 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/Health-Fitness-Report-2012.html
Myth #1: Stretching prevents injuries and improves performance.
Myth #2: Running barefoot is better for the body.
Myth #3: You need to focus on your core to become a better athlete.
Myth #4: Guzzling water and electrolytes before a race prevents cramps.
Myth #5: Popping ibuprofen before a hard workout prevents sore muscles afterward.
Myth #6: Dehydration hurts race performance.
Myth #7: Ice baths speed recovery.
Myth #8: Long and slow is the best way to burn calories.
Myth #9: Fructose is a performance killer.
Myth #10: Supplements take performance to the next level.
I'm sure STW could argue about some of these....
Number 6 infers that dehydration aids performance? I'd like to see the evidence around that.
No, it suggests that dehydration doesn't harm performance, which is subtley different.
If you go and investigate the subject, try to discount all the 'research' done by drinks companies...
hmm. Some questionable wording for striking titles?
Dehydration hurts race performance.
it suggests that dehydration doesn't harm performance
All things are relative which makes sweeping statements like this total bollox. It might be you could prove that super mild dehydration does not harm performance but I'd be pretty sure that not drinking for 3 days and being on my death bed is not going to make getting within an hour of my 25 mile TT pb very achievable! The tricky bit is knowing what super mild feels like and I'd imagine most of us would struggle to judge it.
.
[i]All things are relative which makes sweeping statements like this total bollox. It might be you could prove that super mild dehydration does not harm performance but I'd be pretty sure that not drinking for 3 days and being on my death bed is not going to make getting within an hour of my 25 mile TT pb very achievable! The tricky bit is knowing what super mild feels like and I'd imagine most of us would struggle to judge it. [/i]
Read the link.
2,3,7 and 10 are pretty far fetched.
Jesus.
Saturday night...and even I am out with better things to do than argue about this shit.
[i]Jesus.
Saturday night...and even I am out with better things to do than argue about this shit.[/i]
And yet you seem unable to avoid commenting... My work here is done.
😀
Cats stretch. That's all the evidence I need.
Ben Goldacre to the forum please. These are "Mail-esque" articles based on studies using only a handful of people. The one about stretching gave no guide on how the athletes were asked to stretch - quite likely they overdid it on cold muscles and pulled something.
I agree with ooOOoo - cat's know what they're on about.
hamsters stretch too, and ive never heard a hamster complaining about cramp.
well, not yet anyway.
teacake - completely agree. A combination of poorly worded headlines, misrepresentation of study results and accepted wisdom (rugby warm up stretches moved from static to dynamic about 10 years ago) dressed up as new revelations.
My thoughts on reading the link were the great Ben Goldacre catch all quote "I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that..."
Barefoot running is better for the body
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2012/07/05/barefoot-truths-revealed-by-study-61634-31326928/#.T_a2Ei3pqNE.twitter
Myth #1: Stretching prevents injuries and improves performance.
This is true (this isn't an argument, it's a fact), it's not a myth.
The study that they mention was stupid, everyone knows static stretching is for after exercise, not before.
As for the injury part, how do you expect stretching to prevent knee pain? Your knee is a joint, not a muscle. Stretching is about muscles. And it does increase flexibility, which is a good thing in lots of ways.
you should read the hydration one - it did not measure hydration just weight loss and concludes that the fastest loose most weight.
It does not even suggest that if you drink less you will be faster nor does it use a control to see how fast these fats people were if they drunk more..in essence it is bobbins
TBF I've heard that dehydration doesn't actually effect performance as badly as most people think, although it depends on where you draw the line between being hydrated and being dehydrated I guess.
Drink little and often kids.
I think a little bit for a one off three hour event will make little difference like say being a little hungry but to do it everyday you will pay a price. i suspect if you get people to do 8 hours and not drink you may notice a dip in performance related to this
It notes how you can have life threatening levels of water hydration as if dehydration is not also a killer and no doubt kills more per year possibly even per week] that drinking too much ever has.
what a load of horseshit
Shock news the internet is full of crap, almost amazed you didn't need to pay to follow the link
As for the injury part, how do you expect stretching to prevent knee pain? Your knee is a joint, not a muscle. Stretching is about muscles. And it does increase flexibility, which is a good thing in lots of ways.
Not related to the op/article, but in reality our joints are more than simple "hinges". The knee is the largest articulating surface in the body, and doesn't only flex, but rotates at extremes of extension (when your leg is straight, the knee rotates slightly).
Ergo, any imbalance or damage to muscles and ligaments can affect joint performance/pain. Now I'm not saying stretching does or doesn't work, but be aware of the necessity for "good working muscles" when it comes to joint pains, especially knees.
DrP
#10 seemed to work for Lance
The myth about muscle turning to fat when you stop exercising is a particularly prime piece of anatomical idiocy which missed the cut here...
Do any pro athletes/coaches believe stretching doesn't help?!!
Results from endurance events seem to bear that out: during the 2009 Mont-Saint-Michel Marathon in France, researchers measured the weight loss of 643 competitors and compared it with their finish times. The runners who lost the most water weight were also the fastest. Most of those who finished in less than three hours lost at least 3 percent of their body weight to sweat.
Well that's conclusive then. Improve your running time by sweating more. Does anybody know how to train to lose more weight by sweating?
[url= http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/Health-Fitness-Report-2012.html ]Myth #11: You can believe everything you read on Outside Online[/url]
(look I even did a clever linky thingy just like them)
as I understand it. what the excess hydration people are arguing against is the idea that you should drink before you are thirsty - they argue that the bo.y is very good at telling you when it needs water, and that you should just follow its signals. They've done studies showing that drinking before you're thirsty actually decreases athletic performance compared to either drinking when you feel thirsty, or even compared to not drinking at allfor some lengths of races.
It's obvious that many people hydrate massively more than they need to by the huge difference between the amounts of water you see people drinking on mountainbike rides - people who ride for three hours and want a three litre camelbak, and you compare it with a three hour road ride, where most people might ge some way through a 750ml bottle (and probably at a much higher intensity than your average mountain bike ride).
or look at runners - many club runners I've met just don't carry water for normal hour to hour and a half runs. It certainly doesn't seem like it slows them down.
It's not an exceedingly fine line between falling down halfway up the ventoux with "the bonk" or traipsing around a trail centre swigging from 3kg of water and stopping for a wee every 20 minutes...
I like lots of water on a ride - it keeps me cool. However I'm not chasing maximum performance, nor am I willing to suffer for it.
It's amazing that the human race managed to survive so long before we had sports scientists telling us how much to drink.
No, it suggests that dehydration doesn't harm performance, which is subtley different.If you go and investigate the subject, try to discount all the 'research' done by drinks companies...
By coincidence my copy of [url= http://www.amazon.com/Waterlogged-Serious-Problem-Overhydration-Endurance/dp/145042497X ]Waterlogged[/url] turned up this weekend 🙂
It's amazing that the human race managed to survive so long before we had sports scientists telling us how much to drink.
There appear to be some odd psychology at play too - at least for me.
If I go for say a 2 hour bike ride, I'll take water with me because I feel thirsty, but with the odd exception I wouldn't bother for a 2 hour run. What I don't know is if that thirst with cycling is genuine or sort of Pavlovian response - get bike - get camelback.
It's amazing that the human race managed to survive so long before we had sports scientists telling us how much to drink.
Not at all - nobody (sensible) is suggesting that you die if you get a bit dehydrated. Presumably there is an evolutionary advantage to keeping hydrated as otherwise we'd not have evolved to have such a powerful thirst response.
compare it with a three hour road ride, where most people might ge some way through a 750ml bottle
Really? I'd expect to easily get through 2 750ml bottles in a 3 hour ride and still be dehydrated and feel thirsty afterwards.
or look at runners - many club runners I've met just don't carry water for normal hour to hour and a half runs. It certainly doesn't seem like it slows them down.
In the same way I wouldn't necessarily carry a bottle on an hour's ride (and have certainly given up doing so on 25 mile TTs), and unless it's very hot I won't take a drink with me for an hour's session in the kayak. Though it is a bit more hassle carrying water on a run, which is more the reason behind that than because they don't feel the need for a drink.
It's amazing that the human race managed to survive so long before we had sports scientists telling us how much to drink.
Bit of a stupid thing to say. We're talking about optimal athletic performance, not survival. I'd have thought that was startlingly obvious.
[i]Bit of a stupid thing to say. We're talking about optimal athletic performance, not survival. I'd have thought that was startlingly obvious[/i]
I'd go and look at the science behind hydration, and see why the latest recommendations are to drink to thirst rather than a prescriptive drink x mls in x minutes.
Sports drinks companies have muddied the water for quite a few years now...
We're talking about optimal athletic performance, not survival
I'm sure the two have been linked many times over the millenia.
I'm sure the two have been linked many times over the millenia.
Really?
I'd go and look at the science behind hydration, and see why the latest recommendations are to drink to thirst rather than a prescriptive drink x mls in x minutes.
Is the research about survival or atheltic performance?
My great-great-great......great grandad (Steve) had to run all day to catch an antelope once. Saved the family. Nice one.
Athletic performance. Go look at the science of sport website, grumpy pants. 🙂
I'd go and look at the science behind hydration, and see why the latest recommendations are to drink to thirst rather than a prescriptive drink x mls in x minutes.
Is the research about survival or atheltic performance?
The point that the research makes is that being a bit dehydrated doesn't harm performance, whereas overhydrating by drinking before you feel thirsty appears to have a big negative effect on performance.
Something along those lines anyway. I suspect it is slightly more complicated, given they've written a whole book about it, but the general advice is that your body knows what it is doing, being thirsty is it's way of telling you that you should drink something, and if it isn't telling you, you probably don't need to drink.
So do we all agree that "Dehydration hurts race performance" is not a myth?
[i]So do we all agree [/i]
This is STW, right?