London `12 Olympic Games: Unsung Sport - Track & Field's Hammer Throw

Originated: Celtic. Can be traced back to 1829 B.C. - Tailteann Games held in Tara, Ireland. Entered Olympic competition in 1900.
Where Popular: In Scottish Highland Games. European dominated.
Best Athletes: Athletes from the former Soviet Union and Belarus have thrown the farthest (men). Athletes from Germany, Russia, Poland, and Belarus have thrown the farthest (women).
Reigning Olympic Champion: Primoz Kozmus (Slovenia - men), Aksana Miankova (Belarus - women)
Reigning World Champion: Koji Murofushi (Japan - men), Tatyana Lysenko (Russia)
Interesting Tidbit: Women could not compete in the hammer throw in the Olympics until 2000 (Sydney). The U.S. dominated the first six medals of the hammer throw in the Olympics

It is interesting how the best athletes in this track and field event are from countries, which are nowhere near the origin (Ireland, Scotland, England) of the hammer throw. But, hands down, Russia, known for its breakthrough strength, is no surprise in how it has dominated this event. The country that gave us kettlebells has roots in rotational movement: think about ice hockey, gymnastics, and kettlebell swinging.

To excel in this sport, an athlete needs strength, power, balance, and a lot of grit (grunt!!!) With cable machine exercises, dumbbells, and kettlebells a hammer throwers movement can be mimicked. We will hold right here on this one. However, since the hammer throw is technical and difficult to get a hold of (we can't buy one at City Sports) whet your palate by messing around with a sledge hammer for a good workout of strength and power.


Make It Happen,
Derek

London `12 Olympic Games: Unsung Sport - Team Handball

Originated: 19th century Europe
Where Popular: Eastern Europe
Best Teams: Eastern European countries (men). South Korea, Denmark, Norway (women)
Reigning Olympic Champion: France (men) and Norway (women)
Reigning World Champion: France (men), Norway (women)
Interesting Tidbit: The USA has never won a medal in this sport.

Team Handball is very different from American Handball or Wallball as many call it. Picture basketball, soccer, volleyball, and lacrosse wrapped into one sport. You get Team Handball. Fast, high-scoring, foul-filled, and strategic.

Put the ball in the net!

If you have never seen this sport played, then you will enjoy this sport as it is played over the 30th Olympiad time period in London, England. The preparation that these athletes undergo is tremendous. This sport is not for the lazy. You have to be in shape. You have to be able to jump off one leg, sprint, catch, transition, start and stop, and get this...be lean and quick. Unlike other similar sports, namely, lacrosse and basketball, team handball does not have a big man. You will not see anyone who looks like LeBron James in size.

A Team Handball athlete needs enough power to generate a great shot on net. Olympic lifts, like the split jerks, push jerks, and power cleans are nice. But, work with cables, sleds, power bands, and tubing work just as well. The name of the game is speed with precision. So, functional training is very important with emphasis on throwing technique. To end it off...other than ice hockey, lacrosse, and water polo, you will not see a more active goalie in Team Handball.

Enjoy!

London 2012

Derek

Sleep, Rest, Results - Part 2

In the first part we looked a little more at sleep. Now, let's peek into rest. Rest is included between exercises, on days off,  as relaxation, as an easy day, on a stretch day or opposite (direction) day where most muscles that were flexed now favor extension, as an example.

Rest Between Exercises
You yearn for it, but the more it occurs the longer the workout. Good for when power moves call, but the current trend and mode of effectiveness favors a short rest period. Places that agree with the short rest period include, well, TEEM, for one; CrossFit; and any other professional that understands it's goal. Even though each entity that believes in it is different, the overwhelming result is that short rest periods garner an individual with good results.

Does the long rest period between exercises still exist? Yes. As a matter of fact, you better believe it. Without longer rest intervals, there would not be any time for coaching. Coaching is still an artful skill. But, unless a coach can speak at the speed of light and have his/her clients understand everything, longer rest periods will embrace it. For example, track and field athletes gains a lot of reps around the eight-lane oval they run; but their coaches offer plenty of advice between rest periods to help with more speed.

Days Off
It is highly neglected. In short, a day off is what it should be...a day off from the normal routine. Even the most elite athletes take days off, and they compete for physical competitions that put food on the table. So, why do days off continue to de-normalize with some individuals? Not sure. But, fear of escaping a routine could be a reason. Just the same, not having a decent routine could be to blame.

Relaxation
Plain and simple. Relaxation is what it is. When we relax, we should be in total rest mode. We really should allow our entire body to replenish itself a lot like a day-off. In fact, relaxation resembles a short version of a day-off. To the point and candid.

Easy Days
Incorporate these into your workout plans. An easy day is not a lazy one. It is, however, a movement day with less intensity. For example, if a heavy leg day is completed on Monday, then Tuesday might be a balance day or a cardio day. Or, if a heavy volume of sprints is completed on a Monday, then Tuesday might be devoted to technique.

Stretch Day and Opposite Day
I almost want to say that gymnast, contortionist, and acrobats are exempt. But, everyone else has stretching issues for various reasons. In some cases, stretching multiple times a day is needed. With TEEM, there are certain stretching prerequisites such as: it is a goal to have everyone touch the toes, bending at the hip (at least big improvements are necessary, depending on how long we are together); and the pretzel stretch is a nice one to almost entirely be able to perform. But hey, everyone is different and the degree of difficulty is understood.

Make It Happen,
Derek

Sports Appreciation

From early 2012 - Just in time for National Physical Fitness and Sports Month



Chinese Volleyball Rally - Check out the video but do not knock the sport.
To volleyball connoisseurs and spectators, a long rally is a worthy of clapping. It may look like a ball is just being hit in the air, but the amount of athleticism, focus, movement, strategy, and coaching is prominent in this long rally. Volleyball is more than simply a good cookout activity where anyone can play - everyone cannot play at the true volleyball playing level. It does take a lot of practice and experience. Jump, dig, dive, spike, block...oh yea, and serve. It's all here!

 

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Bengals Flip...Touchdown! - Check out the video, but do not try it on your own turf.

What do you say to a  player who fundamentally tries to tackle another player until that other player does a move so astronomical it makes the tackler look like a fool?

Nice try.

It is one thing in football to have the skills to change direction at full speed and stay on balance. It is another thing to have the courage and the super-skill to run full speed at an opponent and flip over him. This move makes jumping over would-be tackles look like a routine drill.

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Never Give Up and Never Give Up Again - They call him "Gronk", and he refuses to back off a play.

It is important in athletics to never give up on any plays. Play until the whistle blows. Play by diving to make a catch. Play and play again. Play to win the game. Young athletes should learn how to give it their all because the tutelage will translate at higher levels of play. Can a coach teach heart and effort? Most likely.

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Mountain Motocross - Vroom! Vroom! On the White Caps. What makes this feat so interesting?

1) It looks like a crazy daredevil attempt
2) It looks stupid
3) It looks dangerous
4) It looks fun
5) It looks extremely difficult

Ranking these five choices from least accepting to most accepting the list would like: 3-5-4-1-2

Of course, motocrossing over a mountain top is dangerous. But, etch out of your mind, for a bit, the reason why it is definitely stupid. As a matter of fact do not call this stunt stupid. Here, we have a guy who is willing to be brave and test his level of focus. Have you heard of the saying, "Don't knock it 'til you try it"? Well, no one has to try this feat. But, do appreciate the skill set.

Take care of yourself,
Derek

Superteam Meets Preparation

From January 14, 2012

Do you consider yourself part of a superteam when it comes to health and human performance?

Why The Miami Heat Are Not A Shoe-In and Other Thoughts:

Hopefully, the NBA realizes that its league is too athletic to have one superteam take the reigns for 5 or 6 consecutive championships (excluding the skills of the old Bulls, Lakers, and Celtics - these teams were an anomaly, having plenty of game-changing and league transforming players such as, Jordan, Magic, Larry, and Kareem.)

Hopefully, the rest of the league knows that it can tolerate the athleticism of Dwayne Wade and LeBron James at the same time. Whenever anyone else on the Heat emerges as a game-changer, it will be important to see if the athletic consistency is still present. Other teams should have an answer (no pun intended - Allen Iverson)

Every team in the NBA can prepare for a superteam like the Miami Heat. However, every team will not beat a superteam like the Heat. Now, there may be a few surprises when a lackluster team either beats a superteam or, at least, scares the winning record out of one. In this sense, most of the teams in the NBA should be able to keep up with a superteam like the Heat. I mean, everyone has played at a high caliber prior to entering the NBA, right?...That's another conversation. If one sub .500 team can come within a few points of beating any superteam, then why must the public be surprised if any superteam has a losing streak?
Maybe, the superteam(s) in question, the Miami Heat, in this case, is not really a superteam.

Superteam: n.
1. A team that has more than two all-stars.
2. A team that has three players who would destroy a 3-on-3 tournament.
3. A team that has established itself as a perennial title favorite.
4. A team that can win about 81% or more of its games every year.
5. We, the public, get the point about them?

Going a little outside the NBA, other teams in other leagues such as, the NFL, NHL, MLB, and even the English Premier League have tried to create superteams. However, it does not really work as well in these other sports because they have so many other elements that the NBA cannot fathom:

Let me try to be brief, but:
- Number of athletes on a team;
- Number of minutes on the field, ice, or court;
- Number of units on a team (offensive vs. defensive units);
- Number of plays;
- Number of possible intangible stats such as the following:
- The propensity to strikeout in baseball;
- The difficulty in scoring a goal in ice hockey and in soccer;
- The fight and grit it takes to pound even a 1-yard touchdown in football...all of these categories count against the development of a longstanding superteam.

Basketball is the only sport among the five major sports (ice hockey, football, basketball, baseball, and yes, soccer/futbol), in which, once the ball or manipulated object is released from an athlete and has reached its pinnacle in the air, no one can touch it. If anyone is thinking, 'hey what about soccer?' Ah, but in soccer, the athlete kicks the ball as hard as he/she can; plus the shot on goal can attempted to be blocked at any point that the ball is (reachable). Free-kicks and penalty shots do not count because a goalie blocks the net. As for basketball, no one blocks the net on the free throw line (even though some athletes shoot like a goalie is present) or has their hand in the basket when a 3-point shot is attempted.

What is all of this dwindling down to?

A superteam, like the Miami Heat, need to realize that they are not a superteam until they have won a few league titles. Right now, they are good on paper. A superteam needs to realize that athleticism and...AND optimal preparation is advantageous to success - Do not rely on your three best players. Play as a unit of your rotation of players. Every other team in the league has the skills to play in the NBA, but it is up to that team if they would like to play at a high level on any particular day - A superteam should not have to struggle with these skills. Lastly, shoe-ins are for feet. Any team that is a shoe-in for a championship berth with most of the season left does not fit until domination is displayed during the championship series.

I am not a Heat fan, but I do believe in teams living up to their nicknames.

Take care of yourself,
Derek

P.S. It is now May 5th, 2012. The Miami Heat could still win it all. Just saying. We shall see.

Upper Body Agility

First, do you include upper body agility into your routine or at some point during the day?

Think about your answer.

OK, your answer should be, "yes"; but you may not know what to do for upper body agility. Bet...you have done upper body agility since you were a child; you did it through jump roping. Jump roping is a great form of hand-eye coordination, which translates to upper body agility. Is jump roping a functional form of upper body agility? Not really. It is great for the legs in this case. To really hone in on upper body agility, target points are needed.

Agility thrives off target points or, in this case, hand placements.

Basically, the faster your hands can touch a single target the more improved your upper body agility presents itself. But, who cares about including agility into workout routines, right?...Wrong!

1) It is recommended by the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine).

2) It quickens your upper body.

3) You use upper body agility or hand-eye coordination when you drive, especially to prevent a car from steering out of control.

4) Do you cook? One pot at a time or several? If it is Thanksgiving or any other big cooking day or event, then the quickness in your upper body is at full force!

5) Have you ever climbed a ladder? Or, a rock?

6) Have you ever bartended?

7) Are you a professional offensive tackle for your favorite NFL franchise?...Talk about quick hand placement. These guys need this type of drill and more.

8) The list can continue...

But, the bottom line is that upper body agility is used for functional purposes as well as for general fitness. You may not see a lot of individuals perform upper body agility, but it is not in TEEM hiding.

Two quick drills:
1) Start in a push-up position (modified or full) with your hands together. Keeping your hips as stable as possible (that is, without swiveling or rotating), bring your hands wider (about two to two and a half feet wide) and alternate between the narrow and wider widths.  Go as fast as you can!

2) Add a partner. Start with both hands on a wall. Pick a few spots (you can number them) on the wall. Have a partner call out which number or spot to hit. At least, you get to include some lower body action too since it is best to have the spots or target points spread out. It makes you move!

Make it happen,
Derek

Make It Happen

Goals, events, activities, set points, muscle gain, weight loss, focus, energy, training, nutrition, rest, resolutions, new experiences, self re-inventions, motivation, follow-ups, follow-throughs, sleep, action, planning, contemplation, restoration, empowerment, move...

Make it happen.

It is a good theme for the year and for the years beyond. Personally, I have realized that planning has to translate into good execution no matter how big the task. When a plan is executed...wait, let's back up. In this field, when a plan is simply thought of, the very next step is to make it happen even if you have to re-adjust. We are 1/3 of the way through 2012, and the 1/3 mark on most calendars in the Western Hemisphere means spring, a season for making things happen, has arrived.

During this time of the year, it does matter what you are doing; but making plans or goals happen is refreshing and rewarding. For example, an athlete either prepares for the post-season, the regular season, or is well into the off-season with goals in mind. It is very rare that an athlete begins pre-season training or activity at this point of the year (Major League Lacrosse is one exception). Young athletes pull their parents' coat tails because they want to attend a summer sports camps as this time is prime time for signing up. Recreation athletes, which comprises most of us, gear up for marathons, shorter road races, triathlon season, and general-fitness-nice-weather-workouts (have you looked in the mirror yet and said, "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, yea!...I workout!" Sorry, that song is funny).

Lastly, "make it happen" serves as the new sign off on these e-newsletters via email and this blog. In 2012, continue to make your goals happen. Graduate to the next level of action, thought, belief, execution, planning, modeling, and leading.

Your April-showers are a sure sign of perseverance.

Make it happen,
Derek