Word: likelies
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Together, the findings lend support to the theory that osteoarthritis, which affects nearly 20 million Americans, is caused mainly by genes and risk factors like obesity (obese men and women are at least four times as likely to become arthritic as their thinner peers), rather than daily exercise or wear and tear of joints. In fact, a "normally functioning joint can withstand and actually flourish under a lot of wear," says Fries. Because cartilage - the soft connective tissue that surrounds the bones in joints - does not have arteries that deliver blood, it relies on the pumping action generated by movement...
...risks in running. It can sometimes cause soft-tissue injuries and stress fractures, also called hairline fractures, which result from the compounding of tiny cracks in the bone over time. It's not uncommon for such tiny cracks to appear in the bones that bear the heaviest loads, like the tibia (shinbone), but they usually heal quickly and go unnoticed. Stress fractures occur when bone damage happens suddenly, without enough time to heal. For instance, high school athletes who stop training all summer and then abruptly start attending practice every day have a much higher risk of stress fractures...
...stress fracture. One method may be to simply strengthen the muscle attached to the bone. In a study published in the December issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that among competitive female runners, those with larger calf muscles were less likely than runners with small calf muscles to suffer stress fractures in their shinbones. Why? The stronger the muscle, the greater the force it exerts on the bone; a contracting muscle exerts a bending force on the bone, like a string bending a bow - an interaction that over time makes the bone...
...simple calf-muscle exercises, like rising up on your toes about a dozen times a day, may be sufficient to increase strength in the shinbone, says study author Kristy Popp, who recently completed her Ph.D. in exercise physiology at the University of Minnesota. She suggests adding calf workouts to your regular exercise routine but cautions that increasing muscle and bone strength is a gradual process and that having strong calves is no cure-all. But "if it can help prevent stress fractures, it's worth a try," says Popp...
Study author Brent Edwards, now at the University of Illinois in Chicago, says he "would never recommend stride reduction to a competitive runner," but he suggests the technique for people with a history of stress fractures, like former athletes. The biggest risk factor for stress fractures, he notes, is simply having had such a fracture in the past. But the best advice for runners wishing to reduce injuries is to keep running; that is, run consistently and avoid long periods of inactivity. That may be especially hard during the snowy winter months, but runners should...