Fitness | Exploring the World of Sports

Triathlon Bikes and Training for a Triathlon to Help Drop Extra Holiday Pounds

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The holidays are a time for eating, drinking, gift giving, visiting family and eating and drinking. Yes I mentioned eating and drinking twice because we do a lot of it during the holidays. And with that, you will probably put on a few extra pounds. So with that in mind, you might want to go ahead and start planning an exercise regime. In fact, you might be able to get a few gifts to help you with your new program. One year I decided to do just that. I decided I would train for a triathlon and knew I would need a lot of new apparel and equipment to get me through my training regime and my races. It turned out to be a great plan. For the holidays that year, people gave me gifts and gift certificates to help me out with my plan. In fact, I even went online to research triathlon bikes and ended up buying myself one for Christmas.

If you are unfamiliar with this type of race, I’ll fill you in a bit. The first thing to know is that the one event is actually three races. There is a swimming segment, a running segment, and of course a biking segment. The races themselves also can consist of different lengths. You can participate in the shortest first to get your feet wet and see how you like it. The shortest is the Sprint. Then the next longest is the Olympic, then the Half Ironman and finally the Ironman. Even if you put in a lot of training, the full Ironman might be a bit much as it is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike race, and a 26.2 mile run. Either way, just the training itself is great exercise and it will help you drop all the extra pounds you put on over the holidays.

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: Triathlon

American Kenpo

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American Kenpo (aka Kenpo Karate) has been around since the late 1940s. It is a martial arts technique that employs quick, moves delivered very rapidly. It consists of more than 700 separate and distinct self-defense techniques, blocks and 72 kicks. The intention is to overwhelm the opponent.
Edmund K. Parker

William Chow taught Edmund Parker the art of Kenpo. Edmund Parker made refinements to the methods, theories and concepts of Kenpo and is now considered the creator of American Kenpo.

He passed away in 1990 and left no successor.

American Kenpo, as Parker developed it, became a blend and crossover of other martial arts philosophies:

• Chinese Arts such as Hung Gar and Choy Li Fut influenced what became American Kenpo.
• In a book published in 1960, Parker’s Kenpo incorporated the use of smooth linear and circular movements heavily influenced by the Japanese practice of martial arts.
• In American Kenpo, Parker began eliminating all Asian language elements and some of the Asian traditions. Instead, he used American English. His techniques transitioned from Chinese and Japanese to his own favored forms and methods.

Famous American Kenpo Practitioners

In addition to Elvis Presley, probably Ed Parker’s most famous student, Edmund Parker trained such well known personalities as Robert Wagner, George Hamilton, Warren Beatty, Robert Culp and Blake Edwards.

Parker also wrote several books including “The Zen of Kenpo” and the “Encyclopedia of Kenpo”. He acted as a martial arts advisor on many movies and television programs and published a rule booklet for karate competitions.

Today, there are Ed Parker schools and affiliates all throughout the United States and internationally in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Africa and may other countries.

The Belt System

Diferent martial arts use different designations. The American Kenpo uses a belt system consisting of:

• White, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Blue, Green
• First, Second and Third Brown
• First through Tenth Black

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts Tagged With: American Kenpo, Kenpo Karate, Martial arts

What Fitness Class is Right for You

Although getting in shape is not easy, deciding what fitness classes to take isn’t quite a no-brainer. Different types of gyms have different types of classes which fit different people, differently. The best fit for you depends on your fitness goals, including whether you want to lose weight, get in shape, stay in shape, train for a sport or event, increase flexibility, gain muscle or create a mental-physical connection. The right class also depends on your personality; do you need to be pushed and barked orders or are you more relaxed? Do you enjoy making a fool of yourself or do you like repetitive, simple workouts? Would you prefer being outside or inside? What’s your idea of fun fitness? Do you like sweating it out or breathing deeply? Are you competitive or docile? Do you like working with machines, freestanding equipment or using the weight of your own body?

If you want to lose weight, cardio classes may be best for you. These classes could include cardio dance, such as Zumba, aerobics, spin or kickboxing. For improved mind-body connection and flexibility, you may want to choose a yoga, Pilates, or Yogilates class. Some yoga and Pilates classes, however, are also cardiovascular. For building muscle or targeting specific areas, a weightlifting training session might be for you. To train for a specific event or sport, it may benefit you to take a class specific to it. If you love being in the water but hate swimming laps, an aqua aerobics class may be for you.

Cost, gym atmosphere, times and personality all factor into what the best class for you is. Do research and you’ll be able to make an informed decision. Don’t be afraid to try new and unusual offerings either; from knitting on the stability ball to Zing, a cardio class that involves singing, the possibilities are infinite.

Filed Under: Fitness, Games, Sports Tagged With: Aerobic exercise, Aerobics, Fitness, Gym, Health, Physical fitness, sport, United States

Level 2: Strategy

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Having a strategy in life is something that every child should know about (and also be working on) before they leave primary school. The more prepared your plan is, the better you are likely to do with anything in life. However, in the context of the martial arts, strategy is a little bit less long term, and more about using the fluidity of your movements to gain the advantage in a fight. After all, once the movements are easy enough to do without thinking about them, the real possibilities open up to you. Consider the nature of combat itself- it is unpredictable, fast paced, and can often be very dangerous to those who are willing to take a few hits.

When you still have to think about how to do the movements, you are not at level two- you need to stay at the first level of your training, until you have mastered the movements themselves. In time, you will become a lot better. But you might be wondering about what level two means, if not the mastery of the moves themselves. Remember our brief coverage of strategy, and then consider how that applies to the martial arts in general, and then to a fight itself in particular. In a fight, you want to have as much of a plan to win as you can.

After all, winning is about more than just having the right methods of attack. Rather like a woodworker who has the very best tools, even the best punches and kicks will not win you any fights unless you know not only how to use them, but also when they can best be employed. For the people who win fights as a general rule, being able to plan out (and recognize at a moment’s notice) when a particular type of attack will work versus when it will not is a vital skill. Any other kind of win is generally just luck.

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts Tagged With: Krav Maga, Martial arts, Physical fitness, Taekwondo

The Early Years: Training to Fight

When a lot of fresh faced youngsters first step in to a martial arts school, they are generally there for only a couple of different reasons. For some of them, their parents think that they need discipline. For most of the kids who first walk in, however, they are out to learn how to fight well. Maybe they want to be able to push people around (those kids rarely last very long in a formal setting), and maybe they just want to be able to push back when someone else comes up trying to bully them. But whatever the student’s initial reason for coming to the school, learning how to fight is the general result. After all, the movements that most martial arts teach involve punching, kicking, grappling and generally causing physical offense to another person.

Early on in your training, you learn a lot of different ways to do damage to another human being. And this is where most people generally stop learning all that much about the martial arts. For most people, there is no other element besides “how can I most effectively beat up somebody else?” Of course, more serious students learn other things besides that, such as self discipline and generally good health practices. But of course, most people learn little more than a few drills designed to attack people before they finally give up and figure that they have learned enough.

However, those who stick with their training will often find that the benefits of learning how to fight can move far beyond simply being able to defend ones self from external threats. For instance, there are great health benefits which may be gained from the practice of vigorous physical exercise, and the martial artists who train diligently often become both very strong and very healthy as a result of this training. Of course, as you progress onward and get somewhat older, the desire to fight will begin to fade.

Filed Under: Fitness, Martial Arts, Sports Tagged With: Martial arts, sport, Taekwondo

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

Learn How to Prevent Sports Injuries

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Unless you are a golfer or dart-thrower, if you play sports, you are prone to injury. Of course, some sports will leave you more prone than others, but there are some universal measures you can take to help prevent injury in any line of sports – even Cornhole.

The first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with the physical demands and expectations of the sport you are playing. Research the types of injuries that are common to the sport and look at the measures some of the more trained and skilled athletes take in order to prevent injury. In cycling, for example, the most common types of injuries have to do with different leg and muscle fatigues, like IT Band Syndrome. It’s a common condition among cyclists, and can be alleviated by changing the saddle height or cleat position. Unless you have done your research, however, this won’t be so apparent.

Secondly, you need to stretch. Focus especially on those muscle groups which are expending the greatest amount of effort or receiving the greatest amount of stress. Pitchers and quarterbacks, for example, should stretch their shoulder and arm muscles to stay loose and limber and avoid muscle cramps. Runners should stretch their hamstrings and him flexors for the same reason.

If your sport calls for protective gear, like in Lacrosse, Football, Hockey, or Baseball, wear that protective gear. You may be out just messing around, but if the competition gets serious, then serious injuries will result if you’re not adequately protected. Sports like these involve a lot of physical contact and in addition to protective gear; you need a good wall of muscle behind the pads to help reduce the impacts on your body.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you should never underestimate the preventative and recuperative power of rest. Overtraining and overexertion can lead to injury just as much as inactivity. Rest is just as important for sports training as exercise and practice, and it will help prevent physical and psychological injury.

Filed Under: Fitness, Sports Tagged With: Injury, Physical exercise, sport

A Few Common Types of Sports Injuries

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Depending on the intensity of your sport or physical exercise, you are subjecting your body to varying levels of intensity; some sports injuries are just facts of the practice. Not everybody will suffer a sports-related injury in their exercise or sports career, but these injuries are common enough that, if you do suddenly feel a pain or a pull, the options for treatment and prevention are readily accessible.

When it comes time for your sports practice or workout, the most important thing is to pay attention to your warm-up and cool-down stages. During these stages you get an opportunity to get the blood flowing, loosen up the muscles, and prepare your body for exertion. It’s easier to accelerate and decelerate slowly, rather than hopping off the couch into a sprint and setting back down on the couch again when you’re done. Stretch, drink water, build strength, and learn a good routine. This is the best form of prevention.

However, some injuries can’t be avoided so easily. In running or jogging, for example, your ankles, knees, hips, and even back have to endure hours of abuse. Over time, the running can take its toll, especially on the knees. There is a condition called ‘Runners Knee’ in fact, which involves a breakdown of cartilage behind the kneecap, which can turn arthritic or immobile if unaddressed. The best way to avoid Runner’s Knee is to work-out and strengthen your quadriceps and doing some strength-training on your upper legs.

Another common injury in sports is Tennis Elbow. Like Runner’s Knee, the injury derives from conditions caused by the sport itself, which is good news and bad news. Good because other people have dealt with it, and bad because sometimes recovery means putting your practice on hold. Tennis Elbow is a type of tendonitis, and golfers, baseball players, and of course, tennis players suffer from it. Treatment usually involves changing your technique and taking the stress off the affected tendons.

While sports injuries are common, they’re not always avoidable. Pay attention to what your body is telling you. Exercise should never be painful.

Filed Under: Fitness, Sports Tagged With: Health, Physical exercise, sport, Sports injury