thursday,march 21, 2013 - County Times - Southern Maryland Online

31 Thursday, March 21, 2013
The County Times
By Debra Meszaros CSN
www.MXSportsNutrition.com
Do you rely on music
to motivate yourself
during exercise?
Could music be doing
more than improve
your mental aspect of
training?
The birth of the
iPod may have more of an affect on your
workout than previously thought. The
latest research shows that listening to
your favorite music before, during, and
after exercise actually influences one’s
performance.
As an athlete you already know that
the power of the mind has an amazing
influence on your level of performance.
Whether you are an athlete or someone
attempting to get the most out of your
workout, music psychologically influences
your biology. Yes, endurance, energy,
and power can be increased with a
musical aid!
By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
Contributing Writer
How to use your favorite tunes
When you listen to music your
thoughts and feelings directly influence
your body’s hormonal releases by activating
the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
(HPA) axis; the communication that takes
place between your brain and your adrenal
glands. The results will vary depending
on whether the music you are listening
to is stimulating or relaxing to you.
Stimulating music will engage a metabolic
state where energy is more available
to you during exercise. It can be lyrics,
rhythms, or other musical associations
that are the stimulant. After exercise,
some data shows “inspirational” music
may reduce lactic acid buildup and possibly
increase growth hormone for quicker
recovery.
Music can be diversionary, it can
psychologically divert the mind from
thinking about fatigue during low to
moderate exercises; during high intensity
exercise it can make exercising seem
more pleasurable. In one recent study,
those who cycled in sync with the music
they were listening to required seven percent
less oxygen. Another interesting find
is what occurs when you combine music
and imagery. It seems one can enhance
muscular endurance when applying that
kind of combination.
In the world of competitive sports
and fitness, any minor advantage can
be helpful in helping you obtain your
goals. You may want to carefully select
the music you choose to listen to before,
during, and after your need to perform.
Matching the tempo of the music to the
type of activity is important. Ideally
you’d want to match your average heart
rate with similar beats per minute in the
music chosen. What you may choose to
listen to during a warm-up, weight training,
stretching etc. should vary to match
your performance goals. Lastly, the volume
of the music also provides an affect.
Listening to your musical choice loud is
A View From The
Bleachers
I’m a vintage sports junkie. I consider
the advent of ESPN Classic as proof
of the existence of a higher power and the
Almighty’s interest in the happiness of laymen.
I dig grainy video and the endearing
black bars on either side of my wide screen
T.V. courtesy of analog technology. I’ll
watch an encore presentation of any classic
game, in any sport, at just about any time.
I’ve neglected chores and significant others,
lost hours of sleep and been subjected
to hundreds of post-midnight and predawn
infomercials in the name of a welltimed
rerun of an epic athletic showdown.
That said, when I happened upon a
recent broadcast of Georgetown’s win over
the Kentucky Wildcats in the 1984 Final
Four, I was hooked for the evening. Even
though the game took me back to my youth
and a far better time in Maryland/D.C.
sports, the attraction was larger than the
obvious nostalgia. The primary draw of
this cherished time capsule of college basketball
was its comparative baseline. College
basketball has been under fire recently
for the alleged degradation of play and
erosion of the overall experience. Critics
Why March Madness Still Matters
The Powerful Effect of
Music On Performance
argue that the NBA’s premature poaching
of the sport’s greatest stars and the thinner
spread of talent due to the rise of mid-major
programs has made the game of shadow of
its former self; one that, objectively speaking,
is an inferior product to other offerings
on the crowded sports calendar.
As much as I’d like to dispel those
doomsday prophecies, I can’t. Watching
Georgetown vs. Kentucky, circa 1984,
only validated the criticisms of today’s
game. If either team fed the flux capacitor,
hopped into the DeLorean, shot into the
future and entered the 2013 tournament,
they’d probably be the favorite (especially
Georgetown). The talent on the floor –
from Patrick Ewing and Reggie Williams
to Sam Bowie and Kenny “Sky” Walker –
was tremendous. More important than the
talent, though, was the relationship I felt
with these players, even 29 years removed
from their college days. The familiarity
is partly the product of a highly absorbent
child’s mind, but it’s also indicative of early
entrants to the NBA. In the ‘80s, players
stayed in school and created lasting college
memories. Had Bowie and Ewing been
born 30 years later, their showdown would
have never happened - both would have
been gone after one year in college.
best but not too loud to cause any type of
discomfort. When the blood pressure in
your ear canal is elevated during exercise,
excess volume can cause temporary hearing
loss. Be careful, but turn it up!
©2013 Debra Meszaros MXSportsNutrition.
com. All rights reserved; no duplication without
permission.
DISCLAIMER: When you read through the
diet and lifestyle information, you must know that
everything within it is for informational purposes
only and is not intended as a substitute for advice
from your physician or other health care professional.
I am making no attempt to prescribe any
medical treatment. You should not use the information
here for diagnosis or treatment of any health
problem or for prescription of any medication or
other treatment. The products and the claims made
about specific products have not been evaluated by
the United States Food and Drug Administration
and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or
prevent disease. You should consult with a healthcare
professional before starting any diet, exercise
or supplementation program, before taking any
medication, or if you have or suspect you might
have a health problem. Confirm the safety of any
supplements with your M.D., N.D. or pharmacist
(healthcare professional). Some information given
is solely an opinion, thought and or conclusion
based on experiences, trials, tests, assessments
or other available sources of information. I do not
make any guarantees or promises with regard to
results. I may discuss substances that have not been
subject to double blind clinical studies or FDA approval
or regulation. You assume the responsibility
for the decision to take any natural remedy.
You and only you are responsible if you
choose to do anything with the information you
have read. You do so at your own risk. I encourage
you to make your own health decisions based upon
your research and in partnership with a qualified
health care professional.
Acknowledging the game’s qualitygap,
the uncomfortable question preceding
this year’s tournament is this: does March
Madness still matter? Why watch inferior
talent (historically speaking) and players
and teams who we’ll barely get to know?
In short, why bother?
Why? Because college basketball
and its season-ending tournament have
never been more relatable. March Madness
still does what it always has. The
tournament still puts its participants in
pressure situations: moments that permit
the viewer an opportunity to question their
personal mettle and how they and their
co-workers would perform under similar,
go or no-go stress. The tournament also
continues to provide live, unfiltered guidance
on handling adversity and defeat and
their antonyms, success and victory. None
of that has changed; those are the tournament’s
constants - regardless of the participant’s
talents.
Where the Madness has evolved,
ironically, is in its acquisition of those admitted
warts. True, college basketball lacks
elegance and precision. It isn’t the thing of
beauty it once was; but it has patina now. It
is fabulously flawed, “plagued”, if you will,
with endearing imperfections. Then again,
aren’t we all? Indeed, and that’s precisely
why the game and its tournament still matter.
Both the 1984 and 2013 Georgetown
Hoyas can be appreciated; but while the
former left us awestruck, it’s the latter,
equipped with common human shortcomings,
that invites a deeper connection with
the blemished but determined person residing
within us.
Send comments to rguyjoon@yahoo.com
Wanderings
of an
Aimless
By Shelby Oppermann
Contributing Writer
Feeling
Down on
the Farm
I was so excited when I found some comfortable
shoes a few weeks ago at Annapolis
Mall. One of the aisle kiosks was selling
soft shoes and slippers called Fuzzies. At this
point, I only have two pair of shoes I can wear
comfortably, and one of them, a pair of black
suede Sketchers; I already refer to as my fuzzies.
But they are getting worn down. The once
warm, soft faux fur lining is nearly gone so
the tags irritate even through my socks. But
when you stand all day, as I do every day, they
are still pretty comfortable, but I know I need
to find a new pair. I have spent hours searching
for the exact pair on the Sketcher website
to no avail.
My husband convinced me to go ahead
and get a pair of the new fuzzies at the mall,
and I wore them off and on for a few days. I
started to notice that there seemed to be a, uh,
farm type of smell as the day wore on. But we
were in the mall, and I had tried on or smelled
three dozen perfumes at Sephora. I thought,
“One of the restaurants must be cooking freerange
chicken or something gamey.” I was still
noticing the smell the next day when I went to
work, but again couldn’t immediately figure
out where the earthy smell was coming from,
and again wondered about its origin with, “It’s
too early for the farmers to be spreading nitrogen
on their fields isn’t it.” Then I thought,
“Well, I must have stepped in something
while out in the yard this morning.”
That night, instead of going straight to
the bedroom and kicking off my shoes for
my slippers, I took off my shoes in the living
room to catch some of the news. Whoa, it
was my cute new studded black fuzzy shoes
that were emitting the farm smell. The reason
they are so soft and warm is because they are
lined with sheep fur. But as I wore them, they
definitely gave of an earthy, barn-like smell.
In fact, I am always thinking of County Fair
time when I wear them.
I haven’t mentioned anything to my husband
yet, because he spent a good amount of
money on them knowing how painful my ankles
and feet can be. Also, I have no idea what
we did with the receipt that day. I have been
keeping the fuzzies in the back of my car as
emergency shoes and I did use them after our
St. Patrick’s Day dinner at the Parish Hall for
clean-up time. With all the boiled cabbage and
corned beef smell, I figured who would notice.
I finally got the bright idea to contact
Sketchers through facebook and sent them a
private message with the SKU number off of
my old favorite fuzzies. About a week later,
they sent a response with a link for my shoes
at a great price of $30.00 in clearance. Their
purchase is on my wish list/to do list this
month. I’ll still wear the new fuzzies…it’s
only seven months to the county fair…I’ll just
stay with the other animals in the barns.
To each new day’s adventure,
Shelby
Mind
Please send your comments or ideas
to:shelbys.wanderings@yahoo.com or find me
on facebook: Shelby Oppermann