General Health & Safety

The purpose of lifting weights and resistance training in sports is simple: as a means to an end (improving performance), not as an end in itself (lifting more weight).  Understanding the basic benefits from good lifting technique and risks of poor sports training is critical to developing a purposeful and appropriate strength training program.

A lot has been written about the subject of stretching and flexibility in sports. Studies abound on the effects of flexibility on muscular strength, joint motion, and injury prevention, but the picture seems to become more muddled with every passing day, with even the conventional wisdom that static stretching improves flexibility over resistance training recently called into question. But the fact remains: stretching improves flexibility, a foundation for athletic success.

Children who don't exercise enough may show early signs of cardiovascular disease, according to a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's 57th Annual Meeting in Baltimore.

Static stretching improves flexibility over resistance training, according to conventional wisdom, but a new study suggests that strength training may work just as well, if not better, in increasing an athlete's flexibility.

Middle-school students with higher levels of physical fitness fared better on standardized tests than students who were less fit., according to new research. The study suggests that cutting physical education classes to focus on academics might be counterproductive.

Learning proper lifting form for young athletes helps maximize the benefits of strength training and conditioning, which include developing improved joint mobility, stability and control, core strength, balance and flexibility.

As the nation begins the Fourth of July weekend, here's a comprehensive guide with summer safety tips on everything from sun, heat, lightning, pool and bug safety, to playground, bicycle, skateboards and scooters, lawn mowers, fireworks, boating, open-water swimming and all-terrain vehicle safety.

As the best  soccer players in the world compete in the 2010 FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015™, it is important to remember that they would not be playing if an overuse or traumatic injury, such as a torn ACL,  had put the brakes on their careers.  The STOP Sports Injuries Campaign and MomsTeam remind parents that many youth soccer injuries are preventable. 

While one out of four children and teens 9 to 15 years old watch more than the recommended limit of two hours of television per day, those who play sports and those whose parents set consistent rules about television viewing are less likely to exceed  limits on screen time, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

Updated water safety and drowning prevention advice for parents from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) drops the group's opposition to early swimming lessons for infants and toddlers and highlights the risks of inflatable pools, and body entrapment and hair entanglement in pool drains.