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Directions from Gurney Plaza

Directions from Queensbay Mall

When reaching you will see Harbour Trade Centre on your left side.

In front you will see the main gate to our training site.

Once you enter you will see an orange container on you right side about 100m away.

Our boat is situated near the container bearing a very scenic view.

Welcome to our training site and get ready to rumble!!!!

(Pictures courtesy of Engwei)

Facts on Sleep:

While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture
generally frowns upon mid-day sleep, even those who get enough sleep. Many
people experience a natural increase in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8
hours after waking or what we can call the “after lunch” effect. Research shows
that you can make yourself more alert and energised with a nap. Mid-day sleep,
or a ‘power nap’, gives you better reaction time and more efficiency for the
next dragon boat race. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of sleep
and how a power nap can help you!

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

The body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day; 6 hours or less triples your risk of
a car accident. (Interestingly, too much sleep–more than 9 hours–can actually
be harmful for your health; recent studies show that those who sleep more than
9 hours per day don’t live as long as their 8-hour-sleep counterparts!)

The Effects of Missed Sleep

Sleep is cumulative, so if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next. If you
miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep deficit’,
which impairs the following:

• Reaction time
• Judgment
• Vision
• Information processing
• Short-term memory
• Performance
• Motivation
• Vigilance
• Patience

Fatigued
people also experience more moodiness, aggressive behaviors, burnout
and more stress. This leads to under performing for a race.

The Benefit of a Power Nap:

Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than
20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning
sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for
this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon,
about 8 hours after we wake up.

How Long Should I Sleep?

When you sleep you pass through different stages of sleep, known together as a
sleep cycle. These stages include light sleep, deep sleep (which is believed to
be the stage in which the body repairs itself), and rapid-eye movement sleep,
or REM sleep (during which the mind is repaired).

Many
experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer
gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken.
Also, longer naps can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night,
especially if your sleep deficit is relatively small. However, research has
shown that a 1-hour nap has many more restorative effects than a 30-minute nap,
including a much greater improvement in cognitive functioning. The key to
taking a longer nap is to get a sense of how long your sleep cycles are, and
try to awaken at the end of a sleep cycle. (It’s actually more the interruption
of the sleep cycle that makes you groggy, rather than the deeper states of
sleep.)

Power nap before your race

This is only a suggestion, but if you haven’t noticed when
paddlers have a big time gap in between their race, you’ll see a bunch of them
lying down taking quick power naps - you should too.

You’ll
really feel the difference and if you do feel a bit sluggish after a power nap
then you know you’ve overslept. Try to sleep less next time and you’ll feel
more energised ready for the next dragon boat race!

"Long term" muscular endurance is suitable for continuous, steady-state
events such as the marathon, triathlon and rowing that last beyond 2
minutes. Light loads are used so that exercises can be sustained for a
prolonged period. Rest periods are kept to a minimum and ideally the
athlete should progress so that the only rest between exercises is the
time it takes to move between equipment.

The program below is designed for a rower and gradually progresses
until the athlete performs all the exercises non-stop. By the final
week the athlete would be completing 6-8 minutes of continuous work per
circuit - a similar duration to a competitive race!

The
power phase is then followed by a drop in the rate as the back comes in and
lays down the power. This step-down is referred to as the Stride (another
rowing term). We often call this the "Reach" for legacy reasons, but
it is a misnomer of sorts, as one should have been reaching properly forward
from the start anyway. When shortening up is used to gain rate, it occurs from
a truncation of the finish, not the catch.

The
pace settled into after the stride is the cruising rate that will dominate most
of the rest of the race. It is important to hit this rate quickly and smoothly
so as to settle straight away into a powerful rhythm. The first stroke of the
stride is traditionally the hardest stroke of the race - an almighty shove to
launch the rhythm for the rest of the race.

In
any event, starts should be practiced and decided upon beforehand, so that
everyone knows exactly what to do. During the start pattern (everything up to
the stride) it is vital that other boats are entirely ignored, and that your
focus is completely on what you are doing.

Final
point: The start is a sprint. Getting ahead is psychologically very important
for flustering another crew, and forcing them into making errors. Hold back nothing
in the start. After the stride you'll start to stretch out and breathe, and
settle into a rhythm. It is very tough, both mentally and physically, to haul
in a crew that has taken you off the start. Shut them out; get ahead and lay
down the rhythm. If you're lucky, they'll scramble, and the race is yours.

Series

A
Series is usually in the form of a "power ten" (rowing again; ten being
fairly arbitrary - but easy to count). The rating is increased slightly, and
everyone pulls as hard as possible for ten strokes. The main idea is to gain
several metres on another crew. It also helps to refocus the crew, as it is
easy - particularly in long races - to "zone out" and inadvertently
slack off the power, or lose one's timing.

In
training we sometimes try Series with creative names like "technical
Series" or "rhythm drive". The former is a call to refocus on
perfect technique and thereby gain a extra 5% or so power. The latter is a call
to check your timing, to make sure that your body is swinging exactly with
everyone else's, to check that you are really using your back to get maximum
power, and to make sure that you are twisting properly. Essentially it's a call
to use your body to rebuild a faltering rhythm.

The
final Series is the "Kick" (another legacy term). This is the big
burn for home with twenty or thirty strokes to go. Every last bit of energy is
committed to the race. It is important not to go completely berserk, flailing
about and losing your timing. Look up when the kick is called, and get an idea
of where the finish line is so that you don't mispace yourself and either blow
completely ten strokes before the end, or cruise over the line with energy to
spare.

All
these Series will be called (usually by the stroke, drummer, coach or sweep -
don't get excited and call your own) as "Series name", three, two,
one..." or something similar. Everyone commits to the Series on the stroke
following "one". It is very important not to subvert the whole
manoeuvre by relaxing on the "three, two , one" and killing the boat
speed in anticipation of the Series. If anything, start squeezing up the power
during these strokes and think about your technique.

Race Psychology

One
of the most difficult things to teach or learn about racing in a
power/endurance sport is how to really push yourself. It takes lots of time and
experience to discover exactly where your physical limits lie, and then
consistently force yourself to race as close to that level as possible, whilst
slowly pushing the envelope of you limits in the longer-term. Use training
sessions as an opportunity to try racing outside your capacity. Make an effort
to occasionally "blow" completely or cramp up before the finish. Try
to feel nauseous at the end. By see-sawing about your limit in this way, you
learn to race extremely close to it. Don't just rely on race adrenaline and
other crews to push you; learn to race in a vacuum. Learn how to give 100% five
months before an event, in the driving raint, when it doesn't count, only six
of you have pitched for the session and no-one is watching. Winning big events
is only ever the product of hard-work. Big races are won and lost months before
the event.

Over
time, if you want to become seriously competitive, you have to learn to develop
a "hardcore", "psycho" racing mentality. The key phrase is
Controlled Aggression. Go crazy, but stay in time and retain your technique.
The better you get, the more pain you must expect - since you'll learn how to
hurt yourself more comprehensively. Develop an "I love pain; I want more
pain" ethos. Try to be suffering more than anyone else in the last ten
strokes. Imagine yourself having won by inches and being carried off in a
stretcher.

Remember:
overdoing it and hurting your muscles (responsibly - and over time) causes
slight tears in the muscle fibres, which then heal larger and stronger. You
need to actually damage yourself a bit to get stronger.

Crew Selections and Positions

Crew
selection in our club is the coach's job, subject to the ratification of the
captain. Crews are always chosen and people placed in particular seats for a
reason. If anyone has a problem with a decision, then they must approach the
coach rather than complaining about it to others and undermining the coach and
captain's positions. Ultimately they are responsible for getting the best
performances out a club, and will never be able to please everyone all of the
time. Remember that the sport is called Dragon Boat Racing. Winning is
important. It is a reward for long and painful training. In an amateur sport it
is the greatest reward. It also attracts sponsors and new people to the club.
Perhaps most importantly, doing the best we can is a mark of respect for our
opposition.

"You've got the dream, but not the drive,"

Clearly
what the quote means was that it is all very well to want to get selected for
the crew, win races, etc. - but such dreams will all come to nought if you are
not prepared to commit yourself to continual improvement through dedication and
training.

We will
always try to win races. That means that we will always race our fastest crew
in a final. If you are not in a crew, it should be an incentive to you to train
harder, gain more experience, and work on your technique. You cannot expect to
race an event ahead of people who move a boat faster than you. Such is the
nature of competitive sport, and in my experience it can be a massive
motivating factor for an individual to improve. Competing amongst ourselves is
the first step in becoming more competitive as a crew. Most team sports are far
more brutal than Dragon Boat Racing when it comes to selection, and are usually
the better for it. Remember: anybody can get stronger and better - it just
depends on how much you want it.

Even
if you don't get to race in a final, you will probably still have the
opportunity to race in heats and thereby gain experience. It is important that
we are able to do this as it allows us to rest key people for finals. If you
feel that the selectors have erred in leaving you out, prove it to them by
paddling better in training and by pulling faster time trials. I find it
difficult to support the idea of basing selection primarily upon frequency of
attendance at practice. Whilst this approach may improve attendance, it has the
serious drawback of encouraging slacking-off in training - as people begin to
feel that they have safeguarded their spot in the boat from sudden arrivals,
and thus don't need to prove themselves physically. If you are always wondering
when some super-fit athlete might pitch up and usurp your seat, you will be
encouraged to train a whole lot harder to shut them out.

As
a general guide, heavier people will tend to be placed toward the back of the
boat, so as to keep the nose up and reduce drag and bow-wake. This is necessary,
so slim down if you want to be considered for paddling up front. Unnecessary
weight only slows the boat down, so if you want to become really competitive in
the long term, get lean and improve your power/weight ratio.

Very
inflexible people, or those who for whatever reason fail to twist or stretch
sufficiently forward, become a big impediment to the paddlers behind them.
There are only a few places where such people can be placed: at the very back,
or in front of a gap. We sometimes race a full boat, with no gaps - so you may
well get excluded if you fall into this category, as no amount of strength can
make up for impeding everyone behind you.

The
bulkheads (seats with solid ribs underneath) are very uncomfortable to paddle
behind with long legs, so shorter people tend to be placed here. If we race
with eighteen or sixteen, the gaps will be behind the bulkheads. New people
will tend to be placed near the back, or in front of gaps, and only raced in
heats and minor events until they become fit and technically proficient.
Everyone starts this way. Soldier through it, and aim to become a
"utility" paddler, who can paddle either side and any seat without
complaint A squad full of utility paddlers makes a coach's job a whole lot
easier.

Those
able to paddle with equal proficiency on both sides will naturally be favoured
for three reasons: they will become less fatigued over the course of a day's
racing; they make it easier to balance the weight distribution in the boat; and
it is easier to pair them with appropriate partners.

Notwithstanding
all of this, in the end, the prime determinants of success are strength and
fitness. You can have all the technique and experience in the world, but still
get hammered by a scratch crew of canoeists or rowers who've never been in a
dragonboat, but train seven times a week on the water and in the gym.

Paddling

Some teams that emphasize stroke rate might put their strongest members in the
front to set the stroke rate for the team. Some others that emphasize the
mechanical science of propulsion put their strongest members in the back to
deal with water resistance. There are also those who theorise on the centre of
gravity of the boat and the best lineup to lower the centre of gravity.
Whatever the lineup, there is a rationale for it. Yet, basic execution,
including flawless strokes and synchrony, is the most important part of
competitive dragon boating. No amount of alignment experimentation will help
the team if its members fail on the basics.

There
are four (4) basic phases of paddling:

1. “Catch” as you lean forward, turn
your body slightly toward you partner and submerge your paddle in the water.
Make sure that the full blade catches water.

2. “Pull” as you lean back to pull water. Propulsion of the boat is based on
countering that water resistance you feel. Therefore the boat experiences
maximum propulsion as the full blades of all 20 paddlers catch and pull at the
same time.

3. “Finish” as you pull the blade out of the water. This phase signals the
completion of your first stroke and preparation for the next stroke.

4. “Reach” as you lean forward again to prepare for the “Catch” phase of your
next stroke.

The
“finish” and “reach” phases are sometimes known as “ready-and-reach”. Together,
they are also addressed as the “recovery” phase.

In
the “catch” phase, how far should you lean and how much body turning should you
have? If you are a beginner, imagine doing that again and again until you
finish a race course of 500 metres or longer. Don’t freak out as “practice
makes perfect”. Perfect execution requires physical conditioning outside of
dragon boating. In the ”catch” phase, your abdominals and shoulders matter
most. Regular crunches and shoulder lifts using dumbbells will condition these
body parts.

Practicing Reach

It is a good idea to sit in front of someone taller than you as you train on
water. The reason being your taller teammate behind you naturally has a longer
reach than you do, thus forcing you to lean forward more. Be careful-do this
only if you have sufficiently conditioned your abdominals and back muscles.
Otherwise, you will likely suffer endless swearing from behind.

Resistance Training

Sitting in the back of the boat will give you more effective resistance
training overall. The reason is that you are “eating” the waves created by
everyone in front of you. If you are sitting in the front, a good way to
practice resistance is asking your teammates behind you to create a drag by
putting their paddles in water but not paddling. This will require coordination
by your coach.

Training on One Side-versus-Switching Sides

Some dragon boat teams finish a practice round without allowing paddlers to
switch sides or some dragon boaters prefer to train only on their stronger
side. Prolonged training on only one side of your body is not healthy for your
spine, posture and overall balance. A healthier way of training is switching
sides midway through the round, one row at a time. The drawback, of course, is
slowing down during switching. Another method is keeping track of which side
you paddle each week and making sure you switch every week. Finally, if you
really prefer to paddle on one side in order to say, become a “left side
expert” for racing, compensate by doing more conditioning exercises for muscles
on the other side.

Verticality

Keeping your paddle vertical against the side of the dragon boat (i.e. the
gunwale), enhances speed of the “recovery” phase and hence the stroke rate.
Verticality also makes full submission of the blades easier and thus enhances the
propulsion of the boat. However, the biggest drawback of keeping the paddle
vertical is its impact on your shoulders as your stroke, particularly if you
stroke fast. If you use this technique, it is crucial to perform shoulder
conditioning exercises to build up your shoulder muscles and protect your
shoulder joints. Leaning out of the gunwale will make it easier for you to
accomplish verticality, however that will require strong oblique abdominals as
well as switching sides to protect your spine.

Tilting

If you team’s paddling style is tilting the paddles, you might protect your
shoulders and spine more but the drawback is a slower “recovery” phase. To
enhance the “recovery” phase, you will need to reduce the air drag (air
resistance) by turning the paddle so that the blade is horizontal to the water
and “slicing” the air as you reach forward. This requires frequent wrist
turning, particularly if you stroke fast. If you use this technique, you need
to build up your wrist strength to prevent injuries. When you do the
conditioning exercises, include wrist curls and using light weight dumbbells.
You will find it convenient to incorporate wrist curls in between sets as you
do bicep curls.

Conditioning Exercises to Get Ready for Races

How much endurance and strength you and your teammates have is a key factor
determining whether your team can sustain multiple heats and beat a close rival
at the right moment ..the final race. This is where physical conditioning plays
a role in addition to on-water practice.

The
best conditioning exercises are tailored to your team’s stroke strategy.
Carefully designed, conditioning exercises not only build your strength and
cardiovascular capacity but also stimulate the muscle movements, breathing
pattern and heart rates during a race.

By: dragonglobe

The
deceitful drum impact “I did not want to believe it and therefore I checked it
once. Does the speed of the sound really have a negative effect on the
uniformity of the stroke rate within a Dragon Boat or can you rely on the drum
beat to set the stroke rate?

At
a temperature of 18°C the speed of sound amounts to approx. 342 meters per
second. The sound needs only approx. 0.03 seconds to travel the ten meters from
the Drummer to the last paddling bench. With a frequency of 60 strokes per
minute a paddle stroke takes one second and the hand of the Paddlers moves in
this time approx. one meter. In 0.03 seconds the paddle moves thus 0.03 m = 3
cm. Related to the overall length of the paddle stroke a delay of 3% results.
If one considers that over 10 paddling benches the total could be 30 cm the
delay rises to nearly 10%. If you can believe in these numbers then the
situation is what we always knew it to be – that the drum beat is only a
paddling Rhythm. The question then arises: “Why do we need the Drummer?” - Very
simply, because a Dragon Boat without Drummer is no longer a Dragon Boat and
because we do need someone to throw into water after Racing and - finally we
all want our fun!”

Mathematically
the article may be right about the Drum Impact; but only mathematically. Most
drummers can only be heard by the front half of the boat. The back half uses a
variety of means to keep time including the most common method of watching the
lead strokes. In many boats the helm will help relay communications to the back
half. By working together the helm and the drummer form a team that ensures
complete communication within the boat. Some of these teams use elaborate
signals and code words to keep their crew informed, while keeping the
competition in the dark.

Calling
the finish or a rate up or a power sequence are all critical elements of a race
and the paddlers all need this information simultaneously. Some teams overcome
this with the use of electronics. The “cox-vox” is a system that amplifies a
voice and projects it over three speakers in the boat. All paddlers are getting
the information at the same time. My experience in international events shows
that the microphone is used equally in the front and the back of the boat
depending on where the team leader is located.

Don’t
discount the steersperson when making your decision about the drummer. A good
helm can read a race and is in a better position to see what is happening with
the competition. Additionally, the helm is not occupied with the beating of the
drum and trying to hang on to a tiny seat swaying in the wind. Regardless of
whether or not your drummer is the key part of your team or just along for the ride,
there is something to be said about the position. A drummer sitting tall
beating the drum with vigour and rhythm is a beautiful sight and an integral
part of the sport. The boom, boom, boom of the drums echoing across the water
help differentiate our sport from all others and I wouldn’t have it any other
way. If he or she has a loud voice that helps motivate the paddlers and carry
the team to victory, all the better. Does a 3% lag mean so much that we should
discount one of the cornerstones of the sport? Not in my opinion. Although I
may disagree with the article I have to agree with one aspect. It is fun to
take the person who has been yelling at you during all the practices and races
and throw them into the water.

1. Time /
   Priorities - My partner (wife or husband)
   needed me to home or with them for something
2. Fitness - It
   looks really hard and I’m not fit to do it.
3. Money - I
   don’t have enough to be able to afford the dragonboat equipment
4. Friends - I’ll
   wait until so and so joins and I’ll try it then.
5. Lack of
   Motivation - I’m too lazy and I can’t see
   myself rowing. It looks too tiring.

Until
their perfect scenerio is met then I doubt any of these people would even try
dragonboating. Maybe we could think of ways to counteract these excuses with
some other incentives.

Goal
setting is a powerful tool used to help us achieve a result. This is
applicable to any part of your life and I’m going to be discussing this
specifically for Dragonboating.

One issue that I see happen time and time again from any paddler and
even myself is staying focused and motivated in this sport. When you
first start, it’s easy to learn so many new techniques
and improving the quality of your paddling. Though, there reaches a
point when you start to plateau and this is the time when we need to
boost our motivation and set new goals. Whether you have just started
or have been paddling for years understanding how goal setting can work
for you will not only get you motivated, it will take you to another
level of paddling.

I use the S.M.A.R.T approach when it comes to setting goals for
Dragonboating. It is a simple principle to follow and can help you take
your paddling to another level if you apply it properly.

The S.M.A.R.T. principle

1. Set Specific Goals. Research shows that
   specific goals are the most motivating. For example, a specific goal is
   to reduce your 200m water time trial time by 30 seconds within 6
   months. Many people just say they want to get faster. This goal is far
   too general to really motivate you in your training.
2. Set Measurable Goals. Simply saying that
   you want to get faster is not enough detail. You need to be able to
   chart and document progress toward your goal. One way to measure your
   progress is to document your performance at set intervals. In the above
   example you may want to record your 200m water time trial performance
   every 2 months so you have a good measurement to work on.
3. Set Adjustable Goals. This means your
   goals are flexible enough to accommodate unexpected challenges without
   becoming obsolete. An injury may force you to modify your goal. If your
   goal is to compete at the Dragonboat National titles in 6 months and
   you are injured, you may need to change your goal to allow for an extra
   3 months to recover from injury. It doesn’t mean you abandon all your
   plans. At the same time, you may find you are progressing quickly and
   need to raise your goal. Set Action-Oriented Goals
   
   Another important aspect of goal-setting is to keep focused on personal
   action. Don’t forget to consider not only what you want to achieve, but
   how you plan to achieve it. I will discuss this in another post.
4. Set Realistic Goals. Start where you are,
   and increase your goals accordingly. If you haven’t ever paddled a
   1000m race, it’s probably not a wise goal to say you want complete this
   in 20 minutes. While that may be your long-term goal, in the short-term
   you may want to shoot for the a 500m race first and condition your body
   for racing conditions. This sort of progression is healthy and
   realistic. Also, keep in mind that as you become more fit towards your
   full potential, the room for continued improvement gets smaller.
   Similarly, if your goals are too simple, you won’t feel much
   satisfaction by attaining them. Only you truly know what is realistic
   for you.
5. Set Time-based Goals. Look again at first
   example: reduce your 200m water time trial by 30 seconds within 6
   months. This is specific and time-based. Without a time line there is a
   tendency to procrastinate or get bored. You may also need to set
   interim goals with shorter time lines to keep you on track. Consider
   the previous example of working up to a 1000m race by completing
   shorter distances first. This is breaking down your goal by being time
   specific. In general, goals that stretch out beyond 6 months are too
   long to keep you interested and motivated. Try to re-evaluate your
   goals every 2-3 months.

Goal setting is an art as well as a science, but if you make sure
your goals follow the S.M.A.R.T. formula, you will find you are more
likely to stay motivated and reach goal after goal.

By: dragonglobe

By
now if you have been on the water for a few sessions, you will realise
that Dragon Boating is not just going through the motions of dipping
your paddle into the water. It does require the combination of
cardiovascular and strength conditioning. The main focus for today’s
topic is to give you five exercises that will help you increase your
strength for Dragon Boating.

For the purposes of dragon boating, strength is required for
powerful acceleration and maintenance of speed throughout a race. To
develop strength for dragon boating we will need to focus on selected
muscle groups which are utilised in the paddling stroke.

It is normally more effective to increase strength with resistance
exercises such as weight lifting, pull-ups/push-ups etc. and fixed
resistance ie. isometric contractions. These are better and more
efficient means to improving strength than resistance exercises
conducted on the water.

The following exercises can be performed using free weights
(dumbbells or barbells) and weight machines. Before I go any further,
it’s important to understand why these strengthening exercises can help
with dragon boating and also the cause and effects it will have on your
body. There are two reasons why these exercises help:

1. By just doing cardiovascular exercises regularly (e.g. rowing
and jogging) without the support of strong muscles can cause injuries
easily.

2. By building stronger muscles it helps keep your metabolism fast.

The cause and effects of strength training:

It is normal to have some muscle soreness after strength training. This
soreness is a dull and lingering sensation, which usually starts a few
hours to a day after the training and is distinctly different from the
sharp pain in a sport injury.

The soreness comes from muscle tissues breaking down and
reconstituting after training - a necessary process for the muscles to
become strong and toned. Eating properly and resting adequately helps
speed up the recovery process and eliminate the soreness.

Five Exercises for Strength Training

The following exercises need you to determine what is your maximum
weight you can lift and then taking about 80% of that lifting weight to
be your guide. Then you will need to do between 6-8 repetitions
(allowing for about 4 seconds between each repetition). You will need
to complete at least 3 sets allowing for a 2 minute rest period in
between sets.

For example, if your maximum lifting weight is say 50kg, then at 80%
your lifting weight is 40kg. Each exercise below will have different a
weight depending on the body part you train. Furthermore breaking down
each exercise you will complete the following:

Sample Exercise:

• set 1: 6-8 repetitions of 40kg
• 2 minute break
• set 2: 6-8 repetitions of 40kg
• 2 minute break
• set 3: 6-8 repetitions of 40kg

Exercise 1: Dumbell Bench Press

Preparation

Sit down on bench with dumbbells resting on lower thigh. Kick weights
to shoulder and lie back. Position dumbbells to sides of chest with
bent arm under each dumbbell.

Execution

Press dumbbells up with elbows to sides until arms are extended. Lower
weight to sides of the upper chest until slight stretch is felt in
chest or shoulder. Repeat.

Exercise 2:Barbell Row

Preparation

Bend knees slightly and bend over bar with back straight, approximately horizontal. Grasp bar with a wide overhand grip.

Execution

Keeping upper arm perpendicular to torso, pull barbell up toward neck
until upper arms are just beyond parallel to floor. Return and repeat.

Exercise 3: Dumbell Flys

Preparation

Grasp two dumbbells. Lie supine on bench. Support dumbbells above the
chest with the arms fixed in a slightly bent position. Internally
rotate shoulders so elbows to the sides.

Execution

Lower dumbbells to sides until chest muscles are stretched with elbows
fixed. Bring dumbbells together in a hugging motion until dumbbells are
nearly together. Repeat.

Exercise 4: Lunges

Preparation

Clean bar from floor or dismount bar from rack. From a rack with
barbell upper chest height, position bar on the back of the shoulders
and grasp barbell to sides.

Execution

Lunge forward with first leg. Land on heel then forefoot. Lower body by
flexing knee and hip of front leg until knee of rear leg is almost in
contact with floor. Return to original standing position by forcibly
extending the hip and knee of the forward leg. Repeat by alternating
lunge with opposite leg.

Exercise 5: Weighted Crunch:

Preparation

Lie supine on mat or floor with bench leg and arms pointed up.

Execution

Flex waist to raise upper torso from floor. Return until the back of the shoulders contact the padded incline board. Repeat.

Final Thoughts

Great care should be taken in this phase, with adequate warm-up
precautions and warm-down to follow. With these exercises you should
aim to do them within a 4-6 week period, then change to a different
routine. It will allow your muscles to grow and increase in strength
for Dragon Boating.

By: Josh Henkin

Why do you believe that weight
training would make you lose speed? The old myths that weight training makes
you slower and less flexible are so greatly outdated. In fact, weight training can
help improve one's speed and flexibility if structured correctly. The sad fact
is that many athletes train like bodybuilders and because of the methods
usually employed with this style of training it does have the potential to make
you slower.

Speed is developed by incorporating
many different methods. As I have stated in previous columns, the range of
motion in the hips is crucial for great speed. If the hips are tight your
stride length and frequency will be negatively affected. In addition, you will
not be able to utilize the strong back side of your hips that are responsible
for most of the power from the lower body.

From a strength training perspective
you should be trying to incorporate Olympic lift variations that you are
familar with and can perform with good technique. Olympic lifters are known to
have great sprint times and vertical jumps eventhough they do not directly
train with them. Your training should address the needs of your sport. However,
it should also address your individual needs. Eventhough soccer does not
require any upper body use there is a good bit of wrestling that goes on so
doing some upper body work would be very useful. Since you are mostly referring
to dynamic strength-endurance I would recommend keeping rest intervals brief,
i.e. 45-60 seconds.

The use of sprints should also be
part of your program. I much prefer athletes perform fartlek type of running
for endurance and true sprints for speed work. Doing too much traditional
aerobic work does very little in the sense of speed development and has a poor
transfer to most endurance needed in sport.

If your focus is not on increasing
too much muscle mass I would recommend you keep the repetitions on the lower
end of the scheme.

The exercises are extensive. As I
mentioned Olympic lifts are a great place to start. Other exercises should be
used to help prevent many of the injuries that could be experienced in your
particular sport. A lot of hamstring, glute, low back work should be done for
speed and power development. Abdominal training should be heavily emphasized in
the initial stages to set a great standard in which to work from. For the upper
body you could also focus on the jerk, bench press, pull-ups, etc. How many
times you go is dependant upon your goals and what you want to accomplish. I
don't believe too many athletes need to go more than 3 times, unless they need
to increase bodyweight.

Do you know anyone who always wins? Sure you know that person,
everything just works out for them. They go into business and they are an instant
success. They enter the dating scene and their phone rings off the hook. If they
were in the Olympics, you just know they wouldn't settle for anything less than
the gold. It seems as though they always win.

Winners EXPECT to win!

Before running an Olympic race, winners expect TO WIN the gold, so they do win!

This one small thing gives winners a tremendous advantage over others.

Try this exercise...

Close your eyes for a full minute and think about achieving a goal in your life...
go ahead, close your eyes for one minute and really think about achieving it.

OK, now close your eyes again for one full minute and expect to get it. Did you
notice a difference? When we simply think about getting something, our thoughts
tend to be vague.

There are also 2 options:

1. Getting it or
   
2. Not getting it (winning or losing).

But, when we expect to get it, there is only one possibility... getting it (winning).

So now that you know the secret, the next step is applying your powerful knowledge
and getting yourself to that point where you always expect to win. I suggest that
you take a full minute pause right before entering any challenging situation.

During that minute, close your eyes, and imagine winning. See it, feel it, hear it, imagine
yourself already having won. Guess what... you will have programmed your mind to pull
you powerfully in the winning direction.

When you do enter that situation, your words and actions will be generated from a
winning mindset. Your path will be straight to victory - you will already know the
way and expect to get there. So you WILL get there. Want a little more help with this?

By: Owen Anderson

"The
150-pound person who runs the marathon in five hours is just as strong as the
150-pound runner who completes the race in two hours and eight minutes. After
all, the slower runner has shown that he can accomplish the same task completed
by the elite competitor - the work of transporting a 150-pound weight 26.2
miles."

Can strength training really help
your running, cycling, swimming, skiing, or rowing? The majority of endurance
athletes accept the idea that strength training is beneficial for their sport,
but some athletes, coaches, and scientists remain unconvinced.

On an anecdotal level, it
does seem odd that the best endurance athletes in the world - the Kenyan
runners - rarely report to the gym, and on a more scientific level it seems
clear that training for endurance and training for strength and power are at
opposite 'poles' of the conditioning spectrum.

To run a marathon in two
hours and eight minutes, for example, a runner's leg muscles need to develop
the capacity to take about 23,000 rapid but submaximal steps without stopping,
while training for strength often consists of hoisting a close-to maximal
weight fairly slowly - and no more than eight to 10 times - before stopping.

How could lifting a weight
slowly for eight to 10 reps, even if done for several sets, really prepare a
runner's muscles to optimally handle the thousands of quick contractions needed
to run a marathon - or even a 10K?

That question is not easily
answered, but exercise physiologists have certainly attempted to do so. A
variety of different studies with endurance swimmers,
skiers, rowers, cyclists,
and runners
have tried to determine what - if any - benefits are associated with strength
training. We'll guide you on a painless 'trip' through the best of these
investigations and tell you what they really mean to you and your training.

Does It Help Rowers?

We'll start with rowing,
primarily because strength training is advocated by most respected rowing
coaches and because strength - rather than pure endurance - seems to be such an
important aspect of rowing competitions.

Research studies have
suggested that anaerobic energy production (the type of energy production
associated with very forceful muscular contractions rather than continuous
submaximal ones) creates up to 23 percent of the energy needed for many rowing
competitions.

Strength training for
rowers also has an interesting history. In the late 1960s, many serious rowers
followed a program of high-resistance, low-repetition training during their
pre-seasons and then gradually shifted over to low-resistance, high-repetition
efforts during the competitive season.

That was a reasonable
approach. The idea was simply that the ultra-strength developed during those pre-season,
high-resistance, close-to-maximal exertions could be converted to real power
during the competitive season by shifting over to quicker, more explosive,
submaximal movements.

To put it another way, the
pre-season was designed to build up brute muscle strength, while the in-season
was supposed to develop the ability to apply all of that strength in a very
quick, coordinated way... i.e., with great power.

Speaking of strength and
power, we probably should define those two key terms to avoid possible
confusion.

Strength:

The
strength of an athlete is determined by measuring how much 'work' he/she can
perform. The work might involve lifting a 400-pound weight overhead; if two
athletes can each lift 400 pounds - but no more than that - overhead, they are
equally strong. If one can lift only 300 pounds, he is less strong.

In
endurance sports, the work involves transporting one's body (or one's body plus
bike or boat) from one point to another. That's why we must say that the
150-pound marathoner who moves his body 26.2 miles in five hours is just as
strong as the 2:08 elite marathoner of similar weight; the amount of time
required to accomplish the work just doesn't matter when we are talking about
strength.

In
fact, we would have to contend that the 200-pound marathoner who finishes the
race in five hours is actually stronger than the 120-pound competitor who
crosses the finish line in 2:08, since the heavier runner has done more total
work. He has shown that he can move a much greater weight over the entire
marathon distance, and we're not sure that the little 120-pound fella could do
the same thing with an 80-pound weight attached to his body.

Power:

Power,
though, is completely different: it is the amount of work performed per unit of
time. Thus, the 150-pound marathoner who finishes in 2:08 is considerably more
powerful than the 150-pounder who clocks five hours, since the denominator is
considerably smaller in the first case (it's just 128 minutes versus 300
minutes), and therefore the quotient (the work performed per minute and the
actual power in Watts) will be higher.

As
athletes develop the ability to generate more muscular force in shorter periods
of time, they become more powerful. Although we tend not to think of endurance
sports as power events, competitive endurance athletes are in fact very
concerned about power, since higher power equates with faster race times.

In
contrast, devotees of training programs like the Galloway
(run-walk) system are mainly concerned about strength, since their primary goal
is merely to get their body weight across the finish line.

Real Research On Strength Training:



Getting
back to rowing... strength training has evolved somewhat from the model we
described above. Currently, it seems that more rowers are doing extensive
amounts of low-resistance, high-repetition work during the pre-season and then
shifting over to an emphasis on 'specific movements' (those that mimic the
biomechanics of rowing) during the competitive season.

In
that study, 18 equally strong male college oarsmen (average age 22) were
divided into three groups:

1. A high-velocity (and
   low-resistance) strength training group.
2. A low-velocity (and
   high-resistance) strength training group.
3. A control group which carried
   out no strength training at all.

The
first two groups strength-trained four times a week, and each workout consisted
of 'circuits' of 12 different exercises which worked the key muscles involved
in rowing (two to three circuits were completed per training session). Within a
circuit, each exercise was carried out continuously for two 20-second intervals
(with a 20-second rest between intervals) before an individual moved on to a
new exertion.

The
high-velocity, low-resistance trainers completed about 18 to 22 reps in 20
seconds, while the low-velocity, high-resistance athletes finished six to eight
closer-to-maximal repetitions during each 20-second period.

Results:

After
five weeks of such training, the high-velocity rowers improved their strength
during high-velocity movements, while the low-velocity oarsmen improved their
strength during low-speed motions (surprise, surprise!). However, high-velocity
athletes were not stronger while doing low-velocity movements, and low-velocity
ones were not stronger during high-velocity actions (again, surprise,
surprise!).

These
results are in exact concordance with the critically important specificity of
training principle, which basically says that you get better at doing only
those things which you specifically practice in training. To use a running
example, training fast makes you a faster runner, while running loads of
relatively slow miles makes you skilled in the fine art of running slowly.

Unfortunately,
actual rowing performances were not measured in this Canadian study. However,
all 18 oarsmen did climb aboard rowing ergometers for tests which evaluated
their lactate productions and power outputs during 15 seconds of maximal rowing
and 90 seconds of full-tilt effort.

These
check-ups revealed a slight trend toward improved power outputs (and greater
lactate production) in the high-velocity trainers after the five weeks of
training, but the changes were not statistically significant. The low-velocity
trainees also failed to hike power, and the control subjects actually lost
power over the five-week period.

The
lack of significant improvement in power output has been taken by many to mean
that strength training is not really that important for rowing. The naysayers
contend that the strengthening activities ordinarily carried out by rowers,
even though they involve the same arm, shoulder, and leg muscles involved in
rowing, are not specific enough to rowing to make any difference.

In
other words, an athlete gains strength from the strengthening activities but
this strength doesn't carry over from the simple moves utilized in the gym to
the complex act of rowing.

However, since carbohydrates are limited in
supply, as the exercise continues (and the body's carbohydrate stores
diminish) more stored fats are used. Unfortunately the metabolism
of fat is less metabolically efficient; therefore when carbohydrates
become limited, exercise intensity must diminish. Since the body
typically contains enough stored fat to fuel several marathons, the
focus of eating for endurance activity should be on the carbohydrate
content of the diet.

Before The Event

Eating a relatively calorie dense meal 2-4
hours before a race or several smaller meals between 2-5 hours before a
race is absolutely essential for topping off muscle glycogen levels as
well providing blood glucose for the intense activity ahead. By eating
this meal, the activity will be fueled by the nutrients provided during
the meal and will therefore be able to exercise for quite some time
before the body is forced to use stored energy.

This can end up delaying fatigue and
improving performance. On the other hand, if you fail to eat or eat far
too long before a race, your body will have used up all the nutrients
from the last meal and even have dipped into stored energy well before
you ever step foot on the racecourse. This can lead to premature
fatigue and poor race performance. While it's important not to wait too
long between meals before an event, it's equally important not to eat
too close to the event.

Eating this big meal within 1.5 - 0.5 hours before a race can lead to one of two problems:

• The first is gastrointestinal stress. You'll simply feel too full or even sick as a result of eating too close to the event.
  

  
  

• The second is something known as "rebound hypoglycemia".

Immediately after eating carbohydrates the hormone insulin
is released. Insulin's function is to clear the blood of the ingested
carbohydrates and to deliver them to storage sites such as the muscle,
the liver, and the adipose tissue. Therefore eating causes
hyperglycemia and in response to this, insulin comes along to cause
hypoglycemia. Since insulin is the storage hormone, it opposes nutrient
mobilization, locking those carbohydrates in the cells for as long as
it's hanging around the body.

Now, when eating well before a race, the
body is able to clear the blood of carbohydrates, store the nutrients,
and get rid of insulin well before it's time to compete. However, if
you eat too soon before the race, insulin will still be clearing the
blood so that when you start to race, the body will have very few blood
carbohydrates (this causes a lethargic feeling) and it will have a hard
time mobilizing the stored fuel (this causes early fatigue).

Therefore, by eating a big meal 2-4 hours
before the race or eating several smaller meals between 2-5 hours
before the race, you'll be able to fuel the body's energy needs without
causing premature fatigue and hypoglycemia. If you couple this eating
strategy with a sound carbohydrate loading strategy (see sidebar), you
can be sure that you'll enter your race full of high octane
carbohydrate fuel.

Here is an example of what the pre-race meal should contain:

• Adequate water (1L)
  
• 4-5g of carbohydrate (300g for a 70kg individual)
  
• A small amount of protein (20-40g)
  
• A small amount of fat (10-20g)

While this may seem like a lot of calories,
keep in mind that you don't need to eat it all at one sitting.
Spreading this meal out over the course of 2 or 3 hours may make it
more palatable for you.

• 2 whole eggs
  
• 3 slices of whole wheat bread
  
• 2 cups of fresh orange juice
  
• 2 bananas
  
• 3 cups of raisin bran
  
• 1 cup of low-fat milk

During The Event

Although eating as directed above will allow you to top off glycogen stores coming into the event, you're not in the clear yet.

You still have to contend with two potential enemies:

1. Dehydration
   
2. Rapid glycogen utilization and depletion.

Let's start with the glycogen situation.

While it is very important to start a race
with muscle glycogen stores topped off, it is also important to note
that the body tends to use carbohydrates much more quickly when there
are more available. Unfortunately, even if you're topped off, muscle
glycogen depletion can still occur. In order to prevent this from
happening you should be consuming sports drinks or gels during your
entire race. Since the body can only use about 60g of carbohydrate per
hour during exercise, one to two servings of a drink like Gatorade or
Powerade (or 1-2 servings of sports gels) per hour should do the trick
for carbohydrate supplementation.

While the above recommendations take only
carbohydrate needs into account, we should now consider fluid needs.
During hot and humid days, the body can lose up to 2-3 liters of water
per hour. This water loss corresponds to an unacceptable 4-6 lb of
weight loss per hour. This loss of water is detrimental to performance
as a weight loss as small as 1-2% of body mass (1.5 - 3.0 lbs for a
150lb runner) can lead to impaired blood volume, stroke volume, cardiac
output and oxygen consumption. Therefore it's very important to keep
fluid intake quite high during exercise. To this end, you should focus
on consuming 2L of water per hour to prevent dehydration.

After The Event

Once you've crossed the finish line, the
nutrient battle is not over; you have one more responsibility to your
body. Endurance exercise, much like strength exercise, causes depletion
and damage of skeletal muscle. Therefore after such exercise, it's
important to begin repletion and repair immediately after the race.

For a more detailed description about this topic, please see my previous article about post workout nutrition, The Importance of Post Workout Nutrition.
To summarize my recommendations, however, since the post exercise
period is the optimal time to replenish and repair damaged muscles,
this is the time to consume easily digestible liquid carbohydrates and
protein.

Your post workout plan:-

• 0.8g/kg carbohydrate (56g carbohydrate for a 70kg)
  
• 0.4g/kg protein (28g protein for a 70kg)

• A specifically formulated recovery drink such as Biotest Surge - (305 calories) - 25g Protein, 50g Carbohydrate, 0.5g Fat
  

  
  

• A homemade recovery drink containing 1 serving whey protein + 2 servings Gatorade - (369 calories) - 25g protein, 66g Carbohydrate, 0.5g Fat

Then, every two hours after this for the remainder of the day, be sure to consume a meal containing protein and carbohydrate.

Why Carbohydrate Load?

Intense endurance exercise performance is
often fueled by a combination of stored carbohydrate (glycogen in the
liver and the muscle) and stored fat (triglycerides in the muscle and
adipose tissue). While fat burning can contribute significantly to an
endurance athlete's fuel needs, there are a few reasons why it's not
the best source of energy during intense activity. First, the rate of
fat metabolism is slow compared to the rate of carbohydrate metabolism.

Therefore, during intense exercise, when
the body demands the quick provision of energy, fat metabolism cannot
provide energy quickly enough and the body must slow down. Secondly,
metabolizing fat is more oxygen costly than metabolizing carbohydrate;
making fat metabolism more inefficient than carbohydrate metabolism.

So, I hope it's clear that without adequate
carbohydrates in the body, the endurance athlete will suffer at the
hands of the infamous "bonk". You see, since body's carbohydrate stores
are limited (a 70kg individual may store about 400 total grams of
carbohydrate), endurance events lasting greater than 90 minutes may
deplete muscle glycogen to low levels, leading to early fatigue (and
thus being passed by someone's grandmother).

Since the carbohydrates in the body are
consumed preferentially to fats, are used rapidly during intense
exercise it's clear that any attempt to increase the body's
carbohydrate stores during longer duration events may help with
performance. One such attempt to try to boost the body's glycogen
stores is the pre-race carbohydrate loading scheme.

By following a carbohydrate loading
protocol as such, carbohydrate stores can increase significantly (in
some cases, muscle glycogen has doubled) and this may provide greater
fuel for the latter portions of the race. So, if you're about to
compete in long duration endurance events, you owe it to yourself to
give carbohydrate loading a chance.

How Do I Carbohydrate Load?

Over the years there have been several
carbohydrate loading schemes proposed. Original schemes were based on
the fact that following a 3-day, ridiculously low carbohydrate diet (
< 50 grams) causes an increase in muscle glycogen storing enzymes.
Therefore, starting 6 days from your event, "depleting" muscle glycogen
with this 3-day low carb diet (exercising intensely on all 3 days as
well), you can set your body up for a "rebound" of carbohydrate storage
during the 3 days immediately prior to the event.

For those next 3 days, you simply rest,
eat a very high carb diet (10 grams of carbohydrate per kg of
bodyweight), and watch your muscles swell up with energy. One problem,
though, with these original schemes is that they were very difficult to
follow for athletes accustomed to regularly eating carbohydrates.

By: Anthony Ricciuto

Insufficient Calories

Caloric
intake is also very important for your strength levels. If your calories are
too low for your energy expenditure you will be going backwards with your
progress instead of forward. This is something that you definitely don't want
to do. So the first thing on your agenda is to increase your caloric intake,
otherwise you will be spinning your wheels with no success.

Your next
mistake with this plan is your protein
intake. Not only is the total daily protein intake too low, but also your
protein per meal intake is not sufficient. Both of these are very important
mistakes. I will let you know plain and simple. If you are training hard and
you are not taking in the optimal amount of protein that your body needs to
recover and replenish from your hard workouts, much of your time in the gym
will be wasted. This doesn't sound so good does it?

Improper Fluid Intake

Proper hydration is another problem that I
see with your plan. As we speak you are in a state of dehydration. Just
remember you need plenty of water as it helps with many processes and functions
in your body. If you allow your body to get dehydrated then you can get used to
having poor performance in the gym. If you allow yourself to become even 3%
dehydrated, then you will cause a decrement in your strength. You can also get
used to carrying more body fat than your competitor that does drink his water.

Improper Meal Frequency
And Meal Timing

Another problem that I see
is that you are not eating enough times per day. You should be eating at least
6 times per day. This will keep the metabolism elevated and keep you in a
positive nitrogen balance throughout the day. This will also keep your blood
sugar levels stable and will prevent insulin spikes that will drain all your
energy and increase your fat stores. The times of your meals or what is called
"Meal Timing" in the nutrition field is also a problem. Your meal
timing is too sporadic and this can be a problem. You should be eating
something at least every three hours. You are going too many hours without
eating and this can throw a monkey wrench into your program.

No Pre Workout And Post
Workout Plan

One very important thing
your Dietician forgot is your pre and post workout
nutrition plan. Where are they? What you eat before and after your
training plays a major role in your success. If your nutrition plan doesn't have
these included in them then you are definitely getting shortchanged on your
results.

Your pre workout meal will
dictate how much volume workload you can handle, your strength level, how
stable your blood sugar level will be, and how much fat you will be burning
from your workout. Your post workout nutrition plan will have a major impact on
the rate of recovery from your training, how much muscle and strength you will
gain, and how elevated your metabolism will stay.

This is just the tip of the
iceberg as it gets much more complicated than this. As you can see if you are
not having your pre workout and post workout nutrition plan optimized you will
be throwing much of your progress out the window.

Let's face it, unless you're a pro
bodybuilder that trains, eats and sleeps for a
living, finding the time to get to the gym regularly and stay on a clean diet
is difficult to do. For most, it can be a struggle to train hard and eat clean
while juggling job and family commitments. And it becomes even more difficult
if you are a road warrior.

If your job takes you on
the road, and you are subjected to staying in hotel rooms and eating at
restaurants, your fitness level can go down the drain in a matter of weeks.
This article will give you the ideas and tips you need to make sure that your
time on the road is well spent - maintaining and building new muscle.

The Diet

The most difficult part of
being on the road is maintaining a clean diet. When most people are removed
from their home kitchen, fast food establishments and restaurants become the
go-to places for sustenance. Eating on the road becomes a matter of convenience,
which can be detrimental to your health and fitness level.

When you initially arrive
at your destination, your first stop should be a grocery store.
You can pick up things like fruits, canned tuna
or chicken,
all-natural peanut butter
and whole wheat wraps to snack on throughout the day. But most importantly,
grab the biggest bottle of water you can
find.

Most grocery stores carry
the gallon-sized water jugs. This way you can sip on water all day long and
stay hydrated. To take this idea even further, try to get a hotel room that is
equipped with a kitchenette so you can actually cook your meals. If you have a
lunch or dinner meeting at a restaurant you can always go for a simple steak with veggies and brown rice or
a sweet potato.
Of course, in addition to whole foods, supplements and meal replacements can play a critical
role while you're on the road.

If you are really pressed
for time, choose a quick and easy option that will deliver what you need such
as a MuscleTech Meso-Tech
meal replacement shake or a Nitro-Tech Hardcore whey
protein shake.

These will give you the protein and
other amino acids
and nutrients you need to keep your body in an anabolic state, ensuring that
your muscles don't break down while on the road. But for the ultimate in
convenience, Nitro-Tech whey protein is also available in bars and
ready-to-drink cans that you can throw into your bag or briefcase before you
leave your hotel room - this will guarantee you proper sustenance in any
situation.

Training

As far as training goes, hotel gyms
typically lack any "real" equipment and usually only have some cardio
machines, light dumbbells and maybe a cable station. In no way should this
deter you from getting in a training session.

Try doing some high-rep
exercises with the dumbbells and cables and perform some body weight exercises
like push-ups and sit-ups. Try supersets and interval training
by incorporating a treadmill into the mix. Changing up your workout on the road
will be a nice change of pace, and by hitting muscles differently, you will
stimulate new muscle growth.

The key to working out on
the road is to adapt and improvise. For someone who trains regularly using
heavy free weights, compound exercises and hammer strength machines, switching
up your workout will do you some good.

If you don't want to detour
too far from your regular training, you can always check out some local gyms in
the area and get a day pass, or even better, tell them that you are interested
in joining but would like to try it out first. This should get you a free
workout or two. Also, check with your hotel because they might have special
guest rates or free passes to give you for any commercial gyms in the area.

If you are consistently
traveling to the same city, speak to a gym manager about any special corporate
rates or memberships or ask your company to set something up with a special
pay-as-you-go deal.

Rest

The final component to
making sure that you build, maintain and, most importantly, don't loose any
muscle is rest - and
plenty of it. When on the road, one might be tempted to check out the local
strip, knock back a few and stay up late. This can take a toll on the body and
be damaging to muscle growth. So make sure you still get your six to eight
hours of sleep a night.