Manning Your Muscles

Its Muscles here…sorry my column has been M.I.A. – life got in the way as it does sometimes –please accept my apology. Although my column is related to derby history, I thought this month talking about avoiding injury would be a good idea since we are nearing the end of the season and several players have been recently injured.

Since the article I found is from the UK – some of the wording is odd – but the points he makes are good. The suggested tips are not specifically about derby – but can be applied to any sport. When we come back full force in January - you don’t want your bodies going into shock…so look this over and try to implement the suggestions into your own life and workouts. There were too many good tips for me to attempt to summarize this article hence the reason for cutting and pasting it in its entirety:
“Sports Injury Avoidance: Like most athletes, you undoubtedly want to lower your chances of incurring an injury while participating in your favorite sport. Injuries decrease the amount of time you can spend in leisure activities, lower your fitness, downgrade competitive performances, and can lead to long-term health problems such as arthritis and/or joint stiffness.
But are there general rules for injury avoidance which apply to all sports? Fortunately, yes: scientific investigations concerning the causes of injuries have yielded a number of important points about who gets injured -and why.
Most of the studies have focused on running, even though running is NOT the most injury-producing sport. In terms of the total number of injuries produced per year, soccer is actually number one with volleyball close behind and running in third place. Sports scientists suggest that injury rates could be cut by up to 25 per cent if athletes took the proper preventative steps. Common misconceptions
However, sports participants are confused about what to do about injury prevention, and in fact there are many misconceptions about injuries. For example, coaches and athletes often believe that males have higher injury rates than females, but male and female athletes actually have about the same injury rate per hour of training. Among runners, it's popular to believe that training speed is a critical cause of injuries ('Speed kills,' according to one popular adage), but research actually indicates that there’s no link between training velocity and injury risk.

Another common belief is that stretching before workouts helps to reduce one's chances of injury, but research again says no. In a very recent study, 159 Dutch athletes were taught how to stretch effectively before training sessions, while a second group of 167 similar athletes received no stretching instruction at all. Although the stretching did a good job of loosening up the athletes' calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps muscles, actual injury rates were identical in the two groups, averaging about one injury per 200 hours of training. The stretching had no protective effect at all! Don't overdo it
On the other hand; the AMOUNT of training you actually carry out plays a key role in determining your real injury risk. Studies have shown, for example, that your best direct injury predictor may be the amount of training you completed last month. If May is a heavy training period, for example, watch out in June! This relationship may seem strange at first, but it simply reflects the fact that vigorous training produces tired muscles which may not be able to stand up to further training stresses. Fatigued muscles also do a poor job of protecting their associated connective tissues, increasing the risk of damage to bones, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments.

If you're a runner, the link between training quantity and injury means that total training mileage is an excellent indicator of your injury risk. The more miles you accrue per week, the higher your chances of damage. One recent investigation found a marked upswing in injury risk above about 40 miles of running per week.

The two best predictors of injury
However, it's important to bear in mind that many injuries are actually NOT new trouble areas; they are recurrences of previous problems. That brings to mind an important point: the absolute-best predictor of injury is a prior history of injury. In other words, if you've been injured before, you're much more likely to get hurt than an athlete who's been trouble-free. Again, this is logical: regular exercise has a way of uncovering the weak areas of your body. If you have slipshod hip muscles, for example, or knees that are put under heavy stress because of your unique biomechanics during exercise ('poor form'), your hips or knees are likely to be hurt when you engage in your sport for prolonged periods of time. After recovery, if you reestablish your desired training load without changing your biomechanics or strengthening your hip muscles, those areas are very likely to be injured again.

Strangely enough, the second-best predictor of injury, after total training time, is probably the number of consecutive days of training you carry out each week. Consecutive days are counted as follows: if you train on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, you are training on three consecutive days each week (Friday doesn't count because it has a rest day before and after it). Scientific studies strongly suggest that reducing the number of consecutive days of training can lower the risk of injury. For example, instead of working out for one hour from Monday through Friday (five consecutive days), you could probably reduce your risk of injury by completing 75-minute workouts, four days per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, for example). Your total training time would be the same in each case, but the second strategy would reduce your consecutive days from five to two, giving you much more average recovery time between sessions and lowering your risk of injury. Recovery time reduces injury rates by giving muscles and connective tissues an opportunity to restore and repair themselves between workouts.

Type A's should take care
Psychological factors seem to play a role in producing injuries, too. Some studies have shown that athletes who are aggressive, tense, and compulsive have a higher risk of injury than their relaxed peers. Such worried, 'Type-A' individuals also have more multiple injuries and lose twice as much training time when an injury actually occurs. So, relax! Tension may make muscles and tendons tauter, increasing the risk that they will be harmed during workouts.

Almost finally, remember that many injuries are caused by weak muscles which simply aren't ready to handle the specific demands of your sport. This is why people who are starting a running programme for the first time often do fairly well for a few weeks but then - as they add on additional mileage -suddenly develop foot or ankle problems, hamstring soreness, or perhaps low-back pain. Their bodies simply aren't strong enough to cope with the demands of the increased training load. For that reason, it's always wise to couple progressive resistance (weight) training with your regular training. Resistance exercises can fortify muscles and make them less susceptible to damage, especially if the strength- building exercises involve movements that are similar to those associated with the preferred sport. For example, runners who want to improve leg-muscle strength are probably better off performing 'closed-chain' (weight- bearing) exercises such as lunges and squats, instead of carrying out non-weight-bearing routines on weight machines while in a seated position. The latter activities are as unlike running as exercises can possibly be!
Make it specific
Strength training should also be specific to your sport. If you play tennis or squash, for example, or participate in a sport which involves throwing an object, you should devote lots of time to developing the muscles in front of the shoulder (anterior deltoids, pectorals major, pectorals minor, etc.) which increase the force with which you can strike or throw the ball, but you should also work systematically on the muscles in the back of the shoulder, including the trapezes and 'rotator cuff' muscles which control and stabilize the shoulder joint during ball-striking actions (and provide most of the force for 'backhand' strikes).

Finally, remember that the absolute-best predictor of future injury is a past history of injury, so if you were hurt sometime during 1994, be careful! Your chance of an injury in 1995 is about 25-50 per cent greater, compared to the lucky athlete who managed to stay injury-free this past year.

Injury prevention tips
(l) Avoid training when you are tired. Tired muscles provide inadequate support for tendons, ligaments, and bones, increasing the risk of strains, sprains, and stress fractures.

(2) Make sure that you increase your consumption of carbohydrate during periods of heavy training. Muscles which are low on carbohydrate are tired muscles, leading to the problem mentioned in recommendation No. 1. If you're an endurance athlete, you need about 200-225 calories of carbohydrate per stone of body weight during strenuous training.
(3) Continuing to build on the 'fatigue produces injury' theme, you should bear in mind that increases in training necessitate increases in resting, too. Anytime your training volume increases by more than 2-3 per cent, you need to make sure that you're getting more sleep and taking more time to rest during the day. Otherwise, you're not really training; you're trying to tear yourself down.

(4) Remember a key principle of training: total training time doesn't automatically build upon itself. If you've been training for three hours per week, for example, that does NOT mean that you're ready to step up to three and one-half hours per week. Any increase in training should be preceded by an increase in strengthening so that your body is really ready to take on the new load. Runners, for example, should go through a strengthening period emphasizing drills to boost leg-muscle power before they attempt a significant upswing in mileage. Tennis or squash players should work on their shoulders and legs before they upgrade their playing time.

(S) Be especially careful if you're a relative newcomer to your sport. If you've only been participating in it for a few months, you're much more likely to be injured, compared to someone who's been active for several years, simply because the latter individual has had more time to strengthen the appropriate muscles and connective tissues.

(6) Treat even seemingly minor injuries very carefully to prevent them from blowing up into big problems. Remember the time-honored acronym RICE--rest, ice, compression, and elevation--when a small injury strikes. Rest gives the afflicted area time to heal, ice reduces inflammation and swelling, and compression and elevation lessen swelling, promoting healing.

(7) Working with your doctor, take anti-inflammatory medications to control pain and reduce inflammation and swelling which occur as a result of your sports activity.

(8) If you experience pain during a workout, stop your training session immediately. A temporary loss in training time and fitness is far better than long-term damage to your body. Many athletes produce chronic deterioration of a knee joint or another anatomical region by insisting on training through pain. Remember that you're in sport for the long run; a lost month of training to rehabilitate a damaged knee is much better than having to quit your sport completely sometime in the future because of joint degeneration.

(9) If you want to toughen your training without raising your risk of injury too much, another good strategy is to slightly raise your average training intensity (speed), instead of tacking on lots of additional volume (miles) of running, cycling, swimming, or walking.

Author: Owen Anderson
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0277.htm

Unfortunately, Owen didn’t mention something else that is quite important when talking about working out…WATER! When I was researching how much of our bodies are made up of water – I found that the numbers are between 65%-75%. Here is an email that has been circulating with some hydration facts – and this is important to keep in mind when coming to practice or playing in a bout:

WATER
#1) 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.)
#2) In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
#3) Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
#4) Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#5) Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
#6) A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page. (or allow you to think nothing but derby and strategy during a jam)
Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

I hope this was a helpful blog – sorry it wasn’t related to history. I wouldn’t want you history buffs to be completely disappointed so here is a fact for you:

“Of the 35-40 million annual injury-related emergency room visits, approximately 10% are sports-induced — an estimate confirmed in a pilot study of the present research which also indicated that less serious sports injuries (e.g. those not requiring ER treatment) — were perhaps five times as numerous.”
--American Sports Data

So that’s all for now derby lovers! Stay healthy and get ready for an awesome 2010 season for the Long Island Roller Rebels!
--Muscles Marinara #1313

Take A Look

Here are some photos from Saturday's bout......

All images Copyright Steven Giacobello

All images Copyright Steven Giacobello

What aBOUT!

Last night I had the pleasure of co-announcing with Jake, for the second time, as The Long Island Roller Rebels welcomed Florida's Molly Roger Roller Girls onto their home turf, for some fast-skating, hard-hitting, action-packed roller derby.

Girls on both teams aggressively hit and leaned, from the very first jam and continued to do so for every jam thereafter. The score was extremely close, up until the end of the last period, when Amaretto Sourpuss and C-Roll racked in the rest of the points, putting The Long Island Roller Rebels in the lead and taking them to victory with a final score of 148-126.

The jamming performed by Sourpuss and C-Roll was beyond top notch. At one point C-Roll jumped over two fallen roller girls, made her way around the track and proceeded to jump over yet another fallen girl, each time landing on her wheels. I guess all of the mountain boarding has paid off! The two passed the packs so many times, I lost count! Though victorious, they were put up against the challenge. The Molly Roger Roller Girls did not back down at any point. They were aggressive and solid. One jammer, Bash and Cari, played what seemed to be every other jam and at some points, back to back jams. She was a speeding bullet and at most times untouchable. She made it through the packs past some strong blockers, all the while keeping one of the lowest stances I've seen. What an incredible player!

The bout was a success bringing in hundreds of screaming, cheering fans who kept the girls going when they were feeling fatigued. I'm not sure if I've ever heard our fans cheer so loud!

This being our annual charity bout and last home bout of the season, made it all the more special. We had several charities who came to set up tables and though I didn't have a chance to check in with them, I'm sure by the number of people in our audience, they were able to get a good amount of donations. To learn more about the charities for which this bout was held, click on their names below to visit their websites.

Habitat for Humanity

North Fork Breast Health Coalition (NFBHC)

New Ground

Suffolk County United Veterans Project

Thanks to everyone who came out to support us last night! We can't wait to see you all again next season!

xo
Etta

Sisterhood of TheTraveling Skates

I always encourage people to submit entries for The Rebel Yell. Though I love writing for the blog, I think that diversity plays an important roll in keeping things interesting both here in cyber space, and on the track. After all, The Roller Rebels consist of several members who make up the league; big and small, short and tall, speedy and strong. And so I feel that it's important to feature people other than me, to see things from another's point of view. It's also fun to read other styles of writing. That's why a while back I decided to add various columns to the blog; Men In Derby, by Celtic Thunder and Derby History, by Muscles Marinara. Today, fellow teammate Tripsy Rose Lee, happily contributed a post about roller derby from her point of view. Read on to see the great things she had to say............


The Sisterhood of The Traveling Skates

I know it might sound completely backwards to compare my roller derby team with my sorority, but I can't help see the similarities arise constantly between these two organizations. First of all, my roller derby team has been more of a 'sisterhood' than I could have ever imagined. For starters, more recently, we have had 3 major injuries this past month and I have witnessed my team come together for these girls in ways I can't have ever imaged. Three major injuries consisting of 2 tibia/fibula breaks requiring surgeries and one tibia break, also requiring a number of weeks incapacitated. We have a website, similar to facebook, but solely for our team... and almost every single girl on the team has posted messages reaching out with every ounce of their heart to offer help, whether it be to cook, clean, or send flowers to our 'downed soldiers'. I have really seen our community pull together to offer assistance to our injured players. These charity efforts have really shown how much heart our girls put into this sport and the girls they call 'sisters'.... In college, I was a member of a sorority that had developed a philanthropy specifically devoted to helping sisters from all walks of life, all ages and all situations, to press through difficult times in their lives. Because of these recent events, my derby team now also has a foundation specifically devoted to helping teammates that are injured and can't function normally in society, whether financially or otherwise.

Clearly, our team consists of girls that give their heart unconditionally to the sport they love. A sport, that until now has only been heard about in 1970's Sports Illustrated Magazines. Roller derby is a current sport... A sport with a large following, which has approximately 200 teams nationwide. A sport that is 100% real... with real rules, real players, and real heart. Each and every team has contributed to the revival of this sport with everything they have.

The Long Island Roller Rebels consists of approximately 40 girls, plus another 15 or so comprising of the support staff... including referees, NSO's aka Non-Skating Officials, supporters, and fans in uncountable digits. In addition, the league has promoted the sport in many media outlets, including newspapers, such as Newsday as well as local papers, radio, and even MTV. Public Relations is just one of the many 'committees' that the league is divided into. We also have girls responsible for photography, graphic design, recruitment, bout production, sponsorship, coaching, and merchandise.

Now, this is mainly where I gather my comparison between sports team and sorority. When I was a sorority girl I was responsible for becoming a part of a 'committee'. Whether it be 'recruitment', 'philanthropy', or similar, I was responsible for contributing my efforts in building the sisterhood and providing our neighbors with a positive reputation of our efforts. Now regardless of whichever committee I participated in... I was also responsible for charitable work. I spent days in nursing homes or nights packaging gifts with the marines for 'Toys for Tots' for example. The Long Island Roller Rebels take part in many charitable events. For example, this year alone we have taken part in a BBQ for the veterans on Memorial Day with the Long Island Roadrunners M.C., donated blood at a blood drive, walked for ovarian cancer, and walked for a suicide prevention cause. Our next bout, on November 14th versus the Molly Roger Roller Girls, is a charity bout where we will be collecting men's clothing and shoes for the Good Souls Project, Toys for Tots, and donations for Habitat for Humanity as well as Breast Cancer Awareness.

As a 27 year old female, you might find yourself asking.... why roller derby?? My answer is 100% honest and heartfelt when I tell you that the most rewarding and satisfying thing about joining the Long Island Roller Rebels is the camaraderie...more specifically, 'the sisterhood'. I love being a part of something with so much heart. I love being able to put my heart, soul, and energy, not only into a sport that I love, but also to a community that I love.

So after comparing the sisterhood of my sorority with my roller derby team, I can find the only difference in our clothing. I wore trendy jeans and top shop blouses for my sorority... fishnets and hotpants for derby. The letters I wear here are not a part of the Greek alphabet. The letters I wear now proudly are LIRR - Long Island Roller Rebels!!

There is a song by Uncle Leon called 'Roller Derby Saved My Soul' and after playing with the Long Island Roller Rebels for 6 months.. I can honestly attest to these lyrics with a big fat smile and a much more toned rear-end! :P

Fellow Sister - Tripsy Rose Lee

A Family Meeting

When I hear the word meeting, I generally don't associate it with a positive feeling. I'm not sure what my reason behind this is. Maybe I relate it to work, or past jobs when having a meeting meant discussing problems or restructuring the company.

Last night, I got together with the rest of the Coaching Committee and the Recruitment Committee to have a "meeting" about the league's upcoming tryouts. Our lovely hosts, The Skater Formally Known As Raven Madd and Mr. Madd, invited us to gather at their house where they served up some delicious home cooked food, which included special vegetarian dishes. One, a hot pasta/bean combination so good, carnivores would consider crossing over. We sat in a circle like a class of kindergarten kids, as we discussed the plans and organized the details for November 17th. Each of our separate minds melted together to formulate which ideas would work out best. We got the job done.

In the midst of our congregation, we laughed. We laughed a lot. Just like kindergarten kids do. The kind of big belly laughs that make milk come out of their noses. I looked around the room at our group, our family, and thought to myself, I like meetings.

Roller derby or at least The Long Island Roller Rebels as I know them, allowed me last night and so many other nights, to change my negative feelings about something, into positives. Just one more reason for you to come to tryouts! Maybe some of your negatives will be turned around too.


xo
Etta

A Guide to the Gifts

Last year, I posted a holiday gift guide of sorts. I pulled a bunch of fun and interesting products, many handmade, from some of my favorite websites to help make the holiday shopping you do for your favorite derby girl easier. I'm currently in the midst of my virtual spending adventure to bring you the best gift ideas for 2009. Are you an artist or retailer of derby or roller skate related products? Would you like to be featured on The Rebel Yell? Please send me an email (ettajams@yahoo.com) no later than Thursday, November 12th and let me know what your products are all about! With your help, this guide will grow and hopefully you can score yourself some new customers.

Look forward to hearing from you!

xo
Etta

Try it Out!

One of the most exciting times in our roller derby season is only a few weeks away! For some the most exciting time would mean our first bout or our last bout, but to me, new girl tryouts are where it's at! Fresh faces, some excited, some nervous, but all hopeful. New feet in borrowed skates make their way around the rink, while they scope out the new territory and get a feel for what the sport is all about.

Interesting in trying out? If you are at least 21 years of age, come on down to United Skates Of America on Tuesday November 17th from 8:00-10:00 PM with a valid ID and insurance card (if you have it). Skates can be borrowed courtesy of the rink, but you MUST bring your own mouth guard. You can find one for a few dollars at Target, Modells or most other sports stores. The following equipment is also required in order for you to skate: helmet, wrist guards, knee pads and elbow pads. While we do have some extra equipment to lend out, the supplies are limited and will be given out on a first come first serve basis. So please get there early!

Although this is an all female derby league, men are always welcome and encouraged to join our already amazing staff of referees and volunteers. So guys, please do come and find out more about us.

Good luck everyone!
Etta

Ghosts and Goblins and Rabbits - Oh My!!

Come Join Us Tonight!

Breakin it Down

You're skating along, warming up, doing your crossovers or maybe your scrimmaging grounding your footage to pump up for your next big hit, plotting your next move in the pack. Whatever it is, you're moving and the wheels under your feet are taking you places. Suddenly, without time to think or even blink, you find yourself on the ground. You stay there for a few seconds and get ready to stand back up, that's what you have always done after a hit or a knee fall or a slip. This time though, your brain is telling you to get up, but your body just isn't listening. You are sitting there thinking, it's been at least 20 seconds and I'm still sitting/laying here. What's going on? Soon you realize that you are hurt. How bad you may not know yet, but something unusual is going on and you don't like it. Then it hits you, you realize that you can't get up on your own. You need help and you are worried. The help turns out to be EMT workers who have come in response to a call from one of your teammates. In a state of pain and confusion, you go to the hospital only to hear the final diagnosis; A broken bone.


Recently, three of our Roller Rebels have dealt with this extremely unfortunate scenario. Home bound, some with young children, they find themselves in a place they never wanted to be in. Thoughts go through their heads I'm sure. What if I turned the other way, what if I landed on my knee instead, what if I changed my wheels? Injuries are not fun, and for some relying on others for help is difficult. In addition, one of their greatest outlets is now not an option. Roller derby is different things to many people. It can be fun, therapy, exercise or a place to simply let loose. It's all of those things and so much more and when that is taken away, a replacement needs to be found.

Our league President and Captain, Captain Morgan has been recovering from an injury for the entire season. Her way of dealing has been to continue to be a part of the league, taking care of her usual duties, coaching and being present at the fundraisers and bouts. Basically all of the things she had done before, minus the skating. I know it hasn't been easy for her and I know that it must not be easy for our other three hurt Rebels.

One thing that I've always known, but that now shines through more than ever before, is that I skate along side some of the most compassionate and caring groups of people. These unfortunate accidents have brought our roller family closer together and as a result, our fallen skaters have received, cards, food, car rides, flowers, phone calls, text messages and so much more, including the creation of The Cyanide Kisses/Eve L. Taco Broke Ass Roller Girl Foundation (visit us on Facebook.com) The mission of the foundation is to acquire enough fans to help start a decent collection, so that they can help fallen roller girls all over the country. The money will help them with food shopping, errands or go towards other daily activities that they themselves are unable to do.

In addition, another fact proving itself to be true is that roller girls are strong willed and brave! Injured parties showed up at last Saturday night's bout ready to help out in any way they could. For some, fear or laziness would keep them away, but not our Roller Rebels! They were there IN uniform taking on whatever tasks they could to help out for the night.

For any of you out there who have suffered an injury, feel free to write in or comment. Let us know what your derby replacement was. Did you take up another hobby? Volunteer in other areas of derby? Your words could help others, so don't be shy! Step up and speak!

Cyanide Kisses, Eve L. Taco and Cheater Steele, we love you and wish you all a speedy recovery!!