Posts Tagged ‘Sports’

What Are Shin Splints?

Sunday, January 9th, 2011
What Are Shin Splints
What Are Shin Splints?

What is a Shin Splint?

“Shin splints” is a term used to describe the pain felt between the knee and the ankle after athletic activity, and are considered a cumulative stress disorder rather than an acute injury. This painful condition occurs when muscles and tendons in the lower legs pull on the tibia bone along the shin.

There are several reasons why athletes develop shin splints, but ultimately we can say they develop when the constant stress placed on the joints, bones, and muscles of the lower leg overwhelms the body’s natural ability to recover from trauma.

The most common cause is inflammation of the periostium, the sheath that surrounds the tibia. Traction forces on the periostium from the muscles of the lower leg cause shin pain and inflammation.

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Down Syndrome Kid Scores a Touchdown

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Today’s post can be filed away in the there-is-hope-for-humanity category.

A 17 year old high school student named Ike Ditzenberger has down syndrome. He also plays on the varsity football team.

In late September, the Lake Stevens Vikings were crushing the Snohomish Panthers 35-0 with 10 seconds left in the game. That’s when the Panthers ran their top secret play, The Ike Special.

Ike took the hand off from the Panthers quarterback and proceeded to run 51 yards for a touchdown as the clock expired. Vikings players definitely took the end of that play off, but in this case it mattered way more to everyone on that field for little Ike to score 6 points, than to tackle the poor guy to salvage a shutout.

YouTube Preview Image

The Vikings ended up winning 35-6 and now have a 4-0 record in 2010, but Ike Ditzenberger and his family have a memory they will treasure for the rest of their lives.

And in Pro Football News…

If Ike’s story doesn’t make you feel warm and fuzzy, then I’ll leave you with this:

The New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins 41-14 last night in Miami on prime time Monday Night Football! Special teams rocked the house for the Pats. How sweet it is.

2010 NFL Quarterback Rankings

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Peyton Manning Trophy
Peyton “The Man”-ning

I have fun watching football each season, and I’m sure some of you do too. Just wanted to point out that ESPN has a 2010 Quarterback Rankings article up. At the end of the article you can rank the quarterbacks yourself.

For those who feel inclined, go ahead an comment on the ESPN post and let me know who you think the best quarterbacks are. Here, I’ll post my completely unresearched full rankings from what I can remember about last year and the 2010 preseason off the top of my head.

The Project Swole 2010 NFL Quarterback Rankings

  1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts

    I’m a Patriots fan but I can’t dispute that Peyton is probably the best NFL quarterback to ever play the game. I’m sure he’ll win at least one or two more Superbowls before he’s done. This year his team is even better than last year, if that’s possible. I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t toss 40+ touchdowns and win nearly every game in 2010.
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Does Your Grip on a Baseball Bat Affect the Trajectory of the Ball?

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Baseball Grip StrengthI saw this nifty little video on ESPN today about the effect of your grip on the trajectory of a baseball. Nomar Garciaparra gets wired up with electrodes to conduct this experiment. He used to be a pretty good ball player.

Essentially what happens, is this:

  • Pitcher throws the ball. In this experiment it is a 90 MPH pitch.
  • Bat comes in contact with the ball. Nomar swings the bat 67 MPH.
  • Shockwaves from the contact between bat and ball travel down the bat to the hands.
  • Some shockwaves are reflected and bounce back up the bat towards the ball.
  • The ball leaves bat before shockwaves bounce back.
  • Therefore your grip on a bat doesn’t directly influence the trajectory of the ball when hit.
  • … with a couple possible exceptions.

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Lakers Beat Celtics in NBA Finals, It’s Just Not Right

Friday, June 18th, 2010
Boston Celtics
Celtics

When you are up by 13 points in the third quarter, shouldn’t you be able to close out the game? What a bummer. Try again next year guys. Hopefully most of the team will stay together.

Lakers beat Celtics in NBA Finals 83-79 Game 7 is over, the defending champions have prevailed. Boooo…

I guess Project Swole readers knew the truth all along, judging by this poll:

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How to Improve Foot Speed

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Swole Fitness Tips

This fitness tip is for sports performance. Try this movement to improve your food speed. I’m not 100% sure this will work and it sounds really annoying, but I figured it would be a good tip for you guys to try at least.

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Recent Health and Sporting News

Monday, April 5th, 2010

I’m having a bad day. I missed my Crossfit workout this morning for an emergency meeting with the dentist, now I have dental surgery coming up on Wednesday, and I barely have enough money to cover my bills and expenses this month. Since I really have to work right now, I don’t have time to write a good post today, so I’m going to leave you with some health and sports news.

Why a high fat breakfast is better than a high carb breakfast. Here’s more on that subject: Eating fat for breakfast instead of carbs. You can program your body for the day, depending on what you choose to eat for breakfast.

But then in related news we are also faced with this:

Fatty foods cause a cocaine-like addiction. This one is about mice displaying the same addiction tenancies to fatty food, as they do to exposure to cocaine.

Apparently we should become addicted to eating high-fat meals for breakfast. I don’t know. I just don’t see it. I would choose a bowl of Total Raisin Bran with skim milk or a bowl of oatmeal, over bacon or sausage any day of the week.

In sporting news, the Red Sox barely beat the Yankees last night, but that’s good enough for me.

That snake Tiger Woods will make his comeback today, for whatever that’s worth. Do you really care?

And finally, McNabb goes to the Redskins. I don’t much care about that either, but it will be interesting to see if McNabb improves the Skins, or if playing for the Skins forces McNabb into retirement. I suppose the latter is more likely.

21 Tips to Sprint Faster

Thursday, March 25th, 2010
How to Sprint Faster
How to Sprint Faster

How to Sprint Faster

Sprinting is the foundation of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and will make your legs big, strong, fast, and powerful. Sprints are great for developing endurance, but also for developing lean muscle mass and speed strength.

Ever seen a skinny sprinter? I didn’t think so.

Sure, squats are the almighty kings of the Gym Exercise Kingdom; but sprints are like the kings of the Functional Exercise Kingdom whose jacked-up, super-lean army of massive wheels is constantly trying to overthrow the squat as the #1 top leg exercise.

You think you can sprint, but can you?

Here are 21 tips you can follow to improve your sprinting:

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Hardcore Circuit Training for Men

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Hardcore Circuit Training for Men (and Women)

Hardcore Circuit Training for Men
Hardcore Circuit Training for Men

Chohwora Udu & Jim McHale are the Authors of Hardcore Circuit Training for Men, which is available at SportsWorkout.com and bookstores nationwide.

Special Project Swole discount:
Use coupon code HCCT to get 15% off the cover price!
Click here to order.

My Review

I posted an article written by the authors of the book Hardcore Circuit Training for Men the other day, called Losing Weight with Circuit Training. Since then I found my copy of the book and finished looking through it.

Here is what I think:

First and foremost, despite the book’s title, this is not just a book for men. These circuits can be used and adapted by women and even kids. It can be used by weightlifters, triathlon athletes, regular athletes, MMA fighters, boxers, and pretty much anyone else who is looking to develop their conditioning.

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How to Turn Your Teenage Athlete Into a Sports Legend

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Your Questions
Your Questions

I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.

Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.

The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.

Jim wrote:

“I wanted to know about how much protein my 14 year old should be having.

He is playing football and weightlifting at school. (Freshman). He is 5’8 and 112 lbs.

He wants to add some weight and muscle but we heard that you should not give your teen protein because they will start to grow outward instead of height-wise.

What do you recommend?”

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