by Emily Goltz
Hi everyone! This week, I will be answering one of our prompts about the difference in a blog post and an actual article or book. The point of this is to show the reader and audience which one is more beneficial for the specific reader. Both the blog and the book are important to the kinesiology field and world because it gives different levels of commitment to the subject and allows the reader to pick which one is better for them.
First off, I chose a blog called the Total Therapy. It is run by a professor or student from the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario in Canada. It is a very clean and well organized blog with sections dedicated to showing you where each topic is and labeling everything. I would say the blog is for beginners who are just getting into kinesiology or who are just wondering what it is as a whole. It is very informative on telling the reader what kinesiology is, what it does, and when or where you use it. Besides the basic kinesiology information, it also gives you helpful links and videos that also help describe it and other health information.
The second resource I found is a Google Scholar called Research in Biomechanics. It is written by D. Gordon E. Robertson, Graham E. Caldwell, Joseph Hamill, Gary Kamen, and Saunders N. Whittlesey. It is a book that goes into depth about everything that has to do with the function and movement of the body and kinesiology and so forth. The book looks like it is a book for a class in biomechanics. From the bits and pieces that I have read, it is very helpful and detailed. The book definitely reaches out to kinesiology or human biology majors. It seems like a higher level book so I assume it is for a class you would take deeper into your major.
http://www.totaltherapy.ca/blog/what-is-a-kinesiologist/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Douglas_Robertson6/publication/259237520_Research_Methods_in_Biomechanics_Second_edition_print/links/0c96052a8e17255a02000000.pdf
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Benefits of Eating Healthy
By: Regan Tarrow
In my kinesiology lab, we talked about a variety of dieting. We discussed dieting pills, surgery, and exercising programs/equipments. One thing that I would like to stay focused on is the benefit of eating healthy and how it helps your body in many ways.
Eating healthy helps your blood sugar. Eating foods high in sugar can cause a spike in blood sugar. Your body can eventually create a insulin resistance resulting in type 2 diabetes. In order to maintain a healthy blood sugar, eating complex carbohydrates can stimulate a slow release of sugar in the bloodstream resulting in it regulating the blood. Complex carbohydrates consist of whole grain bread, oatmeal, and brown rice.
Decreased risk of cancer also is a main bonus to eating healthy. You want to limit how much processed and red meat you eat. In substitution, you can eat fish, poultry, or beans instead. Eating at least 2.5 cups daily of veggies and fruits are also ideal. Lastly, eating whole grain foods and refined carbohydrate foods lead to a decrease in cancer risk.
Eating healthy can benefit brain function. Foods rich in B vitamins, especially B-6 and B-12, helps reduce homocysteine levels. High levels of homocysteine have led to an increase in dementia according to Harvard Medical School. Leafy greens and fortified cereals/grains really help this problem. Also, Omega 3 fatty acids help improve memory and learning of battling mental disorders.
After all, these are just a few examples of how a healthy diet can improve your body. There are many benefits to eating healthy and I hope reading this made you want to start eating healthier!
References:
Writer, Leaf Group. "The Advantages of Eating Healthy Food." Healthy Eating | SF Gate. SF Gate, 16 July 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/advantages-eating-healthy-food-3731.html>.
In my kinesiology lab, we talked about a variety of dieting. We discussed dieting pills, surgery, and exercising programs/equipments. One thing that I would like to stay focused on is the benefit of eating healthy and how it helps your body in many ways.
Eating healthy helps your blood sugar. Eating foods high in sugar can cause a spike in blood sugar. Your body can eventually create a insulin resistance resulting in type 2 diabetes. In order to maintain a healthy blood sugar, eating complex carbohydrates can stimulate a slow release of sugar in the bloodstream resulting in it regulating the blood. Complex carbohydrates consist of whole grain bread, oatmeal, and brown rice.
Decreased risk of cancer also is a main bonus to eating healthy. You want to limit how much processed and red meat you eat. In substitution, you can eat fish, poultry, or beans instead. Eating at least 2.5 cups daily of veggies and fruits are also ideal. Lastly, eating whole grain foods and refined carbohydrate foods lead to a decrease in cancer risk.
Eating healthy can benefit brain function. Foods rich in B vitamins, especially B-6 and B-12, helps reduce homocysteine levels. High levels of homocysteine have led to an increase in dementia according to Harvard Medical School. Leafy greens and fortified cereals/grains really help this problem. Also, Omega 3 fatty acids help improve memory and learning of battling mental disorders.
After all, these are just a few examples of how a healthy diet can improve your body. There are many benefits to eating healthy and I hope reading this made you want to start eating healthier!
References:
"Diet and Physical Activity: What's the Cancer Connection?" American Cancer Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2017. <https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/diet-physical-activity/diet-and-physical-activity.html>.
Methods Of Calculating Body Composition
By: Nick Izzo
Hey readers! Today I’m going to talk to you about the many ways body composition can be measured. The technique used depends on the availability of equipment, how well the staff is trained, the condition of the patient, location where the assessment will be done and also how much the assessment will cost.
Hey readers! Today I’m going to talk to you about the many ways body composition can be measured. The technique used depends on the availability of equipment, how well the staff is trained, the condition of the patient, location where the assessment will be done and also how much the assessment will cost.
One of the most basic ways to measure body composition is
girth measurement. The only piece of equipment required is a tape measure. You
take the measuring tape and measure your fat sites and muscle sites. So this
includes stomach, arms, legs etc. A prediction equation can be used with the
numbers you find to assess your body composition. Some problems with this
technique is that the user has to be very consistent with measuring which can
take some skill. Another issue is the areas you measure may not correctly
depict fat distribution since everyone has their weight distributed
differently. Although this method has some flaws it does provide pretty
accurate estimations. Another way to measure body composition is BMI or Body
Mass Index. This is the most common way and the one used by your doctor at your
yearly check-up. A quick side fact about this technique is that it was invented
by insurance companies in the 1940’s solely based on mortality statistics. They
found that people with a higher BMI the more likely they were to die. This
method is very simple to use; it only involves plugging in two numbers into a
very simple equation. You take your weight, in kilograms, and divide that by
your height squared, in meters. This method is proven to be just as accurate as
the more costly and advanced methods. One issue with this technique though is
it tends to over-estimate very muscular individuals. This is because their weight
could be high but that’s because they have a lot of muscle, not a lot of fat.
One interesting way of measuring body composition is hydrostatic weighing. This
finds the density of the body which can be calculated to find percent body fat.
This method uses Archimedes principles. This states that if the amount of
buoyant force on an object is equal to the amount of water it displaces then
you can divide a person’s body weight by the difference in body weight in air
and underwater. This will determine the percent body fat an individual has. As
accurate as this method is though, there are many issues with it. This
technique requires specialized facilities which can be hard to come by. Also,
when you are submerged underwater, you have to exhale as much as possible from
your lungs. This can be very uncomfortable for the person being assessed which
sometimes means people will opt out of doing it. Lastly with this method, it is
very expensive and time consuming. So in the end why spend a lot of money and
time on one method when using the BMI method is almost as accurate, costs
virtually nothing and doesn’t take up nearly any of your time?
Here is hydrostatic weighing in action:
It's very important to find a method that works for you. If
you have the money and time and are comfortable with being fully submerged
under water for an allotted time then hydrostatic weighing is the method for
you. If you want something more comfortable, affordable and less time consuming
then BMI and girth measurement are very reliable methods. There are many more
methods than the three listed and they all have their positives and negatives.
Depending on cost, time and accuracy finding a method suitable to you shouldn’t
be all too difficult.
References:
"Archimedes'
Principle." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, 23 Mar. 2017. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.
“MSU- KIN 173 – Foundations of
Kinesiology – Spring 2017”. Education.msu.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.
Hypertension
By: JT Lenga
Hello readers, Another interesting topic for you this week. The past couple of weeks I have been doing a lot of online research on Hypertension. This is a hot topic for many people struggle with. Hypertension is a medical term that means the pressure of a person's blood is increasing to a point where it is so high that it can damage their heart and blood vessels. A person's blood pressure depends on the amount of resistance in a persons blood vessels. This resistance is caused by the narrowing of the arteries. With the narrowing of vessels your heart will still try to pump the same volume of blood through your vessels. Think of it as if you have a running hose and you slowly start to kink it in the middle. Less and less water will come out of the hose and the pressure in the hose will increase, causing possible damage to the hose.
Hello readers, Another interesting topic for you this week. The past couple of weeks I have been doing a lot of online research on Hypertension. This is a hot topic for many people struggle with. Hypertension is a medical term that means the pressure of a person's blood is increasing to a point where it is so high that it can damage their heart and blood vessels. A person's blood pressure depends on the amount of resistance in a persons blood vessels. This resistance is caused by the narrowing of the arteries. With the narrowing of vessels your heart will still try to pump the same volume of blood through your vessels. Think of it as if you have a running hose and you slowly start to kink it in the middle. Less and less water will come out of the hose and the pressure in the hose will increase, causing possible damage to the hose.
There is no single cause of hypertension, there are several causes. Some of these causes are poor diet, lack of physical activity, age, smoking, stress, etc... These are all things that can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure. Unfortunately some of the are harder to control than others.
High blood pressure can also lead to a great variety of other physiological diseases. These diseases include Heart attack, stroke, heart failure, cancer, and kidney damage. This is only a few of the possible complication that having hypertension can lead to.
Now your probably wondering what can we do to prevent hypertension, and reduce our risk of developing the associated diseases. There are a few key ways to prevent hypertension. Getting enough physical activity can help to reduce the amount of fat that floats around in your blood, thus reducing possible blood clots. Having a well balanced and healthy diet can help. Working with positive stress relief techniques in order to calm yourself. Developing a healthier lifestyle in general greatly reduces your chances of developing hypertension.
The topic this week was interesting for me to go out and research. I currently have a couple of family members in the hospital due to diseases associated with high blood pressure. It's pretty scary knowing that something like this can lead to other more dangerous things. Doing the research has helped me to understand what is going on with them. If you have someone in your life that has high blood pressure I encourage you to motivate them into living a healthier life.
References
"Blood Pressure Animation | Heart Disease Risk
Factors". Youtube, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOwBDmu1Y0c.
Cold, Flu & Cough et al. "Causes Of High Blood
Pressure". Webmd,
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/blood-pressure-causes#1.
"High Blood Pressure - Google Search". Google.Com,
https://www.google.com/search?q=high+blood+pressure&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG7IGc-u3SAhVMyoMKHY8BA_gQ_AUICCgB&biw=1038&bih=639#imgrc=D23ZPFLGXtvbTM:.
"High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) Complications -
Mayo Clinic". Mayo Clinic, 2016,
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/basics/complications/con-20019580.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
The History of Kinesiology
by Emily Goltz
Hi everyone! This week, I will give you a brief history of kinesiology. I will include where it began, who "invented" it and other interesting facts to go along with it. Kinesiology has always been very interesting to me but I've never know where the origins of the study came from, so I am learning new information as well!
Kinesiology was founded in Sweden by a man named, Carl August Georgii. He was a professor at the "Royal Gymnastic Central Institute GCI". He created the new term "kinesiology" in 1854 and its meaning is "Movement-Study/Knowldge". It was the foundation of Medical Gymnastics which he taught and studied.
Although Carl Georgii created the term, kinesiology, manual muscle testing was established in 1813 by Herrik Kellgren. He published the first known documented manual muscle test. Georgii worked in Sweden, England and Germany and his practices spread quickly. By 1888, the practice of muscle testing was brought to America by many medical gymnasts. It started in Boston. There is was practiced and improved by physical therapists by 1912 and again by American chiropractors by 1964.
Overtime, the practice of kinesiology has grown into something far bigger than what Carl Georgii or Herrik Kellgren could have ever imagined.
Today, it is the basis on human function. It primarily deals with athletics and the moment of the body. You can go into athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy and a variety other practices if you study kinesiology. I t is becoming more and more popular and improved everyday.
References:
Kinesiology Organization-- http://kinesiology.org
Hi everyone! This week, I will give you a brief history of kinesiology. I will include where it began, who "invented" it and other interesting facts to go along with it. Kinesiology has always been very interesting to me but I've never know where the origins of the study came from, so I am learning new information as well!
Kinesiology was founded in Sweden by a man named, Carl August Georgii. He was a professor at the "Royal Gymnastic Central Institute GCI". He created the new term "kinesiology" in 1854 and its meaning is "Movement-Study/Knowldge". It was the foundation of Medical Gymnastics which he taught and studied.
Although Carl Georgii created the term, kinesiology, manual muscle testing was established in 1813 by Herrik Kellgren. He published the first known documented manual muscle test. Georgii worked in Sweden, England and Germany and his practices spread quickly. By 1888, the practice of muscle testing was brought to America by many medical gymnasts. It started in Boston. There is was practiced and improved by physical therapists by 1912 and again by American chiropractors by 1964.
Overtime, the practice of kinesiology has grown into something far bigger than what Carl Georgii or Herrik Kellgren could have ever imagined.
Today, it is the basis on human function. It primarily deals with athletics and the moment of the body. You can go into athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy and a variety other practices if you study kinesiology. I t is becoming more and more popular and improved everyday.
References:
Kinesiology Organization-- http://kinesiology.org
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Skeletal Muscle Contraction
By: JT Lenga
Hello readers! This week, I decided to share with you the process of how our muscles contract. This is yet another thing I have learned in my Foundations of Kinesiology class taught by Dr. Pontifax. I will try to keep it simple for those of you not familiar with anatomy/ physiology.
In order to know how contraction takes place, we need to know the structure of our muscles. Our muscles are made up of three major parts. First, is the entire muscle; second, is the muscle fascicles; and the final, is the individual muscle fibers. The muscle contains the fascicles and the fibers. Within the fascicles, are bundles of individual muscle fibers.
.jpg/300px-1007_Muscle_Fibes_(large).jpg)
Hello readers! This week, I decided to share with you the process of how our muscles contract. This is yet another thing I have learned in my Foundations of Kinesiology class taught by Dr. Pontifax. I will try to keep it simple for those of you not familiar with anatomy/ physiology.
In order to know how contraction takes place, we need to know the structure of our muscles. Our muscles are made up of three major parts. First, is the entire muscle; second, is the muscle fascicles; and the final, is the individual muscle fibers. The muscle contains the fascicles and the fibers. Within the fascicles, are bundles of individual muscle fibers.
The muscle fibers are the muscle cells. These cells are multi-nucleated (more than one nucleus). Muscle cells are composed of a sarcolemma (the membrane of the muscle fibers), sarcoplasm (cytoplasm of a muscle), sarcoplasmic reticulum, the transverse tubules, and the myofibrils.
The sarcoplasmic reticulum releases calcium ions during muscular contraction, and it will also reabsorb the calcium ions during relaxation. Transverse tubules are located perpendicular to the myofibrils. They are the major sites for excitation and contraction.
Myofibrils are the basic unit of a muscle. Within the myofibrils are contractile proteins organized into thin and thick filaments. These filaments are called actin (thin) and myosin (thick). Actin provides binding sites for myosin, and the myosin have fibrous tails with globular heads that will bind to the actin and pull the actin filaments together.
Now that we have the basic structure, we can discuss how our brain tells our body to move.
In order to have contraction, we need three things: an action potential (brain signal), calcium ions, and ATP (energy). First an action potential is sent to the muscle and is transferred along the sarcolemma. next the action potential activates calcium channels in the transverse tubules which will then let the calcium flow into the cell and activate calcium channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The calcium ions from those channels then bind on to something called troponin. Troponin is like a lock on the actin, basically it utilizes tropomyosin (blocking mechanism) to block the myosin heads from binding to actin. Once the calcium binds to troponin, tropomyosin is moved from the binding sites allowing myosin heads to bind and pull on the actin. ATP come in to then release the myosin heads from the binding sites. Once the muscle goes to relax, the ATP and calcium ions are reabsorbed.
Below is a video that shows the process of contraction.
Muscular contraction is something that literally moves the kinesiology field. Like all systems of the body it is something that I feel that people should have at least a basic understanding of. If people knew how their own bodies worked I think that the information could help a lot of people avoid some of the most common health problems that most people face today. You only have one body if you don't know how to use it and it breaks there is no return policy.
References
"Cite A Website - Cite This For Me". Upload.Wikimedia.Org,
2017, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/1023_T-tubule.jpg.
"Cite A Website - Cite This For Me". Upload.Wikimedia.Org,
2017,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/1007_Muscle_Fibes_(large).jpg/300px-1007_Muscle_Fibes_(large).jpg.
"Muscle Contraction - Cross Bridge Cycle,
Animation.". Youtube, 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVcgO4p88AA.
Pontifax, Matthew. "MSU - KIN173 - Foundations Of
Kinesiology - Spring 2017". Education.Msu.Edu, 2016,
http://education.msu.edu/kin/courses/kin173/#CSCHEDULE.
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