Merry Christmas

To all who celebrate Christmas I wish you all alot of love, luck, health and happiness for the coming New Year.

Remember that Christmas is a time to spend with family and a time of giving, but it is also a time to reflect on the good you have achieved on the year past and look forward to the happiness and goodwill of the future.

Today Christmas has lost some of its sparkle because of commercialisation, but dont let this distract you from what Christmas is all about, remembering the Lord and opening your heart to show your love to those around you.

Christmas Quotes

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." ~ Attributed to a 7-year-old boy

"We hear the beating of wings over Bethlehem and a light that is not of the sun or of the stars shines in the midnight sky. Let the beauty of the story take away all narrowness, all thought of formal creeds. Let it be remembered as a story that has happened again and again, to men of many different races, that has been expressed through many religions, that has been called by many different names. Time and space and language lay no limitations upon human brotherhood." ~New York Times, 25 December 1937

Weightlifting Gloves

Some people swear by weightlifting gloves while others feel they hinder rather than enhance their performance, one thing is for sure they certainly help some lifters on big lift such as the deadlift.

What are weightlifting gloves?

Weightlifting gloves are simply gloves that are specially designed to support a person who carries out weightlifting. They support by helping a weightlifter grip the bar because a sweaty palm can cause a persons grip to become compromised.

Weightlifting gloves also support by reducing, or almost removing the possibility of sores, blisters and most commonly calluses from the pressure of a heavy bar on the hands.

How do they work?

The gloves are made from neoprene, leather or nylon. The neoprene and leather allow the hands to breathe through the gloves where nylon does not; most gloves also have an open back to allow your hands to breathe more easily. The gloves also help soak up sweat making your hands less clammy and wet.

Most gloves are double stitched to reinforce the material, especially on stress points so they can take a lot of strain from the effort you exert when lifting. Weightlifting gloves tend to have an open back

A lot of gloves have special materials on the palm of the glove to add extra grip and strong elastic wrist wraps to give extra stability on the wrists while still allowing maximum movement.

Summary

When choosing a pair of weightlifting gloves it is important to refrain from going for aesthetic looks and rather go for comfort and support. Saying this many weightlifters tend to go for darker coloured weightlifting gloves because they hide dirt and sweat patches more easily than light coloured varieties.

While I personally do not like using weightlifting gloves many in the gyms I have used swear by them, this is because they feel the gloves really do support them in their training regimen.

Click on the link to find the best priced weightlifting gloves - Bodybuilding.com - Information. Motivation. Supplementation.

Setting Goals For 2010

Its that time of year where many people put on a few pies over the festive season and make a resolution to get fit and look good for 2010.

Its normal to see the number of members in gyms throughout the world increase its member numbers in January of a new year, but its just as normal for around ninety percent of these new members to give up and cancel their membership in the first eight weeks.

The issue with new gym members, especially those who join post New Year is that they set themselves unrealistic goals so get disheartened when they don’t achieve what they want. This is where learning how setting goals can help you stay motivated rather than make you feel down.

Setting goals for 2010

Firstly whether you are new to the gym or you have been going for a while and got into a bit of a rut, the easiest way to stay motivated and achieve your goals is to set small goals. The idea is that by setting smaller goals you are setting goals that are achievable in a shorter period of time so you should be hitting goals and staying motivated.

The logic is that each small goal achieved is a stepping stone to what you wish to achieve overall, a fitter, stronger, physically improved you!

I have been training for a long time but have just had three months off through injury. I have come back to training and lost some of what I had achieved so I set myself different weekly goals such as:

• Adding an extra 2.5 kgs to the amount I lift on my main exercises each week (even if I only achieve one rep)
• Adding an extra rep on my last sets where I don’t achieve 8 or more reps
• Adding a few minutes to my running on the treadmill

These are simple but achievable goals, imagine you are lifting 60kg on the bench press and you set a target of 120kg, you could be waiting a long time to achieve it so start feeling down about your achievements. Instead of this you set small goals like “Next week Ill lift 62.5kg” so when next week comes and you manage it you feel good and have managed a step closer to your ultimate goal.

2010 can be the year for many people to achieve what they want by having confidence in themselves as well as training correctly and setting goals that are achievable and will keep them motivated.