by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Anti Aging
If you think that you can improve your brain by playing brain-training games, save your time and money, say researchers from Florida State University.
“Our findings and previous studies confirm there’s very little evidence these types of games can improve your life in a meaningful way,” said Wally Boot, an expert on age-related cognitive decline and an associate professor of psychology at FSU.
A growing number of people believe that brain training protects them against memory loss associated with aging. “Brain challenges like crossword games are a popular approach, especially among baby boomers, as a way to try to protect cognition,” said Neil Charness, professor of psychology and a leading authority on aging and cognition.
The belief is fueling the brain-training industry, which has become a billion-dollar business. Games are available online and through mobile apps for about $15 a month. But the Federal Trade Commission is looking at companies’ brain-boosting claims, and fined one for false advertising.
“More companies are beginning to be fined for these types of inflated claims and that’s a good thing,” Boot said. “These exaggerated claims are not consistent with the conclusions of our latest study.”
For their study, the FSU team focused on whether brain games could improve the “working memory” needed for a variety of tasks. They set up one group of people to play a specially designed brain-training video game called “Mind Frontiers,” while another group of players performed crossword games or number puzzles.
Researchers tested whether the games enhanced players’ working memory and therefore improved other mental capabilities, such as reasoning, memory and processing speed.
That’s the theory behind many brain games: If you improve overall working memory, which is fundamental to so much of what we do every day, then you can enhance performance in many areas of your life. “The thing that seniors in particular should be concerned about is, if I can get very good at crossword puzzles, is that going to help me remember where my keys are?” said Charness.
The team examined whether improving working memory transfer would translate to better performance on other tasks, something the researchers called “far transfer.”
“The answer is probably no,” says Charness.
What does work to improve aging brains? Exercise, he says, and predicts that “exer-gaming,” which combines exercise with� brain games, will increase in popularity.
“If your real goal is to improve cognitive function and brain games are not helping, then maybe you are better off getting aerobic exercise rather than sitting in front of the computer playing these games,” he said.
One activity that might fit into the area of exer-gaming is dance. A study at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that dance was the� most effective way to reduce the risk of dementia.
Seniors who took part in brain-stimulating activities such as reading, writing, and doing puzzles, lowered their risk of dementia by as much as 47 percent. �Ballroom dancing, which combines thinking � remembering how to perform dance patterns � reduced the risk of developing dementia by an astonishing 67 percent.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | 915 Crossfit WOD Rss, Crossfit (Local)
As mentioned in this cycle we will be working on pull strength, setting up for a better Memorial Day Murph, and extra supplemental strength work to do on your own after or before WOD. You can find this video here.
By the way, �Murph� is a workout that we do every Memorial Day. It is a classic CrossFit workout that just about every CrossFitter has done at one point or another. It is done in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005. (Yes, the same guy the Lone Survivor Movie featured)
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Today we will be attacking a version of Murph. However, the sets of gymnastic work will be mandated to bigger sets than most people use, building some muscle endurance.
WOD
�70% Murph�
1100m Run
70 Pullups
140 Pushups
210 Squats
1100m Run
Middle MUST be done in 10 sets of
7 Pullups
14 Pushups
21 Squats
COACH NOTE: Dont be afraid of this workout. It may look intimidating at first glance but if needed, like always, you can scale the length of the run and/or each movemen. That�s what your coaches are for. All skill levels can definitely accomplish today�s workout.
� Coach Marc
Supplemental Strength Work
1) Kettblebell RDLs- 3�15 @ Heaviest
2) Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns- 3�8-10@ heaviest
3) Seated Row- 3�8-10@ heaviest
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | UTEP (Local) RSS
Los Angeles – The UTEP track and field team had a strong performance with seven different athletes recording a new personal best on Saturday at the Jim Bush Collegiate Invitational.
Lucia Mokrasova clocked a personal-best 14.09 in the 100m hurdles to earn a fourth-place showing. Lilian Koech in her second race of the outdoor season competed in the 800m run claiming a second place showing with a personal best of 2:05.86 and the fifth-fastest time in school history. Linda Koech notch a personal-best of 4:26.47 in the 1,500m run.
Sophomore Tobi Amusan clocked the 10th fastest time in program history and recorded a season-best 23.48 in the 200m dash. Israel Ramsay leaped to a second-place showing in the high jump with a season-best 1.70m (5-06.75). Samantha Hall tossed 54.62m (179-02.25) in the discus to earn second overall.
On the men’s side, Alejandro Alcazar notched a personal-best 50.22 in the 400m for 12th place overall. Yinka Oyebanjo-Odofin garnered fourth place in the 400m hurdles for a personal-best of 56.06. In the 1,500m Michael Saruni clocked a personal-best 3:47.73 to earn gold, while Evans Kiprono ran his personal-best 3:59.45 for 10th place overall.
In his first race of the outdoor season, freshman Michael Saruni won the 800m with a time of 1:57.19 and teammate Jonah Koech followed for a second-place finish stopping the clock at 1:49.99.
Sohpmore Karol Koncos garnered a fourth-place showing in the hammer throw with a toss of 61.24m (200-11). Donivan Ortega also earned fourth place in the triple jump with a leap of 14.00m (45-11) for a season-best. Senior James Bias clocked 10.70 for a third-place finish in the 100m dash.
The Miners will return to action April 22 for their second home meet of the season. For more updates be sure to follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | Crossfit, PUSH-as-Rx
Dr. Jimenez presents a glimpse of Crossfit as is spans across America.
ABOUT two decades ago in California, CrossFit was registered as a trademark by the founder Greg Glassman.
According to nerdfitness.com, CrossFit is a training philosophy that coaches people of all shapes and sizes to improve their physical wellbeing and cardiovascular fitness in a hard-core yet accepting and encouraging environment.
CrossFit workouts change to contain variety to keep its members on its toes. The routine consists of functional movements that aim to increase individual work capacity and is applicable to other sports activities.
More than 324,307 people participated from 175 countries last year. The open game has five workouts over five weeks, which is posted online for the participants to follow.
Every week for the five weeks of the open game, the workout of the day (WOD) is released on Youtube and the official CrossFit website.
CrossFit in Fiji
The Suva Boxing and Fitness gym introduced CrossFit in Fiji last year and entered the open games with only five members.
Napoleon Taumoepeau is the only qualified CrossFit coach in Fiji. He was named the fittest person in Fiji by CrossFit Forging Elite Fitness. CrossFit 679 is Fiji’s only CrossFit affiliate. This year there were 20 members in the CrossFit open game. March 26 was the last of the five workouts at the Suva Boxing and Fitness gym.
CrossFit 679
Determination was on the faces of the participants as they pushed to finish the final WOD of the open games at the Suva Boxing and Fitness gym.
The WOD includes a wide range of physical exercises such as thrusters, squats, pull-ups, sumo deadlift, high pulls and more. CrossFit 679 is a place that has no boundaries and it brings the best out of an individual.
The coach encourages the participants to work hard and never puts one down.
“It may seem intimidating but I have trained many people who have never done CrossFit. Nine out of 10 of them are intimidated but the truth is that CrossFit was designed for all levels of fitness. We, as coaches, are trained to teach someone with little or no knowledge about CrossFit and help them on their way through a new fitness journey,” said Taumoepeau, coach for CrossFit 679.
After every three months, the CrossFit 679 affiliate takes in members who are interested on a journey of learning about CrossFit and the fundamental movements of CrossFit. An introduction seminar is the first step to welcome the participants of CrossFit 679.
To bring the very best during your training for the CrossFit games, proper diet and plenty of water is key.
“When and what you eat plays a big role in how your training will go. We help our CrossFit members to the best of our knowledge to maximise their workouts and it usually starts with diet,” the coach shared.
For the 679 CrossFitter, the CrossFit 679 is a great place to endure the pain and doing so with friendly and motivating people.
“You die but in the best way then cannot wait to die again,” Krystelle Lavaki, one of the participants shared.
CrossFitters diet
CrossFitters normally go on a Paleo diet or a zone diet.
According to Crossfit Impulse, the zone diet isn’t about eating “low-carb” or “high-protein” or anything like that. It’s a diet balanced in protein (lean, natural meats are preferred), carbs (mostly low glycemic-load fruits and vegetables) and fat (one of the most important macronutrients).
With the right balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats, you can control three major hormones generated by the human diet � insulin, glucagon and eicosanoids. The Paleo diet is the healthiest way you can eat because it is the only nutritional approach that works with your genetics to help you stay lean, strong and energetic.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | UTEP (Local) RSS
Taylor Sargent’s bat has stayed hot but UTEP (11-31, 5-13 Conference USA) fell at LA Tech (29-16, 12-3 C-USA) on Saturday at Lady Techster Softball Complex.
The Lady Techsters jumped on the Miners in the first two frames, scoring a pair of runs in the first frame after Pauline Tufi connected on a two-run single up the middle. In the second, LA Tech took a 6-0 on a back-to-back two-run knocks by Jazlyn Crowder (ground rule double to left center) and Morgan Turkoly (single to left).
With the score 7-0, LA Tech would cross the dish in the fourth on a bases loaded walk.
The Miners registered six hits led by Taylor Sargent’s 2-for-2 outing. Sargent is hitting .553 with seven doubles (10 extra base hits, including three triples) the last 11 games. The junior singled in the second and doubled in the fourth. Kaitlin Ryder went 2-for-3, while Lindsey Sokoloski and Cortney Smith each recorded knocks.
UTEP will have its bye week and will continue action at UAB April 29-30.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | UTEP (Local) RSS
Torrance, Ca. – Sophomore Winny Koech posted the fourth-fastest time (33:51.31) in program history in the 10,000m to highlight the action for the UTEP track and field team on the opening day of the Mt. SAC Relays.
Koech showed her competitiveness in the first 10,000m run of the outdoor season. Competing in the open elite invitational, which places amongst some of the best college and professional talent, the sophomore raced to a third-place finish.
Running in the 10,000m open, Gladys Jerotich finished with the eighth-fastest time (36:26.07) in program history to earn 29th overall.
On the men’s side, Daniel Cheruiyot competed in the 3,000m steeplechase. He grabbed 14th overall with a time of 9:03.31. That is the second-fastest time in C-USA this year.
Antony Kosgei ran in the 10,000m invitational elite. He clocked in at 30:25.77 for a 49th-place finish. It is the second-fastest-time in C-USA this season.
The Miners return to action April 22nd for the UTEP Invitational. For live updates follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter.
by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | UTEP (Local) RSS
Quarterbacks Ryan Metz, Zack Greenlee and Mark Torrez all engineered touchdown drives, and the defense registered four sacks in the annual UTEP Football Spring Game under the lights on Friday in the Sun Bowl.
“Kind of like our spring has been all along, both sides of the ball have shown tremendous flashes,” UTEP coach Sean Kugler said. “They are competing against each other. We got through the entire spring really with only one injury, and that’s [running back] Quardraiz Wadley. He has a shoulder injury, which we’re going to have to evaluate and see how that works going into the fall camp. Everybody else is completely healthy heading into fall camp, so we accomplished a lot this spring.”
Metz completed 12-of-17 passes for 94 yards, and was at the controls of the offense when Walter Dawn scored the team’s third and final touchdown of the night on a two-yard run. Greenlee finished 4-of-7 for 43 yards, including a nine-yard scoring run. Torrez was 3-for-9 for 20 yards, including a four-yard TD pass to tight end Josh Weeks.
“I thought Ryan was solid moving the ball,” Kugler said. “We got it stalled down there in the red zone, [and] he threw a nice fade ball there at the end for a touchdown. Ryan has had an outstanding spring. He is a leader and he works hard. Zack Greenlee moved the ball well tonight. Probably the guy that really had a great spring, and it’s not a surprise to me, is Mark Torrez from here in town. He’s got a lot of juice, he can run, throw, he’s got that moxie that you’re looking for in a quarterback. He’s going to be one to watch coming into the fall.”
Dawn led the Miners with 29 yards rushing on 11 carries. Ronald Awatt added nine rushes for 22 yards, and Kevin Dove had six carries for 21 yards. Even if Wadley can’t go, Kugler likes his depth at running back.
“I think we’ve got a lot of talent there,” he said. “We’ve got Ronald Awatt, Kevin Dove, TK Powell who was injured all spring and he’ll be back healthy in the fall, and then we add [incoming freshman] Josh Fields as well. We may add one more to that group. It’s a young group, but a very talented group. My biggest concern there would be more protection-wise when you have young guys like that, but we’ll be creative and make sure that we get that handled.”
Terry Juniel was UTEP’s top receiver with five catches for 47 yards, and Kavika Johnson chipped in with 29 yards on four receptions. Tight ends Weeks and David Lucero combined for four catches and 37 yards.
Two guys who have switched positions from last season, Dawn and Johnson, looked comfortable in their new roles.
“Walter Dawn is going to be a full-time running back and you saw him there stick the guy on third and one. Just because he’s small doesn’t mean he’s not tough,” Kugler said. “He can catch the ball. He’ll generate a lot of yardage back there catching the ball and also running the ball. He’ll be there full-time, and we’re leaving Kavika Johnson full-time at wide receiver. You saw what he can do tonight. He is going to be a talented player for us.”
Kugler said the Miners may add a player at wide receiver between now and the start of fall camp. “And Eddie Sinegal, right now he is suspended academically but we anticipate having him back in the fall as well,” he said.
Jerrell Brown, Alex Jean Charles, Josh Ortega and Barron Wortham Jr. recorded a sack apiece. Brown in particular was all over the field with four tackles, a tackle for loss and pass break-up. The defense was minus stalwarts Devin Cockrell and Dante Lovilotte.
Kugler said he has been very pleased with his team’s effort this spring.
“They compete against each other. They come out every day,” he said. “Really, going through spring ball, you would anticipate maybe having one bad practice. I think we only had one right there about the middle, we kind of jumped their tails about it and they responded well the next day. This team comes to work. As a head coach, this has been my most rewarding spring. We have had no off-the-field issues, knock on wood. These kids are taking care of business and they’re working hard in the weight room. I think they are ready to have a good summer and camp and they’re a hungry team. They feel like they’re kind of looked down upon and nobody gives them a chance, and that’s the way we like it.”
In fact, Kugler said this squad reminds him of his second team, the 2014 squad that finished 7-6 and played in the New Mexico Bowl.
“They’ve got a chip on their shoulder, they’re hungry, they work hard and there are no issues with these guys,” he said. “They come to work every day. I really like the team. This is the group we’re going to move into the season with, and I feel good about that.”
