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Are you focusing on your RECOVERY?

Gym goers love to focus on the workout itself. We obsess about how often we work out, how long we work out, what exercises we do, and if we're really smart, how HARD we work out.  But, even well intended exercisers err by failing to allow adequate recovery between workouts (particularly strength workouts).

Preventing Concussions in Athletes

Although the majority of the media attention around concussions has been devoted to the NFL, younger athletes are far more susceptible to concussions.  As awareness of the "concussion crisis" continues to grow, new research has turned to focusing on concussion prevention rather than simply treating concussions and establishing safe and efficacious "return to play" guidelines.  A brand new, multi-year research study that was recently published in the Journal of Primary Prevention adds significant understanding to the prevention of concussions in young athletes.  A team of researchers collaborating with athletic trainers from high schools in 25 states examined the effects of neck strengthening exercises in boys' and girls' lacrosse, soccer, and basketball.  The researchers concluded that weaker, smaller necks were significantly correlated with concussions.  Overall neck strength is a predictor of concussion and as neck strength increases, odds of concussion decrease.  Take Home Message: If an athlete is participating in a contact or collision sport, comprehensive training of the head and neck muscles is an intelligent and evidence based approach to reducing concussion risk.  

Last Day to Order Apparel for November!

Shop a variety of quarter zips, shirts, pants, and hats; all new for the fall/winter season! All items ship directly to your home. Available through tomorrow the 10th!

An Emerging and Important Non-Strength Benefit of Strength Training

Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose is doing some of the most interesting and important research currently taking place in the field of exercisescience.  Dr. Liu-Ambrose's research focuses on the impact of  exercise and specifically, strength training, on brain function.  Her most recent study, published just a few weeks ago in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (and covered in an excellent article by Gretchen Reynolds of the New York Times ( http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/lifting-weights-twice-a-week-may-aid-the-brain/?_r=0), investigates the impact of strength training on "white matter lesions."  Specifically, the study sought to determine whether or not strength training could slow the progression of white matter lesions on the brains of older women.  Researchers divided subjects into three groups: (1) twice-per week strength training; (2) once-per week strength training; and (3) a group who did stretching and balance exercises only.

Will the Real HIT Please Stand Up

At Discover Strength, we often refer to our approach to resistance exercises as HIT or High Intensity Training.  We have used this terminology for the last 10 years and I have employed HIT as a strength coach since 1999.  Recently, the terms "High Intensity Training," "HIT", or "HIIT" (High Intensity Interval Training) have increased in popularity.  Seemingly, if your heart rate is elevated or if there is sweat dripping off your nose during exercise, you are performing a variation of "HIT."  This really couldn't be any further from the truth.

Inspirational Yet Realistic Bod Pod Progress

Karin joined the DS team as a personal trainer in December of 2014.  From the very beginning, she performed a Bod Pod test.  Her progress over the last 9 months is a testament to intelligent body composition improvement.

Two Kinds of Motivation

My psychology or sport-psychology friends would be upset with me because I'm not actually talking about the academic classifications of motivation (intrinsic, extrinsic, fear, achievement, and so on). I'm talking about two, simple manifestations of motivation to reap maximum benefit from your workouts. Both are important. You may master one type ofmotivation while struggling with the other. Both must be nurtured.

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