Okay, I can't take it anymore. I have a post all teed up in my head about lactate training in the weight room. I mean, the kind of piece that is the tenderloin of this site. I know readers come here looking for it and those like it. However, I've been smacked in the face a couple of times too many lately by these ski conditioning flyers on the notice board at my coffee shop. I get this little twitch after reading them and all they imply and my mind starts reeling. Then I figure, hey, wait a minute. I can write about this stuff and maybe stop getting all uppity each morning. Why, just starting this makes me feel better. So, with your permission...
I don't want to go off on a rant here, but since when did yoga become the training panacea for EVERYTHING?! I mean, you see this everywhere. Yoga for cyclists, yoga for climbers, yoga for mothers, yoga for skiing, yoga for...well, you get my point. Suddenly, the pseudo-spiritualist, Prana-wearing, patchouli-reeking, dread lock clad, vegan aficionados have the answer to all my training needs. "Yoga, man. It's AWESOME! I feel so good after my class. Like, everything is so much clearer. I'm way more centered. My body feels so powerful! The only thing I don't get is that when I actually DO something other than yoga, move my body, say, skiing or climbing, I feel like I'm gonna puke! What's up with that?"
Okay, obviously, I'm being a little facetious here. Just a little. But you have to admit, these days yoga is billed as training for most popular athletic activities. And, bottom line, I think it's mostly a crock of shit. Sorry all you yoga fans. On second thought, I'm pretty sure they're not reading this so it probably doesn't matter.
Anyway, truth be told, I don't think it's a total waste of time. I stretch...a lot. I don't do yoga, however. Don't have the time or desire. Tried it a time or two. Even sweated my ass off in a Bikram class once. Watched a bunch of heat-prostrate enthusiasts slither from their pool of sweat out the door trying to avoid the impending black-out they were about to have. Can't remember ever perspiring so much. Spent the rest of the evening rehydrating. Don't want to have drink like that again.
A certain amount of flexibility is probably good. I say probably because there has never been a scientific study done that demonstrated much of a benefit to stretching. Sure, coaches and trainers universally tout flexibility as the key to injury prevention but it's complete bullshit. Never been proven! Crazy, eh? True as shit. In fact, some of the best performing athletes, runners and basketball playing types, don't stretch at all or have really poor flexibility. To add insult to injury, it has been clearly demonstrated that a relatively "tight" posterior chain (read: hamstrings) is strongly correlated to jumping performance. That's right, these guys that can't touch their toes and who would be laughed out of any yoga class or at least looked at with some snickering derision, have superior vertical leaps compared with other, more limber peers. Want to hinder your performance in the weight room? Try statically stretching the involved muscle just prior to lifting and watch your max head down the toilet. That's right. All the pre-game stretching you do? Waste of freaking time and might even hold you back.
But I digress. Let's get back to yoga. Is it just me or are yoga zealots just a little bit scary in their devotion to the practice? You see them waif-like, scurrying down the street early in the morning, uselessly thin rubber mat with obligatory groovy carrying bag under arm like they're headed to church. Ever accidentally walked into the multi purpose room in your local gym when a yoga class is going on? Yowza! Shhhhhhh. They look up at you like the meat head you are, like you just interrupted a funeral, or something. You tip toe out of there, deciding you can do your plyometric jumps some other time.
But are they anymore passionate about what they do than say, ski mountaineers or cyclists? Probably not. But for many of them, that's all they do and they give off this air of superiority like it's all they need to do to be truly fit. Well, come on, now. Let's get serious. Athleticism is about movement and much of yoga is static. Sure, there are some renegade off-shoots of traditional yoga practice that involve some degree of strength but, for the most part, they remain mostly static poses or slow transitions. Power Yoga? Are you kidding? Has anyone refreshed their memory on what exactly "power" is? Yeah, force x distance over time. Like cleaning a heavy barbell from the floor to the rack position at your shoulders. That's fucking power. How about a standing 50 inch box jump? Yep, POWER! Holding yourself in a static position? Nope, not powerful. Strong, sure, but power? Uh, uh. Let's call a spade a spade, here. Athletics require strength but power is even better. We need to move and if we can train to move a given load faster over the same distance we are generally performing better. And that's the point, right? So, any training modality that claims to develop these traits while intrinsically remaining static is misguided.
Now, before all you yoga fans write me off as an arrogant ignoramus, I'm not saying that you should not do yoga. On the contrary, I think, lack of evidence not withstanding, being more limber is probably better for most activities. For the few athletic endeavors that require significant flexibility (ie. gymnastics), there is no substitute for being limber. Timing stretching sessions away from actual performance bouts is key, however. I definitely feel better when I stretch everyday. And if someone needs to go to a class to make this happen, then, by all means, go to a yoga class. They tend to be filled with beautiful people anyway so, why not?
Now, did I say that you should NOT stretch before performing? Yeah, pretty much. Better to do your stretching AFTER your training bouts or before you go to bed. Before training or competing it's better to warm up by performing the actual movements you plan to be doing with a gradual, ramping of intensity. That will prepare you for what you are about to do better than the stereotypical stretching routine so many knuckle heads do. Muscles stretch better when they are warm, anyway, so it's another reason to stretch after training.
As a side note, I think it is important to point out that, for many sports, the hypermobility (extreme flexibility) seen in some yoga practitioners can actually be a detriment to performance. For example, in rock climbing, hypermobile shoulders can dislocate during strenuous moves. A balance must be achieved between strong, stable and flexible. Unfortunately, many enthusiastic new-comers to the practice of yoga look to the "flexible freaks" as some sort of holy grail to be attained. Just like not every runner is going to run a 30 minute 10K, not every yogi wannabe will be able to twist themselves into the ideal pose as demonstrated by the more limber.
The bottom line is that, in my humble (ahem!) opinion, yoga is not the best choice for ski conditioning or, for that matter, any other sport preparation. Practicing yoga makes you better at yoga, period. It's a fine way to develop some flexibility which may make you feel better and, perhaps, help you perform better in certain activities. However, any athlete can develop the same flexibility doing some other type of program that involves stretching. Power and strength specifically related to the requirements of skiing are best developed in the weight room and on the ski slope. - Brian