This article is motivated by some incidental conversations I've had with fellow athletes in recent times regarding dissatisfaction with their own medication regimes. The use of beta-blockers, in particular, for managing hypertension (high blood pressure) or arrhythmia (irregular heart beat) in athletes has cropped up a few times.  Here, I give an overview of beta blockers and set out some of the salient issues for athletes who are on beta-blockers. If this topic bears some releva...

The Unforgiving Minute Ron Clarke AO MBE (1937-2015) Ron Clarke was a man who, indisputably, gave his whole heart to a race. Towards the end of the year, we contemplate the year gone by. Ron Clarke passed away in June this year. He is sadly missed by the athletic fraternity. Ron is regarded as one of Australia's most prolific world record breakers who revolutionised distance running on the world stage. During his running career, he set 17 world records between 2 miles and 20 kilomet...

We're experiencing a heat wave in Melbourne! How does training in hot weather affect your heart? On a hot day, blood flow is rerouted so more of it goes to your skin surface to help your body let off your internal heat (and you break a sweat). The redirection of blood flow to the skin makes less oxygen available to your muscles and hence your heart beats faster and pumps harder to compensate for the loss of oxygen going to your muscles. This results in a higher heart rate for your usual...

We're experiencing a heat wave in Melbourne! How does training in hot weather affect your heart? On a hot day, blood flow is rerouted so more of it goes to your skin surface to help your body let off your internal heat (and you break a sweat). The redirection of blood flow to the skin makes less oxygen available to your muscles and hence your heart beats faster and pumps harder to compensate for the loss of oxygen going to your muscles. This results in a higher heart rate for your usual...

The American Heart Association claims that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is relatively common occurring in 1 out of every 500 people, and is the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young people (less than 30 years of age), including young athletes, in the United States (US). This has stimulated calls for the routine HCM screening of athletes. While the adverse consequences of HCM (i.e.the risk of sudden death) have been emphasised in the literature, more balanced perspectives on H...