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Movement, Muscles and Machines

Sport encourages the integration of the whole organism because it is necessary to think as we move and plan ahead. In performing each movement in response to the run of play, we use mechanisms that nature evolved for the purpose of survival in a hostile world. Sport is todays equivalent of the hunting, fighting and avoidance of predators that kept our ancestors alive. The skills developed in our past are essential in todays sport; accuracy, speed, strength and intelligence are all requirements for success.

We have come to believe that the stronger a muscle the better, without a thought to what we actually do with a stronger muscle. I am not advocating we should do nothing, or that all exercise is harmful. The important issue is why we exercise and what is it we hope to achieve? If we want to get fit, ask the question - fit for what? When did you last review your objectives for devoting so much time and effort to its pursuit?

To help achieve optimum performance it is useful to understand the physiology involved so you do not misuse your body. All movement, even of the smallest part, involves the total organism yet many exercise systems fail to recognise the integral nature of human function. Exercises have always been designed to achieve specific improvements for one part of the body in the belief it will benefit the athlete for the particular demands of their sport. My view is that the concentration on individual parts whilst performing these exercises destroys the unity of the organism necessary for good movement.

Getting into shape usually involves a trip to the local gymnasium with its staggering array of equipment. A combination of technology and clever marketing has transformed the dull exercise machine into an essential piece of equipment capable of achieving miracles. Todays machines have made it possible to work individual muscles in isolation - the first-time gym user will often joke they ache in muscles they did not know existed. Unfortunately, in the rush to develop the ultimate range of equipment, I believe a vital factor in human development and movement has been overlooked. That is, no single movement involves either an individual or isolated set of muscles! Machines that work a muscle whilst immobilising or supporting part of the body, encourage unnatural actions never to be repeated outside the gymnasium, sports scientist Dr Mel Siff wrote: -

".it is well known in physiology that the body knows of actions, not muscles, so that it is inappropriate to place any intentional stress on individual muscles rather than on the desired motor patterns."

Even the harmless looking treadmill does not replicate natural activity. Running on a moving surface employs a different combination of muscles when compared with road running. Chuck Wolf, the director of sport science and human performance for the U.S.A. Triathlon National Training Center in Florida acknowledges this problem with the exercise machine saying,

" our love of machines has caused us to lose sight of the way the body functions. Machines are ideal for multiple repetitions of the same movement patterns along a single plane. Unfortunately, that's not how we move."

Too much emphasis is placed on muscle and hence exercises to improve strength at the cost of neglecting the systems that control them. Complex machines are able to analyse the strength of individual muscles in specific movements. However, these machines do not measure the body during natural activity. Problems are then identified with the suspect muscle and exercises prescribed to correct the condition. But what causes the weakness initially? Why is a muscle weak or too tight? A muscle can only do what it is told to do and as we do not have the ability to directly control a muscle we cannot be certain of what we are actually telling it to do. The offending muscle is only performing its function as directed by the controlling mechanisms for which we ultimately carry the responsibility. When the police stop a speeding motorist they prosecute the driver not the car!

This is not to say that gymnasiums are harmful - far from it! It is how we approach the use of a gym's equipment that is vital. They do offer an opportunity to develop body awareness and strength but the temptation is to focus on the specific muscle being exercised whilst ignoring how the whole body can be used. For example, it is common to see people gritting teeth, straining neck muscles and arching their back when using machines to work the biceps. All this unnecessary action is not going to help build the biceps but it will develop poor muscular habits that will affect other activities. If used with the total body in mind these exercises will develop every other muscle appropriately as they are needed to stabilise the frame. So rather than looking to build the abs, biceps and quads separately, be aware of their involvement on every machine.

More recently other gadgets have started to appear on the market that promise to improve balance and proprioception (our ability to sense the position, location and movement of the body and its parts). But do these devices really help to improve performance in your sport? Or do you just acquire a new skill such as balancing on a swiss-ball that may be fun but does nothing to help your game? Bill Hartman, sports scientist and golf coach, writes

So what can you do to improve your golf-specific balance? Play golf. There is not a gadget or exercise which will improve your golf-specific balance like playing golf. Why? Because nothing can duplicate the demands of playing golf other than playing golf. I know, it sounds silly doesnt it. If you look at other athletes in any sport from martial arts to gymnastics to hockey, youll find that they simply perform their sporting skills over and over to acquire their amazing balance skills. They dont rely on silly, useless gadgets. If you were a tightrope walker, would you practice on a wooden beam or stand on a stability ball. Of course not, because it would not duplicate the demands of tightrope walking. The rope has its own feel and sway that nothing else but a tightrope can duplicate. So if you want to improve your golf-specific balance, play golf.

So perhaps to get the best from the gymnasium we should take our time to use the machines with total awareness of the actions involved (avoiding distractions such as the gym TV or listen to music ). And perhaps ask whether the action encouraged by the machine is a 'natural' one. Will I ever be hanging at an angle where I need to perform a sit-up? It may strengthen the abdominals for that movement, but do I need it? How will it benefit my body as a whole?

For further information visit http://www.artofperformance.co.uk

posted by sndabacv @ 5:17 PM 0 comments

Winter Olympics: Ice Skating Pointers

U.S. pairs skaters Rena Inoue and John Baldwin made history by landing the first throw triple axel in Olympic history.

Read about the Americans jump at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/torino/figureskating/2006-02-11-pairs-skating_x.htm.

Midori Ito in 1989 was the first woman to land a triple axel in a major ice skating championship (the Worlds). See http://www.mountaindragon.com/midori/mistats.htm.

So what are triple jumps and what is a triple axel?

"The Axel is a jump in figure skating, named after the Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen (1855-1938) who was the first to perform it in 1882.

A single Axel consists of 1 1/2 rotations in the air. For a jump with counterclockwise rotation, it has a takeoff from the left forward outside edge and a landing on the right back outside edge; this can be reversed for a clockwise jump.

The Axel can also be done as a double jump with 2 1/2 rotations, or as a triple with 3 1/2 rotations." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_jump.

The above article states, No skater has yet accomplished a quadruple Axel.

To read a fun article on figure skating go to http://www.slate.com/id/2136701/fr/rss/. Even the best skaters take there turn (for the worse) on the ice.

Sasha Cohen is the only woman skater in the current Winter Olympics who can do a quadruple jump. She did not attempt it last night. She didnt need to. But she may give it ago. Keep watching. Read about Sasha at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/olympics/260243_olyfig21.html.

A number of men have performed quads in these Olympics.

Here are some hints for watching women ice skating at the Winter Olympics (Dont watch men skating. They make the jumps look too easy,):

1.Dig those old skates out of that box of junk in the garage. Put them on. Stumble into the room where you have a television set and plop yourself down. Now, dont you feel better all ready?

2.Before you put your skats on, turn the thermostat down to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. To make it more authentic for the Olympics, make that 10 degrees Centigrade. Have some heavy quilts ready.

3.Have your spouse brew up a big pot of hot chocolate. Dont go stumbling out there in the kitchen by yourself on those ice skates. You might get scalded.

4.While your spouse is out in the kitchen anyway, have her (or possibly, him) fry up a bunch of scones. A scone is fried bread dough. Just pic up the dough at the grocery store and plop sections of dough into the grease. Biscuit dough is fine. The scones should be served with butter and honey. (If you must run down to the store to get the honey, for gosh sakes take off the ice skates. You'll look pretty funny wrapped up in a steering wheel.)

5.While you are watching the ice skating, suck the honey off your fingers. Dont try to wash honey off with cocoa. You might burn yourself. Well, you can wait until the cocoa cools a bit like I do. Then you have some yummy sucking to do.

6.Here are some words you will need for ice skate competition watching:

Ohhhhh! Use this when a jump goes awry and the skater lands on her poduka with a thump. The bigger the thump, the bigger the OHHHHH!

Yeah! Scream this at the top of your lungs when a scatter performs a trivial move effortlessly.

Wow! Say this when a scatter makes a routine triple jump.

Holy Cow! Yell this when a triple axel is made and the skater makes a good landing. If the jumper falls on her paduka with a thud, say Holy S

My wife cut me off there.

Now that you know the elements of watching womens Olympic ice skating, do as Red Green says, Keep your stick on the ice!

Oh, Nuts! My wife says that only applies to ice hockey. Well, keep your paduka off the ice!

On reflection I looked up the word paduka in the Hindu dictionary (see http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Ri_paduka/id/62126). It means sandals of the venerated leader.

When I say lands on her paduka, Im not talking about sandals.

The End

Ice skating, triple, quadruple, lux, axel, Olympics, Torino, Winter Olympics, paduka, Hindu, Midori Ito, Sasha Cohen

posted by sndabacv @ 1:40 AM 0 comments