The latest fitness news from the research world …

Weight training-related injuries up If you use free weights don’t drop them, especially on yourself. A just-released study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital finds that injuries from weight training increased nearly 50 percent between 1990 and 2007, largely the result of males dropping weights on themselves. The study, to be published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, found that of the 970,000 weight training-related injuries recorded during that 18-year span, 82 percent were suffered by males, 47 percent by lifters age 13 to 24. Ninety percent of the injuries involved free weights, 65 percent involved the lifter dropping said free weight on their person. Read more in this Science Daily post. (Similarly, injuries from rock climbing and the use of ladders and hot tubs were also up.

Soccer reduces risk of falls and bone fractures Playing soccer is good for a host of reasons you might not have suspected, according to the current Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. Research in these articles shows that playing soccer regularly can, according to a report at ScienceDaily.com, increase “both bone mass and bone density, cause a significant improvement in standing postural balance and improve muscle strength. Together, these effects reduce the risk of falls and bone fractures.” Read more here.

The 10-course Last Supper The more recently the Last Supper is depicted, the bigger the meal becomes, according to an analysis of 52 of the most famous paintings of the Last Supper from the book Last Supper. Analysis done by Brian Wansink, John S Dyson Professor of Marketing and of Applied Economics and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, and his brother Craig, professor of religious studies at Virginia Wesleyan College, reveals that the more recent the painting, the more food on the plates (not to mention that the plates themselves are two-thirds bigger). Specifically, the entrees were 69 percent bigger and the bread portions 23 percent bigger. The paintings analyzed span 1,000 years. Read more here.