Ed, still not sold on this whole blogging thing. I mean, I gave it a valiant effort and all, but I guess it's just not my thing. However, I can understand how people may be interested in this. I also never considered this as a way to get information. People have their opinions and knowledge about different things, and searching a blog is a great way to get some insight into that.
So yeah, I guess I still wouldn't recommend it, and I'll probably never write one again- but it's been real :)
PEACE -- FOREVER haha
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Nike+
Nike+ Website
Well, I was browsing the internet, trying to find different personal training blogs and technology involved in it so I could write something brilliant and inspiring- however, during my search I thought of something that was interesting to me that I wanted to look into a little bit more.
Enter- Nike+
Now, I was introduced to this my freshman year here which was about the time that it came out, but I never really understood the possibilities until I checked out the website just now. As I'm sure you all already know, I am an athlete and I thoroughly enjoy working out, so seeing this Nike+ contraption was pretty interesting to me; so interesting in fact, that when I bought my new sneakers this summer I made sure they were Nike+ compatible in case I bought the kit.
Basically, what Nike+ does is tell you how fast you're going, how far you've gone and how many calories you've burned. It also will save your best times and track your progress as you go- all of this on either the iPod Nano or the 2nd Generation iPod Touch. You can even plug in your iPod to your computer and look at different graphs and such that represent your progress. It even has a "PowerSong" feature for when you get tired during a run and need that extra boost; all you do is press a button and your "PowerSong" comes on to help you out. I think that's a great feature since, especially for me, music helps big time and listening to the right songs can make a difference.
So that's my latest tid-bit on technology in a personal training setting. I definitely think this would be helpful for my clients if I give them a run/workout to complete on their own time and/or if I would like to track their progress. This would be ideal for those training for XC, track, road races, marathons etc.
I put the link to the website at the top of the page in case you would like to check out anymore information on Nike+
:) enjoy!
Well, I was browsing the internet, trying to find different personal training blogs and technology involved in it so I could write something brilliant and inspiring- however, during my search I thought of something that was interesting to me that I wanted to look into a little bit more.
Enter- Nike+
Now, I was introduced to this my freshman year here which was about the time that it came out, but I never really understood the possibilities until I checked out the website just now. As I'm sure you all already know, I am an athlete and I thoroughly enjoy working out, so seeing this Nike+ contraption was pretty interesting to me; so interesting in fact, that when I bought my new sneakers this summer I made sure they were Nike+ compatible in case I bought the kit.
Basically, what Nike+ does is tell you how fast you're going, how far you've gone and how many calories you've burned. It also will save your best times and track your progress as you go- all of this on either the iPod Nano or the 2nd Generation iPod Touch. You can even plug in your iPod to your computer and look at different graphs and such that represent your progress. It even has a "PowerSong" feature for when you get tired during a run and need that extra boost; all you do is press a button and your "PowerSong" comes on to help you out. I think that's a great feature since, especially for me, music helps big time and listening to the right songs can make a difference.
So that's my latest tid-bit on technology in a personal training setting. I definitely think this would be helpful for my clients if I give them a run/workout to complete on their own time and/or if I would like to track their progress. This would be ideal for those training for XC, track, road races, marathons etc.
I put the link to the website at the top of the page in case you would like to check out anymore information on Nike+
:) enjoy!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
So it's been 3 weeks....
....since I made my last post. I'm so bad at this! I guess this is why I don't normally keep one, I don't write in it often enough for people to keep up and/or even care haha.
So I just emailed my Strength Coach for my "Expert Interview" for this class. I'm interested in reading what he has to say about it. I feel like the strength coaches here don't rely very heavily on technology. I haven't seen much other than laptops, a body comp. caliper and a scale. So, if there's more to it than that, I'm interested in knowing what it might be.
The coolest thing I've seen when it comes to technology in this field is "Hydrostatic Weighing". It's the most accurate way of measuring how much body fat a person has. I was chosen to do it in my Exercise Physiology class and thought it was pretty sweet. First, you get measured and weighed to see how much total mass you have compared to your height (160lbs. on a 5'4" girl such as myself is much different on a 5'10" girl). Second, you breathe into this tube that's hooked up to a computer. It measures and calibrates how much you can breathe in and how much air you can expel. They do this so it knows how much air you still have in your lungs once you've breathed all that you can out. This needs to be as accurate as possible, so you have to get down to the nitty-gritty- every bit counts.
Once that's done, it's time to move to the pool; and I've got to say it was pretty intimidating to see. This is the best way I can explain it-- you know how the fruit and vegetable scales at the grocery store are set up? The little platform hangs down and pulls to move the needle? Okay, well it was pretty much a human-size version of that. --I'm instructed to sit on the seat, hold on to the sides, and curl my legs underneath. Once I'm ready to go, I have to make my body as compact as possible and blow all the air out. So, basically I go underwater for a few seconds, with no air. It's pretty intimidating to say the least. I did this 3 times, after each trial, the weight was taken and recorded. The idea behind hydrostatic weighing is that muscle weighs more than fat- muscle sinks, fat floats- so however much weight sinks according to the scale, is my muscle weight; everything else is fat.
It's really cool to me how this is done. Every other way of taking a body composition is based on the results from this hydrostatic test; it's the mother of all of it and currently the most accurate way to measure a person's body comp.
So yeah, that's my little tid-bit for the night. Guess I'll be writing again tomorrow since I have 2 more to go to keep up!
Keep on trucckkkiiiinnnnnn'
So I just emailed my Strength Coach for my "Expert Interview" for this class. I'm interested in reading what he has to say about it. I feel like the strength coaches here don't rely very heavily on technology. I haven't seen much other than laptops, a body comp. caliper and a scale. So, if there's more to it than that, I'm interested in knowing what it might be.
The coolest thing I've seen when it comes to technology in this field is "Hydrostatic Weighing". It's the most accurate way of measuring how much body fat a person has. I was chosen to do it in my Exercise Physiology class and thought it was pretty sweet. First, you get measured and weighed to see how much total mass you have compared to your height (160lbs. on a 5'4" girl such as myself is much different on a 5'10" girl). Second, you breathe into this tube that's hooked up to a computer. It measures and calibrates how much you can breathe in and how much air you can expel. They do this so it knows how much air you still have in your lungs once you've breathed all that you can out. This needs to be as accurate as possible, so you have to get down to the nitty-gritty- every bit counts.
Once that's done, it's time to move to the pool; and I've got to say it was pretty intimidating to see. This is the best way I can explain it-- you know how the fruit and vegetable scales at the grocery store are set up? The little platform hangs down and pulls to move the needle? Okay, well it was pretty much a human-size version of that. --I'm instructed to sit on the seat, hold on to the sides, and curl my legs underneath. Once I'm ready to go, I have to make my body as compact as possible and blow all the air out. So, basically I go underwater for a few seconds, with no air. It's pretty intimidating to say the least. I did this 3 times, after each trial, the weight was taken and recorded. The idea behind hydrostatic weighing is that muscle weighs more than fat- muscle sinks, fat floats- so however much weight sinks according to the scale, is my muscle weight; everything else is fat.
It's really cool to me how this is done. Every other way of taking a body composition is based on the results from this hydrostatic test; it's the mother of all of it and currently the most accurate way to measure a person's body comp.
So yeah, that's my little tid-bit for the night. Guess I'll be writing again tomorrow since I have 2 more to go to keep up!
Keep on trucckkkiiiinnnnnn'
Monday, March 23, 2009
Ohh Boyyyy
And I just realized I haven't posted in a month- NOT GOOD!! My bad Ed! I am so bad at keeping up with online stuff. I guess this could be a good lead into my latest post.....
I love being online and all, but I cannot stand online courses. I tried taking one freshman year (FSN 101) and it went horribly. I ended up just not participating in the course and receiving an "L" in it.
--L stands for "Left", as in I had "left" the class-- woops.
I thought it would be a good idea at first because it would save me time from going to a lecture at a specific time every day and I thought I would be able to get my work done easier during season since I'm on the road so often. I would never miss a class due to traveling and I just assumed I would do well in it. Turns out I was SO WRONG. I actually did worse and fell further behind in this course than I ever had in any course I have taken here at UMaine. So after I "left" the class, I had to retake it the next fall. I ended up getting an A in the class when I took it in lecture. Weird how that works huh?
I also took Intro to Child Development over last May Term. At the time I thought I needed a course for eligibility (turns out I was actually fine, but I don't want to get into that conversation..), and I wasn't about to stay up at school for another month. I wanted to get home ASAP, so I decided to take it online. I managed a little bit better this time around seeing as I actually had a lot more time on my hands and didn't have any other classes or practice/games to worry about. And by a little bit better, I mean a C-, still not my greatest accomplishment, but hey "C's get degrees" right?
I've established from taking these 2 courses and having minimal success with both of them, that I'm someone that needs to be in lecture and physically see and hear my teacher. I do much better when I take down and write notes, than just read them on a powerpoint and hear a teacher talk over a quicktime recording. But this makes me wonder-- am I the only one like this? There's no way. There must be other students out there that feel the same way. So in a society that's moving closer and closer to relying on computers and technology over the classic classroom set-up, what happens to the students like me that struggle with online based classes?? It's interesting to think about. I like to consider myself a good student, I'm holding a 3.0 right now, even with those 2 online courses I didn't do so well in-- the fact that just taking a course in a different format effected (affected?) my grades so much, interests me. These grades didn't truly reflect my ability as a student, but I had to take them and deal with them.
So I guess I'm opening this one up a bit to whomever would like to comment. Does anyone agree or disagree with what I'm getting at here??
Until the next brilliant post of mine.....
Keep on keepin' on ;)
I love being online and all, but I cannot stand online courses. I tried taking one freshman year (FSN 101) and it went horribly. I ended up just not participating in the course and receiving an "L" in it.
--L stands for "Left", as in I had "left" the class-- woops.
I thought it would be a good idea at first because it would save me time from going to a lecture at a specific time every day and I thought I would be able to get my work done easier during season since I'm on the road so often. I would never miss a class due to traveling and I just assumed I would do well in it. Turns out I was SO WRONG. I actually did worse and fell further behind in this course than I ever had in any course I have taken here at UMaine. So after I "left" the class, I had to retake it the next fall. I ended up getting an A in the class when I took it in lecture. Weird how that works huh?
I also took Intro to Child Development over last May Term. At the time I thought I needed a course for eligibility (turns out I was actually fine, but I don't want to get into that conversation..), and I wasn't about to stay up at school for another month. I wanted to get home ASAP, so I decided to take it online. I managed a little bit better this time around seeing as I actually had a lot more time on my hands and didn't have any other classes or practice/games to worry about. And by a little bit better, I mean a C-, still not my greatest accomplishment, but hey "C's get degrees" right?
I've established from taking these 2 courses and having minimal success with both of them, that I'm someone that needs to be in lecture and physically see and hear my teacher. I do much better when I take down and write notes, than just read them on a powerpoint and hear a teacher talk over a quicktime recording. But this makes me wonder-- am I the only one like this? There's no way. There must be other students out there that feel the same way. So in a society that's moving closer and closer to relying on computers and technology over the classic classroom set-up, what happens to the students like me that struggle with online based classes?? It's interesting to think about. I like to consider myself a good student, I'm holding a 3.0 right now, even with those 2 online courses I didn't do so well in-- the fact that just taking a course in a different format effected (affected?) my grades so much, interests me. These grades didn't truly reflect my ability as a student, but I had to take them and deal with them.
So I guess I'm opening this one up a bit to whomever would like to comment. Does anyone agree or disagree with what I'm getting at here??
Until the next brilliant post of mine.....
Keep on keepin' on ;)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
VIRGINIA TECH
Virginia Tech University.. Well let's see here.. Tech.. Technology? I guess the blog is related to technology :)
So I just read Kali's (Canada's) blog and since she called me out, I figured I should write about last Friday's unreal, awesome, incredible, stupendous, spectacular (and any other synonyms you'd like to throw in there) game vs. Virginia Tech..
A little background- Virginia Tech went to the NCAA College Softball World Series LAST YEAR and they entered this year pre-ranked as 20th in the nation- not a bad team I'd say. So we played them 3 weeks ago in Tennessee. We weren't very impressed to say the least, however we did leave with a 4-1 loss against them. They were a good team, but not great and most certainly not world series caliber- or at least I thought so- I honestly think the UNH softball would have a better chance of going to the world series this year over them*. But regardless of my lack of being impressed by them, an L is an L and we had to wear it. Lucky for us, and rather unfortunate for them, we met up again last Friday down in South Carolina.
Let's just say this was a grudge match.
It's Friday and our entire team is running on mayyybe 5 hours of sleep in total (if that) after the travel day we had on Thursday. We didn't get in 'til around 2-230 and had an early game the next morning followed by a break then a 430 game vs. VT. After killing Western Carolina 6-0 we'll fast forward to the story you guys have been dying to hear.
--- Just to let you know before we get started here, unlike baseball that goes 9 innings, softball only goes 7. Anything over that is considered extra innings (hmm a little foreshadowing huh?) ---
So we get the draw as home team. This means that VT hits in the top half of the inning and we hit in the bottom half. This is the most beneficial spot because we get "last-ups" which means if we're losing, we have the last chance to win.
As the home team, we take the field first.
Inning 1:
VT- 0
Maine- 0
Inning 2:
VT- 0
Maine- 0
........................................
Inning 7:
VT- 0
Maine- 0
Time for extra innings. Now the way extra innings works in this tournament, is called "International Tie-Breaker". This means that whomever made the last out in the previous inning, gets to start at second base. So at the beginning of the 8th inning, VT had a runner on second with no outs. They bunted the runner over to 3rd.
1 out, runner on 3rd.
I can't recollect the exact outs and hits etc., but they manage to push that runner across, before clocking 3 outs.
Top half of the 8th:
VT- 1
Maine- 0
Time for our at bat.
Same for us, runner on second. We go to bunt it, but the pitcher throws a wild pitch past the catcher. Our runner advances to 3rd and comes off the bag a little bit. The catcher gets the ball and tries to throw our runner out at 3rd, but the 3rd baseman misses the ball and it gets by her. Maine scores to tie it back up.
3 outs.
End of the 8th:
VT- 1
Maine- 1
Time for the 9th inning.
Again, VT has a runner on second with no outs. We manage to pull off 3 big outs and VT leaves that inning scoreless. This is great news for us because all we have to do is score that runner for second and we win.
With no outs, we manage to draw a couple walks and load up the bases for our leadoff batter Ashley Waters. For those that haven't heard of Ashley, she was our Conference's Player of the Year last year. She typically keeps about a .350 batting average, give or take (which for softball is unreal). This is the exact person the team wants up during this situation. I'm on deck (up next) and once she gets up to the plate I feel like I'm not even going to get up because she'll win the game for sure. First pitch she smokes the ball...... right at the 3rd baseman. The 3rd baseman catches it and steps on 3rd before our runner can get back and doubles her up. Now there's 2 out with runners on 1st and 2nd. Not the best-looking situation I've ever seen. Ashley walks off the field, and I get up to bat.
At this point in the game I was 0-3 or 0-4, 2 of those at-bats were strikeouts. So, I guess you could say I wasn't having that great of a game, at all.
First pitch- ball 1
Second pitch- strike 1
Third pitch- fouled off, strike 2
Fourth pitch- ball 2
So here I am, 2-2 count, bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, tie game, 2 runners on...
Fifth pitch: Change-up
--- BAD MOVE: I hit 8 home-runs last year, 6 off of change-ups and all 3 of mine this year are also on change-ups---
I wish I had seen a picture of my eyes once I realized she threw me a change-up-- HUGE-- the ball was the size of a watermelon, it might as well have been sitting on a tee. I swung and next thing I know I see it soaring in the air and I know it's gone as soon as I see it leave my bat. I start gunning it to first base, and right before I get there, sure enough, it dropped over the fence!
IS THIS REAL??? DID I REALLY JUST HIT A WALK-OFF HOMERUN THE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 9th AGAINST VIRGINIA TECH?!?!?!!
This is the "stuff" you see in movies and I just lived it.
I sprint around the bases, jumping on occassion and pump my fist in triumph. I round 3rd, give my coach a high five and make my way to home plate. I look and see my whole team crowded around the plate waiting for me to step on it so they can swarm me. I run harder toward home, jump up and slam both my feet on home plate. We all start screaming, yelling, jumping, crying, absolutely uncontrollably.
It was something you dream about. Winning a game like that is the reason why you play the game.
We line up and give 5's to VT for a game well-played. After we break off we all get together and keep tradition by singing the Stein Song after winning. We were all screaming and yelling the song, Ashley was in the middle just screaming, she couldn't even say a word.
The highlight of my career so far... Unbelieveable
So I just read Kali's (Canada's) blog and since she called me out, I figured I should write about last Friday's unreal, awesome, incredible, stupendous, spectacular (and any other synonyms you'd like to throw in there) game vs. Virginia Tech..
A little background- Virginia Tech went to the NCAA College Softball World Series LAST YEAR and they entered this year pre-ranked as 20th in the nation- not a bad team I'd say. So we played them 3 weeks ago in Tennessee. We weren't very impressed to say the least, however we did leave with a 4-1 loss against them. They were a good team, but not great and most certainly not world series caliber- or at least I thought so- I honestly think the UNH softball would have a better chance of going to the world series this year over them*. But regardless of my lack of being impressed by them, an L is an L and we had to wear it. Lucky for us, and rather unfortunate for them, we met up again last Friday down in South Carolina.
Let's just say this was a grudge match.
It's Friday and our entire team is running on mayyybe 5 hours of sleep in total (if that) after the travel day we had on Thursday. We didn't get in 'til around 2-230 and had an early game the next morning followed by a break then a 430 game vs. VT. After killing Western Carolina 6-0 we'll fast forward to the story you guys have been dying to hear.
--- Just to let you know before we get started here, unlike baseball that goes 9 innings, softball only goes 7. Anything over that is considered extra innings (hmm a little foreshadowing huh?) ---
So we get the draw as home team. This means that VT hits in the top half of the inning and we hit in the bottom half. This is the most beneficial spot because we get "last-ups" which means if we're losing, we have the last chance to win.
As the home team, we take the field first.
Inning 1:
VT- 0
Maine- 0
Inning 2:
VT- 0
Maine- 0
........................................
Inning 7:
VT- 0
Maine- 0
Time for extra innings. Now the way extra innings works in this tournament, is called "International Tie-Breaker". This means that whomever made the last out in the previous inning, gets to start at second base. So at the beginning of the 8th inning, VT had a runner on second with no outs. They bunted the runner over to 3rd.
1 out, runner on 3rd.
I can't recollect the exact outs and hits etc., but they manage to push that runner across, before clocking 3 outs.
Top half of the 8th:
VT- 1
Maine- 0
Time for our at bat.
Same for us, runner on second. We go to bunt it, but the pitcher throws a wild pitch past the catcher. Our runner advances to 3rd and comes off the bag a little bit. The catcher gets the ball and tries to throw our runner out at 3rd, but the 3rd baseman misses the ball and it gets by her. Maine scores to tie it back up.
3 outs.
End of the 8th:
VT- 1
Maine- 1
Time for the 9th inning.
Again, VT has a runner on second with no outs. We manage to pull off 3 big outs and VT leaves that inning scoreless. This is great news for us because all we have to do is score that runner for second and we win.
With no outs, we manage to draw a couple walks and load up the bases for our leadoff batter Ashley Waters. For those that haven't heard of Ashley, she was our Conference's Player of the Year last year. She typically keeps about a .350 batting average, give or take (which for softball is unreal). This is the exact person the team wants up during this situation. I'm on deck (up next) and once she gets up to the plate I feel like I'm not even going to get up because she'll win the game for sure. First pitch she smokes the ball...... right at the 3rd baseman. The 3rd baseman catches it and steps on 3rd before our runner can get back and doubles her up. Now there's 2 out with runners on 1st and 2nd. Not the best-looking situation I've ever seen. Ashley walks off the field, and I get up to bat.
At this point in the game I was 0-3 or 0-4, 2 of those at-bats were strikeouts. So, I guess you could say I wasn't having that great of a game, at all.
First pitch- ball 1
Second pitch- strike 1
Third pitch- fouled off, strike 2
Fourth pitch- ball 2
So here I am, 2-2 count, bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, tie game, 2 runners on...
Fifth pitch: Change-up
--- BAD MOVE: I hit 8 home-runs last year, 6 off of change-ups and all 3 of mine this year are also on change-ups---
I wish I had seen a picture of my eyes once I realized she threw me a change-up-- HUGE-- the ball was the size of a watermelon, it might as well have been sitting on a tee. I swung and next thing I know I see it soaring in the air and I know it's gone as soon as I see it leave my bat. I start gunning it to first base, and right before I get there, sure enough, it dropped over the fence!
IS THIS REAL??? DID I REALLY JUST HIT A WALK-OFF HOMERUN THE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 9th AGAINST VIRGINIA TECH?!?!?!!
This is the "stuff" you see in movies and I just lived it.
I sprint around the bases, jumping on occassion and pump my fist in triumph. I round 3rd, give my coach a high five and make my way to home plate. I look and see my whole team crowded around the plate waiting for me to step on it so they can swarm me. I run harder toward home, jump up and slam both my feet on home plate. We all start screaming, yelling, jumping, crying, absolutely uncontrollably.
It was something you dream about. Winning a game like that is the reason why you play the game.
We line up and give 5's to VT for a game well-played. After we break off we all get together and keep tradition by singing the Stein Song after winning. We were all screaming and yelling the song, Ashley was in the middle just screaming, she couldn't even say a word.
The highlight of my career so far... Unbelieveable
This is what I Meant to Talk about Before
So going back to the technology applied to Personal Training article...
The article reminded me- I got the chance to attend the MAHPERD conference down in Rockland, Maine this fall. In a nutshell it's pretty much a conference for P.E. Teachers and Strength Coaches/Personal Trainers. While I was there, I went to a presentation about heart monitors and other technologies in a P.E. setting. Gotta say, it definitely caught my attention.
I can't remember the presenter's name for the life of me right now, or where she is from, but I guess it's not that big of a deal anyway since whomever is reading this probably won't care about who she is or where she's from. Anyways, she started off the presentation with a video of an elementary school P.E. class. The kids entered the gym, walked over to a wall, grabbed their heart rate monitors, put them on and checked in with their teacher- without any hesistation and began their warm-up. I was really curious as to why these kids had heart rate monitors on in an elementary P.E. class. I remember P.E. back in the day, and we played dodgeball and learned how to dance the stray-cat-strut and did jumprope for heart- what do heart rate monitors have anything to do with that?? Well, good thing she answered my question.
After she showed the video she began to explain the reasoning behind using these heart rate monitors. And there was so much more to it than I had originally expected. What happens is throughout the class, the monitors record the student's heart rate constantly and save them into this program that charts the rates. After class is over, the teacher puts the heart rates onto her computer and reads them. This allows her to know whether the students are putting in too much, just right or not enough effort into the class. If their heart rate is below the green and in the yellow, they weren't putting enough effort into the activity, their oody and heart isn't working at the ideal rate. On the flipside, in the red is more on a caution side, and they are working too hard.
If the students' heart rates rised or fell below their green area, the monitor would beep to let them know and bring them back to where they should be. This allows their body to work in ideal conditions and not be pushed too hard or not enough. It's one thing to be able to run a 6 minute mile, but running that mile while the heart is pumping a mile minute isn't beneficial to the body and fitness. Running a mile while in the green allows for improvement because next time the student runs that mile, they will be able to run a little harder and stay in their zone.
I think using these heart rate monitors is a great idea. It allows students at a young age to get a basic and simple understanding of exercise and how to exercise properly. Running around with your heart in the red only hurts you and puts you in danger, and on the contrary, walking in the yellow isn't hard enough work for the body to work efficiently. Sure, there are situations in which working in the yellow or red would be required, but it is ideal, overall, to remain in that green area.
From a teaching standpoint, it allowed the teacher to grade much easier. If the student was in the yellow most of the time, they didn't try and give any effort. So for that day, dock off some points. It kept grading simple, either they put effort in or they didn't, and if a parent had a problem with their student's grade, well it's right there on the chart. It's in yellow, green and red, pretty simple and laid out bluntly. There isn't much room for confusion on that.
I think it is a very cool idea to use, and I think it would also be not only beneficial to P.E. programs across the country, but to sports teams. I know I would love to have a heart rate monitor and computer system like that to get an idea of where I am during practices and such.
Maybe one day. Who knows, maybe I'll be a trainer for a sports team one day and introduce such a program. I mean, if the team loses, at least I'll have done my job and they'll be in prime condition :)
On a complete other note- leaving for FLORIDA TODAYYY :) :) :) ohhh can't wait!! We're heading down there for a little over 2 weeks to play about 20 games and the way things have been going, I couldn't be more exicted! We look pretty damn good as of late, and I can't wait to see what we do down there. If you want to check out how we're doing feel free to go to "goblackbears.com" and click on "teams" then "softball". It should give updates there, stats, results and such.
Alright time for this girl to head out.
Keep on keepin' on ;)
Lex
The article reminded me- I got the chance to attend the MAHPERD conference down in Rockland, Maine this fall. In a nutshell it's pretty much a conference for P.E. Teachers and Strength Coaches/Personal Trainers. While I was there, I went to a presentation about heart monitors and other technologies in a P.E. setting. Gotta say, it definitely caught my attention.
I can't remember the presenter's name for the life of me right now, or where she is from, but I guess it's not that big of a deal anyway since whomever is reading this probably won't care about who she is or where she's from. Anyways, she started off the presentation with a video of an elementary school P.E. class. The kids entered the gym, walked over to a wall, grabbed their heart rate monitors, put them on and checked in with their teacher- without any hesistation and began their warm-up. I was really curious as to why these kids had heart rate monitors on in an elementary P.E. class. I remember P.E. back in the day, and we played dodgeball and learned how to dance the stray-cat-strut and did jumprope for heart- what do heart rate monitors have anything to do with that?? Well, good thing she answered my question.
After she showed the video she began to explain the reasoning behind using these heart rate monitors. And there was so much more to it than I had originally expected. What happens is throughout the class, the monitors record the student's heart rate constantly and save them into this program that charts the rates. After class is over, the teacher puts the heart rates onto her computer and reads them. This allows her to know whether the students are putting in too much, just right or not enough effort into the class. If their heart rate is below the green and in the yellow, they weren't putting enough effort into the activity, their oody and heart isn't working at the ideal rate. On the flipside, in the red is more on a caution side, and they are working too hard.
If the students' heart rates rised or fell below their green area, the monitor would beep to let them know and bring them back to where they should be. This allows their body to work in ideal conditions and not be pushed too hard or not enough. It's one thing to be able to run a 6 minute mile, but running that mile while the heart is pumping a mile minute isn't beneficial to the body and fitness. Running a mile while in the green allows for improvement because next time the student runs that mile, they will be able to run a little harder and stay in their zone.
I think using these heart rate monitors is a great idea. It allows students at a young age to get a basic and simple understanding of exercise and how to exercise properly. Running around with your heart in the red only hurts you and puts you in danger, and on the contrary, walking in the yellow isn't hard enough work for the body to work efficiently. Sure, there are situations in which working in the yellow or red would be required, but it is ideal, overall, to remain in that green area.
From a teaching standpoint, it allowed the teacher to grade much easier. If the student was in the yellow most of the time, they didn't try and give any effort. So for that day, dock off some points. It kept grading simple, either they put effort in or they didn't, and if a parent had a problem with their student's grade, well it's right there on the chart. It's in yellow, green and red, pretty simple and laid out bluntly. There isn't much room for confusion on that.
I think it is a very cool idea to use, and I think it would also be not only beneficial to P.E. programs across the country, but to sports teams. I know I would love to have a heart rate monitor and computer system like that to get an idea of where I am during practices and such.
Maybe one day. Who knows, maybe I'll be a trainer for a sports team one day and introduce such a program. I mean, if the team loses, at least I'll have done my job and they'll be in prime condition :)
On a complete other note- leaving for FLORIDA TODAYYY :) :) :) ohhh can't wait!! We're heading down there for a little over 2 weeks to play about 20 games and the way things have been going, I couldn't be more exicted! We look pretty damn good as of late, and I can't wait to see what we do down there. If you want to check out how we're doing feel free to go to "goblackbears.com" and click on "teams" then "softball". It should give updates there, stats, results and such.
Alright time for this girl to head out.
Keep on keepin' on ;)
Lex
Monday, February 16, 2009
Alright, So I Lied.........
Okay, yeah, I did say in my last post that I would write about that last part of the article in this post-- well, I lied, but I'm sure you can handle it.
I'm watching Transformers right now and felt the need to write about that more than boring technology stuff and heart rate monitors that I know no one else (well other than myself and big Eddie B) would care about (sorry Ed-- 1. because you know I'm right and 2. for using a nickname I didn't run by you first; I like it though, I think it's pretty good haha). So, anyways, I though I'd write about my latest feat in the world of technology.
Some of you might be confused as to why I'm choosing to write about watching Transformers over writing about something pertinent to my field of work, allow me to explain....
I live in Orchard Trails, and I decided to renew my lease a while back. Because I decided to do that I was automatically entered in a raffle, along with the rest of anyone that decided to renew for next year-- however, I'm not going to go into what the prizes were because that will definitely ruin and giveaway the story.
So, last night I'm at the Olive Garden with a couple of the girls on the team (none of the ones in class), the assistant coach, a recruit and the recruits parents. I have my phone out, of course, because as previously stated in my last post I'm a texting maniac and my phone is NEVER off (and when I say never, I mean it; I could probably count how many times I've actually decided to turn my phone off--> don't comment on that Kali, Jordan or Kirstin). I look at my phone and I see one of my good friends up here Joe is calling me, I don't want to be rude and answer, so I just ignore the call and figure I'll call him later or he can text me if he needs me. 30 seconds later, my other good friend Joe (they live together too) is calling me. Now, I just figure they're calling me to bug me and tell me to come over because I haven't been over and hung out with them in a few days.
I ignore his call too, I have more important things to deal with at the moment.
30 seconds after that, Orchard Trails calls. I figure that they're calling because I haven't paid my $5.94 conservice bill yet.
Ignore.
30 seconds later, I get a text message from my real good friend Taryn--
and I quote, "Joe just informed me u won the 42 inch flat screen from orchard trails".
I read this and am not sure whether or not to believe it. I mean that's a pretty mean lie, but I wouldn't put it past these boys to mess with me like this, especially since I'm rather, well, gullible. I get up and excuse myself from the table to check the two voicemails I have on my phone. One is from the second Joe that called me--
Alexis, me and Joe are leaving the community building right now, and well, we hate you. We're not going to tell you why, but we hate you.
Okay, now my heart starts to race a little bit because he sounded serious and he would leave a message like that if he was jealous of me winning a sweet new television. So, I check my next message- from Orchard Trails.
Hi Alexis. We just wanted to congratulate you as your name was picked in the drawing for the t.v. You can come and pick it up tonight before we close, or you can come in tomorrow after we open at 8:30. Congratulations again, and hope to see you soon.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW. A PHILLIPS 42" FLATSCREEN LCD HD TELEVISION. MINE. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AND MY NAME GOT PICKED.
Let me explain something for a second-- I never win ANYTHING like this-- EVER. The only awards I have won are ones for sports or school. I win what I earn, I'm not one to have great luck. I am horrible at BINGO, I either lose money or break even with scratch tickets and I most certainly have never been the one name out of hundreds to be pulled to win a raffle. I guess you could say this is new to me.
I come back to the table and can't help but exclaim how excited I am and boast about my big win. The best part is one of my teammates Brynne lives in Orchard Trails and renewed just like I did, so she was entered in the same drawing. Bad news for her because I was the big winner and she came out with nothing. I mean, she was legitimately mad I think. I couldn't help but laugh because hell if I know what I'm about to do with a new t.v. like that. I had a t.v. of my own but told my roommate she could put it in my room since I don't even really watch t.v. Here I am talking about how I might sell it and such and she's dying because she's been eying it since she was entered in the drawing and saw the flyers for it. Me being me, I brag and joke with her about it. I love it. I let her know that if she's lucky I'll let her come over and watch it sometime. Everytime she said something I would just come back with "Oh Brynne don't be upset because you didn't win and I have a new t.v. waiting for me when I get back". Always some smart ass comment. However, I think I found it funnier than she did-- oh well.
I finish my dinner and figure I'd celebrate by getting some dessert. White chocolate raspberry cheesecake, MMMM yes please!
I come back to Orchard Trails to claim my prize. I walked into the building carried it out with one of the employees to my Jeep. Boxed up with bal-----
----Sidenote: In mid-word I closed out of this website and shut my computer because I just had to leave to talk to one of my teachers. I've been so caught up in writing these blogs that I lost track of time and forgot to go to class. Good thing one of my teammates Kristen just called me to let me know she saw my teacher. Back to the story----
----oons tied to it I drove to my building with it in the trunk. I parked the car out front and bombed into my apartment screaming "PUCH!!!" (pronounced pooch) looking for my roommate. She wasn't home but another one, Janessaaaaa, was sitting on the couch. I asked her if she could lift things and would help me. She proceeded to question whether or not what she was about to do was legal.
Smart ass.
I say yes and we go out to my car and carry my new goliath of a television set in. As soon as I put the box down in the living room I ran back out to my car to visit the Joes. I get to their place and soak up how much they hate me for winning the t.v. It's great. I love to gloat about things, and this is definitely something I loved boasting about-- feels good to be a winner, especially when others who had the same chances as me lose, even more especially when they're my friends. I hang out there for a while and my 3rd roommate Marleah's boyfriend Justin volunteers to help me set it up when he comes over. Of course I accept, and can't wait to get this thing up and going! I leave, and Justin comes over about a half hour later to help me out.
THANK YOU ORCHARD TRAILS
We take it out of the box and let me tell you it is a thing of beauty. I don't have a nice flatscreen HD at home or anything, so the fact that I have one now that's mine is unreal for me. My family is very simple and doesn't splurge too much on things like that. I'm surprised we don't still have an analog set somewhere in the house. So we hook it up, choose the settings and decide that there's no better way to break in a nice, new t.v. like this than watching Batman: The Dark Knight. I happen to be obsessed with this movie right now, so I figured that was the greatest option.
So here I am now, sitting out in my living room (which is where we decided to hook it up) watching Transformers on the new flatscreen writing this post. I figured I'd boast a little bit more about my latest technological feat rather than writing about heart rate monitors in elementary PE classes.
I figure my next move is to get surround sound, HD and a PS3 just to complete the whole package.
Enjoy :) oh and if you're jealous, that's okay-- I would be too.
Rock on ;)
-Lex
I'm watching Transformers right now and felt the need to write about that more than boring technology stuff and heart rate monitors that I know no one else (well other than myself and big Eddie B) would care about (sorry Ed-- 1. because you know I'm right and 2. for using a nickname I didn't run by you first; I like it though, I think it's pretty good haha). So, anyways, I though I'd write about my latest feat in the world of technology.
Some of you might be confused as to why I'm choosing to write about watching Transformers over writing about something pertinent to my field of work, allow me to explain....
I live in Orchard Trails, and I decided to renew my lease a while back. Because I decided to do that I was automatically entered in a raffle, along with the rest of anyone that decided to renew for next year-- however, I'm not going to go into what the prizes were because that will definitely ruin and giveaway the story.
So, last night I'm at the Olive Garden with a couple of the girls on the team (none of the ones in class), the assistant coach, a recruit and the recruits parents. I have my phone out, of course, because as previously stated in my last post I'm a texting maniac and my phone is NEVER off (and when I say never, I mean it; I could probably count how many times I've actually decided to turn my phone off--> don't comment on that Kali, Jordan or Kirstin). I look at my phone and I see one of my good friends up here Joe is calling me, I don't want to be rude and answer, so I just ignore the call and figure I'll call him later or he can text me if he needs me. 30 seconds later, my other good friend Joe (they live together too) is calling me. Now, I just figure they're calling me to bug me and tell me to come over because I haven't been over and hung out with them in a few days.
I ignore his call too, I have more important things to deal with at the moment.
30 seconds after that, Orchard Trails calls. I figure that they're calling because I haven't paid my $5.94 conservice bill yet.
Ignore.
30 seconds later, I get a text message from my real good friend Taryn--
and I quote, "Joe just informed me u won the 42 inch flat screen from orchard trails".
I read this and am not sure whether or not to believe it. I mean that's a pretty mean lie, but I wouldn't put it past these boys to mess with me like this, especially since I'm rather, well, gullible. I get up and excuse myself from the table to check the two voicemails I have on my phone. One is from the second Joe that called me--
Alexis, me and Joe are leaving the community building right now, and well, we hate you. We're not going to tell you why, but we hate you.
Okay, now my heart starts to race a little bit because he sounded serious and he would leave a message like that if he was jealous of me winning a sweet new television. So, I check my next message- from Orchard Trails.
Hi Alexis. We just wanted to congratulate you as your name was picked in the drawing for the t.v. You can come and pick it up tonight before we close, or you can come in tomorrow after we open at 8:30. Congratulations again, and hope to see you soon.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW. A PHILLIPS 42" FLATSCREEN LCD HD TELEVISION. MINE. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AND MY NAME GOT PICKED.
Let me explain something for a second-- I never win ANYTHING like this-- EVER. The only awards I have won are ones for sports or school. I win what I earn, I'm not one to have great luck. I am horrible at BINGO, I either lose money or break even with scratch tickets and I most certainly have never been the one name out of hundreds to be pulled to win a raffle. I guess you could say this is new to me.
I come back to the table and can't help but exclaim how excited I am and boast about my big win. The best part is one of my teammates Brynne lives in Orchard Trails and renewed just like I did, so she was entered in the same drawing. Bad news for her because I was the big winner and she came out with nothing. I mean, she was legitimately mad I think. I couldn't help but laugh because hell if I know what I'm about to do with a new t.v. like that. I had a t.v. of my own but told my roommate she could put it in my room since I don't even really watch t.v. Here I am talking about how I might sell it and such and she's dying because she's been eying it since she was entered in the drawing and saw the flyers for it. Me being me, I brag and joke with her about it. I love it. I let her know that if she's lucky I'll let her come over and watch it sometime. Everytime she said something I would just come back with "Oh Brynne don't be upset because you didn't win and I have a new t.v. waiting for me when I get back". Always some smart ass comment. However, I think I found it funnier than she did-- oh well.
I finish my dinner and figure I'd celebrate by getting some dessert. White chocolate raspberry cheesecake, MMMM yes please!
I come back to Orchard Trails to claim my prize. I walked into the building carried it out with one of the employees to my Jeep. Boxed up with bal-----
----Sidenote: In mid-word I closed out of this website and shut my computer because I just had to leave to talk to one of my teachers. I've been so caught up in writing these blogs that I lost track of time and forgot to go to class. Good thing one of my teammates Kristen just called me to let me know she saw my teacher. Back to the story----
----oons tied to it I drove to my building with it in the trunk. I parked the car out front and bombed into my apartment screaming "PUCH!!!" (pronounced pooch) looking for my roommate. She wasn't home but another one, Janessaaaaa, was sitting on the couch. I asked her if she could lift things and would help me. She proceeded to question whether or not what she was about to do was legal.
Smart ass.
I say yes and we go out to my car and carry my new goliath of a television set in. As soon as I put the box down in the living room I ran back out to my car to visit the Joes. I get to their place and soak up how much they hate me for winning the t.v. It's great. I love to gloat about things, and this is definitely something I loved boasting about-- feels good to be a winner, especially when others who had the same chances as me lose, even more especially when they're my friends. I hang out there for a while and my 3rd roommate Marleah's boyfriend Justin volunteers to help me set it up when he comes over. Of course I accept, and can't wait to get this thing up and going! I leave, and Justin comes over about a half hour later to help me out.
THANK YOU ORCHARD TRAILS
We take it out of the box and let me tell you it is a thing of beauty. I don't have a nice flatscreen HD at home or anything, so the fact that I have one now that's mine is unreal for me. My family is very simple and doesn't splurge too much on things like that. I'm surprised we don't still have an analog set somewhere in the house. So we hook it up, choose the settings and decide that there's no better way to break in a nice, new t.v. like this than watching Batman: The Dark Knight. I happen to be obsessed with this movie right now, so I figured that was the greatest option.
So here I am now, sitting out in my living room (which is where we decided to hook it up) watching Transformers on the new flatscreen writing this post. I figured I'd boast a little bit more about my latest technological feat rather than writing about heart rate monitors in elementary PE classes.
I figure my next move is to get surround sound, HD and a PS3 just to complete the whole package.
Enjoy :) oh and if you're jealous, that's okay-- I would be too.
Rock on ;)
-Lex
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