Vintage Bats

Why Do Baseball Players Use Pine Tar?

The sticky, brown substance known as pine tar is produced through distillation of pine wood. Baseball players coat their bats -- and sometimes their hands and helmets -- in this sticky substance in the hopes of getting the best grip on their bats.

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Woman with skis at base of mountain near ski lift, smiling, looking up

The Best Night Skiing Goggles

Ski goggles protect your eyes from flying snow, debris, wind and ice. However, not all lenses are created equal. Different goggle lens colors and types can help you depending on the conditions in which you typically ski. If you ski at night, you need goggles that sharpen your vision and increase visibility.

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Happy boxer training in a gym

Why Is Hitting a Punching Bag Good to Relieve Stress?

Stress is the body’s natural response to danger. However, stress is an emotion meant to be felt in emergencies and serious circumstances -- not something that occurs on a daily basis. However, daily stress has become commonplace for many Americans.

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Nurse helping a patient with physiotherapy

Exercises for Human Hip Dysplasia

Imagine your hip joint as a cup that fits over a ball on a stick. The ball can rotate around the cup to facilitate movement -- in the case of your hip joint, movements like walking and kicking. If you experience hip dysplasia, your hip socket -- the cup -- does not completely cover the ball-like attachment of your leg.

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Running Injuries & Ligaments

Running places added stress on your knees and ankles, and in turn requires support from the ligaments in your body. Ligaments secure bones to other bones. Ligament groups affected while running include the cruciate ligaments, which connect your knee bone to your shin and thighbones.

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gym training

What Are the Benefits of Chest Butterfly Exercises?

Also known as a chest fly, a chest butterfly exercise involves extending your arms to your sides and bringing them back to the middle of your chest. You can perform this exercise using dumbbells, resistance bands or a chest fly machine.

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Man holding basketball

Is Height Important in Basketball?

Basketball players tend to be tall, thin athletes because their height helps them to reach toward the basketball goal and defend the ball against opponents. Male professional basketball players tend to be about 9 inches taller than the average American male, according to NBA.com and Dr. Steven Halls on Halls.MD.com.

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Rubber Band Hand Exercises

When you experience a hand injury or arthritis in your hands, simple motions like pointing or curling the fingers can be difficult. Regular exercises to strengthen the muscles in the fingers can improve range of motion and reduce pain in the finger joints.

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Exercises for Forearm Pain

Your forearm is composed of several muscles that flex and extend the hand and wrist. You use these muscles frequently when you write, swing a tennis racket or operate a piece of machinery. Overusing the muscles in the forearm can result in a condition known as tendinitis.

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Treatments & Exercises for a Hamstring Injury

Your hamstring muscles are the three muscles that comprise the back of your thigh. Your hamstrings help to bend your lower leg at the knee and pull the leg backward, meaning you use the muscles for activities that involve running, dancing and kicking.

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Woman's back in the fitness room.

Scapular Push-Ups

The pushup is a classic strength-training move that can be performed without weights and instead uses your own body weight as leverage to build muscle. When performed correctly, pushups help strengthen the arms, legs and core muscles.

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Man boxing at gym

What Are the Different Weight Classes in Boxing?

Separating boxers into divisions helps ensure fair fights. For example, a fighter who weighs more than 200 pounds has more force behind his punch, while a fighter who weighs 140 pounds will likely be faster and more agile than the heavier fighter.

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Exercise After Wisdom Tooth Removal

Also known as third molars, wisdom teeth typically appear between ages 17 and 21. These teeth can disrupt an otherwise healthy bite, crowding the mouth and causing other unpleasant symptoms like headaches and earaches.

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What Are the Best Stretches for Senior Citizens?

Stretching to emphasize flexibility should be part of a comprehensive exercise program. As you age, your joints and muscles can become stiff. Stretching helps to loosen these muscles, reducing pain and inflammation in the body, which is particularly helpful if you suffer from osteoarthritis.

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Bodybuilder

What Is a Reverse Fly?

The reverse fly is an exercise that targets the upper back and shoulders while using barbells or even the body's own natural resistance to build muscle. As with any weightlifting exercise, practice proper form to prevent injury or strain.

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What Exercises to Do After a Lumbar Microdiscectomy

The lumbar region includes five spinal discs that fit together to support your lower back. Over time, one or more of the discs can slip out of place, pressing on the nerves in your back. A miscrodiscectomy procedure is a disc removal procedure that takes diseased disc material out to reduce the pressure on your nerves.

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Pregnant woman exercising and holds her belly

Corrective Exercises for Diastasis Recti

Diastasis recti is a medical condition that causes a separation of the muscles that cover your abdomen. This most commonly occurs following pregnancy because the growing baby places excess strain on the abdominal muscles.

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Tired woman resting after workout exercise

Why Do I Get Light Headed After Exercising?

After you finish a particularly strenuous exercise session, it's not uncommon to experience a feeling of lightheadedness or dizziness. Symptoms may include feeling as if you are going to faint, weakness or a perception that the room is spinning.

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Neck Exercises for Cervical Disk Bulge

Your cervical spine represents the seven vertebrae that are located just below your skull leading down to the upper back. A disk bulge in the cervical region can result when the gel-like material that is inside your disk begins to seep out of or “bulge” from your spinal column.

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