Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Snowboarding Exercise

Stretching

Quad Stretch
Stand with one hand holding onto the back of a chair to maintain balance. With the free hand, reach behind and grasp the instep of the lower extremity you want to stretch and bring it up toward your buttocks. You should feel a stretch in the front of your thigh.

Hamstring Stretch
Place the foot of the lower extremity you want to stretch on a chair. Lean forward slowly reaching down your leg until a stretch is felt in the back of your thigh.


Calf Stretch
Stand 2-3 feet away from a wall. Put your hands against the wall at about shoulder level to support your weight. Lean in toward the wall by bending your elbows until you feel a stretch in the back of your calves. Keep your body erect, your knees straight, and your hips forward. DO NOT bend at the waist. Make sure your heels remain on the ground. Alternate foot position by turning the feet outward, stretching, then inward, and repeating the stretch. To increase stretch, a book can be placed under the "ball" of the foot, letting the heels hang down.
Start with 3 sets of 20 repetitions and progress as appropriate.


Exercise

Walking Lunge
The lunge is a great fitness exercise for strong snowboarding legs. While standing, take a large step forward and lwer down until your back knee almost hits the ground. Keep both knees at 90 degree angles. Push up and step forward, then continue on with the other leg.

Wall Squat
Here's a thigh/quad burner: sit against a wall as if there was a chair underneath you. With your knees at 90 degree angles and your ankles directly under your knees, hold for a 30 to 60 second count.

Calf Raise
This one helps you withstand those nasty toeside traverses on a snowboard. Stand on a stair, facing up the staircase. With your heels over the edge of the step, slowly push up onto the tips of your toes. Lower back down and repeat. To make it harder, put on a backpack with something heavy inside.

Pushups
Pushups help build your upper body and abdominal fitness for snowboarding. You can do them on your knees at first and then on your toes as you get stronger. Your hands should be a little bit wider than your shoulders. Lower your body down slowly and back up, keeping your body straight.

Situps
Abdominal (stomach) muscles are an important part of your stability strength for snowboarding fitness. Situps are easy to do at home. With your back and feet on the floor, knees bent, curl up as you tighten your stomach muscles then lower back down. Try to keep your muscles tight the entire time. Abdominal strength is important in snowboarding for both maintaining balance as well as performing turns. This exercise is performed by crossing both arms across your chest and curling up your upper trunk so that your shoulder blades are raised off the floor. Start with 3 sets of 15 repetitions and progress as appropriate.

Ankle Alphabet
Snowboarding uses ankle and feet muscles for steering and balance. The "ankle alphabet" exercise is a great way to strengthen your ankles. Just sit on the couch (sounds great so far) and raise one foot off the ground. Point your toes and motion or "write" the letter "A" in the air. Then "B", "C", you get the drift.


Balance
Balance is very important, and contrary to popular belief...you can practice to improve your balance. Try this easy exercise....place a tennis ball under the ball of each foot. Now try to balance only on the tennis balls, not allowing any other part of your foot to touch the ground. Hold onto something solid until you are balanced. Progress onto performing small squats on the tennis balls while remaining balanced. Move onto equipment, such as a Vew-Do board to add a more dynamic component to your balance training.

Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise, such as jogging or bicycling, is necessary to maintain overall physical endurance to prevent injury secondary to fatigue. Aerobic exercise should be done for 20-30 minutes at least 3 times a week.


The Plan
For the person that is basically out of shape due to sitting in a chair all day, let's start with these levels. Your numbers will vary depending on age, experience, how in shape you are, etc. I am starting this the beginning of December so that I will be in shape for our Durango, CO trip later this month.


Schedule

Week 1
Stretch - 8 min
Walking Lunge - 2 sets of 5
Wall Squat - 2 sets of 10 seconds

Calf Raise - 2 sets of 10
Pushups - 2 sets of 5

Situps - 2 sets of 5
Ankle Alphabet A - M on each ankle
Balance - 1 minute
Aerobic Exercise: jog around inner block (about quarter mile)

Monday, November 27, 2006

Diarrhea help

Well, I had the luck of getting some diarrhea over the Thanksgiving weekend. Not so bad, just a 24 hours thing. The good thing is now I can write this blog. ;)

Things to stay away from when you have diarrhea.
  • High fiber food
  • Sweets
  • Tea
  • Alcohol
  • Fried foods
  • Greasy foods
  • Spicy foods

Things you should eat (assuming you can eat anything).

  • Potassium Rich foods such as bananas, potatoes, peach/apricot nectars, oranges
  • Low fiber foods such as white bread, white rice, noodles, creamed cereals, canned or cooked fruits without the skins, cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, mash or backed potatoes, pureed vegetables, chicken, fish
  • Lots of room temperature liquids such as apple juice, water, clear brother, ginger ale, sports drinks such as Gatorade.

Thermostat

According to SRP:

Winter Months:
Set the thermostat to 70 degrees or lower when you are in the home to stay comfortably warm. When you're not home set the thermostat to 65 degrees or lower.

Maintaining your heating system is one way to save energy during the winter months. Regular maintenance minimizes the chance of a costly breakdown and keeps the system operating at peak efficiency. Even minor malfunctions can cause a unit to run longer and work harder, shortening the unit's life and increasing energy usage.

During the day open your drapes to let the heat in, and close them at night to help keep it in.

If you have a high ceiling, switch your ceiling fans to the "up" position to blow upward (rather than downward) and circulate teh warm air trapped near the ceiling down into the room.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Wouldn't it be nice


This was at one of the airports while travelling in Europe. It was early in the morning, but I'm pretty sure I was seeing things. Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

I-bonds are inflation indexed

I-bonds are great because they are indexed with inflation. The rate changes as inflation changes. This is great for people that are on a fixed income that want a conservative place to keep their money that won't be eroded away by inflation. If it is saved for educational purposes it is tax free.

Computer Temperature

It is a good idea to keep you CPU on your computer running less than 90 degrees Celius. The hard drive should not exceed 50 degrees Celius.

Educations Pays

Taken from the Arizona Republic February 20, 2005.

The average US individual income in 2003 was $40,770.

Average income by level of degree:

High school (and GED) $30K

Bachelor's degree $53K

Master's degree $63K

Doctorate $88.5K

Professional (i.e. medical, law, etc) $115K

North Central Avenue in 1906

Here is what North Central Avenue in Phoenix, AZ looked like in 1906. That is 100 years ago! Right in my part of town. The house pictured here is the William J. Murphy's house. The name may not be familiar to many, but the beautiful path that runs along side Central Avenue is. The path still to this day has a wonderful canopy of trees lining the path. The path is called the Murphy Bridle Path. It runs from Bethany Home Road to the Arizona Canal just north of Northern Avenue. The Murphy Bridle Path has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

Today even during the hottest months of the year you will see dog walkers, joggers, cyclists, strollers enjoying this treasured oasis.

Clean Silver (Silverware, Jewelry, etc)

Below is a very simple way to clean silverware, silver jewelry, or most anything else that is real silver. Yes, it has to be made out of silver or at least coated in it. This tip works because of a simple chemical reaction that requires silver.

Ingredient:

  • 1/4 cup baking soda
  • Boiling water
  • aluminum foil
  • Put aluminum foil in the sink (shiny side up).

Farmers Markets in the Valley












Support local growers and farmers. Below are some of the known Farmers Markets in the Phoenix Metro area.

Phoenix

Town & Country Market
10am - 2pm Wednesdays year-round
2021 E Camelback Rd.
Local, organic and imported produce.
602-955-6850

Roadrunner Park Farmers Market
8am - noon Saturdays year-round
3501 E Cactus Rd.
Arizona produce, crafts, honey, jams, and other foods


Washington Park Farmers Market
9am - 1pm Saturdays through July.
Washington Park Center
2240 W Citrus Way (half-mile south of Glendale and 23rd Avenue)
Produce from local growers, pies, salsas, breads, jams, tortillas, tamales, and other foods
623-848-1234


The Farm at South Mountain Farmers Market
8am - noon Saturdays.
6106 S 32nd St. (Just south of Southern Ave)
Fresh organic greens, root vegetables and other produce.
602-276-3056


East Valley


Chandler Farmers Market
3pm - 6pm Thursdays year-round.
Compadres Stadium
4001 S. Alma School Rd, Chandler
Local produce, honey, tamales, bread, and tortillas
623-848-1234

Mesa Community Market
9am - 1pm Fridays year-round
263 N Center St.
Fresh produce, jams, salsas, and crafts.
623-848-1234