South Hills Orthopaedics Sports Medicine & Physical Therapy

02/15/2026

Jefferson Curls....named after 19th century strongman Charles Jefferson, are back in the loop again. I'm seeing guys in the gym doing them, and others on the internet arguing about them. It's just another exercise, it has benefit, it can have risk (like everything in life), and if it appeals to you go for it If not, you'll be fine doing the other things you prefer. -Duffy

Jefferson deadlifts are having a moment… just like Turkish getups did a 10 years ago.

Fitness trends cycle.
Exercises get rebranded.
Trainers signal belonging.

Good program design isn’t about what’s trendy—it’s about what actually fits the client in front of you.

Old exercise. New hype. Same pattern.

02/14/2026

I am at the clinic with the wife exercising and resting between sets to post this....."Feed your head"...differently than Grace Slick meant. Alzheimer's runs in my family, I've seen it along with dementia first hand....its not the way I wanna go out. -Duffy

2–3 structured resistance sessions per week using progressive, moderate to heavy loads significantly lowers brain age.

In a randomized controlled trial published in GeroScience, researchers used fMRI-derived brain clocks to estimate biological brain age over time.

Participants assigned to moderate- and high-intensity resistance training showed significant reductions in accelerated brain aging compared to non-exercise controls.
This wasn’t subtle.

• Brain Age Gaps (BAGs) decreased over 1–2 years
• Effects were distributed across networks — not isolated to one hub
• Functional connectivity shifted toward a “younger” pattern
• Non-exercise participants showed no significant change
These findings suggest brain aging trajectories are modifiable and mechanical loading of skeletal muscle may influence neural network integrity.

Mechanistically, resistance training is associated with:
• Increased cerebral perfusion
• Upregulation of neurotrophic signaling
• Improved insulin sensitivity
• Reduced systemic inflammation
• Enhanced mitochondrial efficiency
The implication is practical:

You don’t need exotic protocols.

2–3 structured resistance sessions per week — progressive, moderate to heavy loads may help preserve not just muscle, but the biological age of the brain.

Train the muscle.
Influence the network.
Slow the clock.

doi:10.1007/s11357-026-02141-x

02/12/2026

Patients should always express their worries, fears and expectations to their health care provider.....and what your realistic goals are concerning your issue....they might be different than your PT's! Fear and worry are 2 of the biggest barriers to treatment on my end outside of the normal healing process. -Duffy

02/10/2026

I misread the first meme, and when I looked online to find out who, discovered that US skating champion Alissa Czisny actually dislocated a previously injured left hip reahing for potato chips in her hotel room, forcing her to withdraw from the games. Looking at my schedule for the past week, I truly see few injuries (usually none) on a daily basis that were caused by exercise or going to the gym....rather I see LOTS of issues caused because people don't go to the gym. And, those who work out get better from injuries or surgeries much much faster and easier. -Duffy

02/07/2026

Posted by a peer and why I have issues with it: First, I have a hard enough time convincing people to exercise, and at face value as a quick scan on someone's feed, it seems like "oh great, now even MORE complicated points to exercising" Few will peek at just the visible portion to see the "diabetics" component, and fewer still will click the link, read the entire article, discover it's flaws and imperfections, and realize that this is for the very tiny pre-diabetic population with issues who would actually begin exercising....not for the 99% of the rest of us. My productivity and performance lifting in the evening is definitely down compared to morning, for me, that alone could make up the difference posted in this study....even though I'm not pre-diabetic Just go exercise, whenever your life and schedule fits you and when you are most happy doing it-Duffy

Getting 30 minutes of isn't everything, time of day also plays a factor. Timing of resistance exercise and cardiometabolic outcomes in adults with : a secondary analysis (Jason Thomas et al. ):

https://ow.ly/UlCS50Y9uQk

02/05/2026

You know my thoughts on protein and was excited to see this post. I usually research this stuff but it was on Facebook so must true. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it -Duffy

02/03/2026

One of our surgeons was just discussing this with me a few weeks ago, noting what is one of the first things they do with a woman suffering from a UTI. This physicians page is a must follow for women in that menopause range, along with Vonda Wright MD's page. This is not my area of expertise nor do I have the time to really learn it...but I DO see the effects daily with suffering women. From what I'm gathering, some in medicine are still using outdated and disproven ideas, not fully treating women with these issues or understanding what to do. I don't see any conflicts of interest with either of these physicians, ie they aren't talking this all up and then saying "buy my supplement" or "come to my hormone clinic"....but that's always a factor when trying to get proper help and care I could always fine a physician to prescribe me testosterone at whatever level I desire, but it doesn't mean it would be good for me On the other end of the spectrum, my own physician doesn't seem to believe much in it at all, so there's always that question mark. -Duffy

02/01/2026

For those who have seen me for a neck issue and wondering why certain things were done, this might help explain. Neuroinflammation is a "thing"...it's real....It's why a steroid pack or epidural steroid injection may provide such profound relief in cases of no constant physical agitants And yes I know this is just a case study....N of 1...and the time frame could certainly be a case of regression to the mean etc etc But it's where thinking and problem solving evolve. Couple these ideas with movement therapy (ie exercise), education, support, medication and success rates are usually quite high. -Duffy