HOW TO KEEP YOUR ENERGY LEVELS UP

Ever get down in the dumps and have a terrible energy crash in the middle of the afternoon and wonder why each day is regularly 24 hours long? I mean, how the heck can people stay up that long? There must be a mistake in the design of the universe! Well, instead of complaining about the metaphysical could-have-been’s in your head, why not instead take a look at the physical should-be’s in yourself:

1. QUIT COFFEE

What? Quit coffee? But that’s the only thing that’s actually keeping my energy levels up! Yeah .. about that. Caffeine – heavy drinks can be alright for some people as an easy pick-me-up at the start of the day, but when it wears off, it leaves (at least most people) with a terrible energy crash. Caffeine charges you up for hours on end about a half hour after consuming it, but then leaves you weak and lazy for almost the same amount of time. And, if you’re anything like me, it can cause annoying headaches during this period as well.

I actually bought into the whole “you need coffee to function” for a few years, but then wised up, and noticed that it was actually doing more harm than good. It can supercharge you for a while, but then it leaves you so devastated afterward, plus the fact that it can cause sleeplessness more often than not really doesn’t make a few hours of high energy activity worth it to me. Besides, I found that if you follow the rest of the tips in this article, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with those overpriced cups of hot liquid in the first place.

Oh, and yes, I realize that not all people get these sorts of reactions from drinking loads of caffeine. Good for them, but they should at least realize that caffeine is truly addicting, and that if they’re drinking too much on a regular basis, it could cause permanent damage to the digestive system. In that sense, I really don’t think coffee is all that worth it.

MOTOR LEARNING AND THE KARATE KID

I recently saw the newest iteration of the Karate Kid franchise (simply called “The Karate Kid”), and enjoyed it. It’s not perfect by any means, but there’s a lot to like about it. The fight scenes are choreographed very well, Jackie Chan has an awesome dramatic turn, and China is shot magnificently. I just find the some of the main characters totally unconvincing in their sometimes heavy dramatic moments because of their age and inexperience with acting. In any case, the movie is great for what it is, and you should probably check it out if you’re a fan of Jackie Chan and martial arts movies in general.

Now that I’ve got my general thoughts on the movie out of the way, I’d like to move on to the primary topic of this article: the training mechanisms. In almost any movie such as this one, we have a series of training montages of various sorts. There are two main types of training methods: Blocked Practice and Random Practice.

BLOCKED PRACTICE

Blocked Practice is the more traditional form training, where the athlete repeats a single movement an endless amount of times to commit it to muscle memory. Most of the training techniques featured in the movie are like this, primarily the “jacket on, jacket off” training.

Blocked Practice has been shown to be very effective in teaching newcomers to a particular sport or discipline the ropes and basics, but has proven to be totally ineffective for use in the long run. Once the coach has seen that the athlete has learned proper form from the Blocked Practice, it would be time to move on to something more advanced, more effective, and more fun.


Blocked Practice is also useful at unlearning bad habits that athletes may have picked up playing the game during their childhood. Various set techniques should thus be utilized by the trainer to replace these bad movements with the correct ones before moving on to more advanced techniques and training methods.

REQUIREMENTS TO BE PHYSICALLY FIT

Are you exercising all day and night and still feel look and feel like a weak, little kitten? Well, physical activity is definitely an important requirement to being physically fit, but it’s not the only requirement. If you’re constantly exercising but fail to see any noticeable results, then maybe it’s time to look at some other factors in your life:

1. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The human body is meant to move. It is not meant to just sit or lie around all day and be idle. If it used as such, its internal systems become weaker and weaker over time because of constant disuse. Muscles, bones, and so on become weaker and the body becomes more susceptible to various diseases.

2. PROPER NUTRITION 

Food is the fuel for the human body, and quality definitely counts. The better quality food, the better your body will react to it and the healthier it will become. Attaining a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats is key to healthy living. Feed the body junk and it will react accordingly. Attempt to stay from processed foods such as fast food and feed the body ingredients that are as natural as possible. Plenty of vegetables and good quality protein such as chicken breast and fish are what the body needs.

HOW TO MEMORIZE ANATOMY

As you can see via the “About Me” blurb on the right side of this page, I’m currently a graduate student at one of the major universities in my country, studying Human Movement Science. As such, I am required to memorize human anatomy in order to properly apply the theories and techniques that I pick up.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you have a VERY difficult time memorizing much of human anatomy, especially since, as professionals, we’re required to know details up to the cellular level. How the heck do you memorize all those weird Latin words that never stick to your head, no matter how many hours you spend trying to hammer them into your consciousness? Let’s say you do eventually manage to cram them all in, but forget at least 90% after taking your first long exam. Isn’t it frustrating to realize that you used up what probably amounted to several days’ hard work, only to waste it all away after a sixty minute test?

Yup, that was me a few months ago. But then, something rather interesting happened: I discovered Memory Master. I found it highly recommended through several sites in the web and I decided to try it out. After a few months of using it, I can absolutely say that it indeed does work. Not only will you be able to easily memorize pretty much any odd word attached to a plethora of difficult definitions, you’ll make them stick too.

The basic premise is that you need to come up with a silly, cartoon–like image for any word, phrase, or even number in order to retain it to memory. The image has to be so silly that you’ll pretty much have a difficult time forgetting it. I’ll give some very specific examples beginning in the next paragraph, but I highly recommend you read through the entire Memory Master system first. Otherwise, you can just check out the rest of this article to at least get a taste of what this technique’s all about.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH VIDEO

Honest to god, there is a fountain of youth, and there's really no secret to reaching it. Everything I, and the rest of the people in the fitness industry have been blabbering about is all it takes. Having an excellent, balanced diet, regularly working out, and resting and relaxing when needed, all while having the most fun possible, is the key to the fountain of youth.

I originally saw this video via one of my favorite sites, Ross Training, and loved it so much that I had to link it here!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you gymnastics at age 69:

SCENTED CANDLES: RED DOOR REVIEW

Eating right and exercising regularly aren’t the only things required to live a healthy lifestyle. Proper rest and relaxation is also needed in order to ease your body of stress and recover from you workouts. This is what led me to look into the world of scented candles.

Now, I have to be completely honest in that I have very little knowledge on this specific subject. But the little that I have read indicates that scented candles (and other related products) can help you relax quicker and make you more at ease. With that in mind, I decided to try some of them out.

During one of my visits to the TriNoma Mall, I saw this quaint stall in the third floor called “Red Door” that specializes in scented candles. So, fine, I bit the bullet and bought one to try it out. I bought a large one in a container, which is about ten inches tall and has a three inch diameter. I chose the vanilla scent for the simple reason that I like the smell of vanilla. It cost me around Php400, I believe, but the lady said that I could refill the container when it runs out for only around Php200. She also said that if the candle were lit all day and night, that it would last for a solid two weeks.

Anyway, so I tried it out. The first day was pretty lovely. The scent would fill the room and leave me utterly satisfied of my purchase. I wouldn’t leave it on the entire day, though; just the times when I wanted the scent to be present.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 11 FINALE REVIEW PART 1: MCGEE VS. MCCRAY

Gotta say that I’m really very happy with the outcome here. I’ve said it several times during my reviews of the season, but I’ve always been impressed with Court McGee, despite his loss to Nick Ring, and I have never been too impressed with Kris McCray.

UFC 115 REVIEW PART ONE: LIDDELL VS. FRANKLIN

They were right, this is a classic matchup. Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is a UFC hall of famer and former light heavyweight champion. He was once the most dominant fighter in that weight class and has knockout power that you wouldn’t believe. Rich “Ace” Franklin is a former UFC middleweight champion, and was once the most dominant fighter in that particular weight class. Both famed strikers, and both previously seen as two of the best fighters in the UFC, they now face each other in order to prove that they still have what it takes to remain in the UFC.

MY TRIBUTE TO MORTAL KOMBAT

Past readers of this blog may know that I have a very tremendous passion for the video game franchise known as Street Fighter. I love fighting games in general, and want to try out pretty much all of them. Many born in the 80’s (like myself) very well know of the rivalry the Street Fighter franchise had with its Western, and more brutal, counterpart: Mortal Kombat.

While Street Fighter was based on hand drawn, anime-style sprites with a bit of comic relief thrown into the mix to be friendly to all audiences, Mortal Kombat differentiated itself by using actual videotaped live martial artists performing stunts to be used in the game. The characters, abilities, and storylines were also more inherently brutal, and the game even included “Fatalities”, where you could execute your opponent in various ways, including beheading, electrocution, and so on.

While I personally liked this aspect of Mortal Kombat as a young boy, what really got me hooked into the franchise was the first movie, released in 1995. A cheesy chop socky flick for sure, it nonetheless includes several martial arts fight scenes that I personally, to this day, deem to be classics.

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 11 EPISODE 11 REVIEW

Wow, it’s finally the end of Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter, huh? A spectacular two – hour special greets us this season ender, which promises loads of content and the semi-final matchups.

The episode begins exactly when the last one left off, with Rich Franklin introducing his assistant coaches to the team and surprise, surprise (unless you were massively spoiled like I unfortunately was)! It’s Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard, and Tyson Griffin. We then immediately cut to the next semi-final matchup: Court McGee vs. Brad Tavares.

POLE STARS PHILIPPINES: THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL POLE DANCE COMPETITION

Divino Makati sent me an e-mail about this a few days ago and I became curious. As a fitness and movement enthusiast, I personally would want to wholeheartedly promote pretty much any kind of dance, including Pole dancing.

Despite the fact that it may still bring about lewd connotations to some, pole dancing has been widely accepted by a wider audience in the past few years as a form of exercise and fun physical fitness activity. I also did some checking on this and, yes, it is legit. With that said, I find that it's yet another great event to promote dance, movement, and fitness throughout the country!

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 11 EPISODE 10 REVIEW

Okay, so this is pretty much the best episode of the season thus far. Containing literally the best fight of the season, and several memorable twists and surprises, this episode makes me incredibly happy that this show is still continuing after being on the air for so long.

The show starts off immediately after the last one, with Chuck steaming after Dana tells him that he won’t get to fight Tito anymore. Aside from a lot of expletives from Chuck, nothing really materializes out of it, though. He doesn’t come crashing into Tito’s room like Rampage or Rashad would’ve in their season. Tito looks to have overheard all of Chuck’s badmouthing, though, but is shown to not do anything about it. It looks as though Tito’s merely accepted the fact, and expects Chuck to become angry and call him names. Both fighters come off as incredibly mature in this moment, though, with neither starting any sort of ruckus after the news is dropped.

UFC 114 REVIEW PART 3: THE PRELIMS

While the main card of UFC 114 had its set of surprises, the preliminary fights were not without its moments. The first preliminary fight that I will review is between Melvin Guillard and Waylon Lowe. I had Guillard for this fight as soon as I saw it announced. He’s an incredibly powerful, extraordinarily fast athlete who is known to overpower his opponents. Lowe quickly tries to bring Guillard down to the ground and pins him up against the fence. Guillard defends the takedown though, and hammers Lowe’s head with hammer fists. Lowe lets go and the two slug it out for a few minutes. Clearly losing in the stand up battle, Lowe tries to shoot in once again, but gets kneed in the stomach incredibly hard. He falls to the floor and Guillard wins by TKO.