Whats in a name?
Plenty according to the Rugby Premiership which feels that it’s name is simply too long to appeal to those with very short attention spans and so the competition will be rebranded as the Rugby Prem. Much like the Six Nations rebrand I don’t think anyone even cares anymore but it gives the marketing teams something to do and they get to rattle off some media babbling drivel which probably means they get paid double for gems like “That’s where the incredible skill, the incredible pace, the decision-making under pressure is so important. Precision in training and then bravery in execution.” By christmas I will be writing about the Rygby Prem changing it’s colour scheme as the current shade of blue has been found wanting in it’s appeal to gen z or something. (shakes fist at clouds)
Whats in a name part 2
The Critérium du Dauphiné will change its name and become the "Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes from next season and this Bluesky post explains the history of the name and the reasoning behind the change. Personally I always feel sad to see a little bit of history die but as they say in Dauphine c’est la vie (my fist hurts from shaking it at cloiuds and now I am just resigned to the changing world)
Antihistamine is killing your gains (I’m practicing Youtube video titles today)
A new study indicates that antihistamines may be reducing your fitness gains. It talks about high levels reducing necessary inflammations - as Ross and Mike discussed on the recovery pod inflammation is in fact necessary as part of the training process. Usual caveat highlighted here of study restrictions and even if it’s true I’m still getting the tablets down my neck because as a bad hayfever sufferer this time of the year can be hell.
Padel and Pickle
Just a quick one as I felt it important to continue the pickle and padel run of stories. This week David Lloyd leisure centres in the UK have reported growth based on their pickle and padel arms - “the popularity of both sports is “expected to continue to grow exponentially” and it is aiming to open panel courts at an extra 20 clubs in 2025."
“The group runs 130 panel courts across 37 clubs and is the largest operator in the UK. It also has 76 pickleball facilities at 76 of its clubs.”
So all of them then? And panel courts? I have a feeling AI wrote this
Sleep smarter not harder
Garmin launch a new sleep monitoring device and the byline of the article is “Leave your chunky watch on the bedside table” and then this should have continued with “and wear this armband instead” I freely admit I don’t care about my sleep score along with many other metrics but I know many do so is this something that would appeal to sleep monitors out there?
A Whoop rival?
Following on in todays tech news is the Polar Flow which is intended to compete with Whoop in the wearable race. I’ve not used Whoop but I’ve heard positive things from those that have and so Polar is entering a difficult to breach wearable stronghold here. The 5krunner compares some of the likely features and concludes that with the right app the Polar Flow might just take off. My thought is that if you’re already with Whoop you aren’t likely to change. If you are already in the Polar ecosystem you’ll be going for this and so the battleground will be for new customers and Whoops ubiquitous marketing just might hold the key.
A clip on bike motor?
Completing todays trinity of new tech is a “plug and play” motor that uses friction with the back tyre as extra drive. Coming soon to a kickstarter near you means it’s not commercially available yet but I can see uses for this one. For the cycling enthusiasts it won’t be necessary but for leisure riders it may open up more avenues without having a full e-bike.
What it does remind me of (and I’m once again showing my age here) are the old bike lights which were powered by a small dynamo run by friction with the wheel as it turned - if you stopped you went dark though. I look back now to my childhood when watts per kilo didnt even exist and wonder just how much extra effort I was using to power my lights. We have come a long way indeed.
Continuing the theme of nostalgia (and boring people senseless with my childhood) this was the first ever head unit I had on a bike - a small odometer that measured milage - The UCI is probably thinking of bringing them back as head units make bikes too fast or something.
And Finally
Guess Whos back?
The hero we didn’t know we needed returns to the World Hot Dog Eating championship - Yes indeed it’s been a full year since I wrote about Joey Chestnut and his absence from last year’s championship due to sponsorship wrangles with a vegan sausage company. But sense has prevailed, all sides have got around a table to talk and Joey will return on July 4th to reclaim his crown (probably)
And Finally Finally
The first team has been announced and so it’s fantasy TdF time again. We’ll use the same league as last year so just log back in or use the links below. People must be keen as there are somehow a dozen people in there already
Join me in the league now no.56093 : Science of Sport Discoursers
Password : OYOBN
Welcome to the official Science of Sport Podcast league
By clicking on this link : Tour de France Fantasy by Tissot
and join the no pog league with a max of 2 riders per team
Join me in the league now no.73049 : Science of Sport - No Pog
Password : LVGOT
The Science of Sport Podcast League - No Poggy allowed. Teams who have picked pog will be barred from results!
By clicking on this link : Tour de France Fantasy by Tissot