Science and fitness writer Gina Kolata has written a great article on the importance of relaxation and and how a lack of it can ruin performance. Published October 1st in the New York Times .

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LIKE so many people around the world, Dr. Michael Joyner was transfixed watching Michael Phelps swim in the Summer Olympics. But while many of us focused on Mr. Phelps’s world records, Dr. Joyner, a competitive Masters swimmer and an exercise researcher at the Mayo Clinic, noticed something else.

“I have never seen anyone so relaxed in the water,” he said.

Relaxation. It is a trait that is often underappreciated, coaches and athletic trainers say. Yet it can make the difference between doing your best and not doing well, between feeling dragged down or soaring. Coaches search for better ways to teach it. And many athletes, including some of the world’s best, work on it constantly. An ability to relax while pushing hard, exercise researchers say, is one reason why winners win.

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Another great article by New York Times columnist Gina Kolata.

INVESTIGATORS have begun two large studies of stretching, asking about its effectiveness in much the way scientists might ask about a new drug or medical device. They’re actively recruiting thousands of volunteers to participate, in the United States and elsewhere, and randomly assigning participants to use the method, or not. That is the only way, researchers say, to detect the subtle effects that most treatments and exercise interventions might be expected to evoke.

The studies are being done independently, one by researchers based in Norway and Australia and the other by a group in the United States.

The studies are not identical, reflecting perhaps the different views of stretching worldwide. People in Norway and Australia stretch for different reasons than people in the United States and do slightly different stretches. Yet exercisers and coaches everywhere, the researchers report, tend to have passionate convictions about the merits of stretching, or lack thereof.

Continue reading …

By Sandra Mcculloch and published in the Victoria Times Colonist

Combine technology with a treasure hunt, set the venue in a B.C. provincial park and you have a new venture announced yesterday by the province, the B.C. 150 Secretariat and the B.C. Geocaching Association.

Geocaching is a recreational activity that’s growing in popularity, with hundreds — perhaps thousands — of geocachers on the Island. The sport involves the use of a handheld global positioning system receiver to locate hidden caches, typically small objects stored in watertight containers.

Clues are posted on a website so others can go out and hunt for items. Anyone finding a cache is supposed to log the find in a notebook, exchange a new item for the found one, and report the find on a website.

To celebrate B.C.’s 150th anniversary, members of the BCGA have placed limited-edition commemorative coins in 100 provincial parks.

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Written by Christopher Kelsall and published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 on Flotrack (thanks again for this Chris!).

Steve Osaduik is hunting down the Olympic standard, contesting the May 25th ING, National Capital Marathon in Ottawa, Ontario. This is absolutely his last chance to qualify for Beijing 2008.

Eric Kiauka has his sites on the steeple. Last week he ripped a personal best indoor 3000m in 8:05. He did this at the home of the Huskies at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“25 hours straight through the night and we only stopped for gas,” says Eric describing his drive from Vancouver to Flagstaff with Osaduik.

What does a character runner do after pulling an all-nighter? Go for a 30 minute run immediately upon arrival!

Steve’s well documented knee issue is nearly behind him and is getting better all the time. Watch for my upcoming editorial on the unique treatment Steve received that helped in his turn around.

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Written by Tara Parker-pope and published March 11, 2008 in the New York Times.

As a symbol of health and wellness, nothing surpasses the simple push-up. Practically everyone remembers the actor Jack Palance performing age-defying push-ups during his Oscar acceptance speech. More recently, Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor whose last lecture became an Internet sensation, did push-ups to prove his fitness despite having pancreatic cancer.

“It takes strength to do them, and it takes endurance to do a lot of them,” said Jack LaLanne, 93, the fitness pioneer who astounded television viewers in the 1950s with his fingertip push-ups. “It’s a good indication of what kind of physical condition you’re in.”

The push-up is the ultimate barometer of fitness. It tests the whole body, engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It requires the body to be taut like a plank with toes and palms on the floor. The act of lifting and lowering one’s entire weight is taxing even for the very fit.

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This a great posting I found on bodybuilding.twentyninethings.com about over training and how endurance running as  training is pretty much useless for all sports except for distance running.

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I sometimes wonder if there are any prerequisites at all to getting a job as a college strength and conditioning coach. As the owner of my private athletic training company I have had the opportunity to work with athletes from numerous colleges and universities across the country and have witnessed their disgust with their schools strength and conditioning programs. Some athletes, such as those attending Arizona State, are fortunate enough to have outstanding strength coaches and tremendous programs that they need not look elsewhere for help. Others are not so lucky. Every August I try to send my athletes back to their respective schools as one of the strongest, fastest, and most well conditioned players on their team. Come December I see the unlucky one’s come back to me weaker, smaller and slower. These athletes have the misfortune of training under some Neanderthal strength coach who hasn’t learned anything new about weight training since the release of Pumping Iron. There have been countless advances in the field of strength and conditioning over the last ten years, yet very few people seem to take advantage of them. It is inexcusable that in 2004, a college strength and conditioning coach does not have a thorough knowledge of exercise and nutrition and can not properly prepare their teams for competition. If your athletes are losing size and strength, slowing down, and becoming more injury prone I think it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

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By ANAHAD O’CONNOR and published March 4, 2008 in the New York Times

Medical experts have been saying for years that caffeine acts as a potent diuretic. Consume too many caffeinated beverages, and you end up drinking yourself into dehydration.

But research has not confirmed that notion. Most studies have found that in moderate amounts, caffeine has only mild diuretic effects — much like water.

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Written by Matt Fitzgerald and published in Triathlete Magazine

Last summer one of the brightest young American long-distance running talents to come along in a generation decided to train for his first 26.2-miler. As part of his ramp-up for the New York City Marathon, Dathan “Ritz” Ritzenhein ran a half-marathon tune-up race. He blazed to a 1:01:25 clocking and a third-place finish at the highly competitive Great North Run in England.

Given the fact that he achieved this performance without any taper and with a full month left to take his fitness to peak level for his assault on the Big Apple, Ritz looked set to run perhaps the best debut marathon ever by an American runner.

That’s not what happened. After a strong start—running all the way from Brooklyn to Fifth Avenue with the race leaders—Ritz faded badly in the final miles, crawling through Central Park to a disappointing 11th-place finish in 2:14:04.

This sort of thing happens all the time in distance running, and in triathlon, too. Athletes turn in a highly promising tune-up race performance only to fall flat on their faces a few weeks later in the peak race they really care about. In other words, they peak too soon—or not at all.

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A great article (or rant if you want to call it that) written by Chris Kelsall (here’s a link to his blog). A warning however, it may be considered offensive - reader discretion recommended.

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The B$ factor explodes this time of year; wicked fulminations of unadulterated bovine excrement are disgorged, exciting the masses. Myths are created, lies are spewed and the marketing that festered all year in the advertising cesspool, may now be leeching into your television set, internet, radio, billboards, magazines, competitive events, newspapers, buses, windows of mini-vans (as tax write-offs) and anywhere, where messaging may be promulgated.

I am fully in support of creative advertising methods and stimulating marketing concepts, it’s become a bit of an art, Andy Warhol notwithstanding. For all of you who made a New Years resolution a couple months ago, centered on weight loss, exercise increase or breaking a vice, here are just a few prevaricators to avoid:

Jenny Craig

Jenny Craig is one of the good players in the mastodonic weight reduction racket. However; the nicest of the scammers, is still a scammer.

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From the Bermuda Sun Online Edition, published February 27, 2008

Red Bull. That stuff really gives you wings, man. It’s not the nugget of nutritional advice you might have expected from an Ironman World Champion. But Chris McCormack insists it’s what finally pushed him over the finish line to win the Hawaii event - the most gruelling athletic test in the world of sport. McCormack was on the island this week along with Xterra off-road triathlon ace Melanie McQuaid to give a series of clinics and talks to local athletes and youngsters.

Aussie McCormack finally achieved his dream of winning the 2.4mile swim, 112 mile bike and marathon at Kona last year, after six years of trying, completing the course in eight hours, 15 minutes and 34 seconds. If it’s possible to imagine anything more extreme than that. Then Xterra triathlon is it. It’s not as far. A breezy Olympic distance (1.5k/40k/10k) triathlon. The catch is it’s all off-road - ocean swimming, mountain biking and trail running.

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An interesting article written by Ed Eyestone for Runner’s World

A coaching colleague of mine has a basic formula for cross-training: 60 minutes at or above 70 percent of your maximum heart rate equals a five-mile run. He uses this formula with his athletes in the summer to allow them to augment their base miles. He also uses it during the cross-country and track season when a runner becomes injured, and during the winter when inclement conditions make it difficult to keep actual running mileage high.

Is a cross-training mile exactly the same physiologically as a running mile? Nope. But intense cross-training for an hour can elicit the same aerobic benefits as a five-mile training run. And because of the low-impact nature of most cross-training activities, injury-prone runners can beef up their “mileage” using this formula without increasing their risk of injury. In the following two case studies, both Lisa and Dave used cross-training miles to become better runners.

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Here’s another great article by the New York Time’s Gina Kolata. Published February 28, 2008.

MIKE PERRY, a 31-year-old rower, trained by himself in Ann Arbor, Mich., for six years while his wife attended medical school. Now he is a member of the United States rowing team and hopes to be selected in a couple of months to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. These days, he works with a coach and a team, and for the first time he is also going to a gym twice a week and lifting free weights for his upper and lower body, and doing a lot of core exercises, he said. His coach insists upon it. Mr. Perry, though, said he cannot tell whether weight lifting is helping his performance.

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Written by ANAHAD O’CONNOR and published February 26, 2008 in the New York Times

THE FACTS

Stretching — long promoted as a way to prevent injury, to reduce soreness and to speed post-exercise recovery — may not fulfill its promise. Over the years, scientists have found that stretching before or after a workout has little effect on either risk of injury or what is commonly known as delayed onset of muscle soreness, the discomfort that comes a day or more after challenging physical activity.

Numerous studies have reached this conclusion. One of the most recent and extensive reports was published in October in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The report reviewed 10 randomized studies, which over all looked at the impact of stretching before and after exercise, in repeated sessions and in intervals ranging from 40 seconds to 10 minutes. The authors concluded that stretching had little or no effect on post-exercise soreness.

Another systematic review, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise in 2004. It looked at multiple studies and found that stretching “was not significantly associated with a reduction in total injuries,” but also concluded that more research was needed.

For now, many experts say that what may work is a quick warm-up, like low-impact aerobics or walking. It also helps to ease into an activity by starting off slow and then increasing speed, intensity or weight (for lifting).

THE BOTTOM LINE

Research suggests that stretching does not affect soreness or risk of injury during exercise.

scitimes@nytimes.com

Another great article written by Gina Kolata and published in the New York Times, February 12, 2008.

One of the great unanswered questions in physiology is why muscles get tired. The experience is universal, common to creatures that have muscles, but the answer has been elusive until now. Scientists at Columbia say they have not only come up with an answer, but have also devised, for mice, an experimental drug that can revive the animals and let them keep running long after they would normally flop down in exhaustion.

For decades, muscle fatigue had been largely ignored or misunderstood. Leading physiology textbooks did not even try to offer a mechanism, said Dr. Andrew Marks, principal investigator of the new study. A popular theory, that muscles become tired because they release lactic acid, was discredited not long ago.

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Written by Jill Barker for Canwest News and published February 07, 2008
Those doing cold weather exercise should follow some simple guidelines. You see them out when the mercury dips to record lows, and you wonder: “Why would anyone exercise outside when it’s so cold?” For many Canucks, sub-zero temperatures aren’t enough to scare them inside. While the rest of us are turning up the thermostat, they’re heading outside to shush down a hill, run a quick 10K, or trek through the wilderness on a pair of snowshoes. Is that commendable or are these hardy souls putting their health at risk when ignoring winter’s bite?

According to Peter Liu, scientific director of the Canadian Institute for Health Research’s Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health, if you’re in good shape and take the proper precautions, chances are slim that you’ll suffer any negative effects from exercising in the cold. But for those with a history of heart disease or for someone who is out of shape, overweight and suffers from high blood pressure, the risks of cold-weather exercise may outweigh the benefits.

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Written by Patrick White and published January 25th in the Globe and Mail

Forget the funny name. This runner’s club will cover 72 kilometres in sub-zero temperatures just for beer, haggis and the hell of it. Tales of hikers lost in Lynn Valley after nightfall saturate the logs of North Shore Search and Rescue. Every winter, without fail, a few veer off course and spend a winter night flirting with hypothermia on the cliff-strewn mountainsides that flank Vancouver to the north.

This time of year there’s an extra wrinkle: “Hazardous winter conditions,” warns the ranger’s stern voice on the park information line. “Expect snow and ice on all of our trails.”

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An article from Active.com, written by Matt Russ

“Why do triathletes run funny?” is a question I was recently asked. The athlete was comparing the run form of elite marathoners to triathletes. The answer is simply: Because they swim.

It is fairly easy to identify an experienced swimmer from a postural standpoint. Swimmers tend to have tight neck, chest and anterior shoulder muscles that cause them to assume a hunched over posture. Their shoulders are usually slightly internally rotated (thumbs turned in towards the body) and their shoulders may be high (picture a shrug) due to tight trapezius muscles. Each sport produces specific muscular adaptions and swimming uses the pectorals, latisimus, and trapezius to a high degree. Imbalanced caused by over-strengthening these muscles can not only lead to “swimmer’s shoulder”, but it can also affect run form as well.

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Another great article by Gina Kolata of the New York Times, published January 17, 2008

JULIA HENSLEY, a 41-year-old artist, got a taste of bitter cold a decade ago when she spent a winter living on a glacier near Seward, Alaska. Typical winter temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees below.

“The first time it got really cold, I was scared of it,” Ms. Hensley said. “My instinct was to get a stack of books and curl up beside the wood stove.”

But a boyfriend persuaded her to go out anyway, to cross-country ski or snowshoe for hours in deep snow. He taught her, she said, that as long as she kept moving, she would be fine.

It was a conclusion — that extreme cold can be safe for exercisers — that runs contrary to conventional wisdom. But in fact, said John W. Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, it turns out that even though cold can be frightening, more people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold.

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Written by Laura Barton and published Tuesday January 15 in The Guardian

It took her five hours and two minutes, running uphill and down and through temperatures ranging from -20C to 20C, but Angela Mudge, 37, has broken the women’s record for the Everest Marathon by 13 minutes. She was sustained, she said, by jelly beans, and by thoughts of her twin sister, Janice, also an accomplished runner, who died from bowel cancer aged just 35.

The Everest Marathon is gruelling before it even begins. Even on the trek to the starting line - at 5,200 metres - most of the 84 competitors suffered altitude sickness, diarrhoea, deep-vein thrombosis, reduced lung capacity or chest infections.

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By STEVEN KURUTZ of the New York Times, published January 10th, 2008

FITNESS magazines and Web sites love to ask readers about their favorite workout music while presenting their playlists or suggestions from celebrities. Self.com features the “ ’80s cardio playlist,” which includes the short-shorts video classic “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! On Fitnessmagazine.com, the singer Rihanna reveals her favorite workout songs — immodestly recommending four of her own for “when you have to pick up the pace on the treadmill.”

The playlist fixation has a scientific basis: Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise can improve results, both in terms of being a motivator (people exercise longer and more vigorously to music) and as a distraction from negatives like fatigue. But are certain songs more effective than others?

Generally speaking there is a science to choosing an effective exercise soundtrack, said Dr. Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sport psychology at Brunel University in England, who has studied the effects of music on physical performance for 20 years. Dr. Karageorghis created the Brunel Music Rating Inventory, a questionnaire that is used to rate the motivational qualities of music in the context of sport and exercise. For nearly a decade, he has been administering the questionnaire to panels representing different demographics, who listen to 90 seconds of a song and rate its motivational qualities for various physical activities.

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