Piel, thanks for the honorary "Dr." status, though just so everybody knows, unless I get one of those online PhDs, I am only a lowly Master of Science (or Mistress of Science as one friend calls me). But you indeed are the Professer of Great Lines and Little Ditties, and an award winning one at that
Besides, Icenut gave all the pertinent info on stretching and no doubt much more concisely than I would have
As for Dorothy Hamill's arthritis, some of it is likely due to genetic predisposition, some of it is likely due to the pounding of the joints in jump landings, and some of it might be due to pushing some relatively inflexible joints to their maximal limits day after day for so many years. There is really no way to know, although if osteoarthritis runs in Dorothy's family that would be a clue to genetic predisposition.
ITA with Icenut and Piel that keeping joints flexible within the limits of normal range of motion has been shown to be generally beneficial for maintaining flexibility as one ages. But when it comes to more extreme stretching such as what we see in figure skating, yeah, there is probably some wear and tear on the cartilage for some skaters that would show up as they got into their 40s and older. But again, with preset variables such as genetics and behavioral variables such as joint loading from jumps, lifting weights, falling, etc., plus working to increase flexibility, it's virtually impossible to know with athletes how much each variable might or might not contribute to joint problems in later life.
People tend to not like to hear this, but being an elite athlete is not necessarily synonymous with being healthy. Some of what high level athletes do does put them at risk for joint problems, as we've seen with skaters such as Alexei Yagudin, Naomi Nari Nam, and Tara Lipinski, to give just a few examples--and those aren't counting the sudden accidentally injuries such as the head trauma suffered by Paul Binnebose and Elena Berezhnaya, and the broken leg suffered by Alexander Abt when he fell and crashed into the boards some years ago. The more extreme the demands of skating become in terms of jumps, lifts, speed, and flexibility, the greater the risk of overuse and accidental injury becomes.
However, as I said in my post on Mzheng's thread about Michelle's weight, Michelle seems to me to be very intelligent about her training by including substantial periods of rest so her body can recover from the stresses during periods of high intensity training and competition. Plus she has cut down on the number of competitions she does. I think she is being very smart about the way she trains in terms of competition, in terms of having a long skating career, and in terms of protecting her health.
As for acrobatic levels of flexibility, such as in rhythmic gymnasts and circus contortionists (incidentally, the two main sources for Cirque du Soleil's "bendy" girls are children of circus families and both rhythmic and artistic gymnasts), you've got to be born with the potential for that. Certainly how "bendy" you get depends on how much you work on flexibility, but you can start a six-month-old on a flexibility program and if the child is not born with the genetics for that kind of extreme range of motion, no amount of stretching in the world will allow the child to achieve contortionist levels.
Rgirl
PS See? I told you Icenut would convey the info more succinctly than I would
Besides, Icenut gave all the pertinent info on stretching and no doubt much more concisely than I would have
As for Dorothy Hamill's arthritis, some of it is likely due to genetic predisposition, some of it is likely due to the pounding of the joints in jump landings, and some of it might be due to pushing some relatively inflexible joints to their maximal limits day after day for so many years. There is really no way to know, although if osteoarthritis runs in Dorothy's family that would be a clue to genetic predisposition. ITA with Icenut and Piel that keeping joints flexible within the limits of normal range of motion has been shown to be generally beneficial for maintaining flexibility as one ages. But when it comes to more extreme stretching such as what we see in figure skating, yeah, there is probably some wear and tear on the cartilage for some skaters that would show up as they got into their 40s and older. But again, with preset variables such as genetics and behavioral variables such as joint loading from jumps, lifting weights, falling, etc., plus working to increase flexibility, it's virtually impossible to know with athletes how much each variable might or might not contribute to joint problems in later life.
People tend to not like to hear this, but being an elite athlete is not necessarily synonymous with being healthy. Some of what high level athletes do does put them at risk for joint problems, as we've seen with skaters such as Alexei Yagudin, Naomi Nari Nam, and Tara Lipinski, to give just a few examples--and those aren't counting the sudden accidentally injuries such as the head trauma suffered by Paul Binnebose and Elena Berezhnaya, and the broken leg suffered by Alexander Abt when he fell and crashed into the boards some years ago. The more extreme the demands of skating become in terms of jumps, lifts, speed, and flexibility, the greater the risk of overuse and accidental injury becomes.
However, as I said in my post on Mzheng's thread about Michelle's weight, Michelle seems to me to be very intelligent about her training by including substantial periods of rest so her body can recover from the stresses during periods of high intensity training and competition. Plus she has cut down on the number of competitions she does. I think she is being very smart about the way she trains in terms of competition, in terms of having a long skating career, and in terms of protecting her health.
As for acrobatic levels of flexibility, such as in rhythmic gymnasts and circus contortionists (incidentally, the two main sources for Cirque du Soleil's "bendy" girls are children of circus families and both rhythmic and artistic gymnasts), you've got to be born with the potential for that. Certainly how "bendy" you get depends on how much you work on flexibility, but you can start a six-month-old on a flexibility program and if the child is not born with the genetics for that kind of extreme range of motion, no amount of stretching in the world will allow the child to achieve contortionist levels.
Rgirl
PS See? I told you Icenut would convey the info more succinctly than I would
