The Benefits of Stability Ball Training

The stability ball is one of my favorite training tools because it's so versatile. It can be used by sedentary individuals to develop proprioception (body awareness). It can also be used by workers to rehab an injury. And most recently, top level athletes are using the ball to improve strength and balance in an unstable environment.

Why is the stability ball so beneficial?

1) The stability ball develops the deep segmental muscles that stabilize the spine. Many trainers and coaches use exercises like deadlifts and good mornings to strengthen the back. While these exercises are effective for strengthening the hips and spinal erectors (low back muscles), they don't develop the deep spinal stabilizers: the multifidus, rotatores, interspinales, etc. By exercising on the ball, you engage these segmental muscles. And developing them not only helps prevent injury, it also improves your posture and efficiency in movement.

2) The stability balls ability to roll in all directions makes it a great training stimulus for working in all three planes of motion (front-to-back, side-to-side, and rotational).

3) The unstable quality of the ball develops the neutralizers (muscles which counteract the actions of other muscles) and stabilizers (muscles that surround the joint and hold it relatively still) involved in the movement. For example, when you do a push up with your hands on the ball and your feet on the ground (as illustrated in the photo), the stabilization required recruits and develops the neutralizers and stabilizers of the shoulder girdle/joint. As a result, you become stronger in exercises that work the same muscles but don't require stabilization. In this example, you'd be stronger in chest exercises performed on a bench, such as the bench press.

Glossary Guide to Sushi

There are thousands of outstanding sushi restaurant in the United States serving millions of foodies each year. Yet many people remain intimidated by the sushi-dining process, and never allow themselves to enjoy one of the healthiest, more delicious cuisine styles on the planet.

To help beginning sushi lovers-to-be, we present the follow glossary of basic sushi terms and definitions. This information will help introduce to the world of sushi and provide the knowledge to enter any Japanese restaurant and order with confidence.

Basic Sushi Glossary

Aburage - Fried pouches made of tofu, cooked in water, sake and soy sauce.

Agari - A delicious type of green tea.

Aji - A type of mackerel (also known as "Spanish Mackerel).

Akami - The leanest part of the tuna, Akami is cut from the very back of the fish.

Anago - A conger eel found in salt water.

Anko-nabe - A popular variation of monkfish stew.

Baigai - Small water snails

Bara Sushi - A unique type of sushi in which sushi rice and seafood ingredients are all mixed together and served.

California Roll - One of the most popular sushi dishes in the United States. Includes crab meat, flying fish or smelt and avocado.

Chutoro-maki - A marbled tuna roll

Ebi - Boiled shrimp (plain and simple!).

Engawa - The delicious meat that surrounds the muscle of the scallop (can also refer to the muscle that controls a halibut's fin).

Fugu - One of the most infamous types of sushi, fugu is a blowfish that can be toxic if prepared incorrectly.

Futo-maki - A roll filled with cooked egg (sweetened), rice, pickled gourd and vegetables.

Ika - Squid

Inada - A young yellowtail fish

Iso-don - A bed of sushi rice served beneath fish, vegetables or a mixture of other items.

Kamaboko - This is a fish cake with pounded whitefish and a mixture of cornstarch.

Kani - Crab meat

Kanpachi - A young yellowtail fish.

Katsu - Not technically sushi, Katsu refers to foods fried using bread crumbs. The most popular type of Katsu is Chicken Katsu.

Koi. Saltwater carp

Kombu and Konbu - These terms refer to kelp or dried seaweed.

Kurodai - A dish using snapper.

Make Sushi - A sushi roll made using seaweed, rice and vegetables at the core of the roll.

Maki-mono - Rice and fish rolled together and wrapped in seaweed

Mochi - Sweet rice cakes

Mushimono - Refers to any steamed dish.

Philadelphia Roll - Another American favorite, a Philadelphia Roll is a roll made with salmon, cream cheese and vegetables.

Sake. A strong wine made from rice. An essential at most sushi restaurants around the world.

Sashimi - This popular dish includes chilled raw fish served without rice. (Fish is sliced)

Senbei - These thin rice crackers are usually served with soy sauce or a variety of other seasonings.

Shirumono - The Japanese term for soup

Shoyu - Soy sauce

Suimono - A clear, but flavorful soup

Tako - Octopus

Tekka-don - A selection of raw tuna served over rice.

Wasabi - A spicy Japanese horseradish. If you've never used Wasabi before, be careful your first time!

Yosenabe - A Japanese fish and vegetable stew.

Kikkoman Sushi Technique

Making sushi is easier than you think — just check out Kikkomans easy-to-follow sushi technique video, and get rolling! Well guide you through the steps for making a traditional norimaki with pickled vegetables, as well as the popular California Roll. Sushi is perfect for potlucks, or you can host your own sushi party, where everyone rolls their own with their favorite ingredients! For the entire recipe, please visit: www.kikkomanusa.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGG01tj9wi4&hl=en

California Vacation - Part 1 of a Day by Day Diary

We normally take our vacation on the east coast of the Florida peninsula, so we purchased one week of timeshare vacation on Ormond Beach. It was near the end of summer season in 2005, and we had already taken our vacation that year so we decided to space bank our week until later.

Later is 2007, and we combined our 2005 week with our 2007 week so could have a longer vacation in California. Usually it is difficult to get two weeks back-to-back when you swap through RCI, but low and behold they had availability in the Palm Springs area. We would have to swap from one condo resort to another after the first week, but it was only a few miles away so we took it and bought airline tickets online. Then, we settled down for a long winter's nap while waiting for our vacation date to roll around.

Finally, July 6th graced the calendar and we headed for the airport at 4:45 a.m. in a taxi. It had been a while since we had traveled via airplane. In fact, we had not been in an airport since before 9-11. We had heard that things had changed, but we didn't realize how much. Free curb-side baggage check was no longer free. Clerk-assisted baggage check-in is now self-check in using a computer that knows more than most humans. We had five bags we wanted to check, and three carry-ons. The limit was two bags of each kind per person. Looking at the bags, we didn't think any one of them would meet the carry-on size restrictions, but of course those limitations were not posted near the computer that was serving as our welcoming agent.

We paid the computer an extra $80 to check the fifth bag and then proceeded to the next early morning pre-boarding adventure. As we approached the person check, there was the sign we needed about 100 yards ago. We could have taken one of the bags on board. We were ordered to take off our shoes and put our carry on bags on the conveyor belt. All expect for the laptop and my purse; they had to be manhandled separately.

"You can't take a bottle of water on the plane," said the human void of personality.

We must have looked as dumbfounded as we felt. "It's just water. It hasn't been opened," I reported.

"No liquids over 3.5 ounces can be taken onboard. You can either drink it now, or throw it in the trash." She was serious.

I wasn't thirsty yet, so she pried the plastic containers from my hands and tossed both our brand new Aquafinas in the trash can behind her desk. Side note to terrorist: If you plan to bomb a plane, you must do it with less than 3.5 ounces of liquid, preferably not in a plastic water bottle.

Just inside the metal detector gate was a newsstand selling a wide variety of bottled water for two dollars each. Talk about seizing an opportunity.

Stay tuned for part two of a day-by-day diary of our 2-week California vacation.

Brands of Guitar Amplifiers

A wide range of instrument amplifiers is now available, some for general purposes and some designed for specific instruments and even for particular sounds. Traditional guitar amplifiers come up with a clean, warm sound, a sharp treble roll off at 5 kHz or less and bass roll off at 60 to100 Hz, often with built in reverb and tremolo units. Bass amplifiers have extended bass response and tone controls optimized for bass guitars (or more rarely, for upright bass).

Higher end bass amplifiers sometimes include compressor or limited features, which help to keep the amplifier from distorting at high volume levels. Keyboard amplifiers have a very low distortion and extended flat frequency response in both directions. Keyboard amplifiers often have a simple onboard mixer, so that keyboardists can control the tone and level of several keyboards. Acoustic amplifiers are designed specifically to produce a clean, transparent, acoustic sound when used with acoustic instruments with built in transducer pickups and microphones.

Some well known brands of guitar amplifiers

While there are almost innumerable manufacturers of guitar amplifiers, we will be discussing the most important brands that have created history in guitar amplification.

Carvin Corporation

The Carvin Corporation is a musical instrument and equipment manufacturer, located in San Diego, California, well known among guitar players for their guitars. Carvin was founded in 1946 by Lowell Kiesel, and originally manufactured guitar pickups. Carvin Corporation manufactures acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitars and accessories, amplifiers, live studio sound equipments, microphones and lighting gears.

Korg Corporation

Korg Corporation is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments and guitar tuners. The company is one of the most widely used and respected names in the electronic music world. Founded in 1962 in Japan by Tsutomu Kato and Tadashi Osanai, Korg was originally known as Keio Electronic Laboratories because its fledgling offices were located near the Keio train line in Tokyo and Keio can be formed by combining the first letters of Kato and Osanai. Yamaha Corporation has always been a major partner of Korg, supplying them with circuitry and mechanical parts.

Marshall Amplification

Marshall Amplification is a British company which designs and manufactures electric guitar amplifiers. Marshall Amplifiers are well known and highly popular among guitarists. Marshall Amplifiers were originally built as direct copies of Fender amplifiers, but soon incorporated certain traits which made them more favorable to guitarists seeking a heavier sound. Like most professional level amplifiers, Marshall amplifiers still use valve preamp and power amplifier stages instead of solid state devices. Marshall also manufactures cheaper solid-state or hybrid devices.

Vox

Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer, which is most famous for making the AC30 guitar amplifier and the Vox electric organ. Founded in Great Britain, Vox is now owned by the Japanese electronics firm Korg. In 1959, with sales under pressure from the more powerful Fender Twin and from The Shadows, who requested amplifiers with more power, Vox produced what was essentially a double powered AC15 and named it the AC30.

Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972 with 33 million yen in capital. Some of the recent amplifiers from Roland Corporation are Roland SH 201, Roland Juno G, Roland MV 8800 and Roland V Synth GT.

What Happened to Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

What is justice? What is fairness? What is a jury of your peers? And What ever happened to the notion that someone is innocent until they are proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt? What is wrong with the justice system, and why are we trying so many cases in the court of public opinion first? Why is it that our regulatory bodies wait until the natives are restless and then go find a target to prosecute whether they are guilty or not? As soon as they file the case, they send out press releases claiming they are hot on the scene doing their job.

Only one problem with that, it's not justice, it's mob rule, appeasement of the masses. The other day I was discussing this with an acquaintance, and he asked; "So, what ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?" Well, I told him "the media took over the job I guess, and they are fully enjoying the power."

Too often, at least in business I see the use of examples and prosecuting of borderline cases or even creative writing projects with enforcement personnel. This may serve an end goal to keep everyone in line, but it isn't fair to those who've been wrongly made an example of. The system is flawed, but it sure beats other nations, at least in our country, you have the perception of fairness of the law.

Okay so, that's what's going on. Is that good enough for America, considering our strong ideals and moral fiber, are we to settle for this? After all, if you are a big corporate sponsor to various politicians, you can call up a regulatory body and ask them to look into the dealings of XYZ company, your competitor. Once the case is started, well, what do they say in Washington DC - "you are innocent until you are investigated," and that's how they roll.

Shouldn't we stand for more in our great nation than petty Chicago, or NY style politics, aren't we better than this? Is it just about rounding up the usual suspects so our enforcement bodies look good? If we continually lie to ourselves and accept this as the way it is done, business as usual, then we have no business at all crying about the games on Wall Street, because in that case our government is no better, it's all a charade, a giant façade. Even Wall Street corporate executives deserve a fair shake and their day in court.

Growing up I was told that America was a great nation, which I believe it is, but the more I look behind the scenes, it seems we still have some more work to do, if we are going to boast about our greatness. This isn't good enough, I am not impressed. I am deeply concerned. Please consider all this from a philosophical standpoint about what we are supposed to be standing for.

Fabian & Erik machen Sushi

Fabian & Erik machen Sushi die (fasst) perfekte Anleitung



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLchwfYCfzE&hl=en