The Quick Core Workout
By Elizabeth Quinn

If you have 10-15 minutes, you can do this set of core exercises. I use this as a general warm up or cool down routine for endurance training, weight training or the occasional field or court sport I might be playing. This quick core routine begins with the plank exercise. The plank provides a great warm-up that engages all the muscles of the core: the rectus abdominis, the internal and external obliques, transversus abdominis, the hip flexors, the erector spinae and multifidus.

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Are Athletes Born or Built? How Genetics Influence Athletic Ability
How important are genetics in an athlete's success?
By Elizabeth Quinn

Athletic records are broken year after year, and the limits of human performance continue to be debated. Just as soon as we think something can't be done, someone comes along and shows us that it indeed can be done. There was a time when no one thought a human could run a four-minute mile. Roger Bannister did that in 1954 and soon, many others followed. Ultramarathons, Ironman Triathlons and 24-hour races are now commonplace.

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ASK THE “MOVEMENT SPECIALISTS”

Question: Should I stretch prior to exercising or after?

Answer:

 I do not recommend stretching a cold muscle.  You will receive greater benefits in activating the muscles in which you are preparing to call on for your chosen form of exercise.  Consider this as a “waking up” period for the muscles that need to stabilize or drive you in your workout.

If you have a specific tightness that you feel needs to be addressed prior to your workout, keep in mind the speed in which you will be performing your exercise.  You don’t want to teach these muscles to lengthen in a “slow and controlled” environment during warm-up and then throw them into an environment that requires the movement to occur rapidly.  Consider dynamic stretching as a safer form of preparation. 

*For more information on dynamic- stretching, you can contact Tracy Ryckaert, Director of Performance Enhancement at MIHP (Michigan Institute for Human Performance) at tryckaert@mihp.net