Research can provide important information to health and fitness professionals, but trying to keep up with it all can be overwhelming! Not to worry, I’ve done the legwork for you. Here are some current and not-so-current findings that I think you’ll find interesting.
CURRENT RESEARCH
Do CrossFit, Get Injured
“In unadjusted models, participation in CrossFit competition was significantly associated with injury.”
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Note: I took a “tongue and cheek” look at CrossFit in one of my first blog posts, but the reality is that the random WOD approach of CrossFit will, at best, lead to haphazard results, at worst, injury… and now we have research to prove it.
Vaccination can Increase Mortality
“DTP [Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis] was associated with 5-fold higher mortality than being unvaccinated. No prospective study has shown beneficial survival effects of DTP. Unfortunately, DTP is the most widely used vaccine, and the proportion who receives DTP is used globally as an indicator of the performance of national vaccination programs.
It should be of concern that the effect of routine vaccinations on all-cause mortality was not tested in randomized trials. All currently available evidence suggests that the DTP vaccine may kill more children from other causes than it saves from diphtheria, tetanus or pertussis. Though a vaccine protects children against the target disease it may simultaneously increase susceptibility to unrelated infections.”
Source
Note: Vaccines are considered the greatest health debate of the 21st century. If you haven’t done so yet, I urge you to watch the documentary series, The Truth About Vaccines.
Resistance Training Improves Cardiorespiratory Fitness
“These data indicate that RT [resistance training] led to significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness during the initial 3 months of training.”
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Note: Resistance training has a profound effect on the cardiovascular system. In fact, resistance training may be a safer approach than aerobics for cardiac rehab patients according to Dr. Doug McGuff, an emergency room physician and co-author of the book Body by Science. You can learn more about this in my latest ebook, Lean and Mean.
NOT-SO-CURRENT RESEARCH
Increase Flexibility with Eccentric Training
“The results support the hypothesis that eccentric training is an effective method of increasing lower limb flexibility.”
Source
Note: Weight training is one of the best ways to increase flexibility if it’s done properly. For women that fear that weight training will make them inflexible, here’s another study to check out.
