Doctors typically advice patients with high blood pressure to adopt the DASH diet, a low-fat-, low-sodium diet endorsed by the American Heart Association. Research has shown that it works, but exercise has also been shown to reduce hypertension. So how do diet and exercise together compare to the DASH diet alone? Researchers from Duke University [...]

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Glycerol is a natural compound that is similar in chemical structure to alcohol. It is present in the body in stored fat and in fluids and can also be purchased as a supplement to promote water retention. One effect of ingesting glycerol is an increase in blood plasma volume, which is potentially beneficial to athletes [...]

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Exercise scientists use the body’s testosterone-cortisol ratio (T:C) as one marker of overreaching and overtraining. Testosterone is an “anabolic” hormone, and testosterone levels tend to be higher when the body is being built up. Cortisol is a “catabolic” hormone, and cortisol levels tend to be higher when the body is being broken down. Thus, a [...]

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Everyone knows that successful runners are always light and lean, but a new study by researchers at the University of Zaragosa, Spain, suggests that body fat percentage is as important to running performance as any physiological factor. The Spanish scientists used skinfold measurements to estimate body fat percentage in 12 elite male and 12 elite [...]

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This may be my favorite new study of the last several months. Italian researchers have proven that if you eat when you’re hungry, and only when you are hungry, you will lose weight if you are overweight and sustain your weight if you are not overweight. It sounds absurdly simple, and on one level it [...]

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The European Journal of Applied Physiology has published a new study on the effects of caffeine on supramaximal cycling performance. Researchers from Australia’s Griffith University recruited highly trained cyclists to complete indoor rides to exhaustion at 120 percent VO2max. They performed the test on two occasions, once after taking caffeine and once after taking placebo. [...]

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Recently we told you about a new study showing that dehydration ruins weightlifting performance. Now along comes a study from Charles Sturt University in Australia showing that dehydration has little effect on repeated sprint performance in the heat. The subjects were nine male rugby players, who were required to perform two 50-minute workouts consisting of [...]

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HMB—known to scientists as beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate—is a metabolite of the essential amino acid leucine. HMB became popular as a muscle and strength building supplement in the 1990s due to speculation that it might limit muscle protein degradation following resistance exercise and enhance positive nitrogen balance. The effects of HMB on muscle and strength gains resulting [...]

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Many men and women do not consume enough calcium or dairy foods to support optimal bone health. On a calorie-restricted diet, the risk of such deficiencies is even greater. Researchers from the University of Missouri recently compared the effects of low-dairy and recommended dairy diets on markers of bone health. One hundred thirteen obese men [...]

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Everyone knows that dehydration wrecks endurance exercise performance. But what effect does it have on weightlifting? Pretty much the same, according to a new study from Missouri Western State University. In this study, which was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, 10 young men performed a weightlifting workout in a hot environment on [...]

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