Laird Harrison

Category: Uncategorized

  • Why Beer Doesn’t Make a Good Sports Drink

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    Maybe it’s obvious to you. But wishful thinking can be a powerful force for distortion. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice to think that tossing down a bottle of beer after a sweaty workout was actually the healthy thing to do? And some people have claimed just that, notably an article in the Telegraph newspaper.…

  • Scant Evidence that Stretching Prevents Injury

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    Stretching prevents injury. That idea was drilled into my head at an early age, and I can’t quite get rid of it. Since I was a child, my P.E. teachers and coaches preached the virtue of stretching so consistently, that the pre-game stretch became almost like a religious ritual. So I was shocked to find out…

  • Army Study Challenges Barefoot Running

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    It’s a sad time for minimalist runners. First Vibram agreed that it would pay out $3.75 million to runners who bought its FiveFingers shoes. This is the glove-like footwear that allows you to wriggle your toes, and feel almost as natural as going barefoot. Then last week the whole minimal/barefoot running movement suffered a setback…

  • Are Sports Doctors Sexist?

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    When I started to write about sports injuries, I envisioned my reader as someone like me: a former college athlete, middle-aged and, well, male. But women immediately started telling me how much they care about the subject. A bookstore owner talked about injuries on her softball team. A literary agent told me upper body training…

  • How We Can Stop Football Concussions

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    I used to love tackle football. Big for my age, I enjoyed the collision with other bodies. I never played on a team, just with a bunch of high school friends. We had no helmets or pads. We couldn’t hit each other too hard, or we’d get hurt ourselves, and we certainly never used our…

  • Exercise in the Heat without Injury

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    Northern California is setting heat records this week, and hot weather is on its way to the rest of the country. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise, but be sure to drink plenty of fluids. Consider moving your workout to the evening or early morning. Rest and cool down if you start to feel uncomfortable.…

  • This Blog Could Save Your Life

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    If you are sitting down while you’re reading this, please stand up. Now sit down again. And up. If you could do that about every 10 minutes all day, you would probably live a longer life. But I know I couldn’t. It would be incredibly boring. I would much rather get my exercise playing some…

  • Eight Rules for Biking to Work Without Injury

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    LairdH
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    It’s Bike to Work Day or, depending on where you live, it will be soon. And yes, you, too, can ride to work safely if you follow this bit of advice. 1) Don’t ride too close to the curb. Sounds a little counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? Your plastic helmet may not seem like enough protection against…