July 17, 2009

• Grunts

  I was in the gym doing some bench press and of course at each rep I let out a small grunt.  It's not like a banshee wail as I've heard elsewhere, but enough to get me through the rep.  Scientifically, there is no evidence to suggest that grunting significantly improves lifting ability.  In fact, it has been said that proper breathing without grunting is as effective.  I'm inclined to agree, but psychologically I just seem to do better when I let out a small grunt.

  Now, I've been meaning to put something up here about how other athletes grunt....notably tennis players.  Ever since Michael Chang stopped playing, I've haven't watched too much tennis, but I was pleasantly surprised by the latest Wimbledon match between Federer and Roddick.  It helped that it was the epic match of ever....but I was struck by how quiet the men were.  Back in the day, men did a fair amount of grunting, and to tell you the truth, they probably still do...if I tuned in more to other matches.  This is in stark contrast to how WOMEN grunt now.  I remember when women didn't grunt all that much....save for Monica Seles.  Her double sylable grunts were so loud that an opponent complained that they were distracting.

  However, Monica pales in comparison to the test of abdominal will between Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.  It sounded like the yells and screams were emanting from tortured souls from the 3rd circle of hell.  Ok, I randomly chose that number and maybe it's a bit of an exageration, but not by much.  It was just brutal.  I wonder if the same study done with lifitng would show the same results with tennis. 

  • 2:13 am
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