Try your hand at the Spore Creature Creator and win free stuff from Big Download!
Posts with tag tour de france

Lance Armstrong: Retired and running, but why?

Posted: Apr 14th 2008 5:00PM by Kristen Seymour
Filed under: Fitness, Celebrities

After winning the Tour de France seven times, Lance Armstrong is certainly worthy of a relaxing retirement. However, that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Since his retirement, the 35-year-old has found himself constantly on the road, promoting LiveStrong Challenges, the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research, joining with Nike and Apple to publicize his involvement in their partnership, and trying to be home to spend time with his kids. Still, his crazy schedule hasn't stopped him from running marathons.

Continue reading Lance Armstrong: Retired and running, but why?

What is the genetic makeup of a champion?

Posted: Dec 27th 2007 11:30AM by Adams Briscoe
Filed under: Fitness, General Health

Athletes sometimes appear to defy human mechanics. For the rest of the world, it would seem insurmountable to ride over 2000 miles in more than 20 days. But to cyclists in the Tour de France, it's part of the job! When you consider athletes like this, it has to make you wonder: is it in their genes?

Some original research was conducted to answer this question, and the short answer is yes! While it goes without saying that practice makes perfect, scientists have identified 23 combinations of genes that enable athletic superiority. The article tells us that the odds of having all 23 is 200,000 to 1.

Those are not bad odds! However, this interesting study brings up some great questions. For example, could we see Olympians genetically engineered some day? While the thought of artificially creating superior athletes takes all the fun out of it, this also backs the truth that hard work and determination usually win in the end.

Tour de France cyclists have BIG hearts

Posted: Sep 3rd 2007 6:00PM by Bethany Sanders
Filed under: Fitness

It's common in serious athletes to see enlarged hearts. The body adapts to the need for more oxygen by creating thicker walls in the heart. But researchers out of France recently took a look at the hearts of Tour de France cyclists and found that their tickers were 20 to 40% larger than average. Though they can't say for sure whether the bikers' hearts were larger than average to begin with, after cyclists retired, their hearts did lose about 25% of their mass, even though the athletes stayed in excellent shape. Tour de France participants are among athletic elite, so seeing how their bodies adapt to strenuous exercise is pretty interesting!

2007 Tour de France puts spotlight on doping in sports

Posted: Jul 31st 2007 9:43AM by Lauren Greschner
Filed under: Fitness, Health in the Media

I spend a lot of time listening to internet radio while I work and, while I normally wouldn't pick up on Tour de France news as it doesn't rate very high on my interest scale, I have heard a lot about the famous cycling race over the last few days. The 2007 race has been called a disaster after several instances of doping were reported among a number of riders.

What I don't understand is, how do these cyclists assume that they won't get caught? According to this piece, a random sample of riders are tested each day including the race leader and the winner of the current stage, along with a number of other riders. I figure that athletes who show positive results for banned substances have taken them as they think it will help them win, and they must know that they will be tested at the end of the day and found out, so what's the point? Doesn't seem like a very intelligent strategy.

It's a shame that a few riders had to tarnish the reputation of the entire race, but perhaps this will make others smarten up next year. And in happier sports news, not a single one of the 5,500 participants at the Pan-American Games, which just came to a close, tested positive for any banned substances. Apparently these athletes have brains as well as brawn.

The ultimate gadget for cyclists: The Polar CS600

Posted: Jul 19th 2007 12:26PM by Rigel Gregg
Filed under: Fitness, Healthy Products

In the world of "fun ways to track your status while working out" cyclists have been a little left out when compared to walkers and runners, who can get heart rate monitors and shoes and mp3 players that tell them what's going on -- all while coordinating their efforts to music no less. Well now there's something specially designed for cyclists by cyclists: the CS600 by Polar. Put together with the help of six teams that competed in last year's Tour de France, it monitors not only your heart rate (of course), but also your bike's speed and altitude, which it sends wirelessly to your computer from it's convenient spot on the bike's handlebars.

Sound cool? It must be -- it costs upwards of $700.

Tour de France riders: not just your average Joes

Posted: Jul 8th 2007 5:00PM by Maggie Vink
Filed under: Fitness

The Tour de France kicked off this weekend. It may take more than talent and intense training to be a world-class cyclist; one physiologist believes that body structure of elite cyclists is, at least in part, created by nature.

Endurance athletes, like cyclists, require amazing lung capacity. Spain's Miguel Indurain -- a five time Tour winner -- had a lung capacity of eight litres compared to the average six. During exercise, Indurain could consume nearly double the oxygen an untrained adult could consume. Other Tour athletes have had similarly high lung capacity. Elite cyclists also tend to have strong hearts. Lance Armstrong, for example, is estimated to have a heart that's 30% larger than average.

2006 Tour de France winner under fire for possible testosterone use

Posted: May 19th 2007 11:30AM by Maggie Vink
Filed under: Health in the Media

Floyd Landis, 2006 winner of the Tour de France, was accused of using synthetic testosterone during his race. He's currently involved in a nine-day arbitration hearing that will decide whether to drop or uphold the positive drug test. At Friday's meeting another pro cyclist, Joe Papp, testified on exactly how testosterone can be used in a race and how it improves performance. Papp, who is currently waiting out a two-year doping suspension, was called to the witness stand by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. His testimony disputes claims made by Landis' lawyers stating that testosterone couldn't have helped Landis win and that, because of standard race tests, he wouldn't have tried to use drugs.

Papp displayed a pack of testosterone gel, saying that using the gel had helped him recover between stages of the race and that it's possible to use it undetected. Papp later stated that he tried to race clean for years, but felt the need to dope in order to remain competitive.

Witnesses for the defense included a University of Florida professor, Bruce Goldberger, who took issue with the manner in which Landis' drug tests were done in the laboratory. In his professional opinion, the chain of custody of the samples is unreliable.

Gene doping of the future

Posted: Aug 7th 2006 1:00PM by Adams Briscoe
Filed under: Fitness, General Health, HealthWatch

In an age where athletes are willing to subject themselves to severe and unnatural methods of artificially increasing their performance, the threat of gene therapy coupled with doping could prove to be an Achilles heel to legitimate sport. If taking pints of blood out of their body only to modify and put back in wasn't enough, what would happen if genetic doping became the new underground trend?

American Tour de France winner Floyd Landis knows how painful it can be to field accusations about doping. When officials found an excess of testosterone in his blood, it threw the entire race into question. But considering he has been taking cortisone for a degenerative hip, the possibility of whether he was illegally doping or not is still in the air. These type of tests can introduce false positives into the mix, but gene therapy could prove to be totally undetectable and foolproof.

What will happen if and when athletes decide to tamper with their genetic structure in the name of winning? By using the common cold virus, doctors would be able to smuggle in super genes to increase stamina and performance. And don't forget the health implications either: marathon mice that underwent such modifications died much faster than the others. Gene therapy could redefine modern medicine, but we still have a long way to go in understanding it all.



That's Fit Features





Life Fit with Laura Lewis

How many calories burned? What is my BMI?
More weight loss tools!


Features
Ask Fitz! (66)
Ask Laura! (15)
ATIO: Summer Quick Fix Challenge (6)
ATIO: Wednesday Weigh-In (4)
ATIO: Weekly Weight-loss Results (4)
Body Bloggers (56)
Celebrity Fitzness Report (35)
Daily Fit Tip (369)
Fit Beauty (79)
Fit Factor (85)
Fit Gadgets (20)
Fit Links (91)
Fit Mama (10)
Fit Pregnancy (22)
Fitku (9)
FitSpirit (42)
FitTV (6)
Fitzness Fiends (53)
Gut Busters (4)
Healthy Handful (11)
How Many Calories? (96)
Jogging for Normal People (17)
Jumpstart Your Fitness (87)
Life Fit Chat with Laura Lewis (100)
Life Fit with Laura Lewis (54)
Meet the Bloggers (20)
One Small Step (7)
Podcasts (43)
Recipe Rehab (23)
Retro Review (3)
Road To Fitville (15)
Stress Less (28)
Taking Off Ten (12)
That's Fit In The Field (2)
The 5 (36)
The Daily Turn On! (101)
We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs (34)
We Love To Gawk At Fit Celebs Weekly Roundup (24)
Week In Review (50)
Working In the Workouts (48)
Workplace Fitness (87)
You Are What You Eat (66)
Your Turn (19)
Healthy Living
Alternative Therapies (273)
Book Reviews (89)
Celebrities (717)
Cellulite (194)
Diet and Weight Loss (2258)
Eco-Travel (76)
Emotional Health (1233)
Fit Fashion (69)
Fitness (3200)
Food and Nutrition (3950)
General Health (5161)
Health and Technology (646)
Health in the Media (1211)
HealthWatch (393)
Healthy Aging (682)
Healthy Events (132)
Healthy Habits (2002)
Healthy Home (431)
Healthy Kids (1456)
Healthy Places (236)
Healthy Products (889)
Healthy Recipes (276)
Healthy Relationships (290)
Men's Health (1314)
Natural Beauty (221)
Natural Products (227)
Obesity (238)
Organic (207)
Spirituality and Inspiration (246)
Stress Reduction (505)
Sustainable Community (217)
Vegetarian (250)
Vitamins and Supplements (266)
Women's Health (1825)
Work/Home Balance (177)

RESOURCES

Powered by Blogsmith

Featured Stories

Featured Galleries

Fitz's Fit Family Disney Vacation Day 1
Dining at Disney is a fitness family's dream!
Fitz's Fit Family Disney Vacation: Day 3
Walt Disney World Menus Evolve
Fitz's Fit Family Disney Vacation Day 2 @ Magic Kingdom
Taking kids along on a bike
Summer Slimdown Guide: 5 Moves to Tone Your Body In No Time
Summer Slimdown Guide: Readers' 5 Waistline-Friendly Foods
Summer Slimdown Guide: Readers' Quick Slimdown Secrets
ESPN's Desmond Howard
Summer Slimdown Guide: 5 Calorie-Free Foods
Summer Slimdown Guide: 5 Natural Fat Burners

Sponsored Links

Most Commented On (60 days)

Recent Comments


Aches, pains? Find out what your symptoms mean:

Weblogs, Inc. Network

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: