SportsGeezer

Red Apple Skins Boost Endurance

Two remarkable things about the anti-oxidant qercetin: it starts with a "Q" that is not followed by a "U;  it has an amazing ability to boost endurance. Four more things you should know: it is found in the skins of red apples, red onions, berries and grapes.
Medical News Today reports on research conducted at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health, suggesting that the antioxidant/anti-inflammatory compound significantly boosts endurance capacity and maximal oxygen capacity (VO2max) in healthy, active but untrained men and women. The online journal reports that 12 study participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatments. Half were given 500 milligrams of quercetin twice a day in Tang for seven days. The other subjects drank Tang with placebos. After the seven days of treatment, during which the subjects were told not to alter their physical activity, the participants rode stationary bicycles to the point of fatigue. At that point, researchers tested their additional VO2max, one of the most important measures of fitness. The study participants then received the opposite treatment for another seven days before riding the bicycle to the point of fatigue and more VO2max tests. Neither the participants nor the research staff knew who received the quercetin Tang or the placebo Tang, and all subjects took part in the quercetin and placebo treatments. The researchers, MedicalNewsToday reports, found that after taking quercetin for only seven days, the participants had a 13.2 percent increase in endurance and a 3.9 percent increase in VO2max.
Read more from MedicalNewsToday.

Stranger Than Fiction: Fitness In Nine Minutes a Week

The New York Times Well column asks the ridiculous question: Can one get fit in nine minutes a week? Then answers with a resounding "possibly."  What's up with that? The paper cites research conducted at McMaster University in Ontario, where one group of college students rode a stationary bike at a sustainable pace for between 90 and 120 minutes. Another set of students went through a series of short, strenuous intervals: 20 to 30 seconds of cycling at the highest intensity the riders could stand. After resting for four minutes, the students pedaled hard again for another 20 to 30 seconds, repeating the cycle four to six times (depending on how much each person could stand). Both groups exercised three times a week. After two weeks, the Times reports, both groups showed almost identical increases in their endurance (as measured in a stationary bicycle time trial), even though the one group had exercised for six to nine minutes per week, and the other about five hours.Wait, there's more: molecular changes that signal increased fitness were evident equally in both groups.
Read more in the New York Times.

The Problem With Acetaminophen: Too Much, Too Often

The reason that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, Excedrin, Vicodin, Percocet and many other commonly used pain relievers, is the number one cause of liver failure in the Unitied States is not that it is unsafe in recommended doses. The reason is that very large numbers of people take very large amounts of acetaminophen, very often. The Washington Post reports that more than 24 billion doses were sold last year in the United States
Consequently, Time magazine reports, an FDA advisory panel made up of scientists, doctors and consumer representatives has voted to make four major changes in the way acetaminophen is dispensed and packaged. First, it voted 21-6 in favor of lowering the maximum daily dose of nonprescription acetaminophen for adults, which is currently set at 4,000 mg; the panel did not specify a new maximum dosage. Second, the committee voted 24-13 to reduce the maximum single adult daily dose to 650 mg from the current maximum of 1,000 mg, or the equivalent of two tablets of Extra Strength Tylenol. Third, the members recommended 26-11 that the 1,000-mg over-the-counter dose be switched to a prescription-only status. Finally, the committee voted 20-17 in favor of "eliminating prescription acetaminophen combination products."
Read more from Time.
Read more from the FDA .

Exercise Makes You Smarter: The Body/MInd Connection

Wow! This piece in the Scientific American is long. Fortunately, readers who are physically and cognitively fit should have little trouble staying awake while reading it. Wait. Did Geezer say "physically and cognitively fit"? Why the distinction? If the research cited in this piece is right, those who are physically fit are significantly more likely to be cognitively fit. Here's one example:
"In a study published in 2001, neuropsychiatrist Kristine Yaffe of the University of California, San Francisco, and her colleagues recruited 5,925 women older than 65 at four different medical centers across the U.S. The participants were all free of any physical disability that would limit their ability to walk or pursue other physical activities. The volunteers were also screened to ensure that they did not have a cognitive impairment. The researchers then assessed their physical activity by asking the women how many city blocks they walked and how many flights of stairs they climbed daily and gave them a questionnaire to fill out about their levels of participation in 33 different physical activities. After six to eight years, the researchers assessed the women’s level of cognitive function. The most active women had a 30 percent lower risk of cognitive decline."
Yes, there's more. Read it here in the Scientific American.

Most People Over 50 Feel Ten Years Younger

When does optimism become denial? Happily, it's not up to Geezer to say, but the New York Times reports that most people over the age of 50 say they feel ten years younger than their actual age. And that's just the beginning. One-third of those between 65 and 74 said they felt 10 to 19 years younger, and one-sixth of people 75 and older said they felt 20 years younger. These remarkable numbers come to us from the Pew Research Center, which surveyed  about 3,000 adults 18 and older via land and cellular telephone lines in February and March of this year. More good news reported by the Times includes a note that older adults said they had experienced the negative aspects of aging — including illness, loneliness and financial difficulty — far less often than younger people anticipated. One the other hand, the Times reports, older people also said they found less time for family and leisure activities than younger adults expected they would when they reach old age.
Read more in the New York Times.

Endurance Athletes' Secret Weapon: Pickle Juice

Move over Pedialyte. Yes. It seems to be true. Pickle juice is the new Pedialyte, which was the new Gatorade, not to mention the brief reign of G2. The Boston Globe reports on the wondrous restorative powers of pickle juice, explaining that the average pickle spear contains 220 milligrams of sodium versus 110 milligrams in an 8-ounce bottle of Gatorade. The Globe warns that because natural pickle juice should be consumed in small doses, nutritionists advise that athletes supplement with other fluids. The Globe tells us that the maker of Pickle Juice Sport, a dill-flavored sports drink promoted as a way to prevent muscle cramps, says it supplies several dozen teams and more than 100 pro athletes, and Philadelphia Eagles head trainer Rick Burkholder credits natural pickle juice with a win over the Dallas Cowboys when on-field temperatures reached 109 degrees at Texas Stadium during the 2000 season opener. True? False? Does pickle juice really work? You tell us in the comment space below.

Read more about the strange powers of pickle juice in the Boston Globe.

When to Play Through Pain and When to Chill

Geezer can recall a particular high school coach's requirements that his athletes play through pain. He can also remember a teammate who played basketball for two weeks on a broken leg. Oops. Coach's bad.How to tell the good pain from the bad? New York Times health writer Gina Kolata finds some answers to that question in this helpful piece.
Keith Hanson, a coach who directs the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, which recruits talented distance runners and supports them while they train, says he follows one key rule:" If you are gimping — altering your gait— after 10 minutes of running, then it is an injury and not just an ache or pain. You should never run through injuries. If you do, they almost always turn into compensation injuries. What started as an ankle pain becomes knee and hip problems.”
Kolata, a runner, got the most surprising answer her own running coach, marathon champ Tom Fleming. “I never listened to my body,” Fleming told Kolata. “Maybe I should have.I think it’s an impossible task.” Fleming said athletes need someone else, a coach if possible, to tell them when to rest, when to take an easy day and when to work hard.
Read more on distinguishing the good pain from the bad in the New York Times.
Read more about when to run through pain from About.com.

Survey Finds Weekly Sex is Women's Ideal, Not Reality

The good news is that three quarters (76 percent) of all women believe that having a healthy sex life means enjoying sex at least once a week. The bad news is that only half (54 percent) of all women have hit that number in the most recent four weeks, according to a recent study commissioned by the National Women's Health Resource Center (NWHRC) and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP).  A press release from the National Women's Health Resource Center reports on those interesting numbers and more, such as the fact that 70 percent of women report having experienced a sexual health issue, and 22 percent of those women felt very or extremely concerned. The survey defined "sexual health issue" as any of the following six conditions: a lack of desire to engage in sexual activity, not being able to become sexually aroused, not being able to have an orgasm, pain during intercourse, excessive desire to engage in sexual activity, or vaginal dryness. The write up reports that respondents who experienced sexual health issues reported negative impacts on their romantic relationships (44 percent), self-esteem (43 percent), and mental health (42 percent). The women also found that sexual health issues caused stress and anxiety (66 percent), and affected their sleeping habits (28 percent) and their weight (25 percent). What's the finding that should most concern the women's partners? How about this: When women need information about sexual health issues, they first turn to the Internet (35 percent) and next to their partner (32 percent).

Read more from the National Women's Health Resource Center.

Music Tunes Up Cardio Systems

Most people who have ears know that music can help us relax, but wait, that's just beginning. Music can tune up our cardio system, literally. It can also tune it down. The Scientific American reports that researchers at the University of Pavia in Italy have found that changes in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems mirror musical tempo. The journal reports that the scientists enlisted 24 volunteers—half experienced singers, the remainder with no musical training, and had them listen to five random selections of Beethoven, Bach, Puccini and other classical artists as well as a two-minute segment of silence, monitors recorded physiological signals. The researchers found that selections with crescendos, especially those with a series of them (think: Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody), led to proportional constriction of blood vessels and increases in blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. These measures decreased during decrescendos and silent periods. The team also found that "rich" music phrases around 10 seconds long, like those rhythms from famous arias by Verdi, caused heart rate and other parts of the cardiovascular system to synchronize with the music. Sciam reports that both the musicians and non-musicians experienced this entrainment, although the musicians showed a stronger response.
Read more, and turn up the Beethoven.

Relieve Stress at Your Desk With Hand Yoga

It doesn't matter what your co-workers think: If a goofy looking exercise lowers your stress level, it's got to trump a few quizzical glances. After all, how goofy can it get? Have a look:

The website Rejuvenation Lounge recommends this simple hand exercise to relieve workplace stress.

Curl the index finger into the base of the thumb. Now bring the tips of your middle and ring fingers to the top of your thumb. The tips of your thumb ring and index fingers are all touching. Your little finger is stretched out flat.  Bring your elbows close to the side of your waist. Close your eyes, focus on soft breathing into your belly and relax.

Not very goofy? Wait, there's more, and it comes from Geezer's favorite L.A. Times exercise guru, Karen Voight. 

Sitting in your chair, back away from your desk and bend your arms to a 90-degree angle, bringing your elbows close to your waist. With forearms parallel to the ground, tuck your fingers in and squeeze each of your hands as tight as possible. Hold for 5 seconds.
Open your hands as wide as possible, spreading your fingers apart. Flex your wrists by moving your fingers up and back, simultaneously pushing your wrists forward. Hold for 5 seconds, trying to keep your hands fully stretched. Repeat this move three times.