Archive for September, 2009

Usain Bolt Can Go Faster

Well, maybe Usain Bolt was right after all.  As discussed in our Physiology of Speed story, Bolt predicted he could run 100 meters in 9.54 seconds, lowering his own world record of 9.69 seconds.

Earlier this week, he almost got there running a 9.58 at the World Championships in Berlin.

Now, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands say he could shave another 3/100ths of a second off and hit the tape at 9.51 seconds.

Using the “extreme value theory”, Professor of Statistics John Einmahl and former student Sander Smeets have calculated the fastest possible times for men and women.  Between 1991 and 2008, they chronicled the best times for 762 male sprinters and 469 female sprinters.  They did not trust the data prior to 1991 as possibly being tainted by doping athletes (not that’s its gotten much better since then.)

For females, their current world record, set by Florence Griffith-Joyner, of 10.49 seconds could be theoretically lowered to 10.33 seconds.

Extreme value theory is a branch of statistics that tries to predict extreme events such as 100-year floods or major stock market movements that deviate signficantly from the median.  With less statistical confidence (95% confidence), Einmahl estimates the men could get to 9.21 while the women could run a 9.88.

To make this statistical postulating a reality, Bolt needs to find the secret competitive edge that will shave these tenths and hundredths of seconds away. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Austria claim sunflower oil may be the super fuel that is missing.

They found that mice fed a diet high in sunflower oil, which contains n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, were 6.3% faster in sprint races against mice fed a diet rich in linseed oil, which is high in n-3 fatty acids.

Their research was presented in June at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting.

“The results of the current study on mice suggest that moderate differences in dietary n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake can have a biologically meaningful effect on maximum running speed”, says Dr Christopher Turbill, lead researcher. “The application of this research to the performance of elite athletes (specifically those in sports that involve short distance sprints, including cycling) is uncertain, but in my opinion certainly deserves some further attention” he said.

So, a little sunflower oil mixed into the pre-race Gatorade? It might work until world records start to fall and its added to the banned substance list.

By Dan Paterson

The Big Man is a beautiful runner.

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

“One is Evil –  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good –  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied,  ”The one you feed.”

Simple, truthful.

Thanks Jack

Tea Time

I find I race, train and sleep better after a cup of tea. What do you think? Here’s a little story for tea time. (Don’t forget the cookies.)

Tea is currently admired for its health-promoting properties, but public opinion has not always been so positive. When tea gradually began to replace coffee as Britain’s number-one non-alcoholic drink in the early 1700s, health authorities railed against the beverage. The noted German physician Simon Pauli, whose work Commentarius de Abusu Tabaci et Herbae Thee, etc was translated into English in the 1700s, concluded that: ‘as Chocolate agrees with Coffee and Tea, … so all these three exactly agree with each other, in producing Effeminacy and Impotence …. I therefore hope that for the future the Europeans will be wise, and reject Coffee, Chocolate, and Tea, since they are all either equally bad or equally good.

Against such succinct and sound condemnations, it took the opinions of some of the literary giants of the day to ensure that tea would become a popular drink in England. Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, whose daily Spectator was read by almost every literate person in London in the early 1700s (and was frequently read aloud to the illiterate as well), were extremely partial to the new fashion of ‘a dish of tea’ and advised ‘all well-regulated families’ to set aside an hour each morning for tea drinking (1). Dr Samuel Johnson, who founded several coffee house circles, eventually developed an enormous appetite for tea, consuming up to 40 cups daily and describing himself as ‘a hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who has for many years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes the morning’ (2).

Throughout the 18th century, government officials in Europe were often concerned about the seemingly addictive aspects of tea and coffee consumption. King Gustav III of Sweden (1746-1792), in an attempt to prove that coffee was a poison, ordered a convicted murderer to drink coffee every day until he died. In an attempt to bring some science into his tests, he ordered another murderer to drink tea daily, and he appointed two Swedish doctors to oversee the experiment. Things proceeded unexpectedly, however: the two murderers thrived in prison, the tea drinker passing on eventually at the ripe-old age of 83 and the coffee drinker succumbing a bit later. Well before the demise of either felon, the two doctors went to their graves and King Gustav himself was murdered (3).

This all seems rather silly today, when we are greeted every few weeks or so with new information about the health benefits associated with drinking tea. For example, tea consumption has recently been linked with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. In an effort to understand why this might be so, researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine asked individuals with proven coronary artery disease to drink either plain water or black tea. Consumption of the black tea was shown to reverse ‘endothelial dysfunction’, allowing the arteries to dilate more effectively in response to increased blood flow (4). This reversal might help coronary arteries stay more open and thus decrease the risk of heart attack.

Tea turns out to be very rich in a group of antioxidants known as ‘catechins’, which are also found in heady concentrations in apples and chocolate. In a recent study, catechin consumption (whether from tea or the other main sources) was connected with a decreased risk of ischaemic heart disease(5).

Green tea contains a wealth of catechins, while black and oolong teas contain other antioxidants known as ‘theaflavins’, which has caused tea drinkers who favour black and oolong to worry that their teas might not be as cardio-protective as the green variety. There is no definitive word on this question, but recent investigations reveal that the theaflavins possess at least the same antioxidant potency as the catechins in green tea(6).

The antioxidants in tea may upgrade the ability of arteries to dilate properly, while reducing oxidant damage to the interior walls of blood vessels. Another finding which might explain the apparently protective effect against heart disease is that high intakes of tea can reduce levels of damaging blood lipids. One recent study correlated tea drinking with a 6 mg/dl drop in total cholesterol and a similar fall in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – the ‘bad’ cholesterol which is linked with heart disease(7). However, fairly large intakes of tea – about 10 cups per day – were required to produce this effect.

Tea may fight some forms of cancer as well as heart disease
Some apparent cancer-fighting properties of tea have also been detected. One study found that people who drank two or more cups per day had roughly half the risk of developing rectal cancer of non-tea drinkers(8), while a Japanese investigation linked tea drinking with about a 30% decrease in the risk of stomach cancer(9). In the latter study, the amount of tea consumption needed to produce the effect – seven or more cups per day – was again rather large (although not by Dr Johnson’s standards!)

What does all of this research mean for the athlete of today? Of course, if you want to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and digestive-system cancer, you might explore the potential benefits of tea consumption. But the most direct benefits for athletes arise from tea’s amazingly rich antioxidant content. As you may be aware, research into the effects of antioxidants was kick-started many years ago by the discovery of the ‘French paradox’ – the linkage of low rates of cardiovascular disease with diets which were rather high in saturated fats. The antioxidants in French wine were put forward as the keys to this puzzle, and since then a variety of foods have been tested for their antioxidant power.

Happily for tea drinkers, tea appears to be close to the top of the list in terms of antioxidant activity. One recent study placed it ahead of such other notable antioxidant-rich liquids as instant coffee, cola, red wine, carrot juice, apricot nectar, Turkish coffee, grape molasses and white wine(10). Among solid foods, red grapes, raisins, and dried black plums topped the list. Another piece of research noted that one or two standard cups of tea had as much total free radical scavenging (ie antioxidant) capacity as five normal portions of fruit and/or vegetables or 400mg of vitamin C(11).

And this is where its importance for athletes comes in. Many studies have demonstrated that intense or prolonged exercise generates considerable amounts of ‘reactive oxygen species’ (oxidants) within the human body. These reactive oxygen species can produce ‘oxidative stress’, ie damage to fats, proteins, nucleic acids and – ultimately – muscle cells. Such oxidative stress has naturally been linked with fatigue and overtraining, and it has been suggested that the human body’s natural oxidant-defense system is not powerful enough to prevent the oxidative stress associated with rugged exercise. Thus, the argument goes, athletes need to accelerate their intakes of foods which are rich in antioxidants. Tea would thus be a sought-after beverage, since it may rank ahead of all others in terms of antioxidant potency. Observers of the athletic scene sometimes wonder if it is more than a coincidence that the best endurance athletes in the world – the Kenyan runners – sip tea throughout the day, just like Dr Johnson.

The idea that increased antioxidant intake really does reduce oxidative stress and thus promote better athletic performance is, in fact, hotly debated, but there is some supporting evidence. In one study, US scientists asked participants to supplement their diets with 1 gram per day of the trusted antioxidant vitamin C and measured oxidative stress after 30 minutes of exertion(12). Exercise-induced oxidative stress was indeed lower after supplementation with vitamin C, but there was no evidence that this effect had any impact on performance.

However, this was not true of an earlier study which compared vitamin E and vitamin C supplementation (400mg per day in both cases) in physically active subjects(13). The subjects engaged in a demanding bout of muscle-damaging box-stepping exercise, which caused maximal muscle strength to fall by 25% and overall strength to plummet by 33% in the follow-up period. However, loss of strength was lowest and recovery speediest in the vitamin C group (compared with those taking vitamin E or placebo). In other words, vitamin C seemed to provide a protective effect against exercise-induced muscle damage.

In another intriguing study, intravenous infusions of an antioxidant called N-acetylcysteine actually improved the performance of ankle-dorsiflexor muscles during fatiguing exercise, suggesting that oxidative stress might play a causal role in the fatigue process itself(14).
So is tea a near-perfect sports drink? If a couple of cups of tea are consumed about an hour before exercise, the caffeine content is likely to enhance performance in high-intensity athletic events. When tea is consumed post-exercise, its rich antioxidant content may well boost recovery and limit oxidative stress to muscles. If you add generous amounts of milk (either soy or cow) and sugar to the tea (as the Kenyans do), it can stimulate protein synthesis and glycogen storage in muscles.

It’s true that more research is needed in this area, but it is hard to find fault with the idea that tea is an attractive drink for athletes. In fact, our present state of knowledge suggests that green, oolong, and black varieties of the beverage all suit athletes to a ‘T.’

Owen Anderson

Taken from http://www.pponline.co.uk

I just had my cup of tea. I think I’ll have another. Advice: Dip a Boudoir (spellcheck) or 2 in your tea. Also try it with condensed milk instead of milk and sugar! Ah tea is fun.

Enjoy

Lend a Hand

I’m sure most of you athletes out there appreciate what these ladies are currently putting their bodies through as they train for Ironman Worlchamps. Now for those of you who don’t know what iron man is it is an ultra distance triathlon with the swim leg being a little under 4km, a 180km bike leg and the run leg is nothing other than a full marathon.

Kona is the toughest Ironman race in the world. The bike and run legs are full of hills. Lend a hand to these ladies. It’s not only for them but also for a good cause… and you may just win yourself a holiday too.

I have also taken the liberty of including this video for you…

It\’s not easy

A Remarkable Man

I was doing some cyber-surfing (the real waves were no good) and I came across a certain man by the name of John R. Wooden.

John R. Wooden was a three time All American basketball player, including college player of the year his senior season at Purdue. He is the only person to be inducted into both the Players’ and Coaches’ Halls of Fame. Through his word and deed, he taught people how to be successful. Coach Wooden, and his record, remain the standard by which EXCELLENCE can be measured.
Coach Wooden built his dynasty with this philosophy: “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”

Below is an article written by Rick Reilley

“On Tuesday the best man I know will do what he always does on the 21st of the month. He’ll sit down and pen a love letter to his best girl. He’ll say how much he misses her and loves her and can’t wait to see her again. Then he’ll fold it once, slide it in a little envelope and walk into his bedroom. He’ll go to the stack of love letters sitting there on her pillow, untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one on top and tie the ribbon again.

The stack will be 180 letters high then, because Tuesday is 15 years to the day since Nellie, his beloved wife of 53 years, died. In her memory, he sleeps only on his half of the bed, only on his pillow, only on top of the sheets, never between, with just the old bedspread they shared to keep him warm.

There’s never been a finer man in American sports than John Wooden, or a finer coach. He won 10 NCAA basketball championships at UCLA (7 in a row), the last in 1975. Nobody has ever come within six of him. He won 88 straight games between Jan. 30, 1971, and Jan. 17, 1974. Nobody has come within 42 since.

So, sometimes, when the Madness of March gets to be too much — too many players trying to make SportsCenter, too few players trying to make assists, too many coaches trying to be homeys, too few coaches willing to be mentors, too many freshmen with out-of-wedlock kids, too few freshmen who will stay in school long enough to become men — I like to go see Coach Wooden. I visit him in his little condo in Encino, 20 minutes northwest of L.A., and hear him say things like “Gracious sakes alive!” and tell stories about teaching “Lewis” the hook shot. Lewis Alcindor, that is. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

There has never been another coach like Wooden, quiet as an April snow and square as a game of checkers; loyal to one woman, one school, one way; walking around campus in his sensible shoes and Jimmy Stewart morals. He’d spend a half hour the first day of practice teaching his men how to put on a sock. “Wrinkles can lead to blisters,” he’d warn. These huge players would sneak looks at one another and roll their eyes. Eventually, they’d do it right. “Good,” he’d say. “And now for the other foot.”

Of the 180 players who played for him, Wooden knows the whereabouts of 172. Of course, it’s not hard when most of them call, checking on his health, secretly hoping to hear some of his simple life lessons so that they can write them on the lunch bags of their kids, who will roll their eyes. “Discipline yourself, and others won’t need to,” Coach would say. “Never lie, never cheat, never steal,” Coach would say. “Earn the right to be proud and confident.”

You played for him, you played by his rules: Never score without acknowledging a teammate. One word of profanity, and you’re done for the day. Treat your opponent with respect.

He believed in hopelessly out-of-date stuff that never did anything but win championships. No dribbling behind the back or through the legs. “There’s no need,” he’d say. No UCLA basketball number was retired under his watch. “What about the fellows who wore that number before? Didn’t they contribute to the team?” he’d say. No long hair, no facial hair. “They take too long to dry, and you could catch cold leaving the gym,” he’d say.

That one drove his players bonkers. One day, All-America center Bill Walton showed up with a full beard. “It’s my right,” he insisted. Wooden asked if he believed that strongly. Walton said he did. “That’s good, Bill,” Coach said. “I admire people who have strong beliefs and stick by them, I really do. We’re going to miss you.” Walton shaved it right then and there. Now Walton calls once a week to tell Coach he loves him.

It’s always too soon when you have to leave the condo and go back out into the real world, where the rules are so much grayer and the teams so much worse. As Wooden shows you to the door, you take one last look around. The framed report cards of the great-grandkids. The boxes of jelly beans peeking out from under the favorite wooden chair. The dozens of pictures of Nellie.

He’s almost 90 now, you think. A little more hunched over than last time. Steps a little smaller. You hope it’s not the last time you see him. He smiles. “I’m not afraid to die,” he says. “Death is my only chance to be with her again.”

Problem is, we still need him here.”

I think we can all learn a lot from Coach Wooden. Notice how he values love above all else. For more visit www.coachwooden.com.

Bolt vs. Bekele

50 Pearls of Wisdom

1. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

4. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

5. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.

6. There is a great need for sarcasm font.

7. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

8. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.

9. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

10. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

11. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

12. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

13. Was learning cursive really necessary?

14. Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.

15. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

16. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?

17. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”

18. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

19. Garmin really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighbourhood.

20. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

21. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

22. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

23. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.

24. Bad decisions make good stories

25. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

26. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem.

27. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

28. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.

29. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

31. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.

32. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’

33. While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and SA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.

34. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?

35. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

36. When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

37. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

38. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for paedophiles…

39. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

40. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

41. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

42.. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

43. I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in high school.

44. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…

45. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?

46. It really upsets me when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

47. I wonder if cops ever get p’d off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

48. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

49. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

And number 50 is….

Challenge exposes Opportunity

Thanks Nicole

Linebreak Update

So I have been using the Linebreak calf guards and compression tights for quite a while now. In fact, I am wearing the compression tights as we speak (It’s cold in Cape Town today).

I must say that compression really does work. I have just completed my own little test over the past 2 months to see if they really do work. I noted the days I “kept it tight” and the days I never. I cycled and ran in both the calf guards and the tights. This is what I found:

Running

Wearing the tights	Wearing the calf guards	Wearing just a regular running short pant
No downward shockwave through the thigh followed by a reverberation as the quad bounces back up – This makes for seriously (and surprisingly) comfortable running.	Because the calf guards are more focused and isolate… calves they are a little tighter than the tights (This is known as graded compression and has been researched) I felt less stress on my Achilles tendon especially.	A little more airy but it doesn’t quite feel as nice.
They are warm in the winter time. They fit better than regular tights are just leagues above running in your Adidas Originals tracksuit pants.	I had an operation on my lower legs (Compartment Syndrome) so the calf guards are a big help with that even now that I have fully recovered.

Cycling

Wearing the tights	Wearing the calf guards	Cycling shorts
Kept my working quads in check	The calf guards are definitely better suited to running but they did prevent that niggle of a  “cramp” kind of thing I occasionally get in my right calf	You wear these with the tights and the calf guards
Better suited for recovery after a long ride
They kept my pins warm

Right, so to sum it all up, my benefits are:

• Temperature control
• Cramp prevention – They won’t always prevent cramp but they do help A LOT.
• Comfort
• Recovery
• They just make you look faster

Have a look at my original entry for Linebreak called Overcoming Muscular Fatigue. (http://onceinspired.co.za/product-review/overcoming-muscular-fatigue-%E2%80%93-linebreak-compression-garments/)

For more product information contact Justin Maddock on 082 467 8877 or justin.maddock@gmail.com

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