Posts Tagged ‘fitness’
Roller Girls Revive A Moribund Sport
Roller Derby was a staple of the early television era and was similar in its promotional format to its better known “sports entertainment” cousin, professional wrestling. It was frequently seen in the same bad timeslots on the same low powered UHF TV stations, and it was run by the same loose confederation of Runyanesque promoters and businessmen that characterized the regional territory era of pro wrestling. Unfortunately, roller derby didn’t catch on the way professional wrestling did. There was obviously a serious athletic component to it, but the “angles” and storylines surrounding roller derby made pro wrestling seem like Ibsen by comparison. The sport does have its own history–most know that the LA T-Birds were the perennial champions of’70′s, and Ann Calvello and Ralphie Valladares had been in the sport forever and were considered legends–but it never really stuck in the public consciousness like the pre-Hulk Hogan era of pro wrestling.
When the original purveyors of the sport quit promoting in the early’80s most thought it was dead and gone until a ‘new school’ of roller derby surfaced on cable TV via the A&E reality series Roller Girls. It featured a local, all-girl roller derby league in Austin, Texas and followed the lives of the players on and off the track. A sport that had faded into the lowest level of obscurity had been rediscovered and embraced by an eclectic group of young women. They had kept the same essential format, thrown in a healthy dose of burlesque camp and Varga pin-up inspired glamour and changed the competitive format and renamed the competitions “bouts” a la MMA or boxing. The result was a compelling mixture of glamour, toughness and athleticism driven by a healthy dose of punk rock “do it yourself” mentality.
Today, the same sort of league featured on “Rollergirls” had become a full blown cultural phenomenon. There are now literally hundreds of local “roller girl” leagues in the US, many under the auspices of a national organization called the Womens Flat Track Derby Association. Las Vegas has the ‘Sin City Roller Girls’, Portland, Oregon the ‘Rose City Rollers” and Seattle the ‘Rat City Rollers’. There are now groups in not only the larger and traditionally “hipper” cities but also smaller flyover country environs such as Birmingham, Alabama and Omaha, Nebraska and all over Canada, Europe and Australia. Most of the local groups similarly play up the campy retro pin-up/hot rod iconography and everyone involved sure looks like they’re having a good time. Between teams there’s a vibe of good natured competitiveness and camaraderie.
This organic rebirth and growth of roller derby is a result of young women taking what essentially was TV time filler and made it into their own distaff ‘action sport’. The roller derby circa 2009 is a matriarchal success story. No one is in it for the money, as these local groups are typically run as non-profit organization. The women involved have recreated this sport, and run it, promote it and compete in it on their own terms.
The new generation rollergirls also pay homage to their sports’ pioneers much in the same way that skateboarders give props to Duane Peters and Tony Alva. Many of the individual group websites have sections devoted to the history of roller derby, and the late Ann Calvello–regarded as the Queen of the original Roller Derby–is revered as something of a patron saint. The Texas Rollergirl group featured in the A&E series has renamed their championship the Calvello Cup.
Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.
What Are the Best Fitness Machines for Gyms at Home?
When trying to put together a list of fitness machines for gym at home, it can be a little confusing and intimidating. There are so many things to consider before looking at the first piece of machinery and missing one detail can result in a lot of wasted money. Before you start drooling over that new BowFlex machine, make sure everything else is in line.
The room that is going to be the gym is the first thing that has to be looked at. If you don’t know the space that you have, how can equipment be purchased for it? Imagine spending $10,000 on the best new equipment available only to find out that half of it doesn’t even fit in the room.
Once the space has been established, the budget must be considered. Establishing how much money can be spent on each piece will keep you from spending too much on any one piece resulting in the need to get sub-par equipment for everything else. It is best to sit down and figure out exactly what is going to be allocated and to stick to those numbers.
Health is also something that must be considered. For instance, if you are 300 pounds and trying to get back in shape, the same equipment would not be used for someone that is a trim 180 and only interested in endurance. There are also those that cannot use equipment that will put a lot of strain on their backs. This will further narrow down the choice so of equipment that can be purchased.
The actual workout equipment is usually only one aspect of the items that go into a fitness room. There may also be things like rubber padding or mats, mirrors, water coolers and of course, the flat screen wall mounted TV to watch while you are on the treadmill running to nowhere. You may even want vibration machines for some relaxation. All of these things need to be accounted for and put into the overall budget.
When all of these details are finally ironed out, you can finally start shopping for your fitness equipment. While new equipment is easy to find, getting the best deal is going to take some work. Don’t stop at the first site that you find just because they have what you are looking for. Use sites that offer comparison pricing to make sure that the best deal is the one you choose.
You can also decide to go with used equipment. If you do this, you can often get a better grade of equipment, but there may be some risk involved. Online dealers will also have this, just be sure that they is also something in the purchase agreement that will allow you to inspect the equipment to make sure that it is in good working order before you accept it.
While creating home gyms can be very enjoyable, there are also a lot of pratfalls that must be avoided to make sure that too much money is not being spent. Use the Internet to get the best prices. Just remember, now that you have your own gym, you no longer have any excuses for that spare tire that you have been getting away with carrying around.
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MMA Flashback: Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title Changes Hands As Sobral Tops Southworth
Renato Babalu Sobral defeated Bobby Southworth by TKO to become Strikeforce light heavyweight champion in the co-main event of the promotions ‘Destruction’ card on Friday night. Despite leaving with the belt around his waist, it wasn’t a highlight reel worthy finish.
A -350 wagering favorite despite his challenger status, Sobral was expected to use his world class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills and vast experience against superior competition to dominate the tough but limited Southworth. It didnt happen that way, as Southworth easily got the better of things in the first round. Southworth looks to use his strength and conditioning to control his opponent en route to a decision victory. While the result makes him something of a MMA equivalent to boxing’s John Ruiz, it does afford him the best chance of victory.
The first round displayed Southworth’s style in microcosm, with much of the frame spent pushing Babalu up against the cage or on the ground inside his guard not really doing much. Sobral had one effective strike the entire round”and it would decide the fight. During a clinch against the cage wall the challenger rocked Southworth with a hard elbow strike that not only busted his nose but opened a huge cut over his right eye.
Upon seeing the gusher of blood Referee John McCarthy brought the ringside physician over to take a look. The doctor took some time to examine the cut, but eventually the round resumed following the consultation with only a few seconds remaining. As Southworth’s corner futilely worked on the gaping wound during the break the doctor once again took a look and recommended to McCarthy that the fight be stopped. As a result, Sobral was awarded the TKO victory and the championship belt.
The other half of the co-main event was decided in much more decisive fashion as Scott Smith knocked out well traveled veteran Terry Martin in a mere :24 seconds. The rap against Martin has always been that hes a slow starter, but he had the right gameplan in theory as he pushed Smith to the cage wall right after the opening bell. Unfortunately, Martin didn’t adequately close the distance against a fighter dubbed ‘Hands of Steel’ and was caught with a perfectly placed punch that knocked him out cold.
In the semifinal event, Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig defeated Yves Edwards by unanimous decision in a very closely contested bout. Edwards was originally slated to face lightweight champion Josh Thomson until a toe injury necessitated his withdrawal. Ludwig took the fight on two weeks notice, and after a takedown clinic by Edwards in the first began to control the fight with his superior standup skills. Edwards’ superiority on the ground in the first two frames wasnt enough to sway the judges who obviously favored Ludwig’s more effective striking.
Earlier in the evening, Kim Couture made short work of overmatched Lina Kvokov as she TKOd her foe in 1:44 of the first round. Couture, the wife of UFC legend Randy Couture, gained even more notoriety for the courage she displayed in her professional debut last June. She had a much easier time here”despite the fact that both fighters entered with 0-1 records Couture was significantly more polished as she put Kvokov on the defensive from the outset with her sharp punching combinations. She recovered momentarily and survived the initial onslaught. The reprieve was only temporary, however, as Couture launched another barrage of punches prompting the referee to step in and wave off the non-competitive affair.
Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer who has written on sports gambling and how to successfully bet on NFL football. He has appeared on TV and radio talking about boxing, cricket and NFL pointspreads. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a lynx.
Finding The Most Versatile Popular Weight Bench
If you own a weight bench you may be a little bit more likely to work out. It can be rather uncomfortable to lift weights while lying on the floor. Weight benches are great for many different exercises. Weight benches can be bought in several different designs. The four that are most common are the vertical bench, incline and decline bench, and the flat bench.
The flat weight bench is long and narrow with a padded bench to lay on. This type of bench is used for working out your upper body with bench presses. The vertical weight bench looks like a straight backed chair. The back support is there to keep you from injuring your back muscles while working out. A vertical weight bench is great for doing dumbbell shoulder presses.
The incline weight bench can be adjusted from lying flat to sitting up right. This weight bench is very versatile and therefore can be used for many different work out routines. One great way to work out on this bench is by doing incline presses. You are not limited to just this one work out with this fabulous bench. Many people prefer this bench because of the different work outs that can be done on it
The bench that has a downward slop to it where you head is lower than your feet is called the decline bench. This bench is great for working out your chest muscles. This is the least common of the weight benches. You have to get in awkward positions to work out on this bench and if you are not careful you could injure yourself. This bench is harder to work out on but the benefits are fabulous.
Before purchasing a weight bench it may be a good idea to visit a local gym and work out on some of their weight benches. This will allow you to try them out so that you will know which one you prefer working out with. Decide which muscles you need the most work on before buying a bench, because they all work out different areas. You need whichever bench is going to work out the areas you need the most work in.
If you are looking for a weight bench that not only works out your upper body you may want to look into the leg curl weight bench. This is a regular flat weight bench that has a leg curl bar on the bottom. While you are lifting weights you can also work out your leg muscles by doing curls with the leg curl bar.
There is also a bench for working out the abdomen muscles. These benches are called abdominal weight benches and they are declined slightly for abdominal exercises. You place your feet in the roller on the end to keep from sliding off. You could use a regular decline bench for these exercises but you would need to take care not to slide off.
There are certain techniques that you will need to be careful to follow while working on all of these weight benches if you want to avoid getting hurt. These benches can cause you to suffer damage to the muscles, to have a pulled muscles, or you could even damage your spine. If you use the right form while lifting weights you will be able to avoid injury. Be sure to use the right form from the very beginning til the end of the work out.
Finding a weight bench to help you get into shape? Well don’t fret, look into the different fitness bench choices you have online. Start your program and get your body into shape now!
The Best 5 NFL QBs of the Last 10 Years
As amazing as it seems, we’re almost done with another decade. This has been an interesting span of ten years in the pro football world. With some of the best quarterbacks to ever play the sport, I’m now going to go ahead in listing the top 10 QBs of the last decade.
My rankings factor in the overall performance over the last 10 years, rather than who may be better than who at present. Based on this, we’re going to remember what’s transpired in seasons past in determining who finished where on this list.
These are all a matter of opinion, and yours might be different from mine. If you feel that I’ve gotten this order wrong, I’d love to hear your reasoning.
Coming in at number five on my list is Kurt Warner, the veteran quarterback who is still going strong to this day. As the current leader of the Arizona Cardinals, he added a second Super Bowl appearance to his resume last season. Warner shows no signs of slowing down at this point.
Next up is Brett Favre. The veteran QB still looks great to this day, but his lack of a Super Bowl run prevents him from going any further here. Still, it’s hard to argue against the fact that Favre has been amazing.
Donovan McNabb may not be better for his career than Favre, but the decade has been a better one for McNabb without a doubt. He’s come one game away from the Super Bowl five times and it’s clear that he’s been the most consistent NFC quarterback during this span.
Next up is Tom Brady, who easily could have captured the number one spot on this list if not for his season ending injury and Peyton Manning’s recent dominance. Still, many might argue for at number one but I believe that Manning’s simply been a bit better.
Peyton Manning has been consistently amazing throughout the course of his career. This decade was no exception, as the Colts have been a constantly competitive team and always a threat to win the AFC. Manning is one of those quarterbacks who only surfaces once or twice per generation.
About the author: This author also has a site called is Rocket Spanish a scam that reviews the system.