Maintain a Performance Monitor

A performance monitor is a kind of diary or record to regularly track your training program and your skill improvement. You can either use a paper-based diary or record on audiocassettes. This performance monitor must be used after every training session to record different aspects of the session,

• What did you learn? – Styles, techniques, moves, submission, defense strategies, and so on

• Your mental framework during the session - Rate yourself-poor, average, good, excellent-on each of the following factors.

 Your ability to handle distractions
 Your calmness: Were you relaxed or not?
 Your confidence
 Your alertness
 Your attentiveness

• What mistakes or slip ups did you make?

• What do you want to learn in your next session? Make a list of learning objectives and a list of mistakes that you want to avoid

As your training progresses, the aim should be to minimize your slip-ups and advance your rating on mental skills issues to either good or excellent.

The performance monitor is a simple daily assessment method that has the dual advantage of taking into account your training on grappling or combat athletics techniques as well as mental skills preparation. You will be assessing yourself, and must be as objective and as tough on yourself as you possibly can to benefit from the exercise.

Advantages of maintaining a performance monitor:

 You always have on record a benchmark of your previous session on which to build and improve in a new training session.

 You start out with a set of objectives for each new session, which makes the training sessions a lot more useful.

 Mistakes don't get swept under the rug. You address them in your next session.

 You can monitor your progress over a period especially when you rate yourself on mental skills.

Consistently Follow the Principles in Mental Skills Training

Commitment to apply mental preparation techniques requires you to follow up on mental skills principles on a regular basis.

Spend time each day to follow up on development of mental skills

1) Recall previously learned/practiced mental skills

2) Rehearse key skills –Visualization, affirmations, breathing exercises, etc.

3) Review your progress after each session

4) Make a note of issues that need further practice or input from your trainer

The effectiveness of your mental skills training depends on:

• Your ability to learn and apply the techniques

• Consistency in using the skills - following a daily pattern in mental preparation, using mental preparation just before you enters a game, and applying the techniques during the match.

• Your ability to retrieve learning at crucial points in the game

Sample of a Daily Mental Skills Training Program

Duration: 30-40 minutes

A. Start with a relaxation exercise

B. Visualize a few techniques and styles using mental imagery

C. Practice a concentration-building exercise

D. Recall your long-term goals/ambitions/motivators

E. Give yourself a few minutes of confidence-building self-talk, based on past wins, expertise in techniques, etc.

F. Write down the techniques and styles you want to visualize the next day

G. Write down other mental skills that you want to address in tomorrow's session

Understanding memory:

The functioning of the brain defies and challenges most scientists around the world, but we do know quite a bit about the memory function. Memory plays a role in all aspects of life and is especially important in sports. The effective storing of information and images in memory is a function of the attention paid during the learning process.

Dr. Susumu Tonegawa, who won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1987 (and is the founding director of MIT's center for learning and memory), has been conducting extensive scientific studies into the process of memory storage and retrieval. In his study on retrieval mechanisms, he finds that "cues" are crucial in triggering a person's recall. For instance, the word "park" can trigger recall of jogging in the park and all the sights and sounds associated with it, including people you may have come across en route.

Let's take a few minutes to understand how information processing and memory retrieval works (see Figure 13).

When the brain receives information, the information first enters sensory memory. The information then moves on to short-term memory and finally into long-term memory from where the memory has to be retrieved when a person needs it.

Sensory memory: Sensory memory does an initial analysis of the information on sensory factors like loudness, color, contour, feel, etc. The information is received through the senses. The information is passed from sensory memory into short-term memory.

Short-term memory: In short-term memory the information goes through primary processing and is converted to comprehensible meaning. Short-term memory has limited space capacity, and the information is held briefly here. If the person does not rehearse the information, it fades away and is forgotten. Rehearsal is a form of inner speech that we all do when something is important or relevant to us. This rehearsal leads to active processing of the information, and it is then moved into long-term memory.

Long term memory: Long-term memory stores of information over a long period of time. Learned information has to be retrieved from long-term memory.

The key thing to keep in mind for sports professionals is that emotional factors have an effect on long-term memory. Information is not lost from long-term memory, but retrieving it can become increasing difficult for an emotionally over-wrought person. Stress, tension, fears, and anxieties may reduce your capacity to recall the things that you learned during practice. The ability to accurately recall your moves or even details of your game plan gets reduced.

Information retrieval is of two types:

• Recall

• Recognition

In the case of recall, the information is reproduced from memory. Recall can be hastened by providing certain cues that act to pick up the information from memory. This is the memory retrieval mechanism that helps a grappler or combat athlete recall moves and techniques simulated through visualization.

In the case of recognition, the information is retrieved along with the additional knowledge that the information has been seen before. This aspect of recognition is fairly significant for a grappler. If you anticipated certain moves that your opponent is likely to make during practice and your memory recognizes this move when in a bout, then the information on how to deal with it or how to defend yourself can be more easily retrieved. It is precisely for this reason that regular practice through training and visualization are all vital aspects of preparation for grapplers and combat athletes.

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Indoor Rock Climbing for Fitness: It's Not Extreme Anymore

Once an activity labeled as an "extreme sport", rock climbing has in the last few years become a very popular workout activity as the use of indoor climbing walls in fitness facilities, community centers and health clubs has increased and made the sport much more user friendly. Not only can it be fun and exciting, rock climbing is one of the most effective strength training workouts a person can ever have, providing fitness and strength benefits that are difficult to match with any other single activity. If you want to work out every muscle in your body in the shortest amount of time possible and get quick results in strength, body shape, toning and muscular endurance, there is no better thing to do. It burns a tremendous amount of calories as well, assisting with weight or fat loss. And did I mention that it is fun? Participants sometimes have such a blast that they even forget to feel tired! Around twenty years ago, the very first climbing gyms started appearing around the United States. One of the first was The Vertical Club in Seattle, Washington, and that is where I first took a lesson and learned to climb. My experience walking in there in 1993 was TOTALLY different than a new climber would have walking into the average climbing facility now. Back then, climbing gyms were primarily the domain of serious rock climbers who needed a way to stay in shape during the bad weather months or in between trips to outdoor climbing locations. Climbing as a general fitness activity hadn't arrived yet.

When I entered the facility that day, I was first greeted by a man on crutches who told me he had just broken his ankle in an outdoor climbing fall. He seemed pretty intense. There were several men climbing near the front without shirts on, their bodies seemingly made of nothing but muscle and sinew. One of them was attempting a climbing move just a few feet off the ground right in front of his buddies, who stood no more than arms reach from him, shouting him encouragement and prepared to break his fall if he came off the wall. He was exerting himself fully while trying the move, and I was struck by his effort, while all he had to do was literally put his foot down and he would have been standing directly on the ground.

I felt somewhat intimidated by the atmosphere. The place was definitely filled with people who climbed seriously, and at that time I was definitely someone who did not. I was glad I was there to take an actual lesson because I would have absolutely no idea how to start for myself. My teacher was the owner of the club, and he was very friendly and helpful. It was almost like having my own personal trainer. By the end of the 2 hour lesson I knew my way around the gym and the equipment and knew how to belay another climber and tie myself into the rope for safety. And I had climbed from the bottom of the walls to the top several times successfully. I was officially a climber, albeit a very enthusiastic beginner.

In the present day, a first trip to a climbing facility for a beginner will be a completely different experience. There are many more climbing gyms around, and like I mentioned above, many fitness centers and health clubs have climbing walls now. These climbing gyms and fitness center walls are used much more now by the average fitness enthusiast who is looking for a fun way to workout or have some recreation, and beginner classes abound. The look and feel of the facilities is usually very family friendly. Birthday parties and social events for kids, corporate outing and team building for adults as well as family recreation outings make up a huge percentage of the business for climbing walls nowadays. A first time visitor will be greeted by an enthusiastic staff wearing matching t-shirts and typically watch a safety video that gives an overview of the procedures of the facility. Then in a small group or individually, they are led out to attempt a few climbs before they are cleared to use the place on their own. The extensive orientation I received at The Vertical Club is mostly a thing of the past. The equipment and safety set up is much easier for the average person to learn, which gets them climbing and having fun sooner. This has greatly increased the number of people who participate in climbing and has led to the serious climbers that I saw on my first trip to The Vertical Club frequently being the minority in the gym at any given time.

Getting your exercise while climbing indoors usually involves you making your way from the floor toward the ceiling of the facility using plastic holds for your hands and feet that have the same look and feel as real rock. These are attached to a wall that is textured to resemble a real cliff face. As you make your way to the top, a cable attached to an automatic belay device or a rope attached to your partner and tied to your safety harness that you wear keeps you safe from a fall. Most indoor facilities have walls for roped climbing that go up to about 30 feet in height, though some in the United States go from 60 to 90 feet. Most facilities also have a version of climbing called bouldering where the climber is not roped but never climbs more than 10-15 feet off the ground, protecting against a fall with large gymnastics pads moved around on the floor underneath. Snug fitting climbing shoes with specially made rubber soles are worn for incredible grip against the footholds.

Indoor rock climbing requires exactly the same fitness and muscle strength and enduranace demands as doing it outdoors. And the benefits are awesome! Unlike traditional weight training which involves lifting weight in a controlled movement in a gym or home setting, rock climbing is "strength training with a twist": you as the climber are now the weight going up or down and rather than an arbitrary number of repetitions to be performed to complete a set, the goal of climbing is to get to the top of the wall. It doesn't matter how it is accomplished, either. Climbing doesn't have to look pretty to be effective. The result is a change of focus away from the effort of repetitions to the effort of working toward the immediately achievable goal of reaching the top. This can result in a very empowering feeling of accomplishment for the climber, because each trip up the wall holds a challenge that can be overcome and a goal that is achieved. This is what has been known to be addicting and can lead you to want to do more. And when you want to do more, you will keep doing it. And that is the biggest secret for long term success in fitness: keep doing it! It is amazing what consistency can accomplish.

Copyright (c) 2007 Charles Carter

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Marvelous Messy Fun that Little Kids Love

Share fun and giggles with your children. These engaging ideas will captivate and stimulate your child’s senses and ignite your child’s thirst for learning.

1. Fingerpainting with a twist. Try different fingerpaints besides the traditional store bought kind. For example: Chocolate pudding paint. Just buy a can of ready-made pudding from the grocery store. Or Jello finger painting: Mix together 1 package of Jello and 2 Tbsp hot water in a small bowl being careful not to overmix. Let cool 5 to 10 min. before using. Paint on tin foil for a neat effect. For some more edible food craft ideas visit http://create-kids-crafts.com.

2. Play dough. Play dough is fun to squish, squash and create with. No need to go out and buy some, there’s a great recipe below. Make an easy playdough rose for an idea: 1. Roll out a thin, long snake and press it flat. Loosely roll it up like a rug from one end to the other. Spread and press each layer out a bit. 2. For the leaves, flatten a piece of play dough with your hands. Cut out 2 leaf shapes with a plastic knife and press them onto the bottom of the rose. For a photo of the playdough rose and other cool playdough creations for kids(little and big) visit my web site below.

3. Bubble blowing without tears. Here’s a great recipe that uses “tearless” baby shampoo that won’t sting eyes if bubbles get splattered in little eyes. 3 cups water, 1 cup baby shampoo, 1/3 cup light corn syrup. Mix all together in a large bowl.

4. Oobleck. Who says small children have short attention spans? This alone fascinated my 2 yr. old at the time for 45 minutes. Recipe: 1 cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup water, 5 to 7 drops food coloring(optional). Mix water and food coloring together. Slowly add cornstarch. Do not stir. Let the mixture stand for 1 to 2 minutes. Pick a handful of the oobleck up and squeeze it until it forms a hard ball. Open your hand and the oobleck will turn from a solid back into a liquid. If it gets too dry after awhile, just add a bit more water.

Kool-Aid Playdough Recipe(Adult assistance and supervision required)

1 cup flour
½ cup salt
1 small pkg. unsweetened Kool-Aid (6 g pkg)
1 ½ Tbsp cooking oil
1 c boiling water

Mix flour, salt, oil and Kool-Aid. Add boiling water; stir and knead until cooled and smooth. Store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. This playdough will be the color and scent of the Kool-Aid you used.

Remember to supervise little kids with these ideas to ensure that with some of the ideas they don’t put things in their mouth.

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Over the Counter Acne Treatment Products That Work

Over the counter acne treatment products typically include acne or spot treatments, cleansers and washes, moisturizers, lotions, pads and wipes, masks and strips, shaving creams, and toners and astringents.

So how do you know what over the counter acne treatment you should use? Here’s some simple, yet powerful information that most folks unfortunately don’t take the time to find out.

Benzoyl Peroxide the Bacteria Slayer

Benzoyl Peroxide (BP) in over the counter acne treatment products:

-works best for moderate to moderately severe acne,

-deeply penetrates into the skin to kill tough bacteria,

-is best used preventatively,

-dries and exfoliating the skin,

-works faster than prescription antibiotics, and

-doesn’t allow bacteria to build resistance like prescription antibiotics.

However, BP is a very harsh chemical. It causes redness, dryness, and scaling. BP can also lighten fabric colors.

You can find a cheap tube of BP in any drugstore at 2.5% which will work wonders over a few weeks time.

Salicylic Acid – the Surface Slougher

Salicylic Acid or “beta hydroxyl acid” (BHA) works best for mild acne and sensitive skin, as a cleanser ingredient to slough surface skin cells, and as an agent that prepares the skin for other acne treatments. It breaks down a protein that holds the skin cells together. Over time, it exfoliates old skin and allows new healthy skin to surface. It loosens whiteheads and blackheads and helps expel them.

Salicylic acid is fairly mild. It does not reach down deep into the skin follicles like benzoyl peroxide. It can take up to 3 months to loosen smaller whiteheads and blackheads.

However salicylic acid works well if you use it over a consistent and long period of time.

Some side effects of salicylic acid include some skin peeling, dryness, and irritation when used at concentrations of 2% or greater. Possible adverse effects include salicylate toxicity, toxic inner ear damage, and hypersensitivity. Also risk of increases in skin sensitivity to sunlight.

Look for an over the counter acne treatment cleanser with concentrations of 2% salicylic acid, in an acid base with a pH of between 3 and 4.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA)

Alpha Hydroxy Acids work best for all types of skin, as a mild or strong cleanser, and for healing and preventing acne.

AHAs are natural acids which come from fruits, milk sugars, and plants. Glycolic and lactic acids are the most frequently used in over the counter acne treatment products, and are the most well researched AHAs to date.

AHA's gently peel away the uppermost layer of dead skin cells. They make way for the newer skin beneath.

Look for a product with a glycolic acid concentration between 8 and 10% and no other active ingredients. You should see results in the texture of your skin within a few weeks.

Side effects include more susceptibility to sunlight and minor skin irritation or blisters and burns. Fewer AHA products have FDA approval.

Retinol

Retinol is the chemical name for vitamin A – which is the active ingredient in the prescription drug Retin-A, the favored topical prescription acne treatment.

Retinol works best in high concentrations and when packaged stably. It hasn’t really proven its effectiveness for acne.

Sulfur and Resorcinol

Basically, sulfur kills acne bacteria. Resorcinol helps shed the outer layer of skin, and increases the effect of sulfur. However, experts aren’t entirely sure how it works in combination with sulfur.

Resorcinol alone is not an effective acne treatment. It can be very irritating to some patients. For those who can’t use BP or Retin-A, sulfur may be a good alternative.

The side effects are minor: dryness and unpleasant odour. It’s not recommended for pregnant women unless their doctor prescribes resorcinol. There are no major known adverse effects in resorcinol’s combination with sulfur.

Everyone is different

For maximum effectiveness, find a cleanser containing salicylic acid or glycolic acid, a leave-on benzoyl product, and a moisturizer you wear overtop.

As a general rule of thumb, OTC drugs should work within 6 to 8 weeks. If they don’t work within 10 weeks and even promote breakouts, see a dermatologist.

Now you have enough knowledge to look for effective skin products, as well as how to use them to use them the right way.
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8 Top Tips for Becoming a Professional Gambler in Horse Racing, Poker and Other Sports

Most folk are under the opinion that professional gamblers have one bet, play one game of poker, or some other form of gambling, and then collect the winnings and go back to their big mansion for a few months rest, before having another gamble!!

I pray it was like that, but in valid life it is vastly different. I personally work 10-12 hours a day, 360 days a year, and still do a bit on the days off, including Christmas day. When you see professional poker players they are spending 3-5 days at a table in a game every week, sometimes sitting for 12 hours, and when they are not doing that, they are at home playing poker on the computer.

So if you are looking for a relaxing life, do not take up betting as a profession. Yes it can pay well, very well, but you need to put in a lot of work, and it can be 2-3 years before you are making any meaningful hard cash. Anyone who tells you otherwise is possibly lying just to receive your hard cash.

When you see tipping advertisers stating things like "We made $26,000 to $100 stakes in the last 12 months", it looks sensational. However, they need to receive your attention as a 1/8th ad in a paper costs around $500, and they need that money back before turning a profit. And how innumerable average gamblers have $100 to bet, especially when you need a betting bank, and with $100 stakes, the cash you need before you even place one bet is around $3,500, any less and you can easily blow it all. Then divide the $26,000 by the $100 to work out how many points you make a year, and that is 260, then divide by 52 to see how numerous points profit a week, and that comes to 5pts a week. Wow!! If you are just starting off you are likely to only be using a realistic $5, so that is $25 a week average. That may not sound much but you have to learn to walk before you can run. If you cannot profit with 10c bets, how the hell will you profit with $100 bets?

Also think why various tipsters advertise every day. This is because they have such a considerable turnover; they need to keep replenishing the customer base. This does not always mean the tipster is rubbish, in some cases they may be profitable long term, but the average Joe Punter always wants profit NOW and every day, and average Joe points more than 5 points per week, whereas a full time professional would be happy with that.

If you are going to gamble to profit, then for the inaugural few months this should be your conditioning were you will be doing a lot of work for little return, but you will also learn how to handle losing runs, how to cope with mistakes, and if it does all go improper and you lose the betting bank, you should have learnt a lot from it for as little loss as possible, as you should only ever bet what you can afford to lose, especially while proving to yourself you can profit. You may have a spare $10,000 available, but prove you can profit with a $1000 bank maiden, and then add to the bank monthly.

So here are the 8 tips you need to learn, and stick to religiously if you want to stand a chance of ever making money from gambling.

1. Patience: If you want big profits now, try the lottery. Building up you betting banks takes time a lot of time.

2. Betting Banks: If you do not have a betting bank to emergence with, and you are just betting from whatever is in your pocket, you will never make a profit. It is as simple as that. Most punters lie to themselves that they are breaking even. Do not do that, be truthful.

3. Staking: You see betting plans for sale on EBay, most of them may make you a few dollars quickly, but it is 100% guaranteed they will bust your bank as these are designed by amateurs who have no understanding of gambling maths in the real world. Always onset with levels, if you cannot make hard cash with that simple staking plan you will not make bankroll with anything more complicated. Once you have proven over a few months you can turn a profit with level stakes, and then you can switch to each bet being between 1%-3% of the bank. Most professionals will emergence at 3%, but get it down to 1% as the bank grows.

4. Bank Management: Managing banks is not just staking, it also involves listing every bet on a spreadsheet so you can monitor things like average odds, strike rate, losing runs, etc. If you do not list every bet, you will have no idea where you stand, and no way of having data to look back and learn from.

5. Risk Management: Most people follow one tipster, or one system. This is usually suicide, you do not see the big boys in the city markets investing everything in one stock do you? No. They spread it around, and so should you. Use a number of systems, proven tipsters, method bets, etc. And ensure you have a separate betting bank for each (you can use the same betting account, as the spreadsheets you keep will tell you the amount which is in each bank).

6. Alcohol: NEVER drink while betting, you will bet more than you should, you will bust banks, you will play bets you would never do when sober.

7. Forums: Join a forum where you can bite ideas, this can prove a powerful aid, but make sure it is a decent one, and not full of idiots just spouting off how good they are!

8. Fun Bets: You are often told not to do any 'fun bets' if you wish to turn professional, but this will not happen, as it is hard to break old habits at first. The best way to treat fun bets is to handle them as you would any pro bets. Separate betting bank, list all bets, and it will not be long before you lose the bank and realise how wonderful your own tipping is!

This advice goes for betting in any country, on horseracing, greyhounds, soccer, NFL, poker, etc.

You can also find innumerable free horse racing systems, staking systems, poker systems, on the internet, ignore them, they are only free for a reason, as they lose hard cash.

These days it is possible to receive horseracing software, poker software, etc that can facilitate you, they will only make you hard cash if you are already doing so, they just enhance your skills, not make them. Search the web for reviews on every product before parting with any money; ask people on forums which software is the best.

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Learn How To Compare Different Type Of Golf Balls

If peak performance is what you are after then you need to learn how to do a proper golf ball comparison. Just like choosing the right golf clubs, picking the correct ball for you is just a matter of matching the different types of balls with your swing and how you play golf. Golf balls are all the same, aren't they? They may be small, but they are one of the most engineered pieces of golfing equipment.

Have you ever taken a really close look at a golf ball? They have different feels, different densities and different spins esulting in a different action, depending on how you play the game. To get the best out of your game and your golf ball, you need to match each section of the golf ball with your level of skill and style,

First off, you need to chose the correct golf ball compression. The compression is the measurement of how tightly wound the ball is. Depending on your swing speed, depends on how the compression comes into play. If you're swing speed is quite slow, then you will want a lower compression. Therefore, the faster the speed, the higher the golf ball compression that you will need.

In total, the compression ratings are broken down into three seperate groups.

The first group is the 80 compression golf balls. They tend to be the softest and produce what essentially results in a sling shot effect when they are hit. They fly farther after being hit but they are much hard to control and hit accurately. They are the most popular type of golf ball amongst women, senior and junior players for their distance alone.

The next group is the 90 compression rating golf balls. Due to their middle of the road standing, soft enough to provide good distance on a slower swing but hard enough to provide a good degree of control, these are a good match for most male players in a golf ball comparison. They also prove to be a great choice for the more advanced female players.

The final group is the 100 compression rating golf balls. Fast swing speeds are needed for top performance due to these being the hardest balls. These type of balls are most popular amongest the low handicap and scratch players due to the faster swing speeds and the higher level of control.

Of course the only real way for you to know which is the best fit golf ball compression for your game is to do your own golf ball comparison. So, why not take a few of each of the golf ball compressions out to the driving range and find out which ones work best for you.

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Starting A Food Plot

So you're thinking of starting a food plot? I found myself in that same situation about two years ago when I cleared my first plot. In the area of deer management and food plots I was like most beginners. I had no clue where to start or what my final plan was going to be.

This article can be seen as a starting point for people who are thinking of starting a food plot, and incorporating it into their current deer management plan. This article is not based on any research and I am by no means an expert in the area - this is simply what I did and what I continue to do. I would like to be able to help people start their plan by giving them some tips and thoughts. The 300 hundred-acre farm that I hunt currently has 4 food plots and more in the works. So as I try and learn new things I will add it this page, for now I will give you a starting point and some things to consider.

The first thing that must be done before anything else is plan what you would like to accomplish. Here you can simply look at the land you have available and determine how many food plots you want and what size you would like to make them. Another very important factor is location. You should try to find a location that has a nearby water supply, and provides cover from both the weather and predators. Once you have a clear plan such as where you would like to place your plots and how big you want them, clearing the plots will start.

Tree and brush removal is very labor intensive and can be quite expensive and will often lead to unfinished plots. You should find a location with the least amount of trees and brush as possible. When I look for a new area I try to locate areas that have been logged before and have grown up with thick brush (This may not be an option for some people unless your land has been logged off). I do this because most of the clearing I do is by hand with a chain saw, brush cutters, and a tractor and brush hog. Here is a tip that you could consider. Depending on how big your plot is and how big the trees are, you could try to sell the logs that are there to earn some money to help fund your project.

Ok now that you have your area picked out and cleared now is the time to prepare the site. I will tell you what I do in this stage but the final decision is yours and the situation you have. Once I have a food plot cleared I wait until new growth begins and I begin to kill the weeds. I like to go to the local garden center and buy a weed and brush killer. I use round up because you can plant two weeks after you use it. I buy the concentrate and mix it, as I need it. If you have ever seen what can happen to an area once all the bigger trees have been removed you know first hand how rapidly the under brush can grow up. This is one reason why I like to wait at least one season before I plant any thing. Once the new growth begins it is very vital that you attack the brush and keep it under control. Simply mix your brush killer in the quantity you need and spray the area well. This step is not required but I would advise you to take it. I would hate to see you spend all that time, money, and hard work on clearing the site just to have the under brush take over the newly planted food plot seed you lay down.

Once you have your plot clear and most of the brush killed off it is now time to start planting. You should have an idea by now as to what kind of seed you would like to plant. There are a lot of different types of food plot mix on the market and the final choice is yours. I have two food plots that have nothing but Ladino clover in them. I have another plot that gets a mixture of clover, wheat, rye, and turnips that gets replanted every spring. The fourth food plot that I am working on is going to be a mini apple orchard with clover and grass in between the trees. Other types of things that work well for food plots are alfalfa, corn, soybeans, lespedeza, chufa, or Milo. Another helpful tip is before you buy any seed check with your state conservation department and see if they have a program that helps private land owners acquire seed. Before you plant your plot it would be a good idea to test your soil for the proper PH level, and to see what types of nutrients you will need to add. Most garden centers have a do it yourself soil testing kit. The ones I have seen seem pretty easy to use. I use the PH meter made by Rapitest, it is simple to use and I am happy with the performance of this product. Once you have tested your soil you can plant the mix you have decided on. Fertilize the soil according to the test results and the type of mix you picked out.

You now have a food plot that is well on its way to providing your deer herd with the nutrients they need to survive. With some maintenance, your new plot will supply wildlife with food for years to come. Have Fun.
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Play Your Next Video Game Wisely After You Read This Article

Video games are ubiquitous today. Lots of individuals find it to be a great recreational outlet, no matter how old they are. Make the most of playing video games and continue reading this article to get the best tips and tricks to use while playing video games.

Drivers must be updated frequently. If you are using a computer to play video games, you need to make sure that everything on the screen is detailed and clear as possible. The primary way of doing this is to keep your graphic drivers updated. You can update your graphic drivers through the device manager.

If you are selling some old video games, there are plenty of places online that will draw some interest in what you have to offer. Avoid using places like eBay unless you have no other choice. Shipment and payment issues can make sites like those a real hassle. Try Craigslist, or use the marketplace app on Facebook.

If you are a parent, make sure that the games your kids are playing are age appropriate. You need to check the rating on the front to make sure it's suitable for your kids. Some of these games can promote violence, and this is something you might want to avoid.

When playing sports games, always start out on the easiest level. Sometimes sports video games are really challenging. It's good to start at the beginning to learn the ropes. After you play for a while, you can slowly bring the difficulty level up so there's more of a challenge.

Before buying a video game for a child, ask questions about types of games they like. There are many different types of games and many different interests.

You should do other things besides play video games. When you play all day, your health can decline. You have to make sure that you do other things as well. These games can be addicting, so be aware of that and moderate your playing time.

Think about what age your kids have to be before they can play games rated M, or mature. While consoles do allow you to control adult content settings, computers do not. It's your job to keep them gaming in a healthy manner.

Games that are difficult are very challenging, and you should not become frustrated with them. When you're frustrated, you'll continue to lose. Never let video games frustrate you, since the whole point is supposed to be having fun.

Purchase used games to save money. Games can be very expensive, often more than 50 dollars. It is a waste if you lay down that much cash and don't even enjoy the game. Purchasing used games can help you save up to half of the money you would have spent.

Today's video games are both entertaining and educational. Stick to educational titles when buying for children, rather than buy ones full of violence and inappropriate content. Consult reviews posted by parents to determine which games are appropriate for younger children and stick to those titles.

To ensure you get the most out of your child's gaming experience, there better be limits that are set for your children when they play video games. More than two hours a day can strain their eyes and interfere with other activities.

Nowadays, games have rewards programs that you may need to use real money to get. Weigh the costs and benefits of buying from a cash shop before taking the plunge. They might not provide you immediate gratification or even that much fun playing. While that is true, they may save some time.

You should play just a hour or two in a day. Gaming is addictive for many people, and you must be careful to not let it consume you. Limit the amount of time you play games to two to three hours each day. Take a breather every now and again if you are going to be playing for awhile.

Know your game ratings. Since they are not only made for children, you cannot assume they are all family friendly. The rating system begins at EC for children aged 3 and older and ends at AO (Adults Only.) If you plan to purchase a game for another person, be sure it suits their age.

Video games are quite popular. Using the information above, you should be able to maximize your fun while playing video games. These tips will help you enjoy all that the world of video games has to offer.

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Tennis academies of the Caribbean region

Tennis lovers searching for their vacation spot for their up coming holiday can uncover lots of selections in the Dominican Republic. Numerous resorts have tennis facilities, some of that are of superb standards. Sad to say, you can find also some places where the tennis court quality is quite very poor.

In order to make a choice, it can be a good thought to try and do some just before deciding.

The weather within the Caribbean in general and in the Dominican Republic is ideal for tennis. If you set aside the occasional rain or wind, you'll be able to enjoy tennis 12 months during a year. Daytime temperatures vary around 22 and 32 degrees Celsius, and in case you prefer to play and stay away from the sun, you'd probably opt for to start playing in between 8.00 and 10.00 a.m., or later than 4.00 p.m.

But if your lodge offers floodlit courts, then obviously you may also play after dark

Court surfaces range from hard courts to clay courts. The clay courts would mainly use a greyish kind of sand. It's a native product, but the quality definitely equals the red clay you could possibly be used to.

Most of the hotels outsource the management to contractors. Those people would then also run a tennis academy on the premises, so most of the time you can locate a tennis coach present, or at the least have a hitting partner that you'll be able to book. Racket renting will largely be readily available (totally free or for a charge).

In most hotels, don't count on too much from your resident pro. Very often, local talent is employed for this. Considering that not a lot when it comes to tennis coaches' training availabe in the Dominican Republic, the standard of tennis coaching can't generally be compared to US or European requirements.

A single superb locale for tennis in the Caribbean is Sea Horse Ranch. Located in Cabarete, on the Dominican east coast, this residential complex with luxury rental villas has 5 fantastic clay tennis courts. Next to them, there is a club house and terrace, and also a pro store.

The courts are being direcdted by International Tennis Academy. This is an academy that employs European and US coaches, so it is possible to assume an excellent practical experience whenever you book classes right here.

The tennis courts are open for visitors from outside Sea Horse Ranch, so you can vacation wherever you like in the Cabarete region and nevertheless enjoy tennis there.

On the web site of International Tennis Academy, you are going to locate some recommendations for renatls to stay, plus they can even help their tennis lesson customers by arranging for transport from your hotel and the tennis courts.

The academy also has tennis camps for adults and juniors. Package deal prices should be requested throught the ITA internet site.

If you're a tennis club, or a team, or run your own tennis academy and you are searching for the spot to bring your clients, team or consumers, renting accommodation at Sea Horse Ranch may very well be an excellent idea. Information about this would be acquired via the internet site of International Tennis Academy.

Other hotels with tennis facilities inside Dominican Republic could be found in Bavaro, and specially in Punta Cana. Punta Cana features a variety of accommodations, mostly in the all-inclusive form. Numerous of those hotels have tennis courts, and tennis academies providing lessons and courses.

At last there is one particular recommendation: except you have your individual playing partner, decide to get a resort with at the very least three or courts, in any other case you can have difficulty finding a person to play tennis with. Naturally, if anything else fails, you can generally ask the resident pro for some hitting practice or a lesson.

Enjoy the relaxing Caribbean life style, enjoy some tennis too - you'll love the Dominican Republic!
http://www.itatennisacademy.com/


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Learn How To Dunk or 10 Tips on Improving Your Vertical Jump

Let's be blunt about it: if you play basketball, there's two leagues of people - those who can dunk, and those who cannot. Although you might think it's just a question of height, this is not at all the case. Of course, being tall helps, but even average height people - 5ft 9 or 5ft 10 - can learn to perform amazing dunks. How? It's obvious - by improving their vertical jump. Now, there is a lot of ways to skin the jumping cat, but not all are equally effective (and some can actually be rather dangerous). I've put together a collection of tips and tricks that helped me improve my vertical jump from near nothing (after knee surgery on my jump leg and rehabilitation) to over 30 inches within 9 months.

Tip 10) Always warm up before exercise. Trying to push your muscles to the max without warming up appropriately before (with light exercises such as running up or down stairs, or jumping with a jumprope) is a bad idea and can easily lead to strains and other problems.

Tip 9) A basic jumping exercise is the squat with weight. While standing, slowly bend your knees with your back straight. Go down pretty low (you shouldn't feel any pain or be uncomfortable), then slowly go back up. Doing this slow is key for building up quad muscle volume and power. Start without weights and increase difficulty by gradually raising the number of repetitions. People with major jumping power can easily do 100+ such squats. If you hold a weight such a dumbbell or barbell, hold it behind your head, in one vertical line with your spine.

Tip 8) Separate weight training days from speed/plyometric days. Medical studies have shown that mixing these different types of exercises is actually bad for the results.

Tip 7) Use jumping rope. Although sometimes shunned as "uncool", it is the basic plyometric exercise and one of the best ways to improve the explosiveness and power of your legs.

Tip 6) Never relax and let go during your waking time. During my rehab, I was hell-bent on getting my leg back to the same power level as before, and beyond that. I didn't just exercise every day - I did it nearly permanently. Of course, you can't do heavy squats or plyometrics all the time because your legs can just do so much until they tire. However, even little things like walking toe-heel style instead of flat-footed, standing on half-bent legs while doing household stuff, or playing with your quads and calves while sitting, are very effective when done regularly over a long period of time.

Tip 5) Calf exercise. It's not only the big upper leg muscle groups that determine your total jump height. Powerful calves can easily add another couple of inches that you may be missing for a resounding dunk. The basic calf exercise is toe raises: stand upright, raise on your toes, go down, and repeat it 50-100 times. When your calves feel hot and burning, it's time to make a break. A somewhat better variation is: stand on some stable horizontal ledge only with your toes and front part of the foot. Hold yourself at something with your hand. Go down with your heels about 30-45 degrees below the ledge, then push up until you are on your toes. Repeat as many times as you need to tire your calves. Again, key is slow and steady. Don't pump up and down. It may be easier, but the effect is nowhere near the same.

Tip 4) Don't overwork your leg muscles. Our muscles grow best when subjected to a cycle-wise load: a heavy workout, then a day of rest or just light exercise. To push your maximum jumping ability, you need the large leg muscles to perform at their peak (and beyond). When overworked, they are unable to deliver that performance, and your jump does not improve despite exercising. A sign of overworking is when your leg muscles ache or burn.

Tip 3) Don't just jump. Focus on jumping completely. With every jump, aim to leap as high as you can. Scientific tests have shown that persistent focus on a physical activity improves the results by 10-20% on average.

Tip 2) Don't expect results too soon, and never give up. I know several guys who bought expensive plyometric programs or jumpsoles expecting some kind of miracle within a few days. There's no such thing though, so once they didn't see the quick results, their determination sizzled away and their jumpsoles would sit gathering dust. Although there are good programs around, there's no miracles. The only thing that will radically improve your vertical is tenacity. Exercise a lot. Regularly. Make it your habit. Do it for months. Then - and only then - the really
impressive results will come.

Tip 1) Plyometric exercise. You may have heard the word. Basically it stands for making a muscle contract immediately following relaxation, and repeating it many times. Applied to jumping in a basic case, it means that you jump, go down in the knees when you land relaxing your muscles, and immediately jump up again from the crouched position. This is tiring as hell, and for a reason - it puts the maximum stress on the large leg muscles. If you are not used to it, your legs will probably ache after a few dozen repetitions. However, nothing beats this kind of exercise if you want to improve your jump quickly.

These tips should already get you underway, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a bunch of other highly effective, yet not so widely known techniques on quickly improving your vertical. Check out http://www.howtodunk.org for a lot more effective, hands-on info on learning to dunk.

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How to Buy a Motion Capture System

More people are getting into motion capture. More people who don’t know much about motion capture are getting into motion capture. This, of course, leads to people who will take advantage of this lack of knowledge. You could see many examples of this at GDC this year.

I’m not going to go through the obvious steps in buying a motion capture system like analyze your requirements, your budget, your application, and your space. All of that is easy. What’s not so easy is separating the good motion capture systems from the bad. While it can be a matter of opinion what is good and what is bad, there are some aspects of motion capture you should think about before committing to a motion capture system.

Beware of the claim “No Clean Up Required”

A claim I have often seen is “No clean up required.” There is no dispute that Vicon, and to a lesser extent Motion Analysis, are the premiere motion capture systems. These are high end, high-priced motion capture systems that, in the right hands, can provide incredible motion capture. Even the data from these systems needs clean up. When a company makes this claim for a system that is less than $100,000, they either have no sense of what “good” data looks like or are trying to fool customers who do not know much about motion capture. Either way, I would not buy a system from them. I see this claim and I wonder what else they are lying about. Beware of the claim “No clean up required”

Beware of the Video

In marketing it is called “bait and switch”. The video shown on the home page shows great motion capture data. Is it from the system you are about to buy? How much time did it take to get the raw data cleaned up for this video? Are you buying an 8 camera system based on data you’ve seen from a 24 camera system? Beware of the video.

Have you seen it working?

There are some motion capture companies that show up every year at trade shows like Siggraph and GDC but never get their system running. If they are running then they may be on an inaccessible stage. Are they moving in slow motion? Are they doing a predefined set of moves? Can you interact with the motion capture artist? If you cannot ask the artist to do some motions you pick then no, you have not seen the system working.

Does the character walk across the floor?

A normal walk is one of the hardest motions to capture because everyone has a sense of what it should look like. There is no valid reason for having a character pinned to the wall. If a company tries to explain why, walk away, they are hiding something. Before I buy a system I want to see the character, as raw data, walking across the floor.

How much space do I need and what is the size of the motion capture area?

Vicon is the leader in motion capture but the system needs a large, stable area. There are some systems that claim they need no markers, just video cameras. Ask how much space is required for how much capture area. It probably needs a large space for a small capture area. Ask about the footprint of the capture area. This is the area on the floor the artist is able to move about in. Also ask about the vertical capture area. Can you capture below the knees, can you jump? Some systems have small footprints and small vertical areas making them virtually unusable. Space required and capture area are two important aspects of a motion capture system.

What can I do with the data?

You are a customer new to motion capture. You’ve found the perfect motion capture system for your application. Where do you go for support if you have questions about using the data? Can you call the hardware company and ask them how to get the data from the viewer software, to an animation program, and then into a game engine? If the company does not know how to use the data or does not know how to clean up the data, walk away. I would want to buy from a company that knows what you can do with the data.

Motion capture can be fun and productive, or not. Ask these important questions before you buy a system. It will make a huge difference to your motion capture experience.

Happy Motion Capturing!

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Health Benefits of Coconut Cream

Isn't coconut cream the culprit that causes weight gain and triggers heart disease? In fact, coconut cream benefits your health more than what you've heard and learned for the past decades. So how does this wrongly-accused cream promote health?

Essentially, coconut cream benefits you with its medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) structure and its lauric acid content. Let's first look at how its MCFA structure provides health benefits for you.

On surface, its saturated fat seems like the same as those in animal sources, but actually they're totally different. Animal-based saturated fat composes of fat molecules connected in long-chain pattern. This makes it difficult for your body to metabolize it for energy use. Hence, it gets stored in your fat storage most of the time, which explains why those who eat lots of fatty meat (from fast food) tend to grow fat easily.

On the contrary, the cream's medium-chain saturated fat gets converted into energy the moment your body absorbs it. In other words, your body converts the fat just like it does for carbohydrate. That makes coconut cream a wonderful energy provider and booster for your bodily needs.

Next, lauric acid in coconut cream benefits your health just as the lauric acid in human breast milk does for infants. It helps to improve your immune system and protects you against intrusive viruses and bacteria, including hepatitis C, herpes and even HIV!

On top of that, its anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties helps to prevent cancer. So, by eating a reasonable amount of this creamy food, you become very well protected. By reasonable amount, I mean you take it in moderation. Eating too much of it may make you ingest too much calories for your body needs. And when excess calories not used for energy, they'll ultimately get stored into your fat cells.

So how do you eat coconut cream to reap the most health benefits? That depends on what you want to achieve with your food palate. For example, when drinking coffee, instead of adding coffee creamer or condensed milk, you can choose to use coconut cream instead. When baking cake, the cream can give you a wonderful creamy texture. How about adding it in your curry to make the gravy thick and silky? You can even cook your rice with the cream to give a subtle yet irresistible scent of coconut fragrance that no other natural foods can match.

Let your creative juices flow, but do keep in mind that moderation is the key to gaining maximum health benefits with coconut cream.
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Golf Clubs On A Budget

Having the right golf clubs and accessories can turn a good golfer into an even better golfer. But it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to get the equipment you need to perform well out on the golf course. Pre-owned golf clubs can be just as good as brand new clubs – and they cost half as much!

Purchasing the right kind of golf equipment does not have to be an expensive activity. There are many golf manufacturers that empty out their inventories by selling their equipment cheap to discount stores. There is nothing wrong with the equipment, it is just that they need to move it quickly so they reduce the price and sell it in bulk to large-scale discount stores.

There are also plenty of ways to purchase pre-owned and a pre-loved golf club, through local trading newspapers and on E-bay and other used goods websites on the Internet. Pre-owned golf clubs will give you the opportunity to save you money on what can be an expensive investment in a hobby. If golf is your primary hobby, then you deserve to have the best clubs to play with because they can make all the difference to your level of performance. Callaway, Ping, Titleist and Nike pre-owned clubs give everyone the opportunity to have the name brand clubs without having to spend a fortune.

These are the brands you will want to seek out. You will usually be able to pick up a full set of clubs for less than half price if you look around. And then you too can say you own a set of the best. As an example, Ping golf clubs are known worldwide as the choice in golf clubs. Ping golf clubs have been the prized possession of many a golfer for decades but because of the price many people opt for the pre-owned Ping clubs instead. Ping is now one of the most recognizable names in golf and this is largely because they make good quality equipment. But as with all name brand golf clubs, Ping clubs can be pricey. Ping golf clubs are generally among the most expensive of all the available brands.

They do excel in performance, but that does come at a price. So how can you obtain discount Ping golf clubs so you don’t break the bank? Ping golf clubs are usually custom fit and when you buy, Ping can get the clubs that best suit your game. They have a variety of different lines that are designed for each individual and indeed each individual’s game. But this is an expensive way to kit yourself out, so it is best to search out a pre-owned or discount set of clubs if you are a golf enthusiast rather than a professional player. But how can you do this? Easy.

There are two options for purchasing discount Ping golf clubs. Firstly, you can head to your local sports warehouse where they sell name brands at discount prices or you can let your fingers do the walking and purchase a set of clubs online – either pre-owned or brand new. If you do decide to purchase Ping golf clubs, you will simply fall in love with these clubs. They are of the highest quality. They will perform for you every time. Ping golf clubs are among the best in their class. These clubs are favorites all over recreational golf courses across the world.

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The Birth of The American Detective Story

It has been said that the American detective story began sometime in the later nineteenth century. Many critics give credit to an author named Anna Katherine Green for starting this American version of what was already an interest in Europe. Shortly after the budding of what we call the beginning of American detective stories, the realization was that even the first American detective story was influenced in some way by Europe. Whether it was influenced by one of the earlier novels such as Collins, or even by one of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales, it is uncertain, but it was almost surely derived from Europe. The plots and themes all point to the European influence and rules.

It was later largely realized that the most significant difference between the American version and the English version is the language. The American crime story is much more harsh and blunt. The language that an American crime story entails is various and is much like the blend in our current society whereas the language in a classic English derived crime story is more upper class English and not as corrupt with obscenities or just plain old regular American dialogue. American crime stories blend perfectly the everyday speech that is commonly heard in this vast melting pot of different cultures and heritages

These pulp fiction stories were truly the first real stories that can be called American in almost every sense. The corruption of the social life in America and the prohibition that was ongoing in larger cities spurred a sort of revolution. This disgruntlement had to show its face somewhere and pulp fiction stories became the method of choice for many writers. The Black Mask was one such pulp magazine publication that actually lasted for quite some time before finally being killed off sometime in the nineteen fifties.

Pulp magazine stories gave way to the hard - boiled detective stories around the nineteen twenties. This type of story focused on the tough guy detective. They were stories of gangsters and the like. They were definitely no comparison to Sherlock Holmes, who despite his cleverness, was not perceived as being much of a tough guy.

Book publications of American detective fiction appeared in the late twenties and the early thirties made this action more popular among writers and publishers alike. Even though these stories that were made into books had most likely already appeared in pulp magazine publications somewhere along the line, the writer had to be one of the best available. It was not common to allow someone who was not one of the best in the field to be published, therefore, only the top pulp writers were offered such a special achievement. Others were simply not good enough, by publishing quality standards, to spend the time and money on.

Books opened the door to television and the detective program was born. This type of show offered a short story that was acted out on live television. Most of these were badly acted and had poor characters but they were able to evolve over the years into something much more desirable to watch. With some of the current crop being actually quite good.



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Journal Your Stress Away

Writing down our thoughts and feelings, as in keeping a journal, is a proven method to relieve stress and improve well being. The expression achieved through writing in a journal on a regular basis, or during times of high stress, helps to clarify and focus what we are actually feeling and experiencing. Putting down on paper what we are frustrated about, worried and concerned with, helps us to begin to understand in a clearer, more concise manner, what we are going through. That understanding can help us to realize what actions we can then take to work through the stress.

Journaling on a regular basis about daily events, joys, and struggles alike, can actually help us to face our day, and solve our problems with less stress. When we record our days on paper, or on the computer, we are processing our feelings, fears and joys, as we are writing.

To help with the stress in our days we can create a routine and journaling system for ourselves. Ask yourself a daily morning question upon rising. This becomes a check into the day question, and writing the answer down, can be a great way to focus the day. For Example - "What am I going to do today that will support just me?" Or - "What am I going to do today at my work, (or with friends, or family), that is different than I have done before?" Another idea - "What one thing do I want to accomplish today that I have not had time to do?" We can ask the same question each day, or ask a new question.

We can also create a journal to record what we need to keep doing, stop doing, do less of, or more of. For example - "I need to stop playing old broken records from my past that no longer apply and no longer serve me. I am enough. I do not have to live in fear. We can journal on that topic alone, until it feels finished."

Another journaling idea is to define what is causing the stress: Whatever or whomever.

For example - "Bob really bugs me when he misses deadlines."

Or - "I never have enough time to fit it all in, family, friends, work, fun."

Or - "I am in way over my head on this project."

Next in your journal write about and define the why.

"When Bob misses deadlines it makes me look bad. I can't enjoy my weekends when Bob has a project due on Monday, because I keep worrying Bob won't come through."

Then ask why again to those answers, and write them down.

"I hate to look bad in front of my peers. It is embarrassing to me. I don't like to be embarrassed. I don't need/deserve that."

Then ask why again. Keep writing, then asking why to those answers. What can be found is the real reason(s) for the stress. After the reason(s) are revealed then processing the root of the stress is easier to address. Then journal about those feelings.

Journaling is something we can all give to ourselves. Find a quiet time in the day, and a quiet place to journal. Set the journal where you will see it every day. Using a notebook, a blank book, a favorite journal, or a computer, any of these all serve as outlets for expression of stress. Through journaling we use that outlet of expression to help us see, process and understand our stress. Through journaling the toll stress takes can be reduced or eliminated.

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Marathons: An Ideal Place for Running for Charity

Marathons: An Ideal Place for Running for Charity

If you have ever watched a marathon, you have probably noticed the charity signs. On the starting line, you’ll see hundreds of runners side by side, all sporting jerseys which show the meaning behind their run. In 2010, nearly half a million runners participated in marathons across the U.S. For many of these folks, the act of running for charity is the driving force behind their endeavor. The exact percentage or number of charity runners cannot be determined, but in 2010, over $1 billion was raised through running for charity. The question is; how is money generated by running in a marathon? All the major marathons (Boston, Washington, New York, Chicago and London) have a corresponding charity program.

The New York marathon is the latest to switch to a more charity oriented financial model, and they have seen a surge in charity participants because of it. A non-profit organization (New York Road Runners) now manages the race each year. The NYRR began in 2006 with 14 charities, and now boasts nearly 200. Out of approximately 45,000 runners in this race, 7500 will be runners who are solely running for charity. Most marathons only offer entrance through a lottery or qualifying based on skill (or the runner must participate in 10 qualifying races).

Marathons now offer up a certain percentage of entries to charity runners; this gives many more people the chance to enter and raise money for their charity. The two biggest NYRR charities are “Fred’s Team” and “Team for Kids”, and these two charities will account for 2,200 runners in the NY Marathon. On average, Road Runners’ charity runners will account for over $25 million per year. The NYRR does require its runners to raise a minimum of $2,500 and their runners also must pay a registration fee, as well as an entry fee for each race. That means that they will have already collected nearly $4 million for charity before the race even begins.

The other major marathons are equally as popular and giving. The Chicago Marathon featured over 10,000 runners representing 150 charities, and raised nearly $13 million in 2010. This is way up from 2002, when they featured only 1,600 charity runners. Last October, about 20% of the runners in the Washington Marine Corps Marathon ran for charity, and raised $6 million. The London Marathon takes the cake when it comes to charity running. Over 80% of their entrants each year are running for charity, and raised over $80 million in 2010. The Boston Marathon is a far more competitive event, focused more on training and qualifying times than charity. Less than 5% of its runners ran for charity, yet still raised $10 million in 2010.
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The Economic Implications of Buying Drugs Online

Although the Internet is fairly new (at least to the mainstream) online shopping has grown by leaps and bounds. Now you can buy almost anything you need, from food to fishing equipment, right through your computer. Of course, this has meant that commerce has been forced to adapt to the changing consumer landscape and some industries have been scrambling to catch up with the crowd. It is no different for the pharmaceutical industry as online pharmacies appear to be popping up everywhere you turn. The prevalence of online pharmacies is a hot topic, especially when it comes to foreign-based companies selling prescription and non-prescription drugs to Americans for lower, more affordable prices. But in addition to foreign-based online pharmacies are a growing number of U.S. based companies offering medication to Americans – making it easier and more convenient to receive much needed prescription drugs.

What impact does this reality have on the drug industry in general and are the changes positive? The answer depends on what aspect of the industry you are involved in. Essentially, pharmaceutical companies who sell their products through traditional brick-and-mortar operations are worried that online pharmacies are only going to keep growing – taking a large bite out of their piece of the pie. For the most part, although the FDA and the big drug companies talk about safety issues and the legality of cross-border drug transactions, it really all comes down to money. It’s no wonder many companies, such as Pfizer, are threatening to restrict supply to Canadian pharmacies that sell discounted drugs to Americans in an effort to scare these pharmacies out of their revenue stream.

Trends do seem to point in the direction of continual growth unless something happens to dampen the excitement the online pharmaceutical industry is currently experiencing. Since the 90’s the industry has continued to flourish. For example, sales of Canadian drugs to U.S. citizens alone have skyrocketed over the billion dollar mark in the past few years and all signs point to this trend enduring. In addition, although these numbers only represent a dollar volume of 0.35% of the total annual U.S. prescription drug market, if Americans continue to use online pharmacies to fill their prescription drug needs it will have a big impact on the industry as a whole. And of course, countries such as Canada are enjoying the benefits of a large consumer base that has a reason to bring their business north. Many American online pharmacies even offer customers the option of obtaining Canadian drugs for lower prices through their sites. As you can see, people are being given more choices than ever before when it comes to buying prescription medications. Much of the power to control drug prices is slowly being taken away from the pharmaceutical companies and put into the hands of the people that matter the most – the consumers.

Organized pharmacy groups are beginning to voice concern over the practice as they see the economic consequences of such a trend, and the whole idea of drug distribution, as well as how certain goods, services and funds are transferred across the border. The main reason many people are flocking to online pharmacies is to save money. If the pharmaceutical industry wants to stay on top of things and keep customers buying the drugs they need through U.S. sources, they will need to change with the times by facilitating the introduction of more online pharmacies that cater to the U.S. market from within the U.S. They will also need to be open to more competition within the marketplace, and most importantly, make it more affordable for the average American to purchase the prescriptions they require.

It is clear that online pharmacies, both foreign and those based in the U.S., are in a position to benefit from an ever-increasing amount of business. Individually, consumers save money on drugs and can afford to put more money into the economy through other industries. Online pharmacies usually offer more choices especially in the way of generic drugs, and make it extremely easy for patients to obtain the prescription drugs they seek. Some senior citizens find it more convenient to shop online than venture out to the local pharmacy. At the same time, most people still choose to go the traditional route and buy their drugs in their own neighborhood, which still takes up the largest part of the market.

While online pharmacies are growing at an exponential rate, it will still be some time before a major shift from buying locally to buying online occurs that will drastically alter the way the pharmaceutical industry functions. In the meantime, consumers will no doubt continue to consider the options that are most economically beneficial to them.
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Non-Medical Treatment for Bipolar Disorder

As an addition to medication, psychosocial treatments-including certain forms of psychotherapy (or "talk" therapy) are helpful in providing support, education, and guidance to people with bipolar disorder and their families. Studies have shown that psychosocial interventions can lead to increased mood stability, fewer hospitalizations, and improved functioning in several areas. A licensed psychologist, social worker, or counselor typically provides these therapies and often works together with the psychiatrist to monitor a patient's progress. The number, frequency, and type of sessions should be based on the treatment needs of each person.

Psychosocial interventions commonly used for bipolar disease include: cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoeducation, family therapy, and a newer technique, interpersonal and social rhythm therapy. National Institute of Mental Health researchers are studying how these interventions compare to one another when added to medication treatment for bipolar disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps people with bipolar disorder learn to change inappropriate or negative thought patterns and behaviors associated with the illness.

Psychoeducation involves teaching people with bipolar disorder about the illness and its treatment, and how to recognize signs of relapse so that early intervention can be sought before a full-blown illness episode occurs. Psychoeducation also may be helpful for family members.

Family therapy uses strategies to reduce the level of distress within the family that may either contribute to or result from the ill person's symptoms.

Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy helps people with bipolar disorder both to improve interpersonal relationships and to regularize their daily routines. Regular daily routines and sleep schedules may help protect against manic episodes.

As with medication, it is important to follow the treatment plan for any psychosocial intervention to achieve the greatest benefit.

Other Treatments For Bipolar

In situations where medication, psychosocial treatment, and the combination of these interventions prove ineffective, or work too slowly to relieve severe symptoms such as psychosis or serious suicidal thoughts, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be considered. ECT may also be considered to treat acute episodes when medical conditions, including pregnancy, make the use of medications too risky.

ECT is said to be a highly effective treatment for severe depressive, manic, and/or mixed episodes. The possibility of long-lasting memory problems, although a concern in the past, has been significantly reduced with modern ECT techniques. However, the potential benefits and risks of ECT, and of available alternative interventions, should be carefully reviewed and discussed with individuals considering this treatment and, where appropriate, with family or friends.

Herbal or natural supplements, such as St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), have not been well studied, and little is known about their effects on bipolar disorder. Because the FDA does not regulate their production, different brands of these supplements can contain different amounts of active ingredient. Before trying herbal or natural supplements, it is important to discuss them with your doctor. There is evidence that St. John's wort can reduce the effectiveness of certain medications. In addition, like prescription antidepressants, St. John's wort may cause a switch into mania in some individuals with bipolar disorder, especially if no mood stabilizer is being taken.

Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are being studied to determine their usefulness, alone and when added to conventional medications, for long-term treatment of bipolar disorder.

A Long-Term Illness That Can Be Effectively Treated

Even though episodes of mania and depression naturally come and go, it is important to understand that bipolar disorder is a long-term illness that currently has no cure. Staying on treatment, even during well times, can help keep the disease under control and reduce the chance of having recurrent, worsening episodes.
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Grunion Runs � Fishing With Your Hands In San Diego

Fishing is peaceful and inspiring sport regardless of the type of fishing your doing. Well, with one exception – grunion runs.

El Grunionino

Throughout the year, the fish known as the grunion run in San Diego and much of California. This little silver fish reproduces by “running” up the beach during the high tide in the middle of the night. Literally thousands of the fish simply come storming up the beach with the waves to lay their eggs in the wet sand. It kind of looks like the beginning of a triathalon except the participants are going the wrong way and are pregnant.

The fish picked up their name from Spanish settlers because of, well, the grunting noise the make when doing their thing. It is a bit saucy now that I think about it. Anyway, the grunion averages five inches in length and has a silvery hue that shows in the moonlight. With thousands in the water, it looks like the a really fat person wearing way to many sequins while dancing to disco music.

You’re Inner Barbarian

“Fishing” for grunion requires you to get in touch with your inner barbarian. Under California law, you are not allowed to use bait, hooks, poles, nets or anything. Instead, you must physically catch the grunion with your hands. This, of course, results in you and others running around the beach like a crab while trying to snatch the grunions. They are exceedingly quick and slippery. You’ll be huffing and puffing before you know it.

Grunion are an extremely plentiful fish, but there are still rules to follow. As mentioned above, you have to go mano-a-fisho. No poles, nets or other items can be used. Second, you have to get a fishing license from the California Department of Fish and Game. Third, you can only go grunion hunting from May to September, the legal season in the area.

If you think getting in touch with your inner fishing barbarian sounds like a good time, here is the scoop on good spots. In San Diego, you should hit the beaches in Del Mar, La Jolla, Mission Beach or in front of the Hotel Del Coronado. These are all high end areas, which means the grunion must have excellent taste.

Running around the beach like a madman can be tiring. Bringing along fluids [okay, beer] is highly recommended.
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Golf Balance Exercises To Create A Rock-Solid Golf Swing

Golf balance exercises should be a must for every amateur golfer. One of the biggest issues with most amateurs is balance, stability and body control in their golf swing.

So often I see a golfer swinging outside their physical capabilities and losing their balance, resulting in a severe mishit that will end up being a double or triple bogey.

There is a physical requirement to maintaining your golf balance throughout your swing. The golf swing position commonly referred to as golf posture is a very unnatural position for the body to be in at address, let alone throughout the swing.

Having a forward tilt over the balls of your feet require a high level of both strength and flexibility in your hamstrings. Just get in your golf posture and reach back behind your upper leg to see how tight your hamstrings are.

If your hamstrings are tight and/or weak, you will have no chance at maintaining your golf posture and ultimately balance throughout your golf swing.

How about your quadriceps?

The play a critical role in keeping your golf swing stable. Rotating your upper body around a somewhat fixed lower body takes a tremendous amount of leg (quad) strength. Also your quads help maintain your knee flex that you had at address. If your quads are weak, your legs will straighten, causing you to come out of our swing.

As you can see, your golf balance requires muscular strength and flexibility. Without it, you’ll be falling all over your swing forever!

One great golf balance exercise (drill) is swinging and actually hitting balls on one leg. Give it a try! You’ll soon find out how difficult it is. But stick with it, and you’ll become a pro at it. If you can hit straight balls on one leg, using both legs will be a cinch.

In all of my advanced golf performance training programs, I have the golfer do a majority of their strength exercises on one leg. It is brutal! It takes so much focus and concentration, you’ll be sweating before you even grab the weight.

I have literally dozens of golf balance exercises in my dvds, books and websites that will dramatically improve your balance, stability and overall control. It’s amazing how many emails I get from golfers who thought these golf balance exercises were easy until they did a full set of just one exercise.

They thought differently after that!

This could be your missing link to a great game! Focus on those golf balance exercises!
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Carp Fishing Bait Recipes And Secrets To Improve Your Readymade Baits!

Think about it – how many times do you read a fishing magazine only to be pounded with yet more biased nonsense about such and such a bait and method the masses are using?! Here are some unbiased tips that do not promote any company that are highly innovative, extremely well proven for big fish - but will be new to your carp! Read on to multiply your big fish catches right now!

If you use readymade boilies, pellets and pastes it is more than likely your carp will have been practicing avoiding these very recognisable baits for years – if not decades. Despite claims of many bait companies a vast number of baits work to a great degree against your optimal success purely because they are so very recognisable as a potential threat.

Carp associate danger or potential threats using all kinds of cures. These may be the chemicals issuing from a boilie, or the over-used components of many pellets for instance. Carp soon learn by association what foods have potential for danger – and develop behaviours to avoid getting hooked. Some carp have the capacity for doing this far more than others because no carp is identical to another in terms of individual experience combined with genetic needs and preferences for example when detecting potential food substances.

But why keep on flogging baits that are far less effective than others? After all if you know that readymade boilies have standard characteristics such as their shape, firmness and resilience and kinds of predictable movements in water in water it would be stupid to pretend that such baits are the peak of efficient objects to catch carp! What about the fact that far too many ready made baits contain exactly the same standard binders and protein ingredients - all of which act as potential signals of danger?

Think about it – when soluble substances are soon washed out of such baits they pretty much will taste and smell the same; and so offer the same old nutritional reasons for carp to eat them. But these reasons may well be as good as useless because so many baits like this are used all the time anyway and so carp will have drastically less need of such nutrients – especially as heavy baiting leads to higher levels of natural food availability in very many carp waters! Why not think like a carp and use something different to really boost your catch rate instead

Rod Hutchinson did not get into using so-called particle baits just for the fun of it. He found that on very rich waters fish were feeding in different modes and behaved in often quite different fashions to how most carp feed in well-stocked lower water quality waters. In very rich waters the old standard high protein boilie approach can easily be out-fished by using baits that replicate the items that carp browse on naturally on their travels. It is very noticeable from my ebooks reader feedback that using pastes to initially get fish onto a new bait is massively more successful – and very fast acting, compared to using boilies.

It is an excellent idea to make up ground bait based on your intended boilie base mix ingredients or ready made base mix powders mixture. I prefer to make my own because I can make them far more potent – at much less cost than it would be to buy base mixes. I have yet to find a boilie base mix that cannot be made far more potent – after all these are commercial compromises that have been produced to make money.

Such ready made baits potential for triggering feeding can always be more fully maximised in a very wide range of ways. You might think of flavours or dips or palatants for instance but you can exploit an incredible variety of properties, physiological impacts and even the ways baits and bait substances ionise the water, drop or raise water pH, or pump out even more soluble substances via diffusion and various simultaneous chemical reactions taking place.

You can certainly make your homemade readymade base mixes far more potent than standard baits. One you get the know-how you can harness the massive fish-catching benefits of making your readymade base mixes extremely potent. They can be made to be naturally highly bioactive in endless ways. You can make them enzyme-active and pre-digested in a vast number of ways too. These things are not secrets – they are readily available for anyone to discover right now but I have done my homework - to help you!

You can improve your baits by making them far more beneficial to fish by improving their prebiotic and probiotic impacts on fish too but these things among many others are just the tips of the ice-berg of what is potentially possible to do to improve your catches right now – and more and more ways and means are being discovered all the time increment by increment. All it takes for you to improve your catches is the desire to improve your catches – to resist group mentality (of most magazine readers for instance) and think more like a fish – like an individual and not like a fashion-following angler chained-up by a limiting conventional stereotypical mindset conditioned by popular thought!

It astounds me just how far behind most carp anglers on the bank really are when it comes to discussing details of their baits and how to truly maximise their baits impacts on fish. Just soaking or dipping or glugging baits is about as far as it gets from maximising baits because you need to really harness the basic ways substances behave in the water and how fish sense changes in the water. Anyone can discover these things.

It is far from true that everything is known about carp baits. To say that there is nothing new in carp baits is obviously completely ignorant and downright misleading! The leading fish scientists in the world have not even discovered all there is to know about very major aspects of how fish detect various vitally important substances and water changes - so it is totally ignorant and very arrogant of someone to bluntly state that everything about carp baits is already known!

This is quite apart from the fact that carp, like us humans are constantly evolving beings, whose DNA changes not just from one generation to another but actually within individuals while they are growing and maturing. Just ask yourself for example why it is that we can adapt our palate, improve our eyesight, re-sensitise our nose and tongue to a whole new range of substances – and how this can alter our preferences and behaviours.

This kind of thing is a major cornerstone of the profitability of the food industry and their tricks to make you buy more food by genetically altering our senses by keeping us ignorant to the impacts of all kinds of substances and their effects. Countless food products contain added substances that will genetically alter your and your preferences in various ways.

Part of the obesity and diabetes epidemics are related to vast volumes of refined sugar added to foods and drink that effectively make them more palatable and habit-forming – but the more you eat the higher the risk of diabetes for instance. I had a curry the other night and it contained an added 5 grams of sugar.

Added to all the other subtly added sugar in other foods my sugar intake is far higher than is healthy yet all this is just so food companies make fat profits – literally! Through my knowledge of carp bait substances I can use various foods to multiply my metabolism and maintain a healthy level of metabolism-boosting type of muscle I can burn off far more sugar than most people normally would. By comparison my brother is the same height as me but is 5 stones heavier than my 12 stone bodyweight.

The link between substances exploited by the food industry and ill-health is just not well known enough to be front page news as much as I would like to see, but some aspects of food industry practices to make us eat more of particular foods can be applied when putting together baits of many formats that have proven to catch more carp!

Watch out for food labelling - for instance in many health food products that are stated as being all natural there is a very high level of refined sugar added. More often than not, lactose, glucose, fructose and other additives are included – all called natural but with very big impacts on senses and on actually genetically altering taste specific preferences related to your human food buying behaviours!

Beware if you are on a diet and trying to wean yourself off crisps. For example some low fat crisps contain much more salt or contain the toxin MSG (it over-hydrates brain cells making them explode – causing minor but progressive bleeding on the brain – yet another food industry cover-up! I do not recommend it to be used in any food. Natural form glutamate found in protein-rich foods does not have ill effects! I recommend using things like L030, pre-digested fish protein, fermented shrimp and other natural glutamate-rich substances instead to enhance your baits if you truly care about your carp health!

I tried buying lower fat crisps only to discover that not only did they have a higher than normal level of salt – they also contained dextrose! You might learn what you like from this but do keep your bait head in gear because it is very important in its implications! You might think that carp syrups are new but nothing could be farther from the truth – honey is the most well-known carp attractor on record throughout history!

If you are still in doubt about the fact that you can make your carp baits alter carp and their preferences genetically, consider how the average height of humans in the western world has risen dramatically over the past 50 years.

In the same way a myriad of nutritional and other factors are growing carp to sizes that UK anglers who began carp fishing in the seventies or earlier never dreamt was ever possible! The average size of carp in most waters in the UK during the seventies was somewhere between single and double figures, yet in some UK waters today the average can be as much as 35 pounds or more - yet in the seventies and eighties, to catch even one carp well over thirty pounds was nationally significantly newsworthy! Today more and more forty pound carp are being caught – yet most anglers forget that very many of these were the double figure so-called pasty or noddie fish that no-one took any notice of during the eighties!

In fact it is my certain belief that we humans have in the past been taller than we are today – by quite a margin. But the genetic evidence for this has been covered up because to conventional science this fact cannot yet be explained. Just one aspect of this is plain to see – at times in the past the atmosphere has been more beneficial to growth in all creatures.

At various epochs in history competition among humans or between humans and other animals has been less important so capacity for growth has been different. Many factors come into why growth rates of animals can alter up or down through time but it is a fact that burial sites of races of humans such as indigenous Indians have been found with skeletons well over 7 feet tall; some races much taller still.

We take for granted that some African races are particularly tall, yet low ceilings and 5 feet high doorways of many medieval buildings in the UK for instance show that humans have certainly changed up and down in size over periods of time for a wide range of combined reasons. Ultimately all this change shows up in the genetic record and the fact is that carp are dynamically changing genetically even through their lifetimes in response to factors such as the food substances they consume!

We can harness this power yet most anglers seem to be completely oblivious to the potential impacts upon catches this really truly has!

I could list very many substances I can guarantee are never used in commercial carp baits and probably never will be either but this does not stop individuals like you and me exploiting substances that have the kinds of impacts on carp that literally drug them. I could put together a number of carp bait recipes that you could easily say are simply a list of substances with actual drug or drug-related impacts on fish.

Think about it – we are what we eat right? OK so consider this; not all the substances in foods get excreted or detoxified from our cells and tissues whether they are bad or good for us; this is the same for carp. The body is an incredible storage vehicle but it really is what it is made of. Over time the impacts of consuming certain substances will build-up – for instance the positive antioxidant impacts of carp consuming a higher than normal consumption of carotenes and carotenoids.

A range of potent naturally derived pigments are well known to be beneficial to carp in both the short and longer term. Consider those in sweetcorn, maize and eggs, or shrimps or spices for instance! Such impacts can induce changes in specific carp sensitivities that make them alter their behaviours so that when regularly introduced substances within baits change carp feeding behaviours in your unique favour. This principle has been proven again and again for particular bait substances and combinations over the years but the list is growing as more substances are being utilised by creative forward-thinking individuals – like you perhaps!

You might think that hemp is a prime example of a classical carp bait and it is true it has many potent characteristics and nutritional and bioactive features etc that influence carp feeding and associated carp behaviours. But the active compounds that are presently known on hemp seed can be found in different strengths in other natural products if you bother to look!

The same is true of many forms of compounds found in herbs and spices. Chilli is a very fashionable word in carp fishing right now but the variety of active compounds associated with many forms of hot spicy compound-containing plants is huge and impact on carp in many ways that make them easier to catch including stimulating increased protein-feeding for example.

One major point of make about certain bait substances and ignorance of them on the bank is that some can prevent other baits from catching fish. This is no joke because once this effect is witnessed – and you are the one who knows which substances and effects on carp have produced this highly advantageous effect your will never think about carp baits in the same way again! Revealed in my unique readymade and homemade bait carp and catfish bait secrets ebooks is far more powerful information – look up my unique website (Baitbigfish) and see my biography below for details of my ebooks deals right now!

By Tim Richardson.
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