How To Questions » Sports & Games

How to Build a Campfire

Research Analyst — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:38:46 +0000

Building a campfire is one of the basic things you learn to do while out camping. It is quite possibly the most important too. Fires are used to cook the food you catch out in the wild, give you light at night when you are sitting around moon gazing, and keeps mosquitoes away with the smoke the produce. If you correctly follow this guide I can promise you that you will be making campfires with the best of them in no time at all.

Collect tender, which is commonly known as dry grass, a few logs if you can find them, and as many sticks as you can possibly find. You will need to get enough to last you throughout the night unless you want to go back out and find more in the dark.
Take a shovel if you have it, if you do not have shovel just use your hands, and make a little round trench. Then inside of this trench put the sticks in forming a tepee. A tepee is the cone shape with the point of the cone pointing upwards.
Underneath of the tepee put your tinder.
The next part is arguably the hardest part. You want to find something to make a spark with. This will subsequently light the fire. If you have a lighter you can use that which will trivialize this task. If not find to rocks and hit them together kind of pulling them apart by the tender. Eventually, it will make a spark and light the tender which will then light the tepee you previously made.
You can then add the larger logs if you want to. They will burn for a long time offering a source of heat and light for the night.

If you follow this guide thoroughly you will make a good fire that will burn long and hot. I would suggest that you bring a lighter or matches with you because this makes making a campfire a lot easier, but if you want the full experience just leave them at home. I hope this guide helps you and good luck!

How To Do Sit Ups

Research Analyst — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:37:41 +0000

Sit ups have long been thought of as one of the core exercises for building up abdominal muscles and creating a flat stomach. While the sit-up is one of the first exercises that we learn in physical fitness, it is often one of the exercises that is done wrong, and that is a dangerous thing. It is very important that people perform situps properly to avoid injuries, as this adbominal builder can very easily become a pain the neck, or back.

Here is step by step instructions to follow for how to do a safe and proper sit-up;

Lie on the floor with your knees bent. Your feet should be flat on the floor with both the balls and heels of your feet touching. Make sure that you have enough room to complete the exercise, as this is a dynamic movement, and you need to make sure you have some room. It is also advisable to perform sit-ups on a mat, such as one you would use in yoga. Also, if you have pets or children, make sure that they are not going to interfere with your routine.
Place your hands on opposing shoulders by crossing your arms across your chest. Some people prefer to leave their arms to their sides, or lightly touch the sides of their head. These are all fine, but do not clasp hands behind your head as causes undo stress on the neck and shoulders.
Draw a breath and tighten your abdominal muscles, while still in laying on the floor and knees bent.
Raise your body up from the floor, keeping your eyes focused on your knees. Maintain a controlled motion as you raise up from the floor, making sure your head and back are in alignment and that your neck is straight. Complete the upward motion when your back is at a ninety degree angle.
Hold the position for a count of 2 and then lower yourself back to the starting position, inhaling on the way down.
This is one complete repetition, repeat this motion until you have completed the required number repetition for the set.
One thing to keep in mind is a 2-2-2-2 cadence when doing sit-ups. That is 2 seconds on the way up, hold at the top for 2 seconds, 2 seconds then to lower, and finally 2 seconds before beginning the next rep. This helps to maintain a control pace, which is vital to prevent momentum from overtaking the exercise.

In order to aid you in performing a proper sit-up which will not hurt your back, we have found an excellent video which illustrates the move. Watch the video, and read through the advice that we have laid out, and you will be well on your way to developing the perfect six pack abs, without hurting your neck or back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygmgGqzsSiU

How To Do Leg Raises

Research Analyst — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:37:23 +0000

Abdominal muscles are often overlooked by gym goers, . One of the best exercises for strengthening lower abdominal muscles is the leg raise. While not as popular as sit-ups or crunches, the leg raise is very effective, and targets the hard to reach lower abs. Here is how you perform a leg raise properly;

Lie flat on the floor, face up. Use a yoga mat, or some other padding to make the movement more comfortable.
Place arms to the side, close to the body with the palms face down and under your butt to take some of the pressure off your tailbone while you preform the leg raise.
Keeping your legs straight, raise your legs off the ground. The knees should be in a locked position.
Keep lifting your legs until they are at a 45 – 60 degree angle with the floor, and your knees are directly over your head. If your are not able to lift your legs this far, then go as far as you can. If your knees bend slightly, that is fine but not too much.
Lower your legs back down to the ground until you are almost at the starting position. Do not let your legs touch the ground though on the way down.
Once your legs are almost touching the ground, hold, and then repeat the exercise.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind with the leg raise. First, make sure your back stays flat to the ground, and you do not arch it as you raise your legs. Second, use a controlled and steady motion. You can hold position, which is often helpful. Doing this exercise too quickly can cause injury, so no fast or jerky motions. There are a number of training programs which incorporate the leg raise. In order to master this move, attempt to build up to 3 sets of 15 repetitions. Once you ave completed this, you can incorporate more challenging routines.

Here is a short video demonstration on how to do a leg raise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRW0M22FR74