Post-exercise Caffeine Helps Muscles Refuel

ScienceDaily for July 2, 2008 reported on the use of caffeine in recovery from exercising.

Glycogen, the muscle's primary fuel source during exercise, is replenished more rapidly when athletes ingest both carbohydrate and caffeine following exhaustive exercise, new research shows. Athletes who ingested caffeine with carbohydrate had 66% more glycogen in their muscles four hours after finishing intense, glycogen-depleting exercise, compared to when they consumed carbohydrate alone, according to the study.

Vigorous Exercise Can Help Seniors Avoid Disability

An article in ScienceDaily for June 7, 2008 reported on physical exercise by Seniors.

“This study contributes to the large body of scientific evidence supporting the importance of continuing to be physical active over one’s life,” said lead author Bonnie Bruce, of the division of immunology and rheumatology at Stanford University Department of Medicine.

Sedentary High School Girls Are At Significant Risk For Future Osteoporosis

An article in ScienceDaily for May 30, 2008 reported on low bone density in female high school students.

"Most important and alarming is that 30 percent of the non athletes versus 16 percent of athletes were found to have low bone mineral density putting them at greater risk for developing osteoporosis earlier in life," says Dr. Hoch.

High School Knee Injuries By Sport And Gender

An article in ScienceDaily for May 23, 2008 reported on knee injuries from school sports.

Knee injuries, among the most economically costly sports injuries, are the leading cause of high school sports-related surgeries according to a study conducted at the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and published in the June issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

The Future of Space Sports

space.com for April 25, 2008 reviewed the sport activities that have been and are being performed in the Space Station.

"We raced from one end of a module, relayed with the person waiting at the other end three modules away, and then sprinted back and sent a third person," Whitson said. "So it was pretty fun."

Gaming Baseball: Why Players Dope

An article in Scientific American reported on game theory and doping in sports.

A game theory model of doping in cycling applies to other sports as well, particularly baseball. For expert insight, I spoke with Lance Williams, an investigative reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle and co-author (with Mark Fainaru-Wada) of Game of Shadows, a revelatory book about how BALCO, the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, supplied baseball players and other athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. When I outlined my ideas about how game theory explains massive cheating in sports, Williams backed up virtually every point: “Athletes have a huge incentive to dope. There are tremendous benefits to using the drugs, and there is only a small chance that you will get caught. So depending on your sport and where you are in your career, the risk is often worth it. If you make the team, you’ll be a millionaire; if you don’t, you’ll probably go back to driving a delivery truck.”

Let the Games Begin!

Scientific American for April 2008, with tongue in cheek, published the following essay on sports doping.

Scientific American’s resident skeptic Michael Shermer writes about the doping scandals plaguing cycling, baseball and other sports, and he suggests how to curb those practices. Please ignore him. It would be a global tragedy if his meddling were to ruin the most eagerly awaited competitions of 2008.

The Doping Dilemma

Scientific American for April, 2008 reported on doping in sports.

An alarming number of sports—baseball, football, track and field, and especially cycling—have been shaken by doping scandals in recent years.