By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS  NYTIMES

At the age of 93, Olga Kotelko — one of the most successful and acclaimed nonagenarian track-and-field athletes in history — traveled to the University of Illinois to let scientists study her brain.

Ms. Kotelko held a number of world records and had won hundreds of gold medals in masters events. But she was of particular interest to the scientific community because she hadn’t begun serious athletic training until age 77. So scanning her brain could potentially show scientists what late-life exercise might do for brains.

Ms. Kotelko died last year at the age of 95, but the results of that summer brain scan were published last month in Neurocase.

And indeed, Ms. Kotelko’s brain looked quite different from those of other volunteers aged 90-plus who participated in the study, the scans showed. The white matter of her brain — the cells that connect neurons and help to transmit messages from one part of the brain to another — showed fewer abnormalities than the brains of other people her age. And her hippocampus, a portion of the brain involved in memory, was larger than that of similarly aged volunteers (although it was somewhat shrunken in comparison to the brains of volunteers decades younger than her).

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By

GRETCHEN REYNOLDS

Many runners may be wearing the wrong shoes for their particular stride or the right shoes that were chosen for the wrong reasons, according to a new scientific review about running shoes and injury risks.

The study helpfully concludes that there is a reliable, scientifically valid way for each of us to pick the right running shoes, but it’s so simple that most of us ignore it.

The connection between running shoes and running injuries is surprisingly controversial and, from a scientific standpoint, unsettled.

Most of us who run have heard that we should choose our shoes based, for the most part, on two broad technical criteria.

The first is whether and how much our foot pronates, or rolls inward as we land. Orthopedists, coaches and runners long have believed that over- or under-pronation contributes to the risk of running injuries and should be controlled using particular types of shoes.

More recently, impact force, or the pounding that we experience with each stride, has also been getting plenty of attention, especially in relation to barefoot running and the question of whether we should wear shoes at all. Some barefoot-running proponents claim that running without shoes or in minimal, slipper-like models somehow changes impacts and substantially reduces the risk for injuries.

But Benno Nigg, the lead author of the new review, and his colleagues were skeptical. An emeritus professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary in Canada and one of the world’s foremost experts on biomechanics, Dr. Nigg wondered whether science really supports the idea that the right shoes can alter and fix someone’s running form and lessen injuries.

So for the new review, which was published last week in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr. Nigg and his colleagues trolled through decades’ worth of studies about running injuries, shoes and their relationship.

It soon became clear to the researchers that most of our beliefs about running injuries and shoes are, in fact, myths.

Pronation, for instance, does not seem to be a problem requiring correction. In the one large-scale experiment studying pronation, almost 1,000 novice runners, some of whom pronated and some of whom did not, were given the same running shoes and followed for a year.

At the end of that time, many of the runners with normal feet and form — who did not overpronate — had become injured, but a much smaller percentage of those who overpronated had been sidelined.

Dr. Nigg and his colleagues write in their review that this finding suggests “that a pronated foot position is, if anything, an advantage with respect to running injuries.”

Similarly, they found little evidence that forcefully striking the ground causes injuries or that changing or removing your shoes alters those impacts much anyway.

Perhaps most unexpected, running shoes designed to somehow “fix” someone’s running form turned out often to be ineffective and even counter-productive. In a series of studies, when military recruits were assigned running shoes meant to control their particular level of pronation, those soldiers were as likely, or even more so, to sustain running-related injuries than soldiers given shoes at random.

But if shoes are chosen for the right reason, they can reduce injuries, Dr. Nigg and his colleagues concluded after parsing all of the relevant studies.

And the right reason does not involve pronation control or impact forces.

What matters, the researchers conclude in their review, is comfort.In one study from 2001 (overseen by Dr. Nigg), researchers asked soldiers to try six shoe inserts, which varied in terms of cushioning, arch height, heel shape, thickness and other variables. The soldiers were asked to pick the one insert that felt the most comfortable to them and wear that insert inside their shoes during their subsequent military training. A separate group of soldiers wore standard footwear as controls.

After four months, the soldiers wearing the shoes fitted with inserts that felt comfortable to them had a much lower incidence of injury than those wearing standard shoes.

This finding makes scientific and common sense, Dr. Nigg said. Our bodies are actually “very good judges” of how each of us should move and run, he said. When we ignore or fight our bodies’ natural movement pattern, he said, such as by trying to control pronation, the risk of injury rises.

Instead, he said, we should pay close attention to our body’s opinion about running shoe options.

“Try on four or five pairs,” Dr. Nigg said. Jog around the store or the block in each.

“People can usually tell right away which shoe feels the most comfortable,” Dr. Nigg said. “That is the one to choose.”

Related:

• Walking in Nature Changes the Brain
• A 2-Minute Walk May Counter the Harms of Sitting
• Rethinking Exercise as a Source of Immediate Rewards

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University of Missouri-Columbia
Summary:Researchers have found that certain types of weight-lifting and jumping exercises, when completed for at least six months, improve bone density in active, healthy, middle-aged men with low bone mass. These exercises may help prevent osteoporosis by facilitating bone growth, according to a new study.

Men gradually lose bone mass as they age, which puts them at risk for developing osteoporosis, a condition that makes bones weak and prone to breakage. Nearly 2 million men in the U.S. have the condition, and 16 million more have low bone mass, studies have shown. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that certain types of weight-lifting and jumping exercises, when completed for at least six months, improve bone density in active, healthy, middle-aged men with low bone mass. These exercises may help prevent osteoporosis by facilitating bone growth, according to the study published in Bone.”Weight-lifting programs exist to increase muscular strength, but less research has examined what happens to bones during these types of exercises,” said Pam Hinton, an associate professor and the director of nutritional sciences graduate studies in the MU Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology. “Our study is the first to show that exercise-based interventions work to increase bone density in middle-aged men with low bone mass who are otherwise healthy. These exercises could be prescribed to reverse bone loss associated with aging.”

Hinton and MU colleagues Peggy Nigh and John Thyfault studied 38 physically active, middle-aged men who completed either a weight-lifting program or a jumping program for a year. Both programs required participants to complete 60-120 minutes of targeted exercises each week. The participants took calcium and vitamin D supplements throughout their training programs. The researchers measured the men’s bone mass at the beginning of the study and again at six and 12 months using specialized X-ray scans of the whole body, hip and lumbar spine.

The researchers found the bone mass of the whole body and lumbar spine significantly increased after six months of completing the weight-lifting or jumping programs, and this increase was maintained at 12 months. Hip-bone density only increased among those who completed the weight-lifting program.

Hinton said the study results do not indicate that all kinds of weight lifting will help improve bone mass; rather, targeted exercises made the training programs effective.

“Only the bone experiencing the mechanical load is going to get stronger, so we specifically chose exercises that would load the hip and the spine, which is why we had participants do squats, deadlifts, lunges and the overhead press,” Hinton said. “Also, the intensity of the loading needs to increase over time to build strength. Both of the training programs gradually increased in intensity, and our participants also had rest weeks. Bones need to rest to continue to maximize the response.”

Throughout their training programs, participants rated pain and fatigue after completing their exercises. The participants reported minimal pain and fatigue, and these ratings decreased over the year. Hinton said individuals who want to use similar training programs to improve bone density should consider their current activity levels and exercise preferences as well as time and equipment constraints.

“Individuals don’t typically have to know they have heart disease, high blood pressure or prediabetes to start exercising — they do it as prevention,” Hinton said. “Similarly, individuals don’t have to know they have osteoporosis to start lifting weights. The interventions we studied are effective, safe and take 60-120 minutes per week to complete, which is feasible for most people. Also, the exercises can be done at home and require minimal exercise equipment, which adds to the ease of implementing and continuing these interventions.”

By Anahad O’connar NY TIMES GNC, the country’s largest specialty retailer of dietary supplements, has agreed to institute sweeping new testing procedures on its herbal products that far exceed quality controls mandated under federal law.

The action to be announced Monday comes after the New York State attorney general’s office accused GNC and three other major retailers of selling herbal supplements that were fraudulent or contaminated with unlisted ingredients that could pose health risks to consumers.

Experts said the announcement marked an initial but significant step forward for the $33 billion-a-year supplement industry, which is loosely regulated and plagued by accusations of adulteration and mislabeling.

“This should be a standard across the entire industry,” said Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who studies tainted supplements. “Today we finally have one first step taken by one retailer, and only after the very aggressive intervention by the New York attorney general’s office.”

GNC, which has more than 6,500 stores nationwide and annual revenue of $2.6 billion, said that its herbal products had passed several rigorous quality-control tests and that it stood by their quality. But as part of its agreement with the attorney general, the company said it would in the next 18 months put in place additional quality-control measures to restore the trust of its customers and set new standards for the rest of the industry.

The company said it would use advanced DNA testing to authenticate all of the plants that are used in its store-brand herbal supplements, and extensively test the products for common allergens like tree nuts, soy and wheat. In addition, GNC will submit semiannual reports proving that it is complying with the attorney general’s demands.

The company said it would also display signs at all of its stores and post statements on its website explaining to customers how the ingredients in its herbal supplements were processed and what, if any, chemical solvents were used to make them.

Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, would not comment on whether he was in talks to reach similar agreements with the other retailers included in his investigation — Walgreens, Walmart and Target. But, in a statement, Mr. Schneiderman said he had urged those retailers, “as well as all herbal supplements manufacturers, to join GNC in working with my office to increase transparency and safeguard the wellness of their customers.”

Photo
A shopper perusing pills at a Walgreens, one of four chains accused by New York State officials of selling fraudulent supplements.
A shopper perusing pills at a Walgreens, one of four chains accused by New York State officials of selling fraudulent supplements.Credit Yana Paskova for The New York Times
Jim Graham, a spokesman for Walgreens, said in a statement: “We continue to review this matter and also intend to continue cooperating and working with the attorney general of New York.”

The attorney general criticized as lax the federal standards on dietary supplements that he said contributed to an environment where consumers cannot be sure about the quality of the products they are buying. “When consumers take an herbal supplement,” he said, “they should be able to do so with full knowledge of what is in that product and confidence that every precaution was taken to ensure its authenticity and purity.”

Under a 1994 federal law, supplements must carry on their labels the names and amount of every ingredient they contain. But the law, which was drafted by senators with strong ties to the industry, and which consumer advocates say is badly in need of reform, allows companies to essentially operate on the honor code. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that 70 percent of supplement makers do not adhere to practices designed to prevent adulteration.

Dr. Cohen of Harvard said it was remarkable that it had taken two decades and the actions of a state prosecutor “to begin to achieve what the law requires, which is that consumers know what is in the herbal supplements they’re buying.”

“This is the absolute minimum that should be happening,” he said.

The attorney general’s investigation was prompted by a 2013 article in The New York Times that referred to research suggesting that dietary supplements labeled medicinal herbs frequently contained little more than cheap fillers like powdered rice and weeds, or evidence of soybeans, tree nuts and other unlisted ingredients that can be hazardous to people with allergies.

The attorney general’s office tested 78 bottles of popular, store-brand herbal supplements that it purchased at a dozen Walmart, Target, Walgreens and GNC locations across New York State. Using an advanced DNA testing procedure, the investigators found that four out of five bottles contained no detectable genetic material from the plants advertised on their labels.

But there was frequently evidence of unlisted plants and other ingredients. At GNC, for example, the investigators found bottles of ginseng pills, promoted for “vitality and overall well-being,” that tested negative for any DNA from the ginseng plant. But the tests did indicate the presence of powdered rice, wheat, pine and houseplants.

Last month, the attorney general ordered the four retailers to pull the products from their shelves in New York, and a flood of lawsuits from consumers across the country followed.

The industry has countered that many of the supplements examined by the attorney general were herbal extracts, and that they would not contain DNA from the plants advertised on their labels because DNA is damaged during manufacturing and extraction.
Photo
Store-brand supplements for sale at a GNC shop in Manhattan. The retailer has agreed to test the purity of its herbal products.
Store-brand supplements for sale at a GNC shop in Manhattan. The retailer has agreed to test the purity of its herbal products.Credit Yana Paskova for The New York Times
For GNC, the settlement satisfies the attorney general’s concerns about consumer safety and brings his investigation of the company to a close. The company has maintained all along that its products were not adulterated, and in the agreement with the attorney general there is no admission or mention of wrongdoing.

The company said that it had commissioned a series of tests that confirmed the quality of its products, and that it would continue to defend against the many lawsuits it is facing, which it said were without merit.

“As our testing demonstrated, and this agreement affirms beyond any doubt, our products are not only safe and pure but are in full compliance with all regulatory requirements,” Michael G. Archbold, GNC’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Mark Blumenthal, the executive director of the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes the use of herbal products, said he believed that the supplements included in the investigation most likely suffered from some level of adulteration — an established problem in the industry — but not to the extent suggested by the attorney general. He criticized the attorney general’s testing procedures and said his study data should be made public.

Mr. Blumenthal said he applauded GNC for reaching an agreement with New York and putting new procedures into effect, but he also worried that actions at the state level could create “a patchwork quilt of different quality standards and requirements” across the country.

“I’m concerned that this can potentially lead to various standards being set up in different states and that’s a legitimate issue for the industry and consumers,” he said.

David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group, said the agreement represented “important progress.”

“But what consumers desperately need,” he added, “is congressional action that would allow the Food and Drug Administration to promptly oust from the marketplace products that are dishonestly marketed or potentially dangerous.”

 

BY SCOTT IARDELLA, SFG II SFL

We all know the kettlebell swing has many benefits. Would you put “back health” at the top of the list? I would. What exactly is back health? Back health means having a strong, powerful back that’s free from injury. Being free from injury is one of the biggest benefits I’ve personally experienced with the kettlebell swing through the years.

You already know that the swing is a high power full body explosive movement that doesn’t stress the back, when it’s executed properly. But, I would say that it’s one of the most effective exercises for total back health that we have available to us. Let me give you some reasons why.

For example, World Powerlifting Champion, Brad Gillingham has directly attributed the kettlebell swing as a key factor with his return to competition after several failed rehabilitation attempts.

I should also give you some background and perspective on my own experiences related to back health. Many years ago I experienced a severe disc herniation in the lumbar spine at level L4-L5, which is a common site for disc herniation.

The experience was one of the most painful and devastating things I’ve ever been through in my life. The rapidly progressive radiating pain in my left leg was so severe, there was no position I could find that would alleviate it. This means I couldn’t sleep, let alone perform any normal functional activity. It wasn’t long after my injury that I had a surgical discectomy to alleviate the pain. The road back from surgery was a long one, but a successful one, which is another story in itself.

How bad was the pain prior to surgery? The disc herniation was so severe I had what’s termed “sciatic scoliosis” which is a lateral curvature of the spine as a result of the sciatic pain (the disc herniation). In other words, I literally couldn’t straighten my spine because it made the excruciating and constant pain even worse. Imagine that. It was a bad situation that escalated quickly until my surgery.

As with most adversity, great things usually come out of it. It ultimately led to me becoming a physical therapist (PT) and working with many back pain patients through the years and helping a lot of people. To this day, this is why I have the utmost respect for optimizing spinal position with training. This something I take very seriously for myself and for those I work with.

The point of all this? I understand back pain much more than I would have ever wanted. The experiences provided a total appreciation and unique perspective on the importance of optimizing back health.

THE LANDMARK MCGILL STUDY

First, we need to remember that no one study alone answers all the questions and cannot be used to make broad conclusions. Instead, we must view each study as a piece of the puzzle in the entire body of evidence in a particular area. With this understanding, there were some key findings in the landmark study by Dr. Stuart McGill looking at the biomechanics and muscle activation of the one handed kettlebell swing.

A key question the study looked to answer was if the kettlebell swing had a unique loading benefit that may be perceived as therapeutic for some (ex. Gillingham, myself, others) yet could potentially cause discomfort in other people? Let’s be clear, technique has a lot to do with how a person would expect to feel during and after performing the kettlebell swing, I think we all agree on that.

It should be noted that subjects in the McGill study did not have any current or previous low back issues. The study also included a single case study of the kettlebell swing performed by none other than Pavel Tsatsouline. As with most kettlebell studies to date, the kettlebell size used was a 16 kg kettlebell for the swings, with the exception of Pavel who used a 32 kg kettlebell, more on this in a minute.

The swing technique was the standard hardstyle technique, but did include “kime” at the top of the swing. Kime is a brief muscular pulse at the top in an attempt to elicit a rapid muscle contraction-relaxation.

MUSCLE ACTIVITY

If you’ve performed a swing, you know there are many muscles that are activated. In the study, EMG (electomyography) was conducted to analyze the muscle firing of the following:

Rectus Abdominis
External Obliques
Internal Obliques
Latissimus Dorsi
Erector Spinae
Gluteus Medius
Gluteus Maximus
Rectus Femoris
Biceps Femoris

While all of these muscles are important, the hip extensors, specifically the gluteals are of great importance during the swing. The term “gluteal amnesia” is commonly used in the fitness community to describe the lack of firing in the glutes for many key exercises. Glute activation is one of the most powerful phenomenons of a properly executed kettlebell swing and many other athletic, power exercises.

Glute activation is so important that even the great Tiger Woods made a recent comment after a poor showing in a golf tournament about his glutes. He stated the following, “It’s just my glutes are shutting off. Then they don’t activate and then, hence, it goes into my lower back. So, I tried to activate my glutes as best I could, in between, but it just they never stayed activated.” These were actual comments following his withdrawal from the tournament. Just a thought, but maybe Tiger would benefit from a kettlebell swing.

Back to the McGill study. The study demonstrated significant results in regards to glute activation with the most impressive numbers produced by Pavel’s one hand swing. Pavel generated such powerful muscle activity, his contralateral (opposite side) gluteal muscles fired at 100% MVC (maximal voluntary contraction). Without question, the one hand swing is a proven solution to activate the glutes.

SWING FORCE: COMPRESSIVE VS SHEAR

The study also revealed an interesting ratio of compressive force to shear force. Let me explain. If we have 2 spine vertebrae, think of the compressive force being the downward pressure of the top vertebrae on the vertebrae below it. This downward pressure is the compressive force.

If we have the same 2 vertebrae, visualize the one on top being forced forward relative to the one on the bottom. This is the shear force. Understanding how these 2 forces impact the spine are significant considerations for the kettlebell swing, according to the data by Dr. McGill.

The findings of the study demonstrated that the forward acceleration of the kettlebell in the swing phase produce increased posterior shear forces in relation to compressive forces. You may expect this due to the mechanics of projecting the kettlebell horizontally. If you compare this to a deadlift, for example, you’d expect more compressive force due to the downward pressure of the load and maintaining a vertical path of the bar.

Swings require stability, yet they also promote stability. If there is true instability of one or more vertebral segments, then according to the McGill data, it would make sense that those exposed to posterior shear loads could potentially have intolerance with kettlebell swing. An important point to remember here is that these types of cases are quite uncommon, but they do exist.

The study concludes that the majority of people should greatly benefit from the effectiveness of the kettlebell swing to strengthen the posterior chain, but there may be isolated cases who may experience shear load intolerance and may not be ideal candidates.

SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS

Fat loss, explosive strength, a high level of conditioning, posterior chain development, and forging athleticism are all proven benefits of the kettlebell swing. One of the major benefits we don’t always consider is optimizing back heath. When it comes to back health, the swing can be considered a foundational exercise for the majority of people because of the unique features that as discussed here.The swing greatly contributes to high levels of muscular activation in the posterior chain, as well as abdominals. The hip hinging mechanics, neutral spine, and powerful strength and conditioning benefits make it one of the most innovative movements we have to optimize and restore back health. As a former back patient and rehabilitation professional, I would conclude that the properly performed kettlebell swing is essential for a high performing and pain free back for most people.

References:

McGill et al, Kettlebell Swing, Snatch, and Bottoms Up Carry: Back and Hip Muscle Activation, Motion, and Low Back Loads. JSCR Volume 26, Number 1, January 2012, pp. 16-27

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Article by Scott Iardella, MPT, CSCS, CISSN, SFGII, CK-FMS, USAW. Scott is an SFG Level II and SFL Instructor, former Orthopedic/Sports Medicine Physical Therapist, and has diverse credentials and experiences in strength and performance training. Scott trains and teaches in South Florida. For more information, go to RdellaTraining.com.

 

Fitness by Michael Schletter on 3/12/2014

Ask any trainer what the most important aspect of a workout is. More often than not, the answer you’ll hear is: the warm-up. And it’s not just any warm-up that will do. In the last two years prehab-based warm-ups, a proactive approach to improving strength, mobility and flexibility in the body’s weakest areas, have become a go-to method for eliminating problems — before they arise. According to NYC-based physical therapist and strength coach Joe Vega, MSPT, CSCS, a prehab warm-up can help athletes avoid injury, while improving overall movement quality as well. And though injuries are inevitable, doing a prehab-focused warm-up can help create a stronger, more mobile, and therefore resilient body. It will also allow you to work your hardest, Vega says, meaning maximum benefits from your workouts.

Prehab Basics: The Three “S” Principle

So what constitutes a proper prehab warm-up? First and foremost, it should include a mix of movements geared toward improving mobility, strength and flexibility, Vega says. Translation: exercises that get your body ready to move, no matter what comes your way. To get started, 10 to 15 minutes of prehab work, following his Three “S” Principle, will get your workout started on the right foot, Vega says. These are: Soft-tissue work, Stretching and Strengthening. Before doing deadlifts, for example, this could include foam rolling the calves, hamstrings, glutes, mid/upper back and lats as the soft tissue work. Then, a prayer stretch and some light Romanian deadlifts would help provide an adequate stretch. Lastly, glute bridges and single-leg bodyweight squats will fire up the muscles needed to properly execute your workout — and perform at your best.

The soft tissue work, usually with a foam roller or a lacrosse ball, is to release tight areas in the body. By breaking up scar tissue and adhesions (knots) in muscles, this form of self-myofascial release has been shown to result in an acute increase in mobility (and range of motion), therefore improving quality of movement. And, improved movement will lead to better workouts, and in turn, more results in less time.

After the soft-tissue work, a series of dynamic stretches for the released areas will help ensure good mobility for the workout ahead (detailed below). Lastly, it’s all about movement-specific activation. Just like you would turn on your car before a drive (as opposed to greasing the gears in your bike), you have to activate the muscles that will be worked during the workout. For example, on a squat day, overhead bodyweight squats holding a towel or broomstick between your hands is a good way to start.

Putting It All Together: The Prehab Warm-Up

So how do we put this all into practice? If your gearing up for a leg workout, Vega recommends the following prehab-focused warm-up.

1. Foam Rolling

Focus on:
Upper/Mid-back
Glutes/Hips
Hamstrings
Calves
Quads

5 minutes total

2. Stretching

Focus on:
World’s Greatest Stretch for hip flexors
Ankle Circles for ankle mobility
Pigeon Pose for the lateral rotators of the hips
Doorframe Pectoral Stretch for the chest muscles
Toy Soldiers for the hamstrings

5 minutes total

3. Activation

Perform:
Thoracic Spine Wall Slides, 2 sets of 10
Glute Bridges, 2 sets of 10
Bodyweight Squats, 2 sets of 10
Planks, 2 sets of 30-60 seconds

5 minutes total