Thoughts. » links http://www.ultimatethoughts.com Ultimate Ramblings Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:30:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Track Workouts and Running Form http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/03/track-workouts-and-running-form.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/03/track-workouts-and-running-form.html#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:10:14 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/?p=671

Ironside vs. Chain, Semifinals, '09 Club Nationals. Photo taken by Keegan Uhl.

While the college season is picking up steam, a lot of club players are just getting in gear for the coming tryouts and season.

Ballometrics has been maintaining a fitness list for the past few months (tryouts start soon, if you’re interested in playing competitive mixed out of Boston, drop a line); people are starting to do track workouts now that the land is thawing.

I sent the following to the list about doing pre-season track workouts, which segued into a lot of thoughts on running form. As we still have the luxury of training without the constant performance demand of weekend tournaments and practices, it’s a great time to focus on technique and go into the season not only with a good base of strength and conditioning, but efficient form, as well.

It all depends on where you are athletically right now. It’s pretty early in pre-season right now, so I’d encourage you to focus on form at a brisk pace and short distance–”tempo runs” if you’ve heard the term–rather than doing either long slow distance (though that can have a similar place in getting ready to sprint, and if that’s your thing, that’s fine) or especially full-on sprints at this point if your body isn’t ready for it.

At the very least, I’d encourage pretty full recovery between runs for the first couple workouts. There are other ways to condition, doing circuits in the gym, etc, that have the side benefit of making you better fit without the risk of overdoing it that can come with sprinting full-on before you’re ready.

Again, this depends on what kind of shape you’re in. I know that for myself, for instance, I can’t really do more than a couple full-on sprints right now before my form starts breaking down and I’m liable to hurt myself without a good long break. I’m also working back from injury end of last season that had me hobbling around for a couple weeks, so you normal people might be ready to do more. Regardless, with the luxury of time it’s definitely worth focusing on running form–pretty much all of us can benefit from more work here.

I’d encourage everybody to work some running form drills into the warm-up, generally but especially before running workouts. Check out here for some of the classics (it’s for tennis, but the same drills carry over across sport), and here for ideas for more high-impact stuff that you can make part of your workout.

Doing some drills like the above to prime the nervous system before you run, and then focusing on various aspects of form (I’d say no more than 2 things at a time) while actually running, ideally at something more than a jog, can help train your nervous system to run more efficiently even when you’re going full-out and can’t focus on form as much (ie, in game).

When I say “various aspects of form” I mean things like:

  • Arm Swing: Straight forward and back rather than across the chest, angle around 90 degrees (a little less on backswing and a little more on upswing). When you’re jogging this angle increases, but when sprinting your hand should go from hip to lip. My old track coach used to cue us to imagine grabbing potato chips from our pockets and bringing them up to our mouth to eat while running. This also cues keeping the hands relaxed, since if you clench you’ll crush the chip. It’s important not to “force” the arm action and tense up, as this just leaks energy and hurts efficiency. Swing from the shoulders, keep your elbows close to your body, and relax.
  • Body Posture (keeping a tight core): More wisdom from my coach–if you take a yardstick and drop it on its end, it’ll bounce back up, force transfers from the stick to the ground and back when it’s one piece. If the yardstick has a hinge in the middle (a weak core, or hunched-over posture), it simply collapses, and all the energy in ground contact is lost. Keep your core tight and keep from hinging at the hips to run more efficiently. (Keep in mind that when you’re accelerating you lean–this lean should come from the ankles rather than the hips).
  • Foot Strike: This is a little more advanced and takes a bit more work to make second nature. Short form: Heel strike is bad. “Toe” running is also bad, but that’s more of a misnomer for proper form. The ideal is to land on the BALL of the foot. Whether you’re sprinting or running distance, the body’s designed to absorb force on footstrike with the ball enabling the muscles and tendons of your foot, ankle and calf to absorb force (and exert force going into the next step). When you heel strike most of that machinery is negated or worse, has to work overtime, which can lead to all sorts of issues, from chronic knee injury and wearing to shin splints and stress fractures.

    I highly encourage you to examine the heel on your running shoe and consider investing in a pair of shoes with a lower, if not flat one, as most commercially designed shoes have heels that are way too high to allow a natural footstrike. I’ve been training and running in Nike Frees for years now after a couple years of knee woes and ankle sprains, and though it took me a while to adjust, I’ve had much healthier ankles and knees since. If you can’t afford or don’t want to get new shoes, at least do yourself a favor and start warming up and cooling down in bare feet on grass. Strengthening your feet means letting them do their own thing, and it’ll carry over to normal shoe wearing.
  • Stride Length/Rate: Goes right along with foot strike. You actually don’t need to focus on this too much, if you’re getting a good foot strike this should naturally limit your stride length. Keep in mind that the stronger you are the longer your “stride length” will be without you having to stretch; if you stride too far (are consciously trying to) your footfalls are going to become heel strikes, which in addition to being an injury risk also means your feet are too far in front of you and each step you take is braking, rather than accelerating or at least maintaining your speed. Same for rate–you shouldn’t need to focus on it too much. Let your body figure these ones out.
  • Knee Lift/Butt Kick: These are the things you focus on to boost stride rate and length. The more you can pick up your foot behind you, the shorter a lever your hip has to move forward before taking the next step. Makes a big difference for sprinting. Picking up your knee is a cue to maximize how much ground this short lever covers before you set down again–just make sure you let your foot fall naturally rather than reaching and overstriding.

Short-term, I’d encourage you to focus on arm swing, posture, and knee lift/butt kick depending on which of those you need the most work on (hopefully you can pay attention next time you’re running and pick out if your arms are swinging across your body instead of straight back-forward, or if your foot carry is pretty close to the ground). I find posture tends to increase pretty dramatically with more core strength, so if you’re not already doing core work, especially stuff like hanging leg raises or static holds, working some of that in should carry over to running form pretty well.

I spent a number of years running track in middle and high school and we did form drills for at least 15 minutes every day, so it’s something I take pretty seriously–it’s an easy way to get faster without becoming “stronger” or “better conditioned,” simply more efficient. Hopefully this gives you some rationale to understand and work with the form drills.

Related posts:

  1. Running form: Use your core, and pelvic tilt
  2. Summer Workouts: Speed Work
  3. 7/26 Track Workout

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/03/track-workouts-and-running-form.html/feed 6 How I Do Crossfit With Ultimate Training http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/how-i-do-crossfit-with-ultimate-training.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/how-i-do-crossfit-with-ultimate-training.html#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:35:31 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/?p=626 Xi Xua’s Huddle entries on Crossfit (a follow-up to his earlier article on play intervals in elite open ultimate) provide an informative look into what Crossfit is; however, he does not go in to much depth at all on how to go about how to incorporate it into ultimate training.

This is by design, I think; done verbatim, Crossfit is an extremely taxing regimen to adhere to.  3 on, 1 off, learning how to do technical lifts like the squat and deadlift and the Olympic lifts too can make things overwhelming (to say nothing of the renowned intensity of the workouts).

For me, there have always been two keys to keep in mind with incorporating Crossfit: Progression and Flexibility.

The Samson Stretch

Progression is, I think, the oft-overlooked component.  It’s easy to pop on to the homepage, eye the weights or what have you, and get discouraged (or worse, perhaps, to try at the listed weights or reps and destroy yourself right out of the gate).  Like any training regimen, it’s important to progress slowly to the movements and weights you’re going to be working at–in the early stages, mastering the movements takes precedence over any kind of intensity (as it should).

At its most basic, this means incorporating the Crossfit warm-up into your routine, focusing on the samson stretch and overhead squat with light weight (ideally a wooden dowel; I wind up using a 6-9lb bar as it’s the lightest I can find.  If you have nothing other than a 45lb olympic bar, try substituting holding a towel, theraband, or something similar apart with your hands).

OH Squat Sequence

I still remember my first Crossfit workout back in ’06: It was my sophomore summer at Dartmouth, and I’d already spent a couple months of perusing information on Crossfit (including the forums–I was very fitness avid my sophomore year and did a ton of reading there and at sites like T-Nation in my spare time. More here). With the season finally over and my goals clear for the upcoming year (broken record alert: goal setting and planning are keys to success), Crossfit became a big part of my summer training plan. I scanned the archives, intimidated by workout after workout, until settling on one that was seemingly more innocuous.

The workout called for 5 rounds of 21 95 lb Sumo Deadlift High Pulls, as well as 12 ring dips. I knew from reading the FAQ that I had to scale the weights down; I was not the 175 lb prototypical Crossfit guy. I figured 65 lbs was proportionately good enough to not overwhelm me, while still maintaining enough heft to be a manly amount to lift. I also diligently followed the 1 ring dip = 3 regular dips protocol, as the fitness center had no rings.

I managed to survive, but only barely.

By the middle of it, I’d shifted to a 1 ring = 2 dip protocol (with the assist from the machine to make it bearable), and even 65 lbs wound up being far more than I should’ve begun with. I spent the next three or four days sore beyond belief, recovering, yet somehow I’d been hooked! I made sure not to overdo it for the rest of that month, prioritizing taking the time to do the exercises well…after a few weeks I scaled the weights back up, closer to something more fitting with my 135lb physique, and was good to go.

I’ll try and go in more depth on just what sorts of progressions are options for somebody just starting out in a later post, but for now know that it’s not impossible, and that you’re going to be better off if you’re doing Crossfit at half intensity (half weight, half rep, etc) than jumping in over your head, or worse, remaining sedentary.

Flexibility is inherent in all of Crossfit. The program strives to build a well-rounded, capital-A Athlete, able to excel at any endeavor. To that end, Crossfit incorporates a wide range of modalities. Plenty of ultimate players are understandably dubious about whether or not it all has applicability to ultimate.

The short answer? Of course it ALL doesn’t, at least not directly. I don’t follow Crossfit religiously (at this point in time, I don’t even follow it regularly). On days where the site calls for a 5k or 10k run, I do something else. There are naturally certain parts of the wide range of exercises prescribed that you’re not going to want to do, or won’t be able to do for reasons of equipment or otherwise.

Just because Crossfit incorporates all of these modalities doesn’t mean that you can or should be able to cover the full spectrum, especially in the beginning phases.  Crossfit strives to keep the equipment requirements minimal, but even so I’ve wound up making do with less-than-ideal setups plenty of times. The ideal may be to do it all, and do it all well, but realistically it’s your life and your training plan, and Crossfit is not the be-all end-all of fitness; there are many routes to the same destination.

If I am not a full practicioner, I do at least consider myself a solid student of Crossfit.  Some of their simplest workouts are their best–work hard, doing basic movements, and do it for time. Try to improve your performance next time. That’s the core premise upon which all of Crossfit revolves. The catch comes in mastering those basic movements (yes, squatting–squatting well–is a basic movement), and that’s why following a progression matters, but you can and should feel free to make Crossfit conform to you, rather than the other way around.

Crossfit has slowly grown (or shrank, depending on your perspective) from a large framework of my fitness routine to simply a component of it. It still exerts a large influence on my general training plan however–I still diligently perform a couple cycles of the Crossfit warm-up any time I work in the gym, and still consider the overhead squat to be the pinnacle of developing (and evaluating) hip mobility.

For any out there with reservations about whether or not Crossfit is a viable modality, applicable to your training, my advice is to do it (not “try,” that’s too tentative) and see. Give it a month of full (3+ days/week) or part-time (1-2 days/wk) incorporation into your rotation; pick and choose your workouts rather than following their “prescribed” order; make sure you progress into doing the full workouts, and see if you don’t feel better for having whooped your own ass a bit, and come away a little more confident in your stamina next time there’s a stoppage during a hell point.

At its best, Crossfit means refusing to be contained to any set routine–and that includes Crossfit itself. Don’t be afraid to experiment and seize the reins of your own fitness.

“Absorb what is useful; disregard that which is useless, and add what is essentially your own.”

-Bruce Lee

Related posts:

  1. So, you’re interested in training, huh?
  2. Some training thoughts gleaned from the summer
  3. Spring Training

]]> http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/how-i-do-crossfit-with-ultimate-training.html/feed 0 A New Year’s To-Do List For You: http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/a-new-years-to-do-list-for-you.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/a-new-years-to-do-list-for-you.html#comments Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:00:19 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/?p=570
  • Renew your UPA membership.  With electonic waivers, you can do it all now and forget about last-minute scrambles come series time, plus you’re a member in time to get all the copies of USA Ultimate.  Apologies to international readers who aren’t beholden to the UPA.
  • Get your fitness in gear.  The Huddle has a nice piece by Xi Xia talking about Crossfit; longtime readers will know that I’m a huge proponent of Crossfit, and I highly recommend that you look to get into it if you want a comprhensive general physical preparedness routine for your off-season training.If you’re in season (ie college), you can definitely benefit from incorporating some strength work to your practice and other training routine.  A while back I posted the routine we used at Dartmouth several years ago; it’s a solid place to start from if you’ve never lifted before, or are otherwise looking to ease into in-season training.
  • Play ultimate.  Hopefully this is the easy one!  I’ve got coaching at Vegas and dominating in Hawaii to help me get my fix this winter (and a bit of training motivation for #2).  Hope you’re finding satisfying pursuits, too!

    • It always bears repeating that good goal-setting practices, keeping the process in mind as well as the end result, will help you achieve the ends you desire, ultimate or otherwise.  Best of luck with keeping your resolutions!

    Related posts:

    1. Must-read for all ultimate athletes.

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2010/01/a-new-years-to-do-list-for-you.html/feed 10     Good Books, Priority Shifts, and Kaimana http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/good-books-priority-shifts-and-kaimana.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/good-books-priority-shifts-and-kaimana.html#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/good-books-priority-shifts-and-kaimana.html ’tis a great season for reading, as students are about to go/are already on break…here’s what’s been on my tap of late.  Would love to hear your good stuff in the comments.

    The Definitive Book of Body Language. Really easy to get in to, broken up into perusable chunks makes it a great bathroom/bedroom read. From the perspective of a neuroscience major, I find it fascinating, and from the perspective of a future physician, I find it a useful tool for reading my patients and evaluating their needs (and how they’re responding to my suggestions).  You never know, it could help make you a more persuasive call-arguer.

    Guyland (what I’m currently reading).  Delves into the world of the “Guy” Demographic (ages 16-26+); the author’s main premise hinges on the concept of these years as a sort of prolonged post-adolescent period before “Guys” become “Men” and fully assimilate into the adult world, and a lot of the psychology and consequences of such. Definitely smatters a bit prescriptionist, and tends to be a bit sensationalist at times, but it’s a refreshing flipside to the largely female-focused Gender Studies coin and a decent touchstone for my own life, as I inch closer to my 23rd year. It’s a piece of the developmental education course I always wanted to but never took.

    For the fitness-inclined, you can never go wrong with Ross Enamait‘s books. Infinite Intensity continues to be a great resource for me and my training, along with Crossfit as the other main pillar. I’ve found Vern Gambetta’s Athletic Development to be a good resource for big-picture program design, but I’d only recommend that for coaches or others looking to coordinate training on a team level.

    Speaking of, I’m devoting more and more of my energy towards this team now that the roster is set and winter training is ramping up, which means this blog is slowly shifting towards the backburner. When I feel confident that I’ll be able to keep a regular schedule again I’ll let you know; for now I’ll shoot to keep dropping new content on Tuesdays (because what else is there to do on a Tuesday?) but can’t make any guarantees.

    Lastly, I’m still debating going to Kaimana in February (closer to the going end than the not going end of the spectrum, probably 75% at this point). Don’t even need to bring my passport this time–any readers out there care to endorse the tourney/heckle me for still being on the fence (Dusty)?

    Related posts:

    1. Kaimana not-so-Klassic

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/good-books-priority-shifts-and-kaimana.html/feed 1     Forehand Throws and Foot Turns: Follow-Up on the IO Foot http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/forehand-throws-and-foot-turns-follow-up-on-the-io-foot.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/forehand-throws-and-foot-turns-follow-up-on-the-io-foot.html#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/forehand-throws-and-foot-turns-follow-up-on-the-io-foot.html I tried to dig up a couple pictures of what I was talking about last week with the “IO Foot”; Keeghan Uhl’s gallery of Nationals provided a few useful pictures.

    Without further ado:

    This picture provides one angle on the IO foot. The throw isn’t explicitly IO–which is to say, this could just be a flat throw to the open side–but you’ll note that the foot position forces the knee to follow and wind up in a position which allows a fairly clean follow-through of the arm in front of the leg.

    This picture shows essentially the same position as the prior one, but from a slightly different angle. You’ll note the release point, which is both low and well in front of the knee–again, this is not explicitly an IO throw (thought note the slight tilt), but I hope it’s fairly apparent that a throw from a similar position could penetrate a mark for a low-release break.


    This picture is a great example of how the IO foot can be applied in game (though the foot block is a perpetual menace for low releases). Check the distance the thrower is able to penetrate from where his pivot foot (and presumably weight) was.  Note the direction the foot points, relative to the throwing direction–pretty close to perpendicular*.  Any mark within a few feet is a candidate for the step-through, IO forehand break.
    *I know I referenced “past perpendicular” in the prior post, and that may have been a bit hyperbolic–I get there sometimes, but it’s more instructive as a cue than a hard-and-fast rule.

    I’d love to hear thoughts from people who get by with other stepping/throwing techniques.  I know there’s a decent-sized camp that points the foot upfield and releases outside of the knee rather than inside, and I’m curious as to how that plays for making IO breaks in particular.

    Related posts:

    1. Forehand Throws and Foot Turns
    2. Balance Revisited: Throwing With Your Weight Set
    3. Throwing Thought: Balance for Short and Long Throws

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/12/forehand-throws-and-foot-turns-follow-up-on-the-io-foot.html/feed 5     Busy. http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/11/busy.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/11/busy.html#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:16:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/11/busy.html Two weeks ’til finals; no guarantees on posting schedule until Thanksgiving.

    In the meantime, ultitraining has gotten a spate of new writers, Atlanta‘s blog is still rolling strong, and even Match has a new post up in the blogosphere.

    Related posts:

    1. The Future of this Sport

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/11/busy.html/feed 0     Nationals Previews http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/nationals-previews.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/nationals-previews.html#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:59:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/nationals-previews.html Lots of words devoted to open previews; haven’t seen as much on the other divisions (feel free to chime in in the comments if you’ve found other material). Check:

    UCatch (Open)
    Pool A
    Pool B
    Pool C
    Pool D

    Canadian Ultimate
    Open Pool A
    Pool B
    Pool C
    Pool D
    Women

    Atlanta’s Ultimate Strategy/Coaching
    What to watch for (Open)
    What to watch for (Everyone Else)

    Ultivillage
    UV has a bunch of previews up in the Clip of the Day archive.

    The UPA
    Check the Club Championships Site for previews by each division’s reporter. Also note that the UPA will be providing streaming coverage in addition to highlight videos throughout the weekend. Cool. (I assume the link to check for streaming coverage, when it’s up, is here).

    Happy Nattieween! I’ll be rooting for Ironside, Brute Squad, and AMP in each division–friends on each team (sorry Masters, I haven’t been around long enough to have friends in your division yet). I’d love to see Chain continue to run its competition ragged as well; they’re probably my favorite team to watch based off of what I saw at Chesapeake.

    Will hopefully get to watch some, but I may be heading off to Yale this weekend and start coaching proper. Dartmouth should be more or less done with tryouts this week. It’s been great to see all the hard work at practice, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how our talent plays against the rest of the region right now.

    Related posts:

    1. Worth Reading: Nationals Coverage
    2. Nationals
    3. Nationals Coverage

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/nationals-previews.html/feed 0     Subbing: When to Push, When to Hold (But Change), and When to Fold http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/subbing-when-to-push-when-to-hold-but-change-and-when-to-fold.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/subbing-when-to-push-when-to-hold-but-change-and-when-to-fold.html#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:11:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/subbing-when-to-push-when-to-hold-but-change-and-when-to-fold.html Some quality content on the Atlanta Ultimate blog in the wake of South Regionals, namely two pieces on Using Your Top Seven (and when you should ease up) and When Losing is the Way to Go. (Relatedly, a bit on Changing It Up On Offense corroborating Jim P’s original post on the matter).

    Good food for thought for those of us who’ve yet to play in Regionals–from my experience playing in New England College Regionals, at least, aside from the rare case (Brown ’05) where one team was clearly the class of the region, ultimately who emerged from the muddle victorious depended as much on smart subbing and use of depth as it did on whose “top seven” or whatever comparison you want to make was better on paper.

    Related posts:

    1. My take on the UPA’s restructuring proposals

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/10/subbing-when-to-push-when-to-hold-but-change-and-when-to-fold.html/feed 0     Why Mobility is King for Fitness http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/why-mobility-is-king-for-fitness.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/why-mobility-is-king-for-fitness.html#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/why-mobility-is-king-for-fitness.html A gem dropped in a Force Flick post, this Men’s Health piece about deep muscle fascia and the massive role it plays in posture and, by extension, body function, is well worth the read. Makes me want to turn the scalpel to the side and do my own fascia examinations in the dissection lab.

    Great to see this stuff hitting “conventional” fitness sources like Men’s Health. If you don’t already, consider foam rolling and mobility work as part of your warm-up routine.

    Related posts:

    1. Fitness writings, and wisdom from Vern
    2. Treating Chronic Knee Issues: An E-Mail Case Study (Part 2)
    3. A Brief Overview: Fitness

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/why-mobility-is-king-for-fitness.html/feed 2     Catch it! http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/catch-it.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/catch-it.html#comments Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/catch-it.html Good to see somebody(ies) reporting; check out U Catch for your elite trends and reports. I’m interested to see what other content they churn out, especially now as the big tourneys wrap up and we move into a month of relatively quiet sectionals matchups.

    Speaking of sectionals, I’m off to Lancaster this weekend. No real preview necessary; the easy goal is to make regionals. Slightly harder, but very doable, is doing so with the 2nd-place bid. Process goals include continuing to get in flow/on the same page on offense (myself and as a team); continuing to refine decision-making with the disc and execution when I do throw; and dominating on defense, both when guarding players and once we get the turn.

    Been feeling great lately (minor bout of shin splints at week’s start notwithstanding). First track workout (why so late?) last week, been focusing on core strength a lot so I can keep my power stable and directed. We’ll see if the fifth gear is fully back this weekend, and keep working to get that sixth one too…

    Related posts:

    1. Being Quick on the Catch-Throw Turnaround
    2. ENE Mixed Sectionals: "How Big are the Balls?"

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/catch-it.html/feed 2     Ibu and You http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/ibu-and-you.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/ibu-and-you.html#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:46:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/ibu-and-you.html Via Jim Biancolo, interesting research claiming ibuprofen (taken chronically, for endurance athletes) paradoxically contributes to MORE inflammation.

    I always view prescriptive articles based off of one study with skepticism, but it’s worth considering–I have heard before of ibuprofen’s disruptive effect on muscle rebuilding/recovery, and there are some health risks associated with (very high, sustained) usage, so be wary of treating it as a vitamin, despite the joking reference.

    Related posts:

    1. Why Mobility is King for Fitness
    2. Supplements

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/09/ibu-and-you.html/feed 2     New UPA CEO hired! http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/08/new-upa-ceo-hired.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/08/new-upa-ceo-hired.html#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:04:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/08/new-upa-ceo-hired.html Check out some details on Dr. Thomas Crawford.

    Sounds like he’s got some great experience growing an online presence and as a former US Olympic Committee member (Director of Coaching) he’s certainly got experience working with organizations for sports similar to ours.

    Time will tell how he turns out, but at a glance he seems like a solid selection by the UPA!

    Related posts:

    1. UPA Angling for Olympic Inclusion?
    2. The 2008 UPA BoD Election
    3. A New Year’s To-Do List For You:

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/08/new-upa-ceo-hired.html/feed 0     USA with the win! http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/usa-with-the-win.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/usa-with-the-win.html#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:01:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/usa-with-the-win.html Congrats to team USA on bringing home the gold! I can only imagine how great it must feel.

    The Huddle has a great link roundup of all the related info, with pictures. Looks like they updated the site’s regular picture rotation with World Games shots too; as good an excuse as any to go back through the archives!

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/usa-with-the-win.html/feed 0     Why You Should Focus on Positives http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/why-you-should-focus-on-positives.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/why-you-should-focus-on-positives.html#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/why-you-should-focus-on-positives.html This Wired article about why we sometimes slip up and do the things we’re trying so hard NOT to do hints at the power of the human subconscious and its relation to sport. It’s definitely worth a read, especially if you’re a Neuroscience/Psych nerd like me, and points at two big takeaway points for ultimate.

    Wired.com: It doesn’t seem practical to say, “Don’t try to think about not spilling wine on the carpet in a stressful situation,” when being at the party in the first place is stressful.

    Wegner: Sometimes you’re stuck. The great leveler is making these processes automatic. In sports, people do things over and over until the action is automatic. It becomes so automatic that you don’t have the same mental process to engage. The whole thing has become unconscious. That only comes with practice.

    The person who wants to avoid saying awkward things on the first date — well, by the 30th date, they’re not doing it anymore. They have to just brave it. In sports we know this, but we don’t think of social life the same way.

    There’s one big takeaway–you need to hone your skills to the point that you stop thinking about them.

    The other takeaway? How you phrase and frame your efforts (more particularly, how you talk and how you think) has a huge effect. Going into a game thinking “I can’t drop a disc” means you’re gearing your subconscious to think about dropping a disc and stopping it–all it takes is a tight moment, some extra stress, to engender exactly the outcome you’re trying to avoid. Thinking “I will catch every disc” doesn’t generate those same connotations. Talk in positives.

    Related posts:

    1. Talk in Positives
    2. Catching Thought: Focus on the spin
    3. Cultivating Focus

    ]]>     http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/why-you-should-focus-on-positives.html/feed 0     Toadless http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/toadless.html http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/toadless.html#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000 Mackey http://www.ultimatethoughts.com/2009/07/toadless.html For those of you who’ve been away from RSD of late, it’s worth noting that Jim Biancolo has thrown together a Greasemonkey script, “Toadless,” that filters out some 70% of RSD, for better or worse (I imagine more than 70% of RSD readers would claim for better).

    Check his guide for full instructions.

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