Net Gamblings

You may have had coaches that make you count strokes throughout the workout, either by mixing it into drill sets, the main set, or at the end of workout. Some coaches recommend making a habit of always keeping track of your stroke count. As a coach of distance swimmers and triathletes, I believe stroke counting is a necessary part of most swimming workouts.

If you stick with it and do it on a consistent basis, stroke counting in swimming is an excellent way to increase your DPS (Distance Per Stroke). The world’s best swimmers are faster than you because they travel further with each stroke, not because they are moving their arms faster. Keeping track of the number of strokes you take per length will allow you to begin to lengthen out your stroke, as well as add more speed and distance while keeping your heart rate down and allowing you to save your energy for later in the swim or race.

The goal should be to bring down your average stroke count per length. Great swimmers like Alexander Popov or Ian Thorpe may be able to scoot through the water at record speed while taking 30 strokes per length (50 meters), but this low stroke count does not have to be your golden number for improving your stroke. First, determine what your range is. Try to swim most of the time at the low end of your range or below your lowest stroke count. Don’t worry about speed at first- you can influence this later, perhaps as you begin to learn what your “ideal” stroke count is. Here is an example of a set that can help lengthen your stroke, as well as build endurance:

50+100+150+200+200+150+100+50 -Take 10-30 seconds between swims -Count your strokes each length on the way up. -Try to maintain or lower your stroke count on the way down while keeping the same pace.

Another fun set that you can play with is free golf. For example: 6×50’s Free on 1:05. For each 50, count your strokes AND check your time. Add these 2 numbers together to get your golf score. Try to lower this score through the set. The tricky part is, trying to add speed without adding strokes, or subtracting strokes without sacrificing speed.

Consistently incorporating stroke counting into your workouts will, over time, help you to swim longer (or “taller”) in the water, and use less energy to go the same speed or even faster. And for those that don’t consider swimming to be their strength in a triathlon, this saved energy is sure to translate into a better bike and run!

Fibroid tumor symptoms are often blamed on other causes. Sometimes, the symptoms of fibroid tumors are not even noticed, while other times the quality of life is affected every day. Fibroid tumors are non-cancerous growths that form in the uterus. Fibroid tumors often grow in groups, and they can be as small as a pea or as large as an egg or even a grapefruit. Fibroid tumors afflict nearly 80% of North American women. About 40% of women will develop fibroid tumor symptoms during perimenopause, which is the age before menopause.

Here are the leading symptoms of fibroid tumors:

1. Pain – especially lower abdominal pain or pain and irritation in the bladder area. The pain can come and go or it can be somewhat constant. And pain with sexual activity can happen if the fibroid tumors grow in proximity to the vagina or become large enough to cause the vaginal walls to protrude.

2. Pressure on the bladder or lower abdomen – this pressure can result in having to urinate often. Also, you can feel a sense of urgency to urinate before you normally would expect to have to go. In rare cases, one can lose the ability to urinate.

3. Menstrual cycle problems – heavy bleeding or painful periods, sometimes bleeding between periods. Women with fibroids sometimes have periods that last 8 days or longer. If frequent or heavy bleeding occurs, the excessive blood loss can result in an anemic condition.

4. Increase in waist size and shape – even though there is no significant weight gain, your clothing no longer fits around the midsection.

5. Pressure on the rectum – the result is constipation and/or the development of hemorroids.

6. Depression, irritability – constant pain can wreak havoc with ones state of mind.

7. Infertility and pregnancy complications – a fertilized egg cannot implant in the uterus if that wall is already occupied by one or more fibroids leading to miscarriage. When fibroid tumors are found near the fallopian tubes, the passage may be partially or totally blocked. This usually means that the egg cannot come down and the sperm cannot go up, so the egg and the sperm can never meet and pregnancy cannot occur. When a fertilized egg does implant in the uterine wall with a fibroid tumor located near the implantation site, the fibroid may continue to grow, demanding both space and nourishment needed by the fetus. The result may be miscarriage.

Fibroid tumor symptoms are the #1 reason women in their thirties or forties have hysterectomies in the USA each year. 1 in 4 women will have complaints serious enough to seek medical treatment for the symptoms of fibroid tumors.

Fortunately, only about 1% of fibroid tumors are malignant. Physicians with patient health in mind will advise that hysterectomy should be performed only in the event of malignancy or other life-threatening condition such as heavy uncontrolled bleeding. That means far too many hysterectomies and removal of the uterus are used as a fibroid tumor symptoms treatment. Some women with fibroids have no symptoms of fibroid tumors other than the fibroid itself. Other women will have one or more of the symptoms listed above.

Why do fibroid tumors develop? There are several known factors that cause fibroid tumor growth and fibroid tumor symptoms in women. And instead of submitting to hysterectomy surgery, there are effective alternative treatments for symptoms of fibroid tumors. Learn as much as you can about this common medical condition affecting so many women today.

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing

The following is the essential part translated by W.Zhiliang from some Chinese Traditional Medicine books published in Qing Dynasty:

15 Advisable Actions:

It is advisable to comb your hair often.

It is advisable to rub your face often.

It is advisable to move your eyeballs often.

It is advisable to rap on your ears(occiput —>see picture) often.

It is advisable to click your teeth often.

It is advisable to swallow your saliva often.

It is advisable to warm your back often.

It is advisable to protect your chest often.

It is advisable to massage your abdomen often.

It is advisable to contract your anus(muscular contraction)often.

It is advisable to rub your soles often.

It is advisable to shake your limbs often.

It is advisable to touch your palate with your tongue often.

It is advisable to keep your skin dry often.

It is advisable to be silent when you relieve yourself.

Various Impairments & Injuries:

Reading for too long brings impairment of blood.

Sleeping for too long brings impairment of Qi.

Sitting for too long brings impairment of flesh.

Standing for too long brings impairment of bone.

Walking for too long brings impairment of tendons.

Thinking for too long brings impairment of spleen.

Too much anger brings impairment of liver.

Too much worry brings impairment of heart.

Too much sorrow brings impairment of lung.

Too much horror brings impairment of kidney.

Too much food brings impairment of stomach.

Too much exertion brings impairment of diaphragm.

Being injured by wind in spring usually causes diarrhea in summer.

Being injured by heat in summer usually causes malaria in autumn.

Being injured by dankness in autumn usually causes a cough in winter.

Being injured by cold in winter usually causes seasonal febrile disease in spring.

Being full and drunk to copulate causes exhaustion of spirit and strength.

Speaking during midnight’s sleep causes much loss of Qi.

Sitting(or sleeping) in wet places causes numbness, arthralgia or leprosy.

Braving wind and rain causes somatic heaviness and pain.

Overeating causes dysentery and abscess.

Do not take food after your anger.

Do not be angry after your meal.

Do not take cold food or drink after being drunk.

Do not sleep immediately after being sated with food.

Energy Flow(Qi) Cultivation Methods:

In the midnight, a little while of still and quiet sitting(without thinking) is substantial to generate Qi in your whole body.

Whenever you are free, stir your tongue in the mouth, touch your palate with your tongue, wait for the saliva to be produced, gargle with the saliva in the mouth, gulp the saliva down with a gurgling sound, meanwhile quickly draw in a breath of fresh air through your nose and mentally direct(envision,as if you see) the fresh air accompanying the saliva(regarded as an energy flow) to flow down to “Dantian” (the point 2″ below the navel inside the underbelly—> see picture1 ), hold on for a little while. Now slightly contract up your anus, mentally direct the energy flow to go backwards to “Weilu” , then to flow upwards through “Jiaji” and “Yuzhen”, and finally to arrive at “Niwan” (see picture2). Now this is a completed circle. So go round and begin again. Frequently doing this exercise will make you healthy, strong and energetic. And you will have a sensation of the energy flow flowing in your body.

The standard pattern for thinning hair in guys is the receding hair line on the forehead that shows an m shape. The crown of the head might often also start to thin and become finer. Hair loss in patches does not tend to appear in genetic baldness.

Hair grows normally one inch every two months, each and every human hair follicle will last around 2 to 6 years and then falls out. Once the guys hair falls out a regenerated hair follicle takes its place on your head. With genetic hair loss once your human hair falls out the hair doesn?t come back. Watch a hair loss video online from Advanced Hair Studio today.

Each strand of hair sits in a follicle in your scalp, over the course of time the strand in men may tighten and result in less hair on your head or no hair. The reason for genetic baldness is still not known and might often be related to hormones or your genetic makeup. Although your follicle will tighten the follicles are still capable of growing hair if treated.

Baldness will cause stress in lads and luckily there are astonishing loss of hair treatments available that will probably help slow down loss of hair and boost mind-blowing hair regrowth. These hair regrowth treatments include minoxidil which is a fantastic topical treatment used directly on your scalp, this genetic hair loss treatment is shown to prevent hair loss and even produce regrowth, now that is fantastic. Once you stop this treatment the hair loss will then begin again.

Have you heard about it lately? Everywhere you look, women over 30 can find one hundred excuses for not being able to lose weight and keep it off.

Blame it on your thyroid, cortisol, menopause, your hectic lifestyle or even your genes. But, the real reason you find yourself battling those last 15 or 20 pounds all comes down to how you handle five major issues.

#5 Not Understanding How Diets Work Atkins, South Beach, The Zone, Dr. Phil…You could spend a lifetime trying the over-one-thousand diets on the market. How do you simplify things? How do you know you’ve found the “magic” diet?

Even though this fact may burn the ears of many women, the truth remains that if you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more. Ouch! I just heard some lady scream from the pain of realization. But that’s how a diet works.

Just like you can find medical documents that praise and persecute popular diets, you will always find that most medical studies prove that this weight loss formula is just as effective as it was some 3.5 million years ago when Lucy used it – eat less, exercise more.

So don’t put so much power into the name of your diet as to the nutritional content of the diet. In short, each and everyday you need to eat proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

#4 Not Exercising Enough Your personal trainer told you and now the FDA is barking down your throat, “Exercise more!” The only way to divorce cellulite from those thighs is to create a fat deficit. That’s the only way your body will utilize those excess fat globules.

My favorite way of knowing that I am vacating unwelcome cellulite, or encroaching cellulite, is feeling the tingle in my legs as I exercise for 40-50 minutes at a time. You don’t need to run yourself dogged, just exercise smarter as researchers at the University of Pittsburgh suggest.

After monitoring 201 overweight women using various exercise methods from high-intensity and long, to low-intensity and short, this study featured in the Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition found that women who exercised briskly for at least 50 minutes, five times a week while using a sensible diet, lost an average of 25 pounds in six months.

#3 Giving Up Too Quickly You’ll hear it in gyms and offices all across America. “I didn’t lose 20 pounds in two weeks so that diet obviously sucks.”

As shocking as it sounds, too many women believe that weight loss should be fast. While “Cosmo” and “Star” will promise to divulge the starvation secrets of how models lose mounds of weight in days, don’t buy it.

That stuff might work on Mars, but if you want to see real results, you need to give your body at least eight weeks, or ideally 12. This is because, when you diet, your body wholly resists this change and it is actually going to test your dedication to sticking with the diet.

While you can try to trick your body with get-skinny-quick-diets like ketosis induction or protein diets, you can’t stay on such diets for life. Eventually your liver will exhaust from handling excessive amounts of protein. Plus your breath will stink. Yuck! Remember, patience, while repulsive to some, is a dieting virtue.

#2 No Focus In a world of too much to do and too little time to fit it in after soccer practice, how are you going to stick with a diet? You have priorities. You wake up everyday, maybe go to work, eat somewhere and collect a paycheck somehow. You will only “do” the important things.

Moreover, you will only do what gives you visible pain or pleasure. If your diet is not actively moving you away from pain and etching you closer to pleasure, you’ll relegate you diet to the trash, because the diet proves psychologically useless to you.

Priorities, on the other hand, give you real benefits or punishments if they’re not respected. For example, wouldn’t it suck this weekend if you couldn’t buy those Nine West shoes because you ditched work on Wednesday and Thursday.

The same applies to your diet, won’t it suck when you can’t fit into that $250, two sizes too small dress you caught on sale at Neiman Marcus?

#1 Weak Self-Confidence There’s a great line in Don Miguel Ruiz’s Beyond Fear, “We only need to protect ourselves from ourselves.” This is certainly the case when dieting.

Whether or not you maintain your self-confidence and self-trust while dieting will determine your dieting success. Don’t base your self-confidence on outside events or those mean people that call you “fat” behind your back. Safely house your confidence within, and base it on who you are, not on what you succeed or fail at doing.

Ruiz, penned another cool line, “The normal state of the mind is hell.” I just heard an “Amen!” from the audience. Dieting will be hell if you let your self-confidence slip.

Ok, so go get your pen and jot down these five dieting keepsakes and place them in your purse as a reference.

1. I eat less, and exercise more. 2. I exercise moderately five times a week for 50 minutes at a time. 3. I am giving myself at least six weeks to see results from my diet. 4. My diet is a priority and I know the long-term payoffs of my successful weight loss. 5. I am confident and trust myself to lose weight.

What’s that now? Silence? I don’t hear a single dieting excuse coming from anywhere. My work here is done.

Pilates is an exercise technique, which encourages the mind to control the muscles by strengthening the powerhouse. In Pilates, the powerhouse resides in the middle of the body such as the abdomen, lower back and buttocks.

You will need to support and strengthen the powerhouse to enable the rest of the body to move freely.

Pilates is an exercise that you will perform while sitting or lying down. Thus, it is best for rehabilitation purposes especially for patients with injuries and those that are bedridden.

Initially, Joseph Pilates, the German national who discovered Pilates used this exercise to train police officers. Police officers perform this exercise in 1912 as a means to rehabilitate themselves after a long day of work.

Joseph Pilates also designed Pilates Cadillac, an exercise equipment patterned from an old hospital bed. He did this precisely for the purpose of teaching rehabilitating patients confined in bed and for those officers who are down from injury.

The exercises in pilates avoids too much repetition unlike other exercises do. This exercise uses fewer, but precise movements. These movements employ control and form. These exercises also reduce stress that regular exercise can do for the heart. It is thus safe for older exercisers and even for injured patients.

In almost five hundred exercises in pilates, the most frequent form is the mat work. The mat work involves a series of callisthenic motions without weight or apparatus and are done while lying down.

Additionally, Joseph Pilates believes that mental health and physical health are essential to one another, thus he creates this exercise program based on the belief that a total body conditioning is necessary and beneficial. Total body conditioning emphasizes proper alignment, centering, concentration, control, precision, muscle tone, body awareness, energy and improved mental concentration. These words are the backbone of pilates.

Pilates focuses on the use of the mind to control the body, thus Joseph Pilates who lived his youth with asthma, rickets, rheumatic fever, overcame poor health and grew to be a body builder, diver, skier and a gymnast.

After which, in 1912, he worked in England as a boxer, circus performer and self-defense trainer. You will of course agree with me that this is quite odd for a sickly kid.

This therefore shows that the mind can be more powerful than the muscle. Following this belief, pilates practitioners use their body as weights in training to build strength and flexibility without focus on high-powered cardiovascular exercise.

You will not need to perform those rigorous exercises that put strain in your cardiovascular zone as other exercises do.

Pilates and the environment it evolves in is as an assistive environment that optimizes the acquisition of movement with a reduction of destructive forces. These exercises can be used to progress individuals through more challenging movements that represent day-to-day activities.

In fact, these exercises are an old approach to movement re-education that is coming to be important in physical fitness and rehabilitation from injury.

The method of performing Pilates especially for beginners consist of very gentle exercises done with a mat while sitting down or lying down. It focuses on awareness of the spine, proper breathing, core strength and flexibility.

The desired outcome of Pilates is a balanced body, which is strong and supple, flat stomach, balanced legs and strong back.

In today’s time, physical therapists use these exercises and techniques to help in the rehabilitation of injured patients. Only quite a few use pilates for general health and well-being, this however needs to change because Pilates offers more than just a cure for sick patients, it is in fact helpful for those overweight individuals who cannot find ways and means to lose weight and control their body.

It may be helpful to try Pilates if you want to be healthy and active.