Have I Been Conned?

[Sukerkin]

Sorry, Ex can't rep you via the system but can do here in the thread - good advice my friend.

A little non-dojo anecdote, one of the ways I used to practice for high kicking and balance was to do things like switch the lights on with my big toe or do the washing up balanced on one leg (alternating between having the off-ground foot tucked against the on-ground leg or stretched out into a side-kick). Another was to stick one heel several steps up a flight of stairs and then do knee-bends with the other leg - that sounds easy but it's actually quite a challenge keeping your body upright and straight doing that (and it's great for stretching the tendons too ).

 

[exile]

Sorry, Ex can't rep you via the system but can do here in the thread - good advice my friend.

Thank you, S., and corny as it sounds, it's the thought—that my kicking experiments and speculations seem to make sense and be useful—that really counts. I appreciate the reality check a lot; and thanks you also, Shads!

A little non-dojo anecdote, one of the ways I used to practice for high kicking and balance was to do things like switch the lights on with my big toe or do the washing up balanced on one leg (alternating between having the off-ground foot tucked against the on-ground leg or stretched out into a side-kick). Another was to stick one heel several steps up a flight of stairs and then do knee-bends with the other leg - that sounds easy but it's actually quite a challenge keeping your body upright and straight doing that (and it's great for stretching the tendons too ).

These are GREAT exercises. I write this having tried the lights-on and the stairway exercises as per your description. I must add them to my list of everyday-things-that-count-as-TKD-exercises-but-no-one-can-recognize-as-such items

One thing I've found very demanding as a balance exercise is taking any normal kind of balance exercise and doing it with your eyes closed. It's astonishing how hard that can be...

 

[zDom]

I must add them to my list of everyday-things-that-count-as-TKD-exercises-but-no-one-can-recognize-as-such items

Here's another: I flush urinals/toilets with my foot

Twofold benefit: balance and flexibility practice and you keep your hands off the germy handle (after all — what is the last thing people touch immediately before flushing a toilet?)

 

[exile]

Here's another: I flush urinals/toilets with my foot

Twofold benefit: balance and flexibility practice and you keep your hands off the germy handle (after all — what is the last thing people touch immediately before flushing a toilet?)

This is one of those true but horrible observations about ordinary life, and what we overlook about it, which can cause you to lose your appetite for a couple of days. It reminds me of an episode of Are You Being Served? where a bunch of the characters are sitting around a conference table happily munching Water Biscuits until one of them casually mentions that the Americans won't buy English biscuits. Another member of the staff asks, in a skeptically bored way, why that might be, and the first one answers that there are apparently an unacceptable number of mouse hairs in boxes of English biscuits—`very finicky people, you know, the American', he happily opines; meanwhile, everyone else stops munching and starts spitting what they've been chewing into napkins, looks of total horror and disgust on their faces...

 

[Ninjamom]

.......I recently graduated college with an Exercise Science degree, and I can tell you- the science of exercise is changing quite rapidly as we are just now looking at it as a serious study....

Not sure if this is strictly on-topic, but possibly related (and I'd hate to pass up an opportunity to pick your brain and learn some things!!)

I just read an article online (sorry, can't find the reference) about a technique to increase speed by something called 'overload training'. The study described it as a way to make someone run/jump/move faster than they usually do. Examples would be to have someone run as fast as they could, straight out, down a steep hill, or to have a slower teammate running behind a faster teammate, attached by a rope, so the slower runner is forced to keep up. According to the article, this resulted in great improvement in speed on a normal course (not downhill or attached to someone else).

Have you ever heard of something like this, or is it a total farce?

 

[Laurentkd]

Not sure if this is strictly on-topic, but possibly related (and I'd hate to pass up an opportunity to pick your brain and learn some things!!)

I just read an article online (sorry, can't find the reference) about a technique to increase speed by something called 'overload training'. The study described it as a way to make someone run/jump/move faster than they usually do. Examples would be to have someone run as fast as they could, straight out, down a steep hill, or to have a slower teammate running behind a faster teammate, attached by a rope, so the slower runner is forced to keep up. According to the article, this resulted in great improvement in speed on a normal course (not downhill or attached to someone else).

Have you ever heard of something like this, or is it a total farce?

Sure, I have heard of the same thing. First off, normally "overload" just implies that you are using more resistance (or weight) than the muscle normally handles, thus forcing it to make improvements in order to handle the overload. This is why you have to constantly increase your weight or time (for cardio workouts) so that as the muscle adapts it is still "overloaded" and you still are making gains. As far as your specific examples: A slower teammate holding you back gives you more resistance as you run. Basically the muscles you use to run are working harder against the resistance, so when you don't have the resistance the idea is that you can move faster. I can't think of any hard data on this right now, but it is the same concept as swimmers wearing multiple swimming suits to create more drag in the water. Then when they swim with just one suit on they are faster. So this is the same concept. Most top swimmers and a lot of top runners use this Resistance training, so I would say it works.

As far as running downhill, that has to do with eccentric vs. concentric muscle contractions. So picture this... think about doing a bench press or doing a push up. Lowering the weight (either yourself or the bar) is easier than raising the weight. However, lowering it in a controlled manner is still hard (you don't just slam the bar onto your chest or just slam yourself onto the floor). The lowering portion in the eccentric contraction (working with gravity but still controlling the motion) while the lifting portion is the concentric action (moving against gravity). SO, you can actually do MORE eccentrically than you can concentrically. So the next time you can't do any more pushUPS, instead lower yourself to the ground in a slow controlled manner and then just set yourself back up (without actually "pushing-up"). This will work your muscles in a way that actually increases (with consistent training of course) you number of true pushups. Running down a hill is the same thing. You can run down more times than you can run up. So yeah, it totally works. The only thing is usually the eccentric contraction results in a lot more muscle soreness..but you will see results.

Hopefully this quick midnight reply is helpful! And please feel free to pick my brain any time, I am happy to share!! I in no way claim to be an expert, but I did at least just spend 4 years hearing this stuff, so hopefully I can be helpful. But If anyone is more experienced than I please butt in!!