My wife found this browsing The Onion's back catalog (from last year, posted about a month after the tour concluded): Non-Doping Cyclists Finish Tour de France. Hysterical. I won't ruin it by posting any of the funny bits here, but wait until you get to quote that comes right AFTER this bit:

"It became most difficult for us on the 7th stage, which was almost 200 kilometers and the first stage through the mountains," Kvistik said while accepting the non-doping victor's 100-franc check from his stretcher.

On the serious side, today Mark Sisson reposted on his site his piece, Should We Allow Drugs in Sports? I linked to it before when it was hosted on Art De Vany's site, but it's worth the re-link. Whether you agree with the conclusions or not, it's a must-read. Very thought-provoking.

• If you only read one, read this one: Mark Sisson on The Primal Blueprint.
• Ross Enamait on The Power of Patience.
• Art De Vany notes the potential benefits of High Intensity Exercise Before Sports.
• Straight to the Bar collects some interesting medicine ball workouts and videos.
• Frostillicus again assembles quality links and videos.
• Wohba finds a great contact juggling video (fans of Michael Moschen will dig this).

Another good post from Mark Sisson: Chronic Cardio.

Three very good reads:

• Barry Ross: The Holy Grail in Speed Training.
• Mark Sisson: The Role of Lean Muscle Mass and Organ Reserve in Aging.
• Sister Corita Kent: Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules (really).

Just a quick post, but don't let the brevity fool you, this is a good one... Mark Sisson links up a study that suggests it's the workouts that result in lactate production that stimulate a human growth hormone response (cool study, bummer for the folks with McArdle's disease). Art De Vany follows up with more (upon reading you'll probably want to Google his site for "hierarchical sets").

• YouTube: excellent rings and pistols work.
• Straight to the Bar embeds a great air flair video.
• Crossfit Oakland really loves coconut oil (I have not checked the research behind those claims).
• Mark Sisson weighs in on soy.

This T-Nation article, The Third-World Squat, is the second time I've seen this particular stretch touted. First time was at the end of Mark Sisson's beach sprints video (more sensitively referred to as the Indigenous People Stretch). The Crossfit boards also picked up on these articles. Anyway, it's definitely one of the perfect stretches. Hits a lot of different muscle groups, proficiency will help with form/flexibility issues you might run into squatting or deadlifting, and you don't need a lot of room. I like to get out of my office chair every once in awhile, squat for a bit, then hit the camel pose (watch your back on this one, esp. doing it cold). To me this combination seems like the quickest and most efficient way to stretch out a lot of the stuff that shortens up when you spend too much time sitting.

Oh, one tip I don't think anybody has mentioned regarding the squat: if you can't get low while keeping your heels down you can roll up a towel and put it under your heels. That'll make it easier to get lower. After a few days, as you get comfortable, unroll the towel a bit. Repeat until you don't need the towel any more.

Excellent post my Mark Sisson on anti-aging drugs. The specific bit I liked:

While I support antioxidant therapy, I'm also in disagreement about the article's assertion - and the common belief - that diseases such as diabetes and cancer are due to aging and not simple lifestyle factors. These aren't diseases of aging, they're diseases of bullsh*t. We have this deeply ingrained belief, it seems, that aging inherently comes with disease and we're all just, well, screwed. Watch drug commercials and it would seem that once we hit 55, all that's left to do is retire, bicker about leftovers with the old ball and chain, and apparently settle in for a few decades of drugs, walkers, pee bags and pain prescriptions. But aging doesn't have to mean - and shouldn't mean - wrinkles, broken hips, weakness, and disease. Far from it. There's no reason you can't be as lean, strong, and energetic at 50, 60, 70, and even 80 as you were at 25. The key is not a drug, but a healthy, preventive lifestyle.

Make sure you click through on his link. I want to age that well. Just gotta get off the crack sugar.

UPDATE: Very related, see this post by Art De Vany, Proof of Concept.

I have once again fallen behind. Here's what I've been meaning to post:

• Dick Hartzell Jump Stretch bands tutorials. Great stuff, knew there was a DVD, had no idea these were online.
• Also, good article on bands.
• Great jump rope routine. « via RT forums »
• Mark's Daily Apple: Simple, But Not Easy.
• The Science of Sport: Muscle Cramps Part I. Very interesting, I'll definitely be back for the rest of the series. « via SttB »
• These Crossfit WOD posts have links to Rob Miller's muscle-up tutorial videos: part 1, part 2, and part 3. Very helpful. I'd like to acquire the muscle-up and the pistol this winter.

I love Mark Sisson's blog, and really enjoyed this thought-provoking piece of his: Training is No Guarantee of Health. It's anecdote and opinion, but Mr. Sisson is a very smart guy, and a lot of it simply rings true for me. Not surprisingly, some members of the Triathlon Forum were quick to object.

• Compared with a bunch of carrots, a package of Twinkies, to take one iconic processed foodlike substance as an example, is a highly complicated, high-tech piece of manufacture, involving no fewer than 39 ingredients, many themselves elaborately manufactured, as well as the packaging and a hefty marketing budget. So how can the supermarket possibly sell a pair of these synthetic cream-filled pseudocakes for less than a bunch of roots? Michael Pollan delves into the answer and implications (sorry, this one's a couple weeks old).
• I'm a computer guy, and let's face it, most of us spend too much time at our desks. Hence, this T-Nation article: (De)-Constructing Computer Guy.
• Dusty Rhodes linked to this Mark Sisson piece, Is There Any Safe Meat?, and that started me exploring Mark's site. Lots of interesting stuff on there. For example, I had previously posted some soy links, so was interested to read Sisson's take: 10 Things to Know about Tofu. I also really appreciated this nugget from his recent wine & chocolate post: Like chocolate and coffee, wine is one of those "marginally nutritious" issues that is endlessly debatable and ultimately not a huge factor in health, in the sense that there is probably some benefit to be gained from reasonable consumption thanks to the antioxidants, but don't expect any miracles. It's important to put these sensational stories in perspective...

Okay, I'm not quite gone yet...

Art De Vany addresses (via a Mark Sisson essay) a question I ask myself frequently when I read his blog. Namely, is the pursuit of elite fitness for sport unhealthy, big picture-wise?

The essay mostly references endurance athletes, and I ask a question about that in the comments.

There, now I'm outta here. Looking forward to reading replies either here or there when I get back next week.

I promise I'll get back to real posts after just these few more quick links that caught my sportsman's (such as I am) eye:

• Agassi to retire after Wimbledon, U.S. Open. A great champion, and being the oldest guy to hold the #1 ranking is very inspiring in a sport that tends to retire 'em young.
• Chessboxing!
• Fascinating steroids perspective over at De Vany's blog, from a guy with some noteworthy qualifications:

  I should tell you that I was the Anti-doping Commissioner of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) - a relatively new sport within the Olympic Family - for nearly 13 years. I had to act as "prosecutor" on many doping cases (doping = drugs in sport). Prior to that, I helped write the first set of "anti-doping" rules for triathlon in 1988. Before that, I was an elite marathoner (2:18) and triathlete (4th Place Ironman Hawaii) in the '70s and '80s, so I have accumulated a fair amount of "inside information" regarding drugs in sport at the Olympic level. I also own a supplement company and have done extensive research on performance enhancement in pursuit of natural, legal alternatives.