I'm a post-workout stretcher. If I'm going on a long run, I'll warm up, then do a bit of stretching, but most of the time, I don't stretch at all until I'm finished, and the reason is simple -- I'm always in a hurry, and I haven't found that stretching beforehand helps me feel less sore afterward.

I have a friend who is a health professional, and he refuses to stretch. Ever. He'll do yoga, and he'll relax in the sauna, but don't ask him to stretch before or after running -- he just doesn't see the point.

Diet Blog took a closer look at the research behind stretching, and you know what? It seems to just be a personal choice every fitness buff needs to make for him or herself. Some research claims pre-workout stretching actually makes you weaker, but plenty of others say it greatly improves your performance. So, it made me wonder, what do That's Fit readers do?

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Elizabeth Hurley has been a spokesperson for Estee Lauder's Breast Cancer Awareness campaign for the past 13 years. Like many people, Hurley has been touched by breast cancer. Her grandmother battled the disease, as did many of her friends. So promoting breast cancer research -- and a healthy lifestyle -- is a natural fit for this beauty.

As we all should, Hurley takes steps to protect her good health. She lives in the country where she spends lots of time out in the fresh air and in her garden. She also makes nutritional choices that support good health. While she admits to splurging on chocolate or chips from time to time, she makes a habit of choosing healthful foods. Also, after she started buying fewer prepackaged foods, she discovered that she loves cooking.

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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There are many ways you can get involved. One of the simplest ways is to simply purchase products that support the Susan G. Komen Foundation ... so go pink!

From watches to t-shirts to tote bags to yogurt, you can find almost any product that labeled with the familiar pink ribbon. Portions of the proceeds from these products benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and help with cancer research costs.

A wide variety of fitness-related products have gone pink, too. If it's time to replace your running shoes or you need some new workout clothes, then why not look for the pink ribbon? Check out the gallery for just a few of the products that help support cancer research.

Splenda: Love it or hate it? We all know one group who definitely counts Splenda among its enemies: The sugar industry.

Chances are you came across the recent news that Splenda has been labeled unsafe by researchers at Duke University -- according to these findings, Splenda promotes obesity, destroys 'good' intestinal bacteria and prevents prescription drugs from being absorbed. But The New York Times recently pointed out that the study was founded by none other than Splenda's main competitor, a sugar manufacturer.

Blah blah blah. We've heard this all before in the HFCS debate. And let's be honest -- this bickering getting old, not to mention irritating. Is it too much to ask for a neutral third party to step in and tell us once and for all what the deal is? In the meantime, I don't think either in moderation will kill you.

(via Calorie Lab)

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When you're biggin' up at the gym, pushing yourself to the limits as you pump out rep after rep, it's very easy to inadvertently break form.

This is especially true when you approach the end of your set, says a report from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, stating that giving it all you've got sometimes involves a little twisting and turning. According to the report, men and women contort, cheat, and swing their bodies with the greatest frequency when trying to squeeze out their last few reps.

Training to complete failure is not always the best idea. Some swear by it, while others (including researchers) claim that it sometimes does more harm than good. Sticking to strict form and working to the point of technical failure (which differs from complete failure, in that it refers to the point when an exercise can no longer be performed with proper form) is almost universally accepted as the safest and most effective way to train.

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The human mouth is like Palm Springs for bacteria. The warm, wet environment is the perfect breeding ground for germs, which is part of the reason why it's never a good idea to actually put your money where your mouth is (a 20/20 investigation found that paper money oftentimes contains germs of fecal, respiratory, and skin origin).

Mouth ulcers are a prime example of how quickly the mouth can become infected. More or less just an open wound, mouth ulcers most commonly appear on the inside of the bottom lip. Without treatment, an ulcer can hang around for anywhere from five to fourteen days. One way to help deal with the annoying pain typically associated with mouth ulcers is to apply choline salicylate gel (the active ingredient in many brand names, including Bonjela), according to a study published in the Journal of Canadian Dental Association.

One way to keep your mouth as bacteria-free as possible is to switch from that old school bottle of Listerine to newer kinds that do not contain alcohol. Research shows that alcohol-based mouthwash can actually increase the presence of bacteria in the mouth.

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A gym is a great place to put in a solid workout, but it can sometimes be one of the worst places to get health and fitness advice. It's easy to assume that someone with a great physique must be an expert on health and fitness, but that may not necessarily be the case. Their advice, though well-intentioned, may not exactly be sound. Remember, not all great players make great coaches (ask Isiah Thomas). The approach to fitness these individuals take may work well for them, but for you they could potentially lead to disaster.

Fortunately, there are thousands of scientists who study the effects of proper diet and regular exercise. More to the point, they use their brain -- rather than their brawn -- to determine what foods are best for the body and what fitness moves produce the greatest results. In doing so, they dispel rumors, put an end to myths, and cancel out some very common fitness half-truths. This may not make the musclehead -- who swears by tri-setting every body part and following a diet of 12 chicken potpies a day -- all that pleased, but it will save you from over-training ... and wanting to puke.

Men's Health magazine recently tackled this very issue in their article 7 Muscle Myths - Fact vs. Fiction. In it, researchers take a look at some common gym misconceptions and, in efforts to clear up any confusion and prevent potential injury, present their own expert advice . I'll be highlighting one of these myths for the next seven days. Here's a look at Myth #1:

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Eating healthy costs money. Getting into better shape can also cost a good deal of coin (gym memberships, new running sneakers, etc.). But sleep? That's a freebee, yet of these three primary paths to health and wellness, this is the area where most people carry the most debt.

Not good, say researchers from Stanford University, not good at all. Not if you want to be at your best during workouts ... and just about everything else you do during your hours spent awake. Support for this assertion comes from the University of Lubeck in Germany, where researchers discovered that getting the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night can help improve creativity and memory.

With the weekend here, do yourself the favor of sleeping in -- providing you have the luxury to do so. Not only will help your performance in the gym and help you unleash your inner Picasso, but a failure to catch enough Z's can also decrease your libido, says a recent Men's Health article.

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Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Dear Fitz, I know that most people are trying to lose weight, but I am trying to gain. Gain muscle, that is. I am going to the gym three to four times per week. I'm using the weight machines there, but It doesn't seem like I am gaining any muscle. Could you give me some advice? What types of healthy food should I eat? Should I be doing more reps with less weight or fewer reps with more weight? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Lea Rettig

A. Hey Lea, your question is superb, and the answer thank goodness is quite simple. Strength training should be challenging. Funny enough, my clients always seemed shocked and follow up that feeling of shock by giving me dirty looks when I pass them the dumbbell I'd like them to lift. Along with that dirty look, I receive chronic cries of, "Fitz! That's heavy!" Well, yes. Yes it is. The purpose of strength training is to get stronger, and yes ... build muscle. If I were to give them weights they could already lift comfortably ... they wouldn't be getting any stronger!

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"No longer easy on the eyes, 'cause these wrinkles masterfully disguise the youthful boy below," croons Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard in a song off their 2005 album Plans. If you were to ask a scientist from the Corporate Research and Statistics Group to evaluate these lyrics, they'd tell you Mr. Gibbard probably needs more vitamin C in his diet.

That's because research into the effects of vitamin C on skin revealed that of 4,000 people examined for a 2007 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, those who consumed the highest amounts of this vitamin in their diets had significantly fewer wrinkles than people with the lowest levels. Researchers posit that the antioxidants found in vitamin C help increase collagen production and regeneration, thereby keeping skin looking younger.

However, not everyone subscribes to this 'An orange a day keeps the wrinkle away' construct. Many experts believe that it's too difficult, if impossible, to ascertain which specific foods actually contributes to wrinkles, or the lack thereof.

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Oh man. This is one of those statistics that makes you either swear off eating all together or throw your hands up in the air in disgust. I mean seriously. Who is the guy with the weird job which allows him to research these odd little details? I'd hate to be his wife, as he comes home each night with all the yucky tidbits in life that I really never want to know.

I learned about my bug consumption while flipping through the June 2008 edition of Women's Health magazine. Seems more the type of scoop you'd find in Maxim, but no ... it was my beloved Women's Health that broke the news.

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Peanut allergies have become pretty popular. And what causes them remains a bit confusing.

When my now almost three-year-old daughter was a baby, our pediatrician told us the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended peanut consumption be delayed until age three because the allergy was believed to be developed due to repeated exposure at a very young age. But new studies suggest no relation between allergies to peanuts and when a child began eating them. This is what AAP had to say. Since the cause is still clear as mud, study authors recommend more research on the cause of early allergic reactions to peanuts, as well as successful prevention efforts.

Meanwhile, we're still eating sunflower seed butter in our house. This web page touts its similarity to peanut butter in consistency, taste and price and offers a nutritional breakdown (it does contain a bit more sugar than some peanut butters). We started when the pediatrician gave us the nitty gritty on nut allergies and we have no plans to stop. It's really tasty. I like it better than peanut butter. We pick up a couple jars every time we go to Trader Joe's. But it's also available in other local markets.

So until researchers come up with some more news on peanuts, consider sunflower seed butter as a tasty alternative that you don't have to worry about.

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A recent Japanese study, published in the Kobe Journal Medical Sciences and most recently highlighted in Fitness Rx magazine, confirms what we've known for quite some time: eating foods high in simple, fast-digesting carbs can cause you to pack on more fat. The difference this time around, however, is that this study provides an additional explanation for why this happens.

When you drink copious amounts of regular soda and chomp on white bread, you spike your blood glucose levels (also known as blood sugar). You may be familiar with this concept from your own knowledge base or from hearing of this process from someone who has diabetes. In response, your body produces a large amount of insulin in efforts to bring your blood glucose back down from orbit by moving the glucose out of the blood and into the cells (whereas a person with diabetes may have to use synthetic insulin -- administered either by shot or pump -- to make up for what their pancreas is not able to sufficiently do on its own in this regard). After this occurs, all excess glucose is stored for later use as fat in white adipose tissue.

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This month, the American Diabetes Association invites anyone willing to make a few phone calls between today and May 2 to call on Congress to do more to fight diabetes.

Calls will be made to congressional Representatives and Senators during the ADA's 2008 Call to Congress Call-In. Also, hundreds of diabetes advocates will be on Capitol Hill visiting with their Members of Congress and asking them to increase funding for diabetes research and prevention.

Talking points and the call-in flyer (for printing and distributing) can be found online.

Source: American Diabetes Association

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In a surprising bit of news, researchers from Copenhagen University recently asserted that antioxidant supplements do nothing to extend life and, perhaps even more shocking, that "beta-carotene and vitamins A and E seem to increase mortality."

Even after various outside factors were taken into account, the researchers linked vitamin A supplements to a 16-percent increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a 7-percent increased risk and vitamin E to a 4-percent increased risk, reported the BBC news in a recent release.

Researchers speculate that taking these supplements may somehow interfere with the body's utilization of vitamins and minerals derived from food sources. Beta-carotene, for instance, is thought to change the way a body utilizes fats. As such, the researchers -- as well as the Department of Health in the U.K. -- urge people to exercise caution when using supplements and, if possible, to get the vitamins and minerals they need from their diet.

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