Maxime Leblanc

In a 2 month double-blind experiment, a Norwegian research group evaluated the performance of 15-20 year-old males in different motor performance tasks related to soccer and general ones. There was a significant improvement compared to controls in both non-dominant and dominant legs in all 5 tasks. According to the Dynamic Systems Approach, the attention needed using our non-dominant side in fine tuning tasks, like kicking, passing and touching would greatly improve our perce...ptions during those activities. The increased number of informations perceived would therefore explain the better performance on the dominant side. This allows the use of the more dexterous side to be even more accurate using the heightened awareness. So if an athlete is plateauing with motor performance, working on the non-dominant side would be a valuable tool to try out. Let me know if you've managed to benefit from it! #motorperformance #physicalliteracy #soccer #unilateraltraining #excellence #beastsinthemaking #movementculture #montreal

In several countries, preparticipation examinations are mandatory or recommended. The justification is mostly to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) for asymptomatic athletes. It is far from being common practice in Quebec, especially if you are asymptomatic. One of the best tool to detect those potential events is echocardiography. By identifying morphologic abnormalities it is possible to screen for cardiac risk and ensure follow, instead of gambling with athletes' life. Inc...idence varies between 1 per 300 000 and 1 per 23 000. The cost for screening large athletic populations would not be insignificant on our healthcare system. However, the conversation is still worth having. According to a study done in the US, it would at least be worth it for collegiate level athletes. Considering economic and ethical issues, the benefit outweighs the costs. Incidence of SCD: D'Silva, A and Papadakis, M, SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH IN ATHLETES, European Cardiology Review, 2015. Echocardiography considerations: Paterick, Z R and Paterick, T E, PREPARTICIPATION CARDIOVASCULAR SCREENING OF STUDENT-ATHLETES WITH ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY: ETHICAL, CLINICAL, ECONOMIC, AND LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS, Current Cardiology Reports, 2019. #preparticipationexamination #cardiachealth #healthyathletes #preventdeath #screening #quebec #healthcare #sport4life

Well ya... Being overweight puts you at a higher risk for hypertension, but not for the reasons most people think. Left ventricular hypertrophy, which happens usually at the same rate as the other muscles growth is a big factor in this condition. So hypertension would be more correlated with the lean body mass than the fat mass. Shocking, right?! This study was done on adolescents, so it might not apply to adults, but, if you are a bigger size regardless of fat or not, being ...careful with static exercise (ie. Powerlifting) is important. It increases tension drastically. More dynamic activities (ie. Soccer) is recommended. Study: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8675261/ #cardiovascularhealth #safeexercise #buffedteens #buffedheart #hypertension #physicalliteracy #movementculture