Commonwealth Sports Medicine

What Should I Do When I Have a Cold? . Burrr! It is getting cold for Richmond’s athletes. Fortunately, cold weather and wet hair are not part of the current viral theory for causes of the common cold (sorry Mom!). Working out in the cold is however immunosuppressive. In other words, it decreases your ability [...]

Heat acclimation refers to the specific physiologic changes in our body that result from daily training in the summer. It takes about 2 weeks of daily hot workouts for these changes to occur. The acclimated athlete 1. Sweats earlier. You step outside and are immediately drenched. Remember sweat evaporation the best way to cool off. [...]

Does your shoulder hurt every time you throw, serve, or reach overhead? If so you may have “Shoulder impingement Syndrome,” also known as “Subacromial Bursitis,” and “Tendonitis.” This common condition affects at least half of all overhead athletes at some point in their career. To understand Impingement Syndrome, it helps to know the bones and [...]

Good, but it Needs A Little Salt “Low salt”… “Salt free”… “Low sodium”… these products are all over the shelves of your Whole Foods and HEB. Is this what we should eat? What is Hyponatremia? (hi-PO-na-tree-mee-uh) Table salt, sodium chloride, is lost in sweat and urine and replaced by food. The sodium part (of sodium [...]

Citius, Altius, Fortius: Faster, Higher, Stronger It’s the Olympic motto. In a world where athletic events are won by hundredths of a second and competitors do almost anything to win, athletes of all levels explore ergogenic aids (substances that improve athletic performance). The Tour riders and Richmond runners are no exception. Legality is a concern. [...]