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Uber to Offer Seine Cruises, Day Trips in Paris during Olympics

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the Conciergerie building (bottom R) and the Palais de Justice, or courthouse, on the Ile de la Cite along the river Seine in central Paris July 14, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the Conciergerie building (bottom R) and the Palais de Justice, or courthouse, on the Ile de la Cite along the river Seine in central Paris July 14, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
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Uber to Offer Seine Cruises, Day Trips in Paris during Olympics

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the Conciergerie building (bottom R) and the Palais de Justice, or courthouse, on the Ile de la Cite along the river Seine in central Paris July 14, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the Conciergerie building (bottom R) and the Palais de Justice, or courthouse, on the Ile de la Cite along the river Seine in central Paris July 14, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Uber Technologies unveiled a raft of measures on Wednesday, including a tie-up to offer cruises on the Seine river as it looks to meet explosive demand stemming from the upcoming Olympics in Paris, Reuters reported.
The ride-hailing platform will offer its "Uber Cruises" free of charge from July 12 to August 3, and customers can also book a day trip.
Uber also plans to make a "significant" investment in driver incentives and discounts for riders.
More than 15 million visitors are expected to arrive in Paris this summer - a 30% increase from previous years - straining public transport networks, the company said.
It expects a record 40,000 drivers to provide rides on its platform during the Olympics.
Uber has also been attempting to capture cost-conscious customers through lower priced offerings.
While dynamic pricing will be used during the Olympics, Uber will offer rider promotions at key locations such as airports and Parisian train stations, where it expects nearly one million people to travel with Uber.
Uber provides drivers with "promotions" such as extra pay for completed trips that begin in specific areas, within a specific time window.
The company said its "app has also been approved for use throughout Paris, with the Préfecture de Police granting Uber drivers access to the most restricted areas of the city."
Uber's efforts in Paris will include continuously updated maps and routing in the driver app to highlight zone restrictions and road closures as well as dedicated in-app drop off and pick up zones, Reuters said.
It is also adding more than 130 new Uber Access vehicles to its platform.

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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
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Should You Stretch before Exercise? After? Never? Here’s What to Know

Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)
Philadelphia Eagles stretch as they get ready during practice at NFL football training camp, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP)

For many people of a certain age, high school gym class began with reaching for their toes. Then, over the years, we were told it was better to stretch after exercise.

It turns out, both those things can be true, but the differing advice has created some confusion.

Stretching can help make you more flexible, improve range of motion in your joints — and feel good. David Behm, who researches human kinetics at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, Canada, offers this advice on when to stretch and how to do it safely:

Warm up first

It’s almost always good to stretch, but it’s better if you warm up first, said Behm, author of "The Science and Physiology of Flexibility and Stretching." He recommends a light aerobic activity such as jogging, walking or cycling for five or 10 minutes.

Follow that with some static stretching, the traditional way of reaching and holding a position (think back to that gym class). You can then do activity-specific dynamic stretching, in which you warm up the muscles with repetitive movements like leg lifts.

Behm says one minute is "the magic number" for how long to do static stretching per muscle group without fatigue.

Expand your definition of 'stretching'

Should you always stretch before exercising? If it's traditional stretching, not necessarily.

The better question, Behm says, is, "Should people increase their range of motion? Should people have better flexibility? And that is yes, because it helps prevent injuries. It helps with health. But you don’t have to stretch to achieve that."

Resistance training, for instance, can be an effective form of stretching, he said. Doing a chest press increases range of motion in your deltoids and pecs, whether with barbells, dumbbells or machines, so there is no need to stretch beforehand. Just make sure to start with a small amount of weight to warm up and then add more to train.

"You probably don’t have to do extra stretching unless you’re a gymnast, a figure skater, or even a golfer who needs a great range of motion through that swing," Behm said.

Nor do you need to stretch first if you’re going for a leisurely run. Simply start with a slow jog to warm up and then increase the pace.

Don't do it if it hurts

After exercise, "light stretching is OK, as long as you don't reach a point where you're feeling pain," Behm said. Since your muscles will be warm by that point, overdoing it makes you more likely to injure yourself.

Foam rollers can help with muscle recovery and have been shown to increase range of motion as well as stretching.

Do some static stretching before sports

If you’re playing a sport, Behm said, static stretching beforehand helps reduce muscle and tendon injury.

"If you’re going to do an explosive movement, change of direction, agility, sprint, any of these explosive activities that involve your muscles and tendons," he said, "you’re going to be stronger if you do static stretching."

People can especially get in trouble when they go back to a sport they used to play, whether it's tennis, surfing or any sort of team activity.

Also, stretch both sides equally. Lacking flexibility on one side also can lead to injury.

Sounds simple. Why all the confusion? Different studies over the years have either encouraged or discouraged stretching before exercise. Behm says that partly because some studies didn't reflect real-life conditions, or were designed with elite athletes in mind, not regular people.

"If you’re Usain Bolt, it makes a difference," said Behm. Not so much for the rest of us.