SportsGeezer

Best Cities for Empty Nesters and Others

The methodology is hard to find, not to mention suspect, if only because it places Bridgeport at the top of a list of best mid-size regions for several groups of people, but the lists are, well lists. Geezer is persuaded that author Richard Florida is way ahead of the rest of us. He would have to be, wouldn't he, to describe himself as a "public intellectual"?  Read Florida's list of best cities to live in for people in different stages of life.

Manly Stuff: Four Ways to Treat Enlarged Prostates

If you are male and do not have an enlarged prostate, just wait. Chance are: you will. As this four-part series on treatments for enlarged prostates reports, two out of three men over sixty have some symptoms of the unpleasant condition. Happily, scientists are all over this problem, which afflicts men at a time in  their life when they have the most money to spend on treatments. This piece, is the L.A Times reports on four ways to go:
Drugs 
Diet and exercise
Saw palmetto
Surgery

Testing the Body Fat Tests

Washington Post reporter Howard Schneider was never a big believer in body fat as a measure of fitness, or, for that matter, of body fat measure as a measure --of anything. In this piece, which includes a less-than-information-packed video, Schneider introduces innocent readers to a technology called bioelectrical impedance, which passes a small current through conductive foot pads or handheld electrodes (and, in some cases, both). The current can pass easily through water-rich muscle fiber, but it bogs down in fat. Based on a measure of impedance (how much of the current gets through from one electrode to the other), the machines use mathematical models to estimate the amount of fat that got in the way en route. Wait, there's more about other ways to measure body fat, but it's unclear why, because, as Schneider tells us, it doesn't work.
Read more in the Washington Post.

The Triathlete's Trilemma: Which Sport to Invest In

Let's say, for the sake of the argument presented in this piece in the Times by Gina Kolata, that it really is not possible to excel in running, swimming and biking, the three legs of most triathlons. Let's say that most amateur athletes have to pick one sport to rock in, one to perform well in, and one to get by in. What would you do? Kolata gives us the wisdom of  Joe Friel, a coach and author of  10 books, including “The Triathlete’s Training Bible” (VeloPress, 2004), who warns that if you want to run faster you have to give up swimming and cycling. And then there's Gary S. Krahenbuhl, an exercise physiologist and emeritus professor at Arizona State, who tells Kolata that the physical and biochemical changes in muscle cells and in nerve-firing patterns required for improvement are very sport-specific. Kolata reminds us that there are benefits to doing more than one sport, and she quotes physiologists who advocate cross training for all recreational athletes, and especially middle-age athletes who are more easily injured and slower to recover than younger people. Know anyone like that?
Read more about the triathlete's trilemma from Gina Kolata.

Ankle Sprains: What To Do Once It's Done

High on the list of events that Geezer is not eager to experience, or even imagine, is spraining an ankle. He remembers all too well the moment of realization that the entire weight of his body has just forced the bones of his ankle into a position they were never intended to assume. There is the strange clicking sound that bones are not supposed to make, and the rush of nausea informing us that we will spend the next few days doing something that doesn't involve walking. Sprained ankles hurt. And they can do permanent damage.
What to do once it's done? Geezer recommends sending the wife out for nice Rioja and renting a good movie--The Savages, perhaps. The New York Times has some other ideas, (forget about taping). Read the Times' suggestions for getting back in the game in the wake of a sprain.

Can You Catch Up on Lost Sleep?

Can you catch up on lost sleep? To solve this mystery, Geezer turns to The Scientific American, wondering, of course, why anyone would name a magazine "The Scientific American." Does anyone publish a journal called "The Romantic Argentinian" or "The Musically Inclined Norwegian"? Probably not, but wait, Geezer struggles to get back on track. OK. Better now. The Scientific American reports that, in a word, "Yes" you can catch up on lost sleep, but the catching up must be done gradually. An hour of extra sleep a night for several nights is a good way to go. Trying to catch up on a week's worth of lost sleep with one long slumber is, Sciam suggests, a waste of sleep.
Read more in The Scientific  American.

Does Running Outdoors Burn More Calories?

New York Times health answer man Anahad O'Connor seeks an answer the ancient conundrum: does running outdoors burn more calories than running indoors? And the answer is....:it's hard to say. O'Connor reports that running indoors (on a treadmill) is less likely to result in injury, and research suggests that running outdoors encourages more vigorous exercise, perhaps because other people may be watching. O'Connor's bottom line? Yes. Probably. Maybe. Some.
Read more from Anahad O'Connor in the New York Times.

Researchers Say Fat Cell Count Is Forever

We can lose fat, but we can't lose fat cells. So indicates research coming out of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where, the journal Nature reports, scientists have been busily counting fat-holding cells. Nature reports that researchers at the institute took biopsies of belly fat from 687 people, both lean and obese, and recorded the number and size of fat cells, as well as the subjects' age, sex and body mass index. Combined with previous similar data from children, they showed that the average number of fat cells rises until the age of about 20, and then remains relatively constant, and is closely linked with body mass index. Nature reports that old fat cells do die, but they are soon replaced by new fat cells, ready to carry around any number of extra pounds.
What to do? Whatever you've always done to keep the weight off. If you're reading this, chances are you're already too old to change the number of fats cells in your body.
Read more in Nature.

Is Artificial Turf Safe in the Long Term?

Geezer has long preferred artificial turf to real grass, at least when it's cool outside. Artificial turf is fast, balls bounce straight, and there are no chemicals required to keep it green. Now it appears that the chemical advantage may be scratched, as questions about the health risks of the lead, zinc and arsenic used in some synthetic turf roil the recreation boards in several towns. Newsday reports on the controversy, in which (apologies for stating the obvious) manufacturers insist that the fields are safe; and parents and environmental advocates voice concerns that cancer could result from long-term exposure to chemicals through skin contact, accidental ingestion, and breathing dust kicked up by players. The paper reports that small-scale laboratory tests commissioned by environmental and consumer protection groups in Connecticut and upstate New York found the crumbs contained volatile organic compounds such as tetrachloroethene and carcinogens known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The studies could not conclude how likely humans were to be exposed to the compounds under normal playing conditions.
Read more about the health risks of artificial turf in Newsday.

See what the Connecticut Department of Public Health has to say.

NYT Video Looks at Boomers Who Keep on Pushing

Geezer can't decide if this short video shot by the New York Times is enlightening, inspirational, lame, or none of the above.  It is a video. And it is short. Have a look.