Atheletics | Exploring the World of Sports

Ironman Triathlons Worldwide

: Image by VSELLIS via Flickr

There comes a time in an athlete’s life when regular sports may become boring. Just running, biking or swimming might not be enough to get the adrenaline pumping and the heart racing, leaving you wondering what’s left out there to do for some exhilarating fun short of extreme sports like skydiving. How about swimming, biking and running combined?

The Ironman Triathlon is not just one race, but the name of a bunch of different races held annually around the world. As the name suggests, a triathlon involves performing three different physical feats, so technically even one Ironman Triathlon is three races grouped together under one name. To be considered an Ironman Triathlon, very specific rules must be followed. Participants must swim for 2.4 miles, go on a 112 mile bicycle ride, and then run in a marathon race for just over 26 miles, all in the strict time frame of precisely 17 hours and not a moment more. Participating individuals are not allowed to rest between activities in the Ironman Triathlon and if they take too long on any one part of it, they may be disqualified–so that’s incentive to rush as well!

The triathlon begins at 7:00 in the morning and is timed carefully from that point on. Cut off times include the following: participants are disqualified if they take over two hours and twenty minutes to finish the swimming portion, if the clock has reached 5:30 PM or later by the time they finish the biking portion, or if they don’t complete the entire marathon by 12:00 midnight. The Japanese version, Ironman Japan, gives participants even less time: only 15 hours to complete the entire event.

The various Ironman Triathlons around the world culminate in a world championship that is held in Hawaii each year. This championship is also referred to officially as the Ironman Triathlon.

Filed Under: Atheletics Tagged With: Events, Hawaii, Ironman Triathlon, Ironman World Championship, Marathon, Multi-Sports, Sports, Triathlon

Running Sneakers vs. Cross Training Shoes

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Cross training and running shoes are two completely different types of sports equipment with different uses. Not only are they stylish with jeans such as those made by True Religion, but their true purpose is to help with exercise and training. Therefore, it is imperative to know which shoes should be used for which activity. If exercise is the only use for your shoes, cross trainers are the way to go. If sneakers are needed for running/jogging, running shoes are the best choice.

Running Shoes
Running shoes are meant solely for running so their design is much different than cross-trainers. When running, humans put pressure on the heels then transfer it to the toes. Therefore, the heels must provide the most support to avoid injury. Running shoes are designed to force forward motion and provide thicker heels. The extra cushioning absorbs the shock to prevent injury. Furthermore, running shoes have a slightly lifted toe area to propel forward motion.

Cross Training Shoes
Cross trainers provide support equally across the whole foot. These shoes are meant to be an all-around, multi-tasking support system. They deliver a firm grip to all areas of the foot as well as help with stability. Cross training shoes are commonly found in both strength and aerobic training. The soles offer support to the heels and legs and greatly assist with multiple physical activities.

Running vs. Cross Training Shoes
The most noticeable difference between the two is running shoes are meant for running and cross-training shoes are designed for cross training exercises. Also, running shoes tend to be firmer and more flexible around the toes while cross trainers are extremely firm with less flexibility.

When shopping for either variant of shoe it can initially be difficult to find one that suites your needs because of the many choices available. It is advantageous to conduct research prior to purchase.

Filed Under: Atheletics, Athletics, Fitness, Games Tagged With: Athletic, Athletic shoe, Business and Economy, Clothing, Footwear, Shoe, Shopping, True Religion

An Alternative Exercise you can do Almost Anywhere

Most people have completely drunk the Kool-Aid on the notion that you have to have some big, fancy gym in order to get yourself into better shape. While it certainly helps to be in a place full of pumped up pretty people, and to have all kinds of neat equipment at your disposal, these things can actually hinder you a little bit. After all, in a place where they consider every muscle group special enough to warrant a flock of its own machines (like anybody needs to do five different kinds of curls), it can be a little hard to imagine that your body is anything but a loose, unrelated collection of traps, gluts, abs, delts, and a bunch of other abbreviations.

However, you are a working, functional unit where every part serves a valuable purpose. In addition, this exercise, while bizarre, is a great way to build your strength and endurance. It’s called Car Catch, and it involves a place where a car has some room (at least 30 yards or so), a car in neutral, you and someone to control the car. It’s important to have someone inside the car for safety purposes. Do not be macho about this, or you could end up seriously hurt.

You start out behind the car, pushing it forward. Once you have gotten it up to some speed, you jog around to the front of the car and stop it. Then you begin to push in the opposite direction, repeating the process repeatedly until you run out of endurance. You would be well advised to start out with a smaller car and then graduate to something a bit bigger, like a lot of the new Chevrolet models. Those are some gorgeous American machines. They also have the added benefit that you can push them around, without looking like you’re pushing because the car is broken.

Filed Under: Atheletics, Athletics, Baseball, Fitness Tagged With: Autos, Chevrolet, Kool-Aid, Muscle, Physical exercise, Recreation, Shopping, United States

Why Children Enjoy Playing Sports

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Children get the most joy out of any sporting activity. Add in the ability to play with friends their own age, run around like crazy and just have a chance to be themselves and you’ve got a mixture for one extremely happy child. Just take a look at the various sporting leagues, camps and events that are held for children and it’s obvious just how appealing sports are to children.

It is averaged that a child by the time they reach the age of 10 will have tried over 10 different sporting events in their life. That is a lot of different sports to try but it’s clear that the reason that they are trying these various sporting events is because they truly love and enjoy what they are doing.

Of course children love to play sports because it gives them a chance to run around and be wild but they also love to play sports because it’s a chance to be a kid. There is very little pressure on a child at that age to have to compete at a high level of athleticism. It’s not as if sports betting sites are lining up to take bets on the winner of the “Boy Under 10 Soccer Match”, but it just doesn’t happen. This free style atmosphere makes playing in sports a lot of fun for children.

Sports is also an outlet for releasing frustration, anger, depression and loneliness. So while a child may appear as if they are just playing in sports and enjoying it, they could really be enjoying it because it is a form of therapy for them. This is a lot better then turning these emotions inward which could cause even further harm to the child. As a parent if you keep the stress off a child and allow them to just enjoy playing their chosen sport, you’re sure to have a very happy child.

Filed Under: Atheletics, Athletics, Fitness, Games Tagged With: Child, Kristen Gilbert, Martial arts, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, sport, Vancouver

Helping New Athletes Adjust to College Life

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Many new college athletes find it difficult to adjust to college life. The main struggle for college athletes is learning how to manage their time effectively. This is becaus,e when they get to college, many of them are leaving the shelter of home where their parents helped them maintain a normal schedule. Now the athlete must learn how to manage his or her own time.

To help these athletes succeed it’s a good idea for the trainer, or coach, to be a little more involved at first. Many freshman athletes find if very helpful to have someone give them advice on ways they can succeed in both sports and academics during their college careers. Below are a few tips that athletic trainers can use to give their new athletes the guidance they need as they adjust to college life.

Take an Interest

Many athletic trainers make the mistake of just focusing on the college athlete during practices and games. However, a good trainer will learn more about his athletes by taking an interest in their personal lives. For example, find out what classes they’re taking, what hobbies they have and how they get along with their roommates.

Suggest Making a Schedule

Once you have a good rapport with your new athletes, suggest they make a detailed schedule. They should schedule times for practice, workouts, classes and homework. Once college athletes get a schedule figured out, they are more likely to succeed.

Encourage Recreational Time

Many college athletes feel overwhelmed because they feel like they have to be practicing, working out or studying at all times. It’s not good to be focused on those things all the time and they just need to be told that. Therefore, encourage them to do things they enjoy, regardless of it is playing online casino games, going to the movies or hanging out with friends.

Filed Under: Atheletics, Games, Sports Tagged With: Athletic trainer, College athletics, Recruiting, sport

Sports and the Competitive Spirit

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The competitive spirit is not a universal ideology. It is something learned and taught. While the members of every culture have their own systems of hierarchy, trade, and exchange, and while there are always the ‘haves and the have-nots,’ the individual will towards competition is something culturally unique.

A lot of parents will put their children into children’s sports leagues where this competitive spirit is first disseminated. Even if the children don’t know what they’re doing, they are presented the rules and instilled in them is the will to win. Later in life, these sort of aimless competitive children’s sports become analogous for every-day experience. It is through competition in sports where we derive our economic impulses and our ‘good business sense.’

While competition in sports does often have good lessons to teach, especially regarding self-control, teamwork, obedience, and so forth, it does also tend to stir-up a darker side of the human spirit – the Will to Win. It is this Will that will drive people to do sometimes conniving and devious things in order to be able to bask in that winner’s spotlight, because the nature of American competition is to reward those who stand out most, even if they’re competing on a team.

While the competitive spirit is something taught and formed through education, like all of life’s lessons, there is a good way to teach and a bad way to teach. If a competitive spirit is properly nurtured, it will extend itself beyond the sports world and help shape the individual’s ability to persevere, accept loss (because it happens to everyone), and follow directions when necessary. If a competitive spirit is neglected and improperly rewarded, perhaps by focusing too much on individual effort and overshadowing others who tried just as hard but didn’t ‘shine,’ it will simply continue to propound the oblivious, cocky attitudes which turn so many people off to sports in the first place.

While teams are comprised of individuals, most competitive sports are about the team, and how well the team can communicate and work together to achieve the winning goal.

Filed Under: Atheletics, Athletics, Games Tagged With: Business, Education, sport