Fitness Trackers and Counting Steps: Marketing Ploy or Health Tool?

Fitness trackers have become increasingly popular among both people who are new to exercise, and those who have been long-time athletes. Current wrist-worn trackers can function as watches, heart rate monitors, sleep trackers, calorie counters, GPSs, and even as phones, opening up a market that seems inconceivably far from the original pedometer. However, the 10, 000-step goal often encouraged by...Read more

Mindfulness for Peak Performance

Being an athlete is rewarding in countless ways, but there are also times it can be stressful. From experienced world-class athletes to young children in sport, athletes can be under immense external and internal pressure. To promote peak performance, as well as continued enjoyment of sport, mental skills training should be included within the training plan. Mindfulness training, in particular,...Read more

How Can You Adapt Your Exercise Plans to Your Travel?

Be it for business or for pleasure, travelling often shakes up your normal schedule. Meals, sleep, and fitness routines change to accommodate meetings or activities. Travel doesn’t need to set you back from your fitness goals, though. There are several strategies you can use while on the road to help you stay in shape without your usual equipment or regimen. Depending on your current physical...Read more

Can Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Improve Athletic Performance?

Omega-3 fatty acids are associated with various health benefits , affecting heart and brain health, learning, and cholesterol levels. Its anti-inflammatory properties have led researchers to explore how omega-3 supplementation could mediate the effects of exercise-induced muscle damage. What implications does omega-3 fatty acid supplementation have for athletes and their performance? Exercise-...Read more

Active Parks, Active People?

One of the top recommended strategies to increase physical activity is to increase public access to places where people can engage in physical activity. Installing free outdoor fitness equipment to create “active parks” is one way some cities have targeted increasing opportunities for adults and seniors to get fit. While there are many benefits to active parks or outdoor gyms, making the most of...Read more

Unhealthy Food and Beverage Marketing to Children: Possible Implications for Sport

On June 10, 2017, Health Canada launched a public consultation on restricting the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children. The proposed approach aims to protect children from marketing tactics that encourage them to eat unhealthy foods. This is an important issue that could potentially impact the sport sector. Consequently, all sport stakeholders are strongly encouraged to...Read more

Goalball, Snowsnake, Disc Golf, and more: 150 Activities to Celebrate 150 Years

Happy Birthday, Canada! “Sit less and move more”: ParticipACTION , a Canadian non-profit organization, aims to engage people across the country to make physical activity a key component to everyday life. In celebration of Canada’s 150 th this year, ParticipACTION created its 150 Play List. Made up of 150 physical activities, the Play List challenges us to get active and try as many as possible...Read more

The 2017 North American Indigenous Games

The 2017 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) will be hosted by Toronto from July 16-23, with venues across the Greater Toronto Area. This will be the 10 th NAIG to be staged, the first having taken place in 1990. Travelling from across Canada and the United States, over 5000 Indigenous athletes aged 13-19 will compete in 14 sports (3-D archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, canoe...Read more

A Strong Knowledge Base: The Difference Maker in Athletic Success

How do experts differ from novices? In sport, success in both low-strategy sports and high-strategy sports relies on having a solid knowledge base: knowledge may be what determines who is a true expert when athletes have similar skills and experience. As coaches and parents, the importance of knowledge bases give us a clue of how to enhance children’s athletic performances in ways other than...Read more

Long-Term Athlete Development: A Primer for Coaches, Athletes, and Parents

The Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Framework was developed by Sport For Life to address several problems and gaps affecting low participation and excellence in Canadian sport, such as lack of fun, burn-out, poor skill development, and failure to reach optimal performance. Now applied by countries worldwide, LTAD provides guidelines for the “when” and “what” of skill development, aiming to...Read more