Low back pain and Kayak: a short report

During the winter Kayak training remarkable weights are frequently used in the gym, suitable for the preparation, the structure, but mainly the goals of the individua

Dragon boat: customizing the training plan

Athlete’s muscle function during Dragon Boat practice requires activation of a complex kinetic chain (composed of a great number of muscles of all sizes, starting from dorsal muscles, abdominal muscles and muscles of the limbs). The Dragon Boat competition includes, during the sporting year, races with length spanning from about 40 seconds (200 meters) up to 10 minutes (2000 meters) and beyond, in specific distances (long distances)

Ergometer and Dragon Boat

Dragon Boat is an activity that requires a participation of a large amount of muscles. The muscle groups involved are in order of involvement: the dorsal and abdominal muscles, biceps and triceps in the upper limbs and femoral quadriceps and gastrocnemius in the lower limbs. The athlete’s muscle building is based on strengthening exercises with weight lifting that involves both upper and lower limbs, with a particular attention to the heart. The paddle position, the rotation and the twisting of the body is taken into account. Racing and boat outings are integrated into the preparation. However the paddling technique exercises have the limitation of being unilateral and therefore with the theoretical possibility of asymmetric muscle development on the side chose for paddling

Two days, two marathons: superman?

The river marathon races are characterized by a duration longer than two hours, with intermissions at predetermined distances depending on the route. In these intermissions the athletes make portages where the competitors carry their canoes in a foot race with a distance of about 150 meters, and then they resumes paddling

Children’s winter training in Kayak: a multilateral approach

Children’s approach to Kayak as a sport takes place at about the age of ten. The winter weather conditions of the Northern Italian valley do not usually permit training at the river for a long period of time. Additionally the weather increases the risk of the boat to turn over in case of imperfect control. For this reason we have elaborated a training scheme in which going out on the boat starts in April when the temperature (both of the water and the atmosphere) begins to raise

Building kayak excellence: from the adolescent to the elite athlete.

Building an athlete in order to reach his maximum possible performance is a long process which starts from infancy. The history of our interdisciplinary group ( medical doctors-trainers) is equally long. It started in the 80s with the cooperation of a medical doctor and a trainer. Over the years, the group has grown involving new trainers, former athletes, athletes and young doctors who share their own specific knowledge in order to individualize and promote the maximal performance of each single athlete, trying to keep them in optimal health and prevent typical injuries caused by overload

Lactic Acid: a great help for the canoeing coach.

Six athletes who are practicing canoe kayak (n. 4) and canadese (n. 2, Mirko and Enrico) were submitted to an incremental test of 1000 meters which was repeated three times with an increasing speed. The test was carried out at the river named Ticino, in an area with constant water depth and no current

Antibacterial activities of peptides from the water-soluble extracts of Italian cheese varieties.

Water-soluble extracts of 9 Italian cheese varieties that differed mainly for type of cheese milk, starter, technology, and time of ripening were fractionated by reversed-phase fast protein liquid chromatography, and the antimicrobial activity of each fraction was first assayed toward Lactobacillus sakei A15 by well-diffusion assay. Active fractions were further analyzed by HPLC coupled to electrospray ionization-ion trap mass spectrometry, and peptide sequences were identified by comparison with a proteomic database. Parmigiano Reggiano, Fossa, and Gorgonzola water-soluble extracts did not show antibacterial peptides. Fractions of Pecorino Romano, Canestrato Pugliese, Crescenza, and Caprino del Piemonte contained a mixture of peptides with a high degree of homology. Pasta filata cheeses (Caciocavallo and Mozzarella) also had antibacterial peptides. Peptides showed high levels of homology with N-terminal, C-terminal, or whole fragments of well known antimicrobial or multifunctional peptides reported in the literature: alphaS1-casokinin (e.g., sheep alphaS1-casein (CN) f22-30 of Pecorino Romano and cow alphaS1-CN f24-33 of Canestrato Pugliese); isracidin (e.g., sheep alphaS1-CN f10-21 of Pecorino Romano); kappacin and casoplatelin (e.g., cow kappa-CN f106-115 of Canestrato Pugliese and Crescenza); and beta-casomorphin-11 (e.g., goat beta-CN f60-68 of Caprino del Piemonte). As shown by the broth microdilution technique, most of the water-soluble fractions had a large spectrum of inhibition (minimal inhibitory concentration of 20 to 200 microg/mL) toward gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial species, including potentially pathogenic bacteria of clinical interest. Cheeses manufactured from different types of cheese milk (cow, sheep, and goat) have the potential to generate similar peptides with antimicrobial activity