tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post3609358486007836783..comments2024-02-17T04:06:00.805-05:00Comments on Just Not Said: Stunted growthJohn Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-59626848935196302292015-11-23T17:27:26.342-05:002015-11-23T17:27:26.342-05:00Birdie --
Yes, there's often a price to be pai...Birdie --<br />Yes, there's often a price to be paid for extreme dedication.John Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-43030945297434494352015-11-23T17:01:57.855-05:002015-11-23T17:01:57.855-05:00Thank God, my kids are not extreme athletes. My p...Thank God, my kids are not extreme athletes. My preference for them is that they enjoy their childhoods, eat well, and have some sports that they like doing.<br /><br />-birdieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-9389872700605115162008-11-12T15:39:00.000-05:002008-11-12T15:39:00.000-05:00Mason -- Thanks for your comments, you bring up a ...Mason -- Thanks for your comments, you bring up a lot of good points. I think part of the reason we see so many short gymnasts at the Olympics is simply because being short is an advantage in gymnastics, but part of the reason is also the effect of overtraining. I always wondered during the Soviet era if some of the bloc countries were actually feeding their gymnasts to retard the onset of puberty; an Olga Korbut-type body is obviously better for gymnastics than a more womanly Ludmila Tourischeva type of build. I can't prove that, of course, but those countries certainly demonstrated their lack of concern with their athletes' health and overall well-being when they fed their swimmers and track athletes steroids without their knowledge, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did similar things with their gymnasts. <BR/><BR/>I've read, btw, that Ian Thorpe swam only twice a week through the age of 11. if that's true, it would certainly help explain how he grew to be 6' 5" and 210. And even the full-grown, world class Australian swimmers supposedly take Saturday and Sunday entirely off, which is unheard of over here. Also, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Michael Phelps' home swim team, doesn't have its age group swimmers do two a day workouts. Two years ago I spoke to a kid who swam with their senior group and he told me that the longest set he had done all winter was 7 x 300 yards, and the longest workout he had done totaled seven thousand yards.<BR/><BR/>You make a good point about diet, too. A lot of parents don't seem to realize that low fat diets are for adults who need to get their cholesterol levels down, not for kids in heavy training. Fat is necessary for all sorts of purposes in the body, from digestion to brain function.John Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729625146043379286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5794535954827182754.post-55988226121266048882008-11-12T14:22:00.000-05:002008-11-12T14:22:00.000-05:00This is a really fascinating post to me. I've alw...This is a really fascinating post to me. I've always wondered about the abnormally short stature of many top gymnasts, both men and women. Particularly from countries with a Soviet-style system, like China, Belarus, Romania, Russia.<BR/><BR/>But of course there are always those kids like Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe who train from a young age and still become large and powerful adolescents. As you noted.<BR/><BR/>I wonder about the effect of diet and industrial pollutants. A lot of parents are feeding their kids fairly low-fat meals: skim milk, whole-grain bread, low-fat granola, skinless chicken breasts instead of wings or steak or bacon. And don't even mention organ meats -- how many kids regularly eat smoked tongue, or liverwurst, or chopped liver, or blood sausage the way their parents and especially their grandparents did?<BR/><BR/>And as we are learning, there are a lot of estrogen-imitators out there from industrial pollution, less easily detected than heavy metals like lead and more subtle in their long-ranging influence.<BR/><BR/>In some of the borderline third-world countries I've visited, like Mexico and Turkey, the kids are often pretty short, but they look robust and energetic in a way that a lot of "white-bread" kids just don't these days. Even visiting Quebec I noticed a difference. And don't even get me started on the opposite side of the spectrum here, the fat little bastards who imbibe soda like breathing oxygen.<BR/><BR/>Found you from iSteve, and glad I did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com