Health
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A drop of blood may be all it takes to tell if you've suffered a concussion.
You may feel fine hitting the trail or gym after one or two drinks—heck, you may feel great—but there's more going on in your body than you probably realize. “Some research has shown that small amounts of alcohol actually increase muscular endurance and strength output—but these benefits are very short-lived,”…
In one sense, SCUBA diving seems like incredible exercise: You strap 70-some pounds to your body, swim for an hour or so, then haul yourself back up a ladder and onto your boat. Most divers, though, will admit they’re not doing all that much, fitness-wise, while they’re down there.
Scientists have known for years that rates of hypertension are higher in the winter and in countries farther from the equator, but they haven’t known why—until now. A new study from the universities of Southampton and Edinburgh suggests that exposure to sunlight plays a large role, by…
Used to be, you blew a knee and your options back to action were few—and long. But a fast-growing field of stem-cell therapy is ushering in a new, and much speedier, era of orthopedic recovery.
Is the heightened state of consciousness a chemical reaction or something more ineffable?
There’s at least one potential benefit to extreme winter weather: Shivering appears to torch significant calories by converting energy-storing white fat to energy-burning brown fat. In a recent study, National Institutes of Health investigators subjected volunteers to various environments (including some really cold ones) and found that…
As athletes, we are always trying to break walls, but sometime we end up breaking ourselves.
You're slim, but that doesn't mean you're fit. What matters most: staying active.
Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars states that Claudius intended to pass a law “‘allowing to all people the liberty of giving vent at table to any distention occasioned by flatulence,’ upon hearing of a person whose modesty, when under restraint, had nearly cost him his life.” Modern day…
On a forgotten day in 1811, a scalped head would not only shape the American West but refashion the geopolitical future of the entire North American continent.
An ACL tear is an athlete’s worst nightmare. One of the knee’s main stabilizers, the ACL keeps you upright when you plant and pivot. Reconstructive surgery and months of recovery often follow ACL tears. Yet a new study suggests that surgery isn’t required for almost 25 percent of first-time,…
Watch George Hein, a financial analyst from Wyoming, start Mountain Athletics training with North Face athlete Kit DesLauriers, as he prepares for a major skin up and ski down in the Tetons. Set your goal and get your workouts. A new series from The North Face’s Mountain Athletics.
Unfortunately for cubicle club members everywhere, science says no. Despite the American Heart Association’s recommendation that adults get 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week, or 25 minutes of vigorous exercise three days a week, new research shows that your health depends…
As ski-touring season hits full stride, we're here to help take the edge off lung-busting climbs and quad-searing descents.
Don't let a bad fall keep you down. Pro freeskier Crystal Wright shares hard-earned tips on preventing and recovering from tough breaks.
A growing body of research supports what was once a startling conclusion: vitamins don't help. In fact, they hamper performance.
A recent study suggests that Lyme disease might be sexually transmitted. Just how seriously should you take the findings?
Poo-phoria occurs when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve, which descends from the brainstem to the colon.
Doctors have long advised patients to seek rest following a concussion. But a recent study shows that low-level aerobic exercise actually speeds recovery.
Tell your cryophilic boss to go eat a snow cone. Most studies peg somewhere between 70 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit as the optimal temperature for productivity. If that’s not exact enough for you, don’t worry. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory wanted to find the single most productive degree,…
Tips from the world’s top-ranked slopestyle skier
Raising money once a year is great. So is pushing yourself to the limit. But today's racing culture is all about the fun.
From fat biking and snowshoe racing to winter trail running, there has never been more opportunity—or more variety—for competing on snow. Here's how to thrive when the mercury drops.
To stay properly fueled match your carb intake to your activity level, focus on quality, and consider what time of day you eat certain meals.
You don't need a gym membership to be ready for race season
A growing list of apps and tracking units allows you to challenge riding buddies and strangers alike.
In a perfect world, we'd get plenty of both. But this is reality—and we have to choose. But can science really balance sleep against training?
Finally, more events are offering child-care options for active parents.
What kind of race is right for you?
Gyms are great for building strength and avoiding injury, but you don’t have to throw down $100 a month for that. Instead, do a series of body-weight-resistance exercises that target nearly every muscle, like the following four moves from certified strength and conditioning specialist Paul Hiniker.
Gyms are great for building strength and avoiding injury, but you don’t have to throw down $100 a month for that. Instead, do a series of body-weight-resistance exercises that target nearly every muscle, like the following four moves from certified strength and conditioning specialist Paul Hiniker.
They help you break falls and climb walls. Here's how to keep them strong.
Dogs are great adventure buddies, but they need to get in shape, just like you.
Gyms are great for building strength and avoiding injury, but you don’t have to throw down $100 a month for that. Instead, do a series of body-weight-resistance exercises that target nearly every muscle, like the following four moves from certified strength and conditioning specialist Paul Hiniker.
Can you sense the weather in your joints? Here's why that happens.
Behind the scenes at Big Air practice for the 2014 X Games. Follow and filming by Beau-James Wells.
Ski Jump champion Sarah Hendrickson finds a new way to improve her flying technique inside a wind tunnel as she prepares for the biggest season of her life.
We can only assume you’re wondering whether the Denver Broncos or the Seattle Seahawks will have an advantage in New Jersey at Super Bowl XLVIII. Don’t make any bets until you read this! Just kidding. (No, really.) We posed your question to Rod Connolly, an exercise physiologist,…
Some researchers believe that significant increases in resting heart rate (RHR) are a sign that you’re over-stressed, though the physiological mechanism behind the increase is not well understood. While scientists are currently uncertain that RHR is an ideal gauge of training readiness, some believe it can be…
Yes, it’s true that the volume of muscle mass activated during exercise is directly linked to the testosterone response. But it’s not the only factor involved. “Absolute workload (volume and intensity) of the session is also thought to be linked with the testosterone response,” Dr. Amy Vivien Tanner wrote…
“There are a lot of reasons why your body changes as you get older,” says Dr. Patrick Siparsky, an orthopedist at the University of Toledo, and lead author of a recently published paper on sarcopenia, the age-related decrease in lean body mass. “You don’t get as much…
Cleanses, specifically store-bought ones, are almost always bunk. No weeklong celebrity cayenne pepper diet or colonic lemonade spritz can rid your body of the gunk you’ve been exposed to—from alcohol and nicotine to pesticides and air pollution—says Mark Moyad, a urologist at the University of Michigan. Luckily, you’re already equipped…
The original energy bar is back with Epic, Omnibar, and Tanka Bar
When the urine collector came knocking, I didn't have a choice—start whizzing in front of him, or hang up my bike.
Douglass Lawder, owner of Buddha Fitness Club in Santa Fe, NM, walks through a quick workout that will keep you fit through the holidays.
The short answer: nope. “It really doesn’t do much to alter meal frequency,” says Dr. Michelle Kulovitz Alencar, an exercise scientist at CSU San Bernardino who is investigating the impact of meal frequency on body mass. Weight loss “has more to do with the amount of calories consumed throughout the…
In the wake of a controversial death, OCR hopes to better manage risk with the help of a new sanctioning body.
We posed your question to Dr. Kevin Laudner, a kinesiologist at Illinois State University who specializes in shoulders. “There are 20 to 30 muscles around the shoulder,” Laudner says. “I’m guessing there are quite a few that are causing the tightness, and there’s no one stretch that’s gonna get everything.”…
Researchers have fingered several things as sources of sweet cravings. Stress, caffeine, and lack of sleep can all over stimulate your HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, the body’s stress response system. Researchers believe chronic overstimulation of that HPA axis can impair its function, leading to poor immune activity, memory, and metabolism. Calorie-dense…
Time to chuck the ab-blaster and sell the ellipti-trainer. All you need for your ultimate home fitness center are these key essentials.
Unfortunately, there is no accurate way to predict how fast you’ll gain weight or how many pounds you’ll put on if you eat more calories than your body needs to maintain its current mass. The media has preached for decades that a pound of fat is 3,500 calories, so eating…
Slacklining isn’t just for show-offs anymore. It just might be the key to your winter-sports breakthrough.
Belly bulge afflicts even the most active people around the holidays, but there's a proven way to defeat it.
You and everyone else, buddy! Luckily Dr. David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, decided this drinker’s dilemma is worth his time. More accurately, Nutt is interested in reproducing the pleasurable feeling of drunkenness without the negative side effects, including aggression, memory impairment, and…
Researchers are showing everyday athletes how to train their brains to perform like the pros
Did somebody say "probiotics?" (Oh, everyone did.)
It’s possible sports victories trigger local baby booms. In fact, a study published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal claims just that. On May 6, 2009, Spanish researchers wrote, Football Club Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta scored a last minute goal against Chelsea FC, earning Barça…
The answer: it’s both physiological and mental. “It’s a natural defensive posture,” says family practice and sports medicine specialist, Dr. Bob Adams. “When we have bad news, pain, or something’s really stressful, we hunch up. It probably goes back to when we were in the uterus,” where we were safe…
The New Year's defining tech, fashion, and fads
Douglass Lawder, owner of Buddha Fitness Club in Santa Fe, NM, walks through a quick workout that will keep you fit through the holidays. …
Gyms are great for building strength and avoiding injury, but you don’t have to throw down $100 a month for that. Instead, do a series of body-weight-resistance exercises that target nearly every muscle, like the following four moves from certified strength and conditioning specialist Paul Hiniker.
Athlete and personal trainer Caroyln Parker shares her secret exercises for staying in shape this ski season.
When we published "Is CrossFit Killing Us?" fans of the workout went berserk, attempting to discredit the story, the research, and Outside. But the risk of injury is quite real—and it's the last thing CrossFit wants you to know.
We posed your question to several social psychologists who refused to answer it, even when we told them they could disagree with your observation. (Perhaps they are afraid of retribution from defensive dieters?) But we did find one man willing to take on the topic: author and Outside contributor, Matt…
Assuming both parts belong to the same person, we discussed your hypothetical ball problem with Dr. Peter Schlegel, a urologist and professor at Cornell University. “For the scrotum to freeze to the thigh, the thigh skin would have to be at a freezing temperature,” Schlegel says. That…
The next installment of Cookin’ it Backcountry. Everybody needs a little dessert on the trail.
Can you really ski race on a torn ACL? What damage are you doing?
Do I have a higher chance of dropping dead from a heart attack if I exercise in the morning?