We were at the track again today, in the beautiful morning sun. Mile repeats for the gals, 2km repeats for Mr. DK. It was hot, humid, and awesome.br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cBFLp0vFuic/SnCg1uCKUDI/AAAAAAAAADM/asFQSZccnVI/s1600-h/kaitlin-stitt.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cBFLp0vFuic/SnCg1uCKUDI/AAAAAAAAADM/asFQSZccnVI/s400/kaitlin-stitt.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363964000948867122″ border=”0″ //aMs. Stitt and Ms. Fitzgeraldbr //divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cBFLp0vFuic/SnCg1XF4xfI/AAAAAAAAADE/z-q0uRp9OjY/s1600-h/danny-kuzio.JPG”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cBFLp0vFuic/SnCg1XF4xfI/AAAAAAAAADE/z-q0uRp9OjY/s400/danny-kuzio.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363963994790479346″ border=”0″ //aDanny Kuzio, Bates-boundbr /br /div style=”text-align: left;”After the intervals, Kaitlin and Emily joined me for some power-lifting. Well, not actually power-lifting, but strength with a focus on power. Both this week and next week we are focused on fast motions — in the weight room and also on skis. The Ski Ergs were one aspect of the strength routine, so the gals got their first few pulls on the new machines. Flaws and inefficiencies really become obvious when poling on the erg — such as the “pre-crunch” that I see a lot with middle-aged skiers (teenagers).br /br /The pre-crunch is something that happens to a lot of kids that hear the idea “you have to put lots of power early in the double-pole”. However, if proper technique and strength are not already ingrained, then the idea of a powerful initiation to the double-pole becomes a moot point. Kids start to crunch violently, again, thinking to themselves “I’ve gotta be powerful”, however the technique and proper range of motion often suffer. So, let’s focus on good technique (which is independent of power, and partially independent of strength), and proper range of motion. Once those motions are ingrained, power will build gradually, as the athlete builds general and specific strength. In other words, don’t worry so much about power, until you have strength.br //div/divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1847564486460994594-4599179456169752277?l=gmvsxc.blogspot.com’//div
