Many of us were taught the basics of stretching as kids in gym class: You reach and hold a position to warm up and loosen muscles. Since then, there’s been quite a bit of research done on the effectiveness of stretching and how to best treat your body before and after physical activity. Many experts […]
Unless you find some mythical mountain bike trail that’s perfectly straight and level (and what would be the fun of riding that?), twists and turns are your destiny. If you work a little on techniques for switchbacks, bermed turns and off-camber corners, you’ll be able to ride more challenging trails and have more fun while […]
Before you jump on your brand-new mountain bike, you need to be sure it’s properly set up. Riding with components in less-than-optimum positions can give you sore knees, arms, shoulders and back muscles. You’ll have a much better riding experience if follow the simple steps outlined in this article. Before you get started: When you purchase your […]
Here are some of the best tips and strategies for workouts, safety issues, performance measurement and motivation as well as techniques on how to build your cycling skills. 1. Invest Time The first thing to accept about cycling is that it’s a time investment. Most professionals will attribute their success to all the time they […]
We’ve all heard it before: consistency is key. While you know the basics–get out the door regularly, do most of your running slow and a little bit of it fast–even the best training plans go out the window sometimes when life happens. When you’re already mentally stressed, the last thing you want to worry about is […]
Training for any event requires determination and, ideally, foresight. The growing global popularity in ultramarathons (races longer in distance than the 42.2K marathon) means many runners venturing into unknown territory on race-day and in preparation. Ultras are held in all types of environments around the world. They are run on road, track and trail, in […]
It’s a popular assumption that bilateral breathing in front crawl is a good thing, for ‘a balanced stroke’. If we were all capable of perfect balance and symmetry, this would be true. But determination to breathe on both sides may cause unnecessary stress. It isn’t always easy to tell what’s happening with the head, neck […]
When you know how to kick effectively, you don’t need to work the legs very hard. But before you can ease off on the kick, you need to be able to do it! Here are ten front crawl kick tips… 1) Loose ankles and flipper like feet.. If your ankles are relaxed in front crawl, […]
Any competitive swimmer can tell you how demanding the sport can be. It works every single part of your body from head to toe, and especially your core muscles. Not only does swimming stimulate muscle growth in your entire body, but it also works your heart (and burns as many calories) as running. Swimming is low-impact, meaning […]
1.) The Backstroke Flipturn Modification To perform this type of turn, you have swimmers come into the wall – hitting the wall with their top arm and crossing it over their body. The goal is to have a deep touch on the wall with their hips still angling up, so technically they’re still on their back. From […]