"Cardio Shock"

Everyone is seeking that goal of a nice toned and defined physique. One of ht major ingredients for this is your Cardiovascular Conditioning. Traditionally speaking, most head straight for the Treadmill, Stationary bike, Elliptical, Row Machine, etc. Thats a great start.

Some, after commandeering these machines, will go for anything from 30 minutes to an Hour, or more. OK, lets stop right there. There is a such thing as Plateauing and you body does just that. You will begin to get the body working, burns some calories, raise the heart rate, and begin to Perspire. Thats good. But after about 10 minutes, the body begins to settle down. Remember, your body is making adjustments from the moment you start to find a medium or a way to get itself settled. That basically means the body is adjusting to the circumstances. Once it has done so, the body levels out and begins to maintain and the intensity at which it was burning calories and working, starts to slow down. You are still burning calories, just not at the rate you were in the first 10 minutes. Once again...The Body Levels out.

Solution: Give Interval Training a shot.
Instead of that 30 minutes to 60 minute drive. Shoot for maybe 1/3rd of that time, increase and decreasing your intensity in a timely manor.

An example would be riding the Stationary Bike. Set your intensity level and and your starting speed (which will also be your recovery speed).  Begin. Once you are moving, cycle for the first 3 minutes to kinda warm the legs up. Once you hit the 3 minute mark, You are going to increase your speed from your recovery speed, say 80, to your sprint speed which will be somewhere around 115. You will hold that speed for 30 seconds, then return to your recover speed of 80 (or what ever you have chosen for it to be). Continue that pattern for the duration of your time. Basically back and fourth, back and fourth.

What this is doing is forcing your body to continuously exert energy and work your muscles. Your body does not get a chance to settle or plateau because just as it begins to calm down, you change up the pace. Your recovery time and sprinting time can vary depending on your level of training. This is a great way to help you get to your cardiovascular goal.

I call this "Cardio Shock"

Northern Lights from 35,000 Feet – The Aurora Borealis

I had the privilege of seeing the Aurora Borealis today while on a flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt, Germany. The Aurora, or Northern Lights, is a beautiful, eerie glow in the sky caused by the light pressure (Solar Wind) from the Sun hitting Earth’s upper atmosphere and causing molecules to glow where the Earth’s magnetic field is concentrated in a circle around the North Magentic Pole.

A bit of science: "Auroral Ovals" are regions on the Earth around the magnetic poles where Aurorae are most likely to occur, and because the Magnetic North Pole is in Northeastern Canada, the auroral oval extends to other reaches of Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and the Arctic region. The website Spaceweather.com has a daily update on the size and location of the auroral ovals (scroll down and look on the left hand side of the homepage). Since I knew I was going to be on a flight to Europe that would take me far north and near to this region of the Earth, I made sure I had a seat on the left hand side of the plane and once on board, watched the flight map to follow our progress. Like most international flights that travel east, the flight moved quickly into darkness and at about the halfway point at which we were at the Arctic Circle, I started looking out my window. Not surprising at all, I began to see a faint glow on the distant northern horizon. Over the next 30 minutes, the glow became bigger and before long the plane was in the midst of what appeared to be clouds of light, glowing a faint green among the backdrop of circumpolar stars. Luckily there was no moonlight to distract from the view this night.

There is no way to easily describe the Northern Lights except as beautiful curtain-like clouds that glow of their own light, rather than being illuminated by sunlight. The shapes change continuously, and in the more dense regions the wing of the plane outside my window actually was illuminated by the glow. Moving along at high speed the view was always unfolding, always bringing new shapes into view. I watched for about two hours until the intensity began to wane.

If you are traveling a route that takes you far north (any West Coast to Europe flight will do) and it is in the late Fall and early Winter months, you should acquaint yourself with the auroral oval on Spaceweather.com and get a window that faces north (left hand side) when flying east. Be patient, darken your seating area, and look carefully, as you would for any item of astronomical interest. You’ll be rewarded with an unforgettable, magical show.

"Golden Arms"

Now you would think that Abdominals would be my first topic of discussion. But don’t worry, I will get to that. Arms aka Biceps, Triceps, and forearms are what I call the “Rod-n-Reel”. From a random survey given to woman, this combination ranked in the Top 5 Favorite body parts on a man. Woman love to have a nice strong arm to cling to on a Daily basis. Whether it is for comfort, security, status, or bragging rights (you would be surprised), a nicely shaped arm will grab the attention of any woman walking within eyes view of them. Whether they chose to look and keep it moving or stand and admire, they are definitely open targets. Some will be bold enough to approach you and compliment you. Be prepared.

Now fellas we all want to have attractive parts and draw then attention of out female audience. This can be the first step. With arms being the most visual and socially accepted to be shown in public, it would be a great area to focus on when looking to get the attention of a certain woman or woman in general. There are two ways to build great arms. The first is to recognize the muscle structure. A lot of guys focus on just the bicep thinking that is going to do the trick and give them the nice sized arms they desire. Now lets do the math on this. The Bicep is comprised of two muscles while the Tricep has three. So naturally most of your size will come from your Triceps. Building both Tricep and Bicep collectively will give you the size you want as appose to just doing curls and hoping that will do it. Now lets not neglect the forearms as well. They too need to be worked in conjunction with the upper part of the arm. Otherwise you will have huge biceps and triceps with scrawny forearms. Not sexy fellas.

Solution:

Once a week I like to dedicate a day to just arms. That means I am working all three area. It can be done in many ways. Personally, one of my favorites is what I call “Back and fourth”. That is when I do a bicep drill, followed by as Tricep drill. Then at the end I will focus on just forearms.

Examples:

1. Standing dumbbell bicep curl
2. Tricep Extensions
3. Elastic Band curls for 30 seconds
4. Dips of a bench for 30 seconds
5. Isolated Single Arm Curls
6. Isolated Single Arm Tricep Extension.
7. Underhand grip with dumbbells bringing the wrist towards and away from you for 30 seconds
8. Overhand grip with dumbbells bringing the wrist towards and away from you for 30 seconds

That just gives you a sample and these drills are done back to back for 3 sets. No rest in between. So #1 and #2 back to back for 3 rounds…then go to the next two drills.

Enjoy gentleman and good luck with producing “Golden Arms”

Is Your Child an Underachiever in School?

Some children simply don’t perform in school nearly as well as they could. Every child, family and school is different, but these young people often tell counselors the following; “My parents expect too much.” “I can’t achieve their standards.” “I won’t try.” “I won’t play your game.” How parents can help:

· Adopt an attitude of love, support, caring and understanding. Build your child’s self confidence.

· Schedule a conference with teachers, counselors, principal and your child – permit the principal to act as an advocate.

· Consider a written agreement with consequences and periodic progress reports.

· Cooperate at home by helping your child get organized and providing agreed-upon rewards.

· Let your child be responsible. Don’t nag.

· Expand your relationship with your child.

· Be patient. The extra effort will be worth it!

More answers for the Good Professor

I'm a little late on the uptake, but PROFESSOR HUBERT FARNSWORTH'S ONLY SLIGHTLY FUTURISTIC HOLIDAY MOVIE QUIZ went up over at Dennis Cozzulio's Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule on December 23rd. filmicability participated in this sort of stunt back at the beginning of fall in September 2010, and is excited to throw in again (and is even more excited to hear it's a turn-of-the-season

More answers for the Good Professor

I'm a little late on the uptake, but PROFESSOR HUBERT FARNSWORTH'S ONLY SLIGHTLY FUTURISTIC HOLIDAY MOVIE QUIZ went up over at Dennis Cozzulio's Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule on December 23rd. filmicability participated in this sort of stunt back at the beginning of fall in September 2010, and is excited to throw in again (and is even more excited to hear it's a turn-of-the-season

“The Wall Street Maniac”

This is for the average corporate worker whom only has an hour to leave work, get to the gym, change clothes, workout, shower and back to work. To maximize your workout efforts and time at the gym, focus on circuit training. Instead of working one muscle and then working your way to the next (Horizontal training), do multiple drills back-to-back that challenge cardio and muscle endurance. Examples would be…Explosive push-ups followed by split-lunge-jumps followed by an abdominal drill. This is just one method of maximizing your time. You will get your heart rate up, nice burn, and core work. Check back later for more.