World Cup Race #5

The final race for the first half of the bobsled season had some up and downs, and boy was it cold. Temps were hovering around -20 degrees Celsius. Guys were getting frost burns from any skin that was exposed to the bobsled on the rides down. The two man race saw a crash on the mens side for USA 1 in the 2 mens race. The upside is that he bounced back to take the silver medal in the four mens event. The four man push crews powered there way to the first and second fastest starts of the day for the second push. On the womens side, Shauna Rohbock finished with the bronze medal. Like I said last week, anytime you can go on a German track and walk away with medals, it was a good week. Last but not least, all the athletes are healthy going into the break. Less then two months to the Olympics!

Random Thoughts

1. Doing myofascial work with the hamstring in a supine position, I was able to find adhesions that had alluded me in the prone position. I believe it was the lack of tension that position afforded me, that allowed for greater depth.

2. I have been paying closer attention to standing glute fold symmetry. After adjusting and doing some A.R.T. on a few structures, the low glute fold was improved but not all the way. After working the glute minimus pretty hard it was fully symmetrical.

3. A very interesting article in National Geographic about the Hadza tribe in Tanzania. They are one of the last true hunter/gatherer societies. Give it a read. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/hadza/finkel-text

4. Gyokuro tea has high levels of theanine which helps you focus. If your feeling a little ADD give it a shot.

5. Every tissue in the human body has a capacity and every task you require has a load. The key to injury prevention is to never have the load exceed the capacity. Strength training is simply increasing your bodies capacity to handle work.

6. Rhodiola rosea supplementation could be a next big thing kinda thing. It's been around for awhile, but the new information coming out about it are pretty cool. It's an adaptogen, which means it helps your body handle stress and trauma better.

7. Maintaining flexibility in the anterior chain (rectus, psoas, rectus femoris,) is crucial for fast sprinting speeds.

World Cup Race #4

Winterberg Germany was another pretty successful week. The women had a high finish of 3rd and the mens four man teams took home fifth and the Gold. Any time you can beat the Germans on a home track, you know you did a great job. It went USA, Germany 1, Germay 2, Germany 3, and USA 2. Again, the four man push crews were dominate, pushing the 1st and 3rd fastest times of the day.

This week we are again in German home territory on the Altenberg, Germany track. For many years, this track wasn't open to the west during the Berlin wall days. It's a very tough track, but very unique in that if you drive it well, its very smooth and fast. If you drive it poorly it gets dangerous really quick.

The Dangerous Side

Sometimes daily routine can become a mask for some of the dangers that inhabit high speed sports. That can all change in a blink of an eye though. Today was a reminder that bobsled can be dangerous, it can be rough, that there are risks. This is a picture of a helmet of one of the athletes after a four man crash today in Winterberg, Germany. It landed the pilot in the hospital, although his crew was ok, minus four cracked helmets. There are no easy tracks, just less rough and when your going at 80 plus miles per hour, life can change quickly.

Recovery Study

Reading through Conditioning Research, (a pretty interesting blog) they posted a study that is quite interesting. It supports what a few strength coaches I have talked to seem to have reached. Ice isn't a big influence on recovery or to improve performance. They used contrast (ice/heat), stretching and a control following vigorous stair stepping workouts. Neither the ice or stretching grouped faired better then the athletes that did nothing. Remember this was for recovery from a workout, not an acute injury. Big difference. You can read the abstract at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19967603?dopt=Abstract

Bikes, Bobsled and your Support

To all my friends out there that love riding bikes and love helping out a cause, I got a good deal for you. For five bucks you can buy a raffle for a chance to win this sweet bike. You will also be helping out US bobsled athlete Bill Schuffenhaur. Many people don't know, but the US government doesn't support Olympic teams, and most athletes are self funded. This means there not getting paid to do this. So any little bit will help out a long way in helping athletes pursue their Olmypic dream. Plus, this is a sweet bike. http://billschuffenhauer.com/

World Cup Race #3

The men and womens teams capped a great weekend in Torino, Italy. The men finished 3 and 5 in the two man event and the women finished 6th, 5th and Train Out Pain athlete Shauna Rohbock winning the gold. The next day the men finished 9th and 1st with Steve Holcumb and his crew crushing the field for the gold medal. Next up Winterberg, Germany!