Athletic Performance
Strength Training: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Science to Build Muscles
This guide, which is based on extensive peer-reviewed scientific studies, is designed to provide a detailed description of the science and practical applications of strength training and muscle hypertrophy. It is designed to be a master class in everything related to strength training, from the biology to the practical aspects. There are a lot of myths and pseudoscience in the field of strength training, and our goal is to provide our patients and the public with a comprehensive guide to understanding the science of strength and endurance training, and how to incorporate this into your workout routine.
Essential Amino Acids: Building Blocks of Muscle, Recovery, and Performance
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. The body uses amino acids to build and repair muscle, produce enzymes, support immune function, maintain connective tissue, create neurotransmitters, and regulate many metabolic processes.
Meditation and Athletic Performance: Harnessing the Power of the Mind
Athletes often train for strength, speed, endurance, mobility, and power. But peak performance also requires mental control. Focus, emotional regulation, confidence, decision-making, pain tolerance, and recovery are all part of performance.
Heart Rate Variability: What It Reveals About Your Health, Stress, and Recovery
Heart rate variability, often shortened to HRV, is the measurement of small changes in time between heartbeats. Even when your heart rate feels steady, the time between each beat is not perfectly identical.
Myo-Inositol: A Natural Molecule for Metabolic Health and Hormone Balance
Myo-inositol is a naturally occurring nutrient-like molecule involved in cellular communication, insulin signaling, hormone regulation, ovarian function, and nervous system activity. It is sometimes grouped with B vitamins, although it is not technically a vitamin because the body can make some of it on its own.
Creatine: Powering Muscle and Mind
Creatine is one of the most researched and effective supplements in sports nutrition. Naturally found in red meat and synthesized in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas from amino acids (arginine, glycine, and methionine), creatine plays a critical role in short-duration, high-intensity energy production. Supplementation helps saturate muscle stores of phosphocreatine, which fuels ATP regeneration, the energy currency of muscle contraction. Athletes across disciplines use creatine to increase strength, muscle mass, and performance.
Blood Flow Restriction: Maximizing Muscle Recovery With Minimal Load
Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training is a clinically validated method of stimulating muscle growth and strength without placing excessive mechanical stress on joints, tendons, or healing tissue. Originally developed in Japan, BFR has gained traction in rehabilitation, orthopedic, and athletic performance settings because of its ability to produce robust physiological adaptations even when used with light weights.
When Building Muscle Becomes a Problem: Understanding and Treating Bigorexia
Most people have heard of body image issues like anorexia, where someone fears gaining weight. But fewer people know about Bigorexia, also known as muscle dysmorphia. This is a condition where someone becomes obsessed with building muscle and never feels muscular enough, no matter how much they work out. It’s a form of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), and it can have serious effects on mental and physical health.
Modern Tendinopathy Treatment: Beyond Rest and Injections
Tendinopathy is a degenerative condition of tendon tissue that impairs function and often resists standard treatment. Tendinopathy can be broadly divided into two categories: tendinitis which is the early onset of tendon injury, and tendinosis which is a chronic, painful, degenerative state. Traditionally, management involved rest, NSAIDs, corticosteroid injections, or even surgical debridement. But modern research has shown that these strategies often miss the underlying problem: tendinopathy is not primarily an inflammatory condition, but a failed healing response driven by mechanical and molecular dysregulation.
Muscle Fibrosis and Aging: Why Strength Fades and What Can Be Done
As we age, many people assume that weakness and muscle loss are inevitable. While some decline in strength is expected, much of what we attribute to “aging” is actually due to specific biological processes, particularly muscle fibrosis. Unlike muscle atrophy alone, fibrosis involves a shift in tissue architecture, replacing healthy muscle fibers with stiff, disorganized collagen. This change reduces mobility, strength, and responsiveness to exercise.