Home Exercises

Most people agree that physical exercises at home are better and more important than some of those in the gym. The gym workouts require sufficient time and money in membership fees. If you are at home doing your workouts, you are spared of the problem leaving your premises. You also avoid the cost of expensive equipment as your exercises will use only what are available for your workout at home. If, however, your home exercises inevitably need certain equipment to help you do them well as if in a gym, you can acquire the items like those for bodyweight movements, at inexpensive prices. These include exercise balls, exercise bands, dumbbells, and the indoor chin-up bar.

Before you start your own workout at home, be sure that you have chosen a training program that fits your goal. Is it for losing weight and toning up? Or is it for building muscles to get you stronger?

Planning your own exercise is necessary because it will make you understand the different elements of a good exercise routine such as endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. Endurance can be improved by ding such simple exercises as walking, running, cycling and swimming. You can have strength by also doing simple things included in your fitness plan that covers basic strengthening elements. Maintaining balance is important especially for people 55 years old and over, and must be included in a program of regular exercise. Good levels of flexibility can be maintained by stretching regularly at the end of your workout.

Exercises at home can be done without equipment but can be made more fun with music or while you are watching a TV program. These exercises include walking, jumping jack, pushups, leg lifts, crunches, jogging in place, squats, lightweight lifting, dancing and step exercise.

Walking tones up the legs and can be done outdoors if the weather is fine, otherwise, it should be done indoors, by going up and down the flight of stairs or walking around your house for a number of times. The jumping jack is a great conditioning and cardio exercise performed from a standing position by jumping to a position with spread legs and hands touching overhead, and then returning to the original position. Push-ups build your arm strength and work the muscle in your chest area while a leg lift builds strength and muscles in your legs. For building and strengthening your abdominal muscles or abs, crunches are the best exercise.

While jogging in place can be great for your heart, it can also be fun by listening to music at the same time or watching TV. Squats can be performed by sitting and standing repeatedly from a regular chair, that can be a good exercise for the legs and buttocks. Lightweight lifting also helps build muscles by using any weight available at home, such as laundry detergent bottles, milk jugs and even water jugs. Dancing is not only a wonderful exercise for the heart, but it also lifts up your spirits and boosts your overall feeling of wellness. For your step exercise, you can use the steps in your home, if any, with repetitions if you want to further tone your leg muscles.

Food Intolerances

Food intolerance is otherwise referred to as non-allergic food hypersensitivity. It is a negative reaction to a food, food additive, and beverage and in some cases, compound found in certain foods. Some experts in the field describe it as an adverse reaction to some types of food that takes place when the food is eaten especially in larger quantities. It can result from the lack or absence of digestive enzymes or from the body’s inability to absorb nutrients. It can also be caused by drugs that are sourced from plants, such as aspirin, which is used for the relief of pain and fever. Its common effects on a person are weight loss and malnutrition.

Food intolerance manifests itself in certain signs and symptoms about half an hour after eating or drinking the food or beverage in question. These symptoms usually affect the skin, respiratory tract, or gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms on the skin may include skin rashes, hives, dermatitis and eczema. Included in the respiratory tract symptoms are nasal congestion, sinusitis, asthma and dry or unproductive cough. In the gastrointestinal tract, the possible symptoms are abdominal cramps, gas, nausea, constipation, intermittent diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and anaphylaxis or hypersensitivity to drugs. Other symptoms may also show as tiredness and fatigue, headaches, depression, bloating, insomnia, heartburn, irritability and nervousness.

Some types of food intolerance that affect many people are enzyme deficiency, allergy-like intolerance, irritants, food chemicals, food toxins and sulphites. With enzyme deficiency intolerance, an enzyme is either missing or not functioning in the digestive system so that it results in such symptoms as diarrhea, bloating, and abdominal pain, among others. Allergy-like intolerances are easily diagnosed through a food-elimination diet, or removing from the diet the food in question. Such foods as caffeine, spices, garlic, onions, cabbage and dried fruit can be irritant and can cause many symptoms of intolerance. Chemicals that are naturally found in foods are salicylates and amines that can cause asthma, hives, eczema and migraines. Natural toxins are contained in some foods like spoiled fish, green sprouting potatoes, dried beans and chickpeas, insect-damaged parsnip, cassava, taro leaves and bamboo shoots. The last three foods need to be properly prepared and cooked to do away with their natural toxins. Sulphites, which are preservatives used in wine and dried fruit, can cause skin rashes, asthma, headaches and irritable bowel syndrome.

Nutritionists and healthcare specialists say that food intolerance can be easily determined, dealt with and even treated. The easiest way to diagnose it is to remove the trigger food from the diet to see if the symptoms improve. If the symptoms do, the food needs to be reintroduced.  If the symptoms return, intolerance to the food is very likely. One of the ways that can deal with it is avoidance of the food that causes the unpleasant symptom or eating the problem food in only very small amounts. As a whole, there is need to restrict certain foods that one takes by way of gauging the body’s response.

Parachuting

Parachuting is also known as skydiving, which is an act of exiting an aircraft to return down to earth with the use of a parachute. A parachute is a device made of light but strong cloth used to slow down the motion of an object through the atmosphere by creating the so-called aerodynamic lift. Skydiving originated in 1797 when Frenchman Andre Jacques Garnerin made successful parachute jumps from a hot-air balloon over Paris. The military later developed the parachuting technology for air personnel on board aircrafts in flight. As a sport, parachuting began with free-falling jumps only after 1908, and it was in 1926 when parachuting contests began in the United States, and in 1951 when the first world championship was held in Yugoslavia.

Parachuting is an extreme, dangerous and demanding sport which, according to some trainers, is unfit for the faint-hearted. But some parachuting experts have allayed the fears of the faint-hearted by saying that the risks have been reduced by various parachuting innovations in many parts of the world. Parachuting schools have also emerged to teach skydivers not only about the excitement of the sport but also about the safety of certified diving in the sky. Focusing on safety, the skydivers are trained in seven levels all designed to showcase their individual solo diving ability.  Level 1 teaches one to parachute jump at the ground school, how to deploy the parachute and parachute and jump at an altitude of 14,000 feet. The teachings culminate in Level 7, the last level, when the skydiving student is allowed to exit the aircraft solo, execute an exit dive and 180-degree turns before communicating with the instructor that he is about to open the parachute’s canopy. Upon landing, the new skydiver is honored with a celebration for doing a great feat in the sky where he has showcased his solo parachuting ability.

Parachuting championships involve the use of light aircrafts that carry competitors to an altitude of about 3600 meters. They usually compete in various types of areas of competition such as the free-fall, “relative work,” canopy formation, para-ski, and canopy piloting. In the free-fall competition, the competitors are judged by how they perform a prescribed sequence during the free fall. The “relative work” contest has two or more free-falling parachutists working together while they are up in the sky. The canopy formation is an addition to world championship events where teams of parachutists work together after deploying their canopies. Para-ski consists of two events such as accuracy jumping and racing over a course. The newest discipline in parachuting sports is called canopy piloting inaugurated only in 2003 to consist such events as speed, distance and zone accuracy.

On the basis of a growing number of parachuting sports people, parachuting may no longer seem as a dangerous sport. Even women have begun to love it by competing in championships that used to be dominated by men. Canada is only one of the countries having women parachutists some of whom have already won championships and other major awards from world parachuting competitions.

Football Players Training

Football is a sport played between two teams of 11 players each. The objective of the game is to score a point by advancing or carrying the ball into the end zone or over the goal line of the opponent. To score a point, a player is required to possess a number of athletic abilities such as speed, acceleration, agility, flexibility, mobility and muscular endurance. These abilities can be acquired through proper training that can improve the player’s game in the most physically demanding sport.

Four basic types of training are offered for football players to emphasize the importance of strength and speed. These include the common strength training that helps prevent injuries, improves kicking performance and provides the good basis for good sprinting speed. Maximal leg strength exercise is also necessary to continue what is gained from the general strength training, but specifically it is useful for developing power and speed of the player. Plyometric training exercises that repeatedly stress the muscles are also necessary for the player to complement strength training and as an alternative. Maximum sprint training is conducted by running over short distances that may or may not require added resistances. Outside of these types is the cardiovascular training which is imperative for any player desiring to have the needed stamina to run long distances, or in quick, short bursts. This is conducted through distance and sprint running either outdoors or on a treadmill. Skills-training is also important for players in order to master the needed playing skills, as well as footwork and overall techniques. To enhance leg power and sprinting speed, a player must also conduct the hop-bound-jump training that consists of hopping, bounding and jumping actions.

Strength training is an important aspect of football players training in making their muscles especially on the legs and trunk powerful as they play the game. The ideal exercises for increasing general strength include leg presses, leg extensions, leg curls, bench presses, and abdominal and lower back exercises which can be done with various gym equipment. Speed is another football skill to train for if one desires to be good in the game. Training for speed consists of jogging and running, leg stretching, performing sprint run in short distances, and jumping workouts. Speed workouts that include exercises focusing on fast twitch muscles will ensure that the muscles are conditioned to act and respond quickly. Hill training is part of speed training because it develops speed, strength leaping ability and endurance by running 60 feet upwards from the foot of the hill.

Football training experts have given certain football training tips for both professional and non-professional footballers. Among these tips is conditioning training to help players to be not only fit for the match but also be at the top of the game and free from serious playing injuries. Periodization training is also recommended for players to help them avoid over-training while maintaining strength and power. Receiving drills are also advised for players to practice how to catch a ball without letting it bounce off from their own body.

Big Tennis Tournaments

Tennis is a sport played between two players or in singles, or between two teams of players known as doubles. In this game, a player uses a racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with cloth or felt made of wool and fur into the opponent’s court. Originating in Birmingham, England in the late 19^th century, it has evolved into a modern game enjoyed by millions of people either as a recreational or spectator sport. It has become largely popular worldwide and as a main event in many major tournaments or championships such as the Australian Open, US Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open. A prize money of more than US$20 million is usually offered in any of these big or Grand Slam tournaments that have already produced world champions.

Australian Open. This tournament is conducted on hard court in Melbourne, Australia in January of each year. It is the only tournament in the Southern Hemisphere, the area between the South Pole and the equator. It uses two main courts for the competitions such as the Rod Laver Arena and the Hisense Arena which both have retractile roofs that can be shut during extreme heat or a heavy rain. Like any Grand Slam tournament, it has men’s and women’s competitions managed by Tennis Australia and now played at the Albert Reserve Tennis Center. Its current champions for the men’s and women’s singles are Serbian Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters, respectively. The champions for the men’s doubles are the brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, and Gisela Dulko and Flavia Penetta for the women’s doubles. For the mixed doubles, the champions are Daniel Nestor and Katarina Srebotnik, whose title is now her fifth in her career.

US Open. Conducted also on hard court, the US open is the modern version or repetition of one the world’s oldest tennis championships. It is also a Grand Slam tournament held for two weeks in late August to September in five different championship events for a total prize of US$21 million. Its current champions are Novak Djokovic and Samantha Stosur for the men’s and women’s singles, respectively and Jurgen Melza and Philipp Petzschner for the men’s doubles event. The women’s doubles champions are Liezel Huber and Liza Raymond, and Melanie Oudin for the mixed doubles category.

Wimbledon. This is the world’s oldest and prestigious tennis tournament held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club’s grass court in London, United Kingdom. Held for two weeks in late June to July of each year, it offers total prize money of US$23.8 million for the five championship events. Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova are its current champions for the men’s and women’s singles. The brothers Bob and Mike Bryan repeated their championship feat in the Australian Open’s doubles in the same manner as Katarina Srebotnik but with a different partner in Kveta Peschika in the women’s doubles.

French Open. This is held in late May to June with the French name Tournoi de Roland Garros at the clay court of the Stade Roland Garros. Considered as the world’s most physically demanding tennis championship, it has produced current champions in Rafael Nadal and Chinese Li Na for the men’s and women’s singles, and David Nestor and Max Mirnvi for the men’s doubles. The partnership of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Aradecka won for them the women’s doubles championship.