Human vs Animal Animpics: Sprint 100m

How do humans stack up against our animal relatives in different sports?  There are a lot of sports that we will never be able to answer the question for because animals would not play by the rules or could not use the required equipment.  For example, finding an animal team to play hockey is out of the question.  But some sports are possible for animals, especially the classic individual track and field events.

So let us organize the world's first Human vs Animal Animpics and hand out the medals to see who does best overall.  Now one thing is that the humans get to choose their best athlete in each category.  Human athletes have the advantage of specific, hard training to excel in their event.  Animals do not generally train for specific events, but to overcome that disadvantage, we choose the animal competitor for the species most suited to the event.

So first event up: sprinting, in particular the 100 meters.  Who do we pick to represent humans?  Everyone would immediately pick Usain Bolt of course. He is the current world record holder.  And which animal species do we use to represent the non-human competition?  Let's pick a cheetah.  Cheetahs are often said to be the world's fastest land animal.

Now how to set up the event?  Well, we can't run Usain Bolt and a cheetah in the same race.  We already know Bolts' time: it is his world record of 9.58 seconds.  And the video below shows a cheetah called Sarah that did the 100m in 6.130 seconds.



So recapping the event: humans represented by Usain Bolt: 9.58 seconds.
Animals represented by Sarah the Cheetah: 6.130 seconds.

And the gold medal goes to .... THE ANIMALS!

Animpics Standings: Animals 1 Humans 0

Pregnant Sit-Ups

We all know that the old myths about doing exercise while pregnant are bunk.  A healthy woman, who has checked in with her OB/Gyn, can and should exercise regularly.  She just needs to drink plenty of water, be careful about overheating, and listen to her body.  But what about abdominals?

Abdominal exercises can help prepare the body for labor.  Studies show that women who continue to do abdominal exercises throughout their pregnancy  suffer less from back pain and diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles).  Also, if you continue you take care of your body you are more likely to feel like the beautiful  woman you are, strong and sexy.

After the first trimester pregnant women shouldn't do basic sit ups lying flat on their back, as the extra weight of the uterus can press down on the vena cava, a blood vessel that returns most of your blood back to the heart.  That just means that you have to be a bit creative in designing your ab routine.  Here are some exercises I like:


The side crunch:  It's pretty obvious what you need to do, the lower arm can also be stretched out on the floor for balance.  This is a great way to work on your obliques

The reverse crunch: tighten your abs and try to lift your pelvis and legs up.  Its like a big pelvic tilt, a great way to strengthen your lower abs.

The Crunch:  A classic crunch, adapted to a 45º angle.  Great for the upper abs.

The Cat: a great way of working the deep abdominals.  (Ok I couldn't find any pictures of a pregnant woman doing this exercise, but several expectant moms in the gym use this exercise and love it)

1-2-3 Abs

Ok that thing about the eating contest with the bear gave me a nightmare...

So here are 3 videos of great abdominal workouts to get that belly back on track. We all know how important it is to build up your workouts progressively. Killing yourself on day one will only give you sore muscles, but over time you need to step up the intensity. It is totally satisfying to look back and realize how far you have come.

Video 1: The basics.

Start with this video and start with 2 series of 10 reps.  Concentrate on breathing well, and learning how to stabilize your body.  Over time increase the volume until you are doing 3 series of 24 reps.  If you are used to using a stability ball and/or have well trained abs you could do this over 3 or 4 workouts.  If you are new to all this take your time, build up over a 6 week period.



Video 2: Starting to have fun.

Once you are up to speed on the basics start including some intermediate exercises.  I wouldn't swap one exercise routine for the other overnight, instead I would add in the new exercises one by one until you are doing both workouts.  Make sure you can do all these exercises well, with proper posture and pelvic tilt before adding in exercises from video 3.




Video 3:  Monster Abs

This is where the real fun begins.  When you when you are ready, do these exercises and enjoy blasting those abs!  Note: just like with video 2, I would incorporate these exercises into my routine one by one, swapping out the beginner exercises from video 1. Remeber, you can't cheat with abs, do the exercises with proper technique and you will get results.  If you can't do these exercises withour cheating go  back to video 2 and prepare for a few more weeks.

Eat Against a Bear

World famous eating champion Kobayashi takes on a Kodiak bear ... not mano a mano, but to see who can scarf down an enormous platter of hot dogs first. Although Kobayashi does his best, the bear (unsurprisingly) beats him handily.

Cool Cat On The Treadmill

Treadmills have a kind of fuddy duddy reputation in the fitness world. They are seen as a cop out low intensity training. After all, why not just go out and let loose tearing unimpeded down the street! Of course, there are circumstances like safety and climate which can make a treadmill the best choice. And cranking one up to top speed is not easy; depending on the speed it can seriously work you out. Moreover, all the cool cats run on treadmills, as you can see in the video below.

Speed Rock Climbing

Anybody who thinks they know somebody who is hardcore in extreme sports, take a look at this. Dan Osman climbs that cliff without a safety harness and at top speed. Very extreme. However, he eventually paid an extreme price ... he died doing a bungee jumping stunt. So don't try this at home, kids. That aside, rock climbing WITH a safety harness is a great way to get in shape!

Blast Your Calfs

Think about your image of the perfect body... Maybe you want size, broad shoulders and massive pecs, or maybe you want lean lines with toned abs and firm glutes. But what about your calves? On a woman well shaped calves can help define the whole ankle and knee area, making your legs look fantastic in high heels or capris. On a man well formed calf muscles are vital in avoiding the "chicken leg" problem, after all if your upper body is blasted you need a good pair of legs to hold it up.

Calf exercises are a part of body building that most people just throw in when they have a little extra time at the end of a workout. But don't be so cavalier: your calf muscles need a correct workout in order to develop.

There are two main calf muscles that you should be concerned with when performing any calf exercise.

• The Gastrocnemius extends from your knee joint to your ankle joint.  It is the primary muscle when your knee is extended.
  
• The Soleus is a wide, flat muscle that lies deep withing the calf.  It can only fully contract when your leg is bent.

Be careful with the intensity and duration of your calf exercises.

Your Gastrocnemius will benefit most from heavy weight and low reps.  If you use a slow tempo and lift enough weight to tire the gastrocnemius within 20 seconds your standing calf raise will be maximally effective.

Your Soleus needs higher reps, lower wieght and a medium velocity.  Try to pick a weight that taxes you after about 40 seconds when doing seated calf raises.

Make sure to use a full range of motion.  If you have never stretched or strengthened your calves before start flat footed, but make to sure to go all the way up and down.  Once you have prepared your calves with regular workouts and stretching sessions take the exercises to the next level,  Start with the balls of your feet raised up 2-3 inches so that your heels are below you toes at the lowest point in the exercise.  Many gyms have a special platform for this, but if your doesn't you can usually improvise.

Don't bounce: when you go down let your heels down under control.  When you go up and get to the top "squeeze past" for a moment.  Also beware, if you bend your legs during any straight leg calf exercises you are cheating.  Bending your knees in a straight leg calf press is like doing a really crappy squat because your quadriceps are doing the work.

It's very important to remember that when you do any exercise for your calf muscles you need to do them correctly. If you don't you will just be wasting your time.