Athletes using legal performance enhancing and medical sport supplements are more likely to dope than those using sport foods and superfoods, a new study reveals.
While some sport supplements may be necessary for an athlete’s programme, taking ergogenic and medical sport supplements may inadvertently lead to sports people developing favourable attitudes towards doping
Researchers at the University of Birmingham and Canterbury Christ Church University are calling for bespoke anti-doping education for athletes using such supplements to prevent them turning to banned substances.
In the first study of its kind, the researchers surveyed 573 athletes competing at club, country, national and international level about their use of four types of sport supplements:
Ergogenic, such as creatine – used to improve performance;
Medical, such as iron – used to treat clinical issues and nutrient deficiencies;
Sport foods/drinks, such as protein bars – providing a source of nutrients; and
Superfoods, such as goji berries – which claim to optimise health and performance.
Publishing their findings in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, the researchers note that athletes using ergogenic and medical sport supplements to improve performance, through boosting strength and shortening recovery between training sessions can develop the belief that doping is another means to improve performance.
Co-author Christopher Ring, Professor in Psychology at the University of Birmingham, commented: “Our results have important implications for coaches, nutritionists and sport doctors – they must appreciate that athletes who are administered ergogenic and medical sport supplements may develop more favourable attitudes towards doping.
“An athlete using these supplements may come to believe that using chemically active substances is an acceptable way of enhancing sport performance. This belief could then later develop into a rationalisation that doping is just another means to enhance performance.”
Two in five athletes surveyed (42%) used ergogenic supplements, whereas one in five used medical sport supplements (18%) and sport foods and drinks (21%). Superfoods were rarely used (2%). Over half (53%) used at least one sport supplement.
Researchers note that future research such explore how use of one supplement type may lead to another and eventually the use of banned substances – for example, superfood use leads to ergogenic and medical supplement use, which may in turn, lead to doping.
Foam rolling is one thing that’s been becoming more popular among professional athletes as well as gym fans as a additive to their exercise sessions. These types of cylinder shaped foams of different densities and kinds are used and the muscles are rolled over them. Foam rolling is a sort of self myofascial release treatment. The target or claim is because they are intended to break up adhesions inside the muscle tissue, and help assist in stretches, and help as part of the warm up and to also to encourage recovery from physical exercise. Fitness professionals as well as believed authorities are touting their use. On the other hand, regardless of the remarks of all the rewards, you can find not much science to support if foam rolling really tends to make any difference or not. Irregardless, foam rollers are usually a relatively low priced method of manual therapy because the equipment is cheap and you don’t require the more expensive expertise of a healthcare professional.
The foams are cylindrical in form and can be found in various sizes and hardness’s from soft to firm plus some are made for particular areas of the body, for example the PediRoller for the plantar surface of the feet produced by a Podiatrist. The foam roller is positioned on the floor and the muscles to be dealt with is rolled over it. The concept is that you simply roll the muscles on the foam roller backward and forward at an even speed to get results on any kind of tightness and myofascial conditions within that muscle tissue. As the foam roller is moveable, they are often used at the gym, the running track or at home without having guidance.
The chief alleged features for foam rolling tend to be increased flexibility to improve the range of movement; a better sports performance if using the foam roller as part of the warm-up regimen; and increased recovery just after exercise and also a lessing of the signs and symptoms of delayed onset muscle tenderness (DOMS). Due to the absence of research which has been done with this niche there is lots of confusion between professionals with many proclaiming that these gains remain just theoretical and also the complete idea is only a theory since not all of those rewards are usually supported, especially in the long-term by strong data.
There is some fair proof which points too foam rolling gives you numerous shorter-term benefits for mobility, although nothing demonstrates it may help in the long term. It could be helpful as part of a warmup routine to really make the muscle tissues even more geared up for training. The research that’s been published is evident that there are no negative consequences on athletic results. The science data on using the foam roller soon after activity could have a modest affect on helping DOMS. There is no research what-so-ever that foam rolling improves cellulite, fixes the posture, or helps scar tissue, or sciatica and lower back pain.
It is still early days for the research on foam rolling and some if not more of these promoted features may or may not have more or greater science to back up the utilization. For sports athletes there isn’t a reason that foam rolling may not be helpful during warm-up routines mainly because it can seem to improve mobility in the short term and might be of use in after training recuperation.
Study finds children who do recreational sports like bike riding are more likely to suffer serious head injuries than children who play contact sport like AFL or rugby.
Media Release:
An Australian/ New Zealand study examining childhood head injuries has found that children who do recreational sports like horse riding, skate boarding and bike riding are more likely to suffer serious head injuries* than children who play contact sport like AFL or rugby.
Research**, conducted by the PREDICT research network, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), published on Wiley and soon to be published in the Australian Medical Journal, examined the data of 8,857 children presenting with head injuries to ten emergency departments in Australian and New Zealand hospitals.
A third of the children, who were aged between five and 18 years, injured themselves playing sport. Of these children four out of five were boys.
Lead research author, MCRI’s Professor Franz Babl, says the team looked at ‘íntracranial’ injuries in children because while there is a lot of interest about sport and concussion, less is understood about the severity of head injuries children suffer while playing sport.
“The study found that in children who presented to the emergency departments after head injury and participated in recreational sports like horse riding, skate boarding and bike riding were more likely to sustain serious head injuries than children who played contact sport like AFL, rugby, soccer or basketball,” he says.
“We found that 45 of the 3,177 sports-related head injuries were serious and classified as clinically important Traumatic Brain Injury (ciTBI), meaning the patient required either neuro-surgery, at least two nights in hospital and/or being placed on a breathing machine. One child died as a result of head injuries.”
Prof Babl says that the sports which resulted in the most frequent reason for presentation to emergency departments included bike riding (16 per cent), rugby (13 per cent), AFL (10 per cent), other football (9 per cent), and soccer (8 per cent).
The most frequent causes of serious injury included bike riding (44 per cent), skateboarding (18 per cent), horse riding (16 per cent), with AFL and rugby resulting in one serious head injury each and soccer resulting none.
A total of 524 patients with sports-related head injuries (16 per cent) needed CT imaging, and 14 children required surgery.
Peroneal tendonitis is not a common sports injury, especially in runners, but when it does happen it can be a annoying and long term problem is not managed properly.
If sport is good for the body, it also seems to be good for the brain. By evaluating memory performance following a sport session, neuroscientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) demonstrate that an intensive physical exercise session as short as 15 minutes improves memory, including the acquisition of new motor skills. How? Through the action of endocanabinoids, molecules known to increase synaptic plasticity. This study, to be read in the journal Scientific Reports, highlights the virtues of sport for both health and education. School programmes and strategies aimed at reducing the effects of neurodegeneration on memory could indeed benefit from it.
Very often, right after a sporting exercise – especially endurance such as running or cycling – one feels physical and psychological well-being. This feeling is due to endocannabinoids, small molecules produced by the body during physical exertion. «They circulate in the blood and easily cross the blood-brain barrier. They then bind to specialise cellular receptors and trigger this feeling of euphoria. In addition, these same molecules bind to receptors in the hippocampus, the main brain structure for memory processing,» says Kinga Igloi, lecturer in the laboratory of Professor Sophie Schwartz, at UNIGE Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Basic Neurosciences, who led this work. «But what is the link between sport and memory? This is what we wanted to understand,» she continues.
Intense effort is more effective
To test the effect of sport on motor learning, scientists asked a group of 15 young and healthy men, who were not athletes, to take a memory test under three conditions of physical exercise: after 30 minutes of moderate cycling, after 15 minutes of intensive cycling (defined as 80% of their maximum heart rate), or after a period of rest. «The exercise was as follows: a screen showed four points placed next to each other. Each time one of the dots briefly changed into a star, the participant had to press the corresponding button as quickly as possible», explains Blanca Marin Bosch, researcher in the same laboratory. «It followed a predefined and repeated sequence in order to precisely evaluate how movements were learnt. This is very similar to what we do when, for example, we learn to type on a keyboard as quickly as possible. After an intensive sports session, the performance was much better.”
In addition to the results of the memory tests, the scientists observed changes in the activation of brain structures with functional MRI and performed blood tests to measure endocannabinoid levels. The different analyses concur: the faster individuals are, the more they activate their hippocampus (the brain area of memory) and the caudate nucleus (a brain structure involved in motor processes). Moreover, their endocannabinoid levels follow the same curve: the higher the level after intense physical effort, the more the brain is activated and the better the brain’s performance. «These molecules are involved in synaptic plasticity, i.e. the way in which neurons are connected to each other, and thus may act on long-term potentiation, the mechanism for optimal consolidation of memory,» says Blanca Marin Bosch.
Improving school learning or preventing Alzheimer’s disease
In a previous study, the research team had already shown the positive effect of sport on another type of memory, associative memory. However, contrary to what is shown here, they had observed that a sport session of moderate intensity produced better results. It therefore shows that, as not all forms of memory use the same brain mechanisms, not all sports intensities have the same effects. It should be noted that in all cases, physical exercise improves memory more than inaction.
By providing precise neuroscientific data, these studies make it possible to envisage new strategies for improving or preserving memory. «Sports activity can be an easy to implement, minimally invasive and inexpensive intervention. For example, would it be useful to schedule a sports activity at the end of a school morning to consolidate memory and improve learning?”
Improving academic learning or preventing Alzheimer’s disease
In a previous study, the research team had already shown the positive effect of sport on another type of memory, associative memory. But, contrary to what is shown here, they had observed that a sport session of moderate intensity, not high intensity, produced better results. Thus, just as not all forms of memory use the same brain mechanisms, not all sports intensities have the same effects. It should be noted that in all cases, physical exercise improves memory more than inaction.
By providing precise neuroscientific data, these studies make it possible to envisage new strategies for improving or preserving memory. «Sports activity can be an easy to implement, minimally invasive and inexpensive intervention. Would it be useful, for example, to plan a moment of sport at the end of a school morning to consolidate school learning,» Kinga Igloi wonders, who, with her colleagues at Sophie Schwartz’s laboratory, aims to achieve such practical objectives.
Neuroscientists are currently pursuing their work by studying memory disorders, and in particular by studying populations at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. «Some people as young as 25 years of age may experience subtle memory deficits characterised by overactivation of the hippocampus. We want to evaluate the extent to which sports practice could help compensate for these early deficits that are precursors to Alzheimer’s disease.», conclude the authors.
