XCOttawa.ca, you rock my world.

I haven't been blogging lately cause all my time has been spent on XCOttawa.ca, reading sweet articles, like the one about the McCarthy bros and their feathery little friend...hilarious!

The "What the team is reading..." section is completely money, totally reminds me of my childhood searching for any scrap of skiing news on the net.  

EVERY SKIER SHOULD FREQUENT XCOttawa.ca as this list is updated daily and links to very relevant content.   (hope I can get on their "What the team is reading..." roster now!)

Another cool article posted there on STRETCHING, is pretty interesting.  I have recently seen some athletes stretching (static) before various efforts and in one or two situations have heard people ask them to stretch (see below about my request today...).  This season so far has seen a moderately-high lacking in the stretching department for me, but interestingly enough I have been injury free (besides a broken bone) and have felt fine and have never been stiff (except for the odd random macho-strength session recovery period...).  So I've put some thought into what stretching actually does.  Stretching allows for proper (or beyond proper) range of motion when done on a regular basis in a systematic manner.  But how does it do this?  What of the miniscule muscle tears or other tears induced by stretching?  And why would you do this before exercising?  Why would you damage muscle before it is about to be stressed?  Didn't make sense to me...And I only just started thinking about this...  The additional neurologic side/downfalls to stretching (outlined in the article) are of additional intrigue.  And the fact that it has been shown to not reduce soreness when you get or are getting sore (debateable).

Today, before starting to run while measuring VO2, I was prompted by the testers to do some stretches to get ready for the test...I didn't.  

I agree with the article in that dynamic stretches would hold some merit in their execution before exercise or exertion (despite some advice I have heard) if done correctly and with the proper objectives in mind of joint mobility and the potential priming of tendons and ligaments.  

But remember,  a muscle warms up by contracting.  So if you are warming up for a hard running effort, go out and contract some running muscles by exercising (running?) to prepare yourself.  

I'm not saying not to stretch, just make sure you are aware of what you hope to achieve.  For me I am currently using stretching to increase my range of motion in a few areas that are limiting my ability to ski fast.  I am also doing the free drop-in Yoga at Lulu which will give me "strength while lengthened" like my landlady likes to say.  I wonder what that will do for me?  Just remember to watch that sacroiliac joint...it's a doozie.

Come back soon,

T