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[womenssportsscience]

Brain Protection

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is a thing i think is important to be aware of for athletes and others at risk of brain trauma.

https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/30/1/283/5482276 this article is about soldiers who had “mild” traumatic brain injury.... i guess resting gamma wave function goes up for them. gamma waves activate when we are focused on something..... but they shouldn’t be activating at all times, i guess.

all of this with brain trauma is a big deal. CTE can change the behavior of people as they get older, make them more aggressive. some athletes with CTE turn to drugs, die of overdoses. i almost think it can’t be overstated how much we need to pay attention to this issue to minimize the chances and effects on people.

also, another thought is giving NAC (N-Acetylcysteine) to those who just had a concussion. it is *effective*. i almost think they have to start giving this as a routine to anyone who might have had a concussion. maybe they should also give this during or right after heading practice for soccer players, to reduce any risks from what they just did.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23372680/ the soldiers who had mild traumatic brain injury who received 4 g (high dose) of NAC within 24 hours of injury had an 86% chance of their symptoms resolving (i think within 7 days). those receiving placebo had a 42% chance of symptoms resolving. that’s a big difference.

NAC can be bought at the store in like 500 mg (1/2 g) tablets. it’s an antioxidant. i have some at home. it’s good for depression, too, apparently.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3750422/ here’s an article about heading, it says there are some changes in white matter from heading. heading more than 1800 times per year was associated with poorer memory scores. i would like more research to be done.

what about those head protectors some soccer players use? Bethany Balcer uses one. Who cares how it looks if it works? the question i have, though, is how well it works. certainly, it would take time to get used to. i hope that, if it’s effective, more and more players start to use them. if they are protective, which they may well be, if you chose the one that fits your head well or something..... i think.

women also are more susceptible to brain injury.... their necks, heads, skulls are more sensitive than mens.

Life is hard already. Maybe especially for intense people like athletes. I don't want them to have to deal with all this other shit, like traumatic brain injury.

Also, any prevention or treatment has to be individualized. People are so different. There should be a persistent effort to figure out what works for each athlete.

[womenssportsscience]

to build more fast-twitch muscles

i have a theory..... if you’re a woman, maybe you’re over 30.... you want to build fast-twitch muscles, and some more muscle mass.... more strength, for performance.... and, you have time:

build slow-twitch muscles first. lift weight, slowly. do “lower-impact” exercises that build mass. then, convert the slow-twitch to fast-twitch by doing higher intensity exercises. this is safer. your ligaments, joints, etc have time to get stronger, to get used to higher loads. there will be less chance of injury than trying to directly build fast-twitch muscles.

[womenssportsscience]

i don’t think caffeine is good. not good for soft tissues, not good for recovery. it will make you feel better for that day (and that’s nice for people with a tendency for depression), and you can play better that day, but overall, it’s not good for soft tissue, recovery, etc.

max, it should be used in small amounts on game day or something. maybe.

https://stretchcoach.com/articles/coffee-is-bad-for-flexibility-and-soft-tissue-injuries/ in the second video here, the guy said caffeine increases linear thinking. well, for team sports, you kind of need group consciousness. wonder if it gets in the way of that. i would guess that it does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtpPW7LORJM This guy might be an asshole (some people on the internet said he was), but he’s right about caffeine in this video. Also, look how good his skin looks and stuff, he was born in 1977, the video is from 2020, so age 43 (he also mentions his age in the video). “when my body wants to just lay and chill, i let it lay and chill.” THIS. we need to listen to our bodies when we are tired. the body will tell us what it needs. (you gotta fight that capitalist mindset that tells us we can’t rest.) he says he’s faster than riders who are younger than him, and i believe him.

at the end of the video, he said to do a year of no caffeine. great advice.

also talks about how caffeine can affect peace of mind, being present.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-NLNeg3RqY this is an older video, at 2:30, he says, “early nights” are key to muscle building. yeah, i think so too. though later in the video, he says men will get big going to bed early, women will get lean. ok, i mean, i don’t know. i guess. i’m focused on gains. gaining muscle. gaining strength. anyways, he says, “go to bed early. it’s healthy.” yeah, i agree.