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• Before long-distance races, can the carbs and serve up the beef

  May 7, 10:39 PM

  Ah, yes. The big pasta meal the night before a race. It’s one of the best things about being a runner. The goal is to load up on carbohydrates, which help provide fuel to the muscles. So pass the parmesan, right?

• How Royals fans can cope if things turn bad

  May 7, 10:38 PM

  Who in their right mind would be a Royals fan? That may sound harsh, particularly given the nice start the team has had this year, but the franchise has suffered through some lean years with just one winning season since 1994.

• Royals’ prospects must fight a culture of losing

  Mar 31, 3:00 PM

  The Royals said all the right things a year ago. At spring training, the team acknowledged that its defense had been awful the season before, and manager Trey Hillman and players promised that 2010 would be better.

• Athletes are better at crossing the road

  Mar 30, 11:16 PM

  Why did the athlete cross the road? Because she can do it better than the average person. That’s a bad turn on a bad joke, but researchers have found that athletes in fact are more successful at crossing the street than non-athletes.

• Walking for your brain’s sake

  Feb 19, 12:13 AM

  Can’t remember where you put the car keys? Lost the remote again? Well, you should have gone for a walk.

• Explaining rhabdomyolysis

  Jan 30, 11:41 PM

  So what exactly happened to those Iowa football players? Thirteen Hawkeyes were hospitalized recently with a condition known as rhabdomyolysis.

• Watching too much TV is bad for your heart

  Jan 30, 11:41 PM

  The college bowls recently ended, but there’s plenty of sports on TV. The NFL playoffs are in full swing, college basketball teams have started conference play, and the NBA and NHL are in the middle of their seasons.

• One timeout got Chiefs in the playoffs

  Jan 30, 11:40 PM

  It was the timeout that got the Chiefs into the playoffs. The Chiefs beat the Bills 13-10 in overtime on Halloween, but the game turned when coach Todd Haley called a timeout that froze Buffalo kicker Rian Lindell.

• Wearable electronics may be in our future

  Jan 9, 11:47 PM

  Imagine if you went for a jog one day, and the technical shirt you were wearing told you how far you had run and how fast. Sounds like science fiction, right? Maybe not.

• Tips for exercising in cold weather

  Nov 18, 11:49 PM

  Temperatures already have dipped below the freezing mark, and that’s enough to send some runners to the gym. But others will tough it out — even as the conditions worsen. But is that a wise decision?

• Helping goalkeepers stop penalty kicks

  Nov 6, 11:10 PM

  On Saturday, the Colorado Rapids won their first-round playoff series with Columbus on penalty kicks. Last year’s MLS Cup final was decided by penalty kicks, and there’s always a chance that we’ll see a match in this year’s playoffs decided by a penalties.

• Why pitchers doctor baseballs

  Nov 6, 11:09 PM

  This is in no way insinuating that any player in this year’s World Series would cheat, but we were curious as to how scuffing a baseball works to a pitcher’s advantage. Whether it’s sandpaper, a power sander or Vaseline (just a few of Dave Spiewak’s tools in “The Naked Gun”), there are different ways to doctor a baseball.

• Scientists say a curveball doesn’t actually break

  Nov 6, 11:09 PM

  Giants starter Tim Lincecum has a filthy curveball, but scientists say it doesn’t move differently than any other curveball. In fact, all curveballs follow a similar parabolic path, so despite what it looks like on television (or from the batter’s box), pitches never “drop off the table.”

• Men sweat better than women

  Oct 14, 12:11 AM

  There’s some bad news for women running in Saturday’s Kansas City Marathon. According to researchers in Japan, men not only sweat more than woman, but they also are more efficient at sweating.

• Anatomy of a knockout, part II

  Oct 14, 12:11 AM

  Football is known as a rough sport, hockey players are incredibly tough and mixed-martial arts makes some people cringe. But for Anthony Alessi, nothing is quite as vicious as boxing.

• Anatomy of a knockout, part I

  Oct 14, 12:12 AM

  While most boxing fans love seeing body blows and bruising right hooks to the face, Anthony Alessi always keeps a close eye on a boxer’s feet. A ringside physician, Alessi says the feet tell a lot about a boxer’s overall physical state.

• Going for it on fourth down is a smart play

  Oct 14, 12:12 AM

  Undoubtedly, some Chiefs fans initially questioned coach Todd Haley’s decision to go for it on fourth down in Sunday’s 16-14 victory at Cleveland. The Chiefs faced a fourth-and-1 from the Browns’ 36 with 2 minutes to play. Rather than punt, the Chiefs instead handed the ball to Thomas Jones who got the first down.

• A sharp mind is beneficial to athletes

  Sep 19, 11:01 PM

  There are countless reasons why tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are so good. Most of them are physical, but one explanation for their success may be more about their mental prowess. A study by scientists at Brunel University in West London and at the University of Hong Kong found that expert athletes are quicker to observe and react to their opponents’ moves than novice players, exhibiting enhanced activation of the cortical regions of the brain.

• Study finds trekking poles help reduce hikers’ soreness

  Aug 12, 12:14 AM

  Craig Cook, a colleague here at The Star, recently climbed Pike’s Peak in Colorado, and he reported having sore muscles the next day. No doubt that would be the case for most of us, but perhaps he would have been helped by using trekking poles. A recent study by Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, found that trekking poles help hikers maintain muscle function while significantly reducing soreness in the days following a hike.

• Sleep preference can predict a pitcher’s performance

  Sep 19, 11:03 PM

  Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. What Benjamin Franklin neglected to mention was that early to bed and early to rise also means a pitcher will do well in day games.

• Study finds big boost to athletes who use human growth hormone

  May 13, 12:20 AM

  Using human growth hormone could mean the difference between finishing last in the 100-meter dash at the Olympics and winning the gold. That’s the findings of Australian researchers, who published the results of a study Monday that for the first time showed a positive effect of growth hormone on athletic performance.

• The swing of the bat ... in the blink of an eye

  Sep 16, 11:21 PM

  Although we take it for granted, the science of the swing is an amazing thing to analyze. And it goes not just for hitting a home run, but for simply making contact.

• Thirty-fifth anniversary of Tommy John surgery

  Sep 16, 11:22 PM

  This spring, there were a lot of questions surrounded Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter. Carpenter, the 2005 Cy Young Award winner, had helped the Cardinals win the 2006 World Series. But he made just four starts in 2007 and ’08 combined. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2007, he missed most of 2008 before returning to the mound. But that comeback was cut short by a nerve problem in the back of his right shoulder.

• What runners at the KC Marathon should avoid

  Sep 16, 11:23 PM

  While it’s unlikely to be a problem at Saturday’s Kansas City Marathon, Lewis Maharam wants runners to know they should avoid overhydrating. In fact, Maharam, who is medical director of a number of marathons across the country, including the New York City Marathon, believes you shouldn’t listen to your elders.

• Why you remember the 1985 World Series but not your anniversary

  Sep 16, 11:24 PM

  Remember where you were when George Brett hit that home run off Goose Gossage in 1980? How about when Lin Elliot missed the three field goals in the Chiefs’ loss to the Colts in the playoff game in 1996? But do you recall when you first met your spouse? Or do you have difficulty remembering a birthday or anniversary?

• Why NASCAR drivers are like astronauts

  Sep 16, 11:24 PM

  Kevin Harvick didn’t mince words when asked by The Star about critics who say NASCAR drivers are not athletes. “Anybody who doesn’t think there are athletes riding around in those cars is absolutely crazy in my mind because ... when you’re racing, you feel the G’s on your neck, your arms, your shoulders,” Harvick said in 2001.

• Why a knuckleball flutters

  Sep 16, 11:24 PM

  Muhammad Ali’s favorite baseball pitch must be the knuckleball because it floats like a butterfly and — when batters swing and miss — it stings like a bee. With Boston’s Tim Wakefield scheduled to pitch against the Royals this week, it’s a good time to look at the science behind the knuckleball.

• Quarterbacks should trust instincts

  Sep 16, 11:25 PM

  Jonah Lehrer believes that NFL quarterbacks can be successful if they just stop thinking so much and look inside themselves.

• Bending it like Beckham

  Sep 16, 11:26 PM

  It may be the most famous physics lesson in the history of the world. “Bend It Like Beckham” is a movie, sure, but the way the famous soccer player makes a ball curve is educational as well.

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