My Favourite Hobby: Snowboarding

Snowboarding - Photo: Pixabay

Since moving into the suburbs, I have developed a new hobby: snowboarding. Snowboarding is great fun, and the reason I got started is that I used to go surfing when I lived by the beach, and when I moved away from the coast I had to find something new to satisfy my fix for extreme, white-knuckle sport. When I moved to my new college, everyone was talking about snowboarding, and a lot of my peers considered snowboarding an excellent hobby. When they asked if I wanted to attend, I was more than happy to come along and take part.

The next thing I knew I was at the slopes, and I had to let everyone know that I had absolutely no experience of the sport whatsoever. They appeared to understand, and everyone was really helpful when it came to explaining how to get started. In fact, there were so many people trying to teach me what to do, I actually found that I would rather just one person would teach me at a time. The next thing I knew, I was going down the slope and had no idea how to break appropriately, or how to turn. OK, so I'll admit that getting tuition from a bunch of teenagers was hardly the best idea, but it ensured that I didn’t hold back on anything, and I certainly got off to a flying start. The fact is that you realize it is mostly just common sense, and the thrills that you get are amazing. When you are going down a slope at 30 miles an hour and you do not have to put in an effort to accelerate: that is like flying. 

The fact is that I also enjoy snowboarding because it is a great social activity for everyone to enjoy. I had just moved to a new area, and snowboarding really gave me an opportunity to get to know people and is actually the reason why I am friends with the people that I hang around with at the moment. After visiting the slopes a few times, my new friends and I have discovered more common ground, so now we enjoy other activities together, along with the occasional visit to the slopes of course!  I’d recommend snowboarding as a great hobby for anyone, particularly those with a passion for extreme sports, or anyone with a sense of adventure.  And it’s really great when you actually get involved - there’s a whole culture attached to it.

Some of my friends suggested taking up skiing, but this is something I think I'll avoid. It is almost like trying to compare a car and a motorbike. A car maybe burns less gas, it may be safer and may even turn corners with more precision, but what would you rather travel in for sheer thrills? Skiing just looks boring compared to snowboarding and the more I get into snowboarding the more my opinion is re-affirmed.  

I am glad that I moved away, and I am glad that I managed to find a sport that I enjoy more than surfing. I am hoping to start entering into competitions soon, however, I have a lot of catching up to do with my new friends first!

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Basics about operating a snowmobile

Snowmobile - Photo: Pixabay

Once a person gets over their distaste for winter weather conditions, operating a snowmobile can be an addictive winter sport. Being in the wide-open landscape that is covered by a fresh coating of white, pristine powder can be breathtaking and even enthralling for first-time snowmobilers. It is also a great way for families to spend time together while remaining active during the winter months instead of gathering around the television for a few hours every night. After learning the basics of operating a snowmobile, conquering the white blanket of fresh snow will be an exhilarating activity that families and friends will undoubtedly cherish together.

The first thing to always remember is to wear your safety gear before operating your snowmobile. Safety equipment consists of a regulation helmet and a pair of goggles designed for cold weather activities. It is important to make sure this equipment is fastened correctly or else it could cause problems during the snowmobiling excursion. It is also a good idea to wear a snowmobile suit that is specifically designed to protect the body from the frigid elements of winter – such as a waterproof inner lining – so snowmobile riders do not suffer from a case of hypothermia. A good pair of gloves is also vital because the hands will be controlling most of the actions of the machinery. Cold hands do not make for quick reactions, so winter gloves are an absolute essential.

Next, get comfortable with the machinery. Sit on it, move around, and get familiar with the feel of the snowmobile’s intricate details. Find the right distance on the seat so that the handlebars are within an acceptable reach from your body. Stretching to reach the handlebars is not an effective method and neither is sitting too close so that you are scrunched up against them. Keeping the handlebars at arm’s length, as long as it is a comfortable distance, is ideal. Also, place your feet in the stirrups that sit on the front lower area of the snowmobile. Get the feel for the stirrups and do not take your feet out of them when you are snowmobiling. They are designed to help you stay in control of the machinery when you make sharp turns on the snowy terrain.

On the handlebars, find the throttle. This will typically be a lever that is on the right side of the snowmobile’s handlebar. Use your thumb to control the throttle, which negotiates the amount of speed desired. Similarly, on the left, you will generally find the brake lever on the handlebar. It does not take much pressure to pull the brake lever in order to slow down your snowmobile. For rides on softer and less compact snow trails, releasing pressure from the throttle will slow your snowmobile quickly. On more compact and smoother snow trails, however, you will need to apply pressure to the brake lever to achieve a stop. On the ice, as you would in a vehicle, pumping the brakes by applying and releasing pressure on the brake lever will result in a smoother and typically safer stop on a snowmobile.

Now that you have found the throttle and the brake (the two most important parts of any vehicle), you are ready to begin moving. To do this, apply pressure to the throttle. Apply ample pressure to slightly rev the snowmobile’s engine until it begins to move. As you move forward, turn the handlebars in the direction you want to travel. When making a sharper and faster turn, it is best to lean into the turn. For instance, if you are making a sharp right turn, lean your body to the right without removing your feet from the stirrups. The stirrups help to stabilize your body while helping to prevent the rider from slipping off of the machine. For beginners, ride your snowmobile on the trails that have been packed and already traveled until you get the feel for snowmobiling. Veering off into unpacked snow might get your stuck or even cause an accident with another snowmobiler. 

Following these basic steps is essential for first-time and inexperienced snowmobilers to successfully practice this fun winter sport. As always, safety is the first issue to be addressed before operating any machinery. But above the safety precautions, knowing how to turn and lean into a turn is important for operating any snowmobile safely. Once learned, it will most likely be a winter pastime that will be enjoyed for many frigid seasons to come. 

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Know Your Muscles - The Chest And Upper Back

Photo: Wikimedia

Becoming familiar with the muscles that make up your body has more benefits than simply allowing you to talk shop with your training partners. The more familiar you are with the muscles you're working, the better you'll be able to judge what's needed to make improvements. In this article, we'll get to know the muscles that make up the chest and upper back.

Although they are two distinct areas, the chest and the upper back will be considered together because achieving a muscular balance between them is crucial, particularly in relation to maintaining good posture. Creating an imbalance between the two is likely to result in injury.

The main muscles found in the chest and upper back are as follows:

1. Pectoralis major - these are the large chest muscles found to either side of the breastbone. Its main job is to bring the upper arm inwards across the body, a movement that is known as horizontal adduction.

2. Latissimus dorsi - this is the largest back muscle that runs from the lower back to the upper arm bone. It pulls the upper arm towards the body and acts as an internal rotator of the upper arm.

3. Trapezius - this muscle runs from the mid spine to the shoulder and then to the neck. Its main role is to facilitate movement of the shoulder blades.

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The REAL Thanksgiving

Squanto - Photo: Wikipedia

The legend of Thanksgiving goes back more than 350 years. We have all heard the story about how the Pilgrims spent Thanksgiving with the Natives and ate fully, but is this what really happened?

The Wampanoag Indians were descendants of the Iroquois who had spent their time in New England for thousands of years. The tribe lived off the land by hunting deer and other animals in the summer and early fall, fishing salmon and herring in the spring and then moved farther inland during the winter to seek shelter from the storms.

The group lived along the coastal region in round-roofed houses called 'wigwams', unlike the Midwest Indians who used teepees in order to travel quickly.

The people were friendly and hospitable towards strangers. However, a group of English travelers had saddened villages across the region by bringing disease and capturing many to be sold on the slave market. One of the villages, Patuxet, demolished by the English was one of a famous Native American, Squanto.

Squanto was a Native American who befriended John Weymouth (an English Explorer) and headed back to England in order to learn their customs speak English and become Christian. During his stay, a British Slaver captured Squanto and sold him to the Spanish in the Caribbean. Luckily a Spanish Franciscan priest helped Squanto back to England where he would pay Weymouth to bring him back to his homeland.

On his return home, Squanto had realized his village was deserted and left with skeletons. The neighboring tribe of Wampanoag took Squanto in and treated him as their own.

Massasoit and governor John Carver smoking a peace pipe - Photo: Wikimedia

As the year went on the neighboring Pilgrims grew weaker and couldn't survive much longer. Luckily, the Wampanoag came to the rescue. The Wampanoag brought food hospitality towards the people. Since Squanto spoke English he could easily communicate with the Pilgrims and show them how to grow crops and survive off the land. The two groups then spent three days together talking about land and eating food.

As the years passed, more Pilgrims came and forgot about the friendly Natives. They stole land, tortured and enslaved the Wampanoag while the rest were left foodless and with a disease.

For many, Thanksgiving is a time for rejoice and thankfulness for what our ancestors had endured during the early years, but for the Wampanoag, it is a time left hard to forget.

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Thanksgiving

The first Thanksgiving - Photo: Wikipedia

Each year America has a holiday in November that has taken on almost a religious reverence which we call Thanksgiving.  We give this holiday so much honor that it ranks with us along with Christmas and Easter as an important holiday in the hearts of family and as a nation.  But this holiday, so rich with tradition, has it origins in the earliest days of the founding of this nation.

The early years of the explorers to come to the American continent were difficult ones indeed.  Those explorers, we now call The Pilgrims, faced harsh weather, unpredictable relations with the natives, disease and other challenges as they carved out homes from the wilderness they found here.  Because their earliest homestead was in the northeast, the winters were harsh and their ability to build houses that could keep them warm and to find sufficient food was a constant worry to the men and women trying to raise families in America.

So anytime they received help from the native population, it was viewed as a gift from God and accepted with the greatest of joy and celebration.  A Native American chief by the name of Squanto saw the plight of these new neighbors and saw to it his tribe helped these young families to survive.  Besides providing food and wisdom about how to build structures that could keep them safe in the winter, Squanto taught them to fish, how to prepare eel and other strange sea creatures they harvested and how to farm.  

This act of friendship was the origin of our revered holiday of Thanksgiving.  The Virginia Colony established the tradition of holding a day of collective prayers of thanksgiving, and that tradition continues today.  Except it is not just a day of thanksgiving for the kindness and generosity of Squanto to our forefathers.  We take advantage of this day of reverence and thanksgiving to be grateful for all the good things that God has blessed this nation with.

The foods we use to celebrate Thanksgiving were ones that the pilgrim travelers found native to this country and the foods that, with the help of Native American teachers, they learned to capture, harvest and prepare to feed their families and prosper in their new home.  Turkey was a game foul that was in ample supply to the pilgrims once Squanto showed them how to hurt the bird with reliable success.  

The vegetables we love to have on our traditional menus also had their origins in the early lives of the pilgrims.  Potatoes, cranberries, sweet potatoes, green beans and all the rest were vegetables that the pilgrims had to learn to harvest, farm and prepare from natives of the land.  So in many ways, our modern holiday, despite the dominance of football games and the upcoming Christmas holiday, retains the atmosphere of those early celebrations.

And the meaning of the holiday, despite commercialization, has been retained.  Americans have much to be thankful for.  The abundance of the land, the health of the most prosperous economy on earth and a society that is free and able to encourage freedom in other cultures are just a few of the things we celebrate at this holiday time.  But for most of us, it is a time to gather family and friends near and be thankful to God for our health, for the blessings of jobs and for the privilege all Americans share to be able to live in the greatest nation on earth where opportunity is ample that any of us can make it and do well if we work hard at our chosen area of expertise.  And these are things truly worthy of giving thanks for.

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Benefits of CARDIO TRAINING

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it comes to ensuring and maintaining the health, the best option is to do cardio training.

What Is Cardio Training?

Cardio training involves any activity that requires the use of the large muscle groups of the body in a regular and uninterrupted manner. It elevates the heart rate between 60 to 85 percent of the fastest heart rate you could get.

Some of the usual cardio training activities are walking, jogging, running, aerobics, cycling, tae bo, swimming and rowing. Cardio training is considered an aerobic exercise as one is required to move from one exercise to another.

What Are the Benefits of Training?

1. Gives Energy to the Body You can expect more energy and higher endurance after some time of regular cardio training.

2. Prevents Diseases One could prevent heart diseases with regular cardio training. It is also helpful in preventing other variety of diseases like diabetes, obesity and even high cholesterol. The cardiovascular training strengthens the heart and the lungs. The low to a moderated type of cardio exercises are required for people seeking to prevent diseases. Examples of these are walking, brisk walking or jogging.

3. Control Your Weight With cardio training, you are able to burn more calories. This will help one who needs to lose weight. While those who already achieved their ideal body mass, the training will make it easier to control the weight.

Cardio training helps burn calories. However, this generally depends on your current weight and the kind of cardio training you are undergoing. Better consult this matter with your physician or trainer, to know the proper type of training for your needs.

4. Lose Body Fats Some people do not have a problem with their weights. However, there may be some excess fats that keep bothering. Cardio training will help in getting rid of those. The activities involve the movements of large muscle groups. Regularly doing the training will make you leaner.

5. Get Rid of Boredom Cardio training is fun. It pumps up your system. You will definitely feel more energized and on the go.

Recommendations to Better Enjoy the Benefits of Cardio Training

Cardio training is essential when you need to make health improvements. For starters, it is best to do the 30 to 45 minutes of exercises, 3 to 5 days a week. If you are aiming for weight loss, the training must be done 5 days a week. The more frequent you do it; the more likely it is that you will lose weight. However, avoid exhausting yourself too much in exercise. Avoid going beyond 45 minutes. Remember, it has to be done on a regular basis.

Start now. Walk or ride the bike around the neighborhood now. Follow that aerobics video you purchased. Set a goal and follow that goal. At the same time, modify your diet too. Eat healthy food.

As you increase in the fitness level, the intensity of the training must also increase. This is to have an area of variation and there should always be room for improvement. Implement this by intensifying some parts of the training. If you are into jogging or running, increase speed every 5 minutes for at least a minute or two. It is important that you challenge yourself, so as not to be stuck in a stump.

Avoid doing the cardio exercises before bedtime. You will have a difficult time sleeping if you do so as the energy level of the body will stay high for some time.

If you are undergoing weight training too, do the cardio exercises right after, not before.

It is best to take a snack 30 minutes before doing the cardio exercises. Do not start with training in an empty stomach. This will not help in achieving the proper momentum when you train. At the same time, avoid indulging in large meals too before exercise. Just give your body the proper supply it will need to sustain exhausting movements.

It is good to do the cardio exercises outdoors. This way you can easily interact with nature and breathe fresh air. You can also simply enjoy going around the neighborhood as you get your system healthier by the minute. It is possible to make some friends among the people who also do their exercises.

Be consistent and stick with the training once you have started it. This is the only way that cardio training will benefit your body and your health in the long run.

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1917 Woods Dual Power

Woods Dual Power - Photo: Wikimedia

The first hybrid gas-electric car did not come out in 1983 but in 1917. The Woods Dual Power was built by the Woods Motor Vehicle Company of Chicago. Because the gas engine was so rough but supplied more power and electric cars were smoother but had limited range, the Woods Motor Vehicle Company wanted to supply a car that gave you the best of both worlds.

The best part is, it was a full hybrid (listen up GM) with regenerative braking. The engine was a parallel hybrid that included a 12-hp, 4-cylinder gasoline engine as an auxiliary drive system in addition to the electric drivetrain. The electric engine could propel the car up to 20 mph. Together with the gas engine, the dual wood power could get up to 35 mph.

The gas engine and electric engine were connected using a magnetic clutch. The gas engine became magnetized when activated (by a lever controlled by the driver). The copper disk was pulled against the flywheel connecting the electric motor to the gas engine.

Only the electric motor could be used while going in reverse. Why? Because the engine had no clutch and so the gas engine had no gears!

The car battery designed for this car was about half the size of the batteries in other electric cars of the time. Once the car got up to 20 mph, the gas engine could be engaged, allowing the electric motor and gas motor to work together. The battery could be recharged or discharged by another lever. Recharging was done by the gas motor (at speeds over 6 mph) or by braking on level ground or when coasting down hills. A conventional brake pedal was only used at speeds of less than 6 mph.

Available for only $2650 (remember this was 1917). Wire wheels were a luxury, costing an extra $25. Or you could 'pimp' your vehicle out for another $100 (paint and trim).

Ultimately, the first hybrid was a commercial failure. It was built only in 1917 and 1918. It was too expensive, too slow, and too difficult to service to be a commercial success.

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