High School Competition Squad of the Week

Edwardsville High School Competition Squad 2008

This week I decided to choose a squad and their practice video. I like actual competition videos better, however I could not find one for this squad. None the less, this is an amazing squad. I love their opening stunt sequence, where there are five stunt groups in a diagonal. During that stunt sequence groups three and five have one base step out and do a standing tuck, which means that only two people were holding their flyer in the air as apposed to the normal three or four. I also really enjoy their pyramid during their cheer, it has non-stop movement and really flows well. However, I do not like the length of their cheer; I am not a fan of extremely long cheers. I like that this is a video of this squad at practice; it shows what a typical competition practice is like. Once you learn the routine, every practice consists of just running the routine full-out.

Turn Down the Heat to Up Your Weight Loss

"Americans like to crank up the heat in the winter and some scientists think it’s making us fat. Turn down the thermostat, they say, and you might lose a few pounds. The link between ambient temperature and weight is not completely far-fetched. When we’re exposed to extreme cold, we shiver, an involuntary reaction that makes our skeletal muscles contract to generate heat, burning extra calories in the process. And even in mildly cold conditions, like in a chilly room with the thermostat turned down to the lower 60s, people generate extra heat without shivering. The process, called non-shivering thermogenesis, may involve a substance called brown fat that adults carry in certain areas, like the upper back and side of the neck. Unlike regular fat, which stores excess energy and calories, brown fat acts like an internal furnace that consumes lots of calories, but it has to be activated first and cold temperatures do that. (Central Heating May Be Making Us Fat)"

This makes perfect sense if you really think about it. Our body like a furnace, uses more energy to heat up then to keep something cool. Therefore, it makes sense that if you are in a colder environment, your body would burn more calories to keep your body temperature at ninety-eight degrees, which your body needs to do to stay alive. I've noticed this effect in with myself in the past few years. My parents like to keep our house chilly in the winter to cut the cost of heating, and I'm not the kind of person that likes to wear layers when I'm in my home. For the past few years my weight has gone down ten pounds in the winter as opposed to my weight in the summer; and I give the credit to the chilly environment I live in. So if you're looking for a way to drop a few pounds easily, turn down the thermostat.

Television Specials for the Science Geek at Heart

PBS is a television station much like the discovery channel. They air children's cartoons that have an educational side to them, teaching children about science and math. Also they have special programs like NOVA and NOVA Science Now. You can watch the NOVA Science Now Specials online at the PBS Video area. I recently watched a NOVA Science Now special titled Can We Live Forever?  The special deals with different ways to increase the human life span and increase the quality of living as the life span becomes longer. The special talked about topics such as generating whole organs out of single cells, finding a gene (Foxo) that keeps the quality of living better for humans as they age, and using a new technique like freezing to save someones life after they've had a heart attack. So for all you science geeks out there like myself, here is a great new station filled with many specials about stuff you'll love.

A Cheerleader's Diet and Exercise Plan

As a cheerleader I need to stay in shape. Endurance and strength are the main areas I have to work on, on a daily basis. As a top girl, I need to watch what I eat and keep my weight down; so eating healthy has become a habit. However, you do not need to be a cheerleader to eat this diet or use this exercise plan; anyone can take these few easy steps to becoming a healthier person.

Diet

• Lots of high-fiber foods; such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These foods are nutritious, filling, and relatively low in calories.
•  Limit the amount of sugary and salty foods; they are high in fat and calories.  
• Choose lean meats; such as skinless chicken, lean cuts of beef, and fish.
•  Keep portions small, and eat slowly, the faster you eat the more you'll eat. If you eat slowly, you'll feel when your stomach is full.
• Try to get your vitamins and minerals from foods, not from supplements.
• Snack Ideas - whole fruit (not canned or in snack packed), celery and peanut butter, carrots and light Italian dressing (stay away from ranch), whole wheat bread with peanut butter or Nutella, granola, nuts, dried fruit, and dry cereal

Workout

• Your workout should always start off with 15 minutes of cardio. Boosting your heart rate will increase the successfulness of your strength training later.
• Cardio Ideas - My favorite way to increase my heartbeat is to dance; I made a 15 minute long playlist of some of my favorite fast-tempoed songs and just dance to them until the 15 minutes is up. I also enjoy going to the gym and running on the Elliptical. You could also go to Zumba classes, most churches and YMCA's offer them throughout the week for a small fee of $5.00; the class involves dancing but with an instructor to follow. And of course there's always the option of just going on a jog.
• After finishing your cardio, it's time for strength training. All you really need for this is 5 pound weights.
• For a cheerleader the most important part of his or her body is their lower half. Exercises like squats and leg lifts will help you tone up your legs; remember that your cardio workout will also help with this. Then comes the most important part of a cheerleaders body, his or her abs. A cheerleader's abs help him or her jump, stunt, and tumble. As for ab workouts different styles of crunches will do the trick, just make sure you are doing them properly; you should really feel the strain in your abs not you neck.
• As for arms, you still want to work them but you do not want to create bulk; that is why I suggest only using 5 pound weights. Push-ups are also a great upper body exercise.
• If you are working out at a gym, you may also use machines that work these areas of the body.

check out it's been awhile for more diet and exercise tips!!

Extreme Chicken Pox

"The herpes zoster vaccine, which has already proved effective for preventing shingles in a large clinical trial, may be even more effective in broad clinical practice. Researchers studied 75,761 vaccinated men and women 60 and older and 227,283 unvaccinated people matched for age. All were participants in a Southern California health plan that covered the cost of the shots. The study, published Jan. 12 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found a 55 percent reduction in incidence of the painful condition, consistent with the 51 percent found in the clinical trial. But it also found that the vaccine was effective across all ages, while the trial had found it less effective in its oldest subjects.
The vaccine worked equally well in both sexes, across all racial groups, and in those with chronic diseases like diabetes or kidney, lung and liver conditions. (Herpes Zoster Vaccine )"

The shingles are like an extreme case of the chicken pox and usually occurs in adults. However, my best friend had them at the age of fourteen. I can remember her not being allowed to leave her house because of the possibility of spreading them. One good thing about getting them at a young age, she does not have any scarring from where the spots were. My best friend was lucky, however, my grandmother also had the shingles right before she passed away and they caused her a great amount of pain. So any vaccine that could potentially keep people from getting this is a great advancement for the medical world.

High School Competition Squad of the Week

Trion High School Competition Squad 2010

Trion won the 2010 State Cheerleading Championship with this routine. However, I not only picked this video for the amazing routine but for the ending. At the end it shows the squads reaction as the are named the State Champs and has an interview from their coach as well. Also, I would like to point out the flyers on this squad, their flexibility is astonishing. But, you can not forget about the extremely strong bases that are holding these girls up in the air.

Take More Tests To Increase Scores

"Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques. The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods.(Test-Taking Cements Knowledge)"

I agree with this 100%. I am in AP Calculus and I find that when it comes time for a test even though I've studied and feel I know the material, I still can't remember as much as I should. I found that after taking a test I finally understand the chapter. Now even though this is a good thing because I am understanding the material, I usually do not do as good on the test as I should, but I feel I am getting more and more prepared for the AP Exam after I take each test. And the AP Exam is what matters in the long run because it will give me college credit. So while this method may not be the most practical, I definitely agree with the statement that taking a test helps you learn material.