Parkinson's Disease and Exercise

Will Exercise Help Prevent Parkinson’s Disease?

Julia Basso, PhD Affiliation: New York University, Center for Neural Science Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, a part of the brain’s basal ganglia system.  The symptoms of this disease are motoric in nature and include tremor, or a shaking of the extremities;

canal boat in london

Carpe Diem, The Series: Return To The Colonies

Paul Stevens “RETURN TO THE COLONIES” We recently returned from a trip to England, our first across the pond.  We have traveled throughout the western hemisphere but had never ventured eastward.  I don’t want this article to come off as a travelogue but let me share a few highlights with you. The trip had been

Strength As A Safety Net

Jon Carlock As time passes and we age, we naturally become more vulnerable to injury. Somewhat of a numbers game, the longer we spend on this planet, the odds increase that we will get hurt at some point. When we get older, we also become more prone to balance-related injuries that can result in significant

contemporary Dance

Cultivating Meaning Through Improvisational Dance

Julia C. Basso, PhD I just returned from the annual Movement Intensive in Compositional Improvisation (MICI) led by a dance company known as The Architects.  This group is composed of four wonderful women and mentors of mine, Katherine Ferrier, Lisa Gonzales, Jennifer Kayle, and Pamela Vail.  This group developed out of another group known as

Sitting Disease – The New Smoking

Evan Stevens Based on a talk by Pete Lemon at Take Control of Your Health/Wellness – Exercise Nutrition Symposium, University of Western Ontario The irony of the first talk was not lost on many who attended; the opening lecture of an eight hour day was all about how sitting for prolonged periods was just as

Tired Of The Same Exercise Routine? Try Tai Chi!

Sara Thompson – MSc in Exercise Sciences, University of Toronto As Evan Stevens discussed in a recent FTG article, osteoporosis occurs naturally with age as individuals tap into their bone reservoirs to absorb nutrients. This causes a decrease in bone mass and strength, which ultimately leads to increased risk of falls and fractures. In fact,

Muscles and Mind, Mind-Body

Strengthen Your Muscles, Strengthen Your Mind

Contributed by Julia C. Basso, Post-doctoral Research Scientist, Center for Neural Science, New York University Strengthen Your Muscles, Strengthen Your Mind As we age, we lose approximately 5 pounds of muscle mass per decade (Frontera et al., 2000).  Because our muscles are metabolically active 24 hours a day, our muscle mass contributes significantly to our resting

Exercise Induced Sleep Improvements

Julia Basso Getting a good night’s rest is important for so many aspects of our lives including our overall sense of wellbeing.  The fact that we spend on average 33% of our lives sleeping is an indicator that sleep must serve a very important purpose.  Not surprisingly, research has shown that a variety of physiological

father and daughter weight lifting

Children Weight Lifting: What You Need To Know!

Dayton Kelley Should You Allow Your Child To Weight Lift? This question has seen much discussion in the past few decades, with professionals arguing fervently for both sides. Childhood is critical period of development; however, exercising with your children can be a fun and mutually rewarding experience, offering your children not only your time but

The Truth About Carbo Loading

Evan Stevens Carbo Loading Carb loading, for those who haven’t been around sport for the past 40 years or so, is when you workout really hard, deplete a lot of your glycogen, and then stuff your face full of CHOs so you boost your glycogen levels up past your baseline amount of glycogen. Known as

Fitness For Every Generation – Interview With Virginia Davies

Forever Fit Science’s co-founder Virginia Davies talks to New York 1 news about the importance of staying active while having fun over fifty.  Davies points out specific ways to work your 5 bio-motor abilities with an emphasis on playing everyday. Related Video: Click edit button to change this text.

muscle soreness

Protein Quality Dictates Recovery, Not Timing

Evan Stevens “Oh, I’m sore today.” “I feel like it’s getting harder to work out every day like I used to.” “I don’t feel like I am recovering after a workout.” These are the three most common complaints I hear from my parents after they’ve had a hard workout these days. They feel as though