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If you're like most Americans, you've made getting more fit and losing weight your New Year's resolution to kick off 2017. Unfortunately, your resolution will most likely fail. According to a study from the Statistic Brain Research Institute, roughly 42% of Americans made New Year's resolutions for 2017. The most common resolution -- made by almost a quarter of every person making one -- involves increasing fitness and activity. As people look down at their waistlines after the holiday season, there is a strong desire to get active.   This why the treadmills at your gym are packed this … [Read more...] about How to keep your New Year’s fitness resolution from failing

School yourself on the common misconceptions around going no-sugar — from denial about having a problem to knowing where it lurks. January is just a few months away and many of us are contemplating New Year’s resolutions and recommitting to our (somewhat foggy) health goals. Right up there with actually using our gym membership and becoming a morning person? Quit sugar. But as the BETTER team found out, the goal is a lofty one. Even those who thought it would be a piece of (sugar-free) cake found it easier said than done to make it 10 days sans sweetness. One of the reasons the experiment … [Read more...] about 5 Myths About Quitting Sugar, Debunked

Yet, trudging through the institutional world of education, exercise became the thing that the quintessential, sadistic gym teacher enforced, complete with tests, metrics and goals for the unattainable. The joy of movement dimmed as the realization that perfection was just not on the menu for most of us. And there was math to prove it. Charts, indexes, measurements, graphs – all calculated to show the weary where they fall short. Exercise stopped being many people’s entertainment, when it stopped being fun. I can’t be the only person who finds modern-day conversations about exercise about as … [Read more...] about Exercise should be fun — you already have more than enough work to do

GENEVA –  The number of obese children and adolescents worldwide has jumped tenfold in the past 40 years and the rise is accelerating in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Asia, a major study said on Wednesday. Childhood and teen obesity rates have leveled off in the United States, north-western Europe and other rich countries, but remain "unacceptably high" there, researchers at Imperial College London and the World Health Organization (WHO) said. "Over 40 years we have gone from about 11 million to a more than tenfold increase to over 120 million obese children and … [Read more...] about Child and teen obesity rates soar globally, WHO reports

It's easy to fall off track when traveling for work. Not only must you break from a home routine that hopefully keeps you happy and healthy, but you're also faced with work-related stressors, including long days of sitting in meetings, aches and pains from airline travel and different beds and, potentially, a battle with jet lag. But you don't have to neglect your fitness even when traveling for business. Consider the following tips for staying fit on the road: 1. Embrace your surroundings. Even if you're "on the clock," it's important to find some time to explore and sightsee. This doesn't … [Read more...] about 8 Secrets of Fit Business Travelers

TUESDAY, Aug. 22, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Playing contact sports like football or ice hockey can alter the structure and function of the brain, Canadian researchers report. Brain scans showed that these changes were particularly pronounced in sports that have the greatest risk of body contact. "There is growing concern about the risk of collisions in sport. However, most of the research has focused on retired professional athletes with decades of exposure to head impacts," said lead researcher Nathan Churchill. He's a post-doctoral fellow in the neuroscience research program at St. … [Read more...] about More Evidence Contact Sports Can Affect the Brain A

If your an athlete you probably have sustained some form of injury throughout your time on the field. Years ago the way most athletes dealt with injuries was to either rest until the injury healed or electrical stimulation or massage. The times have changed for athletes today, it is a vastly different world we live in now. The days of playing just one sport and having the rest of the year to play multiple sports or rest have fallen by the wayside. Typically today's athletes train all year round for the same sport, with the additions of travel teams, club teams, rec leagues and so forth an … [Read more...] about Foam Rollers: One of the Most Beneficial Tools for an Athlete

It is a great honor to present the first ever Xcellerated Speed Training Scholarship award. This scholarship was developed to reward students for their hard work and dedication on and off the field. The requirements of this scholarship are rigorous. A student must maintain a GPA of at least 3.5, been a member of the Oley Valley Field Hockey program for 4 years, have participated in Xcellerated Speed Training's training protocol, been a role model on the field and off the field, and have spent time volunteering in the community. The individual receiving this award has exceeded all of the above … [Read more...] about Xcellerated Speed Training Scholarship Award