Protein Deals!!

http://canadianprotein.refr.cc/HMM7T7G

Monday, February 25, 2013

Crowdfunding

Well I have successfully gone through my first bout of crowd funding thanks to swaggercap.com.  I made a video, ran a campaign, and now its time to fill the rewards. One of my sponsors was a site called www.starstreet.com.

Starstreet.com is a site which takes fantasy sports teams to a new level. It allows you to make some cash with your prized picks. . You can bet on all major sports leagues including NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. They have three systems of betting Pick 5, the Stock Market, and The Daily.

First of all I will say it was extremely easy to sign up and depositing money is done securely through pay pal.

Pick 5:

Pick five is simple and you can get a free trail when you sign up. All you need to do is make 5 correct picks as to who will score more fantasy points between 2 stars on the opposing teams playing in the game.


The Sports Stock Market:

This is a truly revolutionary idea that allows you to buy and sell sports teams in real time, and watch as there value changes depending on there performance. Just like trading actual stocks.

The Daily:

The daily contest works like this:

  1. Draft your team.
  2. Enter contests for tomorrow.
  3. Score more fantasy points than your opponent(s) and win. 

    There are different tournaments you can enter at different wager levels, which allow you to manage your risk.

    This is a new fresh idea to the hold patterns of sports betting. Starstreet also makes it easy to play from the comfort of your own home. 

    For more information please visit starstreet.com   also see this clip presented by CBC News.

      
     CBC News review
    http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/business/2010/06/02/kosik.sports.stock.cnn#/video/business
     /2010/06/02/kosik.sports.stock.cnn

Thursday, February 14, 2013

On, Off, and Grey

Endurance athletes are a breed of there own as we all know, and beyond that they develop  individuals quarks, and mental games to continue to get the work done.  At this time of year I find I struggle with validation. I am getting the work done there are some tests which allow me to see improvement, but there is not a race in sight. I am dieing for some validation that my work is paying off. Why am I so attached to results? Why can I not just be happy with getting the training done?

For me it becomes a flip flop argument in my head. If I relax I don't get the best effort from myself, if I come in with intense focus I will eventually burn myself out and yell and scream at everyone around me because I begin to think they are "in my way". I become a light switch I am on or off.

I am not sure where this mentality came from. But I have come realize that it is only my opinion and not an absolute truth. Yes it is important to get the most of yourself when you are in the middle of a set of intervals, but it is also OK to enjoy the warm up/cool down and you need to BELIEVE that. Even though you are going slower then the old guy 3 treadmills down. Are you trying to impress him?

Moving forward and shifting focus off of base training, and into higher intensity, will require yet another level of focus. This can spin off a couple of different thought trains. One you look back and think " I should have been preparing for this". Two good old self doubt comes in "Am I going to be able to deal with this pain? Have I lost my ability". No you haven't, how just haven't been there since last season. And this year is different anyways. As long as you are aware of that, when the time comes hit it....... hit it, my guess is you will surprise yourself.

That said there is no On or Off Black or White. Last year is not THIS year your a different person. Throw your old light switch out and get a dimmer switch, and toggle the crap out of it. Keep your goals set and use the focus you need to get where you need to be. But there is no need to kill yourself on a recovery run.

Have fun stay focused ( however much you need) and keep moving forward.

D



Saturday, February 2, 2013

What are you doing?

Over the last few years health & fitness has blown up on all levels. Concepts about strength training, endurance training, nutrition have all gone through total overhauls. With the help of the internet there is more available information then ever, compound that with social media and it spreads faster then warm organic butter on spelt toast. You can see this in the gym if you pay attention, there are people training specifically and they are consistent in how they approach workouts, then there are those who have dressed the part and are following what ever came up that month in Men's Health.  With all this information out there it brings the question, are you doing to much? Too little? What exactly are you doing?

As a recently graduated Kinesiology major, and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. I find I look at my workouts differently.  I analyze movement on a different level, as any good trainer should. There are a lot of movements, (despite what we may think) that are not natural. 

We have seen this with the blow up of barefoot running. Pretty much telling everyone they are running wrong because of there shoes. I guess this may be true to some point but on the other side we don't all have the flat feet required for efficient bare foot running.


Then there is crossfit. Getting anyone and everyone to do power lifting. Which in turn has brought on an obsession with the squat. And these gym produce some nice squats and dead lifts. You can go to any gym take a seat and watch a variety of horrible squat techniques. Just another example of a functional movement that we take for granted and are probability doing wrong.

This is where an educated trainer can be helpful, even if you don't need or want someone in the gym with you. I am not talking about the guy that took the weekend course or was a model or competes in fitness competitions. I am talking about some one educated. Someone that knows how to do research and can filter through what is valid for you. Having someone with an in depth understanding of physiology can help you to decipher the myriad of information and help you to set proper realistic goals, and make sure your doing the appropriate work to get there. The same way you go see a physiotherapist or masseuse during rehab why wouldn't you see a professional when getting bigger stronger faster?

This is where I hope we will see some regulation in the personal training field. Not because I don't think some of those "other" trainers are not good, some of them have more experience then me, and you could argue that this is more valuable. But I do believe that there should be one step in the certification process that teaches trainers how to do research. As I am beginning to work in the field I really see the value in being able to back up the programs your prescribing with some reason why. Sure you can get people moving and get them to loose some weight, but why not teach them how the body is loosing the weight while its happening? I think being able to do research and educate clients will only help the whole industry, and moving forward to make the profession of training people more professional. Because it should be. As a trainer your working with peoples most valuable asset there health. So next time you have a workout with your trainer or if your just hitting the gym on your own I challenge you to ask why? Why am I lifting in this rep range? What are my goals? Is what I am doing now moving me closer to my goals? If you cant answer your own questions with some confidence, go out and find the answer. Skip the mess that is on the internet, skip the local macho man at the gym and speak with an educated professional they would be more then happy to help you out, and who knows maybe you will pick up a new training partner to push you farther then you thought possible.

Go out there and get after it!


D


Free press article:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/brains--or---brawn-188634221.html