Aodhan

Probably has to do with the fact that cycling for long distances tends to shorten the hamstrings. Shouldn't be a factor if you keep up your normal stretching regimen. You'll see this in triathletes a lot, when they are getting ready to transition from bike to run, they are standing on the pedals and stretching out the hams, a few will even run backwards for a ways to help stretch them out. Long term cycling can affect mobility if you do nothing else and don't stretch, but if you keep up an effective stretching routine it shouldn't bother your movement at all. Aodhan

Uhm...where do you get the thought that bicycling puts a lot of pressure on the kidneys? Aodhan

A beverage that has the same salt concentration as bodily fluid. Things flow from an area of high concentration, to an area of low concentration. So, say you normally have 1000 units of salt in your blood, and then you sweat a gallon. Your blood now has a concentration of say, 800 units. You drink an isotonic beverage, that has 1000 units of salt. Since there is more salt in the beverage than in your blood, the salt moves from the beverage to your blood. (EXTREMELY simplified!!!) This is one of the reasons if you sweat extremely heavily, they recommend an electrolyte drink. Take the above example, except you sweat out 500 units of salt, and are left with 500. Now you drink water, which has zero units. You will still hydrate, but even more salt will flow out of your cells to balance the diluted blood now. This can cause all sorts of problems with muscle cramps, heart arrythmias, etc. Aodhan

What's wrong with using white belts? Aodhan

What style of MA do you study? Obviously, I'm partial to the ATA schools in the area, and I've trained with a couple of the instructors there that are pretty good. I've also had contact with a couple other instructors in different styles. What style and what area of Denver will you be in? (I used to live there, and hopefully soon will again.) Aodhan

Average bodyfat percentage for a male is 10-15%, so you are right in the middle of average. Athletic is usually between 7-10%. I have about 16% at the moment, and I have a visible 6 pack. I've delineated ab stuff in other posts, so you can do a search rather than me retyping everything again. Aodhan

I'm surprised that you didn't have surgery done to repair this at the time. Any rupture of the abdominal wall is fairly serious. I would go to a sports doc and let him know everything and see what he recommends. Aodhan

Actually, the ATA organization has everything to do with what is taught. EGM Lee created the Songahm forms in the early 1980's, and EVERY ATA school uses them. They are actually copyrighted, and mandatory curriculum if you run an ATA affiliated school. Also, every instructor in the ATA must be certified through headquarters. Aodhan

I do, although about once every 8 or 9 weeks I'll take almost a full week off. Basically, it's endorphins, or those things that cause "runners high", and other exercise induced euphoria. Your body gets used to it, almost like an addiction, and when it is reduced or withdrawn, you get moody and cranky. (In most cases, anyway.) When I can't train, I'll do other activities if possible, or something to take my mind off things such as read, play a game, etc. Aodhan

Well, it really sounds like you are asking advice about a bully with a group of friends at school or something similar. That's something you need to take up with school officials or similar if that is the case. When confronting people, you can be held more liable because of your training if you do inflict damage. Personally, I would be willing to tackle 2 to 4 untrained people. Trained, one on one, maybe two. Anything else, I give them what they want, unless I am seriously afraid of serious injury even if I give in. In that case, I do my best. In the first scenarios, I try to inflict only enough damage to get myself out of the situation. If I am seriously afraid of harm, then all bets are off. I'll use any technique I have and worry about the repercussions later. If I have a friend or gf, same thing unless they threaten them specifically. It's not an ego thing, my fiancee has seen me in the ring. I do what is necessary at the time depending on the situation. Anything from "Here's my wallet and keys" to kicking as much tail as I possibly can. Aodhan

Depends on where you start, and how much you stretch daily. I've seen it take as little as 4 weeks, as much as 6 months. Do a search on the web for PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching, and you will find some excellent stretches. Aodhan

The abdominals are ONE sheet/layer of muscle. They run from your lower ribcage down to your pubis bone. They are responsible for flexion (curling in) of the spine. What causes the 6 pack (or 4 pack, 5, whatever, depends on genetics) is the connective tissue that helps hold it back and give it an anchor point. Internal and external obliques are the muscles along your sides, that run diagonally up and down and are responsible for rotation of the trunk left and right. They have a minor role in spine flexion as well. Where the confusion comes in is talking about lower and upper abs. Just as you can hit different parts of your pectoral (Chest) muscles by the angle at which you work them, you can do the same with the abs depending on how you do your crunch. You're still working the abs overall, just emphasizing a different section of the same muscle. Aodhan

There are those methods too, but remember, the simpler the test, the wider the margin of error. Aodhan

Yeah, it doesn't affect you if you keep up a stretching regimen as well. Probably won't affect his dad as much either due to the low mileage, I was just giving some general stuff from when I competed. I kinda like being an alarmist at times. Aodhan

Cars don't see you. Shortens your hamstrings (Stretch really well if you cycle a lot) Wrong type of seat can cause nerve damage to....ahem...sensitive areas (Usually with high mileage only, though) You breathe a lot of exhaust. It's embarrassing to come up to a stop sign, not get your foot out of your clips, and fall over in front of the cute girl in the MR2 next to you. (At least that's what I've heard! It didn't happen to me...really...it didn't....) Getting flats in the rain. Aodhan

Good luck to your daughter!! Come back with some great pics for us! Aodhan

Actually, if you listen to the lyrics from "Welcome to the Jungle" by GnR, it's perfect for sparring. "You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me" "Learn to live like an animal in the jungle where I play" "You can taste the bright lights but you won't get them for free" Aodhan

Any rave/techno music, such as the stuff from matrix or blade. Select songs from Iron Maiden Any of the "Jock Rock" selections Select hard rock/heavy metal from Helloween, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Motley Crue, GnR, Def Leppard. Aodhan

If you have a local university, check with them. Oftentimes they have a kinesiology department, they occasionally do public weighings for classes, etc. Otherwise it will probably cost you money, and you'll have to google or search in your area for the weighing facility. Aodhan

There really is no good way to determine it by yourself. There are a bunch of ways to do it. The most common one is to take skin calipers, and measure how much you can pinch at various areas of the body. Probably one of the more accurate ones (Assuming the one using the calipers is trained), with a variation of +/- 5-8%. The best way is underwater weighing. You sit in a sling, dunk underwater, blow all the air out of your lungs and sit there for as long as you can stand it. They take your weight and calculate your BF from it. The worst way is calculations based on height weight alone. There are some scales that do it electronically, and they usually vary between 8-15%. Aodhan

Actually, some of us idiots know that the black spot is called the iris. The color around it is the pupil, and the white is the sclera. I would have it checked, but I wouldn't worry too much. Yellow in the eyes can be caused by a lot of things. The primary medical dysfunction that causes this is jaundice, which indicates a problem in the liver. Diet can affect this, as can many other non disease events. Aodhan

That isn't good. See my summation at the bottom Some of this is due to you growing, and the hormones that are raging. We've all been there. However, the fact that you drive yourself to almost fainting after a few sets of pushup, and the anger episodes worry me, especially with the parental history that you mentioned. I would try to eat healthier (You mention you eat unhealthy, and that implies you do know what healthy is), and get on a regular sleep pattern. Personally, I would also talk to some at the school, or a counselor of some kind. I had to do that when I was your age, and being able to talk about things that frustrate or upset you is a great relief. You don't have to worry about your friends making fun of you if you talk to them, and you can get a lot of understanding about yourself. Just an opinion from one that's been there Aodhan

It's a school grade in the American schooling system. Generally, we have elementary school from kindergarten through 6th grade. (Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, etc.) After that, it depends on the area. Some places pick up middle school as being 6th through 8th grade. Other places have junior high which is 7th through 9th. Once you get to high school, (10th through 12th, someplaces are 9th through 12th), they have different names. 9th is generally termed a freshman. 10th is a sophomor, 11th is a junior, 12th is a senior. Once you get to college/university, it's the same thing. first year (technically 13th grade, I suppose) is a freshman, 2nd year sophomore, etc. Aodhan

True, but different exercises emphasize different sections more than others. (Much like incline, flat and decline bench presses). Rather than detail that fact each time, I just use the generic terms of upper and lower abs. Aodhan

http://www.glo-net.com/glowreflect.html Google is your friend. I did a search for Light Reflective Tape. Aodhan