As we head into the last month of summer, hopefully everyone heading to campus is not only joyful but rejuvenated for the upcoming year!

Getting ready for season is not only about having the skills when you come back to school, but being strong and healthy enough to sustain the amount of activity you will be doing for the next nine months. After a long season, summer is the perfect time to go back to the basics, play around with different skills, and set new goals. Arguably, however, this short turnaround period from May to August should not only be focused on these aspects, but more importantly taking the time to relax, rest, and recover after a jam-packed year.

Every athlete has a different plan for what their summer training looks like but also for how they are able to decompress both physically and emotionally. For some, taking a break is the ideal way to come into the gym more motivated, while others like to get right back into a routine as they had become accustomed to throughout the previous year.

Reflecting on my five seasons in the NCAA, each summer and what I did to prepare for the next season look different. I felt relatively prepared going into preseason as I was that second athlete example of wanting to stay in a familiar practice routine. However, going…

“],”filter”:{“nextExceptions”:”img, blockquote, div”,”nextContainsExceptions”:”img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”},”renderIntial”:true,”wordCount”:350}”>

The other day, during a particularly brutal heatwave near my home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I took my dog, Ollie, on a shaded hike that ran alongside a stream. After being cooped up inside for a few days, he desperately needed to burn off some energy—and cool down—so I let him dive in.

In the middle of his dip, I noticed a clump of green algae creeping toward him. I’ve seen horror stories about dogs dying after ingesting toxic blue-green algae (and just last month, a woman claimed in a viral TikTok that her sweet pup, Cora, died after ingesting blue-green algae in Lake Tahoe), so I ushered him out of the water, snapped a photo so he could get properly treated if he got sick, and wrapped up our hike. I was being a total helicopter dog mom, I figured, primarily because I wasn’t exactly sure how to tell the difference between safe and dangerous algae. But I’d much rather err on the side of caution, especially when it comes to Ollie’s health.

It turns out my concern was…

You asked, and we delivered. While we don’t typically cover elite gymnastics, we couldn’t help but get in on the fun in the best way we know how: with leotard rankings! The criteria is the same as during the college gymnastics season: Leos can earn up to three points for design, up to one point each for fabric, sparkle, patriotism, and uniqueness, and up to three points for overall appearance. Plus, for the Olympics, judges will be able to award a bonus point to any leo they feel is *gold medal worthy.*

United States (Event Final): 9.350

Jade Carey (Oregon State, vault)

View images of this leotard here.

Name	Design	Fabric	Sparkle	Patriotism	Uniqueness	Overall	Bonus	Total
Elizabeth	2.6	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0	2.6	+1	10.1
The first thing I noticed was that this leotard photographed SO well. I love the share of blue on the bottom, the sparkle bomb and pattern of sparkles on the chest, and the subtle patriotism with the blue stars on the front and back and red and white stripes on the arms.
Naomi	2.0	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9	2.0	0	7.7
This leotard has a superhero vibe that I really like. I love the design on the chest and the additions of red and white sparkles against the blue body of the leotard. The only thing I’m…

“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>

“Chicago is one of the best places in the world from May through October, with all its festivals and events,” says Dave Zimmer, “and the running scene is vibrant year-round.” The Chicago-area native should know. Zimmer and his wife, Lisa, spent the last 28 years opening Fleet Feet stores across the city. And though he admits, “you have to be kind of hardy,” to run through the winters, when it comes to routes, races, and other intangibles, Zimmer says, “Chicago is just fantastic.”

Running the Windy City starts with the bustling Lakefront Trail. Extending 18.5 miles along the Lake Michigan waterfront, north and south of downtown, the smooth, flat, and car-free path is a road runner’s paradise. Numerous running clubs offer organized group runs at all hours, seven days a week. The air coming off the lake provides a (slight) respite from humid summer heat, and there’s even a series of hydration stations on weekend mornings from June through October, staffed by Fleet Feet and the Chicago Area Runners Association.

Beyond the lure of the Lakefront, there are downtown loops under…

“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”>

There’s no denying caffeine can take the edge off when things get dicey in a race. Many endurance athletes turn to the world’s most popular drug for a performance boost, and with a long list of caffeinated gels, beverages, and chews to choose from, a turbocharged buzz is only a swallow away. But is it possible to take in too much caffeine during a workout or a race?

Well, yes—as with anything, too much can be harmful, and not everyone responds to caffeine the same way. But to get more specific, let’s dive into what science says about how much caffeine to an athlete actually needs, the point of diminishing returns, and how to use it wisely in training and racing.

What is caffeine, and how does it help your workout or race?

Caffeine naturally occurs in coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa beans, and cola nuts. It is also synthetically…

“],”filter”:{“nextExceptions”:”img, blockquote, div”,”nextContainsExceptions”:”img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”},”renderIntial”:true,”wordCount”:350}”>

Popular interest in living longer is hardly new, but it spiked in the past few years. Reasons for this aren’t exactly clear. The pandemic reminding us of our mortality? A growing number of Boomers looking to redline their retirements?

Our fixation on longevity is rising at the same time that our health appears to be sinking. A 2018 study from researchers at the University of North Carolina made waves by concluding that only 12 percent of Americans are metabolically healthy. What’s more, according to data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, average life expectancy fell between 2019 and 2021, the biggest decline since the early 20th century. Granted, that statistic was affected by COVID-19, but chronic disease played a significant role as well.

The renewed obsession with healthier living has given rise to some longevity-oriented products and services, many with a fitness slant. No doubt the success of Outlive helped prime the market. Equinox, the upscale fitness chain, recently launched a $40,000-a-year wellness and longevity package called Optimize, which includes blood analysis, a personal…

The June 2024 report of the National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Committee was recently made public. Discussed in the meeting were proposed changes to the sport for future seasons. We break down the main recommendations here, share our thoughts on them, and pose questions that still need answering. 

Recommendation No. 1

Increase the number of competing athletes in postseason competition from 15 to 18. This was a recommendation from last year that was tabled until this year. This would take effect in the 2025 season.

Thoughts from our editors:

There are a couple of positives for this. The first is for teams like BYU that utilize a lot of specialists. In fact, during the 2024 season, BYU had more than 15 gymnasts competing across the four events and had to make a tough decision come postseason to narrow it down.

This recommendation was made prior to the news that scholarship limits will likely be increased beginning in the 2025-2026 season while also capping the roster size at 20 gymnasts. It’ll be interesting to see whether this proposal will again be tabled until that settlement is finalized. It’s possible that the postseason competitor limit could be raised to 18 for the 2025 season and then again raised to 20 once the roster limit takes effect.

On a…