is a freelance journalist covering endurance sports and health science. She has held various posts at ԹϺ over the years, including as an online staff writer and fitness editor, and is the author of . Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Men’s Journal, Atlas Obscura, and elsewhere. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two daughters, and one fur baby.
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Forget complicated workout regimens. CrossFit phenom Christmas Abbott shows simple strength exercises are all you need to start feeling fierce
In a surprise move, the multi-billionaire announced that he would be launching Virgin Sport. Though the initial reports are sparse on details, we have a good idea of what he wants to do: revolutionize the business of racing.
Are biotech entrepreneurs on the leading edge of science or just looking to make a quick buck? A little of both, probably.
The not-so-surprising finding: Above all else, we love little drops of chocolate and sugar
These simple strategies will lift your mood, get you outdoors, and help you spend more time doing what you love.
Tear gas challenge Cry Baby among new masochistic inventions
Surprise! You'll lose weight and end up with less screen time.
Yes, they're great for reducing soreness, but they could also be masking more serious muscular imbalances.
We always preach the importance of wearing a helmet while cycling. But new research suggests that the brain buckets aren't keeping us much safer—and one Olympian argues we should do away with them altogether. So what can we do to keep cyclists safe?
This ergonomist has a mission: to design an office that's scientifically proven to boost your fitness, mental health, and productivity.
We're siding with the functional fitness junkies on this one. CrossFit and ultrarunning are far from disturbing, ridiculously extreme—or worth writing off.
Don't shorten your routine just yet.
Improve your life in five minutes or less.
As a species, we're living longer and having fewer children. And that's a fantastic development for amateur athletes—and society as a whole.
Renowned physical therapist Kelly Starrett lays out movement standards for runners. Meet them, and you'll stay out of his office. Don't meet them, and you shouldn't be running.
Face it, most of us aren't complete athletes. We lack the strength to make us fit, and we follow cultlike exercise programs. But there is a cure: Listen to renegade coach Mark Rippetoe, grab a barbell, and get back to basics.
Health-and-fitness publications often takes liberties (gasp!) with scientific studies. Here's why you shouldn't believe everything you read—and how to separate the facts from the slough.
Throw away your ice packs and ibuprofen if you want to recover right.
Public park fitness groups are at risk—even as cities push soda bans.
California’s rule requiring cars to give cyclists a three-foot berth went into effect last week. Too bad it doesn't actually keep riders safe.
Don't just sit there. Get the most from your training by recovering right.
Numbers. Rankings. Results. The data-driven mindset is preventing us from enjoying the outdoors.
Rule One: Don't confine your training to the gym. Movement needs to be a lifestyle. Rule Two: Don't just move. You need a goal. And you need to train.
Sure, running five minutes a day will help you live longer, but it's not going to get you in shape—or even scrape the surface of your potential.
7 hot tips from the show’s ultimate competitor, Kacy Catanzaro
Proponents of the Banting diet claim that cutting carbs is the key to weight loss and improved health. There's just one problem: it'll make you slow.
No, don't stop using it. But you need to go beyond SPF and add more protection to your arsenal.
Don't listen to the headlines—you need more than seven hours of sleep to play hard.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, just signed with the relatively unknown swimwear brand Aqua Sphere. And it's about to send him even higher into the swimming world's stratosphere.
When CrossFit denied our request to cover the 2014 CrossFit Games, we decided to look into the organization's long history of bullying anyone who dares to ask the hard questions—or look too closely.
There's more to life than chasing definition in certain muscle groups. Maintaining a healthy weight, for instance.
The "eight-percent rule" ignores the power exercise has to counter time spent on your butt.
Over the last five years, a lot has changed in the fitness world. But these four trends will continue to define the way you train.
Our genetic profile only tells one piece of the story, but that hasn't prevented scientists from making some bold assumptions about human performance.
The roads are dangerous. But the real hate happens on social media. And it's both disgusting and scary.
That magic threshold is, well, bogus. And we've known it for years. So why are we still so obsessed with logging 10,000 hours of deliberate practice?
It's not exactly the Stanley Cup, but there's a reason why all Tour de France stage winners receive a stuffed lion on the podium.
What’s one thing college kids and health nuts apparently have in common? Butt chugging. And a total lack of common sense.
Dominate the water and the road with the help of this gear arsenal.
Studies and experts suggest that nasal strips like Breathe Right don’t improve athletic performance in adults in any measure—no improved VO2 max, ventilation, maximal work rate, lactate threshold, or lowered ratings of perceived exertion. And it appears the same goes for horses. “Equine nasal…
In a desperate measure to burn surfeit calories, men and women have rushed to stuff their jiggly bits into resistance pants. But can clothing really make a workout any better?
Pro runner Maggie Vessey turned a lot of heads last week at the Prefontaine Classic, and not because of her second-place finish. No, the media was more interested in what she was wearing.
That’s right. The future of adventure filmmaking lies in 360-degree video footage, at least according to a handful of ambitious inventors.
What do you get when you cross three former Navy SEALs, an attorney, degrees from Harvard’s business and Kennedy schools, and passion for the mountains? A brand new breed of eco-friendly obstacle race.
New Healthkit app displays live fitness data, connects doctors and patients in real-time
Every year, the American College of Sports Medicine releases its fitness index. But what does the project do besides give a city bragging rights?
A new report details the factors behind our surprising speedskating failure in this year's Olympics—and any athlete can learn from its findings.
This is the Kickstarter campaign all runners should be backing.
There's no denying the popularity of CrossFit. And there's also no ignoring its TV potential. Enter the NPFL: In a bid to monetize functional fitness, an ex-CrossFit exec has a bold, new plan to attract sponsors and fans. Just don't call him a sellout.
Rescue professional saved by a firefighter at "Walk the Plank," an obstacle implicated in the 2013 death of a Tough Mudder participant.
Harvard and MIT researchers did recently publish a study that found exposure to silver nanoparticles, found in clothing, toothpaste, toys and other products, can cause substantial DNA damage. But before I get to your main question, let’s look at why that news might’ve frightened you. A nanoparticle…
Two-time World's Toughest Mudder champ Junyong Pak, 36, on mastering the mud
It's exploded in popularity recently, and it's not going anywhere. But can OCR make it to the Olympics?
Does Walmart's new organic foods venture pose a threat to Whole Foods?
Former pro speed skater Apolo Ohno is ready for a new challenge. Here he offers his advice for other aspiring distance athletes.
It's a long road to the 2016 Olympics and Phelps isn't guaranteed a spot on the U.S. team. But he's back in the pool and things are going swimmingly.
Still running barefoot, munching glucosamine, and grinding out junk miles? Time to heed to the latest science.
Good news! Your post-race pavement pizzas don’t have anything to do with your lactate threshold. “You’re going to be running your lactate up when you’re doing things more intense, but the two are not directly related,” says Dr. Stephen Simons, Director of Sports Medicine at…
Three years ago, it seemed like every fitness rag was hyping chocolate milk as the optimal recovery drink. It’s been in the fridge all along! We didn’t even know! The drink’s 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein, experts said, best promotes muscle repair and rebuilds energy stores after a…
There is nothing we’d like more than to see the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time return to the five-ringed stage. Can he make it happen at age 31?
Ah, the ol’ “my resting heart rate is slower than yours, therefore I’m a superior athlete!” argument. Cyclist Miguel Indurain famously had a resting heart rate of 28 beats per minute, and he won the Tour de France five times in a row, so it’s easy to see how…
Couch potatoes everywhere were overjoyed to learn—courtesy of a recent study—that running is actually dangerous. But a closer look at the science suggests the smirks are seriously misguided.
First, let’s address the arm numbness. If your arm only numbs up while you’re running, there are two likely causes: poor posture, and the way you carry your equipment. Here’s why, and what to do. Fix Your Form “There are little tiny blood vessels that go to the muscles in…
Poo-phoria occurs when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve, which descends from the brainstem to the colon.
Tell your cryophilic boss to go eat a snow cone. Most studies peg somewhere between 70 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit as the optimal temperature for productivity. If that’s not exact enough for you, don’t worry. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory wanted to find the single most productive degree,…
Tips from the world’s top-ranked slopestyle skier
You don't need a gym membership to be ready for race season
They help you break falls and climb walls. Here's how to keep them strong.
Can you sense the weather in your joints? Here's why that happens.
Some researchers believe that significant increases in resting heart rate (RHR) are a sign that you’re over-stressed, though the physiological mechanism behind the increase is not well understood. While scientists are currently uncertain that RHR is an ideal gauge of training readiness, some believe it can be…
We can only assume you’re wondering whether the Denver Broncos or the Seattle Seahawks will have an advantage in New Jersey at Super Bowl XLVIII. Don’t make any bets until you read this! Just kidding. (No, really.) We posed your question to Rod Connolly, an exercise physiologist,…
Yes, it’s true that the volume of muscle mass activated during exercise is directly linked to the testosterone response. But it’s not the only factor involved. “Absolute workload (volume and intensity) of the session is also thought to be linked with the testosterone response,” Dr. Amy Vivien Tanner wrote…
“There are a lot of reasons why your body changes as you get older,” says Dr. Patrick Siparsky, an orthopedist at the University of Toledo, and lead author of a recently published paper on sarcopenia, the age-related decrease in lean body mass. “You don’t get as much…
Cleanses, specifically store-bought ones, are almost always bunk. No weeklong celebrity cayenne pepper diet or colonic lemonade spritz can rid your body of the gunk you’ve been exposed to—from alcohol and nicotine to pesticides and air pollution—says Mark Moyad, a urologist at the University of Michigan. Luckily, you’re already equipped…
The short answer: nope. “It really doesn’t do much to alter meal frequency,” says Dr. Michelle Kulovitz Alencar, an exercise scientist at CSU San Bernardino who is investigating the impact of meal frequency on body mass. Weight loss “has more to do with the amount of calories consumed throughout the…