Archive for the ‘Groovy Athletics’ Category

Losing The Beer Belly. Step-by-Step.

Friday, May 20th, 2011

The only workout groovyman.com recommends every day is climbing as many stairs as possible. If you do it right you can get whatever kind of work-out you need. The guy below, Virgil Aponte, has the best stuff out there on the topic. We’ll post a video of the workout soon.

(This article is by Tim Kauminen and should be read by anyone who loves beer and/or living well) When I first came across Virgil Aponte’s information , I thought that I knew everything there was to know about stair training. After all, I had used them effectively as an athlete, a coach and a personal trainer. What could a P.E. teacher from New York City teach me anyway.

But, the more I read information from Mr. Aponte, the more I became impressed with what he had to say. So impressed, that I decided to give his Ultimate Stair Exercises For Fitness and Weight Loss a fair shot. Good decision on my part.

First, let me tell you that Virgil is far more than your average, ordinary gym teacher. He has also worked as a personal trainer in New York City for over 12 years and a high school physical educator for over 10 years. During these years he has helped hundreds of people from all walks of life reach their strength, fitness and health related goals.

Not only that, but in 2001 Virgil served as a baseball/conditioning coach with the New York Mets Summer Instructional Baseball Academy in Queens New York. Here he got the opportunity to work along side major league baseball coaches and players like Mookie Wilson, Howard Johnson, Bobby Ojeda and Cookie Rojas teaching baseball skills and concepts to kids ranging from 7 to 15 year olds.

Plus, in 2002 Virgil served as an assistant with the WNBA New York Liberty’s strength and conditioning staff… the same year the Liberty won the Eastern Conference Finals and played the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA finals. This background and experience come across in Virgil’s stair training product.

Here are the top 3 reasons that I recommend it.

1. I was excited to see that Mr. Aponte is a believer in using “real stairs” whenever possible – not jump on the latest and greatest stair climbing machine at the gym. Like me, Virgil says that these machines are O.K., but won’t give you the same results as actually moving your body weight up a real flight of steps. The experience just doesn’t compare – and neither do the results. For weight loss, muscle building, cardiovascular fitness, functional strength (or all of the above) these workouts will get you where you want to go.

2. The progressions demonstrated on Mr. Aponte’s DVD’s also impressed me. This makes the exercises powerful for you no matter what your current state of fitness. Whether you’re trying to get into shape or already performing at a high level, there are stair exercises to take you that next step. Young and old, man or woman, the progressions can move you safely from beginner to advanced – continuing to challenge you as you reach new levels of success.

3. Finally, there is enough variety in the Ultimate Stair Exercises For Fitness and Weight Loss program to keep your workouts motivational and fun for a very long time. Runs, hops, jumps, lunges in a huge number of variations and difficulty levels are presented in easy to follow demonstrations by Mr. Aponte himself. (He even includes one of my all-time favorite exercises – the stage jump – not to be confused with the stage dive…). The detail is at just the right level – giving you information on why you should use proper techniques without getting too bogged down in boring, scientific details…

All in all, I believe the Virgil Aponte has succeeded with this product to fulfill his mission of giving and sharing knowledge of strength and health with people anywhere and everywhere. If you’re looking for “real world” exercises that work (and can be done in just a few minutes just about any place you’ve got a couple of stairs), then I highly recommend you give the Ultimate Stair Exercises For Fitness and Weight Loss program a try.

Tim Alan Kauppinen, or Coach K, has over 20 years experience as an athlete and coach. He has developed champion athletes across multiple sports through speed training, strength improvement and conditioning. Coach K is the author of the Uphill Fitness Training, and publishes a FREE daily training email newsletter. Tim can be contacted through his ageless, high intensity fitness training website at http://www.makesyoufast.com

Newsweak

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

tina-vs-ariana1We have been following the recent appointment of Tina Brown at Newsweek with great interest. So far, we have nothing of substance to report, which, apparently, is what her goal happens to be–to comment and opine instead of report. While this may eventually produce an editorial vehicle that is slim on news, it may allow her to accent current events with her sassy ‘tude. If we ran this sorry newsmagazine, however, we would change the name to newsbeast and regulate it to the print extension of The Daily Beast–which has been successful online.

Another option might be to try make Newsweek a vehicle for reportage’. The lovely little Truman Capote conceived of In Cold Blood in this very manner and never had to work again. Tina Brown has the chops to locate a new liliiputian with a lilting voice that collects dolls, worships pink slippers and writes like an angel.

We strongly recommend that she does.

Before that devil Ariana beats her to it.

(Hot or Hot or Not and Not?)

Olympics Made Easy

Friday, February 26th, 2010

1While this is a bit of shameless self promotion, we think it is cool to be able to update your own business logo thematically, like Google does. Keep this type of treatment in mind for your own business when some corporate type expounds on the “process of design.” Forget the process. Have the fun.

It’s about power. In one little prick.

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

arpr-shirt Pictured is a t-shirt from the upcoming Rally for Personal Rights in Chicago during May. This cause is a protest (among other things) against mandatory vaccinations. Mandatory is not a very groovy word in any context. This t-shirt is another story. One has to stand for something or they’ll fall for a bad t-shirt. More here.

Doubledeck Skis. Atomic Bomb?

Thursday, October 15th, 2009


This video tells you all about the latest in ski technology from Atomic. A young insider on the US Ski Team says that the racers swear by this doubledeck techology. Ski forums like Epic and Barking Bear are lukewarm on the idea. We’ll let the Atomic rep explain the philosophy of the “two ski in one” idea–for lack of a better term. I personally purchased a pair for this year. I hope the purchase does not blow up in my (Chris Birt’s) face. Sometimes that happens with Atomics, like the Metron B5s. (The video continues with a discussion of free skis and powder boards… the Giant Slalom (GS) race ski he shows is a great ski, at least, for Masters–i.e. older guy wide turn type–skiing.)

3 in 1 shower gel. An answer to prayer.

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

niveaI have to make a confession about the mother of personal makeover shows. If I were ever to have been nominated for “Queer Eye,” they would have exposed a personal habit that is pure fashion sacrilege. I use bar soap to shampoo, and even to shave. While I admit to being suckered into expensive “product” by a pleasant stylist now and them, I usually go back to Irish Spring, Dial or whatever sliver of soap that still lathers up.

Now I see this ad for 3 in 1 shower gel that serves as shampoo, soap and even shaving cream. This soap is from a company with a pleasant french name that conjures up images of Ban De’Soleil, which for a man of a certain age, remains the iconic image for the suave, stylish, and dare I say, groovy life.

3 in 1 shower gel. It could the answer to a prayer I did not even know I had.

So go to h-ll, Carson. And take your friends with you.

(submitted by Chris Birt for groovyman.com)

Flipped Over Flyp

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

logoJust came across the most lavishly produced media experiment we have seen online, Flyp magazine. It is hard to believe the production graphics are what they are but they are. And just when it seemed that multi-media was a fetish of the web’s first wave.

We are tongue tied.

If you prefer magazines built with atoms instead of bits, there is still nothing like Visionaire, the former Nest or going back a few decades, Flair magazines for over-the-top production value. Nest and Flair both went bust pretty quickly but the balls it took to bring them to market forever holds our respect.

What can replace the scent of fresh ink applied on paper delivered in the morning mail?

Micro-or-make-that-nano-payments from Google?

Forget Baby Mozart

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Be-Bop in many ways was the progenitor of Hip-Hop. If you listen to Bird and Dizzy close enough you can hear a little Jay-Z in there. It almost sounds like his Momma’ favored this while the future flowmaster found himself in vitro.

A good baseball glove

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
When you miss one, it's not the glove's fault.

When you miss one, it's not the glove's fault.

On the day of this year’s first spring training game, our thoughts turn to America’s game. First, let us say if you have to ask about the difference between softball and baseball, you can just skip on to another site. Let’s just say baseball is hard and softball is played by guys who can’t play baseball any more (or never could.)

Many athletes say the hardest thing to do in any sport is hit a baseball. As former ball players here, we tend to agree. (If you don’t agree, think of Micheal Jordan’s ill fated attempt to be a baseball player.) And despite all the recent bad pub with the steroids and all, baseball is still the best American game. We think it’s because of its infinite complexity, the subtlety of the pitchers’ duel, and the intricacy of infield play. Somehow behemoths smashing into each other on a basketball floor or a football field just doesn’t engage the mind the same way.

In order to play baseball, it helps to have a good glove. Gloves come in all shapes, sizes and quality. From the $25 cheapie you buy your kid when he’s three to the $300 pro models your kid will want when he makes the high school team, there’s a lot to choose.

Here are a few tips: first and foremost buy a glove that fits the player. A kid just starting in Little League needs a small glove he can handle, not a 13-inch model more suited to a Major League centerfielder. Second, buy a glove that fits the player’s usual position. Aside from the obvious differences of a catcher’s mitt or a first baseman’s glove, there are lots of things to consider. But, the basics are: an infielder needs a smaller flatter glove that has a more “open” pocket, i.e. the glove is somewhat flatter. That’s so you can pick the ball off the ground easier, find it with your bare hand, and get rid of it in a hurry to get a speeding runner. An outfielder’s glove should be bigger, have a deeper pocket, and be designed for snagging balls out of the air.

Some other things to consider. In general, better gloves are made out of thicker leather and take longer to break in. If you are an advanced player, it’s a good idea to have two gloves going at once. One, which is broken in just the way you like it, is your “gamer.” The other is your practice glove. That’s the one that’s in the process of being broken in. Depending on how much you play with it, a serious glove can take from weeks to even months to break into game shape.

The brand of the glove doesn’t make any difference. (We’re Rawlings guys, but that’s just us. We know some Wilson guys and they’re ok.) The only thing that does make a difference is whether you like it and whether you’ll take the time to break it in right. One thing you might want to consider is the new fabric backed gloves. They’re a bit lighter than an all leather glove, and, in the expensive models, the leather of the pocket is the same. Those who use them say the gloves are cooler, too. They don’t get so sweaty as an all leather model.

No sporting goods store we’re aware of carries the variety of gloves that we like to look through. You’re best bet is to check out the various sites on the internet. Ones we’ve bought from include Baseball Express and Fog Dog.

Here’s the best way to break in a new glove. Put old style shave cream on it. Play a lot of catch. In a pinch, you can use the commercial glove softeners that are on the shelf right next to where you picked out the glove.  If your glove gets wet, dry it off before putting it away. Wipe the sweat out of the inside, too.

Did we mention you should play a lot of catch?

John Thain’s white powder

Friday, February 20th, 2009

c44ant1While the grooviest stuff is rarely the most expensive, exceptions abound. One such exception is what ski racers refer to as “cake,” as in a cake of contraband. I am talking about the highly toxic, ozone-ravaging and birth-defect inducing ski wax know as “pure flouro.” While it comes in different forms, this “cake” is effectively a small chunk (think hashish, or so I am told) of 100% fluorocarbon. A cake the size of your fingernail retails for about $120.00. The same amount in powder goes for $170.00. You’ll get about 15-20 runs on the stuff (that’s race runs, you have to re-apply after each run.)

Why?

Because it makes you go faster. That is something to seriously consider before your ski vacation this spring break. What’s one little piece of indulgence in a country that engages in a veritable orgy of spending money it does not have? Seriously. $100.00 for 20 fast runs or 100,000,000,000.00 for 20 bridges and, well, John Thain buys before re-decorating. (Love his pad in Vail.)