Recent Articles

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Birthday Season

We survived another “birthday season” in our household. Mine is in September and JE and Tait are both in October along with other family extended family members while my niece has one coming up on the 2nd of November. With fiesta going on in San Antonio, it is a very busy time of year. Though Tait had a 102.7 temperature four hours before 13 of his friends were to arrive for a birthday party, he took his Advil and kicked the fever. I was really uncertain what to do with a sick child and a house full of 6 year olds. whew, glad it all worked out well. I now have a new appreciation for my sister in law who taught first grade. wow, what a challenge. We are having pizza and in town family over tonight for his “real” birthday.

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The Rise of Divorce Parties: You Should Celebrate Your Split

Last week, The New York Times discussed the idea of the “divorce party” — Divorce, in Style by Geraldine Fabrikant. The couple in question, Charles and Bonnie Bronfman, have decided to divorce amicably after a three-year marriage. They decided to frame the divorce not as an ending, but as a beginning of a new phase in their relationship.

Mr. Bronfman notes their strong friendship continues, but their differences — she an intellectual, he a lover of sports; she likes New York, he likes Florida — ultimately did not make for the best romantic match. (The couple fell in love “at first sight” and were married six months after they met, which clearly accounts for their inability to discover the true impact of their differences until after they were married.)

And so, after a few years of trying to make things work, they decided to divorce and co-host an elegant cocktail party for 100 friends and family members who might be affected by or concerned about the split. Fabrikant quotes Bronfman: “Our differences were in everything we do. We thought those differences could mesh, but we found out the opposite. So we thought, why not tell our friends and thank them for helping us out?” They wrote on their co-signed invitations: “As we change the parameters of our relationship, our mutual admiration and caring is constant.”

I have to say I find this story incredibly mature and refreshing. Too often after a relationship ends, it can be tempting to throw out the baby with the bath water and conveniently forget there were wonderful qualities that brought you two together in the first place.

Of course, you’re under no obligation to throw a party or even remain close friends with the person you used to be in love with, and differing circumstances are relevant. But, in general, banishing hostilities, accepting the reality the relationship didn’t work and you’re both best apart is better for everyone — including all of the people who love both of you and often feel torn when things don’t work out.

Do you think divorce is ever cause for celebration? Can you really walk away from a relationship this amicably?

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How To Train Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers

Fast Twitching muscles are in the second type of muscle fiber group. They normally work for you if you are fond of lifting weights that require bursts of power. Long-term training usually doesn’t work for them, though. However, they can be very useful in short, high intensity training programs like power lifting or body building. This is usually one way of starting how to train fast twitch muscle fibers.

If your body is used to training that is using low or high rep schemes, you might find yourself disregarding some muscle fibers in your body. Usually, in body building, you would like to avoid having higher rep schemes through exercising with machines since they would be ignoring your fast twitch muscles that of course is something that is very important to body building.

There are some techniques that help you how to train fast twitch muscle fibers since this is the muscle group that they target. Following a set of guidelines will present you with the proper stimulus to improve your vertical jumps.

If you are starting to lift weights, lift in excess of 60% of your 1RM. It is advisable to lift something greater than the average to fulfill the needs of your fast twitch muscles. An exception is if you are performing ballistic weighted exercises like barbell jump squats. Also do bursts of high intensity work during lifting, skipping, bounding, or throwing. This will cause your muscles to adapt after a while of doing it.

Make sure you emphasize the type of work when you lower a weight or descend a jump. This is what is deemed as eccentric training. You can make use of bands in order to accelerate gravity or you can do reactive squats for drop and catch motions. The emphasis here is placed on the movements like in the different jumps and landings.

The best thing to prepare for on how to train fast twitch muscles is mental training. There is what we call a psyche up. You have to go into a frame of mind that somehow commands your body to make those fast twitch fibers work it out. It goes the same with jumping and training. Spend a good time before each attempt to jump to mentally work yourself up and you will be guaranteed to jump higher. The mind is a powerful tool that keeps sending signals to your muscles to be ready because they are about to let loose and perform extra hard work.