/oss/taxonomy/term/315/all en /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/trampoline-detox-bad-idea <p>What if I told you that every morning you needed to bounce up and down on a trampoline simply to activate your brain? That, somehow, your brain had evolved to be sluggish and unresponsive until you had vigorously jumped up and down on a device that dates back to the 1930s? You probably wouldn’t believe me and for good reasons.</p> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 13:22:35 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9632 at /oss /oss/article/student-contributors-health-and-nutrition/if-male-athletes-can-run-fast-female-athletes-can-run-far <p>In schoolyards worldwide, the phrase “you run like a girl” is often used as an insult. We are used to seeing male athletes jump higher, lift heavier weights, and run faster than female athletes due to their greater muscle mass and VO2 capacity. This is why I was surprised to read about female athletes in ultramarathons matching and occasionally performing better than their male counterparts.</p> Mon, 12 Jun 2023 13:02:38 +0000 Maya McKeown, B.Sc. 9542 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked-general-science/will-running-turn-my-toenails-purple <p>About two weeks ago, hundreds of runners lined up at Parc Jean Drapeau to run the <a href="https://canadarunningseries.com/21k-de-montreal/">Montreal 21K race</a>. But beneath neon-coloured running shoes and Nike sports socks, you would be surprised to learn how many of these runners have black toenails or are missing a toenail completely.</p> Fri, 05 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Maya McKeown, B.Sc. 9502 at /oss /oss/article/medical/high-level-endurance-exercise-bad-your-heart <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-is-high-level-endurance-exercise-bad-for-your-heart">Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 24 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9444 at /oss /oss/article/health/10000-steps-myth-or-fact <p>There is little doubt that sedentary behavior is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28138134">bad for your health</a>. Many people claim that “sitting is the new smoking,” even though the two are not really comparable. Smoking is <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304649">orders of magnitude worse</a> than being sedentary, and given the choice, people should opt to do neither.</p> Thu, 29 Nov 2018 17:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7465 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-technology/can-nikes-new-shoes-really-make-you-run-faster <p><span>A</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/18/upshot/nike-vaporfly-shoe-strava.html?mtrref=duckduckgo.com&register=facebook"> New York Times’ study</a><span> of 500,000 race times, set wearing</span><a href="https://news.nike.com/footwear/nike-zoom-vaporfly-4"> Vaporflys</a><span> and other shoes, confirmed Nike’s claims. They found that Vaporflys allowed a runner to run 1% faster than the next-fastest shoe, and 3-4% faster than a similarly skilled runner running in different shoes.</span></p> Thu, 26 Jul 2018 17:26:58 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7189 at /oss /oss/article/health/want-lose-weight-then-run-dont-walk-study <p style="text-align:justify"><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/?p=4728"><img alt="Runner" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2013/04/runner2-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a>Need to lose weight? Running will help more than walking, according to new research.And to keep off those lost pounds, continue running, suggests Paul Williams, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, who compared weight loss and weight control in thousands of runners and walkers over six years.The same amount of exercise in adults with a body mass index over 28 (deemed overweight) resulted in 90 percent greater weight loss for runners compared to walkers, he found."Running is more effective than walking in preventing weight gain and achieving weight loss," he said. Both groups shed pounds, but the runners lost more, Williams found.That doesn't mean vigorous exercise is all you need to do to lose weight. "You do have to add dieting," he said. "Exercise is not by itself the most effective way."More than one-third of adults in the United States are obese, putting them at risk of serious health risks such as diabetes and heart disease.For the new study, published in the April issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Williams evaluated changes in body mass index (BMI) of more than 32,000 runners and more than 15,000 walkers. (BMI is a calculation of body fat based on height and weight). <a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/04/09/want-to-lose-weight-then-run-dont-walk-study/">Read more</a></p> Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:54:24 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1905 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/polar-bears-can-run-40-km-hour <p>Polar bears can run as fast as 40 kilometers per hour—but only for short distances. Younger, leaner bears are the best runners and are able to cover two kilometers without stopping. Older and larger bears, on the other hand, quickly overheat. This overheating phenomenon is very common in polar bears, as they expend more than twice the energy of most other mammals when walking or running—showing higher than average increases in temperature and oxygen consumption.</p> Tue, 21 Feb 2017 04:41:16 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1503 at /oss