Texas vs Texas A&M Liveblog

We’ll be liveblogging the Lone Star Showdown from the Kyle Field pressbox tonight at 7 p.m.

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Gregory versus The Rec Center

So the great question that runs rampant throughout the UT campus is which facility should I use to workout? People have their preferences for many different reasons and whether it is location, crowdedness or just ignorance to other gyms, the Rec Sports facilities host over 90 percent of the student population — and that’s a good thing.

I asked a few people whether they preferred Gregory or the Rec Center to workout or do various activities and I also asked if they had heard about any other facilities on campus like Bellmont, Anna Hiss, etc. 

The results were somehwhat split, but a recurring theme was that many peopel preferred the Rec Center to workout because it had less people and preferred Gregory for other activities like basketball, swimming and requetball. 

Of course the Rec Center does not have any swimming facilities, but many preferred Gregory for basketball because of the greater variety of gyms and competition. And of course, as I suspected, most have never been or heard of the other smaller facilities. 

Above all, it doesn’t really matter where you workout, just get out there and get that heart racing before the holiday eating season. 

I blog about Rec Sports at UT. Let me know your favorite facility and why in the comments. 

Sokker, Fußball, Fútbol, Soka

By The Vancouver Sun

It has the greatest number and size of stadiums around the world, the number of people who wear football merchandise, number of people who are aware of football, and the number of leagues/tournaments worldwide. This makes soccer the most popular sport worldwide, more specifically in the UK, Europe, Asia and South America (America is still lagging behind in their interest with soccer). As we speak, countries are battling it out to gain a spot in FIFA’s 2010 World Cup-a championship tournament that takes place once every four years- hosted by South Africa (did you hear about the scandal between Ireland and France? Sucks for Ireland).

I was lucky enough to attend a World Cup pre-qualifier match between Jordan and S.Korea. Take a look as Korea scores their second goal.

For those not really interested in the spectator aspect of soccer, it’s also a major calorie burner for the casual player. One can burn up to 475 per hour (on a 150lb person). And if you’re looking for some cardio, look to run up 3 miles every time you wanna play a pick-up game; the average professional player runs up to 7 miles per game.

Not only do you not have to be a pro to play this game, but while you’re burning up those (holiday) calories learning to play you can also make new friends.

While it can be slim pickings in finding team to play with outside of UT, why even look? Part of UT’s IM sports includes, none other than… soccer! While it’s a bit late in the game to be signing up to play-my team is playing for championships tonight-check back at the Intramural site before Sept. 27 next year.

Since we’re on the topic of soccer, you all have probably heard about the uber aggressive female soccer player, Elizabeth Lambert. If you haven’t already seen the clip be sure to do so.

Some people believe that her actions were taken out of context while others believe that she deserves to be suspended. What do you think? Leave your comments!

Cycling for Your Life

Spending as much time as I do at the Rec Center, I have observed all activities and I have to say the most challenging and sweatiest workout is group cycling.

Its also the most popular. 

The Rec Center has the only cycling studio on campus and any student or member can participate if they purchase the group cycling pass.

ATTENTION:  CYCLING IS NOT FREE JUST BECAUSE YOU PAY TUITION.

The pass is only $40 a semester and if you purchase the combo pass that includes TexerCise classes it is only $100. 

“Cycling is just part of my weekly workouts,” JV Vong said. “Its worth the money.” 

There are 13 different cycling classes you can choose:

Group Cycling:  For all participant levels. (beginner – advanced)

Group Cycling Express: A 45-mintute group cycling class for those on the go.

Power 40:  designed for those who are short on time but high on motivation over their lunch hour (beginner – advanced)

Endurance Ride: A 60-minute class that involves cardio challenges, hills, varying speeds and resistance, and endurance segments. (beginner – advanced)

Endurance Ride PLUS: A 90-minute class for the weekend warriors out there. 75 minutes on the bike plus a 10-minute stretching segment. This class ends with 5 minutes of pure relaxation.

Cycle 40/20/20: Great for those who are looking for a complete workout! Cycle for 40-minutes, do 20-minutes of upper body exercises, and finish with 20-minutes of core and flexibility work. (beginner – advanced)

Cycle + Abs: A 40-45-minute cycling workout followed by 15-minutes of great abdominal exercises. (beginner – advanced)

Cycle + Pilates: A great cycling workout on the bike – followed by a Pilates segment to lengthen and strengthen your entire body. No previous Pilates experience necessary. (beginner – advanced)

Cycle + Sculpt: Combine the best of both worlds and reap the benefits of a cycling class infused with sculpting and group strength exercises.

Cycle + Upper Cuts: Complete a great cycling workout and finish up with some amazing upper body exercises to tone, strengthen, and define.

Cycle + Yoga: Get a great cardio workout and follow it up with a yoga segment. The perfect combination for a complete mind/body workout! (beginner – advanced)

Hill Ride: This class will focus on hill specific movements and will challenge and improve your lower body strength and cardiovascular system. Shake up your cycling routine and try this class! (beginner – advanced)

Speed & Interval Ride: Consists of fast flats, standing and seated runs, and intervals galore! (intermediate – advanced) 

And be prepared to sweat because the classes are challenging and although it is a group class, you can set your own personal speed and rate that fits how you feel. Just remember to bring a towel and water bottle to every class and arrive at least five minutes early because they fill up fast. 

“It is the most intense workouts I have,” senior Myrna Rombado said. “Looking in the room it seems easy and basic but its not like an ordinary bike ride. The instructors are intense too.”

Football Fever

So the following post has little to do with calories, carbs or Frisbee, but it does involve fitness and it did take place outdoors, and is thus germane.

Saturday night was a historic one in college football as Texas quarterback Colt McCoy won his 43 game, more than any quarterback ever before him. Now fear not dear reader(s), this is not a fanboy post dripping with burnt orange pride.

As an accredited member of the media, I’ve been covering Texas football all season for  The Daily Texan, a mostly legitimate student newspaper. As such, I’ve had the task and the privilege of traveling across the span of the country, and Oklahoma, to report on games in Wyoming, Missouri and the aforementioned “state”.

While waking up at 6 a.m. for a flight to Denver and drive to Laramie (right, where?) with an impromptu fog attack in between, and driving 26 hours in a weekend to Columbia and back were previously the highlights of this endevour, last night now probably takes the cake.

Hearing a whole stadium chant McCoy’s name in appreciation of the last four years was pretty special. Standing right next to him, and Bevo, and the UT cheerleaders,  as he completed his victory lap was even better.

Thanks to aaronisnotcool from flick http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavalierhorn/

As members of the media, we get to go down on the field for the last few minutes of the game. In this case, we witnessed a whole bunch of celebration, including a dog pile of very, very big men at midfield, and McCoy firing Smokey the cannon and banging Big Bertha. You can read about the game here.

Thanks to aaronisnotcool on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavalierhorn/

For those who need filling in, Texas is now 11-0 and two wins (against A&M Thursday and Nebraska on December 5th) from a potential national championship game in California. See you there?

Back to the fitness aspect, in a desperate attempt to establish some sort of relevance for this post, these players represent the pinnacle of athletic achievement. And most of it comes through hard work. Mack Brown (here I am name dropping) wastes no chances to tell us about the 6 a.m. workouts he puts his players through on a weekly basis, the hours in the weight room, the meals missed and calories counted.

But they’re not perfect. Sometime-starter at running back Cody Johnson has a well-chronicled battle with weight, which cost him his starting spot at the beginning of the year. But after dropping 20 pounds, mostly by avoiding his mom’s cooking and a rigorous work out schedule, Johnson has run his way into 12 touchdowns this year, most on the team.

So if you need a little inspiration to keep going, just think of Cody Johnson. Pretend he’s behind you and wants to eat you, that’ll keep you going.

 

game

Austin City Council passed “Ciclovia”

On Thursday, Austin’s City Council voted for Austinites to have a different type of fitness event–a ciclovia, a Spanish word meaning “bike path.” The event, which was voted to take place in May 2010 as part of the Bike Month festivities, is described as a “motor-vehicle free event that connects runners, skaters, and cyclists.

Other places that have enacted ciclovias in their area include Cleveland, El Paso, Chicago, Portland, Miami, New York City, San Francisco and Wayne County, Mich. However, this type of event is extremely popular in South America. The event originated in Colombia–every Sunday and holiday, the main streets are rid of all cars, so that citizens can use any other forms of transportation. From 7 am to 2 pm, runners, skaters and cyclists are known to take over the streets.

As part of this resolution, the City Manager will work with the community to build this event, but to also encourage future event of this nature that will encourage public health and cycling.

Currently, there are no plans as to an official site where the event will take place or how much road will be cut off for the event.

First, they need to round up volunteers and get help from neighborhoods, says Nadia M. Barrera, Bicycle/Pedestrian Project Coordinator.

What do you think about this event? I can see the traffic already! Let me know in the comments!

Cassandra writes about fitness in pop culture and north Austin. If you have suggestions let her know in the comments or email her: CassandraHdz AT mail.utexas.edu.

Celebrity Body Comebacks

Even if we love them or hate them, celebrities are prominent in our culture. When we see their pictures in magazine or advertisements, we may  try to aspire to be as skinny or as muscular as them, as they can be viewed as our standard of beauty. But what kind of pressure does that mean for celebrities? If they decide to indulge and gain five pounds, it can have a drastic effect on their image. In this post, we are going to look at celebrities who have gained weight in the public eye and then bounced back by becoming healthy. Let’s look at how they did it.

Alanis Morissette

After Alanis’s break-up with Ryan Reynolds in 2007, the musician went to work on a new album and lost sight of her weight. She went through a stretch where she was extremely self-indulgent but it did not start after the break-up. Alanis’ history with her weight began when she was 17 and an record executive told her she needed to lose weight if she wanted to succeed in the spot light. At that age, she took extreme measures to lose weight–eating disorders.

At 35, however, she took a different route to lose the weight. She credits Eat to Live, a book that promises to show you how to lose a radical amount of weight and to keep it off by comprising your diet of nutritionally dense food. She embarked on a mostly vegan diet–she cut out all meat and loaded up on beans, greens, fruits and tofu.

The singer said in an interview with People, “I’m eating like an adult rather than like a 7-year-old at a candy store,” she says. “Now, around food, I can be trusted.”

Along with better eating habits, she incorporated different fitness routines through sports. She now indulges in kickboxing, yoga, dancing and has just completed her first marathon.

As a girl, I understand the pressures that females feel to look their best. Sometimes, we lose sight that it could be hard to guys as well.

Seth Rogen

Many people have seen Seth Rogen in some of the funniest movies of these past couple of years–Knocked Up and Zack and Miri Make a Porno to name a few. In these films, Seth is explicitly portrayed as the “chubby, funny guy.”

He seems to poke fun at himself a bit in a scene from “Funny People” below.

Although being overweight did not hurt his reputation as it may have a female, when he started doing a press tour for movie Observe and Report, he appeared to be much slimmer. Reports at the time said he lost weight for the role of The Green Hornet–a far cry from his usual comedian role. As an action figure, the weight loss was necessary.

Unlike Alanis, Rogen is not as thrilled with his transformation. “I’ve been eating better and training – and hating myself for it. I feel like a sell out, I feel lame, I feel like a guy I would make fun of,” said Rogen.

So how did he lose up to 40 pounds for his role?”Its the lamest answer ever. I eat well and exercise.” Rogen told E! news. Seth has also incorporated strength training. But does he plan to keep the weight off after he is done with the role?  Nope, the funny man says it will probably be a “matter of hours” before the weight is back on.

So what do you guys think about celebrities in their weight loss? Do some inspire you or do you just not care?

Cassandra writes about fitness in popular culture and north Austin. If you have suggestion please comment below or send her an email at Cassandrahdz@mail.utexas.edu.

Ultimate Experience

Nothing quite says college like a game of ultimate frisbee. Don’t lie, you’ve seen the hordes massing together at Clark Field or the IM Fields in Austin, or pretty much anywhere there is grass to be destroyed near a college campus.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve watched from  a distance, dissapointed to see a frisbe instead of a soccer ball flying through the air. As much as frisbee is part of the college culture, it isn’t part of mine.

But after some pleading from an ultimately dedicated (get it?) roommate, I decided to give Ultimate a shot.

First off, some background:

The sport was started in the 1960s by bored students (sound familiar?) To play, you throw a frisbee to teammates, but you can’t run with the ball. Imagine it like football, but with no line of scrimmage and no running after the catch. You get points by reaching the opposing end zone.

 

Despite the rules emphasis on not running, you’ll quickly find it’s a bit more intense than you first expected.

“It’s pretty much the ultimate workout,” my roommate, Gary, says without irony.

The game consists of pretty much constant running and catching, combining the cardio aspect of soccer (my sport of choice) with the explosiveness of football. Basically, it kicked my ass.

You’ll quickly find some people, like the above mentioned Gary, take it way, way too seriously. There are multiple club teams at UT and around the area that compete in tournaments. Once you get good enough, you might find yourself going all over the country to throw the ole’ frisbee around. Gary has made trips as far as Washington to play in Ultimate tournaments.

As you might expect from something taken this seriously, there’s even a players’ association.

“It takes a lot of commitment,” Gary said. “It’s just like any other sport.”

So, Ultimate (you leave out Frisbee)? Who knew? After a little session, I can confirm it is in fact a real sport. But that won’t stop me from making fun of it.

 

Review: Planet Fitness

Photo by Planet Fitness

When I first heard of Planet Fitness offering monthly rates as low as $10.00 (plus tax) per month with no contract, I immediately thought that there was no way that this could be true. But sure enough, I seen the ad on the homepage in big yellow letters.

There is, however, the dreadful catch:

• Start up: $39.00
• Annual Membership Fee $29.00
• Membership can only be used at the 1100 W. Anderson Lane Austin, TX gym.

Nonetheless, even with the fees added up, the cost is still less than the gyms I compared in last week’s post. I did some additional digging on Planet Fitness, and found out that they have Pizza parties the first Monday of every month (a strange choice of food to serve at a gym, no?).

The strangest thing I discovered was its Judgment Free Zone policy. Basically, for those guys and gals who like to grunt and drop their weights, this gym is definitely not for you. In New York, a man had his membership revoked for grunting. Also, beware of the “lunk alarm” which goes off when someone violates the no grunting, weight dropping rule. Oh, and don’t even think about lifting dumbbells heavier than 80 lbs. They don’t house it.

Other things prohibited on the gym floor include: no cell phone use, no jeans, do rags, bandannas, or skull caps, no short or revealing attire.

Yeah, there seems to be a lot of restrictions at this gym. A little to much to me, but check it out and see for yourself.

Check out the video below to hear what the lunk alarm sounds like.

 

Temptations to avoid in crunch time

With the semester winding down rather rapidly, late nights of studying and writing are inevitable. And just as the clock turns into the wee hours of the morning, many of us are in need of a caffeine and/or sugar boost to get us through those last ten pages of reading or 200 more words in a paper.

The holiday season is already a dangerous time of year for people who are trying to stay healthy or who are in the midst of a diet and the late nights and awkward time gaps to grab food or an energy boost can leave some of us with a little extra weight to work off during the new year. 

So how can you avoid this? Along with daily excercise I have found my top 5 places to avoid during the so called “crunch time” of school that can add a lot of problems when you try on your Christmas sweaters or dresses you haven’t worn since last year. 

Disclaimer:  These are by no means a scientific list of the most unhealthy food/drink spots around Austin. Just the top five that came to my mind. 

Here we go.

1.  Tiff’s Treat’s Brownies

They are delicious, big, chocolaty and a rush of sugar that is hard to turn down the second you catch a whiff from one, but do the best you can. They are extremely rich and like most sweets, it is very hard to just have one bite. If you must wander in to their store, try to only order one or two cookies max. Anything is better than that giant brownie. 

2. Mrs. Johnson’s Donuts

I know Grant and the Night Owl bloggers did a great post about this Austin treasure but I’m giving them another shout out. Don’t get me wrong, I love their donuts. They are probably the greatest donuts I’ve ever eaten and that is the problem. Especially if you are like me and live within walking distance of their glorious stand. Its the perfect recipe for a late night craving and diet destroyer.

3. Five Guys Burgers 

With crazy schedules and time restrictions, grabbing a burger on the way to study is usually a go to food to provide energy while also ending the growling in your stomach. I’m a big fan of their burgers but they are costly on the healthy end. A regular cheeseburger and fries from their is 840 calories so do your best to make a sandwich.

4. Starbucks

I am such a hypocrite as I write this with a grande white chocolate mocha beside me. Starbucjs is great and a stable around the world but their drinks can add up on the calories side. A grande frapuccino is 240 calories. If you need some caffeine, go for tea or even regular black coffee for an improvement. 

 

5. Chipotle

Everyone’s favorite and convenient burrito shop. And while it is a filling meal, a chicken burrito is 1065 calories. That is more than half the recommended 2,000 calorie diet. 

Like anything, all five of these are fine in moderation, but if you find yourself indulging a little too much during this stressful period just look for a healthier alternative.