Recent Articles
Preparing Your Body for Extreme Sports
Sometimes just taking a jog isn’t enough to get your adrenaline flowing. Luckily for you if you’re looking for something more exciting, there is a bevy of extreme sports that will have your heart racing in no time. Just keep in mind these types of sports are not for the faint of heart. And they aren’t just for people who want to try something new either. In many cases, extremes sports require a certain degree of training in order to prepare properly. Some of them also involve equipment that can be dangerous if not used to the right way. In short, there are many benefits to participating in extreme sports – but your body has to be ready for the challenge.
It doesn’t matter if you’re motocrossing across the countryside or racing a snowmobiles across a frozen plain. Almost any sport that falls under the category of “extreme” can take an incredible toll on your body. So it’s not just good enough to be reasonably fit. You have to think about potential consequences if you get injured. Your first step is obviously to learn about safety equipment involved as your chosen sport. But even more than that, it’s essential that you get your body in the right shape.
Unlike going for a swim or a simple hike in the countryside, extremes sports aren’t just about relieving stress. In fact, they can actually be quite stressful when you’re engaged in them. You have to have your mind fully into the action and conscious at every moment. But in order to do this, you need your body to be able to react in any type of circumstance. Cardiovascular training involves getting your body prepared for any increased heart rate. There’s no doubt that your heart will be racing whenever you’re engaged in any type of extreme sport. If you don’t have a good level of cardiovascular fitness, you can lose your breath in the middle of the action and that can spell disaster.
A good way to get your cardio levels up is to do some simple jogging or working out on exercise machine. An elliptical trainer is the perfect tool to use at home or in a professional gym. If you haven’t worked out in quite a while, you want to take it slow and build up your endurance levels. If you find aches and pains are a problem then invest in a good personal foot massager that you can use at home. You can give your body the occasional massage to prevent your muscles from seizing upon you.
Weight training is also essential if you’re going to engage in extreme sports because muscle mass is important. You’ll need to maintain proper posture in addition to having a solid core to work from. You’re not going to build yourself up like a bodybuilder, but crunches and push-ups will be an important part of your routine. When you find yourself able to take on more types of activities, that’s when you can try new things that will extend your boundaries even more. But without good cardiovascular training and an adequate amount of muscle mass, you’re not going to get very far. So start training today and in a few months you’ll be ready to tackle any extreme sport you desire.
Is it okay to run with headphones outdoors?
Lately there has been a lot of debate on whether runners should be using headphones when running outdoors, especially near traffic.
There have been multiple studies that have shown an increase in the number of incidents with pedestrians wearing headphones, which has only fueled the fire for some members of the running community. In the past there has been such heated discussion that multiple running events have actually banned headphones during the event. So, the question becomes is it okay to run with headphones outdoors?
Well, we think it is more than okay.
Multiple studies confirm that listening to music while working out increases focus and reduces stress levels. The root problem isn’t the headphones it’s the runner. The runner needs to be aware of their surroundings and if music prevents them from doing that then they shouldn’t run with headphones.
However, we’ve found that many times there is one feature that is preventing awareness: noise cancelling. Whenever you are choosing headphones for running make sure that you do not choose a pair of noise cancelling headphones. Manufacturers like Polk Audio have recognized this and are creating noise isolating headphones which still allow for environmental awareness.
No matter if you’re wearing headphones outdoors or not you should always be aware of your surroundings in order to ensure your safety.
Five Hikes That Will Test Your Endurance
In a world filled with motorcycles, sports cars and private planes, traveling on foot is unimaginable for some. But for those who are used to a life outdoors and trekking through new and unfamiliar surroundings, the fun of walking long distance trails and paths never loses its appeal.
For a hiker, life is generally simple, if you want to go places, you use the most efficient and natural transportation at your disposal: your feet. Facing the warmth of the sun or the view of snow capped mountaintops, hikers find themselves lost in the experience and unaffected by time or other discomforts. While the task can be especially daunting and back breaking, trekkers delight in knowing that with every step, they are in for new adventure.
For city folk, walking for long hours at a time is not always possible, but once you see the beauty and wonder that nature has blessed these trails and paths with, perhaps you would become more obliged to journey ahead on foot.
1. American Discovery Trail
Spanning over 6, 500 miles from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean, the American Discover Trail is just what its name suggests: a trek across America. Spanning 15 states from Delaware to California and traversing through an array of national parks and forests, this footpath ushers in some of the most scenic and majestic views seen anywhere.
If you want to travel from coast to coast, then the American Discovery trail is the perfect destination for you.
2. Appalachian Trail
Running across 2,000 miles worth of trails, the Appalachian Trail is regarded as one of the lengthiest footpath in the world. Traversing through fourteen states along various summits and ridges, this magnificent mountain range path draws more than 3 million visitors each year, and roughly 2,000 are brave enough to trek through it.
3. Arizona Trail
Stretching from the Mexican border all the way through the Utah state line, the Arizona trail allows you to walk from coast to coast. By taking on this path, you get up close and personal with some of the world’s most breathtaking deserts, mountain ranges and local communities, giving you a unique taste of local and natural diversity.
4. Benton MacKaye Trail
More commonly called the BMT, the Benton MacKaye trail passes through Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Straddling 300 miles of hiking ground, the BMT overlaps the Appalachian Trail. Offering a more rustic view of the country side, the BMT is a throwback to the old world.
5. Bruce Trail
Canada’s oldest, longest and most admired hiking path, the Bruce trail runs between Niagara and Tobermory. With over 500 miles in its length, this track of land offers an astonishing view of a string of waterfalls that will leave anyone breathless.
Whether you are an avid hiker or an occasional walker, you will definitely find yourself drawn in by these stunning trails and unbelievable scenescapes.
As a writer for IdealFeet.com, I understand how heel pain can quickly turn a world class hike into a complete disaster. Before hitting the trail make sure that your feet are ready for the job.
Florida Fishing: The Flats
If you’ve never done any Florida fishing on the flats, you don’t know what you’re missing! The Gulf flats are loaded with fish, and the region is blessed with many scenic locations, historical sites, state parks, beautiful beaches, and plenty of restaurants that serve fresh local seafood and traditional southern food. Based on my experience, the best flats fishing is done in the Gulf of Mexico, from Florida’s Big Bend region southward, along with the waters of Tampa Bay. More specifically, my favorite site for flats fishing is off the coast of Port Richey.
This area is called the flats because it’s basically a very shallow area without much dropoff. It’s sort of a flat shelf that’s covered by salt water. Off Port Richey, the bottom is mostly covered with grass, but there are some bare sandy spots, too. There are also buoys, channel markers, mangroves, tiny islands, sand bars, and small islands to fish around. The Port Richey Florida flats are also home to unique structures called stilt houses – houses and shacks that are located out in the water and are supported by wooden pilings. Fishing around the stilt houses can be very productive, as most fish species are attracted to just about any type of structure.
What have we caught while Florida fishing on the flats? We’ve caught spotted seatrout, cobia, redfish, mangrove snapper, tarpon, sharks, and snook. We’ve had good luck with several different baits, but we’ve had the best luck by using live pinfish. Pinfish is a great bait for flats fishing because it’s what the predatory fish are used to hunting and eating. You can see the pinfish almost everywhere in the flats region. Remember – the water here is usually very clear, so it’s easy to see the fish in the water. Sometimes we use a small cast net to catch pinfish to use for bait. At other times, we let the kids catch pinfish on hook and line, using small hooks and small pieces of fresh dead shrimp.
Once you catch a pinfish, hook it through the lips and freeline it over the grass beds with no weight attached. The small fish will swim around with a natural motion, which will attract the larger predator fish.
Preparing for a Hike up Doi Inthanon
Well, it’s that time of year again. My wife and I have just made our annual migration south to Thailand to escape the harsh Mongolian winter, and for the next five months I’ll be locked away in our small studio apartment in Bangkok, staring blankly at a keyboard while my more fortunate wife swims, cycles and generally gets to be a lot more active than me.
It can be a tricky life, writing for a living. My office is my bedroom, and all too many days can pass without any activity beyond falling out of bed and into my chair. After just a few weeks in Bangkok my waistline has already begun its inexorable expansion, and I dread to look at myself in a mirror (good Lord, how I hate those moments when I catch my reflection in a window unexpectedly on the street).
This year, though, I refuse to bow to the calories. Next week we’re going to take a well earned break and head up north to Chiang Mai. We fell in love with the city while living there for four months last year, and while I look forward to seeing my friends there’s something else drawing me back: Doi Inthanon national park.
The park is a hiker’s paradise. Empty of tourists for much of the year; stunningly beautiful for all of it, and packed with hiking trails that take you by awe-inspiring secluded waterfalls. I just can’t wait.
Unfortunately I’m not exactly prepared for the clammy cold at the top of the mountain. Thailand is oppressively hot in most places, but the 8,000 foot peak of Doi Inthanon can be positively bracing a times.
So, yesterday I went shopping. I ignored the laptop and pressures of work to troll around the streets of Bangkok in search of an outdoor supplies shop. A couple of hundred dollars later I’m fully kitted out for a trek up the mountain.
My biggest purchase was my Berghaus Mera Peak, a lightweight GORE-TEX jacket my British friends rave about. I’d never heard of the company, but apparently they’re huge in Europe. I’ve no idea if the jacket is any good (and, for the price I paid, I suspect that mine may be fake), but it looks great and I can’t wait to get out on the mountain in it.
What I’m most excited about, though (if excited is a suitable word), is my new natural mosquito repellent. I tend to have an unpleasant reaction when I use chemical repellent that includes DEET, but it’s all I’ve been able to find so far on the trip. Yesterday I found a weird little herbal store on Sukhumvit that sells natural repellent, and by all accounts it’s pretty effective.
Anyhoo, I’ll be hitting the town tonight, intentionally visiting a bar I know to be swarming with mosquitoes. If I make it home relatively bite free I’ll be ready for the mountain. If not… well, I kinda enjoy scratching anyway.
Fitness Motivation – never my strongest suit
I kind of hate to admit it, but I have spent most of my life as a complete couch potato. You know, one of those guys that would much rather surf the sport channels and watching every available to the sport, it doesn’t really matter what sport, all the way from NHL Super Bowls down to Canadian curling even.
A lifetime such as this completely devoid of any motivation to exercise sort of catches up with you after a few years, especially with both your level of fitness, and sadly the growth of your birth. It wasn’t until they had reached my 40th birthday and did a little reflection on my past as well as some studying of the image in the mirror in front of me, and didn’t like what I was reflecting on nor what I was seeing staring back at me.
Crunch time
The time had come. Sort of like a New Year’s resolution, except my birthday was in July, but irregardless I knew I had to make a change in my life and I had to make up fairly rapidly before something insidious like type II diabetes crept up on me. I knew I had to really work on toning up my body and losing a bunch of weight, but in reality I didn’t know how!
Psychological motivation
That was the missing link! I really was just not very motivated. I knew I didn’t want to spend endless hours of the gym, and a new that I was going to have trouble with a highly restricted diet, especially one that everybody was raving about recently, that being a low carbohydrate/high protein meal plan. There had to be something out there that would be both pleasant to pursue, and have the desired effect of trimming up and slimming down.
Hypnosis CDs to the rescue
A friend introduced me to self hypnosis CDs that were specifically designed for assisting people with a variety of ailments or problems. I found a program that had self hypnosis instruction on subjects such as confidence building, weight loss with hypnosis, quitting smoking to name just a few. These programs were inexpensive and readily accessible online and I decided to try a couple, the urge to exercise program, and the regaining self-confidence program. And a remarkable thing happened…
Was it the tapes or was it the walking?
I lost weight! A slimmed-down and trimmed up! You see the method I used for listening to the CDs was to load them into my iPod and head out and go for a walk. They were kind of relaxing, and very easy to listen to and actually the time flew by. Before you know it I had spent a good our this listing to a session, while at the same time I had expended a whole lot of calories. It took me about a month of listening and walking, and during that time I have found not to step on the scales.
I do believe the urge to exercise program made all the difference in the world as true to its name I found myself eager to come home from work each day and be able to throw on some running shoes and head out for a walk. The more I walked, the better I felt. The more I listened the better I felt. Pretty soon even people around me were commenting on the difference in my physique and more importantly I’m my overall attitude. It appears the building self-confidence program was as effective as the urge to exercise program.
One month later
I look better, I feel better, and I stepped on the scales and found that I had shed almost 20 pounds . Thanks to self hypnosis and a simple exercise program I feel I have turned my life around.
http://youtu.be/VgJKzE6p3Is
Shooting Glasses… or Kiting Glasses?
My girlfriend and I are currently in Beijing, recovering from a rough hangover and preparing for a loooooong train ride down to Hong Kong tomorrow. Life is pretty fun right now, but I’ve got my sights set a couple of months down the line to the beginning of March.
Bangkok.
International Kite Festival.
Booyah.
Kiting has always been pretty big in Mongolia (the home country of my girlfriend, and my home from home) with its clear blue skies and brisk summer winds. We’re both big fans, but the International Kite Festival in Thailand is the mother of all events. Half a million spectators show up each year to watch the contest, and the skies above Bangkok’s parks are full to bursting with kites for weeks around the event.
Now, if you’re a fan of kiting you’ll know that one of the biggest challenges is avoiding the glare of the sun. You need eagle eyes to keep control of your kite, and one false move can bring it crashing to the ground.
While we’re in Beijing, then, I’m battling the hangover to go and pick up a pair of Allen Company shooting glasses. Talk to any kiter and he’ll tell you that you just can’t beat a pair of Rugers with their four sets of interchangeable lenses. The Thai weather is unpredictable, so you can’t just buy any old pair of polarized shooting glasses and hope for the best. You need to prepare for any conditions, so a pair of Rugers would be ideal.
Rugers come with lenses to suit any conditions. The basic yellow lenses are great for overcast conditions (pretty standard in Bangkok), but if the sun is shining you can change the yellows out for black or red, and if you don’t want any tint at all you can switch to the clears.
If you happen to be in Bangkok at the beginning of March you can pop over to the park on the west side of the Rama IX bridge (can’t remember the name right now) and check out my maaaaad kiting skills while wearing the best shooting glasses on the planet.
In order to Enjoy the Outdoors More, Stay Healthy
Enjoying the outdoors is a wonderful way to spend time with your friends and family and even get a bit of exercise. Whether it means jogging, hiking, camping, or fishing, these are all wonderful ways to enjoy the beauty of nature. But it’s important for you to understand that you stay healthy aside from just going outside. There are several ways to stay healthy like eating healthier foods, doing extra workouts and exercises like the TRX training system and simply doing more workout related activities outside.
•How to eat healthy.
The best way to stay healthy is to start eating foods that help keep you fit. The best foods to eat are from Diet To Go. Diet To Go is basically a food delivery company who can help ordinary people like you lose weight quickly just by eating their nutritious food. Everything from vegetarian food to low carb foods, they’re all delivered to you so that you lose the weight you have gained. They’ve been doing this for over 20 years, so you can be sure that they can help you out. Don’t forget to take advantage of their Diet To Go coupon to save money when you buy some of their food.
•Do lots of exercise
When you exercise while being outdoors, then you are definitely getting a huge amount of overall exercise. So, try running with your dog, play tag with your young kids, or even hula hoop. These are all wonderful ways to keep you working out and exercising.
If you love the outdoors, then it’s important for you to know that it’s hard to have fun when you aren’t healthy. The best way to get the most fun is to eat healthy so that you have lots of energy when you go outside. Try eating the food from Diet To Go. They are definitely going to keep you healthy and going.
Cycling in Ulaanbaatar
So, despite the deathly cold of the Mongolian winter we’re heading out tomorrow with the Ulaanbaatar Cycling Club. My girlfriend and I went out a few times last year with the team leader, Naran, a fifty year old Mongolian guy who’s in much better shape than me, and I found it tough going even on cool summer days.
This winter, though, the temperature will be something in the region of -20 degrees Celsius (or stupid degrees Fahrenheit). We’ll be riding out for a few hours in the direction of the Chiggis Khaan statues over near Terelj National park, and out there there really isn’t any protection from the cold if you find yourself in trouble.
The idea is that we’ll call Naran’s son if we hit mechanical trouble or injuries, but when I was out there last summer I noticed that there’s no cell phone reception. I’m not really sure about this, but there’s a bit of peer pressure involved so it looks like I have no choice.
Anyway, since we’ll be out in harsh temperatures I’m gonna have to take the best clothing I have with me. I can’t risk getting out there with sub-standard gear, so I’m taking along my Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket and Mountain Hardwear Men’s Zonal jacket.
The Zonal jacket in particular will be vital. It’s a lightweight puff jacket that allows full range of movement, which is pretty damned important when you’re cycling on icy ground. The last thing you need in that situation is a big, bulky coat. The Nano Puff is a little bigger (the Zonal really isn’t enough insulation against the cold), but it’s still pretty good for range of movement.
Anyway, wish me luck. If I don’t report back by this time tomorrow… well, there’s not much you can do, as Mongolia doesn’t really have any ambulances!