Top 10 tips to excel in Sports

Too much to do and too little time is every teens problem. But when it comes to Fitness for sports there is no excuse. Use the 10 tips below to excel in sports and even get that coveted scholarship many teens dream!

1. Get Involved

Never miss an opportunity to get involved in sports. An active life makes you enjoy your teen years to the fullest. Get involved in sports requiring running, strength and quick reflexes. Not just chess and computer games. But sports which will help you improve your physical fitness.

Physically fit teens are much more appealing than only-geeks. Also girls notice you on the field and find athletes very attractive. Just one more reason to play some sport today.

2. Stretch to become flexible

Stretching is the most neglected part of sports training. Stretching helps you become flexible and prevents injuries. Also flexible players are much more agile and performs sport-skills easily.

You need to do both general whole body stretching and specific muscle group or sport specific stretching. Jogging and bodyweight exercises are excellent for a stretching workout.

3. Train with Weights for strength

Weight Training Exercises can be done using exercise equipments like dumbbells, barbells or gym machines and also using your own bodyweight.

If you are early teen then Bodyweight exercises called calisthenics like push ups, pull ups and squats are excellent.

If you are in late teens then I suggest you train with weights at home or in the gym. Make sure you perform these 5 excellent exercises - Bench press, shoulder press, deadlift, barbell rows and Squats. These exercises cover all major muscle groups strengthening them for an excellent whole body workout.

You can more about Muscle Building for Teens here.

4. Train for speed

Almost every sport requires you to have quick reflexes to move and change directions quickly. Speed training uses speed drills will help you build sharp reflexes. Simple speed drills like sprinting, running fast and turning around, stop & move drills, throwing tennis balls and relays are excellent for developing speed and reflexes.

5. Train for aerobic endurance

Now that we have covered 2 important parts of fitness, namely strength and speed, lets talk about aerobic conditioning. You may have great power, your reflexes may be lightening but without your heart supplying enough oxygen you will fail on the field. What skills can you show when you cannot even catch your
breath?

On days you are not training with weights, run or jog for 20-30 minutes continuously. This will improve your aerobic endurance considerably. You can also use treadmills, rope skipping or any aerobic exercise machine and the
results will be the same.

6.Get sport specific

Different sports require different skills. Skills required in football are different than those required in tennis. In my next article I will cover sport specific skills as well. Or check the exercise section at buzzle.com

7. Get quality Nutrition

Nutrition is often neglected and the common excuse is time. Remember without proper diet all your efforts in the gym and on the field will be a waste.

Tip One - Eat a good breakfast. Sleep a little early and get up a little early. This will make time for your breakfast.

Tip Two - Eat your veggies. Yes your mom is right. Just finish those veggies and get on the field. Case closed.

8. Get enough Sleep

I can already hear you saying, that when 24 hours are not enough how can you get enough sleep? The fact of the matter is that with planning your homework and play times properly you can squeeze in an extra hour sleep. Remember you want to perform well on the field and a little dedication will help you here. For example you can get to homework quickly after sports training rather than watching TV. TV is a weekend item. Let those who do not play sports watch and waste time. You are going to be fit and excel in your team as well.

Also you should cut back on phone and internet. Less sleep will affect your performance on field and might cost you your seat to someone who plays well just because he slept well and looks fresh.

9. Competitions are great motivators

A competition like those between colleges or schools are an excellent motivation to train hard and win. They will provide you the additional impetus to give your best preparing for the competition.

10. Attend all parties and get together

In addition to building your muscles and sport skills its important to develop your whole personality. Attend local competitions and get togethers. Those are great places to meet people and make friends. Also your gym might be the place where you will meet your training partner. These relationships will take you a long way in getting and staying motivated.

By Mateen Siddiqui

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Why physical education lessons are so important

Since childhood obesity rates are on the rise it is evident that many children are just not getting enough exercise. This is extremely problematic, as the majority of overweight children grow up to become overweight and obese adults, and develop serious weight-related health issues. It is therefore important that children are encouraged to eat a healthy diet and stay active so they can avoid developing a weight problem. Clearly, physical education lessons could play a significant role in getting children interested in exercise so that they actually want to carry on doing exercise when they get older.

Unfortunately, in many instances schools are being forced to get rid of their physical education classes to make way for other subjects that are considered to be more important. Just because children are getting fewer physical education lessons doesn’t mean they are any less important, though; indeed, in today’s society they are more important than ever. If children aren’t getting enough exercise at home, they have to burn off their excess energy somehow. Although it isn’t the sole job of teachers to ensure children are getting enough exercise, the education system clearly has a role to play in getting children active.

Children should be doing at least an hour of exercise each day, but with homework and computer games competing for their spare time, plenty will opt not to do any. This isn’t helped by the fact that parents are often too busy to take their children to the park, while being reluctant to allow their children to play out by themselves. Yet, exercise is vital for keeping children healthy. Exercise is not only important for weight control; it also gets the heart and lungs pumping. If children into the habit of exercising they are likely to continue with it as they get older, thus reducing their chances of developing heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

It is therefore clear that physical education lessons should be given more priority than they currently are. If children learn to develop a love of exercise from a young age they are likely to be enthusiastic about exercise as adults, thus potentially keeping them healthier for longer. Active children are less likely to develop a weight problem, which means they can avoid entering adolescence and adulthood as obese individuals who are likely to face bullying and discrimination because of their size.

Physical education lessons can also break up the school day, getting children’s adrenaline flowing and helping to boost their alertness, which can only be a good thing when they enter the classroom. It is therefore essential not to underestimate the importance of physical education classes.
 For further reading please click here

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China Sports Culture And Spiritualy

It seems that before their many successes in the international sport arena,

the Chinese were known throughout Asia as being especially bad at them, and at feats of physical 

prowess in general.  This was a source of national pride which prompted the
Government to initiate one of the farthest reaching sports programs of almost any nation. 

They have programs at the county level which virtually recruit citizens just as a military branch would. 

 As their sports program matured over the years, the people of China took it as
a sign of a revitalized homeland, and a refutation to any who had thought upon the Chinese as weak. 
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/china/19990910A110.html

It is one of the Chinese governments top priorities to compete at a global level in every arena they can.

It is a deep source of pride of the Chinese people to be competitive with the rest of the world. 

This attitude translated rather easily into the highly competitive sports program they have developed. 

Culturally, sports are nothing new. China has had over 5000 years of sports history.  They have a long 
history with gymnastics and other physical activities like it, such as acrobatics and dancing. 

In addition, their many and varied traditions of martial arts also seems to fit into this mold.
http://chinese.about.com/library/weekly/aa032301c.htm

Sports are indeed an integral part of Chinese culture, with over 300 million citizens participating in 

some sports activity.  Physical fitness is something else that is very valued, and it is tied in with their

 love of sports.  They are very committed, with the government behind a mandatory program to 

promote physical well being.

"On New Year Day in 1995, the Chinese government put forward the Whole-People Health-Building Plan,

 with the aim of improving the people's physiques and health. This plan is named the One-Two-One Project, 

whereby everyone should take part in at least one sports activity every day, learn at least two 

health-building methods and take one physical examination once a year. The Physical Health Law of
the People's Republic of China was adopted by the Standing Committee of NPC on August 29, 1995.

 It was the first time for the state to enshrine the principle of promoting physical culture and building 

up the people's health in law."
http://www.china.org.cn/e-china/sports/popular.htm

It seems to be part of the life of a Chinese citizen to be behind their athletes, with athletic activities 

being a large part of national conversation and involvement.  From a young age, Chinese children 

are taught the principles of physical health and well-being, with sports being a large part of this training.

 With so many Chinese growing up with such experiences, it is no wonder why the national
attitude is so favorable towards them.  In the earlier part of the century, the condition of China's economy 

was virtually falling apart, and the citizens had very few sources of hope.  These victories for China in

 the sports arena provided a national character and context for their faith in themselves. These is the 

reason why China has emerge as King in Sports at Asia and International level. Just look at the total

 medal haul for China in the ongoing Asian Games.

Search terms:  china sports culture, china sports spirituality,
Chinese sports culture, Chinese sports history, Chinese sports
Search Method:  www.google.com

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An Ideal Teacher

An ideal teacher is a true builder of the nation. He is fearless, sincere and earnest in the discharge of his duties towards the students and the nation as a whole. An ideal teacher is considered as an object of admiration and devotion for the students. These days, students do not like to study from harsh and unsympathetic teachers. An ideal teacher creates such a confidence in his students that they are always ready to sacrifice for the cause of their teacher.

It is found that these days many teachers always try to find fault with work or deeds of their students instead of looking and changing their own attitudes. There comes utter ruin of the society when teachers grow weak or corrupt. As such, teachers must play the role of lamps that shatter darkness, become the lighthouses that guide the wandering ships to their right destinations and prevent any accidents. An ideal teacher builds an everlasting impression on the minds of his students. Such students then always remember ideal teachers and get them enshrined in their hearts. The hardworking and hard task masters are always remembered and loved by the students later. The students think that whatever position they have been able to attain is all due to the able guidance or hard work of their teacher.

An ideal teacher tries to spend most of his time in the pursuit of studies. He is mostly after the latest information and researches on various subjects. He goes through the journals and magazines to keep himself well-informed and to give up-t-date knowledge to his students. He treats the library of his school or college as a temple of knowledge. He always tries to make the most difficult subject intelligible to his pupils. He has the art to understand the difficulties of students and would come down to their level with compassion and sympathy. He always tries to be regular and punctual to set an example before his students. Time is money for an ideal teacher who thinks that loss of a second means loss of hundreds of minutes to the nation.
An ideal teacher displays extreme simplicity in spite of his extra ordinary academic attainments. He dedicates his whole life to the cause of education. He never allows his students to be idle or indisciplined. The vastness of his knowledge deeply impresses every student but an ideal teacher is never proud of it. An ideal teacher is busy with his books and quest for some knowledge even after he gets retired. In fact, ideal teachers never get retired since, with age, their depth of information and knowledge goes on increasing. They always remain a source of knowledge and guidance.
For an ideal teacher, all students are alike. He is never partial to any student and is always fair. An ideal teacher does not favour any student on grounds of his social status. He treats each student equally. He always remains simple in his habits.
Ideal teachers are honoured not only at the state level but at the national level. Every year, teachers are selected for due recognition for their contribution to the cause of society by providing best education and guiding the students to build a better nation.
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Rajesh_Mohan

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The Banana Plant

 

                                                 The Banana Tree At my schoool garden
The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant.^[7] Plants are normally tall and fairly sturdy and are often mistaken for trees, but their main or upright stem is actually a pseudostem that grows 6 to 7.6 metres (20 to 24.9 ft) tall, growing from a corm. Each pseudostem can produce a single bunch of bananas. After fruiting, the pseudostem dies, but offshoots may develop from the base of the plant.
Leaves are spirally arranged and may grow 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) long and 60 cm (2.0 ft) wide.^[8] They are easily torn by the wind, resulting in the familiar frond look.^[9]
Each pseudostem normally produces a single inflorescence, also known as the banana heart. (More are sometimes produced; an exceptional plant in the Philippines produced five.)^[10] The inflorescence contains many bracts (sometimes incorrectly called petals) between rows of flowers. The female flowers (that can develop into fruit) appear in rows further up the stem from the rows of male flowers. The ovary is inferior, meaning that the tiny petals and other flower parts appear at the tip of the ovary.
Banana fruit develop from the banana heart, in a large hanging cluster, made up of tiers (called hands) with up to 20 fruit to a tier. The hanging cluster is known as a bunch, comprising 3–20 tiers, or commercially as a "banana stem", and can weigh from 30–50 kilograms (66–110 lb). In common usage, bunch applies to part of a tier containing 3-10 adjacent fruits.
Individual banana fruits (commonly known as a banana or 'finger'), average 125 grams (0.28 lb), of which approximately 75% is water and 25% dry matter. There is an protective outer layer (a peel or skin) with numerous long, thin strings (the phloem bundles), which run lengthwise between the skin and the edible inner portion. The inner part of the common yellow dessert variety splits easily lengthwise into three sections that correspond to the inner portions of the three carpels.
The fruit has been described as a "leathery berry".^[11] In cultivated varieties, the seeds are diminished nearly to non-existence; their remnants are tiny black specks in the interior of the fruit. Bananas grow pointing up, not hanging down.

Health benefits

Along with other fruits and vegetables, consumption of bananas is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer^[21] and in women, breast cancer^[22] and renal cell carcinoma.^[23]
Individuals with a latex allergy may experience a reaction to bananas.^[24]
Bananas contain considerable amounts of vitamin B₆, vitamin C, and potassium. The latter makes them of particular interest to athletes who use them to quickly replenish their electrolytes.
In India, juice is extracted from the corm and used as a home remedy for jaundice, sometimes with the addition of honey, and for kidney stones.^[25]

Textiles

The banana plant has long been a source of fiber for high quality textiles. In Japan, banana cultivation for clothing and household use dates back to at least the 13th century. In the Japanese system, leaves and shoots are cut from the plant periodically to ensure softness. Harvested shoots are first boiled in lye to prepare fibers for yarn-making. These banana shoots produce fibers of varying degrees of softness, yielding yarns and textiles with differing qualities for specific uses. For example, the outermost fibers of the shoots are the coarsest, and are suitable for tablecloths, while the softest innermost fibres are desirable for kimono and

kamishimo. This traditional Japanese cloth-making process requires many steps, all performed by hand.^[26]
In a Nepalese system the trunk is harvested instead, and small pieces are subjected to a softening process, mechanical fiber extraction, bleaching and drying. After that, the fibers are sent to the Kathmandu Valley for use in rugs with a silk-like texture. These banana fiber rugs are woven by traditional Nepalese hand-knotting methods, and are sold RugMark certified.
In South Indian state of Tamil Nadu after harvesting for fruit the trunk (outer layer of the shoot) is made into fine thread used in making of flower garlands instead of thread.

Paper

Main article: Banana paper

Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper. Banana paper is used in two different senses: to refer to a paper made from the bark of the banana plant, mainly used for artistic purposes, or paper made from banana fiber, obtained with an industrialized process from the stem and the non-usable fruits. The paper itself can be either hand-made or in industrial processes.

                                                                   Banana Paper
 ^{For further reading please click here}

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Neem Tree

                                           My School With the Neem Tree at the background
The Neem tree (Veppilai) is variously known as "Sacred Tree," "Heal All," "Nature's Drugstore," "Village Pharmacy" and "Panacea for all diseases." Products made from neem tree have been used in India for over two millennia for their medicinal properties: Neem products have been observed to be anthelmintic, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antiviral, contraceptive and sedative.[1] Neem products are also used in selectively controlling pests in plants. It is considered a major component in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and is particularly prescribed for skin disease.^[2]

• All parts of the tree are said to have medicinal properties (seeds, leaves, flowers and bark) and are used for preparing many different medical preparations.
• Part of the Neem tree can be used as a spermicide^[3]
• Neem oil is used for preparing cosmetics (soap, shampoo, balms and creams, for example Margo soap), and is useful for skin care such as acne treatment, and keeping skin elasticity. Neem oil has been found to be an effective mosquito repellent.
• Neem derivatives neutralise nearly 500 pests worldwide, including insects, mites, ticks, and nematodes, by affecting their behaviour and physiology. Neem does not normally kill pests right away, rather it repels them and affects their growth. As neem products are cheap and non-toxic to higher animals and most beneficial insects, they are well-suited for pest control in rural areas.
• Besides its use in traditional Indian medicine, the neem tree is of great importance for its anti-desertification properties and possibly as a good carbon dioxide sink.
• Practitioners of traditional Indian medicine recommend that patients suffering from chicken pox sleep on neem leaves.
• Neem gum is used as a bulking agent and for the preparation of special purpose food (for diabetics).
• Aqueous extracts of neem leaves have demonstrated significant antidiabetic potential.
• Traditionally, slender neem branches were chewed in order to clean one's teeth. Neem twigs are still collected and sold in markets for this use, and in India one often sees youngsters in the streets chewing on neem twigs.
• A decoction prepared from neem roots is ingested to relieve fever in traditional Indian medicine.
• Neem leaf paste is applied to the skin to treat acne, and in a similar vein is used for measles and chicken pox sufferers.
• For further reading please click here

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School Landscape

School landscaping has traditionally produced fairly straightforward plans of open lawns with play yards or athletic fields scattered about. A few sturdy evergreen shrubs to hug the building and deciduous trees for shade might provide interest. Today's plans for schools treat the schoolyard as an extension of learning spaces in the school. My school is considered one of few school which associate with garden landscape.

Create an engaging exterior space to frame your school with a few key landscaping tips. Just as you display your students' accomplishments in the corridors inside the building, exhibit your school spirit on the outside for the community to see. Elements of your school landscape complement the architectural structure and make the favorable first impression on visitors to the building. Plan your design with school safety your first priority. Choose shrubs and perennials suited to your local climate.

Shrubs

Hardy and low maintenance, shrubs and flowering bushes make a suitable foundation planting for your school's landscape design. Highlight your entrance with shrubs rather than planting a long border of them. The maintenance staff is more likely to water and prune a smaller, high-impact shrub area, thus avoiding unsightly overgrowth and the necessity of removing neglected bushes that have died. Plant ivy or low shrubs in areas that are troublesome to mow.

Shade

tree image by M3Dia Solution from Fotolia.com

Provide shade for a comfortable learning and play space.

Plant a few trees in the open, grassy area of the playground to offer a sheltered place during hot months for imaginative play and even outdoor lessons. Form a leafy retreat in the urbanized world to enrich students experience of nature by planting trees throughout the grounds. Select trees suitable to your area's soil type and sun exposure to provide shaded parking. Avoid hickory trees for the schoolyard because the large woody nuts they produce can cause injury and property damage.

Flowers

red and yellow tulips image by Jorge Moro from Fotolia.com

Flowers add color to your school.

Add a welcoming splash of color to your school grounds with flowers. Incorporate your school colors in the selection of flowers to show support for your team. Select yellow daisies if gold is one of your team colors, or fragrant hyacinth for purple or blue. Tulips and chrysanthemums are durable and come in a variety of bold colors to suit almost any school sports affiliation. Plant flowers in lightweight recycled plastic containers for versatility and highlight your entrances with their placement. Container gardening limits the workload of weeding your flower garden for the maintenance staff.

Read more: Landscaping Ideas for School Lawns | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7182973_landscaping-ideas-school-lawns.html#ixzz15jwXfi6B

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