Mechanical Tissue Damage:  Implications for Performance and Prescription

The leading cause of muscle damage related to exercise stems from mechanical factors. Muscle tension, and active strain on lengthened fibers during eccentric contractions produce direct trauma to the muscle tissue (12). This differs greatly from the proposed oxidative stress placed on muscle tissue with pro-longed, intense endurance exercise. As it is known, dynamic muscle function in acyclical, impact sport occurs as a sequence of active eccentric muscle actions followed by active concentric muscle actions known as the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) (1).  Since eccentric contractions contribute to the SSC, it is not a surprising phenomenon that muscle damage occurs during prolonged or intense exercise such as distance running, plyometrics and resistance training (1). These activities are commonplace in training programs for most athletes.

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IMC: 25th Anniversary - and Going Strong

Jackie Byrn, jackiebyrn@yahoo.ca

The 25^th anniversary celebration of Ironman Canada did not disappoint. On the weather front cooler than normal Penticton area race day temperatures gave athletes, volunteers, race staff and spectators alike welcome relief from intense heat experiences of previous years.

Conflicting media reports detailing the location of a reported Ironman Canada Museum, featuring a collection of triathlon memorabilia, led to confusion for some. However numerous athletes and their families, along with locals and visitors, found their way to the unique "Iron City" exhibition at the Penticton Museum. Museum director Peter Ord's intention of creating a dynamic interactive display was accomplished with input from renowned IMC race announcer Steve King, former race director Dave Bullock and a team of keen contributors anxious to share their personal treasures and historical photographs with the public.

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Can We Better Hamburg?

Brian Tsuji, bett@istar.ca

From August 31 until September 2, 2007, Hamburg, Germany hosted what many people are calling the best ITU World Triathlon Championships Short Course event of all time.

Firstly, this was the first time Germany has hosted the ITU Worlds for Short Course. There were approximately 6,000 people in the race, being watched by approximately 200,000-300,000 spectators. Daniel Unger of Germany thrilled the hometown German crowd by running down the race leader in the last 100 meters in front of a packed grandstand to capture Germany's first elite men's short course world championship...

Positive Effects of Protein Consumption During Exercise

Carbohydrates and fats are the primary fuels metabolized during endurance exercise, that's why most athletes consume carbohydrates in some liquid format. But protein can also contribute 5-10% of total energy demands [1, 2] and this contribution can increase under conditions of low carbohydrate stores [3, 4].