A Gymnastics Blog
Sport
Little Links 24/5/10
May 24th
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:
Damien Walters wins The 2010 Taurus World Stunt Award
May 21st
By now you’ve probably already seen stunt man Damien Walters latest video, it’s received almost 2.5 million views on youtube to date. British Gymnastics reported that Damien has won the 2010 Taurus World Stunt Award. Go Damien!
The 2003 World Team Champion; 2003 and 2006 European Team Champion and former multiple British Champion in Tumbling, Damien Walters who, after his retirement has started a new career as a stunt-man, was announced last week as the winner of the 2010 Taurus World Stunt Awards for the best fight for his performance in the film “Ninja Assassin”. Taurus World Stunt Awards are for the stunt-world what the Oscars are for the film stars.
“I was very shocked to find out that I had won as I have only been doing stunts for 3 years now and this award is mainly won by stunt men who have been in the business for a long time! This is a big achievement for me and I am really happy about it!” said Damien, who is currently shooting the new Steven Speilberg film “I am Number 4” in Pittsburgh (USA).
The Taurus was awarded to Damien for scenes where he doubles the main character and is involved in a huge chase and fight for about 10 minutes of the film.
“I had to do all kinds of crazy things like get hit by a car, jump out off buildings, jump from 10 metres up to crash through scaffolding, do somersaults from different ledges to land on platforms 10-15 meters up in the air and also crash through a 3rd story window to land on a van on my back, and then crash to the floor where a car would stop inches from my head…” explained Damien.
Volunteers needed for Special Olympics
May 18th
1,900 Special Olympics athletes from the 4 corners of Ireland will travel to Limerick to participate in the 4-day residential Games, in 13 sports competitions, held in various venues in Limerick. The Games will take place from June 9th – 13th. Gymnastics is a popular sport in the Special Olympics. Training and competition opportunities are offered in female artistic, male artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. Athletes can compete in their selection of events within these disciplines at the appropriate level to their ability. Female artistic (floor, tumbling, vault, beam, uneven bars). Male artistic (floor, tumbling, vault, pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, high bar). Rhythmic (floor, hoop, ball, ribbon, rope).
Special Olympics Ireland are looking for volunteers to help. Often WAG judges have judged at the games to help out. You can find information about becoming a volunteer here.
Handstands on roof of Dublins Croke Park Stadium
May 14th
Yesterday, an announcement was made that the Croke Park stadium will offer a birds eye view over Dublin City, with walking tours of the roof top. Croke Park was originally built just for use by the GAA for Irish sports Gaelic Football and Hurling but in recent years due the refurbishment of Lansdowne Road, which up until 2007 hosted football and rugby matches and also music concerts, the GAA over turned an old ruling (Rule 42) to allow other sports to be played in Croke Park. This is while the new Aviva Stadium was being built which actually officially opens today.
THE GAA is to offer rooftop walking tours of Dublin’s Croke Park from early next year which will offer visitors panoramic views over the capital.
A walkway will be built on the roof of the stadium and tours will be offered from next January, costing in the region of €100.
Based on the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, the walkway will be 35 metres above ground.
It will give visitors a bird’s eye view of the capital, with uninterrupted 360 degree views of Dublin Bay, the mountains, the Spire on O’Connell Street, the Obelisk in the Phoenix Parkand Liberty Hall.
The plan was announced yesterday morning as daredevil Eskil Ronningsbakken balanced on a giant, wire figure ‘3′ some 60 metres above the ground to advertise a mobile phone company’s new branding slogan “Do things you never thought possible”.
There are also some pictures here.
Reebok Easy Tone Trainers: Day 2 – 6
Apr 20th
As previously mentioned, I’ve been asked to try out Reeboks new line of trainers Easy Tone. I have been wearing the trainers, although I haven’t been out and about in them as much as I’d hoped.
I wore the shoes again at mid week training and also at the long 6 hour coaching session on Saturday. I really can’t say that I’ve noticed anything different to my normal trainers yet. I still had the same foot pain I always get after the long stint at gymnastics on a Saturday. I wore my orthotics this time but I felt the shoes were less comfortable, they didn’t feel as snug on my feet as I had to remove the shoes insole to fit them in. That was a pity
Yesterday was the ideal time to wear them when I went for a walk with friends, unfortunately the look of the shoe is still putting me off wearing them when I’m out socially. They just aren’t flattering to wear with jeans or my normal tracksuit bottoms. I’ll try to get out and about a bit more this week and see if I feel or see any difference.
Reebok Easy Tone Trainers: Day 1
Apr 16th
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 seams for an irritation-free fit
Open-weave mesh provides breathable support, removable liner adds cushioning and accommodates orthotics, slanted heel enhances your walking stride
Synthetic and textile upper/textile lining/synthetic sole
My kit arrived earlier this week. I had forgotten what shoes I had chosen. It turns out that I chose the Easy Tone trend shoe. I’m really not loving the colour. The silver a makes them look a bit… 90’s and like space shoes, it’s a bit over powering. Ah well! It won’t stop me from trying them out. The cool thing is that for an extra cost, you can customize your own shoe on the Reebok website. I’m quite particular about the colour and shape of my shoes so for anyone like me, that’s ideal as long as your bank balance can afford it.
I wore the shoes for 3 hours whilst at gymnastics coaching yesterday evening. I noticed a significant difference when I tried them on to how my normal shoes feel. I felt slightly higher off the ground and the shoes felt spongey. I found a noticeable difference in the feeling of the sole, it’s more curved than that of your normal shoe. You can find out more about the shoes in the video below:
They were comfortable to walk in, although one thing I didn’t like was the clumping sound they seemed to make on the gym floor. They were comfortable to stand in whilst coaching. I came home and was tired, my back and legs ached but they do from standing in the gym often anyway and from lugging equipment around. Also, I wasn’t wearing my orthotics as I’d forgotten to take them out of my normal trainers. I can’t say I felt the burning and aching like other testers wrote in their posts.
I hope to wear them a bit more since the evenings are getting brighter and go for a walk after work. The real test will be at gymnastics training at the weekend when I’ll have more classes and be standing and walking around and moving equipment for 6 hours!
You can read two reviews of the trainers on the Debenhams website and also on Stefanie Grace’s blog. If anyone has tried these shoes before or you are also trying them out and writing a review, please feel free to comment below!
