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This Year’s Premier Strength Athletics Competition

January 8, 2012 By 1 Comment

21322240675_skiing.jpgOnce again, this year’s Worlds Strongest Man tournament will be sponsored by whey protein manufacturer Met-Rx, the leader in sports nutrition. The event will be held at Wingate University in North Carolina, the first university to ever host the world’s premier strength athletics competition.

The World’s Strongest Man has to be accepted as the biggest event of its kind every year, with athletes taking part in a brutal contest. Events include pulling trucks and lifting cars. In the end, one athlete will be crowned Worlds Strongest man.

The competition has run for 34 years now, making it a real landmark on the weight lifting circuit. The competition is broadcast on television throughout the world each year.

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Ability strikes in arm wrestling matches are a real sight to observe and enjoy. The press in particular earned the distinction as between the purest of all ability moves within the sport. Mastering Arm wrestling approaches for example the press demands getting a bulky but robust upper physique with emphasis for the chest and also the triceps. Immediately after sizing up your opponent to have lesser forearm strength than yours, then this run will perfectly suit your sport tactic. Other smart, thiSome of the previous exotic destinations where Worlds Strongest Man has been held include Malaysia and Mauritius as well as China and Zambia. Winners become instant legends; previous favourites include Magnus ver Magnusson who won the competition 4 times during the 1990s as well as Briton Geoff Capes who was also an Olympic shot putter and highland games contestant.

Wingate University will be hosting the event and various locations around their campus. Students of the university that are studying both sports science and communications will benefit according to the university president, Dr Jerry McGee. Meeting the athletes and watching the event will surely be of interest to students, and those with an interest in media will no doubt be fascinated to see how a global television event like this comes together.

Some of the events genuinely sound more like torture than a sport! The farmers walk always seems particularly hard, carrying weights of up to 170 kilos in each hand while walking as fast as possible. Walking with weights in the hand is hard, but when the weight is around 900lbs in the form of two fridges over your shoulder then that sounds like too much for any mortal! When you look at this and the crucifix (where the competitors have to hold weights out to one side for as long as possible, an event like the simple caber toss sounds like a real treat. My absolute favourite still is the truck or aeroplane pulls though, particularly the planes. Seeing someone pulling a jumbo jet along is simply amazing!

At Universal Studios, California, Bruce Wilhelm became the first person to earn the title of the World’s Strongest Man. The former Olympian then went on to win the event again in 1978. American domination of the event continued with Don Reinhoudt winning in the following year and the emergence of Bill Kazmaier as one of the greatest talents in the history of the sport. As an experienced power lifting champion it was no surprise that Bill went on to win the competition for 3 consecutive years in the early 1980s. The early 80s were dominated by the power lifter who won it right up until Geoff Capes’ famous victory in 1983.

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You Too Can Get Your Own, A Muscular Greek God Body

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

f_0fitness590265.3.jpgUse Free Weights instead of Machines More Often

Machines will have its uses, but for a start, concentrate on free weights. That means work almost exclusively with barbells and dumb bells. Free weights recruit many stabilizing muscles for balance and control. That means you will work a lot more muscle parts other than the intended ones. That will give rise to little bumps, striations and definitions all over your body instead of one huge lump of muscle on your intended muscle. Because of the extra stimulant created, your muscles grow faster too. Why else do you think all professional body builders almost exclusively use free weights?
Compound Exercises Instead Of Isolation Exercises
Use as many compound exercises as possible to your workouts. Compound exercises are exercises that involve 2 or more joint movements. Because they utilize more joints, that means greater muscle mass are involved. Greater muscle mass means heavier weights. Heavier weights means greater muscle gain.
Some excellent compound exercises are the Squat, Deadlift, Chin ups, Dips, Bench press, Barbell Press, Lunges, Bent-Over Barbell Row…etc.
Train with Intensity 
You must train intensively like a mad man for your muscle to grow. Try to do more reps or add more weight than the previous session or your muscles will think, “Ah… we’ve done that. Nothing new, so no need to grow bigger and stronger.”
Because of this, it is important that every time you train hard, you give your body time to recover as it has suffered strains and actually sustained many small scarring. Your muscles grow when you rest, especially when you sleep and not in the gym. So sleep at least 8 hours a day. Also, do not train everyday or work the same muscle group more than once or twice a week. If your training was vigorous enough, do no more than an hour per session.
Try not to do cardio work on the same day as your weight lifting work. In fact, during the muscle building phase, you should do less cardio work as aerobic exercises burn muscles. You can increase your cardio work when we come to the cutting phase, to lose fats and gain rippling definition.
Correct Technique And Form
Everywhere, everyday, you will see people using wrong form and technique when training with weights. This not only compromises your growth, it will also make you susceptible to injuries.
Wrong form occurs usually when people try to lift weights that are too heavy, whether out of vanity or ignorance. As a guide, always lift with strict focus on the muscle you intend to build for that particular exercise. Feel it contract and extend. Lift the weights deliberately and slowly. Never ever swing your weights up especially when doing bicep curls or the military press. Lower the weights slowly, taking about 3 seconds instead of letting gravity pull the weight down. You must fight gravity to stimulate the muscles, if not, half of your effort is going to waste. Another common mistake is when people arch their back when they are doing their bench presses. By arching your back, you are using your spine to press the weight up. Your back must be pressed against the bench at all times for the exercise to be effectively working on your chest! However you MUST arch your back when doing squats and deadlift.
With some exceptions, as a general rule, if you can lift a weight in good form for more than 10 reps, it is too light. Conversely, if you can’t lift it more than 5 times in good form, it is too heavy.
To Grow Fast and Huge, You Must Perform Lower Body Exercises!
This is what most people don’t realize. Your lower body makes up 60-70% of your musculature. If you don’t train them, not only will you look spider-legged, your entire body will not grow as quickly and as large. Don’t think that you can hide those skinny legs in your pants! Most people do not train their legs because squats, dead lifts and lunges can be very grueling exercises. But it is precisely because of such intensity that you will produce more growth hormones when you sleep and overall muscular development is stimulated.
EAT and EAT Correctly
Losing weight and building muscles cannot happen at the same time although there are methods to do so and will be too technical to describe here. To lose weight, you must have a caloric deficit. To build muscles, you must have more calories, period! So do not be afraid to eat. Have plenty of protein, moderate complex carbs and some good oil like Omega, olive, flaxseed, fish etc., especially immediately after a workout. That is when your body is most nutrient hungry and will absorb whatever you eat very quickly. The longer you delay eating after a workout, the less effective it will be. Even better, take quick absorption protein shakes and high glycemic carbs during this time. The carbs will induce insulin production almost immediately and shuttle the protein to your muscle cells very quickly.
Eat about 2 gm of protein for each kg of your bodyweight or 1 gm per pound of your body weight. Spread your meals evenly throughout the day about 3 hours apart. It is advisable that you have supplementation of Creatine, Protein, Multivitamins and L-Glutamine.
Yes, you will probably gain weight, but a lot of it will be muscle weight because muscles are heavier than fats. You may also gain some fats because of the extra calories consumed. Don’t worry, it is a happy problem because the more muscles you have, the easier the fats are to shed when you come to the cutting up phase to get those rippling definitions. 
Easy isn’t it? Now that you know the facts, the rest is up to your determination. 

But remember to warm up and cool down, as well as stretching before and after each session; Or even better, after each set for better muscle recovery and prevention of injuries. :)

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Athletic Participation and Academic Performance in Female College Athletes

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

11322241008_ballet.jpgAthletic participation and academic performance in female college athletesAccording to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) the news is not good for the female college players’ future sports careers. Most of these young women have dreamt of being a pro-ball player since they were kids.The NCAA begins their eligibility requirements by saying, “The overwhelming majority of student-athletes will never earn a dime as a professional athlete.” Yet if you were to interview a Division I team in its freshman year at a college or university, nearly all the players will tell you that’s their goal and there is no other.This is part of the reason it is imperative that female college athletes meet academic requirements-not just to remain eligible to play, but to eventually wind up with a successful career in something that sustains and nurtures them. Is it any wonder that they get sidetracked, though, by the commercial university’s desire to win, win, win and their own passionate love of the game?Graduation rates for college athletes are improving of late. Division 1 student-athletes continue to perform well in the classroom and more are graduating, according to the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate figures. The latest figures show that 77 percent of student-athletes who began college from 1997-2000 graduated within six years. The four-year rate is up from 76 percent two years ago. NCAA believes the goal of 80 percent is reachable.As recently as 2004 the graduation rate for white basketball players was 53 percent, and 35 percent for black.Today the student-athlete is learning that being a successful student and a successful athlete requires the same set of skills and abilities: discipline, focus, setting and meeting goals, being able to face adversity, and meeting challenges aggressively and with integrity.There are a lot of discouraging factors in the life of the struggling female student-athlete.  Most of these women are high school recruits. To later become NCAA eligible to play for a Division 1 school they had only to maintain a high school grade point average of only 2.0 until this August 1st when this finally changes.Most often these young girls are looking at a sports as their ticket out: out of the ghetto, gang life, drugs, dysfunctional families-you name it. Most do not schools which have advanced college prep courses. Yet these same young women have been selected for a full ride scholarship to a university or college where they must compete against students who have been training for college for years, and have had few of the social hardships of the women.Other factors current female student-athletes have going against them are poor social integration and less motivation to succeed in college as compared to non-athlete peers. Their campus life takes place in what might be termed an athletic culture. They are highly concentrated in certain field of study and in specific campus residences. They mostly spend time with each other. When asked if it was easier or harder for them to get dates, 22 percent of female basketball players in one study said it was more difficult, compared with 2 percent for male basketball players, 15 percent for women in nonbasketball sports and 13 percent for women in other extracurricular activities. When asked about getting to know other students, 23 percent of the female basketball players found greater difficulties.Are they set apart as “other” by their fellow students because of their differing socioeconomic status, educational background, cultural experiences, being a “scholarship” student, or is it just something about women in sports? By all rights, their social mobility should be increased by the prestige of being a winning athlete for their college.There are at least three physical problems that female student-athletes must work to overcome . Female student-athletes have a higher incidence of eating disorders than non-athletes. Some women lose their scholarships if there is significant weight gain or loss. They learn to manipulate diet and fluid intake for regular team weigh-ins. The enormous amount of stress they are under to succeed in athletics and in academics takes its toll. Their body images may be distorted after years of training and playing.Another very common physical problem especially with female college basketball players is the high number of knee injuries that keep them out of the game temporarily and sometimes permanently. Tears of the anterior cruciate ligament, the one which stabilizes the knee and controls its pivoting, is a common benching injury. Since the mid-1990′s studies have shown that women are two to eight times more likely to tear the ligament than men in the same sport.One big problem is that there has not been sufficient education transmitted to the athletes about this. Many do not take seriously the preventive conditioning techniques they should be doing in favor of improving their skills for the game. About 1 in 10 hs a season-ending knee injury each year, including approximately 3,000 who tear this ligament.Some schools are adopting preventive techniques as part of a strength and conditioning program, but many are not and the coaches are just resigned to take the injuries.The third big physical problem for female college athletes is the female athlete triad of disordered eating, amenorrhea and osteoporosis. So many reasons that should motivate the women to looking for their future in their studies and succeeding academically.Female college athletes need more schools with programs like that at Texas A&M Career Center which is set up in conjunction with the A&M Athletic Department and the A&M Intercollegiate Athletic Compliance Office. They have initiated a unique program that recognizes and addresses some of these special challenges faced by female athletes. The women are given help to investigate the range of their skills and abilities and to understand how many opportunities are available to them outside of athletics.

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Oximeters And Athletes

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

01322240025_agafg.jpgAll athletes have a goal to strive to reach their goals. Many athletes push to succeed to their achieved goals. Athletic injuries do not only consist of a broken arm, twisted ankle or a injured back but also include of many unnoticed health conditions, such as respiratory conditions.

One of the most recent additions to the emergency kit for athletes is a pulse oximeter also known as a pulse ox. Many athletes suffer from heavy wheezing or bad asthma. The pulse oximeter uses a laser to gather data. The pulse ox is a device used by all athletes. The PC-60B2 oximeter features an organic light emitting device display and plethsmograph capabilities. It provides fast and accurate readings of blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate and audio/visual alarm functions. The pulse oximeter is battery operated and fits in your pocket.

Endurance, speed and efficiency are all goals that are critical to athletes in their pursuit of excellence.

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The oximeter is small, portable and very easy to use. The oximeter can fit on an athlete’s finger. The pulse ox offers a bright LED digital display of real-time values including SP02, pulse rate and arterial pulse. The PC-60B2 is used to monitor cardiac problems, asthma, COPD and many more. All athletes need an accurate reading of blood oxygen saturation at all times.

The pulse oximeter’s offered to you are portable, easy to use and come with many accessories.
Ensure that your oximeters are FDA approved and come with a user manual that is easy to follow. Many websites on the internet today supply more and more oximeter’s but do your homework to ensure your oximeter that is affordable, lightweight, high quality and very easy to use.

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Work Out In Style – What’s Hot Today in Workout Clothes

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

01322244399_25ddcd36.jpgFitness is a necessity in our daily living. It is hard to feel good about yourself when you think that there are some parts in your body that are not trimmed. The most common form of fitness is working out. In working out, the toxins that resides insides your body are being flushed out. As a result, you can feel better and much lighter. When you feel good inside, you can certainly feel good outside as well.  A proper diet must also be imposed to effectuate the process of fitness. Fitness comes with a price but the result is rewarding. The rewards in form of gaining self confidence and feeling good about your body are great.

It is always good to feel pleasing even when you are working out. Even though the sweat and dirt comes together, you must carry it on gracefully. One way to stay pleasant when working out is by wearing the hottest workout clothes.

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The clothing you choose to wear while you are working out will depend on your personal style and environment but below are six basic pieces of work out clothing for women that are great for anyone. The Women’s workout gear suggested below can be found in numerous brand names too so always be sure to do some price comparing before you make a final purchase. Mens Sterling Silver Rings

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Tricks For Selecting The Perfect Exercise Clothes – Sports

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

21322243869_grape-boot-3.jpgWhenever you workout you should do whatever you can to make sure that you will be wearing comfortable garments and work out clothes. Workout garments may include many different items like sports bras, tank tops, under armor gear, sneakers, and more. The objective of searching for the perfect fitness apparel isn’t always to look great however rather to keep you cool and comfy when you’re performing exercises. The perfect work out apparel will be made from dry materials that can help keep you cool as well as wick dampness away from your body. Moreover, some other important necessities are clothing that provide you with the assistance that you will need so that you can get through your work out.

If you are a lady seeking the most effective fitness attire, then your priorities could be a little different in comparison with that of the man’s. Ladies often wish to look great irregardless of what they do. Even if they’re exercising at the gym perspiring just like an animal, they are still focused on looking cute. Thankfully for women there are numerous fitness outfits that you can get which can be cute nevertheless helps keep you comfy as well as help give provide you with the very best work out. One of the best and most efficient work out clothes for female tend to be sports bras. Sports bras are amazing as they supply support while working out. The very best kinds of sports brazier to use when doing exercises are those that offer essentially the most support, will probably prevent bouncing, yet may still leave you feeling just like a lady. A very good fitted sports bra should support the bosoms, absorb humidity, and can be made from materials that will keep your comfy while you’re exercising.

As well as or perhaps in lieu of the sports bra, tank tops are usually an excellent selection for women trying to find the best fitness attire. Tanktops are good simply because they hug the body and keep cool through exercising. The top tank tops for female are the types that have a built-in bra for added support. Much like a sports bra the material is also important. Ensure the materials keeps you cozy and will keep away the moisture. On the subject of adult men, tank tops are also an excellent selection for workout clothing. But also for males, as an alternative to acquiring tanks which hug one’s body, they have to obtain some thing which is a little bit loose.

One article of clothing which is normally ignored with regards to selecting the ideal workout clothing are socks. Obtaining the perfect socks is as critical as all of the above. When we workout, the feet will probably perspire which often contributes to discomfort as well as ultimately odiferous feet. When selecting exercise footwear you need to stay clear of the ones that are created from one hundred percent cotton and opt for those that are made from an organic cotton synthetic blend that can help you stay cool throughout your workout. They could be a tad bit more high-priced than the average cotton sock yet will definitely be worth every penny for the ease and comfort they can offer.

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Do Some Fitness or Walk Instead on Those Days And You’ll Maximize Your Workout!

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

f_1fp518.jpgBefore you begin exercising or lifting any weights at all, it’s important to take a few minutes to warm up your muscles. Doing some light exercises actually warms up your muscles and makes them more flexible. This way, you’re less likely to injure yourself during a workout.

 

Some warm-ups include exercise bike riding, walking, jogging, or even basic calisthenics. Don’t start at the pace you hope to keep during your workout; start slowly, building up momentum and energy as you go. Set a stopping time and then move on with the rest of your workout.

 

When you begin lifting weights, start with lower poundage to warm up those muscles. Then you can add more weight and start lifting. This way, you won’t be as apt to strain a tendon or muscle-group-your muscles will be more limber and ready to handle the strain of a more exertive workout.

 

While you’re lifting weights or doing any sort of exercise, you need to breathe. People have the oddest habit of holding their breath during hard physical exertion or times of discomfort/pain. When you exercise, if you hold your breath, you can actually raise your blood pressure and put a larger strain on your heart and blood vessels.

 

Breathing sounds simple enough, but in order to make it intentional during a workout, breathe in through your nose, taking a long, deep breath. Then exhale through your mouth. Don’t reverse it-you’ll end up hyperventilating if you do it wrong or too quickly. Inhale on the ‘lift’ of an exercise, and exhale on the ‘release’ of the same. 

 

Some gyms will have step exercises or jogging boards in between the weight machines to help you keep your heart rate up during your workout. This lets you rest your muscles a little between each machine, as well as keeping your heart rate at an optimum level. You don’t want to lose the benefits of your exertion between stations at the gym-that defeats the purpose!

 

After you’ve completed your strength-training workout, you want to allow yourself four or five minutes of light aerobic exercise to relax your body and give you a chance to breathe easier. Just walk around at a normal pace, then stretch lightly. You’ll be amazed at your flexibility and the ability you have to extend arms and legs further than before!

 

Before you think about exercising or doing weight training 6 or 7 days in a row, consider this. When you do weight training to bulk up, your muscles are strained. In order for them to become stronger and larger, they need some time to repair themselves. So let your muscles rest a day in between workouts. Do some walking or aerobics instead on those days and you’ll maximize your workout! 

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Work Out Plans

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

f_2fp510.jpgWorking out is the new drug for most people in stressful jobs & has been copied by many who don’t even have a stressful life as it can uplift anyone whose feeling depressed or who just wants to look good. What type of workout does the average person do & what type of workout should you do to combat the many ailments that go with being unfit. Firstly remember that most people think that by working out seven times a week, they will turn themselves in to Arnold but this just isn’t the case at all. Latest scientific studies have found that short intensive bursts of exercise will give you the same results as exercising full time.
Smart people are now beginning to see that this is indeed true; these people used to go to the gym several times a week to keep up their physique but now only go three times a week & implement a shorter work out plan.The trick is to follow these programs to the tee & take no rest in between, its takes a while to get used to but once you practice this routine it becomes second nature to you.
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The turbulence training program boasts just this; it can give you all the returns in just three days of work out you’d normally need several days to accomplish. This program starts with wide squats, back push up, basic lunge, mountain climbers & jumping jacks to name but a few. Some of the people who tried the above lost up to 26 pounds in under a month, hard to believe isn’t is but these guys are the real deal. Almost everyone who took this program lost weight within three weeks & they didn’t even go on any diet. That’s amazing results, imaging just going to the gym or even staying at home, completing this 40 minute program 3 days a week & losing weight.
So according to these guys, diets are out the window, you simply don’t need to put yourself through all the pain of not being able to eat the things you crave, you just do this intensive work out three times a week & you’ll lose the weight.  It’s an easy decision for most who see this in action, they’ll invest in this program because it works & for the small price you’ll pay its worth it a thousand fold.
The best way to approach this it to set some goals for yourself, decide now how much weight you want to lose every week, decide on some work out plans, then develop a plan around it. It might also be a good idea to stand in front of a long mirror in your birthday suit & take a photo or two, by doing this you can look back & compare how you looked a few weeks earlier. Many people who use this method say that it gives them an incentive to continue because they can see immediate results.

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Key marathon workouts

January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

21322250678_jogging-2.jpgKey workouts to improve your marathon time

Wanna run a faster marathon? Maybe get through your first with minimum difficulty and maximum enjoyment? Maybe try to qualify for Boston? Here are some important workouts that will help you get more out of your training program.
Key marathon workouts
Marathon training is tough. Not just physically ( that’s a given ), but tough to plan and balance the various elelments that make up a good marathon training program. As always I feel that it’s best to cover all the bases and that good marathon training is not so different from good training for shorter events, but there are a few elements that you won’t want to leave out of your program.1) Long runs : Obviously the marathon requires that you do some long runs to prepare for the 26.2 mile distance. But all long runs are not created equal. I believe there are two specific types of long runs that should be included in your training. The first is your standard, garden variety long run in which you gradually build up the length of your run each week until you reach about 20 ( at most 22 ) miles of running at a comfortable pace in which you can easily carry on a conversation. The second is a fast finish long run. With this type of long run, you run a little less distance ( 15-18 miles max ) but you start the run slowly and then run the last 1/4 to 1/2 of the run at marathon pace or slightly faster. As an example, you might run the first 10 miles at a comfortable pace and then finish with 3-8 miles at your goal marathon pace or slightly faster. This is a tough workout and you won’t want to do this more than once or twice a month at most. Running your long runs this way is excellent training for the marathon as it teaches you to run at marathon goal pace after you’re already pretty tired from the first several miles of the run, exactly what you will need to do on race day.2) Stamina training. These are what used to be called lactate threshold runs or tempo runs or anaerobic threshold runs etc. Whatever you want to call them, these are runs of 20-45 minutes at a pace about 20-30 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace. I have found these runs to be some of the most useful training that a marathon runner can do. You’ll want to warm up before these runs by jogging a couple of miles and cool down down afterwards with another couple of miles of jogging. Another way to do this type of training is to run what Jack Daniels ( the famed exercise physiologist and running coach, not the distiller ) calls ” cruise intervals “. These are simply repeated runs at the same pace as your tempo runs, but with short jogs in between. An example might be to run 4-6 repetitions of 1 mile at 30 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace with a 200m to 400m jog at a very slow pace in between.3) Speed work/VO2 max training. Marathon training doesn’t require a lot of this type of training, but a little goes a long way. One of my favourite speed workouts for marathon training is one done by a number of the top Kenyan runners, including former world record holder Paul Tergat and current Olympic Champion Sammy Wanjiru. Here’s how it goes, you warm up with an easy 15-20 minute jog and then alternate repetitions of 60 seconds at a fast pace, followed by 60 seconds of jogging, and then finished with 15-20 minutes of jogging to cool down. Elite runners like those mentioned above would go for 20 or 25 1 minute repetitions of fast running, for myself and most mortals, I think 10-15 reps will suffice. If you really want to add to the challenge of this workout, try not to let the pace slow down too much during the rest jogs after each fast rep. This workout helps build leg strength, neuro-muscular coordination, and VO2 max.4) Easy runs. The 3 types of training mentioned above are very demanding workouts and neither should be done more often than once a week. You could probably get away with doing each type of workout just once every 2 weeks. So, what to do the rest of the time? Sorry, reclining on your sofa isn’t an option. The answer is easy runs, daily runs of 40-90 minutes ( depending on your goals and experience ) at a very easy conversational pace. Many runners are confused by how fast to run on these runs, some like to use heart rate monitors and stay within a certain percentage of maximum heart rate. Personally, I don’t think it needs to be too precise, just make sure that you’re relaxed and not pushing the pace at all. Save that for the above 3 types of workouts. Easy runs should be just that, easy physically and mentally and when in doubt, go slower. This will allow you to recover properly and put your best effort into your harder workouts while reducing the risk of injury and overtraining.Easy runs also help teach your body to burn fat for fuel as opposed to glycogen. Glycogen stores in your body are limited and running low on glycogen results in teh dreaded “wall” that marathoner hear about so much. Keeping your easy and many of your long runs at a comfortable pace will teach your muscles to burn fat, preserve glycogen and help delay the dreaded wall.So, having said all that, how do we set up a training program to include all of these elements? I like to have at least 2 days between hard workouts and to alternate the different types of long runs in each week so a sample 2 week plan would look as follows :Week 1Mon- easy runTues- Stamina run 20-45 min at 20-30 seconds per mile faster than marathon paceWed- easy runThu- easy runFri- speed workout 10-15 reps of 1 min fast, 1 min slowSat- easy runSun- easy long run gradually build up to 20-22 miles at a comfortable paceWeek 2Mon- easy runTue- Stamina run 6 reps of 1 mile at 20-30 seconds faster than marathon pace with a 400m jog in between.Wed- easy runThu- easy runFri- speed workout – 10reps of 1 min fast, 1 min slowSat- short, very easy runSun- Long run 15 miles with the first 10 miles at an easy pace and the last 5 miles at marathon pace.Always remember to warm up and cool down for your speed and stamina workouts with a 15-20 minute jog before and after the workout.Good luck with your marathon training!!

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Yoga Clothing – Dressing Down To Dress Up

January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

11322245172_10-5328sil.jpgDoes it matter what clothing is to be worn when practising Yoga, well of course it does – yoga exercises are about comforting the mind so why not go the whole hog and have the lot – comfort on the body also.
There are no certain identities as to what Yoga Clothing to wear – but common sense will prevail and point you in the right direction if you want comfort while working out.
Your Yoga clothing should give you room to manoeuvre because of all the different types of yoga moves performed which may entail twists, turns and stretching. By dressing in slack or baggy clothing you will be more content doing your yoga – stretchable elastic materials is also practical clothing for these exercises. Perspiration and how heavy you sweat needs taking into consideration when selecting your yoga clothing. Certain materials can make matters worse.
Think vacation when choosing garments – holiday clothes are ideally suited for yoga. We all relax on vacation and pack the right clothes for the trip so why not for the trip down to the local yoga club. Shorts and light tops are apt but if you prefer leotards or a swimming costume then that is fine along with tights or leggings.
If your choice of yoga clothing is stiff and tight fitting then this can hamper some of your yoga moves and poses. This can also have an affect on your concentration levels due to the stress of discomfort.

The ideal yoga clothing most suitable to wear when working on a routine in an air conditioned room is to wear long sleeves or elbow length. Air conditioned rooms can be a lot colder than you imagine so wrap up if your yoga exercise at the time is not a strenuous one.
In the cooler months Yoga clothing that is most popular is the track or jogging suit
Clothes will differ for different types of exercise. Take the Bikram Yoga which is widely known as hot yoga. It is an exercise that you would expect to wear shorts and light tops.
Your own personal taste and style is acceptable at all times – the only reason for this guidance checklist on yoga clothing is in your best interest. The main objective to directing you in dressing wisely is for comfort thus leaving you to enjoy your yoga routines.
Take time to enhance the dish so as to speak with added dressy bits and bobs. Colour can be added by wearing multi coloured wrist or headbands, even a bandana if preferred can spruce up any yoga clothing. How good is this Yoga lark where you dress down to dress up?
 

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