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Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm

http://health.ucdavis.edu/sports-medicine/

UC Davis Sports Performance and Wellness, 3301 C Street, Ste 1600, Sacramento, CA (2025)

12/12/2025

What type of cardio should you do?

Cardio is a crucial component of overall fitness and is something we must maintain throughout our lives. It is hard knowing which type of exercise to do and what intensity zone to be in.

What exercise?
This comes down to what you enjoy. There are numerous methods of cardio that all enhance overall cardio-respiratory fitness and elicit specific muscular adaptations. If your primary goal is to get out there and get the heart rate up, choose something you enjoy doing. The important factor to consider is what exercise works best for you to reach every intensity zone.

Cardio intensity zones can be explained the easiest through your heart rate. The higher your heart rate gets, the higher the intensity you're working in. These intensity zones are split into 5 categories: Zone 1, Very Low Intensity, Zone 2, Low Intensity, Zone 3, Moderate Intensity, Zone 4, High Intensity, and Zone 5, Very High Intensity. Each zone contains specific metabolic processes that separate them from each other.

Zone 1:
50-60% of Max Heart Rate. This zone is primarily for recovery purposes. It slightly increases blood flow and promotes fat burning.

Zone 2:
60-70% of Max Heart Rate. This zone improves your aerobic capacity and increases your VO2max. Zone 2 sessions need to be long and slow to elicit the aerobic adaptations. Exercising at this intensity improves your body’s ability to burn fat efficiently.

Zone 3:
70-80% of Max Heart Rate. Zone 3 is known as the tempo zone, where your body utilizes both fat and carbs as fuel. If you’re competing in any endurance competition, this is like the intensity your body will be in through the duration of the race.

Zone 4:
80-90% of Max Heart Rate. In zone 4, you will burn all carbs and increase your maximum performance capacity during shorter efforts.

Zone 5:
90-100% of Max Heart Rate. Helps develop speed and maintain high-intensity fitness.

If you’re looking to improve overall cardio fitness, it is crucial to target all of these zones to a certain degree. The general rule is to spend most of your time in zone 2/3 and occasionally push zones 4/5 to maintain both high-intensity and low-intensity fitness.

12/12/2025

ACL Prevention: Strong glutes and proper knee alignment are your first line of defense against ACL injuries. When the hips are weak, the knee collapses inward during cutting, landing, and change-of-direction which is one of the biggest risk factors for the ACL tears. Adding simple glute activation and strength drills to your warm-up like lateral band walks and single-leg stability work, helps keep the knee tracking correctly and reduces strain on the ligament. Train your hips, control your landing, and you'll protect your ACL every time you move.

12/09/2025

Arthritis refers to inflammation or dysfunction within one or more joints. It encompasses a broad range of conditions with varying causes, including autoimmune or rheumatologic disorders, prior injury, and age-related degenerative changes. Common symptoms include aching pain, stiffness, swelling, and reduced mobility, all of which can significantly impact daily comfort and functional capacity — particularly in older adults.

As arthritis is prevalent and can be highly limiting, proactive symptom management is essential. Regular exercise plays a central role in improving joint health. Movement increases circulation of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joint and reduces stiffness. Strengthening the surrounding musculature through resistance training decreases mechanical load on the affected joint, enhances support from ligaments and tendons, and improves overall stability. In addition, mobility work, flexibility training, and low-impact aerobic exercise can help reduce inflammation, alleviate pain, and maintain functional range of motion.

12/05/2025

What are the short-term and long-term benefits of exercise on the brain?

Overall, we have a good understanding of the benefits of exercise on the entire body, including increases in cardiorespiratory function, muscle and joint strength, and immune system function. Collectively, these benefits decrease our chances of developing certain diseases. The one organ we still don’t have the best understanding of during exercise is the brain. The brain is our most metabolically active organ, which is constantly changing as we learn and complete new tasks. But does exercise influence the function of this organ? Research is showing that it does, but the benefits vary depending on the intensity, frequency, acute vs. chronic, duration, and mode of exercise.

Short-Term Benefits:
Minor changes in blood flow - A slight increase that is not intensity dependent.

Increase in blood distribution - Increases oxygenation in the brain.

Increase in glucose uptake - The brain requires more fuel during exercise, which leads to a higher glucose consumption. This effect changes depending on intensity. The higher the intensity, the more lactate is used instead.

Releases endorphins - The exercise high people feel during and after exercise.

Increase in brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) - Important for learning, regulating, and maintaining neuron growth.

Long-term Benefits: Limited experimental evidence in humans, but some results have shown
Possible increase in capillarity

Possible increase in neurogenesis - Creating new neurons.

Possible increase in mitochondrial biogenesis - Increases in the number and mass of the mitochondria in the cell.

Although current research is limited on the benefits of exercise on the brain, the current literature shows that exercise could improve learning and the growth of neurons. These findings provide yet another compelling reason to incorporate regular physical activity into daily life.

12/02/2025

An injured tendon can significantly limit athletic performance and may become increasingly debilitating if not rehabilitated properly.

Tendons are specialized connective tissues that transmit force between muscle and bone. They are primarily composed of tightly organized Type I collagen fibers that bundle together to form the fascicles and overall tendon structure. When mechanical load exceeds the tensile strength of this collagen matrix, a partial or complete tear may occur. For this reason, proper movement mechanics and appropriate loading are essential for preventing tendon injuries.

When a tear does occur, the body initiates a repair process in which the original Type I collagen is initially replaced by Type III collagen. This early repair tissue is characterized by immature, loosely organized fibers that form a stable but mechanically weaker scar at the injury site.

During the remodeling phase, Type III collagen is gradually replaced with stronger, well-aligned Type I collagen through cross-linking and fiber reorganization. To optimize this process, evidence supports the use of collagen supplementation combined with vitamin C taken 30–60 minutes before tendon-loading exercise. Additionally, incorporating isometric loading of the affected tendon can meaningfully enhance collagen synthesis, reduce pain, and promote long-term recovery.

11/25/2025

Tracking progress through performance gains and physical appearance is valuable, but monitoring body weight can also provide meaningful insight into your body’s response to different nutrition strategies and training programs. For many individuals, a simple home scale is sufficient for observing general weight trends.

As training becomes more advanced, understanding changes in body composition—specifically fat mass and lean mass—can offer a deeper picture of fitness progress. Most affordable household smart scales estimate body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). These devices send a small electrical current through the lower body and measure how much it is slowed as it travels through fat, muscle, bone, and water. While useful for monitoring general trends, their accuracy is limited due to the region the current travels through, requiring the device to estimate total body composition through prediction equations.

Other advanced methods exist. One of them is the classic hydrostatic (underwater) weighing that compares weight on land with weight underwater to estimate body fat percentage based on body density. However, Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) remains as the gold standard today. By measuring the amount of low-dose X-ray energy absorbed by different tissues, it allows for highly accurate assessment of bone mineral density, lean mass, and fat mass, as well as regional distribution.

11/25/2025

THE IMPORTANCE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE IN SENIOR POPULATIONS

Exercise (especially aerobic exercise such as walking, running, and swimming) is vital for health globally. In senior populations especially, aerobic exercise is key to preventing falls, guiding against injury, and overall improving quality of life. Exercise acts as a protective factor against disease and pain, so prioritizing movement and longevity is something that everyone must consider as we continue to age. At the UC Davis Health Sports Medicine and Wellness Clinic, we provide services to establish baseline measurements for oxygen/carbon dioxide consumption and metabolic rates during aerobic activities through the utilization of VO2 max and RMR diagnostics. These tests are very influential in preparing plans-of-action for anyone's fitness journey and can be used to set baselines for improvement both physically and dietarily!

11/21/2025

How to improve your VO2 max:

High Intensity Interval Training - Pushing the limits of exercise. HIIT is a type of interval training where you exercise at 90-100% of your maximum intensity. The goal is to exercise in the zone 4-5 range. This pushes the top end of our body's anaerobic capabilities. A typical workout consists of 4x4 intervals at 90-100% intensity with 3 minutes of rest in between.

Low intensity aerobic training - Typically consists of a long and easy endurance exercise, such as running or biking. The goal is to keep the heart rate at the zone 2 level. Workouts usually last anywhere from 45 to 120 minutes.

Tempo Training - Intensity level between 80-90%. Allows the body to maintain a high percentage of VO2 max during sustained efforts

Adequate Recovery - Make sure you’re hydrating, prioritizing sleep, and eating enough during your workout days. A fueled and rested body allows you to push the limits and maximize performance.

Consider getting a VO2 max test done to track your progress and ensure you’re training effectively.

11/19/2025

A wide range of supplements is marketed today for general health, wellness, and performance. Among the most common is fish oil, but what exactly is it, and how can it support training and recovery?

Fish oil is composed of omega-3 fatty acids, primarily EPA and DHA, derived from fatty fish such as salmon and sardines. As these essential fats are not produced by the body, they must be obtained through diet or supplementation. Fish oil is well known for its cardiovascular benefits, including lowering triglycerides, improving HDL cholesterol, and reducing the risk of atherosclerosis. It also plays an important role in reducing systemic and joint inflammation, especially in the setting of rheumatoid arthritis. Fish oil has also been shown to reduce depressive symptoms, enhance cognitive performance, and support healthy brain structure and function.

For athletes and active individuals, the anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3s contribute to performance and recovery. Fish oil can reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), improve markers of oxidative stress, and support healthy blood flow, which ensures working muscles receive adequate oxygen and nutrients.

Overall, while fish oil is not a direct muscle-building supplement, its broad effects on cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neurocognitive health work together to enhance training quality, support recovery, and promote long-term wellness.

11/14/2025

STRENGTH TRAINING AS WE AGE

One of the steepest declines as we age is our level of strength. It's not so much about how much muscle you have, but about how strong those muscles are. Obviously, to be strong, we must have sufficient amounts of muscle, but the goal isn’t hypertrophy; it’s about strength. Research shows that after the age of 35, muscle strength decreases by about 1-2% per year. The goal is to slow this decline down and ensure you have the right amount of strength to continue doing the things you love.

Strength training is the best activity to improve your overall strength. Incorporating higher intensity lifting, typically, ~80% of 1RM for 1-6 repetitions, to elicit the physiological changes. The general rule is to lift 2-3 days per week, and progressively improve the amount of weight lifted over time. For proper guidelines to strength training, the best resource is to consult a personal trainer to ensure you're doing the proper exercises and avoiding injury.

Protein is the most important nutrient for maintaining and building muscle mass. Making sure you consistently hit the optimal amount of protein consumption per day is the key to supporting a stronger body. The general recommendation for protein intake is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. It can be difficult to stay consistent with protein intake, so incorporating snacks like protein bars or protein shakes can make a difference.

Tracking your progress is crucial to ensuring what you’re doing is working for you. The most efficient way to track your muscle mass is by getting a DEXA scan. DEXA scans provide a variety of body composition insights that tell you what your body is made up of and how you’re progressing over time. Depending on your goals, it may be beneficial to track your progress via DEXA every 3-4 months to make any corrections to your training program and ensure you are reaching the goals you desire.

Taking the necessary steps to get stronger is crucial for overall health span and lifespan. Make sure you are tracking your progress, consuming the right amount of protein, and consistently strengthening your muscles.

11/10/2025

Weightlifting promotes both strength and hypertrophy, but how do they develop on a cellular level?

Sarcomeres, the fundamental contractile units of muscle fibers, can be arranged in series or in parallel. Hypertrophy occurs primarily through the addition of sarcomeres in parallel, which increases the physiological cross-sectional area of the muscle and enhances its capacity for force production. In contrast, the addition of sarcomeres in series lengthens the fibers, improving contraction velocity rather than maximal force.

While structural adaptations such as hypertrophy contribute to long-term strength development, neural adaptations also play a critical role. Strength can increase independently of muscle size through improved motor unit recruitment, firing frequency, and synchronization of contractions. These neural adaptations largely explain the rapid strength gains observed in novice lifters, with subsequent progress more dependent on hypertrophic changes.

11/08/2025

Type 2 Diabetes and Exercise

Exercise: our best preventative treatment for some of the most common chronic health conditions. Diabetes, specifically type 2, is the 8th most common cause of death here in the U.S. The condition develops when the body becomes resistant to the hormone insulin, which regulates blood glucose levels. There are 3 primary drivers to becoming insulin resistant: lack of adequate exercise, poor nutrition, and genetic influence.

Incorporating exercise, along with additional support through monitored nutrition, can minimize the symptoms of diabetes and improve overall health. How does it work against diabetes? When we exercise at higher intensities, such as strength training or sprinting, our bodies use anaerobic (using glucose as fuel) processes to produce energy. This means that for people who are insulin-resistant and unable to regulate glucose through insulin, our bodies can compensate through exercise. This process is called insulin-independent glucose uptake.

For regulating blood glucose levels, the most effective form of exercise is strength training due to its complete anaerobic energy processes. This doesn’t just apply to people with diabetes but to everyone, even those who participate in endurance sports. The general recommendation for strength training is to aim for 2-3 days per week, with each session around 30-60 minutes.

In short, diabetes is one of the most prevalent conditions currently in the U.S. To protect ourselves, we must take action by monitoring our diets and incorporating the right exercise into our weekly routines.

UC Davis Sports Performance and Wellness

12/12/2025

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Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm