Vincent C.W. Chen, B.S.When eating less to reduce weight, it is hard not to lose some muscle mass. During dieting, the body struggles to keep sufficient energy stores, and therefore, it will break down muscle proteins to satisfy energy needs. While the basic equation for muscle mass is rate of protein synthesis subtracted rate of protein breakdown, decrease in muscle size will be observed if muscle protein breakdown is not prevented while on a calorie-deficit diet.It has been well established th...

Vincent Chen, B.S When talking about resistance exercise, some people believe that women respond less than men in terms of muscle mass and strength gain, while others think that it may make women look bulky. Many women therefore tend to avoid doing resistance exercise. However, the benefits outweigh the possible drawback of bulkier appearance. Physical inactivity-induced muscle loss may reduce an individual's ability to resist impact and lower the basal metabolic rate (BMR) to an unheal...

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...