Exercise Increases Neurons in the Brain

Julia Basso – PhD Adult neurogenesis (i.e., the birth of new neurons in the adult brain) is a big thing in neuroscience.  For a long time, neuroscientists thought that new neurons emerged only during stages of early development.  In the 1960s, the discovery that new neurons continue to be born in the adult brain was

16-Week Training Program

16-Week Training Program to Help Promote Health

Julia Basso A recent article I wrote focused on the beneficial effects of a multimodal exercise program on “inflammaging”, or the phenomenon of increased brain inflammation as we age.  The same group that conducted this research at the Federal University of Sao Carlos in Brazil also showed how this fitness regimen improves cognitive functioning in

Getting There

Getting There

Paul Stevens Carpe Diem (but in a relaxed sort of way) “GETTING THERE” Today was supposed to be a red letter day as the neck brace I have to wear to protect a couple of cracked vertebrae was to come off.  That would have been a distinct ‘Yahoo!” moment as this thing is slowly driving

Endocannabinoids

Thoughts From Grayson: Endocannabinoids

Grayson Fertig Thoughts From Grayson: Endocannabinoids Dear Fasttwitchgrandmas, Let’s say the article Dr. Julia Basso wrote caught your eye-Endocannabinoids: The Secret to Why Exercise Makes Us Feel So Good. And this idea or feeling of an exercise high made you say I want that. Well then what’s next? Maybe for some you’re already there whereas

Road to Recovery

The Road to Recovery

Paul Stevens Carpe Diem (but in a relaxed sort of way) “ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY” It’s been about six weeks since my very unfavourable encounter with a ½ ton pick-up truck and I am pleased to report that I’m well on the way to a complete recovery.  Adding up the damage that was done

Increase Your Immune System Through Exercise

Julia Basso – PhD The immune system is a complicated network of cells, including T cells and B cells, that protects us against a host of diseases.  Like many of our physiological systems, the immune system can be shaped by both positive and negative influences.  For example, chronic stress and depression have been shown to

3 Fitness Shorts

3 Fitness Shorts By Grayson

Grayson Fertig 3 Fitness Shorts 1.  The individual has the best chance at recovery from physical pain if he is willing to reconsider his stance.  I mean this in 2 ways. The first being that he quite literally begins to notice and examine the details of the way he stands.  The second is that he

How to Read the Erg Rowing Numbers

How to Read the Erg Rowing Numbers

Dayton Kelly How to Read the Erg Rowing Numbers If you have been following my recent string of articles, you likely have tried rowing on the ergometer and are back with some questions. Probably high on that list of questions are ones regarding what all of the numbers that show up on the erg’s monitor

Muscle Function

Improve Muscle Function: Osteocalcin

Julia Basso – PhD As we age, cognitive decline is a problem that many of us face.  Though pharmacological interventions do not currently exist to help fix this issue, exercise has been shown to improve the way our brains function and therefore how we think and feel.  However, an inherent problem to the “just exercise”

Feel Good

Endocannabinoids: The Secret to Why Exercise Makes Us Feel Good

Julia Basso – PhD I just returned from a wonderful vacation in Keystone, Colorado.  Having lived in New Jersey for most of my life and New York City for the past 3 years, I was amazed to see the expansive views that Colorado has to offer.  The Rocky Mountains provided the most beautiful landscape that I

Walk in the Park

Is it as Simple as a Walk in the Park?

Gillian White , BSc, MSc, PhD (candidate) Department of Exercise Sciences, University of Toronto Is it as Simple as a Walk in the Park? Earlier this summer, I ran a trail half marathon. I like running, but the course is challenging with 1600m vertical change so you really need to train well. Unfortunately for me,

Marathon pacing

Who Takes the Cake at Pacing During the Marathon?

Evan Stevens The other talk in the session that did not tread on familiar ground was about pace and prediction of performance differences that go along with age, experience, and sex in the marathon. Pace is something very difficult to predict and hold without a GPS watch or with some frame of reference. External factors