Dumbbell Exercises That Suit Beginners
September 30, 2006
The aim for beginners to weight training must be to lay the foundations for the intensive workouts that their bodies will eventually be subjected to. Obviously successful bodybuilding involves bringing together disparate elements such as nutrition and rest but choosing the right exercises is crucial. In this article we’ll outline the dumbbell exercises that will enable new bodybuilders to develop the general strength and body conditioning needed.
Initially beginners should aim to complete two sets of ten to twelve reps but after a few weeks, when you have developed sufficient control and basic strength, experiment with one set of six to eight reps to failure. This will maximize your muscle growth and give you the impetus to move on to the next stage of development. Before long you’ll find the use of this single piece of equipment restricting, so later in this series of articles we’ll pull together a muscle boosting program that utilizes other equipment to take you to the intermediate level. In the meantime, get to work with these exercises in order to get used to working your muscles.
Start off training four days per week and work body parts on the following basis not forgetting to incorporate rest days:
Golf Vacation Schools ? Choose the Perfect Golf School Vacation for Your Game
September 30, 2006
Golf Schools, like golfers, come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t make the mistake of attending any golf vacation school. Do your homework and find the right match for your personality, learning style, and golf game.
How do you decide which golf school vacation is right for you? It’s simple. Start by asking yourself a few questions.
1) What is your goal or commitment level for your golf school vacation?
Allow me to simplify the above question. Are you planning your vacation around golf school or is golf school only a part of your vacation?
Some schools demand your entire focus both mentally and physically. Others are a bit more relaxed leaving you the time and energy to do other things. You must first decide if you are more committed to the golf or enjoying the vacation.
If I’m planning on attending a Las Vegas golf school or traveling to Myrtle Beach for golf instruction, I definitely would like to spend some time enjoying the surroundings.
If you feel the same, look into a school that offers half-day instruction. Develop your skills in the morning, enjoy a nice lunch (usually part of tuition), then hit the golf course, casinos or the beach during your afternoons.
Movement That Matters: Exercise With a Greater Purpose
September 29, 2006
You’ve seen the commercials Ive fallen and I cant get up! While this has been a topic of many jokes and late-night comedy skits, the reality is falling is a very real danger for many people. Too often falls can lead to broken bones, hospitalization, and sometimes life-threatening illnesses due to being confined to a bed while recovering.
A less extreme, but still real situation is when a person lacks the leg strength to get out of a chair. Or someone who throws out their back just picking up a child or the groceries from the trunk of the car.
Did you know that this is not inevitable? With consistent and effective exercise, you will maintain your daily activities without injury well into your sixties, seventies, eighties, and beyond.
You may have heard the buzzwords functional training and core training mentioned in the latest fitness magazines. While these terms sound complicated, they are really terms for the most effective and exciting system of strength training being used today.
How to Win at Golf
September 29, 2006
What’s the point of playing sport if you don’t want to win? You may try to kid yourself that you’re playing for the good of your health or because you enjoy the sport, both of which would probably be true, but the real satisfaction and joy comes from winning.
If you don’t believe me just study the attendance stats for a professional sports team which is on a run of poor results and near the bottom of the league table. Teams that win fill stadiums, losing teams empty them. People like to be associated with winning teams. We all like to win, it makes us feel better.
This is about how to win at sport, any sport, but particularly about how to win at golf which is my game.
There are certain actions and thinking patterns which are easy to learn which make a great deal of difference to any golfer’s ability to win. In this article I will take you through the ones that I have found to be most effective.
Preparation
How To Jump Rope For Health and Fitness
September 28, 2006
Rope skipping is an excellent cardiovascular exercise according to the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council. It is far less hard on the muscles and bones than jogging.
While running or jogging, each foot absorbs up to 5 times the body weight from the force of the impact as the foot hits the ground. This force of hitting the ground can cause damage to the feet, ankles, hips and knees. But in rope skipping, the shock of hitting the ground is absorbed by both feet allowing the calf muscles to control and absorb the impact.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, skipping rope is among the activities it recommends for aerobic conditioning. In order to improve heart and lung health, it must be performed 3 to 5 times per week for 12 to 20 minutes an hour, and at an intensity that will get the heart rate into training range.
To find your training range subtract your age from 220. Multiply that figure by .9 to get the high range. Multiply by .6 to get low range. With this formula a person 25 years old must keep their aerobic heart pulse between 117 and 176 to be gaining benefit. Aerobic benefits do not diminish or decline with training as in other aerobic activities.
How to Shop for a Treadmill
September 28, 2006
Treadmills have become the hottest home exercise choice. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, treadmill sales have exceeded those of all other home exercise equipment.
It’s easy to understand why. Next to good shoes, a treadmill may be a runner’s best friend. Practically anything your training demands–hills, intervals, tempo, long distance–you can do on a treadmill. And you can log those miles while watching Seinfeld or keeping an eye on your kids, without worrying about heat, cold, wind, ice, cars, darkness, potholes, mean dogs or scary people.
Excited? Good. Now let’s take your treadmill education another step and go treadmill shopping. Before we set out, though, a word of caution: Treadmills are expensive, and they’re complex. A bad buying decision could leave you with one more inactive exercise hulk languishing in that musty corner of your basement. So tread carefully as we steer through the maze of buying a ‘mill.
First off, remember as with most things you get what you pay for. A $1,000 treadmill may serve you well, but a $3,000 machine is likely to perform better for a longer time.
The following are some more specifics to absorb before you buy.
Barbell Exercises That Suit Beginners
September 27, 2006
The aim for beginners to weight training must be to lay the foundations for the intensive workouts that their bodies will eventually be subjected to. Obviously successful bodybuilding involves bringing together disparate elements such as nutrition and rest but choosing the right exercises is crucial. In this article we’ll outline the barbell exercises that will enable new bodybuilders to develop the general strength and body conditioning needed.
Initially beginners should aim to complete two sets of ten to twelve reps but after a few weeks, when you have developed sufficient control and basic strength, experiment with one set of six to eight reps to failure. This will maximize your muscle growth and give you the impetus to move on to the next stage of development. Before long you’ll find the use of this single piece of equipment restricting, so later in this series of articles we’ll pull together a muscle boosting program that utilizes other equipment to take you to the intermediate level. In the meantime, get to work with these exercises in order to get used to working your muscles.
Start off training four days per week and work body parts on the following basis not forgetting to incorporate rest days:
5 Important Things to Consider When Choosing Golf Clubs
September 27, 2006
Every golfer knows that having proper equipment is essential. Choosing golf clubs has become some what of a daunting task because of the enormous market out there. We have come up with 5 simple things to consider when choosing golf clubs.
1. First of all you have to be honest with yourself in deciding what skill level you’re at. Are you a beginner just starting out, an intermediate weekend golfer, or an expert golfer who plays all the time? This is critical because there are different types of equipment designed to help every level of player. Playing with expert equipment if you are just starting out will only hurt your game.
2. Stay within your spending limits. You have to know what type of budget you are working with. Golf can become very expensive if you don’t stay within your means. There is equipment and accessories designed for every budget, you just have to know where to look.
3. Figure out your strengths and weaknesses. Do you know hook or slice the ball? Are you a long or short hitter? Do you sink many puts when you have to, etc.? You must know these qualities of your game. When you go to your local shop or golf pro it will be easy for them to get you fitted correctly if you know this information.
STRETCHING; Why Should I?
September 26, 2006
This short article looks at some of the tips, tricks and helpful hints you can use to help prevent sports injury and do-away with stiff, aching muscles & joints. It’s been put together to answer some of the more common questions we get regarding stretching and sports injury, and details a number of useful sports injury prevention techniques. I hope it proves useful to you.
Overcoming & Preventing Sports Injury
If you’re involved in the health & fitness industry, whether it be participating in your favourite sport, coaching, training or just keeping fit, you’ll know how annoying and debilitating a sports injury can be. In reality, when you have a sports injury you’re actually losing on two fronts. Firstly, you’re losing simply because your body has been hurt and now needs time and care to repair itself. And on top of this, you’re also losing the time you could have been putting into training and improving your sporting ability.
A sports injury is a bit like losing money. Not only do you lose whatever you were going to buy with that money, but you also have to work hard to make up the money you’ve lost. Take it from me; a sports injury is one of the most frustrating and debilitating occurrences that can happen to anyone who’s serious about their health, fitness, sport or exercise.
Tiger Woods, the Greatest Ever? ?NOT!
September 26, 2006
Tiger is great but still a long way from claiming the title of "Greatest That Ever Played The Game". Although I do believe he is more then on his way to claiming that illustrious title, God willing. But until then, Slammin’ Sammy Snead is my pick. That’s right, not even Nicklaus.
If you look at the 11 win gap between Jack’s 70 total victories and Sam’s 81 and then figure Sam’s total of 165 victories he claims, no one even comes close. Sorry Jack. Now figure in the shape of the courses today, the equipment and the level of competition and there is no doubt in my mind that Sammy is the man. Keep in mind, Sam played against, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan — all born the same year - they were considered the era’s Big Three. Hogan amassed 63 total wins and Nelson won 52, putting both of them in the top 5 of the all time winners list. Does anyone really thing that Tiger’s best competition today, is going to end up in that illustrious group? I think not.
