The Best of The Best

In the world of sports people are constantly trying to be the best. So in this entry we are going to take a look at some of the best of the best; we are going to look at some of the world records that people have set in the field of sports.

1. The Highest Jump on a BMX bike:
In New York`s Central Park Kevin Robinson broke the world record for highest BMX jump by reaching the height of 54 feet ( the equivalent of a six storey building).

2. Longest Swim:
At 57 years old Martin Strel set the record for longest swim when he swam the Amazon River for 5268 kilometers. This took nine weeks with Strel  swimming 50 miles a day.

3. Most Goals Scored in an NHL Game:
The most goals scored by one team in the NHL was 16, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Quebec Bulldogs 16- 3 on March 3, 1920.

4. Wayne Gretzky:
Where would we be if we didn't discuss one of the most valued players of NHL history, Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky holds many goals in the NHL such as:
Most Points: 2856, this includes games, goals and assists. 3238 points including playoffs.
Most Goals: 894, 1016 including playoffs.
Most Assists: 1692, 2222 including playoffs.
Most 40 or More Goal Seasons: 12

Gretzky holds many more records but we are just going to mention a few. If you want to take a look at the rest of his records you can click on the link.

It amazes me what people will do to set a world record and it definitely takes alot of dedication. I like sports records though because there is always someone no matter what the record is that is determined enough to try and beat it.

FRUIT ! Kind of a Big Deal

We see fruits everyday and from a very early age we are told to ``eat our fruits and veggies`` if your curious as to why your parents hasseled you so much to eat these things its because they know best and fruits are one of the best things you could possibly eat. even if your not a health nut fruit is still one of the best sources of vitamins and nutrients. Fruits should be especially important to indivduals who like to maintain a healthy lifestlye. Here are some specific fruits and what they do to your body:

Strawberries:
Strawberries are a very good source for vitamin A, C, and K, beta carotine, and folic acid. what these do for your is cleanse your system. They can also help with arthritis and skin problems, and can help to elminate kidney stones.

Apples:
Apples contain sources of magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C and pectin, this helps to reactivate good gut bacteria and aid in digestion. Apples also do a good job at breaking down fat in your body as well as lowering your cholesterol. So the saying as cheezy as it may be is true ``an apple a day WILL keep the doctor away``.

Blueberries:
Blueberries are a rich source of vitamin C and beta-carotene. This makes blueberries a good laxative, as well as a good blood cleanser. Blueberries also help to improve your eyesight as well as overall body circulation and blueberries are an excellent antioxidant.

Bananas:
Bananas are a well known source of potassium, and fiber (about 2 grams). Bananas also make a good fruit source due to the role they play in heart health as well as improving the function of your muscles.

Blackberries:
Blacberries are made up mostly of the antioxidant anthocyanin, which gives them their dark purple color. The antioxidant anthocyanin is known to reduce the risk of stroke and cancer. Blackberries are also known to stop the growth of lung cancer cells.

Now that ive shown you how good fruit can be theres no reason not to say yes to eating any type of fruit. There is nothing but benefits guaranteed !

Get Fit: Not Just For a Rockin Bod !

Being fit as we have always been told has led to a healthy lifestyle and a healthy body, in the entry I`m going to discuss the specific benefits of working out in general. On one website i found it shows seven benefits of exercise, I will only go into about 2 or 3 important ones:
1. Exercise Controls Weight:
When you take part in physical activities whatever they may be (swimming, walking, running, hockey etc.) you burn calories. The more intense your workout the more calories you burn. Working out also boosts your metabolism and helps you to maintain your healthy body weight.
2. Exercise Prevents Disease:
Being active helps more than just your physical appearance, it also helps your body on the inside. Being fit boosts your high density lipoprotein or ``good cholesterol``. Exercise also helps to ward off many other diseases such as heart disease, stroke, metabolic syndrome, depression, certain types of cancers, and arthritis. what more explanation do you need to hop on the treadmill or take the stairs every so often!
3. Exercise Boosts Energy:
With regular physical activity your body will have more energy to focus into your daily routine. How this happens is when you workout oxygen is sent to your tissues and heart (all the important places !) and helps them to work better, and when your body is working more efficiently you have the energy to hang out with friends, or go snowboarding or a movie or whatever.

Working out is one of the best things you can do for your body, besides eating healthy. If your still not convinced to get off the couch and go for a run than here are some more benefits to reassure you that this is important.
This next point should be especially important to us as students, if you workout for even a little bit everyday as you are more active your mind becomes more active and this leaves you less prone to grogginess and lapses of concentration. It has also been seen as a good method for dealing with writers block.
Other reasons to exercise include cleansing of toxins from your body( via sweating), better sleep, longer life span, stress relief, confidence,

So what have you got to lose, get out there and get fit !

Why So Serious?

Nothing ruins a nice friendly game at the ODR (out door rink) like an over competitive wash up. Every time I go to the ODR, there is usually one or two guys that ruin it for me. I am by no means good at hockey, I go to have fun. I am competitive in nature, but there is certainly a time and a place for that. But it is NOT at the outdoor rink. Clearly if there is a bunch of 14 year olds and a girl hunched over trying to hold her stick properly, you do not need to skate laps around me with a smoke hanging out of your mouth. It's super cool that you coached your kids junior B team 6 years ago, and can do cross overs, I cannot. We have already established that from the fact that I have fallen 3 times in the last 5 minutes. Anyways, my last experience at the ODR was in Airdrie. There is probably 10 of us just skating around passing pucks and what not. Then all of a sudden, everyone starts throwing their sticks in the middle. I casually place mine in the pile of sticks only to find one of the kids is throwing them on opposite sides of the rink to pick teams. I can't even remember which stick is mine! So we start playing and everyone on both teams is super nice to me, setting me up for goals and what not. After about 30 minutes I've made friends with all these kids, cracking jokes too. Then all of a sudden 3 middle aged men bust onto the ice with their Bauer skates and their taped up sticks. They start skating right in the middle of our game, so we ask if they'd like to join. They decline, and continue to skate around all of us. After about 20 minutes they decide they'd like to participate with the rest of the group. Only to find that they are being physical, checking each other and us. I have now stopped getting passed to and lost all interest in the game. They continue to pass between the 3 of them and the pace was much higher. They kept chirping us, slapping shots into the net....we were playing posts. After this I decided to leave with my friends. Totally unnecessary. This not only happens at ODR, but also in Rec league coed soccer. I have had the exact same thing happen to me. Some people just need to tone it down. If you want to be THAT competitive, join a real league. Don't take that stuff on the ODR, or in a div 4 coed league. You ruin it for everyone.

Getting Bigger

There are many different ways individuals would pursue getting "bigger" when it comes to their physical stature. Either a person is looking to gain weight in general, or plan on gaining "clean" weight. When talking about "clean" weight you are looking to just gain muscle and focus on staying lean (or leanish). For each of these, it is the same process to losing weight/toning.

You need to have some sort of motivation and personal drive to be able to push yourself to get the gains you are looking for. Some people are able to look at pictures to help them get motivation, or other people need some sort of music to push them one step forward.  Each person is different and their need for motivation is found in a whole new way. A pre-workout supplement is a very good thing to help increase alertness/motivation as your body is full of energy and raring to go. A few examples of pre-workout supplements are; Superpump max, Nitric Impact, N.O. Xplode.

Obviously working out/training is extremely important when it comes to gaining weight/getting bigger, but no matter how hard you kill yourself at the gym your body will need a proper diet/nutrition to repair itself. Your body is very use to routine, and needs to have large calorie intake to help gain weight and build muscle. This needs to be proper types of "clean food." An example of a days diet would be;

Meal 1 -   2 Scoops Protein Powder
Meal 2 -   1  1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
       2 scoop protein
       8 egg whites

Meal 3 -   12oz Chicken or 14 oz tuna
       2 cups yams or 2 2/3 cup rice or 10 oz potato
      12 oz carrots or 16 oz green beans or 16 oz cauliflower

Meal 4 -   2 scoops weight gainer. (Such as Mutant Mass, or Quick Mass)

Meal 5 -   12 oz chicken or 13 oz bison or 2 scoops protein powder
               4 cups carrots(8oz) or 8 cups cucumber
               2 cup of yams or 2 2/3 cup rice or 10oz potato

Meal 6 -   12 oz chicken or 13 oz bison or 2 scoops protein powder
               4 cups carrots(8oz) or 8 cups cucumber
               2 cup of yams or 2 2/3 cup rice or 10oz potato
Diet courtesy of Naturally Fit South Calgary. 

Now onto the working out part. Hard muscle mass has bee scientifically proven to be gained during sets that consist of 6-8 reps. Although there are different workouts like 5 sets by 5 reps which still do wonders when gaining muscle/getting stronger. Personally speaking on my bulking stages I do 4-6 sets of 6-8 reps hoping to fail around 6 rep mark and fight through the next few. I take a 1 minute break between sets, unless when super-setting exercises (doing one exercise, proceeded with one directly after before taking a break), then I will take a 1.5 minute break. Each muscle group should receive a minimum of 16 sets of work, I usually do 5 exercises per body group per day. Chest day for example would be; Bench press, Incline dumbbell press super-set with incline pec flyes, Decline Barbell press then finally Under cable cross (or flat bench flyes). This is an example of a bulking workout for chest.

This is a very basic outline on how to bulk up/gain weight. The next thing that would be able to help an individual to gain weight or size would be workout supplements. There are many different areas of workout supplements that would benefit in this department. First of all is protein shakes (typically taken after workout or as a meal when unable to cook) a few of the top products on the market currently for protein shakes are; Isoflex, Diesel,and Quattro. As stated above in the diet, the next thing would be mass gainers, mutant mass and quick mass are the two most popular items on the market. My next suggestion would be an amino acid product. Amino acids are essential in rebuilding torn muscles as there are apart of the branch chain proteins inside your body. A few amino acid products are; GP3, Sizeon (has creatine and glutamine in it aswell), and finally DNA. Additionally items that consist of straight creatine or glutamine are the next idea of the list to "look" bigger as these supplements typically retain a lot of water weight within the muscle in order to rebuild them.

There's a brief overview of trying to get "jacked." I hope this helps whoever is trying to get bigger!

Weight loss/toning

Everyone has the dream of being able to cut weight, tone up the midsection/body or "tighten" there body. Each person who has these dreams all have the same question, "where do I start?" Here I will try to help getting the starting point and give a brief overview of how to do so.


First point that all people need, and many lack is being able to find the motivation/determination to reach their goals. Coming from a guy who use to be 275 pounds, it was hard to get the motivation to go to the gym or even follow a proper diet plan. I felt terrible about myself with no self-esteem or respect for my body etc. and finally hit a breaking point and needed to feel better about myself. So start off by finding personal motivation to reach your goals, even to this day I look at one old picture of myself to make myself stay motivated in reaching my goals (now my goal is to get bigger).

This is me with my former football coach, I felt awful about myself and look back on this picture as motivation to make myself work harder. Using a picture that your not particularly fond of can really give you a smack on the back to make a change. Don't be afraid to take a before and after picture as well as pictures along the way to see your results.

Second part that every person needs to aid in weight loss is a proper diet/meal plan. As explain in a previous  blog I discussed how the key is many small meals to help manipulate the metabolism and boost your metabolism as well. An example of a day's meal plan would be;
Meal 1, 6 Whole Omega-3 eggs
Meal 2, 8oz chicken with 1/2 cup raw almonds
Meal 3, 50g whey protein with 2 tablespoons all natural peanut butter
Meal 4, 8oz salmon with 1 cup asparagus with 1 tablespoon macadamia nut oil
Meal 5, 50 g whey protein with 2 tablespoon Peanut Butter
Meal 6, 6 whole eggs
You can substitute any meal for another meal, all are interchangeable. Each meal should be high in protein, low in fat (lean meats/foods) as well as low carbohydrates. Add as many vegetables into each meal as you would like. 


Additionally you could add different supplements into the equation to help speed up the process. Many weight loss pills like F-10 (Advanced genetics), Rapid Cuts (All max nutrition), and Ripped freak (pharma freak) are a few of the hottest products on the market currently. CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid) is a naturally found substance in your body that has the ability to help aid in weight loss by reducing the absorption of fat digesting in fat cells., people have the ability to  purchase these in pill form. R-ALA (Alpha Lipioc Acid) is an antioxidant that helps to prevent the gain of fat. Finally ephedrine is a highly potent supplement that can be extremely helpful in weight loss and is very cheap as well.


Thirdly, you need a proper workout regiment to help aid in weight loss. Circuits are the best thing to do to shred calories as well as fat. Most important though is cardio (Bike, treadmill, stepper machine, elliptical, or rowing machine), or even activities like running, skipping rope, swimming or just being active playing your favorite sports. For working out at the gym, the best thing to do is 20 minutes of cardio to workout to get your body temperature up to help shred calories. Followed by a circuit for the body part, or 4 exercises per body part with 4 set of 20 reps. Personal favorite though is a circuit, 4 exercises or more in a row with a minute break after completion of each exercises. Do 4 sets of 15-20 reps with a 1.5 minute break. For chest  as an example, I did, flat dumbbell bench press, flat dumbbell pec flyes, incline dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell pec flyes, then push-ups. These would be done consecutively. Example of core workout would be, crunches, sit ups, leg raises, double crunches, twisting v-sits, oblique crunches. 4 sets of 12-15 reps done consecutively. Finally finish off the work out by doing another 20-30 minutes of vigorous activity/cardiovascular activity to help burn fat from the body parts you just worked on.


Hopefully this can help people out, its a brief explanation/advice of weight loss, any further questions I am willing to help. Additional Information on weight loss can be found here.

Street Hockey, You're Never Too Old.

Who's ever played street hockey when growing up?  Who still does?  I know I have and still do.  Most people think that it is childish but is an inexpensive alternative to joining a summer ice hockey league or renting ice time.  To have a successful game of street hockey, the equipment is much cheaper and any person at any skill level.

A few years ago, I participated in an annual street hockey tournament hosted by CBC called "Play On!"  My team consisted of players of a variety of ages and skill levels.  The team was formed by myself and longtime friends and neighbors, Gordy Swindells and Michael Swindells.  Our team consisted of approximately eight players and a goalie.  At that time, our oldest player was 19.  All other players ranged from 13 to 18.  Although we only had one player over the age of 18, that forced us to have to play in the 19 and up league.  Even though we were outsized, we all had at least five years of experience playing with each other, if not more.  We ended up placing 16th out of 60 teams.  That was the only time we had participated in a competitive hockey tournament before.

To this year, we still play street hockey.  We have had to confine ourselves to the local tennis courts to save nearby houses and cars from our now much harder shots and more intense style of play.  Personally I think anyone who enjoys hockey and wants to play but want to avoid going into a competitive league should just call their friends and round them up for a game of street hockey.


Honestly, if you're looking for an inexpensive way to play hockey and you want to get off your couch, play street hockey!  One of the best text messages I can receive on my phone during the summer is "road puck?"  You don't have to be the next hockey star in order to play a game of street hockey, and this is what make it so amazing!

The U

I just finished watching a espn E:60 series documentary on the college football program at the University of Miami, in Miami, Florida. For those who don’t really follow college football, the University of Miami has been a football powerhouse for the past number of decades. This documentary follows the schools rise to power.

                When the school first started football their team was predominantly white, and comprised of football players from mostly upper class suburban neighbourhoods, much the same as the demographic of the school.  The school football team was in the gutter and had so much trouble putting fans in the stands that they even once tried promoting tickets for free at burger king, in a buy a burger get a ticket promotion. They had a lot of trouble competing both in games and recruiting battles with the two powerhouses in the state, the University of Florida, and the university of Florida state. The team had countless 1 or 2 win seasons, and it got to the point where the school thought of shutting down the football program.

 However it was decided that the program would be given one more chance under Coach Howard Schnellenberger, a one time assistant for the Miami Dolphins. Upon his arrival at the University of Miami he guaranteed a national championship within 5 years, something that most people believed to be impossible. He went about rebuilding the program by focusing recruiting on a little (at the time) recruited portion of the population, in the African Americans that lived in the local south Florida ghettos. The level of high school play in some of these schools was extremely high, and people would even bet their life savings on some of these games. Paying off players wasn’t uncommon either. This meant that the players that the university of Miami was recruiting were used to high steaks football, and played hard as it was there only opportunity to “make it” in life.

The part of the show though that really shocked and awed me was some of the stuff that these players got away with doing; there are parts of the show where former players talked about benefits that they were given. As most people know the port of Miami is infamous for cocaine smuggling, and the city is known for a large cocaine problem. Players talk about having piles of cocaine worth thousands of dollars at their fingertips, and having school boosters buy them prostitutes and strippers to party with. Since college football players aren’t paid, there is another part of the show where they talk about wearing ski masks and robbing people to have money to buy food. Many of these players went on to be NFL superstars and the University of Miami won many national championships.

Miami WR Michael Irving
Photo retrived from sports.espn.go.com

The documentary was mind blowing to me, to think that people around my age were achieving national stardom playing a college sport, meanwhile receiving so many illicit benefits.

Motivation!

What does it take for you to get motivated?  We're not talking about doing your homework, that's a lost cause.  We're talking about in sports and physical activities (duh!).  What does it take for you to skate as hard as you can, hit a jump you've never hit before or run that extra mile?  What pushes you to run an extra mile?  Motivation in sports is a huge factor.

Some athletes are natural motivated, always wanting to do better.  These athletes will always strive to do their best to see themselves or their team succeed.  This isn't something that can be reflected in all athletes though.  Some need a reason to put in everything they have and more.  So, where do these athletes get their motivation from?

As explained in an article titled "Motivation" found online here, there are two distinct types of motivation.  The two types of motivation are intrinsic and extrinsic.  The first of the two consists of motivation which comes from a source inside the performer.  The athlete will set their own goals and be motivated by their own desires to succeed.  The second is motivation caused by a source from outside the performer.  This consists of tangible rewards, such as trophies and medals.  It also consists of intangible rewards, such as recognition.

Being motivated is an essential factor in competition.  If two equally skilled athletes were competing, the more motivated one would likely win in most competitions.  This is also true on a team basis.  So, fellow athletes and performers, where do you get your motivation from?

Kipper no more?

Hello again, fellow sports enthusiasts.  This post is about a rumor that has been floating around about the Calgary Flames, but has recently sparked.  The rumor is that likely, veteran goaltender and fan favorite Miikka Kiprusoff, is likely on his way out of Calgary this summer.  Flames fans and hockey fans alike have been constantly analyzing what would become of the 35 year old goalie.  Although no one from the Flames organization has spoken out, there is sure to be talk involving Kiprusoff, more commonly referred to as "Kipper". 

So, what would be the reason behind these rumors you may ask?  Well there are plenty of factors that contribute.  The first would be the contract that Kipper has with the Flames.  On his contract he has a no-trade clause that expires this July.  That means at the end of this season, the Flames will be able to trade him without his consent. 

Another factor was the recent trade involving Mike Cammalleri.  You may be asking, "Ryan, what does the swapping of Bourque and Cammalleri have to do with Kipper's fate in Calgary?"  Good question and I'm glad you asked.  Within the depths of that trade between Montreal and Calgary, the Flames also acquired a young goaltender currently playing in the KHL.  Karri Ramo, currently playing for the Omsk Avangard of the KHL, is posting better numbers than all three Flames goalies that have seen ice time this season (Karri Ramo's statistics).  He has been ranked one of the top goalies in Europe currently and could find himself in a Flames uniform as early as next season.  We also have two other young goalies, injured Henrik Karlsson and call-up Leland Irving battling for a spot on the Flames roster.

So now that we know the Flames has an abundance of goaltenders that are willing to take a shot at the number one spot, is it the best idea to ship Kipper out now or should we give hima few more shots with us to carry is to the playoffs?  The answer is, he has to go as soon as possible.  It hurts me to see a great goaltender leave but the longer he stays in Calgary the more his trade value decreases.  Hopefully we can trade him to a team attempting to make a push for the Stanley Cup and receive some draft picks in return.

Kipper has had plenty of amazing seasons in Calgary, including a stellar run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004.  He will be missed by Flames fans and never forgotten.  It's not often that a goalie can come into a struggling hockey club and completely change the clubs success.  Kipper has been the face of Calgary's goal tending since 2004 and it will be hard for many to see that change.

Here's a photo of Miikka Kiprusoff by Dinur Blum.

How You Can Kickbox Your Way To Fit

Kick boxing is a fast growing popular workout that is becoming quite popular. Kick boxing dates back to Asia about 2000 years ago, while modern kick boxing sarted in the 1970`s. One of the most popular types of kickboxing is known as aerobic or cardiovascualr kick boxing, this reults in complete physical conditioning and toning. The toning and benefits come from the intense workout of kicking and punching. To see best reults repitition is always key.

Many celebrities take up kickboxing to keep up their A- list bods, Victoria Secret models in particular take up kick boxing models Lily Aldridge, and Miranda Kerr have added kickboxing to their workout routine. So as we can see that anyone who watched the Victoria Secret Fashion show can see that obviously kick boxing is working out quite well for them.

Kick boxing has several health benefits such as great cardio benefits because it gets your heart pumping and your blood flowing. Kick boxing also promotes healthy lungs and practitioners have also reported mental clarity.

Including health benefits kickboxing does have some physical benefits such as
- muscle toning
-weight loss
-increased flexibility

So now that you now the benefits get off your couch and get out there and go kick some butt, there are tons of kick boxing places available in Calgary.
   

The New Chief

Since the decision of Colin Campbell to step down as the NHL’s chief disciplinarian on June 1, 2011, Brendan Shanahan has taken over and has made it clear to the league his intentions. Shanahan has led the way in determining the length and severity of suspensions, assessing fines and also letting teams know what behavior is not subject to supplementary discipline.

After 34 suspensions totaling 113 games on hits, illegal checks to the head, boarding, illegal high sticks and leaving the bench for altercations, Shanahan is starting to think players are noticing and becoming smarter with their decisions. He also predicts players will adjust to these new rules changes to boarding and illegal hits to the head (which is explained here) like they did with serious stick fouls that are now gone from the game.

I think Shanahan has a steep learning curve to deal with and balancing the suspensions on hits while trying to  preserve hockey's physicality. Shanahan believes the only hits that will be missing are the illegal ones and I think  Shanahan is a prime candidate for this position since playing in the league and going through the many changes that have occurred over the decade and  simultaneously evolving with them as a player. 

A list of all the suspensions can be viewed here

The Stanley Cup is Almost Here !

It`s almost that time again where we as Canadians get to cheer on our beloved sport and our favorite team. the Stanley Cup Playoffs are just around the corner. On the 15th of April we can officially go crazy for our favorite team and hope and prey that our team wins the Cup, this will almost always bring out the most competitive sides in us. Being a Boston Bruins fan i really really hope that they can manage to get a second Stanley Cup under their belts. For me personally my favorite part of the playoffs is that last final game, all the losers have gone home and it`s come down to two teams and they duke it out for the cup. i think the best is if your hanging out with family or friends and half cheer for one team and the other half for the other, I just love how competitive and worked up people get! Like whenever we go to my Aunt`s house my cousin`s boyfriend get so worked up whenever Chicago plays that he screams and swears and eveything its hilarious. One of my other favorite things about Playoff season is the playoff beards i love when the players just toss their razors to the wind, also i feel bad for the poor young boys who cant grow playoff beards (i.e Sidney Crosby) but i just love the whole atmospehere of playoff season and how it gives everyone a chance to show how truly devoted they are to their team. Playoff season is just around the corner so get your jersey all cleaned up and hopefully there wont be any rioting this time!

Underwater Hockey

It’s seems that hockey is a popular blogging topic, so I decided to tackle the same subject but with a little twist. Hockey is typically played on ice skates, roller blades or just with your runners. Believe it or not, it’s also being played in swimming pools 6 to 10 feet deep.

 Underwater hockey, originally called “Octopush”, was invented by Alan Blake in 1954 as a way to develop underwater skills for professional divers. It started out as a small league in England but in this day and age the sport is internationally recognized and seen across 20 countries on 6 different continents (including Canada). There are national tournaments held in Canada and the USA, as well as international competitions such as the CMAS Elite Underwater Hockey World Championships. It has many similarities to regular ground hockey but is also distinctive in its own way.

(Photo retrieved from wikipedia)

The game is played like traditional ice hockey with the exception of being played under water with minimal oxygen intake during play. No oxygen tanks are ever used. Rather one must hold his breath under water for as long as he can, then swim back up to the surface to breathe and back down he goes. The only equipment necessary includes a hockey stick, a cap with ear protection, a protective glove, a mouth guard, a mask, a snorkel, flippers and of course a bathing suit. Although the bathing suit is not mandatory, it’s strongly recommended, especially from your opponents. The hockey stick resembles more of a shuffleboard stick than it does a traditional hockey stick. Unlike ice hockey, underwater hockey is a non-contact co-ed sport meaning you can’t try to purposely drown your opponent, grab his mask, jab him in the ribs and pull his bathing suit off!

I’ve actually played underwater hockey a few times and I found it to be really fun and exciting. Some online videos might make it seem hard and put you off, but in reality it’s really enjoyable. I will admit that it is quite tiring but if you’re looking for a good and entertaining cardio workout, give it a try!

Get Your Water On !

We need roughly about eight glasses of water each day, especially if you are working out. Water is the best thing you can drink period, it hydrates you without any added sugar like pop and juices. I would just like to talk about some of the important health benefits of water. Let`s not get ahead of ourselves though first we should talk about how water functions within the body; the human body is made of roughly 55% to 78% water. The website im getting this info from shows a good diagram so if you want to see more than click the hyperlink. In the diagram it says that just from drinking water our organs can abosrb nutrients much more efficiently, as well as protecting and moisturizing your joints which when you work out can be a great thing to know !

Water can do wonders for your body and you should drink as much of it as you can, just by drinking water you can get rid of headaches or migraines. Headaches and migraines happen because your body is not getting enough water making your brain dehydrated, so forget your advil and reach for a big glass of H20. When you get a sufficient amount of water you can improve many conditions such as diabetes, heartburn, immune diseases and depression. Water also helps your kidneys big time in flushing out toxins from food or even perscription pills. One of the big rewards of drinking alot of water is the huge role it plays in fat metabolism which means simply that when your kidneys are hydrated they can do their job in burning fat which is always a plus ! Because of this people who are lean or fit have more water in their bodies because muscle holds more water than fat.

Without the proper amount of water ourr bodies become dehydrated and can have some serious health effects such as:
- excessive thirst
- dry mouth
-fatigue
- muscle weakness
- dizziness
- lightheadedness

From the list above water is onviously a good choice ! without water our bodies would inevitably shut down and we would die. we need water for so many different things like helps us maintain our bodies pH, as well as water in the blood helps to transport the oxygen we breath to all our organs (kind of a big deal) as well as dissolving toxins and helping them to get flushed out keeping us healthy. so for the obvious reasons ive given you please feel free to GET YOUR WATER ON !

Fans Who Go Too Far

With every sport comes fans who are passionate about the game and its players. The best part about going to a Flames game as opposed to watching it on TV, is the atmosphere that is created. Seeing everyone wearing red and cheering loudly demonstrates Calgary's commitment to our team. Lucky we haven't been a part of any remotely dangerous riots. Calgary's place in the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs brought upon the Red Mile that mainly involved nudity; relatively harmless compared to what other places around the world do to show their compassion.

Just today a soccer match in Egypt resulted in the death of 74 fans, and hundreds of others injured. Fans of the 'away' team became violent towards the 'home' team creating absolute chaos. Rocks, sticks, bottles and fireworks were being thrown amongst the crowd and the eventual burning of the bleachers was what caused most of the injuries. The lack of security and superiority police have over their citizens in these "2nd world" countries is what leads to violent outrages. 

This being said, the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riots resulted in many injuries and crime. After Boston beat Vancouver in game seven, angry fans began setting cars on fire and vandalizing the streets. Luckily most of the people involved in the riot were arrested, or turned themselves in after their faces were posted in pictures on the internet. 

A social psychologist monitored the events resulting from Vancouver's loss and seemed to have some understanding for the reasoning behind it. A loss for your team can feel like an attack on your identity, since we are so supportive of them. We feel a sense of community as fans and a loss can be taken more personally for some. More often the riots that occur in the world happen in places like Egypt simply because it's how that country expresses its passion. The riots associated with sports in Egypt are alike the riots they have over politics.

I still don't really know why people feel the need to act violently in response to the score of a game. At the end of the day, acting out isn't going to change the numbers on the scoreboard. 

Ever had the feeling that no matter how long or hard you work out for you cant get any bigger or stronger? Its most likely because you have hit a muscle building plateau. This generally occurs because muscles don’t have the time to recover completely from a workout, and sometimes a plateau can even lead to a loss in strength and muscle mass. Recovery is the ultimate goal of every athlete, weather its between workouts, sets, reps, plays or shifts, the faster and easier your body is able to recover the more you will gain, the more results you will see and the better you will perform.  To break through plateaus there are many different ideologies and methodologies that people believe to be true, and depending on your metabolism and body’s anabolic capacity some may work better for you than others will.

                A workout buddy of mine, whom plays college football at a US Div-1 school advised me that when I reached a plateau I should simply take a few weeks off working out, or more specifically for muscle building, take a few weeks off lifting. He said some light cardio was fine, and that it might help my body to maintain its current muscle mass, while giving my muscles ample time to recover from all the previous damage and stress that was put on them. He said that this is for sure the best thing for athletes who are just coming off their season/post-season to do. Take two weeks off rest, and then go back hard in the weight room.

Photo property of Marshall Brady

                Another method that i have heard to work is taking a whole plethora of vitamins (zinc, multi, D,C,E,b-12,magnesium, omega-369). Your body needs sufficient nutrients to aid in the recovery of muscular tissue after a workout and by taking vitamins it will help to supply those nutrients to your muscles thus speeding recovery and helping you body to see constant gains. For those who don’t have to pass a drug test, don’t care about the health side effects, and have a plug who can get them illegal steroids, “the juice” basically just supercharges the recovery process by upping testosterone, the hormone responsible for recovery.

                The last and possibly most effective method is simply just changing up your workout routine, whether it be moving from barbell bench-press to dumbbell bench-press, or from bicep curls to chin-ups. This can stimulate your muscles by changing up the range of motion used to something that your body is less accustomed to. There’s hundreds of books out there, combined with some great online resources that can be used as well, such as bodybuilding.com.  There are also many machines and workouts that can be done to stimulate multiple muscle groups in new ways such as TRX bands.

                Now that your armed with this information, it’s about time that you get off your computer and break through that plateau yourself. Happy workouts!

They Key to Stretching

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Stretching is important to bringing mobility and flexibility to your muscles.  It allows quicker recovery by helping metabolize by products and reduces the risk of injury over time. It also helps with tighter hamstrings, bad posture and rounded shoulders.

We have always been told to stretch before playing sports and exercising usually by static stretching, which occurs by bending over to touch your toes and hold the position until it feels uncomfortable. However recent studies from Hokkaido University have realized that many people couldn't jump as high or run as fast as they could before they stretched. Static stretching appeared to cause the nervous system to react and tighten the stretched muscle which is not ideal prior to resistance training or activities that require wide range of motion. Researchers have however found static stretching is usually the best post exercise and reduces the risk of injuries.

Since static stretching seems to be non-beneficial pre-exercising, another way is to do dynamic stretches that use movements to take a muscle through its full range of motion. When performed correctly, dynamic stretching warms up the joints, maintains current flexibility and reduces muscle tension. This method of stretching is extremely useful for people warming up for an activity that requires wide Range of motion such as athletes especially when speed is involved.

My recommendation is to perform dynamic stretches before a workout and static stretches after the workout. Some examples of static and dynamic stretches can be found below:

Static Stretches

Dynamic Stretches

2014 FIFA World Cup



(Photo Courtesy of Abduzeedo)

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be taking place in Brazil starting on June 12, 2014 to July 13, 2012. It is exactly 862 days away from kick-off! Yes, I say it with enthusiasm because in my opinion it is one of the best and most exciting sporting tournaments in the world along with UEFA’s Champions League and European Cup tournaments which I will most likely be blogging about in the future.

I moved to Canada in September of 1998, which means I able to witness the 1998 FIFA World Cup which took place in France. We (France) won the world cup that year and there are no words to describe the celebrations following the win. Thirteen million people filled the streets of Paris, more centralized in the Champs-Élysées, cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs. The greatest aspect of the win was that it really unified the country. As I can't really explain all the craziness, it was one of my most memorable experiences and I wish to re-live those moments in 2014 in Brazil.

The FIFA World Cup only happens every four years, and if I was given the choice of choosing where I'd like to attend the world cup, it would definitely be Brazil. Why Brazil? I went to Rio de Janeiro last summer and it's probably the best city I've ever been to. It's a beautiful, fun and vibrant city filled with welcoming people. Secondly, Brazil has one of the best soccer teams in the world hands down. Although I would like France to win, I'd like to see Brazil take it if my team doesn't! I can only start to imagine the celebrations there; Brazilian style which would be loud and rowdy. Soccer is almost like a religion there, so you can imagine how excited the whole country is about hosting the world cup. It will also be Brazil's second time hosting it since their last time in 1950. Brazil last won the world cup in 2002 after being the runners-up to France in 1998. They have already 5 world cup titles to their name and will be looking to make 6 at home. Rio has one of the biggest and most famous soccer stadiums in the world,  the Maracanã, which has a seating capacity of 83,000 but can hold up to a maximum of 120,000 when completely full.

I started saving money for my trip to attend the 2014 FIFA World Cup about a year ago as this is an event that will not come cheap. It will be a costly but a worthy experience and there's absolutely no way that I won't be going. For me, this will be a trip of a lifetime and I'm really looking forward to it, but in the meanwhile I'll keep myself busy with the annual Champion's League tournament and this year's Euro 2012 which is set to start this June.

Ban Boxing due to Head Injuries?

Boxing has always been one of the greatest sports to be watch in and out of the ring. But a lot of people don’t realize the repercussions that occur to these prized fighters. Cuts and bruises are the most common boxing injuries and usually require boxers needing stitches. Body blows can lead to broken ribs and internal bleeding, but the most serious are head injuries, which have led to controversial debates.

Boxers have become stronger and harder hitting then before which have led to some significant brain injuries. While other injuries repair relatively easily, brain tissue remains damaged once damaged. The symptoms of such brain damage include slurred speech, slow reactions and even occasional blackouts. These symptoms may not occur immediately and can take about 16 years after taking up boxing to 40 years after the boxer has retired from the sport. Some of these symptoms can be seen in many retired boxers such as Evander Holyfield and Muhammad Ali (but can also be related to developing Parkinson disease).

The American and British Medical Association have called for ban on boxing, citing statistics of brain damage in professional boxers. They have also suggested using head guards or having shorter rounds but I think this would completely ruin boxing especially in the heavy weight divisions where TKO’s are abundant.

Head injuries have become a controversial topic in boxing that have caused deaths and serious brain damages to few boxers. A lot of these have been in the heavyweight categories with minimal occurrences in the lower weight divisions. I think a lot of boxers realize the future implications that may occur to them and if they still decide to fight, it should be allowed regardless of what may occur in the future.

The Economic Effects of the Superbowl

As most of the North American population knows we are fast approaching the biggest sporting weekend of the year with the Super bowl coming this Sunday. Though many people are extremely excited for the game and turn to websites like sports illustrated for round the clock coverage of the team that they are cheering for(or against). The luck few that managed to snag a ticket to the game, are most likely preparing to fly to Indianapolis. For all the excitement of the game few would be surprised to know the economic factors that accompany it for the better and the worse.

                To give you the bad news first due to all the hype around the game, and the time that people dedicate to following it, business in the US alone lose close to $850 million in the week leading up to the game due to lost worker productivity. Much of this is due to people standing around the water cooler chatting instead of working. Much of this lost productivity is also due to workers arranging betting pools, this also has a negative effect if things go bad, or one employee fails to pay up, as it can kill company culture. The day after the Super bowl is a whole different story, companies lose a ridiculous 350 million due in part to everyone having to give their own recap of the events that happened in the game, and an estimated 1.5 million people phoning in “sick”. This has even led a group to create a petition to designate the Monday after the big game a national holiday. (see www.superbowlmonday.com)

                Now onto the good, especially if you are the host city. The super bowl can bring an economic stimulus of $500 million dollars to the host city, which includes on average spending of $1,500 per tourist not including their game day ticket.  During a recession this cant be looked at as bad for local economies. Nationwide spending is also stimulated in the restaurant, retail, and grocery industries, as people load up on booze and food for at home super bowl parties, or decide to head out to the local tavern to enjoy the festivities with their friends. Jersey and apparel sales also increase at sporting goods and specialty stores during the lead up to the game.  Super bowl advertisement which is a whole different discussion in its own is also a great way for companies to get their name out there and increase their brand visibility, along with sales, even though it does come with a hefty price tag.

                To conclude, the super bowl has both good and bad economic effects, but it should be one hell of a game. Go Patriots!

Photo Courtsey of TheCount.com