Training, Exercise and Fitness

How activity impacts your health (it’s a good thing!)
Our articles investigate current research on exercise and fitness. Topics center around endurance and strength training, and the effects of nutrition, recovery, and the environment.


Cardiovascular Adaptations to Exercise and the Athlete EKG

Exercise is great for your heart – this we know. Endurance athletes, such as cyclists, runners and rowers, undergo higher amounts of cardiac remodeling than many other types of athletes. It is a necessary adaptation to the demands placed on their bodies. The heart is responsible for nutrient and oxygen…

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Antioxidants and Training: Friend or Faux?

What are the first words that pop into your mind when you think about antioxidants? Probably something along the lines of… beneficial, healthy and great for longevity. These powerful little protectors of cellular structure and function play an important role in physical well-being, especially when obtained naturally from foods such as berries…

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ECG Knowledge Bank

While employed at Abrazo Arizona Heart Hospital, I became increasingly fascinated with the physiology behind cardiac dysrhythmias and ECG diagnostics.  The great thing about a telemetry gig: each 12-hour shift is different – for those with inquisitive, analytical personalities, it feeds your need. Because the hospital specializes in heart and…

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CBD and Training: Is It an Ergogenic Aid?

“If exercise could be packed into a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.”  – Dr. Robert Butler, Founder, National Institutes on Aging If asked, I wonder what Dr. Butler would say about cannabidiol (CBD), or the combined use of CBD to…

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Mountain Biking is Good for Our Youth

Engaging in regular physical activity is good for both the physical and mental health of our children. Most people don’t realize that unhealthy lifestyle habits set our kids up for chronic disease as they age. Large amounts of sedentary time during the younger years doesn’t provide an invigorating, motivating or challenging…

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Cannabis and Performance

Let’s face it… pot is in the political spotlight and the needs of the many are winning. As worldly clinicians tout the legitimacy of its use for treating conditions such as epilepsy and others remain afraid of its stereotypes, the freedom to choose to use is beginning to rumble loudly.…

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The Psychological Influences of Arm Pump

We’ve spoken about this topic before, and for good reason. Have you ever rock climbed? How about mountain biked or participated in motocross? You’ve probably suffered from chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) in your forearms – the medical name for arm pump. In reality, the physiological onset isn’t purely a…

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Crank Up the Tunes! How Music Enhances Performance

A wealth of scientific study supports the claim that music enhances performance, having a beneficial influence on mental and physiological outcomes during exercise. What is even more interesting is they type of music you choose – fast paced metal or slower, calm jazz – can affect your body in different…

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24-Hours in the Old Pueblo: A Photo Essay

I had a great time at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, and that’s most certainly an understatement. Albeit my first experience at the event (and second mountain bike endurance race ever), I was fortunate enough to learn some preparatory tricks from two, 24HOP seasoned individuals: My husband who’s…

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