Author: Rick Mc

I’ve not yet seen this documentary on performance enhancing drugs.

… The documentary examines the steroid use of the director Christopher Bell and his two brothers, Mark and Mike Bell, who all grew up idolizing Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and Sylvester Stallone, and also features professional athletes, medical experts, fitness center members, and US Congressmen talking about the issue of anabolic steroids.

Beyond the basic issue of anabolic steroid use, Bigger, Stronger, Faster* examines the lack of consistency in how America views drugs, cheating, and the lengths people go to achieve success. …

wikipedia

But Valentin Uzunov of The Gym Press found it very unsettling. He’s not nearly so sure now that gymnast, especially male gymnasts, are not experimenting with them … for Rings.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer for Bigger, Faster, Stronger on YouTube.

… On December 14, 2008, Mike Bell, brother of director Chris Bell, who was prominently featured in the film, died at 37. …

At my gym the most frequently mentioned gymnasts are Tsukahara, Yurchenko and … Elise Ray. She has 3 skills named after her on Bars for cripes sake.

What an innovator!

Elise Ray on bars at the 2000 US Gymnastics Championships.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This is one of the routines picked by numblemon from her Golden Age of Bars 1994-2000.

Click through to see why. Other routines shown as examples: Maloney, Bi, Chelsea Otto, Doni Thompson. Like Elise Ray, these are not routines often mentioned in 2009.

Could you use one of these? I saw it at Island Gymnastics Academy, PEI.

Coach Jim Rand used it for a fitness testing contest. Standing long jump.

I first learned of this drill from watching videos of Soviet male coaches back in the 1980s.

Tkachev layout to STAND ON THE BAR.

(Normally we pad the bar. And use 2 spotters to start. You need to be a strong spotter to do it the way shown in the video.)

Click through to watch it on Gymnastike.

Terry Walker began his career in coaching in 1983 and has coached gymnasts at the national and international level since 1987. A coach of two former Olympians, Terry coached with Cypress Academy from 1988 to 1995. He returned to Cypress with his wife, Tamara, in May of 2003 and became the Competitive Girls Director in 2004.

I recently learned that US Glove has spun off a new site dedicated only to wrist health of gymnasts called TigerPawWristSupports.com

Aside from Paws, it offers accessories … not that Tiger Paws have become a fashion item.

Recently we recommended neoprene wrist bands on a post called preventing Bar wrist rips.

You can get those here, as well. Cheap.

home page – TigerPawWristSupports.com

Thanks Steve Karr for the new site. Wrist and hand problems are one of our biggest concerns with Artistic gymnasts.

Coach Greg Marsden pretty much invented modern NCAA Women’s Gymnastics.

How did Utah grow the sport in their city to attract a big audience?

click through to College Gymnastics Board – Promotions and marketing

You would think so judging from a number of headlines in the news late June.

Those articles came out of this study:

… The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has released its 26th annual all sports report.

In addition to collecting data on catastrophic injuries in all high school and college sports, the report also contains cheerleading injury data. The latest figures are from the 2007-2008 academic year.

The report defines catastrophic injuries as any severe injury incurred during participation in a school or college sponsored sport, and includes three categories: fatal; non-fatal (resulting in permanent severe functional disability); and serious (no permanent functional disability but severe injury).

…

The report’s conclusions for the 26-year period from the fall of 1982 through the spring of 2008 include:

— There were 1,116 direct catastrophic injuries in high school (905) and college sports (211). High school sports were associated with 152 fatalities, 379 non-fatal and 374 serious injuries. College sports accounted for 22 fatalities, 63 non-fatal and 126 serious injuries.

— Cheerleading accounted for 65.2 percent of high school and 70.5 percent of college catastrophic injuries among all female sports.

The report’s author and center director, Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., professor of exercise and sports science in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, noted that the number of cheerleading injuries fell slightly in 2007-08 year. …

read more – Medical News Today – Catastrophic Sports Injury Report Released

Is Cheer a dangerous sport?

Absolutely.

But I dispute the findings on at least one important point. They’re combining statistics from competitive Cheer with often poorly trained pompom wavers, also called Cheerleaders.

Don’t tell me the Cheer team at my gym are dangerous. They’re not.

The most interesting article I saw on Cheer injury was a personal story posted by NOELLE BUHIDAR.

She suffered a bad ACL tear at the 2004 World Spirit Federation Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. It was a career ending injury.

Is she bitter? Not at all …

read Noelle’s story – Cheerleading’s thrills make risks worth taking

Reiko linked to this site:

… Title IX, the federal legislation that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, has been opening doors for women and girls since it was signed into law by President Nixon on June 23, 1972. AAUW was instrumental in the passage of Title IX, and as we celebrate the 37th anniversary of this landmark legislation, we continue to advocate for strengthening its protections.

AAUW and coalition partners recently hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill to discuss the need for legislation to require high schools to report gender equity data. Two bills, the High School Athletics Accountability Act (H.R. 2882) and the High School Information Collection Act (S. 471), would do just that. These bills would make participation rates and expenditures for high school athletes available to the public, helping communities better enforce Title IX. …

Urge Congress to Enforce Title IX in Our High Schools

Click through if you are interested.

I personally have no strong opinion on Title IX for the NCAA.

For every passionate opponent I respect there is a passionate advocate I respect.

Certainly reverse discrimination is almost as bad as discrimination. All would agree we should end Title IX as soon as opportunities for sport are fair.

This legislation seems to push for more transparency. That’s always a good idea.

Trampolne Sports Coach Brett MacAuley posted this photo.

It just might be that athletes are tortured in his program, getting stuck upside down between pit mats.

His club’s, Calgary Gymnastics Centre, competitive programs had their best season ever, this past year, I reckon. Congratulations!

Brett’s the longest standing gymnastics sports coach in Calgary. Thanks for his decades of dedication.