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#WHOOPEd Weekly Digest, Vol. 14
The benefit of thinking healthy thoughts, which types of pain athletes shouldn’t ignore, and the end of baseball as we know it?
Monday, August 7
Pain 101 for Triathletes: Push Through or Lay Off?
Running through pain may cause changes to both form and mechanics, which in turn can lead to more serious injury. Here are 4 types of pain that shouldn’t be ignored:
- Sharp pains or aches that become more severe pains.
- Extended pain that persists even after exercise stops.
- Pain that worsens with continued exercise.
- Pain that causes a limp or forces you to alter the way you run.
Tuesday, August 8
Football’s Secret Sports Science: The Power of Sleep
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2720313-footballs-secret-sports-science-the-power-of-sleep
- After its debacle in Brazil in the 1950 World Cup, England made major changes to its travel and accommodations when returning there again for the 2014 Cup.
- The 2014 World Cup also spawned a Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport study on the effects 11-hour flights to Brazil had on players.
- Sleep is a major issue for soccer stars who play professionally in Europe, but also travel great distances to represent their home countries in international competitions.
- Europe’s top clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid are hiring sleep coaches to improve players’ overall health and performance.
- Swansea City installed 30 inflatable “snoozy pods” at their training facility for players to use in between practices.
Wednesday, August 9
Healthy thoughts as important as healthy activity, researchers say
- Stanford researchers looked at exercise surveys of 61,000 U.S. adults from 1990-2006.
- The survey results were compared to deaths from within the group as of 2011.
- Participants who assumed they were relatively inactive were 71% more likely to have died in the time after the survey.
- Researchers hypothesized that believed inactivity can cause depression and anxiety that lead to other health problems.
- From Alia Crum, assistant professor of psychology: “Our research suggests that perceiving everyday activities as good exercise is almost as important as doing the activities in the first place.”
Thursday, August 10
Just Because You Sweat Doesn’t Mean You’re Dehydrated
https://www.runnersworld.com/sweat-science/just-because-you-sweat-doesnt-mean-youre-dehydrated
How much water weight can you lose while exercising and still perform at a high level?
- Weight loss during extended periods of exercise is more than just dehydration.
- Your muscles are fueled by burning carbs, fat and protein. The byproducts are carbon dioxide, which you breath out, and water, which hydrates you to some extent despite what you sweat out.
- A recent study from three hydration researchers found that an average finisher of the 100-mile long Western States Endurance Run could expect to love 4.5 to 6.4 percent of body weight while maintaining hydration levels.
- The basic conclusion: Drink when you’re thirsty and don’t worry about becoming dehydrated otherwise.
Friday, August 11
The End of Baseball As We Know It
https://www.theringer.com/2017/8/7/16108098/the-end-of-baseball-as-we-know-it
Major League Baseball has become a game of three outcomes–strikeouts, walks and home runs. Is that what we want?
- Strikeout percentages, average fastball velocities, and walk and home run rates have all been increasing over the past ten years, peaking in 2017.
- More than one-third of all at-bats now end in a strikeout, walk, or home run, rising from 28.2% in 2007 to 33.4% this season.
- From 1901-1960, there were a total of 76 major league players 6’5’’ or taller. This year there are already 133.
- 111 players hit at least 20 homers last year, the most ever.
- 2017 features the lowest stolen-base rate in 45 years.
- With fewer balls in play for the the defense to field, and fewer runners on base, there simply isn’t as much happening on the diamond. Does that make the game less interesting to watch?