dr. Howard Fillit. He’s executive director and chief science officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. “This population is different than what’s been studied before because… read on >