Posts Tagged ‘sports’

How To Work The Upper Body Outside

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Many more people are rediscovering the outdoors these days and taking part in alfresco sport. In the summer months it’s not very enjoyable to be stuck indoors in a stuffy gym or sports hall, when you could be outside in the fresh air. The trouble with outdoor sports however is that the majority of them focus on working the muscles of the lower body.You could just throw a ball about a bit or stick to push ups to help work the upper body, but lets take a look at real sports that work really well?

Kayaking. A great number of boating sports like canoeing, rowing and especially kayaking focus a great deal on working the upper body. As well as providing most of the stability, the upper body is the driving force in the sport of kayaking and soon becomes very efficient with practice. The best part is that when you get tired you can just up ores and let the river currents take you for a while. If you don’t like getting wet though, this might not be the sport for you.

Rock Climbing. If you are looking for a sport that works every muscle in the body then rocking climbing is the one for you. That said, your legs are not actually worked as much as you might think as a lot of the grip comes from special sticky slim line shoes that look like cycling shoes. Conversely, a lot of the power and endurance work is provided by the arms during climbing. Simply keeping yourself vertical on a climbing wall can be an effort and the muscles of the lower arm and shoulders will be toned in no time.

Hand Biking. Bike riding is without doubt the most poplar of the outdoor sports. Having said this, cycling is more of a leg sport than an arm workout. Hand bikes however such as Pinarello ones are geared in such a way that you can pick up some great speed just by turning your arms. They are often used by those who cannot use their legs, so have been designed with usability and endurance in mind.

For bike accessories and road bikes, check out In Gear.

The Countryside

Monday, June 29th, 2009

very weekend and on holidays we use to go to the country, where we have a little house. That’s the time we’re all looking forward to for a whole week. It’s just a cottage, with a garden, but it’s like heaven for us. We have the peace and quiet that we dream of, and the kids have the whole garden just for them, to play all day long.

The problem is that the nearest shop is a little far, and driving back and forth to the store isn’t exactly fun. I wanted to buy a bike, at first, to handle my traveling needs, but I’m a little out of shape and I didn’t think I could handle the ride, if coming back with a lot of stuff. My wife suggested a scooter, one that we could then give to our son, when he grows a little older.

It seemed a good idea, so I started looking for the model that would suit both my son’s and my own needs. I didn’t want something that would be too fast, and I would have rather had something that wouldn’t go on gasoline. There were some models, but they were much too expensive, so I was about to give up this idea too, when I came across this one.

 The razor pocket mod scooter  seemed to be the perfect thing. I wasn’t convinced that something so cheap could be any good, but why not try it, anyway? I ordered it on the Internet, and it arrived in no time, and in one piece, so all I had to do was let it charge over night. Next morning I went shopping on my new Razor electric scooter.

I have to say it was a nice ride, so I had no more worries. When my kid saw it, he started begging me to let him try it, so I gave it to him for a ride around the garden. Now he’s using it more than I do, and I’ve started to think that I’ll have to order another one if I want to go shopping without having to argue with him first.