Posts Tagged ‘Present’

Benefits of Running – Past and Present

Running is an activity that is as old as mankind itself. Of course during cavemen days, people ran for completely different reasons. It was usually to run after food or run from becoming food. Thousands of years later, humankind still runs, for completely different reasons, in most cases. Today running is perceived mostly as a health related or sporting activity. There are people of all ages that run on a fairly regular basis to help stay in good shape. In fact studies show that older people who run at least a few times a week are in much healthier shape than people who do not.

These studies showed that regular runners have a slower onset of various diseases compared to those who do not run. Problems such as high blood pressure, heart attack, osteoporosis, and even depression showed to be lower amongst runners. All this should be good enough motivation to get you to buy a good pair of running shoes to get started. Talking of shoes, some the most recent studies have shown that running bare feet is the best for the body. The study was done on some tribes living in the Amazon rainforest and Africa. Many of the tribesmen ran a lot during the course of the day. It showed that the amount of joint pain that usually comes from running was not there. Ultimately the decision to run barefoot should be left up to the person.

If you are a beginner at running, the following tips will help with minimizing pain that will happen at the beginning of this kind of workout. As with any other workout, it is always best to start out slowly. Sure, you may have all the willpower in the world. But if you start off trying to run the marathon, then you are sure to injure or hurt yourself.

When you first start jogging, try and run in a straight line as much as possible. Avoid running around turns, instead walk through turns. Take frequent brakes and walk briskly instead of running. Slowly build up your stamina.

Try to do a mix of walking and running as much as possible. Alternate between the two and pretty soon you will be doing more jogging than walking. Before starting to jog, start with a brisk walk to warm up. This way you will get the heart beat going. Ideally in the beginning it should be several minutes of walking and perhaps one minute of running. Do this for approximately twenty to thirty minutes or whatever is most comfortable. With each passing week slowly decrease walking time and increase running time. The idea here is to slowly get your body used to running. If it is done every day, you will be running greater distances within a few weeks.

Running with a partner or a group of friends is a great way to stay consistent and motivated.

The History of Snowboarding Past Present and Future

As the history of snowboarding would have it, there are many conflicting reports as to who created the first snowboard. The earliest claim is that the snowboard was invented by M.J. Jack Burchett in 1929 and was composed of a piece of plywood with horse reigns as bindings. Next, in 1963, to-be famed snowboard designer, Tom Sims created something similar to a modern snowboard as a class project. He called his creation a “Ski Board”. Another story claims that the first snowboard was called a Snurfer (combination of the words surf and snow). The Snurfer was designed by Sherman Poppen for his daughter as early as 1965 in Michigan. The Snurfer was designed similarly to a skateboard but without wheels. It included a hand-held rope and no bindings. Finally, the individual that evolved these primitive snowboard creations into its modern day likeness was Dimitrije Milovich. Milovich was a surfer who started developing a snowboard based on a combination of a ski design and a surfboard shape.

By the 1970s and 80s, the popularity of snowboarding skyrocketed and several companies were created solely for the mass production of the snowboard. In the early 80s, snowboarding competitions began to spread across the United States and throughout the world. Popularity of snowboarding boomed and transcended to a mass public audience and was no longer a sport just for extreme athletes. In less than three decades since the snowboard began being mass produced, it was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1998.

The mainstream popularity of snowboarding had taken off and so had the marketing potential of the sport. Snowboarding first began appearing in the magazine Powder in the late 70s, but quickly entire magazines were dedicated to snowboarding. The first entirely snowboarding magazine was called Absolute Radical (later renamed International Snowboarding Magazine) which hit magazine racks in 1985. Quickly there were dozens and dozens of snowboarding magazines throughout the world.

Presently, snowboarding continues to thrive. Most ski slopes have eliminated the “no snowboarding” policy and many have slopes, pipes and parks dedicated for the exclusive use of snowboarders. The future of snowboarding looks bright. The number of new riders between the ages of 12-24 continues to grow each year.

Football Kit From Past to Present

Football is a brilliant game which is continually gaining its popularity worldwide. It is a sport which has twenty two players playing in the field. All the players showcase their skills just to win this physically strong game. Nevertheless, every player should have a football kit.
Football kits do not only refer to the uniforms and jerseys being used in the football games. It refers to the overall things that the football players use during the games. The kits of football players have already evolved as the time goes by. One very visible proof to this is the growing popularity of the football shirts. In fact, not only football players can have the kits in football but also the football aficionados.
Football uniforms as well as kits are not really included on the rules of football when it became an official sport in the 1880s. Indeed, players can wear whatever they want to wear during a football game before. They are free to use anything they want to use either for their comfort or just to have their own style. As a matter of fact, the early players of football wear only plain white shirts as their playing gear. It is on this period of time that football is only being played by wealthy men.
The first kits used were the garish and brash uniforms. These uniforms were blue, claret, and salmon pink in color. It was actually used by public school students. At that time, they have decided to have football uniforms to distinguish one team from the other.
As the time goes by more and more people were astonished by the football games. It actually came to a point when class people made the football as their hobby. As a result, the kits associated with the game per se also evolved.
With the continuous evolution of football, its equipment as well as kits was also improved. The uniforms became more gaudy and colorful. Shorts and socks were also included on the kit. Indeed, after so many years, the kits connected to football became more fashionable.
During the 1990s, smaller shorts and slim-fitting football shirts became the trend in the football world. More exciting and bold colors were being preferred by many players as well as football lovers and fans. As a matter of fact, in today’s time, many kits are made available and became a part of the economy of almost all the football clubs. The kits have exciting colors, designs, style, and comfortable textile materials. Thus, there is a wide range of kits to choose from.
The very evident thing here is that as the football becomes widely popular in the whole world, all the kits associated with the said sport also undergo improvement. Aside from that, those kits can also be acquired by many football fans to show their love and support for their favorite football team. Hence, it is safe to say that the football kit from past to present has truly evolved in terms of style, design, color and textile.