Saturday, December 19, 2009

Beach Interval Workout

The Workout

1: Jump-Run-Jump
Draw a line in the sand. This will be your start position. Then draw another line in the sand anywhere from 2 ½ ‘ to 3 ½ ‘ from your starting line. After about 10 to 20 yards (your choice), draw two more lines in the sand (same distance apart), then after another 15 to 20 yards, draw two more lines in the sand. This will be your course for Jump-Run-Jump. Leap/Jump over the first two lines. Sprint to the middle two lines, leap over those then sprint to the last two leap/jump over those, turn and repeat, back and forth for one minute. As you get stronger, challenge yourself to go beyond the 60 seconds. Try 90 seconds or a full two minutes.

2: Suicide Drills
Using your Jump-Run-Jump course, start low with your left hand on the starting line. Sprint to the center of the course and touch one of the two centerlines with your right hand (doesn’t matter). Then back to the original starting line again. Reach down with left hand. Now sprint all the way to the end of the course reaching with your right hand once you arrive, and back to the center again, reaching with your left. The idea here is to go back and forth between shorter sprints and slightly longer sprints. Something like this…start to center, center to start, start to finish, finish to middle, middle to finish, finish to start. One minute, ninety seconds or two minutes.

3: Circle Run
Draw a large circle in the center of your course. Approximately 40 ‘ in diameter Make sure to make four corners with a stone or cone or driftwood because these are your stop, turn and go points. Also, keep in mind you will be running forwards and backwards. You will have to be creative. The pitch of the beach also added an additional challenge. You can run a full circle forwards or backwards, half or quarter. One minute to two minutes.

5: Hook & Go
This is a simple route that a wide receiver on a football team would run. From the start line, sprint 10 yards - stop and turn inward or outward (practice both) then sprint to the other end of the course. Practice looking back towards the start line at the end of your final sprint to the fictitious goal line. You can gently jog or even walk back to the start line and repeat this 3 to 5 times.

6: Defensive Back Route
In this drill you are taking on the role of covering an offensive player running a hook and go route. So this time you will be running backwards for 10 yards then turning and running to the opposite end of the course. Walk or slowly jog back and repeat 3 to 5 times.

7: Zig Zag (Out & In)
Place stones/cones or any marker that won’t twist an ankle or hurt your feet if you step on it accidentally in a zigzag pattern from one end of the course to the other. 5 to 6 markers from end to end. Play with the distance between cones. Some short, some longer.

8: Go-Stop-Turn-Go
With this drill it is best to have a partner barking commands. When they say go, you go. When they say stop, you stop. When they say turn and come back, you turn and come back. Kind of like “Simon Says” intervals. You can use the markers on the course or add new ones for start and finish points.

9: Cross Drill
This is a great routine done on a grade because it adds an additional challenge to this routine. With a stick or your foot make a giant X in the sand. Each line in the X anywhere from 20 to 30 yards. Put cones/markers at the tip of all four ends of the X. These are your finish points before you head back in to the center of the X. The center is considered your safe zone or break spot before your partner sends you off in one of four directions: sideways, forwards or backwards.

10: Box Drill
The Box Drill is similar to the cross drill. To set up your course just make straight lines from each outer corner of the X. That is your square. The corners are now your pause points in the drill. As with many of the other drills you have forward, backward and sideway options. An additional element when moving sideways is facing inward or outward in the box as you move from corner to corner.

Enjoy!

From The DailyOM ~ Finding Balance

Earthbound
The Pursuit of Conscious Wholeness

Striking the right balance between our physical and spiritual aspects is one
of the most challenging aspects of existence. We are dual beings by nature,
spiritual entities bound to earth by physical bodies. In our lifetimes, we
are charged with the duty of nurturing and tending both with equal devotion
and love. Yet while both aspects of the self are deserving of honor and
respect, there is a tendency for people who are more spiritually focused to
ignore, avoid, or dismiss their bodies. Similarly, many individuals are
entirely ensconced in the carnal realm and pay no attention to the needs of
the soul. In both cases, an adjustment is in order. We are whole only to the
degree that we embrace both sides of our beings.

If the soul is the inward manifestation of our consciousness, the body is
the living, breathing expression of that consciousness. The physical self
provides the home in which the spiritual self takes root and flourishes.
Just as we must tend to the seed of the soul to ensure that it grows strong,
so, too, must we care for the protective shell that is the body to make
certain it is capable of playing its role in our development. Though there
will no doubt be times in our lives when we feel more comfortable focusing
on the spiritual self or the physical self, denying the fundamental
importance of one or the other can lead to ill health, emotional distress,
and a sense of incompleteness. Both facets of the human experience play a
vital role in our well-being.

The body and the soul are the yin and yang of our current reality. They are,
at this point of human evolution, irreparably bound together, and many
spiritual teachers agree that the body is one of the greatest vehicles
through which to access the soul. In fact, many believe that our spirit has
chosen to be embodied as an essential part of our spiritual development.
Consequently, it is the responsibility of each person on the planet to forge
a marriage between the two, so that these disparate aspects bring out the
best in each other, creating a vibrant, dynamic, and workable whole.

Friday, December 18, 2009

More Bad News

Reuters) - Cardiovascular disease and stroke will cost the United States an estimated $503.2 billion in 2010, an increase of nearly 6 percent, and many cases could have been prevented, the American Heart Association said on Thursday.

HEALTH

The figure includes both health care costs and lost productivity due to death and disease, according to an update published online in the journal Circulation.

The heart association says obesity and other risk factors, like too little exercise and poor diet, are fueling the expected increase in health care costs associated with heart disease and stroke.

"Current statistical data show Americans to be on average overweight, physically inactive and eating a diet that is too high in calories, sodium, fat and sugar," said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, head of the American Heart Association Statistics Committee.

Lloyd-Jones, a cardiologist at Northwestern University in Chicago, said too many people do not take cholesterol-lowering medicines that could lower their risk.

"One reason it will cost us more to treat tomorrow's patients is because there will be more of them if current trends continue," Lloyd-Jones said in a statement.

According to the heart association, 59 percent of adults who responded to a 2008 national survey described themselves as physically inactive.

The report also says fewer than half of people with heart disease symptoms are receiving cholesterol-lowering drugs, like statins.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of men and women in the United States and in most industrialized countries. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes accounted for 32 percent of all deaths globally in 2005.

The heart association said the number of inpatient cardiovascular operations and procedures jumped 33 percent from 1996 to 2006, from 5.4 million to 7.2 million.

By 2020, the American Heart Association hopes to reduce U.S. deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent.

"To reach the 2020 goals, Americans must start making healthier lifestyle choices," Lloyd-Jones said.

(Editing by Maggie Fox)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Fat Planet

Studies Show Obesity Taking Hold In Africa And UK

15 Dec 2009 00:01:09 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Cheap, poor quality food driving up African obesity levels
* Second study predicts one in 10 English kids obese by 2015
* Researchers say poor and ill-educated most at risk

By Kate Kelland
LONDON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Obesity is becoming more common among poor city dwellers in Africa because of easier access to cheap, high fat, high sugar foods, scientists said on Tuesday.
Researchers looking at data from seven African countries found the number of people overweight or obese increased by nearly 35 percent between the early 1990s and early 2000s and the rate of increase in obesity was higher among poor people.
"Given the chronic nature of most diseases associated with obesity and by extension the huge cost of treatment, the prospects look grim for the already under-funded and ill-equipped African health care systems unless urgent action is taken," said Abdhalah Ziraba, who worked on the research with the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi.
The study, published in the BioMed Central Public Health journal, found that while rich people in urban areas of Africa were more likely to be overweight or obese than others, the rate of increase in obesity was higher among the poor.
The data chimes with findings from the World Health Organisation, which said in October that being overweight has now overtaken being underweight among the world's leading causes of death.
"Despite being the least urbanised continent, Africa's population is becoming increasingly urban and its cities are growing at unprecedented rates," Ziraba said in the study.
"In spite of rampant poverty in urban areas, access to cheap foods with a high content of fat and sugar is commonplace."
Obesity levels are rising across the world and threatening to overwhelm health care systems and government health budgets with the costs of handling the high number of cases of diabetes, heart disease and cancer that being overweight can cause.
The number of people with diabetes -- one of the major chronic diseases caused by excess weight -- is already reaching epidemic levels, with an estimated 180 million people suffering from it around the world.
A second study published on Tuesday focussing on the problem in England found one in 10 children there will be obese by 2015, with the poorest at far greater risk than the rich.
Researchers said the gap between the most and least well off sectors of society was set to widen, with more children from poor and less educated households caught in the obesity trap.
"If trends continue as they have been between 1995 and 2007 in 2015 the number and prevalence of obese young people is projected to increase dramatically, and these increases will affect lower social classes to a larger extent," Emmanuel Stamatakis, of the epidemiology and public health department of University College London said in the study.
Stamatakis and fellow researchers looked at obesity trends in England from 1995 to 2007 in children and young people and then predicted obesity levels in 2015.
Obesity among all boys aged 2 to 10 in 2015 was forecast at 10.1 percent, but the worse case scenario could see a prevalence of 13.5 percent. Among girls the figures were 8.9 percent and 9.3 percent respectively, the researchers said in their study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
For comparison, in the United States, which has a severe obesity problem, more than 26 percent of Americans are obese and nearly a third rated as overweight. (Editing by Matthew Jones)

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Calling all Military Personnel!

I'm DC bound to train elected officials and lead a monster class at Andrews Air Force Base. I want a handful of before and after photos from members of the U.S. Military. I need them to convince Washington that P90X keeps people in uniform fit and ready. I'm also trying to convince the DOD to distribute P90X as Standard Issue for all military personnel. Send those photos ASAP!