United States Sports Academy
America's Sports University®
The Sport Supplement - ISSN: 1558-1448
volume 16 number 2
issn: 1558-1448
- Did You Know?
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- They are trying to make administering CPR easier for bystanders?
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The AHA is promoting Chest-Compressions-Only Bystander-Initiated CPR. AHA scientific advisory board is labeling this action as bystander response – trying to get more of the general public to help during a cardiac episode. This method is not better than the other – but will be sufficient enough to get the heart to respond. The emergency professionals are still advised to continue to utilize mouth-to-mouth.
Source: Medscape.com March 31, 2008. Medscape-Medical News. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/572238_print
- Serious injuries in gymnastics rival those in ice hockey?
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“We don’t typically think of gymnastics as a dangerous sport. It has the same clinical incidence of catastrophic injuries as ice hockey,” says Lara McKenzie, PhD at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. McKenzie also stated, “We may be able to prevent and reduce the number of injuries if we were to establish a uniform set of rules and regulations for gymnasts, trainers and coaches.”
Source: HealthNewsDigest.com April 7, 2008. Sports News. http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Sports_50/Number_of_Serious_Injuries_in_Gymnastics_Rival_Those_in_Ice_Hockey.shtml
- Coaches and parents are hurting young athletes?
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Little athletes are suffering big injuries due to coaches and parents piling on too much training. Any athlete can be injured by overtraining – more so with young athletes under the age of 12. More children are being pushed beyond their physical limits – sports injuries often seen at the pro level are being seen on the children’s playground. Coaches and parents need to take into consideration the age and developmental stages of physical growth.
Source: Stinchfield, Kate. TIME - Heath Section. Little Athletes, Big Injuries. February 25, 2008. Pg 51.
- American's waistlines are bulging?
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In the past 25 years, obesity among U.S. adults has shot up from 15 to 32 percent.
Source: Bryner, Jeanna. Yahoo News.com, Study: Obesity is Socially Contagious. July 26, 2007.
- Childhood obesity is tipping the scales?
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50% of the obese elementary-school kids and 80% of the obese teens are apt to battle the scales for the rest of their lives. Half the kids walked or biked to school a generation ago; today, some 10% do.
Source: Kotz, Deborah. U.S. News & World Report – Health & Medicine Section. How to Win the Weight Battle. September 10, 2007 Pg 60. http://www.usnews.com
- Walking has many benefits to your health?
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Recent studies have shown that women who walk 30 minutes a day catch less colds. Just 45 minutes to an hour of walking, three days a week, helps older adults over 60 increase their brain volume. A single 30 minute walk can help boost your mood immediately if you are depressed.
Source: Staff Writer. Arthritis Today – Arthritis Foundation Advertisement Promo. March 31, 2008, Pg 3.
- That exercise is good medicine?
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Sport and exercise medicine has been a medical specialization in Finland since 1985. Dr. Heikki Tikkanen, Director of the Institute of Clinical Medicine’s Unit for Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University of Helsinki stated, “More and more is known about the health implications of physical activity and the positive affects on diseases. In the future exercise will serve as medicine for more people.”
Source: Wuolio, Tinu. Motion: Sport in Finland. For More and More People, Exercise Is Medicine. Volume 2, 2007, Pg 52.
- Helpful Hints
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- 6 Ways Parents Can Create a Healthier Environment for Children
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Parents need to consider creating a healthier environment to help manage their children’s weight. Here are some tips.
- Stock up on good food.
- Make sweets a treat.
- Ditch the drive-through.
- Turn off the TV.
- Equip the house for exercise.
- Encourage them to dance.
Source: Hellmich, Nanci. USA Today, A Better Life – Health Section, A lifetime of danger in childhood obesity. January 14, 2008, Pg 4D.
- 5 Ways Parents Can Get Their Children Moving
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Parents need to help their children burn more calories by helping them find ways to be more active. Here are some tips.
- Park farther away from entrances.
- Take the stairs.
- Get off the school bus one stop earlier.
- Do physical chores: take out the garbage, put away things, clean the yard.
- Bike or walk to a friend's house.
Source: Writing Staff – Resources for Educators, Aspen Publishers, Inc. Teen Food & Fitness Newsletter Advertisement Promo. Five easy steps to fitness. January 2008, Pg HO1452.
- 10 Ways to Eating Healthy During Pregnancy
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Eating healthy is essential during pregnancy. Eating well will help to meet your body’s needs and help avoid the common discomforts of pregnancy. Here are some tips.
- Eating breakfast everyday.
- Eat high fiber foods.
- Keep healthy foods on hand.
- Eat smaller meals to prevent heartburn.
- If you have morning sickness -- talk to your healthcare provider.
- Avoid Alcohol.
- Avoid fish known to have high levels of mercury.
- Avoid soft cheeses and processed meats that may have high levels of nitrates and bacteria.
- Cook fish, meat and poultry thoroughly.
- Cut back on caffeine.
Source: Staff Writer, NIH Medline Plus. Health Lines for Pregnancy, Tips for healthy Eating. Winter 2008, Pg 25.
- 5 Lifestyle Changes that can Increase HDLs
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HDLs are a group of proteins that attaches itself to cholesterol and carries it to the liver for disposal. They act like the cleaners of the bloodstream. HDLs also play a part in the prevention of heart disease, inflammation, oxidation and helps keep the blood vessels flexible to ward off blood clots. Here are some tips.
- Exercise more.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Stop Smoking.
- Adopt a Mediterranean-type diet: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats – olive oil, less saturated and trans fats, more fish and less red meat.
- Drink alcohol in moderation (one a day for women, two a day for men).
Source: Staff Writer, The New Frontiers of Medicine. Harvard Medical School, How to raise HDLs with lifestyle changes. February 2008, Pg 6.
- Tips for Keeping a Healthy Heart
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Simple lifestyle changes can dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease. Here are some tips.
- Feed Your Heart: Cut back on fat, increase your fiber; eat fish high in omega-3s and low in mercury; utilize vegetable oils like olive and canola; avoid trans fats; limit dietary cholesterol; cut back on salt; drink moderately; consider plant stanols and sterols.
- Get Moving: Do at least 30minutes of moderate-intensity activity, 5 days a week; Do 1-2 sets of resistance strength training to the major muscles of the body, 2 days a week.
- Trim Your Waistline: Work on decreasing excess fat around the belly – eat slow; eat small portions; avoid seconds; do not skip meals, especially breakfast; avoid fried foods, full-fat dairy products, refined carbohydrates and soft drinks; start meals with a salad, broth; eat dishes full of vegetables and fruit.
- Cool Your Anger: Decrease anger and stress in your life; do some yoga, tai chi, meditation and deep breathing exercises; keep active and exercise everyday.
- Be A Quitter: Quit smoking.
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Developing a Resistance Training Program
Many factors go into the development of a systematic, progressive resistance training program. It is important to consider these factors when creating a program and evaluating clients’ progress through that program. First, before beginning any type of physical training, the client should see a physician. A physical exam performed by a physician will reveal whether an individual thinking of starting a resistance training program is physically ready to do so. The exam may also reveal health conditions that may limit the client. Through the physical exam, the fitness professional may learn the general health history of the client. For a client cleared to begin training, the fitness professional should perform some initial evaluation of physical fitness. This fitness evaluation will indicate strengths and weaknesses of the client. Results of the fitness evaluation should be documented, so that they can be consulted periodically throughout the training program to demonstrate progress in specified areas. Most fitness tests measure flexibility, aerobic capacity, anaerobic capacity, strength, muscular endurance, quickness, body fat, and stability.
Media’s Effect on Perceptions of Athletes’ Gender and Race
Most people see sport as an unscripted event pitting two opposing entities against each other, resulting in a victor and a loser. Sport is an unobjective series of events, a chance for viewers to watch a drama in its purest form. The ever-increasing popularity of sport can be directly linked to advances in and popularity of television broadcasting. Rada and Wulfemeyer (2005) argued that the marriage of sport and television produced one of the more mutually beneficial relationships in the marketplace. While the relationship may have been beneficial in terms of revenue, it has produced some negative effects on viewers.
Dropping the Puck and Dropping Out of the Sport of Hockey
Dropout rates in youth sports continue to be a major issue, perhaps nowhere more so than in the sport of hockey. In my job as a collegiate hockey coach, I also work with youth players during summer camps, and I volunteer with local youth hockey organizations. Those of us who care about the sport of hockey have spent and will continue to spend a lot of time researching why so many kids drop out of youth hockey—even in hockey-crazed northern Michigan towns with deep histories in the sport.
Leadership Behavioral Management in Cheerleading
This paper is a discussion of the relationship between leadership behavior and team cohesion among competitive cheerleading squads, particularly in Taiwan. Cheerleading can be traced back more than 100 years in America (Neil & Hart, 1986). In recent years, cheerleading has also become a popular sport in Taiwan. In the past, cheerleading squads were usually associates of sports teams, their general purpose being to motivate athletes for better performance. Today, some cheerleading teams are associated with athletic teams, but others, representing various organizations and institutions, test their cheerleading skills and performance in their own competitions. Effectively managing a cheerleading team for better competitive results is similar to effectively managing other sports teams. It requires such leadership skills as intrinsic motivation, communication, and building team cohesion. Beyond perfecting skills and motivating players, a good coach must be a teacher and a student at the same time. He or she must be aware of individual differences, must be a good listener, must set a good example, and must help with goal setting (Arnold & Jack, 2002).
Effective Goal Setting
Businesses, individuals, and sports teams have sought out many ways to improve performance. Goal setting is one way for groups or individuals to attempt to improve their success. Goal setting can be a way of improving motivation and helping athletes to enhance performance. Reaching an appropriately set goal can represent a small victory and show athletes that they are on their way to continued success (Robson, 2007).
Michael Phelps and Dolphin Kicking
As a swim coach, I know that races are won in the starts and turns. Olympic champion Michael Phelps is a master of starts and turns. He has taken underwater hydrodynamics in the form of the dolphin kick to a new level. He has trained hard and has used that specialized training to achieve greatness.
Developing a Business Plan for Sport Management
A business plan certainly aids one in the pursuit of a successful sport management business. The business plan functions as a road map for the entity (Schweizer, 2006). It allows an individual or a group to clearly define intentions about how, where, and why the business will succeed. To fully understand the planning process, one must review each section of the business plan.
Family Physicians’ Role in Increasing Levels of Physical Activity and Exercise
It is well documented that participating in physical activity or exercise is associated with health and fitness benefits that may be physiological, metabolic, or psychological and furthermore prevents the development of chronic diseases and mature mortality (ACSM, 2006). Prior to 1992, 40 studies had been published of blood pressure effects of endurance training by essential hypertension patients. In that research, for up to 72% of the study samples, training was shown to lower systolic blood pressure at 11 mm Hg from the initial 153 mm Hg, while diastolic blood pressure was reduced at 9 mm Hg from initial 99 mm Hg. These reductions, again, were a result of hypertensive participants taking part in endurance exercise training (ACSM, 1993). Findings from these hypertension studies suggest that endurance exercise training that was measured in a laboratory or clinical setting can lower blood pressure in patients who experience mild blood pressure elevation. However, moderate intensity endurance activities (those at 40–60% of maximum work capacity) appear to be more effective for lowering blood pressure than is exercise training at higher intensity (ACSM, 1993).