Benjamin A. Tipton, M.S., SCCCCocoa and its derivative chocolate have been used for thousands of years by the cultures of Central America. Cocoa was such a fixture in the Aztec society that they used the beans as currency. Primarily, cocoa was brewed into a bitter drink until the beans were exported to Europe by the Spaniards. Europeans sweetened chocolate and later made it into bars during the industrial revolution. Today, dark chocolate, defined as having 60% cocoa content or greater, has rece...

John Seawright, B.S.We’ve all seen it; the vicious collision that leaves a football wide receiver writhing in apparent pain; his strenuous, assisted walk to the locker room; and his eventual return to rejoin his team on the sideline with the accompanying statement from the sideline reporter, “The x-rays are negative.” X-rays are a form of high energy, ionizing radiation with a wave frequency much smaller than visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum. A medically ...

Kwame J.A. Agyemang, Ph.D  For those in the workforce, you may remember completing some type of training or orientation before you actually started your duties. Thinking back, how would you rate the usefulness of that training? As the days, months, and years went by, did it help you deal with your day-to-day responsibilities you faced on the job? Or better yet, do you surmise that it helped you uphold the mission and values of your organization? Believe it or not, these same questions ...

Kyle Levers, M.S. CSCSThe popularity of coconut water has increased significantly over the past decade due to its nutritional composition and rehydration capability. Natural coconut water is the clear liquid found inside of a young, green coconut, not to be confused with the white liquid typically squeezed from the coconut’s outer layer, known as coconut milk.  A growing number of nutritional advertisements promote the use of coconut water over other well-established sports drinks, su...

 Adam Cohen, Ph.D In sports, we often hear stories about the rise and fall of athletes. One minute they are on top of the world leading every highlight show, the next minute the game has passed them by and a new superstar has stolen their thunder. It is far less often that you hear about these athletes rising again. This is exactly what happened, in an extreme fashion, with Lisa, a former Division I soccer player who ended up homeless in Sacramento, CA. Lisa's resurrection through ...

Andrew Jagim, Ph.D, CSCS  Juice, roids, gym candy, pumpers and stackers are all common nicknames for substances more technically referred to as anabolic-androgenic steroids.  Anabolic steroids are defined as any type of exogenous drug that mimics the effects of testosterone in the body.  Most people take them with the goal of increasing muscle mass, improving performance or enhancing physical appearance.  It is estimated that as many as 3 million Americans have used non-medic...

Greeshma Prabhu, B.P.T., M.S.Several decades ago, the US Government passed the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which eliminated sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving Federal aid. This law led to a rise in the female participation in sports over time, up to more than 150,000 women playing sports today. The “female athletic triad” is a term given to the presence of three conditions, namely disordered eating, osteoporosis, and amenorrhea, w...

Travis Irby, M.A., M.EdMany athletes compete in sports year round. Sometimes the athlete is involved in one sport with one long season spent with various school and club teams throughout the year. Other times, an athlete is involved in several different sports over a year. Whatever the case, it is important that the year-round athlete prevent the mental and physical burnout that can come with the rigors of never-ending competition.  Any sport or sports competed in should provide skills...

David Ferguson, Ph.D, RCEP   One of the best parts of my job is that every day is different. I recall one day in particular when I received a phone call from a woman interested in coming into the lab to have a fitness assessment done.   The interesting part was that she said she did not want to do a VO2­ max test (treadmill test to measure aerobic fitness). I found this very odd because the majority of the population does not know what a VO2max test is, let...

David Ferguson, Ph.D, RCEP   We have all heard the late night talk show hosts joke about an athlete’s inability to retire. In fact, there seems to be a consensus that once an athlete reaches a certain age, he should retire from the sport. One such example comes to mind; when I was sitting in an airport restaurant which had a football game on the television, the gentleman sitting next to me made the comment, “Brett Favre has been playing as long as I have been alive, he shou...