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Tweet As a coach I need to be physically fit for many reasons, such as setting a good example to my gymnasts and to be able to lift the gymnasts etc. It’s summer time, a great time to get fit and to get out and about so I’ve been working on my fitness lately. My new love is the Kettlebell!

What is a Kettlebell?
A kettlebell is hand held cast iron weight which can be used to train the whole body. It resembles a cannonball with a handle attached. Kettlebells can vary …

Tweet Late last year the FIG and the World Anti – Doping Agency (WADA) released an updated list of prohibited substances. The list presents what substances are allowed in and out of competition. It also indicates whether particular substances are banned in certain sports.
The Irish Sports Council (ISC) has launched an iPhone application to make it easier for Irish athletes to check as to whether or not their medications and substances are on the banned substance list.
The app is free and allows users to look up medication by name or to search …

Tweet The group SafeFood who are responsible for the promotion of food safety in Ireland have launched a new initiative, to make people aware of their weight and to tackle the growing problem of obesity
. Safefood is warning that while 66% of people in Ireland are overweight , only 38% actually realise it. The group wants people to ‘stop the spread’ by measuring their waist size to become aware if they’re headded for dangerous territory.Their research shows that a waist size of greater than 32 inches for women and 37 inches for …

Tweet Further to our post yesterday regarding the warning issued by the UKAD regarding the substance Methylhexaneamine, the World Anti-Doping Agency has released an update list of prohibited substances. The WADA has included a new section called the Non Approved Substances, this addresses the abuse of pharmacological substances  which are under pre-clinical or clinical development or discontinued.

If you’re interested, you can read more here on the FIG website.

Tweet The UK Anti Doping (UKAD) has issued a warning to athletes and players to be extra vigilant when using supplements. This comes as British shotputter Rachel Wallader became the first UK athlete to receive ban as a result of testing positive for the prohibited substance Methylhexaneamine.  Rachel received a four month ban from the sport. It seems that two other athletes have also tested positive for the substance in recent months but their cases are on going.

Methylhexaneamine is also known as dimethylamylamine, dimethylpentylamine, DMAA, forthran, forthane, floradrene, geranamine and …

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Like Shawn Johnson in the USA, Beth Tweddle has joined the campaign in the UK to highlight the benefits of drinking milk. It’s similar the campaign in the USA, celebs and idols lending a hand to promote something good.
“I am very passionate about sport and living a healthy lifestyle and want to encourage young people into physical activity. I think that this campaign will achieve exactly that.
“Milk has maybe been seen as a bit old fashioned by young people in the past but it’s …

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Yesterday, FIG made public the 2009 statistics concerning the fight against doping in gymnastics. There’s some really interesting numbers in the report, overall it’s shows that there were a low number of positive cases discovered.

In 2009:

The Registered Testing Pool included 179 gymnasts from 36 of the FIG’s 127 affiliated federations.
243 urine samples were collected and tested, 114 of which were taken during the last trimester at the time of world championship events. Out of these 243, 183 were performed in competition.

FIG says that the results …

Tweet Normally I’m not a football fan although I don’t mind watching World Cup matches as the players featured are (supposed to be) the best players in the world. Who to support though? Ireland have only just about gotten over the “Hand of Henry” and the World Cup begins, reminding Ireland that France are (perhaps) playing in their place.  So, with the World Cup in mind, here’s a football related Little Link.

Fatigue in Football: Physiology in Performance

Top 10 World Cup Injuries – Hamstring Strain, Groin Strain, Metatarsal Fracture, …

Tweet According to Wales Online, Welsh researchers are to investigate sale of eating disorders among gymnasts. A team of researchers from Swansea University have been given a grant of £100,000 ($145,000 / €120,000) to find out if young star gymnasts are starving themselves for success.
They will begin their research which will span over 18 months, in partnership with British Gymnastics this summer. The Team will investigate how British elite gymnasts develop freedom of choice, self image and identity within the elite gymnastics environment they find themselves. The research project is …

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In the last few months there’s been chitter chatter and comments on forums and blogs relating to gymnastics physique and look. One gymnast who has been commented on a lot, mainly in regards to her legs, is Shawn Johnson. This week KCCI reports on how Shawn Johnson has been helping to spread a positive message to girls about body image and self esteem. Read the report here and see a very short clip of Shawn speaking.
Well done Shawn, it’s great to see people using their fame for good …

Tweet GymFinity discusses “No Excuses”
Are Plyometric exercises important in improving performance?
Daniel Keatings discusses From the highs of Success to the lows of injury
Beth Tweddle on becoming an MBE:

Tweet FIG Council Official news
10 Rules of Healthy Eating
Helsinki has been chosen as the venue for the 2015 World Gymnaestrada
Theresa Murphy in Ireland is looking for extra judges for the County Kerry Community Games Finals  on 23rd May. Judges will be paid for on the day. You can find contact information for Theresa here

Tweet Last month, I was approached to try out Reeboks new “Easy Tone” trainers. The description from the Reebok Ireland site describes the shoes as:

Tailor-made for walking, with a slanted heel to propel your foot forward. Combine that with the latest technologies for comfort and muscle-toning benefits.

According to the website, Easytone uses;

Balance pods in the shoes to create natural instability, much like walking on a sandy beach, which encourage toning through increased muscle activation in 3 key areas of the leg

SmoothFit technology hides all …

Tweet New Blog (at least to me!) GymFinity
Research suggests that Americans are becoming fatter younger
BBC Sports Ollie Williams was at Lilleshall last night with a film crew, taking footage of the British National Squad who are in preparation for the European Championships later this month
I must congratulate Blythe on her excellent coverage of the French International last weekend. There’s lots to read about the whole weekend on the Gymnastics Examiner