Sep 20 2022 - The existential Woo-Hoo

 

To grunt and scream or not to grunt and scream, that is the performance question:  a Shakespearean Hamlet existential soliloquy for athletes. There's that yelling in exercise class when an activity is completed.   Mostly it is one or two female instructors at the Y doing Woo-Hoos and pumping fists in the air.  These are loud and exclamatory.   I got to wondering what it was about.   I looked up the definition and it says that these are considered traditional exclamations of triumph or vindication.   We're not doing extraordinary work in these classes.  We're not competing to win.  So what would make someone want to declare 'victory'  after a (small) exercise segment is completed?  These may be answerable or unanswerable questions, like Hamlet's. What came up in the article feed that is  more interesting is when it comes to grunting and screaming before physical exertion. One article says that a quick yell or grunt before an exercise may increase strength, according to researchers from Iowa State University.   "While the proper technique can only be taught by an expert, forcefully expelling air in the form of a quick yell or grunt may help stabilize your core and have the same affect on force production and strength, Welch says." Another article says that scientists don't know exactly why a sharp yell or grunt gives people that extra oomph when they do things like lift weights or swat at a tennis ball, but it's probably related to a communication signal from the part of the brain that controls breathing to the part that controls muscle function, said O'Connell. As for the Woo-hoo's in the gym, my sense is that we're in the age of showing off through loud exclamations.

These are the Lincoln Leapers at the Festival of Arts.  They are amazing in performance.  Can you imagine us skipping like this in exercise class?  It might give rise to grunting and yelling.    Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Skipping Along

I hadn't skipped a rope since I was a little girl.  I do this now in exercise class.  It is lots of cardio activity with balance added to it, so more work and skill than jumping jacks.  

I wonder why skipping is not a sport for adults in comparison to the many sports that are considered mainstream. It has a world federation and championships, and is included in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games.  Will it make it to the Olympics?  I learn that it might make it in 2028.  

I am including the link to the Daily Mail's video of 11 year old Chinese athlete Can Xiaolin who is shown in the video HERE skipping at 216 skips in 30 seconds.  It is so fast that I can't see the rope. That was in 2015.  It put him in the Guinness Book of Records. There are a few videos - in 2017 and then 2018 where he is was 15 years old and he has the two world records at 222 jumps in 30 seconds and 1,1110 in three minutes. While he is the fastest skipper, he scored poorly on free style, so doesn't show up as the overall champion.  

Back to our question of when it will get to the Olympics. There was a jumping rope show at the London Games in 2012.  The video is HERE.  There's also a video with a Chinese acrobatic team using one of their members as the rope.  

There likely is lots of work to get to the Olympics in comparison to sports with the biggest fan bases.   Soccer has 4 billion fans, cricket has 2.5 billion fans, field hockey has 2 billion fans, tennis has 1 billion.  Baseball has a mere 500 million fans.  There aren't any statistics on the number of fans for jump rope.

I think today's image comes from the Ringling Museum - it seems to say time is flying and soon spring will be here.