How to Find Local Sports Bars

Robert Gold Bartender

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When traveling out of town, you often seek things that make you feel more comfortable; things that allow you to relax and enjoy the atmosphere and for that matter get a drink and possibly some good food. And while we’re on the subject, why not find a spot that caters to those demands and also has a sports atmosphere along with a big screen and coverage of the latest games?

Being new to a city is always an adventure, but what if the only cultural enlightenment you’re after is a good sports bar where you can unwind and have a good time? Depending upon where you find yourself, there are several ways you might track down a good one.

First, check with a local—if you’re taking a cab, ask the cabby where he goes. If that doesn’t work, there are usually some local papers that are advertising for your business and offering the very thing you’re looking for. It almost goes without saying that you can check the local nightlife by going online and searching from there. Though this is definitely a good start, that approach is a bit like taking a shotgun where a rifle is what is needed. You will want to narrow the search.

If you’re in Canada, they have a great system for getting information and feedback on local and national offerings at Canada 411. Not only can you discover the places the locals prefer, but you can also read reviews written on the bigger name establishments.

In any case, there are ways to track down the perfect local sports bar if you know where to look.

Filed Under: Excercises, Fitness Tagged With: , ,

Workout Plans For Swimmers

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Swimmers need to be at the top of their fitness game. To be a successful swimmer a specific workout plan is required to work on those muscles which will benefit a swimmer in the pool.

It is easy to devise a personalized workout plan if you are a swimmer or are training a swimmer. There are several things to keep in mind when devising a workout plan.

  • Make sure the workouts are frequent.  Frequent and shorter workouts seem to benefit swimmers more than less frequent and longer workouts. Although the workouts should be frequent and shorter this does not mean they should be any less challenging.
  • Drills are an integral part of any sports workout. Drills involving the practicing of swimming strokes are very important for swimmers.
  • Practice swimming different lengths. As with any sport which has various competitive modes, it is a good idea to keep your body and technique up to scratch in all of these areas.
  • Train outside of the pool. Many swimmers don’t only train in the pool; they also train with weights and do cardiovascular training. These other forms of workouts are very important for enhancing a swimmers strength and stamina so he or she can perform better in the swimming pool.

Training to be an amazing swimmer takes a great deal of commitment and hard work. It requires a person to work out across a number of different areas and to remain committed to a workout plan. In doing so, a person is enabling themselves to become a better swimmer and to realize his or her potential and goals in the pool.

 

 

Filed Under: Fitness, Sports, Swimming Tagged With: , ,

The Importance of Adequate Hydration for Athletes

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The advice to drink enough water on a daily basis is a common one from nutritionists and fitness coaches. This recommendation is especially important for athletes and anyone engaging in constant and strenuous physical activity. The majority of the weight of the human body is made up of water. Even muscles, which are often thought of as solid mass, consist of water to the tune of over 70% of their weight,

The Consequences of Low Water Intake

When athletes do not drink enough water, negative processes take place in the body. An athlete loses water through a variety of ways. Intense athletic activity leads to an overheated body and excessive perspiration. Add to that the regular loss of water through breathing and elimination and the end result is a body that is dehydrated and needs continuous fluid replenishment. A dehydrated athlete can suffer from both physical exhaustion and mental fatigue. Additionally, when the body is dehydrated, blood volume is decreased, leading to the slowing down of the sweating and cooling mechanism.

Determining How Much Water to Drink

There is no set advice that fits every athlete when it comes to the subject of hydration. Many factors come into play. The intensity of the daily activity, the length of physical exertion, the heat of the environment and a person’s own fluid reserves all play a role in determining how much water a particular athlete should drink.

The thirst mechanism should be heeded. If an athlete is feeling thirsty often, he is not drinking enough water. Ideally, athletes should drink before and during their workouts, and immediately after exercising.


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Do packaged products such as energy drinks and candy bars help Swimmers?

The proliferation of energy bars, energy drinks, energy tea, and several such products geared towards athletes and non athletes, young and old has every one wondering if this is just a passing or enduring fad or is there any benefit in consuming these products on a regular basis.

Depending upon the formula, these nutritional products can be rich in small sugars, vitamins, herbal ingredients such as Ginseng, plant extracts and several minerals to make an energy potion which can be digested and harnessed quickly, and provide tremendous boost for a tired person for several hours.

However, there has been no proof that any of these heavily marketed products can provide long term benefits in terms of permanently high energy levels or a vastly improved athletic performance.

Professional athletes might have specially designed eating and drinking regimen and they might seek consultancy from expert nutritionists who can design or at the very least recommend the best energy bar and drink to help boost their sports performance but such benefits are visible and meaningful only after substantial improvements in technique and swimming style have already been made, and the metabolism and energy level of such athletes is naturally high to begin with.

However amateur swimmers can use these packaged products to obtain real as well as perceived benefits in terms of higher energy levels, better focus, higher metabolism and even a psychological edge in keeping them motivated.

It is also important that swimmers, regardless of age or workout intensity try both natural products such as fruits, fruit juices, vegetable juices and herbs, as well as artificially developed cocktails of energy bars and drinks before making up their mind as to which nutritional supplements will help them consistently in the long run without side effects.

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What is the best time to swim- morning, noon or night?

One only has to go to the nearest community pool to realize that swimmers do not have any collective preferences on what time of the day they would like to swim.

There are several factors involved in making these decisions. The restrictions imposed by the daily schedule, ability to get up early in the morning and feel motivated enough to jump in the water which can be cold at times, and other factors such as traffic, early morning workplace commitments like meetings etc.  It is also possible that some people prefer to jump in the pool after a long day’s work to get refreshed and rejuvenated.

Ideally the best time to get a good workout from swimming is during the morning well before the rush hour. Due to body’s circadian rhythm and higher energy and hormone levels in the morning, an aerobic exercise such as swimming can give a tremendous boost in a synchronized manner so that the whole day goes by in an ebullient manner.

However, there is also a strong physiological case for an evening swimming routine when the mind and body are very tired and a splash in cold water is just the right medicine for tired muscles.

Ideally if one has enough time, an intense swimming regimen in the morning ranging from 60-70 minutes and a relatively casual swimming regimen in the evening for 30-40 min should be adequate for overall mind body relaxation and conditioning for peak performance with tranquil mindset.

However, a lot of students in Universities and many young and middle aged athletes swim for several hours a day from morning to noon and this regimen is great for those who want to build a professional swimming career.

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What kind of nutrition is recommended for regular swimmers?

The type and quantity of nutrition necessary for good health and well being for swimmers depends on the duration, intensity and purpose of the swimmers.

For professional swimmers there are expert nutritionists, physiotherapists and coaches who together with the athlete determine the best diet for maximum performance. The whole process is covered in a very scientific way with empirical inputs, what works and what doesn’t for each individual athlete.

Depending upon the metabolic profile, fat profile, muscle profile and overall strength and endurance levels of each individual athlete a nutrition program can be designed which has the right balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and minerals for peak performance.

For amateur swimmers who are serious about maintaining an athletic profile, a high protein, medium carbohydrate and low fat diet is ideal for maximum benefit.  A high protein diet can ensure that the muscle to weight ratio is optimum and the muscle mass is not compromised. A medium carbohydrate diet would make sure that there are enough calories and nutrients in the body for quick energy workout and endurance swimming without undergoing fatigue. Swimmers should avoid complex-sugar rich products which are difficult to metabolize in favor of simple sugars found in fruit juices and vegetables. A low fat intake would make sure that the body does not gain fat and the senses do not become dull.

A diet rich in Vitamin E and A as well as adequate Iron and Zinc is also highly advised for a healthy physical condition. Overall a normal nutritious diet on a daily basis should be more than adequate for most swimmers except professional athletes.

Filed Under: Fitness, Swimming Tagged With: ,

Training to Swim

When you want to learn how to swim, there are a couple of different ways that you can use.  For many people, just being able to swim effectively enough to save their own (and anybody else’s) life is plenty to know for their purposes.  For some other people, being able to do complex, beautifully choreographed synchronized swimming techniques is the way they want to go with it.  And for some other people, swimming is a great way to win races.  Naturally, these are three very different ideologies, and as such they will involve using three entirely different strategies for getting to your goals.  And while they will all feed each other (becoming good at one will naturally push you a little bit of the way toward becoming good at the others), they are far from the same pursuits.

If you have ever seen a group of synchronized swimmers, you may notice that a lot of their time is actually spent outside of the water.  These young ladies will typically spend more than half of their training time on the pool deck, simply rehearsing their routines.  They get it down to the point where they could do the motions in their sleep (which would be very dangerous underwater).  But the most impressive thing about a synchronized swimmer is in her ability to hold her breath under water- their average amount of time is about two minutes.

By contrast, most people who are just swimming for their lives (or even competitive swimmers) are very rarely going to have to hold their breath for more than twenty seconds or so.  They spend their time in the water, doing lap after lap, after lap.  The training is more about getting the strokes down than it is to do anything to the beat of a song.  While there is no right or wrong, how you train is very much informed by what you are out to accomplish when you swim.

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An Athlete’s Appetite

When you start to swim, or really to do any sport that requires a lot of moving around, you are going to notice something about how you eat.  Namely, that you are going to be wanting to eat a good deal more than you did before you started with your athletic regimen.  Naturally, you are going to be burning more calories while you train than you did back when your greatest athletic endeavor was going from the couch to the fridge and back during the commercial break.  It has been said that some of the most active athletes (such as Michael Phelps) can eat 12,000 calories in a day, without any significant changes to their body composition.  If that sounds incredible, you have never seen what a lot of professional athletes have to go through in their training.

If you want to be a great athlete, you have got to eat.  Unless you want to be as anorexic and weak as a lot of European models are, you have got to replenish the calories that you burn off while you work out.  As great as it is to be slim and trim, it is possible to take it to an unhealthy level.  You will know that you are malnourished when, in spite of a lot of great workouts and some decent rest periods, you are not recovering (let alone improving) to the extent that you know you should be doing.

In order to repair your body properly, you have got to eat.  If possible, eat six to eight times a day, balancing it between roughly forty percent carbs, thirty percent proteins and thirty percent fats.  Naturally, you could just scarf pizzas, burgers and fries all day long.  But if you do that, you will probably notice that you are not getting up to your maximum potential.  Keep in mind that no matter how hard you work out, you are what you eat no matter what.

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Building a Strong Body

There is a lot more to being good at any given sport than just having a strong body.  But of course, those other topics are for other articles.  In this one, we are going to talk about how you can go from wherever you happen to be right now (and it is all right if you are a little less than mighty, or even an absolute wimp) to where you want to be.  Even Hercules had to train himself, to become the strongest man in the world.  And if the sons of Greek gods have to do it, you do, too.  You can train for strength using weights, yoga and pilates, standard calisthenics, and through cardio.  They all have their place, if you want to build a well rounded, powerfully muscles athletic machine.

First off, not everybody who is very strong lifts weights.  You can develop a lot of power and stamina through calisthenics and other bodyweight centered exercises.  While you can train yourself in a lot of unusual angles if you add weights into the mixture, they are not critical.  But you are going to need to push (and pull) yourself through a lot of movements, if you are going to develop your muscles and joints into what they are going to need to be for a solid athletic performance.

Naturally, yoga and pilates are great ways to condition your muscles into solid, flexible powerhouses (yes, that is a pilates joke).  But when you do more traditional calisthenics like pushups, pullups and squats, you can condition yourself for greater stamina and power.  Just remember that to keep your cardiovascular endurance up to where it has to be, you need to cross train, too.  Swimming, biking and running are all great ways to do that, as well as skipping rope.  Basically, anything that forces you to push yourself out of your comfort zone is going to cause you get stronger.  Just keep pushing the envelope.

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Intervals versus distance swimming

A common question from aspiring swimmers seems to be “Which is better, distance swimming or intervals?” For those who don’t know, intervals involve what essentially amounts to sprinting in the water, alternating with slower rest periods.

And like a lot of questions the answer is, “That depends.”

That depends on whether the swimmer in questions is working on endurance, speed or just trying to perfect their technique. Taking these out of order it’s important to emphasize how critical technique really is. Not having a specific stroke down just right can not only hamper swimming performance, it can lead to more serious shoulder injuries.

So a good first step is having someone who knows what they are talking about watch you swim. Once a swimmer feels confident they are making the motions correctly, it’s safe to jump off a little and work on endurance and speed.

The remaining answer between those two goals is pretty straight forward and mirrors what a runner might do on land. Marathon runners who are training for a 26-mile race will probably run long distances at a steady, maintainable pace. The same is true for swimmers. Endurance swimming will be great for trimming off unwanted fat and improving cardiovascular stamina.

On the other hand sprinters on land will train by running shorter distances at full speed. This type of explosive action will develop muscle in a different manner than distance running. The same is true for swimming. Training by swimming intervals, or essentially sprinting shorter distances in the water will build more muscle mass and make for an overall faster swimmer.

In the end a combination of the two types of training are ideal for most swimmers. Whether someone is training to swim competitively or just trying to get in better shape, using these two training methods together will undoubtedly yield results.

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