Sleep and concussion recovery

Getting a good night’s sleep is important for athletes recovering from a concussion, but many athletes struggle to get quality sleep following their injury. Improving sleep hygiene, including creating a regular pre-bed routine, avoiding technology before bed, and optimizing your sleep environment, can improve sleep patterns to help the brain recover and allow athletes to…

Social media and sleep

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…

Uninterrupted sleep

According to the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, children (ages 5-13) require 9 to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night and youth (ages 14-17) require 8 to 10 hours per night. Check out this infographic for tips to encourage a good night’s sleep in your family such as encouraging regular wake-up times on the weekend…

Sleep and Positive Attitudes

Not feeling like you usual positive self? Perhaps you didn’t sleep well last night. Research shows sleep loss reduces our positive feelings in the face of both stressors and positive events.

Common Knee Injuries

When it comes to common sport-related knee injuries, University of Alberta physiotherapist and researcher Christina Le advises most injuries don’t require surgery to heal and wearing braces for a long time can actually be counterproductive. From observations of patients who were neglectful in their use of a knee brace following surgery, Le offers new perspective…

Youth Behaviour Trajectories

Longitudinal studies allow us to observe behavioural changes and identify patterns over time, providing unique insight on how behaviours are affected by life events. New research using data from the Monitoring Activities of Teenagers to Comprehend their Habits (MATCH) study, which followed nearly 1,000 children for eight years, describes how Canadian youth follow different trajectories…

Nutrition & Injury

Did you know eating more fish could help protect you from brain injury? The SIRCuit explores the promise of omega-3 fatty acids, creatine, vitamin D, curcumin, high quality fats and carbohydrates, and good hydration in protecting athletes from sub-concussive injury.

Novel Approach to Concussion Return-to-Play Decisions Based on Canadian Research

New research from Université Laval is setting the stage for quicker return-to-play decisions that satisfy all the necessary player safety protocols by tapping into the expertise of licenced health care providers involved as team therapists. The four-year research project was led by Dr. Pierre Frémont, a practising sport physician and one of Canada’s leading authorities…

NWSIS Nutrition Infographic

Are you constantly feeling flat, tired and unmotivated? While stress could be the cause given the current circumstances, this infographic from the New South Wales Institute of Sport provides some other suggestions, including sleep patterns, dietary habits, overtraining and dehydration.

Cryotherapy

Cold-water immersion, also known as cryotherapy, has been used to treat injuries, reduce heat illness, and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness. Research in the International Journal of Athletic Therapy & Training found cryotherapy reduced an athlete’s perception of soreness but had no effect on muscle performance recovery following a single bout of training.