Sports « Weekly Gravy

Strength training needs to be part of every exercise plan, but you don’t have to join a health club to reap its benefits. You can create a state-of-the-art home gym, but an inexpensive approach will work just as well. First, pick out a 10-by-10-foot space where you can exercise without tripping over or bumping into anything. It doesn’t have to be a dedicated area as long as you can move any furniture out of the way when you’re ready to work out. Next, choose your equipment. The American College of Sports Medicine suggests starting with a few dumbbells or resistance bands plus a stability ball. If it’s in your budget, an adjustable bench adds variety to upper body workouts. Dumbbells are hand-held weights, available from 1 to 45 pounds each. Handle choice is key. You want some friction for a good grip, but also a comfortable feel. If buying a set, be sure there are weights you can lift now and weights you can work up to. If you’re short on storage space, try stretchy resistance bands. Bands come with different tensions appropriate for different muscle groups. Some are just lengths of material you wrap around your hands. Others have handles. Test both to see what you like best. It’s a good idea to have a trainer outline a home plan with exercises that target… read on >

Weight loss from dieting can slow the progression of knee arthritis in overweight people, according to a new study. But losing pounds from exercise alone will not help preserve those aging knees, the researchers found. Obesity is a major risk factor for painful knee osteoarthritis — degeneration of cartilage caused by wear and tear. Weight loss can slow the disease, but it wasn’t clear until now if the method of weight loss made a difference. Apparently, it does. “These results add to the hypothesis that solely exercise as a regimen in order to lose weight in overweight and obese adults may not be as beneficial to the knee joint as weight loss regimens involving diet,” said lead author Dr. Alexandra Gersing. Gersing made her comments in a news release from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). She’s with the University of California, San Francisco’s department of radiology and biomedical imaging. The study included 760 overweight or obese adults who had mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis or were at risk for it. The participants were divided into a “control group” of patients who lost no weight, and a group who lost weight through either a combination of diet and exercise, diet alone, or exercise alone. After eight years, cartilage degeneration was much lower in the weight-loss group than in the control group. However, that was… read on >

Men who compete in triathlons could be putting their hearts at risk, a new study contends. The finding results from an examination of 55 male triathletes who averaged 44 years old, and 30 female triathletes, with an average age of 43. All participated in triathlons, which involve sequential endurance competitions of swimming, cycling and running. The researchers found that 18 percent of the men had evidence of scarring of the heart, known as myocardial fibrosis. None of the women had signs of the condition. Myocardial fibrosis usually affects the pumping chambers and can progress to heart failure. “The clinical relevance of these scars is currently unclear [but] they might be a foundation for future heart failure and arrhythmia [irregular heartbeat],” the study’s lead author, Dr. Jitka Starekova, said in a news release from the Radiological Society of North America. The study was to be presented during the group’s annual meeting, Nov. 26 to Dec. 1, in Chicago. Though regular exercise has been proven good for the heart, previous studies have found myocardial fibrosis in elite athletes. “Although we cannot prove the exact mechanism for the development of myocardial fibrosis in triathletes, increased systolic blood pressure during exercise, the amount and extent of race distances and unnoticed myocarditis could be co-factors in the genesis of the condition,” Starekova said. She’s with the department for diagnostic and… read on >

Despite a long and illustrious pro baseball career, Tommy John is more famous as the source of the name for a surgical procedure than for the nearly 300 games the left-handed pitcher won. But Dr. Tommy John — who shares his dad’s name and played pro ball himself — is determined to change that. He’s a performance and healing specialist and a chiropractor in San Diego. Dr. John would prefer that his father — a four-time Major League All-Star — is remembered for his baseball achievements than for the elbow surgery that got him back on the mound for many years. And both son and father would really be happy if fewer young athletes had to undergo the procedure to keep playing the sport they love. The elder John’s career spanned from 1963 to 1989. After playing big league ball for more than 10 years and enduring about 40 cortisone shots to dampen the pain he felt from pitching, the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his elbow “exploded,” his son said. At the time, Dr. Frank Jobe had successfully performed surgery using a tendon on polio patients’ ankles, the younger John explained. But no one had ever reconstructed the elbow ligament of a major league baseball pitcher. “My dad wasn’t one to be told that he would have to stop,” Dr. John said, adding that… read on >

People with desk jobs want to move more, a new study suggests. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate how long desk-based workers actually want to sit, stand, walk and be physically active,” said study lead author Birgit Sperlich. She’s a postdoctoral researcher at German Sport University Cologne. Sperlich and her colleagues interviewed 614 people with desk jobs in Germany and found that they spent an average of 73 percent of their working day sitting down. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of the day was spent standing, 13 percent was spent walking and a mere 4 percent was spent doing physically demanding tasks. But the workers said they wanted to spend 54 percent of their work day sitting down, 15 percent standing, 23 percent walking, and almost 8 percent doing physically demanding tasks. The workers spent about 5.4 hours per eight-hour day sitting, but they wanted to spend an additional 46 minutes walking and an additional 26 minutes standing, on average, the researchers said. The findings were published Nov. 16 in the journal BMC Research Notes. “So far, plans to increase physical activity in the workplace primarily focus on health outcomes without asking the target group what they prefer,” Sperlich said in a journal news release. “Interventions to reduce sitting time may need to include more options for walking rather than only for… read on >

If you love to while away a weekend watching a season’s worth of episodes from a favorite TV series, you may inadvertently put yourself at risk for developing a dangerous blood clot. When researchers compared people who reported watching TV more often to those who seldom or never watched TV, the risk of a venous thromboembolism (VTE) jumped by 70 percent. A VTE is a type of blood clot that can block blood flow in a vein, according to the American Heart Association. “I don’t think TV watching itself is an evil thing, but everything in moderation,” said study co-author Dr. Mary Cushman. She’s a professor of medicine at the University of Vermont’s Larner Medical College. “Think about how you’re spending your time, and see if you can take advantage of your TV time to get some activity in,” advised Cushman. Her own solution? Walking on her treadmill when she watches TV. Cardiologist Dr. James Catanese concurred. He said when he watches TV, he rides a stationary bike. If you’re not going to exercise while watching TV, he recommended watching an episode and then doing something physical for 20 minutes. “Physical inactivity is a risk factor for every cardiovascular disease, including VTEs,” said Catanese, chief of cardiology at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. He wasn’t involved in the research. The study included more… read on >

Despite a significant risk of head injuries in baseball and softball, helmet use in those sports is low, a new review says. “Our review demonstrates that traumatic brain injury in baseball and softball affects players of all levels and all positions,” said study lead author Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. “Although the risk for traumatic brain injury is lower in baseball than other, high-contact sports like hockey and football, because the injuries can lead to very serious injuries like skull fractures and bleeding in the brain caused by balls or bats, it should be considered equally as serious and addressed in a way that reflects that,” he said in a hospital news release. Cusimano and his colleagues reviewed 29 studies that included nearly 243,000 traumatic brain injuries sustained by baseball and softball players between 1982 and 2015. Playing levels extended from youth leagues all the way to Major League Baseball players. While baseball and softball had the lowest rate of traumatic head injuries compared with 15 other sports, serious brain injuries occurred once in about every 2,000 games. All formal baseball and softball leagues included in the studies required players to wear helmets. Five of the studies examined the use of protective equipment and found that only 7 percent of players who suffered traumatic brain injuries that required emergency… read on >

If you have trouble keeping slim, don’t put all the blame on your DNA. People carrying so-called “obesity” genes tend to gain more weight if they don’t work out or don’t get enough sleep, said Timothy Frayling, a professor with the University of Exeter Medical School in England. “You can’t change your genes — but they only explain part of your weight,” Frayling said. This means that even people genetically inclined to pile on pounds can curb it by eating right and exercising. Frayling and his fellow researchers tracked physical activity and sleep patterns for about 85,000 people in England, aged 40 to 70. The participants wore accelerometers that allowed researchers to estimate their amount of exercise and quality of sleep. The team also computed a genetic risk score for each person based on 76 common variants known to be associated with increased risk for obesity. Genetics accounted for some, but not all, of a person’s obesity risk, the researchers concluded. For example, a person of average height who had 10 genetic risk factors for obesity gained an average of 8 pounds during the course of their life if they tended to be couch potatoes, but only about 6 pounds if they were more physically active, the study authors said. The results were similar regarding sleeplessness. People with some genetic risk for obesity tended to… read on >

Analysis says this skill set common among some Major League greats read on >

Did you spend the hot, sweltering days of summer sitting in front of an air conditioner? Then fall is a probably a good time for you to get up and get moving, medical experts say. Why is now a good time? If you start now, you’ll be well into your exercise program, which will help counter the overeating that typically occurs during the holiday season, according to UPMC Pinnacle, a health care system at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In most of the United States, the fall means cooler temperatures and fewer bugs, which means ideal conditions for walking in local parks or going for hikes in state parks. Having a dog can help motivate you to get out for regular walks. If a dog isn’t an option, find a human walking partner to help keep you motivated. And you don’t need to limit yourself to walking. Other options include cycling, jogging — even dancing. While watching TV, use exercise bands or light weights for some seated strength training, or do standing exercise routines. If you haven’t exercised in a long time or have health issues or concerns, you should talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise routine. More information The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute offers a guide to physical activity.