What Does Your Coach Know? Researchers quizzed 70 youth coaches on topics ranging from exercise physiology, practice design, hydration, nutrition, basic first aid and acute injury management, concussion care, and strength training. While the majority tested well on first aid and CPR knowledge, most coaches scored poorly on questions related to hydration and concussion care.…

Gardening is Good Exercise for Youth. Researchers have identified gardening as a great exercise for kids. This study involved 17 children who engaged in ten gardening tasks: digging, raking, weeding, mulching, hoeing, sowing seeds, harvesting, watering, mixing growing medium, and planting transplants. The results showed that tasks such as digging and raking were high-intensity activities…

Play Team Sports! Because of declining estrogen levels, menopausal women are at greater risk for stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Researchers found that menopausal women who participated in team-based sports for just twelve weeks had significant reductions in their blood pressure and improvements in blood vessel function, putting them at a 40% lower risk for…

A Quick Walk? Walking at a moderate pace for 180 minutes over the course of a week (30 minutes a day for five days or 60 minutes a day for three days) has been demonstrated to significantly improve mild to moderate depression. Harvard Medical School, November 2005

Decreased Risk of Heart Attack Later in Life. A Swedish study involving over 740,000 males found that lack of aerobic fitness at age 18 corresponds to a greater risk for a heart attack later in life. According to lead researcher Dr. Peter Nordström, “As far as we know, this is the first study to investigate…

How to Keep that New Year’s Resolution. Recording goals in a fitness diary, reflecting on successes and failures, and being held accountable by others are key strategies that have been found to maximize the achievement of all goals, including New Year’s resolutions. Loughborough University, January 2014

As Effective as Medications. Doctors from the Stanford University School of Medicine reviewed the results of 305 studies involving over 300,000 patients and have determined that exercise may be as effective as medication in preventing early death in people who’ve had heart attacks or strokes. Furthermore, regular exercise lowers the risk of early death, helps…

Dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association states 5.2 million Americans are affected by dementia and one in three seniors will die with some form of cognitive issue. Researchers claim dementia sufferers demonstrate improvements in cognitive functioning and their ability to perform daily activities when they engage in regular exercise. University of Alberta in Edmonton, December 2013

Reduces Fatigue in Cancer Patients. An analysis of 56 studies involving over 4,000 cancer patients discovered that aerobic exercise, such as walking or cycling, reduces fatigue in those undergoing treatment. Fatigue is a common and problematic side-effect of cancer and cancer treatment. This exhaustion may last for months or years and make a patient less…

Parents Need to be Fitness Role Models! Two-thirds of United Kingdom schoolchildren surveyed about their parent’s fitness levels stated that their mom and dad do almost no physical activity. After testing the children’s fitness levels, researchers found that the children of sedentary parents were 50% more likely to be classified as physically unfit. Dr. Gavin…