Marathon runners less likely to have metabolic syndrome

Regular long-distance running can help prevent the metabolic syndrome, a group of diseases that can lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, says a study published in the March edition of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the official scientific journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

In a National Runners’ Health Study that monitored more than 62,000 men and 45,000 women, decreases in high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, the three conditions that make up the metabolic syndrome, correlated with increases in average number of marathons ran per year.

Below-knee cast best for faster recovery from severe ankle sprain

A short period of immobilisation in a below-knee cast results in faster recovery from severe ankle sprain than use of either tubular compression bandage (TCB) or Bledsoe boot.

In an article published in The Lancet, Professor Sarah Lamb, Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick, UK and colleagues, conclude by recommending below-knee casts, as these show the widest range of benefits.

Widespread belief exists that early management, including ice, elevation and controlled mobilisation of the joint, is effective in promoting speedy recovery and complete immobilisation is discouraged.

Loughborough Professor meets Olympic Chief

Loughborough University Professor Stuart Biddle has met with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge to discuss how the world’s largest sporting movement can encourage more young people to take up physical activity.

Professor Biddle of the University’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences (SSES) was personally invited for an audience with Rogge after impressing at the IOC Word Sport for All Congress in Kuala Lumpur last November, where he presented on physical activity and new technologies.

Steroids linked to musculoskeletal injuries in retired NFL players

Using anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) increases the risk of specific types of musculoskeletal injuries, according to an unprecedented survey of retired National Football League players reported in the March issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

“Our findings speak to the compounded medical problems that appear with steroid use, with negative effects on joint health starting a ’snowball effect’ that can lead to other chronic diseases later in life,” says senior author Kevin Guskiewicz, Ph.D., A.T.C., Professor of Exercise and Sport Science and Research Director at The Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at the University of North Carolina.

Swimwear giant Speedo hits back at ‘unfair advantage’ claims

In December 2008, we reported that the unease felt by many swimming coaches prior to the Beijing Olympics over the Speedo LZR racer suit, had flared into outright revolt when Fifteen of the 17 top European nations, including Great Britain, signed a protest which was to be presented to world governing body FINA calling for a number of regulations to be discussed and implemented.
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Now FINA has convened a summit meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, to debate the issue of all high-tech swimsuits with manufacturers, scientists, coaches and swimmers following calls to ban them on the grounds that they offer extra buoyancy and therefore amount to performance-enhancing aids.

Critics of the suits point to the extraordinary statistics in Beijing where swimmers wearing the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit won 90 per cent of all available medals and broke 23 world records, including Rebecca Adlington’s demolition of Janet Evans’s 19-year-old 800 metres freestyle mark.

It’s been a good month for eggs

Scientists have discovered that eggs produce proteins that mimic the action of blood pressure-lowering drugs and fried eggs are especially beneficial

Researchers, from the University of Alberta in Canada, showed that when eggs come in contact with stomach enzymes they produce a protein that acts in the same way as prescription only Ace inhibitors.

It comes just days after nutritionists concluded that the type of cholesterol found in eggs has minimal effect on raising heart disease risks.

A newly published paper dispels the myths around eggs and cholesterol and confirms that UK health and heart organisations have lifted the limits on eggs as there is no conclusive evidence to link their consumption with increased risk of coronary heart disease.

The paper, published last week in the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin, reveals that the misconceptions around eggs and cholesterol largely stem from incorrect conclusions drawn from early research. Later studies have been able to separate the cholesterol-raising effects of dietary cholesterol from saturated fat, which often exist together in the same foods. Eggs are not high in saturated fat.

Netball’s radical rule changes

Netball’s governing body the IFNA has announced a series of experimental rule changes to be trialled in this year’s World Netball Series due to be held in Manchester in October.

The changes, which include shooting for double points outside the goal circle, will put “the fitness, technical ability and tactical awareness” of the best players in the world to the test.

The high profile series will see ithe world’s top six netballing nations -
England, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Samoa and Malawi – play to the new format, with each match consisting of four six-minute quarters.

The fast track to fitness

Recent research from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University found short bursts of intensive exercise can be as effective as the government recommended 5 or 6 hours a week.

Professor Jamie Timmons, who led the research, said: “Our study shows that by doing the right type of training – intensive for very short periods – it is plausible for young and most probably middle-aged adults to reduce their future risk of developing diabetes without spending five to six hours each week involved in exercise programmes.”

High-intensity interval training (HIT) can be done on an exercise bike (as in the study), running upstairs or even running on the spot. Basically anything will do as long as the body is pushed to the maximum.

New physical activity plan to curb our couch potato culture

Dancing, swimming and walking are just some of the activities proposed in ‘Be Active, Be Healthy’ – a new strategy that aims to get the country’s couch potatoes off their sofas.

More than 27 million adults in England are not getting enough exercise and 14 million don’t complete 30 minutes a week.

The new plan puts physical activity at the heart of communities and at the centre of local authorities’ efforts to tackle obesity, which is responsible for 9,000 premature deaths each year in England.

Aiming for success

Master technique, improve accuracy and achieve competitive excellence with Rifle: Steps to Success. Olympic gold medalist, world record holder and respected coach Launi Meili shares the training secrets used by the top target shooters in the sport.

Rifle: Steps to Success covers every aspect of the sport:

* Equipment selection and fitting
* Safe shooting guidelines
* Proven techniques for improved accuracy in the prone, standing, kneeling and sitting positions
* Mental and physical training
* Shooting drills to increase all-around consistency
* Practise, prematch and competitive routines

Performance Director shoots himself in the foot

John Leighton-Dyson

British Shooting called an Extraordinary meeting on Tuesday 10th February to discuss the future of their World Class Performance Programme following the drastic cut (78%) made to their 2009/2013 funding agreement by UK Sport. As a result, the Board has decided that the number of athletes included in the programme will be reduced and that the post of Performance Director is to be made redundant.

This came as no surprise to the Performance Director himself John
Leighton-Dyson as, during his presentation to the Board earlier in the day, he had highlighted the fact that the figures in his budget for the four year period going forward, showed all too clearly that the funds available will simply not stretch to his continued employment as PD. His concern however was for those athletes, who due to the necessary reduction in numbers needed, will now no longer be part of the programme.

Thinking of running the marathon?

We are fast approaching the marathon season and for many people, running a marathon will be one the most satisfying things they will ever experience. As they cross the finish line, that sense of achievement transcends all feelings of fatigue and anguish they may have been feeling seconds before. But before you attempt to do so there is an enormous amount of planning and preparation to be done to ensure you actually get to the finish.

First you have to choose your race and with over 100 full marathons in the UK alone there are plenty to choose from. But don’t forget about shorter races – they are good fun and ideal preparation for the main event. A quick search on the internet will turn up numerous sites giving dates and details of events both local and further afield. It is worth noting that places in races such as the London Marathon or Great North Run are quickly snapped up so it might be worth applying for slightly less ‘glamorous’, but equally satisfying events, closer to home.

Get ready to run the marathon of your life

Shave minutes off your time using the latest in science-based training for serious runners.

Advanced Marathoning has all the information you need to train intelligently, remain injury free and arrive on the start line ready to run the marathon of your life.

Including marathon pace and tempo runs, Advanced Marathoning provides only the most effective methods of training. Use them to learn how to complement your running workouts with strength, core, flexibility and form training.

Children’s Olympic Free swimming flounders in row over funding

Children in two fifths of England’s council districts will be denied the Government’s Olympics promise of free swimming.

The pool where the Olympic star Rebecca Adlington learnt to swim is among hundreds that will not offer free swimming for those aged 16 and under when the scheme begins in April because their councils claim that funding for it is not enough. Plans to offer free swimming to pensioners were rejected by 18 per cent of local authorities.

Dancing to fitness

Teenage girls have been identified as being at high risk of taking no participation in sport and doing very little physical exercise of any sort. In Scotland, efforts are in place to reverse this trend through the medium of dance and following the success of the three year Dance in Schools Initiative a new programme has been launched with further funding from the Scottish government.

Free to Dance is part of the Scottish Government’s anti-obesity programme aimed specifically at young girls and will offer teenage girls in Glasgow, Ayreshire and Orkney the opportunity to adopt a more active lifestyle through dance sessions after school, in the evening and at weekends.