Knowledge Nuggets

ParticipACTION’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Adults states that 56% of adults living in Canada get at least 3 hours of light physical activity (LPA) each day. What is LPA and why does it matter? LPA is any activity that requires using up low levels of energy such as walking for leisure, standing work...

Did you know that 12% of athletes competing in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games experienced an injury? While injury rates have remained similar across the last 3 Winter Olympics, there is considerable variation in incidence rates across sports. Understanding sport-specific variations in illness or injury can help with prevention and planning of healthcare during...

After injury, athletes can experience a range of negative emotions and coping strategies (e.g., anxiety, worry, ruminating or dwelling, avoidance). Self-compassion can enable athletes to focus on healthier, more proactive ways of moving forward with recovery, and may even reduce injury occurrence by decreasing athletes’ physiological activation to stress and facilitating their ability to focus...

Research shows that time spent outdoors being active is excellent for your mental health. When you exercise (especially outside), your body releases endorphins and feel-good chemicals that help boost your mood and beat the winter blues. If you’re looking for an easy way to get moving this month, join ParticipACTION’s True North Challenge, running February...

Physical activity during pregnancy has many benefits for mom and baby, but many expecting moms have concerns about the safety of exercising while pregnant. The Get Active Questionnaire for Pregnancy is a self-assessment tool that helps moms-to-be determine if exercise is safe for them, and if they should seek medical advice before starting or continuing to exercise.

In the journey to achieve excellence in sport, there’s a tendency to focus on performance-related factors such as medal counts and marginal gains. But those are only 2 pieces of the puzzle. Mental and physical health and well-being, physical safety, psychological safety and self-determination are key person-related factors that contribute to successful high-performing sport cultures.

Coaches, teammates, family, and friends can play an important role in recognizing the early warning signs that an athlete may have relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). Warning signs include physical, behavioural, and psychological changes such as recurring injury and illness, restrictive eating, sleep difficulties, and becoming withdrawn and reclusive.

Have you ever found it hard to breathe after hard exercise in cold weather? To prevent possible lung damage from high-intensity exercise in extreme cold, consider doing an indoor warm-up, decreasing the intensity of the activity, and wearing a mouth covering or mask.

Today we observe Remembrance Day and reflect on the sacrifices our Veterans have made, past and present. Take some time today to learn more about the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Sports Program, a program that plays an important role in promoting sport and physical activity in the military community.

Playing pick-up sports, ranging from hockey to basketball to soccer, can have a positive impact on players’ wellbeing. In a case study of a weekly pick-up basketball game, researchers found that regular players developed a sense of belonging, community and kinship through their weekly games.