This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

This article was written by an independent journalist not affiliated with Chantilly High School and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Chantilly High School.

Few foods are associated with the holiday season more than the traditional peppermint candy cane.  Those red and white striped holiday treats somehow make it into every part of our holiday experience from gift giving add-ins, to decorations around the house, and also ornaments on the tree.  What many do not see is that the magic lies beneath the plastic wrapper, the peppermint. 

Peppermint and its oils have been used for centuries to treat different ailments including pain, asthma, and indigestion.  Recent studies by Harvard University determine that peppermint oil does in fact reduce stomach indigestion, and symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  Of course, the best results will occur when using the freshest ingredients, but many say that the simple use of peppermint candies like those festive candy canes can reduce stomach and bowel indigestion noticably. 

So this year after your big family holiday meal, consider a candy cane or peppermint treat to ease your stomach woes for the rest of the night.

With the best in mind,

K. B..

*Information taken from Thrive Across America "Peppermint Power", Livestrong.com, and Chetday.com

Nowadays the sports and entertainment businesses are larger than ever.  Millions of dollars are spent on high-flying, speed-needing, and power-broking athletes and advertisements each day.  You see them on ESPN, CBS, and NBC during primetime or nighttime.  Their death defying stunts and mindblowing skills capture your eyes and lead you into their final recommendation: "Red Bull Gives You Wings." 

Take a second to step back and think about these advertisements.  Do these athletes and acrobats really get to the point that they are at by consuming energy drinks?  Not likely.  They get to this point because of intense training fueled by a balanced diet tailored to their personal needs.  None of these advertisements ever mention the negative side effects of consuming these beverages.   According to an editorial in the Huffinton Post this past month several negative side effects of these drinks have been discussed by physicians.  These side effects include insomnia, dehydration, tachycardia or other heart arrythmias, siezures, and even death.  Yes, believe it or not, even death.  To this date five directly-linked deaths from energy drink/caffeine overdose have been reported by the Food and Drug Administration. 

The reality of these drinks lie behind all of the glamorous advertisements.  Some of these drinks contain three times the amount of caffeine as a regular cup of coffee, some don't.  But when they don't contain this much caffeine they contain a secret ingredient called "taurine," which enhances the effects of the caffeine in the beverage.  Why do you need this much caffeine?

The answer is, you don't.  Caffeine is a stimulant and a dieuretic which has the ability to increase your heart rate to the point of arrythmia and the ability to dehydrate you to exhaustion and malnutrition.  Does this sound like a recipe for success in athletics?  If you don't believe me, take a look at the back of the can and read the ingredients list.  A betting man would put money on one of three ingredients being listed as the first (most concentrated) ingredient on the list: a type of sweetener, water, or caffeine.  To answer the outstanding question, no this does not sound like a recipe for success in athletics.

So the next time that you are considering consuming one of these beverages, consider wether or not a caffeinated beverage that could increase your heart rate and dehydrate you to a potential life threatining risk could increase your performance, endurance, and concentration.

With the best in mind,

Kevin Boss

*Suggestions formulated from review of the following online article from the Huffington Post: "Health Risks of Energy Drinks"

Not many people, even in the medical world, understand muscular cramps associated with sport.  Most likely this occurs because of the numerous catalysts that can initiate a muscle cramp.  You may have heard the myth that supplementing your diet with a few more bananas will cure your cramping nightmares.  You may also have heard that an athlete can be prone to cramping.  Without any further fluff there are a lot of opinions about where cramps come from.  The truth is, they most likely occur from a loss of sodium. 

If you have not tried to supplement your diet with more sodium, try it.  This is as easy as ingesting a salt packet on your way to practice or eating chicken noodle soup before practice. 

If you are struggling with heat cramps ingest more sodium before practice and make sure you hydrate!!!

With the best in mind,

Kevin Boss

1.  Eat something before you exercise:  If you want to get the most out of your work out, you better come prepared.  Getting in the habit of eating something 5-30 minutes before your work out can improve your exercise endurance and power by up to 20%¹.  Some great suggestions for pre-workout snacks are dried fruits (raisins, prunes, figs), flavored rice cakes, or a granola bar.  You can almost eat anything before a workout as long as it contains sugar to boost your blood glucose.  Watch the quantity however; you should not ingest more than 200 calories within 5-30 minutes of your workout.

2.  Warm-up:  Injuries can be detrimental to the exercise program.  Do yourself a favor and take care of your body.  A dynamic warm-up to start is best.

3.  Change your intensity daily:  Why is P90X so successful?  Because the body can not begin to tolerate its fluctuating exercise intensities.  Everyone is familiar with the way a smoker's brain starts to tolerate nicotine, but what people don't understand is that muscles function identically.  By exercising the same way, every day, your muscles begin to tolerate the stress that's being put on them, limiting their response (growth).  Changing the intensity of your workout daily limits muscular tolerance, also known as "Plateauing".  If you find yourself at a plateau of strength or athletic performance try changing your exercise intensity.  For example, Day 1 strength train w/ high weight, Day 2 circuit train w/ low weight, Day 3 endurance train, Day 4 rest, Day 5 strength train w/ low weight, Day 6 circuit train w/ high weight, Day 7 rest. 

4.  Negatives work:  Muscles respond positively to stress by repairing microscopic tears sustained during the work out.  The most intense portion of the exercise is the negative portion.  The muscle can sustain 15-20% more stress on the negative portion of the exercise than the positive².  So, theoretically by only concentrating on the negative portion of an exercsie you can exercise at a higher capacity than your max!  This, however is very difficult to do.  I suggest ending an exercise on a couple negatives to completely burn out the muscle that you are concentrating on.  This will get you stronger, I guarantee you will feel it the next day.

5.  Put in what you put out:  Make sure you ingest good substances immediately after your work out.  Think of refueling as the last exercise in your work out.  You would not walk out for 30 minutes between exercises in your work out would you?  No, so do not walk out on the last exercise, refueling.  Remember, the faster you refuel the better you will recover.

With the best in mind,

Kevin Boss

¹Data cited from Nancy Clark MS,RD,CSSD, Boston College

²Data cited from Bill Evans Ph.D, Duke University

Are you feeling lethargic?  Are you having trouble finishing your work-out?  Have you ever talked yourself out of going to the gym?

If you answered yes to any of these three questions, try drinking more fluids throughout the day; a quick fix to increase your motivation.  Many of us do not realize the importance of adequate hydration in our exercise plans, but the difference it can make is worth while.  Current research from the National Athletic Trainers' Organization reports that a 1% reduction of fluid volume in the body is enough to effect performance, and a 3% reduction in fluid volume causes moderate to severe decreases in performance, concentration, and energy.  The only way to combat this reduction in performance and concentration is to hydrate throughout the day.  Not the eight cups-a-day 
like once thought (approximately 64 oz), eight bottles. 

Many health professionals recommend that 2.5 L of fluid per day is what the healthy, inactive individual needs.  Key word, inactive.  Activity increases the demand for fluid, so the active individual needs more!  Most sports medicine journals will recommend replacing lost fluid during exercise (sweat) by 1.5x.  This is in addition to the 2.5L needed without activity.  Generally, a simple rule of thumb for active individuals is to drink a gallon of fluid or more per day.

So, if you are finding yourself with a lack of motivation to exercise, or having a hard time finishing your practice/work-out, try reinventing your hydration practices.  Get the most out of your time and push yourself to the limit safely by hydrating appropriately.

With the best in mind,

Kevin Boss

Following the national trend of healthier eating, dairy products have resurfaced to create great snacking opportunities.  Analysts currently are finding that the nutritional value of dairy products such as Greek yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, milk, or just plain yogurt trump many pricey and synthetic nutritional supplements on the market available to dieters nationwide.  In the past few years Sports Medics have come on board in this national trend to adopt diary as a natural alternative to sports supplements. 

Most dairy products are packed-full of protein and carbohydrates needed to refuel the athletic population.  Just think, in a normal cup of Greek yogurt you can ingest 14-18g of protein with NO fat.  The average protein shake will consist of about 26g of protein, but most are packed with unnecessary fats and sweeteners that can put on unnecessary pounds plus they cost more!   If you want the protein, just eat another yogurt...

Consider this, after exercise instead of mixing your Muscle Milk in water, make a real fruit smoothie with Greek yogurt, or have a cup of low fat cottage cheese topped with canned fruit, as a healthy, low-fat, natural alternative to the synthetic sports supplement in your pantry, or under your bed.  If you can't wait until you get home to ingest some protein, pack a flavored milk such as chocolate milk to drink immediately post exercise.  Once you realize the difference you'll become a believer also.

With the best in mind,

 Kevin Boss