SPORTS 38

ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

Washington Capitals’ Jay Beagle (83) cannot get a shot past Philadelphia Flyers’ Steve Mason (35) as Shayne Gostisbehere (53) trails during the third period of an NHL hockey game, March 30, in Philadelphia. (AP)

More doctors are seeing injured CrossFitters

High-intensity workout injuries spawn cottage industryMIAMI, March 31, (AP): After a few weeks of working out at CrossFit, Charles Banfield says his back hurt con-stantly and his joints felt terrible. The 47-year-old’s aches and pains were so bad, he initially blamed his bed and pur-chased a new mattress.

After feeling a searing pain during a particularly grueling exercise, the Los Angeles-based CEO of an event plan-ning company learned he’d torn his Achilles tendon.

“You miss one step and you could re-ally hurt yourself,” Banfield said.

Though there have not yet been in-depth studies, some chiropractors, doctors and trainers say stories like Banfield’s have become more frequent with the increasing popularity of high-intensity interval training espoused by CrossFit and other similar hybrid work-out gyms.

Such workouts include high-impact moves like jumping onto platforms and are performed during a shorter period of time, often without a break to maxi-mize benefits, but some experts say they strain participants’ bodies beyond what they’re meant to endure as they sling sledgehammers over their shoulders and perfect headstand pushups.

The notion that people are overdo-ing it has spawned an offshoot industry

aimed at delivering lower-impact exer-cise or to help those recovering from in-juries to continue breaking a sweat but without exacerbating their problems.

Many people who do the high-inten-sity workouts aren’t adequately con-ditioned for such rigorous workouts, or have back and spine conditions that could worsen, said Marc Umlas, chief of orthopedic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, who said his office has seen an increase in injuries from workouts at CrossFit and similar programs.

“They plunge headfirst into a high in-tensity workout and they get injured,” Umlas said.

Torn tendons and ligaments are a common result, he added.

“Every CrossFit athlete that I see as patients, they have something going on as a result of being in CrossFit,” said Dr Tyler Kallenbach, a Los Angeles-based chiropractor who noted knee and shoulder injuries like torn rotator cuffs are common. He estimated 60 percent of his patients at one point were seek-ing treatment from CrossFit workouts, where Kallenbach says overtraining is common.

“I’ve got a guy in here who needs his shoulder repaired, a girl who keeps throwing her back out repeatedly. It’s

always something with them,” he said.A spokesman for CrossFit says its like-

ly more doctors are seeing injured Cross-Fitters but only because so many people are doing CrossFit — not because it’s a more dangerous workout. The brand has over 13,000 locations worldwide. A train-ing program that’s completely safe would be ineffective, company spokesman Rus-sell Berger said.

CrossFit is known for varied workouts that include gymnastics-style moves like handstands and pull-ups, weightlifting, burpees, running and jumping onto plat-forms, performed at relatively high inten-sity.

“There’s this view in the fitness indus-try that they treat safety as the golden calf, that the most important variable in train-ing is safety and that’s just honestly not

true. CrossFit is relatively safe and is as safe as anything else you could be doing,” he said.

Although strength training while in-jured may seem counterintuitive, ex-perts say it’s the best way to heal.

“Stretching can be complementary to a rehab program, but the focus is usually on the strengthening. Often what we’re trying to do is create a balance between strength and flexibility,” said Dr. Kelly McInnis, a sports medicine physiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital who is a consultant for the New England Pa-triots and the Boston Red Sox.

Most CrossFit and similar high in-tensity workouts are not meant for av-erage gym-goers, said Jorden Gold, who founded Stretch Zone, which has 33 locations in Florida and three other states. During the 30-minute sessions, therapists use bolsters and belts to stretch clients on a table from angles that are nearly impossible to stretch on one’s own. Unlike massage, clients are clothed and are stretched in a room with several others.

“The majority have no business being there in the first place. ... It’s Olympic training,” said Gold. “It’s probably only (suitable for) a very, very small percent that go.”

Los Angeles-based trainer Lauren

Roxburgh has created an entire workout around the foam roller, a narrow tube of-ten relegated to post-workout stretching, which she says can smooth out connective tissue, stimulate the lymphatic system and deliver highly effective core strengthen-ing.

Roxburgh noticed many clients strug-gling with injuries from high-intensity workouts and an obsession with training harder and longer.

“In our lifestyle it’s been very much about the doing. ... It’s all about push-ing through, doing, doing, doing, and it hasn’t been enough about the yin, which is the being, being in the moment, being present in our bodies,” she said.

At LIT Method, a Los Angeles studio that specializes in low-impact workouts for those who are injured, clients rotate between cardio sessions on rowing ma-chines and strength training using resis-tance bands. Sessions always end with foam rolling and participants’ injuries are written on the side of their rower.

“Eighty-five to 90 percent of our cli-ents are coming in with some sort of injury and they don’t want to get hurt anymore,” said LIT Method co-founder Justin Norris.

He said classes sell out a week in ad-vance: “There was a huge, huge need for this.”

In this March 17 photo, stretching techniques are demonstrated at Stretch Zone in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP)

Jeffrey Schmidt and Zaid Ashkanani with Al Nabooda Racing team manager Vijay Rao.

PHILADELPHIA, March 31, (AP): Nick Cousins and Sam Gagner scored in the shootout after Brayden Schenn tied the game late in the third period of regulation to lift the Phila-delphia Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

The win propelled the Flyers out of a tie with Detroit for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Alex Ovechkin scored in regulation for Washington (54-16-6), which was seeking a franchise record for victories after already clinching home-ice ad-vantage throughout the playoffs with the league’s best regular-season record.

Steve Mason made 29 saves in regulation and overtime for the Fly-ers and stopped TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the shootout.

Ducks 8, Flames 3In Anaheim, California, Jakob Sil-

fverberg scored twice while Ryan Kes-ler had a goal and three assists as the Anaheim Ducks tied an NHL record for consecutive regular-season home wins

over one team with a thumping of the Calgary Flames.

Corey Perry, Brandon Pirri, Jamie McGinn, Nate Thompson and rookie Shea Theodore also scored, helping the Ducks take over first place in the Pa-cific Division with their 23rd in a row over the Flames at Honda Center.

The Philadelphia Flyers won 23 straight over the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Spectrum from 1980-87. The Flames haven’t won in Anaheim since Jan 19, 2004, when Roman Turek made 36 saves in a 5-1 victory and the head coaches were Darryl Sutter and Mike Babcock.

Senators 2, Jets 1In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Alex Chias-

son and Zack Smith scored as the Ot-tawa Senators end a four-game road losing streak with victory over the Win-nipeg Jets.

Andrew Hammond stopped 20 shots for his sixth win of the season as Ot-tawa improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven against the Jets.

Cousins lifts Flyers toSO 2-1 win over Caps

Ducks thump Flames Lions ink OL Schwartz

Mariners acquire Vincent from Padres

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge ME shares GP limelight

Bengals officially signDansby to 1-year deal

No domestic abuse trial forRockies’ shortstop Reyes

Schmidt, Ashkanani return to action

WASHINGTON, March 31, (RTRS): The Cincinnati Bengals officially signed linebacker Karlos Dansby, a free agent who led the Cleveland Browns in tackles last season, to a one-year con-tract Wednesday.

The Bengals also reached a contract agreement with free agent wide receiver Brandon LaFell, who spent the past two seasons with the New England Patriots.

Dansby, 34, started every game for the Browns in 2015, recording 108 tackles and three interceptions, with two for touchdowns. He was released by the Browns on March 16.

Dansby, 34, has started all but seven of his teams’ games over the past eight seasons and has 41 career sacks and 19 interceptions. His six interception returns for touch-downs are tied for the most by a line-backer in NFL his-tory.

LaFell could help shore up a receiv-ing corps that lost free agents Marvin Jones to Detroit and Mohamed Sanu to Atlanta during the offseason.

Last season with the Patriots, LaFell had 37 receptions for 515 yards in 11 games after beginning the year on in-jured reserve with a foot injury.

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The Detroit Lions signed free agent offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz to a one-year contract.

Schwartz, 29, joins the Lions fol-lowing a two-year stint with the New York Giants. Last season, he started 11 games at guard before missing the final five games after suffering a broken leg.

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The Patriots signed defensive back EJ Biggers as an unrestricted free

agent. Terms were not announced but the deal is for a reported one year and worth $840,000 with only $25,000 guaranteed.

Biggers, 28, is a veteran of seven NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.

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The Dallas Cowboys added some depth with the signing of free agent of-fensive lineman Joe Looney to a two-year deal.

Looney, 25, has appeared in 27 ca-reer games at both guard positions and center. He started six games at guard for the Tennessee Titans last season.

Looney was a fourth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2012 NFL Draft.

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The San Diego Chargers signed backup quarterback Bryn Renner.

Renner gives the Chargers another quarterback behind Philip Rivers, Kel-len Clemens and Brad Sorensen.

Renner, out of North Carolina, ini-

tially signed as an undrafted free agent with the Denver Broncos in 2014.

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The Los Angeles Rams reached an agreement with California Lutheran University to use the Thousand Oaks campus as its training base for at least the next two years.

The Rams, who relocated from St Louis during the offseason, will build two practice fields, a parking lot and temporary buildings for offices, locker rooms and training.

Practices will be held at the facility during the offseason and during the reg-ular season. Once the team leaves for a permanent facility, the complex will be turned over to the university.

LOS ANGELES, March 31, (RTRS): Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes will not stand trial for a domes-tic abuse charge in Hawaii because his wife won’t talk to prosecutors.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Kerry Glen said Wednesday she plans to file documents to drop the case after Reyes’ wife also refused to return to Maui.

Reyes, 32, was scheduled to go to trial on Monday. He pleaded not guilty to

abusing a family or household member.Reyes’ playing status with the

Rockies remains in limbo because he could still face a suspension by Major League Baseball. He was placed on paid administrative leave on Feb 23 under MLB’s domestic violence poli-cy pending completion of the criminal proceedings.

Reyes was at a resort on Maui when hotel security officials placed a 911 call on Oct 31. According to a tran-script of the 911 call, the hotel security staff reported that Reyes’ wife, Kath-erine Ramirez, had suffered injuries to her face, neck and leg. Reyes was arrested on Halloween night after be-ing accused of grabbing his wife by the throat and shoving her into a sliding glass door.

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The Seattle Mariners acquired

right-handed relief pitcher Nick Vin-cent from the San Diego Padres in ex-change for a player to be named later.

Vincent, 29, appeared in 26 games in four separate stints with the Padres last season, posting a 0-1 record with a

2.35 ERA in 23 in-nings. In the month of September, he pitched in 13 games and did not allow a run over 9 1/3 in-nings.

In four major league seasons with San Diego (2012-15), Vincent has a combined 9-6 re-

cord, one save and a 2.63 ERA with 161

strikeouts over 150 2/3 innings in 161 relief appearances.

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The Los Angeles Angels and right-hander Kyle Kendrick agreed to a mi-nor league deal, according to reports.

Kendrick, 31, signed a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves but was released on March 12 after giving up nine earned runs on 14 hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings this spring.

Kendrick has a lifetime record of 81-81 and an ERA of 4.63 in 253 games (212 starts). In 2015, he was 7-13 with a 6.32 ERA over 142 1/3 innings in 27 starts for the Colorado Rockies.

NHL Results/Standings

WASHINGTON, March 31, (RTRS): Results and standings from the NHL games on Wednesday.Ottawa 2 Winnipeg 1Philadelphia 2 Washington (SO) 1

Anaheim 8 Calgary 3

Western Conference

Central Division W L OTL GF GA PTSDallas 46 22 9 252 220 101St Louis 46 22 9 206 186 101Chicago 44 26 7 213 192 95Nashville 39 25 13 215 199 91Minnesota 38 28 11 210 190 87Colorado 39 34 4 205 218 82Winnipeg 31 39 7 195 225 69

Pacific Division W L OTL GF GA PTSAnaheim 43 23 10 204 181 96Los Angeles 45 26 5 208 180 95San Jose 43 28 6 228 199 92Arizona 34 35 7 199 226 75Calgary 32 39 6 213 248 70Vancouver 27 36 13 172 221 67Edmonton 30 42 7 194 234 67

Eastern ConferenceAtlantic Division

W L OTL GF GA PTSTampa Bay 44 27 5 214 182 93Florida 42 25 9 218 189 93Boston 40 29 8 223 209 88Detroit 38 28 11 198 212 87Ottawa 35 33 9 219 235 79Montreal 35 36 6 205 224 76Buffalo 31 35 11 185 210 73Toronto 28 37 11 186 222 67

Metropolitan Division W L OTL GF GA PTSWashington 54 16 6 237 177 114NY Rangers 43 24 9 219 199 95Pittsburgh 43 25 8 219 190 94NY Islanders 41 25 9 210 193 91Philadelphia 38 25 13 198 200 89New Jersey 37 32 8 173 194 82Carolina 33 28 16 187 208 82Columbus 30 38 8 195 237 68

KUWAIT CITY, March 31: Al Na-booda Racing are aiming to round off a spectacularly successful 10th anniversary season with another powerful performance during the 2016 F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.

Fresh from capturing the team and drivers’ titles in the 2015-16 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Mid-dle East, Jeffrey Schmidt and Zaid Ashkanani return to action at Bah-rain International Circuit for two exhibition races on Saturday and Sunday as part of the Grand Prix support programme.

Schmidt, who clinched the GT3 Cup drivers’ title in Bahrain earlier this month (March), will be looking to add to his record-equalling nine race wins during the season.

Having won the penultimate race

of the championship in Bahrain, Ashkanani is eager to underline his liking for the track as the Porsche GT3 Cup drivers share the stage with the F1 Grand Prix stars.

“There are no points, nor titles at stake this time, but Jeffrey and Zaid are both looking forward to putting on a good show and the whole team will enjoy being part of the F1 race weekend”, said Al Nabooda Racing team manager Vijay Rao.

“This is a great way to round off what has been a wonderfully suc-cessful 10th anniversary season”.

Al Nabooda Racing dominated the seventh edition of the Porsche GT3 Cup series series from start to finish recording their third team championship success in four sea-sons.

They also became the first team to clinch the title with two races to spare and set a new record team championship tally of 505 pts in the process.

Their winning margin of 119 pts over runners up Al Faisal Racing of Saudi Arabia was also a record, as was their total of ten race team wins out of 12.

The two GT3 Cup exhibition races on Saturday and Sunday will be held over 10 laps or 25 min-utes around the 5.412-km Bahrain Grand Prix track. A practice session is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) and qualifying early on Saturday to determine the grid for the opening sprint.

Note: Overtime losses (OTL) are worth one point in the standings and are not included in the loss column (L)

Reyes

BASEBALL

ICE HOCKEY

DansbyFOOTBALL

CAR RACING