Many studies have confirmed the importance of the meniscus to the function of the knee, especially during sport. The literature is littered with studies citing the important biomechanical roles that the menisci play in shock absorption, force transmission, and load distribution across the knee in addition to contributing to stability, joint congruence, nutrition of the articular cartilage, joint lubrication, and proprioception. Loss of meniscal tissue due to injury leads to decreased clinical function and reduced activity levels. Help however, is at hand. Research from the United States has been trialling a collagen meniscal implant. The implant was created using tissue engineering techniques and derived from U.S origin bovine Achilles tendons. It has been tested extensively in ...

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Effects of a Whole Body Compression Garment on Markers of Recovery After a Heavy Resistance Workout in Men and Women   Kraemer, William J; Flanagan, Shawn D; Comstock, Brett A; Fragala, Maren S; Earp, Jacob E; Dunn-Lewis, Courtenay; Ho, Jen-Yu; Thomas, Gwendolyn A; Solomon-Hill, Glenn; Penwell, Zachary R; Powell, Matthew D; Wolf, Megan R; Volek, Jeff S; Denegar, Craig R; Maresh, Carl M   Abstract: The primary purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of a whole body compression garment on recovery from a typical heavy resistance training workout in resistance-trained men and women. Eleven men (mean ± SD: age, 23.0 ± 2.9 years) and 9 women (mean ± SD: age 23.1 ± 2.2 years) who were highly ...

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Below is the abstract for a great article, comparing power between strong vs. weaker athletes – note athletes were considered strong based on their relative peak power. This article was presented at the International Congress on Strength Training, Colorodo 2008, and has spawned a new way of looking at how to develop athletes based on their training status, where the key points of the article are: Weaker athletes can continue to improve their power output with the protocol used in this study over 10 weeks The protocol used in this study was very easy, requiring only 2 sessions per week of 67 squat jumps at low loads making this program very accessible (less than 150lbs). I would ...

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