The Sports Archives – Train Like An Athlete – Win Like An Athlete

Posted on September 8, 2017 by thesportsarchives

Professional sports players have to put a lot of time and energy into their practice if they are to get the desired results. Many lay people will find it hard to comprehend the kind of work that goes into it. But if you consider yourself something of a budding athlete, you might be curious as to how they actually do train. The training regimes of professionals are a useful resource for anyone wanting to improve their game – whatever that game might be. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to train more like your favorite athlete.

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Follow The Holistic Method

Putting plenty of effort into your training session is absolutely a major part of all this. But if you really want to excel as much as possible, you need to spend just as much time thinking about what to do outside of those hours. The holistic method – that which includes every aspect of your life – is essential if you want to be like a professional athlete. Essentially, you need to make sure that everything you do in your daily life is towards your goal, rather than away from it. Is your diet the right kind of diet for the workouts and sports that you partake in? Are you getting enough sleep, or too much? How much or little is your sex life affecting your play? All of these need considering, so that you can approach your athletic life more appropriately and professionally.

Enjoy The Training

If at any time your training sessions start to feel like a real hard graft, you might be doing something wrong. Of course you want to feel a certain strain, you want to be pushed to your limits. But you should still be enjoying it, even while being stretched in that way. If you are not enjoying it, there are some simple things you can do to start enjoying it all the more. You might decide to get hold of some good quality bass earbuds such as those listed at headphonesman.net; music can be a great way to spur you on. Or you might want to remind yourself what you are achieving, and why. If you like training with your friends, get them involved to enjoy it more.

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Remember The Value Of Relaxation

You need to give yourself an opportunity to relax during your training sessions, and afterward. The role of relaxation in training for any sport is incredibly important. Myofascial release deactivates any genuine pain you might have built up in your muscle, and this is essential if you want to repair enough to get back to training next time around. Similarly, you need to let yourself warm-down after every session. A lot of people fail to do this, but you can be sure that those people are not the athletes you look up to. Look after your body, and you will be able to get much more out of it.

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The Sports Archives – European Football Trips Are A Big Highlight

Posted on September 7, 2017 by thesportsarchives

Football Soccer MatchWith the domestic football season in the United Kingdom over and done with, you may think some fans will be delighted that the season is over and done with. If you have endured a tough year or your team didn’t perform as well as you had hoped, the summer break is the ideal time to recharge your batteries and stop thinking about the game for a while. Of course, if your team had a great season, the summer can feel far too long and plenty of people will be counting down the days until competitive football action starts again.

With no games to look forward to for the next few weeks, you may think this is a chance for football fans to save some money but this isn’t the case. The summer months can actually be quite expensive for the standard football fan, and plenty of people end up spending a lot of cash in preparing for the new season. First of all, if you buy a season book to follow your side, this is the time of year to hand over the money and guarantee your place watching your team. Depending on the level of football you watch and the pricing undertaken by your team, this may see you having to hand over a lot of money in one go.

New kits are a vital summer purchase for many fans

There is also the fact that many sides launch their new strip or kits over the summer. This is all part of the planning and preparation stages for the new season, and you can see why clubs would be keen to have their new kit out in time for the school holidays. A football strip is one of the most indispensable items of clothing for a summer holiday and the new kit is a must-have buy for die-hard for their summer holiday. There will be plenty of fashion purists who tell you that this is a bad choice but if you are keen to show your love and passion for your favourite side, the new kit on summer holiday is a classic action.

There will be some fans who are looking to put money aside for European adventures. There will be five English Premier League teams involved with the Champions League next season. Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Manchester United all gain direct access to the premier tournament in European football action. The Red Devils actually finished 6th in the league but as they triumphed in the Europa League, they will be playing in the main European tournament next season. Liverpool will be in the final qualifying round but you have to think that the Merseyside team will get through that challenge and take their place in the main event. Given that Manchester United and Liverpool have been out of the Champions League of late, next season should be an interesting and exciting one for these teams.

Arsenal have to settle for Europa League action

Arsenal ended their season on a high by winning the FA Cup against Chelsea, but they will only be playing in the Europa League next season. This is a blow for Arsenal fans who are accustomed to their team getting through the group stages only to be humiliated by Bayern Munich or Barcelona. Next season is set to be something a bit different for the North London side and it remains to be seen who their fans will react.

In Scotland, six in a row champions Celtic will once again have to battle through the qualifiers if they are going to take their place in the main tournament. The Champions League is a much better place when Celtic are involved and there are few stadiums in the tournament that provides the atmosphere and excitement that Celtic Park manages on a big European night. It is easy to see why the club’s ground has the nickname of Paradise, and hopes will be high that they will once again grace the leading football tournament in European football.

It is easy to see why many football fans in Britain will be planning ahead for European football away days but these trips aren’t cheap and they often involve deadlines for payment. This is why many fans may need assistance in arranging payment for these trips.

Anyone looking to follow their team in Europe should start saving and planning now, as this will make the process easier when the time to book comes along.

Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.

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The Sports Archives – 4 Things Everyone Should Know About WWE

Posted on September 6, 2017 by thesportsarchives

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What comes to mind when you think of the WWE?

For the majority of non-WWE watchers, the answer is probably: “fake and rubbish”. WWE occupies a certain space in the national mind. It’s for people who don’t have anything better to do, people who still think it’s all real, people who somehow aren’t aware the ‘fights’ they are seeing are staged. It’s idiotic – why would anyone watch it?

Yet people do watch it, and they watch it in staggeringly high numbers. Every year, the annual Wrestlemania event attracts millions of people to their screens and hundreds of thousands into some of the biggest arenas in America. Are they all just delusional? Or do these viewers perhaps understand something that the general populace has got very wrong?

If you have ever been tempted to write off the world of “sports entertainment” or look down on those who enjoy it, then there’s a few realities that you need to know.

  1. WWE Fans Know It’s Not “ Real”

There might have been a time when fans of WWE genuinely thought what they were seeing was real – when they were children. There are few adult fans who have ever truly believed what they are seeing is a real reflection of the lives and arguments of the people in the ring.

What WWE fans do is what everyone does when they watch a superhero movie; they suspend reality. You don’t see anyone walking out of a Superman movie, moaning about how it’s not real. The same suspension of disbelief is what allows WWE fans to enjoy the product they are watching.

In fact, one of the worst things the WWE can do is appear to be “too real” – you will see scores of commenters lamenting times they have been jolted out of the suspension of disbelief. As with one famous example, the idea that it’s real is just that – an idea, something to enjoy, an escapism. But there’s no need to go telling WWE fans it’s not real; they’re well aware of that.

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  1. Knowing It’s Not Real Makes WWE Even Better

On a basic level, WWE and the form of wrestling it shows is basically barbarity; men hitting one another with chairs, heads being slammed in cinder blocks. There’s very little appetite among the general population for that kind of thing if it’s 100% real.

What there is an appetite for is to see how well the wrestlers can make it look like these things are happening. Then, WWE transforms almost into real-time special effects. How convincing can they make it? How good are the wrestlers at selling their pain, their match, the impact of what’s happening to them? It’s this ability that tends to distinguish good wrestlers from the bad. Bear in mind this is all happening in the moment, live; there’s no do-overs, no edits.

The fans who go to WWE shows, subscribe to the network, buy the merchandise – they’re just fans of a different kind of art to the general populace. That doesn’t make them wrong, or stupid; it just means they see value in something a little different. While a WWE match may be billed as versus – such as Triple H versus Seth Rollins, from the last Wrestlemania – a WWE fan understands this is a misnomer. It’s actually more like: Triple H and Seth Rollins, working together to put on a spectacle. When fans start evaluating matches in this way, there’s a new kind of enjoyment to be found.

  1. WWE Is Brutal

With all of the above acknowledged, it would be false to say that the WWE is entirely fake. In fact, wrestlers can and do get badly hurt – even when the things they are trying to do go right. When things go wrong, the potential for very serious injury is very real indeed. Wrestlers have to have a high pain tolerance to perform the stunts that they are required to do.

When you jump off the top of a ladder, then it’s going to hurt. When you’re sent crashing through a table – even if that table is rigged to break easily – then it’s going to hurt. There’s always going to be this element to wrestling as entertainment, so to dismiss it as unathletic and “not a real sport” is truly unfair to the men and women who choose this as their occupation. There’s a lot of athletics involved, as well as almost gymnastic capabilities; one of the most common moves, a moonsault, takes a lot of strength and ability to perform.

So while the outcome may be determined and the big stunts are coordinated, there’s a huge element of WWE wrestling that is very far from “fake”.

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  1. WWE Is Ridiculous – But It’s Meant To Be

WWE has often been described as “soap opera for men”, which is a pretty fitting way of looking at it. The WWE is ridiculous, over-the-top, incredibly silly, sophomoric and childish – but it’s meant to be. The WWE doesn’t take itself seriously; misunderstanding this fact is something many non-fans are guilty of.

For example, in 2006, D-Generation X reunited for the first time in nearly a decade. Shawn Michaels and Triple H spent months making bad jokes, impersonating other characters on the show, and generally being childish. This was entirely the intention; they even wanted people to laugh at their “Dad humor”. To a non-fan, they might tune in, see this, and think the WWE is terrible for making stars of such idiots – but that’s because they’d entirely be missing the point.

So yes, the storylines are ridiculous; the characters are like comic book heroes come to life – but the athleticism, ability, and acting is all very real. Appreciating WWE requires a willingness to suspend disbelief, to indulge in the sillier side of life. It might not be something you personally can enjoy, but hopefully the above should help you understand a little better the next time someone in your life confesses to enjoying it.

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The Sports Archives – 5 Brilliant Ways to Combat Fatigue and Boost Your Energy Levels

Posted on September 4, 2017 by thesportsarchives

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Are you among the majority of Americans who suffer from fatigue and low energy? If you have a hard time getting up in the morning, you certainly aren’t alone. Studies show that only one in 7 Americans get up in the morning feeling well rested every day of the week.

How are people supposed to get ahead if they continue to fall back on their sleep? Experts say that seven hours of sleep is sufficient, but there are other things you can do throughout the day to combat your fatigue and naturally boost your energy.

Set the afternoon coffee aside and consider these 5 ways to increase your energy and decrease your fatigue throughout the day.

1. Improve the quality of your sleep

While you may be getting enough sleep, is it quality sleep? It is important to stay asleep through the night so your body gets enough of that deep, restorative level of sleep that it needs.

One way to make sure you get a good night’s sleep is to begin every night with a bedtime routine that lets your body know it is time to sleep. Renee Zellweger has a relaxing bedtime routine which helps her calm down after a long day and prepare her mind to wind down.

Also, make sure that your sleeping environment is conducive to a full night’s rest. Turn off all of the lights in and around your room and make sure that there is nothing that will make noise in the middle of the night and wake you up. Use a fan to help keep the air circulating and to add some white noise to your bedroom.

Finally, make sure that you don’t drink a lot of fluids before heading to bed and certainly don’t drink caffeine during the afternoon or evening hours. You don’t want get up multiple times in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, so hydrate as much as you can during the day and stop drinking soon after dinner.

2. Exercise more!

Exercise is a natural stress reducer because it pumps up your endorphins. When you engage in physical activity, your brain produces more of these feel-good neurotransmitters that also act as a natural pain reliever.

Research has proven multiple times that physical activity positively impacts sleep quality. Professor Brad Cardinal, an expert in exercise science at Oregon State University, says that getting physical activity on a regular basis may be one of the best non-pharmaceutical alternatives to improving sleep.

If you do not already exercise, start small. You can take your time to gradually build up your physical activity over several weeks until you reach the recommended amount of 2.5 hours of moderate aerobic exercise every week. You can start with some fast walking or swimming. As long as you get your heart rate up, you will be benefitting your body.

3. Engage in relaxing activities

One of the best ways to combat fatigue is to engage in relaxing activities during the day, in order to calm your mind. Because stress uses up a lot of energy, try to reduce it by including more relaxing activities into your daily routine.

Whenever you feel your stress level rise during the day, resort to a relaxing activity that you know will calm you down. You can either do a gentle workout, take a walk, listen to some music, read a book, or you can just spend time with your friends.

Because in our modern society, people are overwhelmed with work, stress and responsibilities, it’s highly important that we try to find the right balance in our lives, mixing up work with fun and relaxing activities. This balance is, in itself, an energy booster.

4. Meditate

Try some light meditation or yoga to help calm your body and get your focus back. There are several ways that yoga helps relieve stress and calm the brain. Yoga will also help stretch out your muscles to reduce the chance that you will get muscle cramps during the night.

Mindfulness meditation is also a great way to help the mind wind down. This type of meditation involves focusing on your breath and paying attention to the present moment without allowing your mind to drift onto other concerns about the future or the past. This type of meditation helps to evoke the relaxation response, which is one of the best ways to combat fatigue.

Meditating will help you let go of things in your life that may be causing you stress and allow your mind to refocus on the things that are important to you.

5. Sleep on your side

You are probably wondering what does your sleep position have to do with this whatsoever. However, you will be surprised to find out that side sleeping is the optimal sleeping position to get the best rest. Doctors actually encourage pregnant women to sleep on their left side because it helps increase circulation to the heart, benefitting both the mother and the baby.

For those who are not expecting, sleeping on the left side is beneficial because it can ease heartburn and reduce acid reflux, which makes it easier for people suffering from these conditions to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Furthermore, choosing to sleep in other positions, such as on your stomach, can lead to pain throughout the day. Sleeping on your stomach flattens the natural curve of your spine, which can result in lower back pain. Also, sleeping with your head turned to one side strains the neck and can lead to neck pain.

Sleeping on your side also helps you to avoid instances of snoring and sleep apnea that are likely to happen if you sleep on your back. When you sleep on your back, gravity forces your tongue to collapse into your airway, obstructing breathing and creating snoring noises.

If you are finding that you are tired throughout the day and need a boost of energy, try these tips to increase your energy levels and get rid of fatigue.

Don’t forget that the quality of your sleep has a huge impact on your overall health, so think twice before grabbing a mid-afternoon coffee drink for a pick-me-up.

Author bio: Alex Moore is a Side Sleeper Guide writer and editor. He is keen on health and sleep research, sustainable living and motivational advice. If you’re interested in reading more of his work, go on Twitter.

 

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The Sports Archives – How to Train Your Mental Game

Posted on September 2, 2017 by thesportsarchives

Most sports have a mental aspect that the best players struggle to overcome. In fact, it’s safe to say that golf is one of the most psychologically intense sports out there. There are many factors that contribute to the extreme pressure level that many players face. Often, it’s an individual sport — you have no team to fall back on. Also, a round of golf can last for hours, during which time any mistake can have a dramatic effect on the rest of the game.

So, how do you overcome the mental pitfalls that seem to wait for you every time you walk onto the golf course? The simplest answer is to stay in the moment. Of course, this is much easier said than done, but there are a few techniques that you can use that will help your mind and body focus on what’s happening right now, rather than that three-putt on the last hole.

Train Your Mind with a Pre-Shot Routine

Your body and mind are designed to react to certain repetitive triggers to prepare for an activity. With this in mind, you can train your body and mind to prepare for the activity of swinging your golf club with specifically designed triggers. This is your pre-shot routine. If performed correctly, your pre-shot routine gets your body lined up and ready to swing. It also clears your head so you can trust your body to perform the task at hand without over-thinking your swing.

Here’s an example of a good pre-shot routine:

  1. Stand behind the ball and picture a line through the ball to the target
  2. Focus on a spot on the line 3 or 4 feet in front of the ball
  3. Position your clubface behind the ball
  4. As you stare at the target, position your feet
  5. Now look down at the ball and try to focus on a single dimple
  6. Allow your fundamentals take over
  7. Swing

Boost Confidence with a Go-To Shot

One of the toughest parts of the game of golf is letting your mistakes go. One of the most effective techniques to get your game back on track after a bad shot is to fall back on a tried-and-true shot. Grab a club with which you’re particularly strong, even if it isn’t the right club for your next shot. Try to clear your mind and trust your swing. You may need to adjust your strategy slightly to get onto the green, but that one confidence-building swing could make a big difference in the direction of your game.

Introduce Distractions

Another effective way to get your mind off a bad game is to simply change the subject ‑ strike up a conversation with one of your buddies about anything BUT golf. Talking about something that’s not related to golf will relieve some of the intensity and allow you to focus on the fun. You can also use this technique to get your mind off golf when you’re away from the course. You’ll drive people nuts if it’s all you ever talk about.

The psychological side of golf can be just as difficult to master as the athletic side. If you take time to train for both, however, your game will quickly improve. Maybe that’s the most important thing to remember. After all, it’s just a game.

—

Matt is an avid golf enthusiast and part of the TruGolf.com team. When he’s not working on his fairway shot, you will find Matt writing about his passion for the process of the game.

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The Sports Archives – How to Switch from Traditional Bodybuilding to Natural Bodybuilding

Posted on August 29, 2017 by thesportsarchives

Image source: Wikimedia.org

Do you think that it’s time to take another approach to your bodybuilding regime? For years, exercise and diet combined with metabolic enhancements were the way to get to and meet your objectives. And for some lucky folks, the results of this “traditional” approach were truly spectacular. But as we learned in chemistry class, there can be no action without a reaction. Some of these reactions do provide amazing results.

Pitfalls of Traditional Bodybuilding

And for some unfortunate folks, the results of traditional body building have had some very unfortunate reactions. There’s just too much medical data out there now to ignore the negative health effects of performance enhancing substances. These effects include:

  • testosterone loss for men
  • hair and body changes for women
  • increased risk of prostate cancer in men
  • menstrual cycle problems in women
  • acne
  • liver and other organs damage
  • severe mood swings

Performance enhancing drugs were perfectly legal as recently as a couple of decades ago. That is no longer the case, offering yet another reason to change your training regime. And it’s not just amateur or unknown bodybuilders who are advocating for the switch to natural training regimes. Bodybuilder Rob Riches and actors Chris Pratt and Sylvester Stallone have all gotten healthy and remarkable physical results by following a natural regime. Read on to learn more about making the transition from traditional to natural bodybuilding, and how to get the most from this transformation.

Exercise and Weight Lifting Won’t Be Going Away

Running will no longer be part of your workout routine. But you’ll definitely still be exercising, and working with weights will be your main focus here. What kind of weights? All of them! As a natural bodybuilder, you’ll be working with everything from hand-held weights to bench presses and EZ bars. Avoid cable machines. Remember that you’re trying to build muscle groups up individually with this type of training. Isolation exercises with barbells and dumbbells work best for this purpose. Your routine should include plenty of:

  • shrugs
  • flies
  • pullovers
  • wrist curls

So, knowing what to expect with a training routine, what’s next?

Make a Plan

Natural bodybuilding is like any other type of training. Before you do a single crunch or swallow a single supplement:

  • understand the goals that you hope to achieve
  • have a plan for implementing them
  • have a monitoring plan in place

Plan on working on all of this with a trainer. It may be necessary to change trainers before embarking on a natural program. The same basic rules apply in a search for a natural personal trainer as for any other one. But make sure that any trainer understands that you are moving from one type of training to another. This is important information to share for both strategic and health reasons.

For the same reasons, it’s important that transitioning from traditional to natural bodybuilding start with a visit to a physician. Yes, you’re moving to a healthier type of training. Yes, you’re already well aware of how to train safely. But a pre-training check-up is important because it needs to be determined if traditional training methods will cause health or training impediments with your new program. A doctor’s visit is a good time to bring up diet questions too, such as what to and what not to eat on a cruise control diet.

This medical input could mean anything from delaying training to avoiding or modifying certain kinds of routines. Such advice can help to avoid training setbacks later on, so it’s important to start here. Just as with traditional bodybuilding, your natural bodybuilding plan should be a balance of diet, exercise, and weight lifting.

Diet

Your goals here are to both keep unnecessary weight off while increasing energy and lean muscle mass, just as with traditional training. While’s there’s been little scientific research done, some studies have shown that a natural approach requires a much higher protein intake to avoid muscle degradation. A natural bodybuilding diet should include:

  • meats with “lean” fat
  • green vegetables
  • fruits with high fiber (bananas!) content
  • whole grain bread, oats, and other carbohydrates with high fiber content

These help to maintain muscle mass gained with traditional bodybuilding. Many body builders like the “cruise control diet,” which burns body fat and manipulates metabolisms. As this diet both includes and excludes foods necessary to successful natural body building, you will have to do some minor “tweaking” to incorporate it into your own plan.

Finally, given how quickly information of all types is emerging on the natural bodybuilding phenomenon, it’s a great idea to find a good sports site that can provide updates and archived information. This information will part of your successful strategy to effectively and safely make a move to natural body building.

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The Sports Archives – Get Out On The Water For Serious Sporting Fun

Posted on August 26, 2017 by thesportsarchives

If you’re looking for sports that are high-adrenaline, physically tough, and perfect for enhanced fitness, then look to the water. There are far more water-based sports than you might think. Many of them are now considered Olympic sports, others are just as competitive on a national or regional level. All of them require you to be a good swimmer. Here’s what you need to know:

On The Water

Sports on the water that offer the greatest thrill include surfing and whitewater rafting. America has some extreme white waters that really aren’t for beginners. That doesn’t mean you can’t work your way up to the good stuff! All water sports like jet skiing, body boarding and rowing should be enjoyed while wearing appropriate life protector equipment. This in-depth article about life jacket brands will give you all the information you need to stay safe. If you’re taking your kids or your dog out on the water, always give them an appropriate life jacket too.

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Sailing is a great way to get out on the water and enjoy the sea air. It can be physically tough, especially if you’re under sail power and not motorized. If you love a good swim from your boat, make sure you know the waters well. You might be sharing it with creatures that don’t appreciate the disturbance. Currents can be incredibly strong beneath a calm-appearing surface too.

Above The Water

Some of the more extreme water sports you might want to get involved with include kite surfing, windsurfing, and parasailing. Each of these sports will lift you well above the water where you can perform a number of different moves and acrobatics. As well as a dedicated life jacket, you should consider a helmet to protect your head. Colliding with the water at speed can hurt, but with a wrong angle of entry, you can damage your skull.

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Windsurfing may not grant you as much air, but if the board or sail come crashing down on you, it could be very dangerous. Gear up, and let someone know you’re out there. Got a waterproof GoPro setup? Windsurfing is perfect for some amazing shots.

Under The Water

Diving, open water swimming, and synchronized swimming will all get you beneath the surface of the water. Few of these sports require any safety equipment at all. This, ironically, can make these sports more dangerous than some of the others. Synchronized swimming is a recognized team sport in the Olympics. Absolute breath control is essential!

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Free diving is still considered to be an extreme sport as you need to dive as deep as you dare with no air supply. This is something that takes years to master. Scuba diving or deep-sea diving can get you up close and personal with many of the creatures of the sea. These activities aren’t often considered to be sports as there tends not to be a competitive edge to them. You can’t perform these activities alone, and you will need a qualification to hire the equipment. Which of these watery activities and sports would you like to try?

 

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The Sports Archives – How to Improve at Ice Hockey: Stanley Cup Finalists’ Tips

Posted on August 21, 2017 by thesportsarchives

Ice hockey is one of the most grueling sports in the world, and yet it requires so much skill to play. It’s a grand mix of physicality, speed, and technique. With so many very different skill sets needing to be combined for a player to just be competent, it can be very difficult to get good. However, with so many areas to train, improvements can be made all over.

Here, we’ll be looking at how two of this year’s Stanley Cup finalists have trained to help spur their career, improve their skills, and remain at the highest level.

Sidney Crosby’s Specifics

Source: Detroit News Sports, via Twitter

To many players, coaches, owners, and fans across the globe, Sidney Crosby is the best ice hockey player in the world right now and has been for some time. Last season he guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to their second Stanley Cup victory in as many years, and the captain is expected to make it three-in-three this season with the Penguins at +900 in the NHL betting odds to win the Cup.

Crosby is naturally talented, but he wouldn’t have the world-class skills that he possesses today without working hard in between games. His trainer, Andy O’Brien, credits Crosby’s ability to stay at the peak of his powers to his mindset and steely determination to meet each challenge as a new opportunity. O’Brien also explained how training specific areas are key to physical improvement as well as avoiding injury, stating: “Unfortunately, in this day and age, being fit is not a competitive advantage. Everybody’s fit, so you really have to find ways to build your body to make the type of plays you need to make as a player.”

O’Brien runs Crosby through a lot of multiplanar moves, in which Pittsburgh’s star player exercises through planes of motion that have a function in ice hockey as well as strengthen those key muscle groups involved. The specification in those areas key to excelling on the ice adding the levels of improvement that comes beyond merely being physically fit and naturally talented.

Skating is one of these key areas. All players on the roster, regardless of their role, need to be able to skate well. Just take the film Goon, for example, Seann William Scott’s character is an amazing fighter, but couldn’t skate to save his life, and it wasn’t until he improved in that area that he could enforce successfully.

For more skilled players that depend on skating at high speeds or in altering directions to make plays, working on the individual mechanics of skating will greatly help. The basic skills include the skating stance (knee bend and getting low to the ice), using the edges of the blades, and being able to keep your balance (especially on one skate at a time).

When it comes to stick-handling, improvement can just come down to lots and lots of practice to get the technique locked down. Improving the power behind a slap or wrist shot can be improved by training the specific areas involved, but for the technique, making the skill more difficult in training can help. For example, stick-wizard Pavel Datsyuk weighted his stick down when learning how to use it in practice, making the dekes harder to control out of the game, but easier in the game.

Pekka Rinne’s Mindset

Source: Detroit News Sports, via Twitter

It’s a hard job being an ice hockey goalie; it’s probably the hardest but most crucial position in all major sports, which is why having your mind right is crucial.

Pekka Rinne and his Nashville Predators came second to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup last season, but the Finnish netminder looked strong and focussed throughout. Rinne’s old trainer, Ari Hilli, knew that despite the goalie’s struggles to adapt to his ever-growing body as a young player, having the right mindset would greatly help.

Hilli ran Rinne through some off-ice drills that would cement his determination, one of which was getting him to do somersaults. Even though Rinne failed on the first attempt, he never gave up. He also said that he became a go-to guy for the Predators goalie on the mental side of the game, helping him to stay focussed and, more importantly, staying optimistic.

For both skaters and goaltenders, the mind-set is key; if you can get your mind right, remain optimistic and determined, your body will follow. Training in acute and specific areas helps immensely when it comes to the great sport of ice hockey, as general fitness just doesn’t cut it anymore.

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The Sports Archives – Top Adventure Sports for Thrill Seekers

Posted on August 18, 2017 by thesportsarchives

The summer is the perfect season for seeking adventures outside. Whether you are into motor sports, underwater exploring or leaping from bridges, the world has so much to offer in terms of thrills and adrenaline. If you are into extreme sports in general, you’ll quickly find your next hobby in this list – to take you deep under water or far up in the air.


Image via: Pexels

Survival Camping

If you’d like to brush up on your survival skills for few days or a week, head out into the wilderness this summer and see how well you manage without the usual necessities. While it doesn’t seem too thrilling, to begin with, you’ll quickly find yourself in the middle of nowhere with only a sparkling fire and an empty stomach.

Bring your bike with to make it a bit easier to navigate as far away from civilization as possible, and remember to look at a mountain bike insurance before you head out.

Don’t go at it alone, though, invite a group of friends with you and divide the tasks to make it a bit easier to survive. Especially if this is your first time doing this – you don’t want your first survival camp to end with being rescued by a team after getting lost in the forest.

Slacklining

If you prefer to walk on a line rather than the ground, then this strange sport is for you. It’s the perfect combination of balancing and enjoying nature; if this is your first introduction to slacklining, you’ll be pleased to hear that most people find it relatively easy to learn.

Find yourself a steady someone, set up a line, and see how well you do. It’s a rather new sport, and you can find a lot of tips for beginners, such as in this handy article.

Cliff Diving

When you’d like to show off your skills, look no further than cliff diving. Besides from having to be quite the diver, you need first to climb up high, then figure out where to make the leap in order to avoid rocks, and finally muster up the courage to launch yourself towards the water. It’s the ideal sport for those who like heights, climbing, and diving – as well as having to be confident with pointing out a safe spot to dive.

When you get really into it, you might want to check out the different locations around the world that are popular for cliff diving. Red Bull’s cliff diving contest, for example, could be a good place to start if you’d like to find the best spots.

Extreme Motor Sports

Anything with a decent engine can be turned into a sport for thrill seekers, that’s for sure. Some people take it further than simply driving faster than normal, though, and feel the urge to leap through the air with their vehicle, driving off-road, and challenging their bike or car to perform the most outrageous stunts. There’s a lot to choose from, and you don’t have to stick to the regular drag race to feel alive.

If you’ve first caught the adrenaline bug, you’re most likely going to feel it call your name whenever you find a new extreme sport. Some of these are a bit more unusual than others, so it should be something for every thrill seeker to enjoy.

 

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The Sports Archives – How To Prepare For Your Bodybuilding Dreams

Posted on August 17, 2017 by thesportsarchives

Bodybuilding is a bit of a niche market, but also a sport that requires skill and determination. Personality traits define whether this sport is right for you, but so does knowing what you need to do. Bodybuilding can seem expensive to keep up with and changes your body completely. So what are you in for? How do you get into the bodybuilding arena? There are two main things you need to know about when it comes to preparing for your first contest:

  1. Having the right equipment
  2. Know what you’re in for when it comes to the diet

So with those stipulations in mind, what do you need to know in order to prepare for your bodybuilding dreams?

Image From Flickr

Have the right equipment

Finding the right equipment for you and how to use it is one half of the battle, with the other half being finding clothes that fit! This can be a hell of an issue, but knowing where to look for lift clothing makes the shop a lot easier. Most clothes that are right for a bodybuilder won’t be found in the shops due to their large-scale tailoring to the average body shape, and you wouldn’t want to wear these clothes on your new body anyway! The clothes right for you will depend on the development you’re going for and the size you already are, but items like high-waisted trousers and vests always work as both of these items won’t limit your maneuverability or try to cover too much at once.

A couple of the best muscle building training items are weights and benches. These are easier to start off with, can build your strength in your arms and legs quickly, and are more available for home gyms. A bench will give you a better form for exercising and make you less likely to strain yourself.

Know what you’re in for when it comes to the diet

It’s not the best idea to constantly burn fat when you’re shaping up for something as heavy-duty as bodybuilding. Including fat in your diet is a win for the bodybuilding arena already, but it’s the right type of fats you need to be consuming. Keep your carbs intake on the high side when training as your body needs all the energy it can get to keep up with the regime. Most of all, protein is the essential nutrient to building muscle mass. The standard rate for protein consumption is 1 gram per 1 pound of your body weight, but this isn’t a strict diet to keep to, and can dip below if you can’t manage that amount of food. Eggs are the protein wonder food, with about 6 grams of protein per egg itself. Another good food for your protein intake is meat.

Bodybuilding is a sport that takes great discipline when it comes to your physique and lifestyle. By following a couple of these tips you’ll be well on your way to entering the ring with the big guys.

 

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