Elite athletic performance and general fitness are sustained through structured hypertrophy strategies, sport-specific conditioning, and rigorous adherence to injury prevention protocols.
A proper warm-up is an important part of any type of exercise routine. Warming up loosens and warms your muscles, decreasing your risk of injury. The fast pace of sprinting calls for quick action from your muscles. The rapid race times can cause muscle and ligament strains if you are not properly warmed up.
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The heat of the summer is a time to shed heavy winter sweaters and wear more skin-revealing clothing such as tank tops. However, if you are insecure about your weight or body shape, this can cause unnecessary anxiety.
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Barbell squats are a highly effective exercise, as the movement "activates the body’s biggest muscles" and is the best overall exercise, according to kinesiology professor Stuart Phillips, Ph.D. Though effective, you may grow weary of performing the same exercise all of the time.
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Playing sports at any level of competition, from pickup games in your backyard to collegiate and professional levels, provides many benefits. From improving cardiovascular health to improving your feelings of self-esteem, sports can impact your life in significant ways.
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The dumbbell pullover, which targets the pectoral muscles, can be awkward to execute. The balancing act while you're lying prone and extending a dumbbell over your head can be tricky.
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When it comes to weight loss and bodily overhauls, Day 1 sometimes starts with an epiphany—a too-tight pair of jeans, an is-that-me? look in the mirror, or an innocent “are you pregnant?” from a toddler. But for other folks, the inspiration to change may come from somewhere else: A deadline.
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While it’s important to stay active, experiencing hip pain – particularly if it’s exercise-related – might make you rather stay home on the couch.
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For anyone who can do rep after rep of sit-ups, here are three simple tips that will help fix your sit-up to maximize the burn.
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Having a muscle burn is a sign of fatigue, and the best way to see muscular results is by challenging and fatiguing your muscles. There are two main ways muscles respond to challenges: aerobically and anaerobically.
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It’s essential to a well-proportioned physique to work all muscle groups. If you stick to just one or two exercises, you're leaving out a large portion of your muscles that will remain weak and undefined.
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You know you can run a 5K. Maybe you’ve already finished one. But a 10K? It has a notch-up-from-novice feel that’s appealing, a true distance quality. But you are a new runner, so you wonder—should I?
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You’ve been running. It feels good, maybe a little hard, but it has prompted you to flirt with the idea of entering a 5K.
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LIVESTRONG.com’s "One GREAT Answer" series takes your health and fitness questions to the world’s smartest experts.
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When you're not a runner, managing to make it any distance beyond your backyard may seem like a serious feat. Let's break it down, though: a 3,000-meter run might seem daunting, but in reality it's less than 2 miles -- and you might already be walking about that much during your normal daily activities.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly one-third of the U.S. population is obese. Resistance training can be an important part of a balanced exercise plan, decreasing your risk of obesity and some factors, such as total cholesterol, associated with chronic diseases.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the only way to lose weight is to create a caloric deficit, expending more energy than you take in through food. You can create a caloric deficit through diet alone, but physical activity is necessary to keep the weight off over time.
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Whey protein is a concentrated protein source made from the whey that's separated from curds during cheese making. It's high in leucine, an amino acid that preserves muscle and promotes fat loss, according to the University of Illinois McKinley Health Center.
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If you're overweight, you can lose your excess fat and improve your appearance as long as you're willing to devote time and energy to your goal. Developing a runner's body requires adding exercise to a weight-loss program. A healthy dose of realism also helps keep you on track.
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If you're a water polo enthusiast or need to swim effectively without submerging your face, swimming with your head up is essential. It lets you remain aware of your position and the goal while you swim.
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As a sports dietician who has run 15 marathons, I get asked one question more than almost any other: What’s the right way to eat before a big run?
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