Today a friend took me to a small bike parkour about an hour outside of Manchester. I have rarely had that much fun. I broke my bike so I have to buy a new suspension, but it was totally worth it. I’ve actually been thinking about getting an actual Bmx bike in addition, but they seem to be a bit more expensive than a normal one. The baffling thing about was how different it felt from any other biking experience. There was a fairly high jump right at the start, which set the tone of the whole round. The great thing with bike tracks is how you can set your own pace. Once I was a little more comfortable with the track itself, my focus shifted from not falling down to going faster and jumping higher. That was the point when my suspension broke and my tire went flat. If you have never been at a dirt track before, I strongly suggest visiting one. Sometimes they can be very well hidden. You could also try visiting a skate park with your Bmx, but I know for a fact some parks don’t allow it because of the risk. Anyway, I’ve looked into the whole bicycle tricks thing as well and I’m astonished. The tricks some of these guys can pull off are simply amazing. I strongly suggest trying it out if you have never experienced it before, thank me later!

I’m sick of it. Whenever I tell people I play American Football, they are all like: “Ah, cool, what position do you play?”. I answer: “Fullback and Line backer”. I see their eyes go blank. They have no idea what I’m talking about. They probably know: Quarterback and Runningback, that’s it. If you are one of the people who isn’t familiar with the whole position thing in Football let me explain the positions to you:

OFFENSE: Tries to score points.

Quarterback: Throws the ball and gives the ball to the Runningback

Runningback: Obviously runs the ball

Receiver: Catches the ball the Quarterback throws

Offensive Line: Makes sure nobody touches whoever has the ball on their team. This is called blocking

Fullback: Sometimes runs, but mostly makes sure nobody touches the Runningback

Tight End: Also blocks for the quarterback, but can also catch ball (offensive line can’t catch balls)

DEFENSE: Stops the offense by tackling the ball carrier or batting the ball.

Defensive Line: Stand across from the Offensive Line. Tackles Runningback and Quarterback

Linebacker: Stand behind the Defensive Line. Fills gaps, blitzes, covers receivers

Cornerbacks: Cover receivers and try to intercept/bat the ball

Safety: Last resort, also tries to intercept the ball, can blitz and cover receivers.

I hope you’ve understood the position in general. There are a couple of specification, especially in the lines, but they aren’t important for a basic understanding of the game. Thank you.

Many of you might remember the Segway. Many of you might remember how it failed and wasn’t the next cool thing. Well, there is another “next cool thing” coming up: The Yike Bike.

Doesn’t it look brilliant. I don’t think so. I can’t imagine how awkward it must be to sit on that thing. It doesn’t look stable and it doesn’t look easy to handle either. The best thing about it is it’s price tag: 5,000 Dollars. Do I think this will take off? No. I’d rater spend those 5,000 Dollars on a normal bicycle or and a scooter or something.

Image: http://gopaultech.com/blog/2009/10/yike-foldable-bike-take-a-hike/

Here are the ten most successful countries in term of medals won at Summer Olympic games. In total:

1. USA: 2296

2. Soviet Union: 1010

3. Germany: 851

4. Great Britain: 715

5. France: 636

6. Italy: 521

7. Sweden: 475

8. Hungary: 469

9. Australia: 432

10. East Germany: 409

Strange how countries are in this list that don’t even exist anymore! You can look the the entire list and will notice, that it the Winter Olympics have completely different countries in the top 10. I think China will start to bringing in the medals like there is no tomorrow. We will see at the London 2012.

You’ve either asked yourself this question or at least heard other people talking about it: Which is the better workout, weight lifting or cardiovascular exercise? To be honest, there is no answer. They fulfill completely different purposes in your body. I’ll try to explain without going too much into the specifics. Your muscles are comprised of two different components: Red Muscle Fibers and White Muscle Fibers. The red ones, which you use during cardio, need oxygen to work. White muscle fibers, don’t need oxygen and are used for only for about the 1^st minute of work. As you can tell, cardio and weight lifting work on different parts of the muscle, which is why none of the two is generally better. That being said, cardio is more efficient if you want to increase your stamina, while weight lifting is better for building strength and muscle mass.

The real pressing question though is which method better for losing weight? The vast majority of people are convinced that hour long jogs will get them in shape fast, but it is not as clear cut as that. If you only put a strain on your cardiovascular system, you burn calories for one hour after you finish your workout. If you put a strain on your muscles, you can burn calories for up to 24 hours after you complete your workout. So while cardiovascular exercise burns more calories immediately, weight lifting can burns the equal amount over the course of 24 hours.

Some of you might be asking yourself if there isn’t a way you can combine both methods into one complete workout. While there a workout that works on red and white muscle fibers equally, you could try HIIT which will get you out of breath but will also have a positive effect on your muscle mass.