Knowledge Nuggets

For youth, healthy sleep habits can improve cognitive functioning and mood, help maintain a healthy body weight, and give youth the energy needed to be active during the day. However, frequent social media use and the consumption of certain types of online content can have a negative impact on their sleep behaviours. To improve quality...

In sport, transformational leadership involves empowering athletes and providing them with the values, skills, and mentorship to achieve their full potential, both on and off the field. Coaches with greater transformational leadership have been found to produce athletes that are more independent, and less reliant on their coaching.

This winter, many Canadians will head outdoors to participate in winter activities such as cross-country skiing, ice skating, and snowmobiling. Unfortunately, approximately 35% of drownings in Canada occur between October and April, when most people have no intention of going into the water. To stay safe around ice this winter, know the thickness and quality...

As gyms and sport facilities resume their operations, Canadians are wondering about the impact of masks on their performance. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan found that wearing a mask does not affect performance and has minimal effect on blood and muscle oxygenation.

Coaches matter! Research with female youth parasport program participation revealed coaches can be sources of encouragement and motivation; or negatively affect athletes’ participation if they’re not experienced in parasport skills. The findings reinforce the importance of coach education for quality parasport experiences.

For many national athletes, the postponement of Tokyo 2020 has let them build their physical and mental performance. Athletes have addressed longstanding physical issues like chronic injuries, biomechanical and technique corrections, and strength deficits. Mentally, Seyi Smith, Chair of the Canadian Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission, suggests the postponement was probably the “best mental resilience training...

The Winter 2021 SIRCuit is now available!  For many, the new year presents an opportunity to set new goals, refine behaviours, or let go of something that is holding them back. This edition of the SIRCuit provides takes a deep dive into self-compassion, athlete identification, relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), engaging masters athletes, and social learning...

Participants using a physical activity app with team-based incentives accumulated more steps per day during a 12-week intervention period compared to matched controls. The findings offer further evidence that even very small incentives (users earned on average $3.60 CAD over 12 weeks) can be used to influence behaviour change and increase physical activity.

Much of the Canadian sport system relies on volunteer boards of directors that govern community, provincial/territorial and national sport organizations. With these roles come serious responsibilities. The bottom line: any board of which you are a member is 100% accountable for 100% of what happens in that organization. Learn more in the first SIRC blog...

Is getting active part of your New Year’s resolutions? Goals are a great way to stay motivated. Set a physical activity goal and create a detailed plan for when, where, and how you will achieve it. Review your goal on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to celebrate progress, increase the challenge, or adjust expectations (too...