Bicycling

Do you want to ride your bike like the guys in the movie?

I cannot tell you how they do it, but bicycling is a nice sport which you should try!

The two kinds of bicycling

1. Riding a racing bike: On the one side you ride your bike on roads. It makes much more fun if you have a special racing bicycle because it has not much weight and it has thin tires which help you a lot to speed up. The most famous professional race of the world is the Tour de France, but there are also other races whose you can join: www.roadbike.de, www.skoda-radsport.de, www.ultracycling.com and www.usacycling.org
2. Mountain biking: On the other side you can go riding you bike on rough terrain (off-road). For mountain biking you sould use a helmet and other protections because accidents happen very often. In addition it makes more fun if you have a mountain bike with special springings. The website www.imba.com contains good hints for mountain biking.

Long bicycle tours

Another nice kind of bicycling is a long bicycle tour with a sleeping bag, camping stove, water, food etc. Of course do not forget to take friends along.

People who do not like free camping can also book hostels or hotels. All in all a bicycle tour is a really nice experience. You enjoy nature, discover new landscapes and you are very tired when you to bed in the evening. The website www.bitrot.de/bike contains interesting reports based on personal trip experiences.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: It is very healthy if you ride your bike often. Some roads are dangerous because of much traffic, but you do not have to go on roads. There are special cycle paths.
• sex appeal: You get fit and strong legs.
• fun factor: If you start a journey with friends, it makes a lot of fun and you enjoy nature.
• friends factor: It a good sport for doing something with friends.
• costs: A professional bicycle is very expensive (1000-2500 Euro), but it is not necessary to have a expensive one. You can also take an old one. You should just test it before a long trip.
• expenditure of time: It`s up to you. You can also ride your bike to your working place every day. That does not take more time than going by car in cities.

Inline-skating

Do you want to go inline skating like these guys in the movie?

I cannot promise this but the company “Rollerblade” has a nice website where you can take lessons: lessons.rollerbladeusa.com

About the sport

Inline-skating is perfect in summertime. The sport is relative young and became popular in the 90s. It is a fantastic fitness and endurance training and makes a lot of fun. The negative aspect is that you can harm yourself very quickly.

Equipment

Inline skating is a sport with high speed that is why you need good protective equipment for your knees, elbows, hands and head. I would not save money for the quality of your inline skates because most bearings of inline skates have poor quality. Pay rather more and you can use them longer!

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: It is dangerous to go inline-skating on roads with much traffic. Empty streets are perfect.
• sex appeal: You get fit and strong legs.
• fun factor: It makes a lot of fun if you go inline-skating with a partner or a group.
• friends factor: It is a good sport for doing something with friends.
• costs: the inline-skates cost about 120 Euro. Good protective equipments for your knees, elbows, hands and head are also not expensive. About 50 Euro.
• expenditure of time: You can skate instead of walking.

Skiing / snowboarding

Today I want to show you two interesting winter sports which are called skiing and snowboarding.

How to learn skiing and snowboarding

It is much easier to learn skiing and snowboarding when you are in the age of a child. Sports like skate boarding or inline skating helps you a lot to learn skiing and snowboarding because these sports are similar. It is not necessary to take private lessons. Take a look at these two websites abc-of -skiing abc-of-snowboarding and try it by yourselve on a small hill in winter.

Do you want to ski or to go snowboarding in ski-regions?

Unfortunately these sports can not be realized everywhere. The website www.goski.com contains all ski-regions all over the world. There are also different ski trail levels. A ski trail with a black flag is the hardest one. It has a down-grade of 40 % which is very dangerous for newcomers. A ski trail with a red flag is also hard. It has a down-grad up-to 40 %. Green and blue are suited for newcomers with some practice before.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: If you are too fast it is very dangerous. Many accidents are caused by uncontrollable speed. If you get tired you have to take a break in order to avoid accidents.
• sex appeal: It does not improve your sex appeal.
• fun factor: Skiing and snowboarding are perfect in small groups like 3-5 people and it makes a lot of fun.
• friends factor: It has a friends factor because you can spend a whole day with your friends snowboarding or skiing.
• costs: Unfortunately skiing and snowboarding cost a lot. A one day ticket costs about 35 Euro. Good skis or a good snowboard cost about 200-300 Euro.
• expenditure of time: It takes a lot of time because first you have to go to special skiing regions and then you stay there one day.

Football

Football (US:”soccer”) is the most famoust and most popular sport of the world. Nearly everybody knows football and specially during the time of a Football World Cup billions of people watch the games. Many people also play football in clubs or with friends on simple pitches. The passion for this sport unites different nations, religions and social classes.

What makes football so popular?

Whenever you want to play football, you just have to go outside and meet your friends to start playing it. Playing football does not cost anything. You need a ball and you can play wherever you want.

A second reason for its popularity are the simple rules. They are the same all over the world. It fascinates men and women in equal measure. Women football becomes also more and more popular.

The next male football world cup is in South Africa 2010. fifa.com

Basic data of a match:

One team includes 11 players. You have one keeper in your team and the others try to shoot a goal or to prevent opposing goals. All together one match takes 90 minutes with a 15 minute break after 45 minutes. In case of tie there is a overtime.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: One negative aspect is the risk of harming your feet.
• sex appeal: Male footballer are mostly attractive to women.
• fun factor: You have to like this kind of sport that you have fun. Some people just do not.
• friends factor: Football is a teamsport. You get in touch with many people.
• costs: It does not cost anything. Of course you can buy soccer shoes which are expensive.
• expenditure of time: A football match takes 90 minutes normally. But you can also just count goals and stop playing after a certain number of goals.

Water skiing

Water skiing is a typical summer sport. Have you ever tried it? Watch the movie and you get keen on it:-)

In this movie it looks very easy to do water skiing. But it is not like that because you have to keep your balance on skis while you are surfing on the water with all the waves.

My experience

When I was at such a water skiing lake, I saw many people falling into the water. The greatest difficulty is the start. At first you are standing on a beach or on a landing-stage with the pulling rope in your hands and then you start ‘skiing’. The jerk when you are pulled is extrem that many people lose their balance because of that and fall into the water. Once when you are skiing you have to be careful with the waves otherwise you will fall over. After some time you get tired and you lose your concentration easily.

Places:

There are many possibilities to go water skiing. I have found a really good website where you find over 1200 waterski clubs around the world

Where can I borrow equipment?

Normally waterski clubs have a big collection of water-skis and you just borrow them. You can also get wetsuits there.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: There is a risk that you crash against a jump, boat or something else in the water. Therefore you should check the lake or the sea before. It is also a danger when you are on high speed because water is very hard.
• sex appeal: You can do water skiing topless and you get a tan.
• fun factor: You have a lot of fun, if you are able to stay on your skis
• friends factor: You can go with your friends to such a water skiing lake which makes a lot of fun.
• costs: Unfortunately water skiing is not cheap. It cost about 16 Euro per hour or you have your own boat for pulling you.
• expenditure of time: It takes some time to learn how to keep your balance on the water skis. People who do skiing or snowboarding in winter have an advantage.

Beach volleyball

When did you play beach volleyball for the last time?

own image source (2007)

It is summertime and you want to do sport with friends outside? Do you want to get a tan in combination with sport? Do you like ball games which you play on a beach or just on sand? If yes then volleyball is the suitable sport for you!

What do we need?

A prepared beach volleyball court is the easiest way to play volleyball. In addition you need a volleyball and at least two teams. A team includes 2-6 people. It is up to you how many players you want to have in your team. I think that 3 people per team are perfect, but that is just my personal experience.

Rules

“A team scores points by grounding the ball on the opponents’ court, or when the opposing team commits a fault

Teams can contact the ball no more than three times before the ball crosses the net; and consecutive contacts must be made by different players.” (Wiki source)

More about volleyball rules

Indoor volleyball is quite the same as beach volleyball. The only thing is that you play indoor volleyball on an hard floor.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: There is a risk that you harm your legs, elbow, fingers. You can fall down uncontrollablely and you can harm your fingers with the ball.
• sex appeal: Beach volleyball looks always good. You can play topless and you get a tan.
• fun factor: Almost everybody likes this sport. You are playing with friends and you can have a lot of fun.
• friends factor: Very high as said.
• costs: If you hire a volleyball court, it will cost about 18 Euro per hour. Normally there are volleyball courts for free on beaches. In cities it is more difficult to find a volleyball court for free. In case it is to expensive, you have to be creative.
• expenditure of time: You can play it as long as you want. If you are a newcomer, it takes some time to get along with the ball.

Squash

Today, I want to introduce you a very exhausting sport that is called Squash.

Squash is a ball game which you play in a special hall with another partner. I have been playing it last weekend and it made a lot of fun.

If you never played it before, you would be surprised how exhausting it is.

Where to play Squash?

As you see Squash needs a special Squash hall surrounded by four walls. Many fitness centers offer these halls in return for payment of hiring. You can mostly hire Squash bats and balls too.It is important that you do not wear sport shoes with a black shoe sole in order to avoid black spots on the floor. The staff of the fitness centers do not let you play Squash with black shoe soles.

Hints and rules

Squash has to make fun and therefore it is more important that you start playing with your partner than following the rules. After a couple of matches you can follow the rules step by step. You get the Squash rule from the fitness centers or from the following page: World Squash rules

The movie below is good to understand where the right positions are.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: It helps your fitness a lot. Squash is not dangerous, but if you get tired you have to take a break in order to avoid crashes with your partner, etc.
• sex appeal: Squash does not improve your sex appeal. It is just for fun, but you can also play it during your first date.
• fun factor: If you want to try a new sport, then Squash is perfect for you. Find out whether you like it or not.
• friends factor: You play it with a second person. You can also go playing with a third person rotationally.
• costs: One hour costs about 12 -18 Euro.
• expenditure of time: It does not take a lot of time because you get tired very fast. You can hire the court for 45 up to 90 minutes.

Swimming

Swimming is one of the best sports for your joints. You lose up to 90 % of your body weight which disburdens your joints while doing sport. In addition swimming is one of the most popular endurance sports. People with weight problems can reduce their weight very well and do this in a gentle way.

What do I need for swimming?
You only need a bathing suit or a bikini. Important is that it fits well otherwise you cannot swim properly.
Swimming styles:
The videos help you to see the different swimming styles:

1. butterfly
2. backstroke

Jogging

When was the last time you went jogging?

Today, I want to introduce the sport “jogging”. It is one of the best ways to get rid of your daily routine. You forget all your stress and enjoy nature. Normally you just have to go outside and start running. In cities it is harder to find nice tracks. The follwing website is perfect to find your suitable route in cities: www.run.com

What else do you need for jogging?

Of course, you need running shoes to avoid blisters on your feet, but running shoes do not have to be expensive. There are always discontinued models in shops which are much cheaper. Another possibility is to buy running shoes in the internet on ebay for example.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: You get very fit by jogging. In case of stumbling or wrong muscel exposure there is a risk that you harm your feet.
• sex appeal: Jogging is very exhausting, but you do not get big muscels. It is more for yourself to bring your life in balance. Jogging is perfect to lose weight.
• fun factor: You have to like this kind of sport that you have fun. Some people just do not.
• friends factor: It is up to you whether you go jogging alone or with other people for example with neighbours, friends or with a sport club.
• Costs: Running does not cost anything except you have to buy new shoes. If you want to have a challenge for yourself, you can run a marathon. The attendance fee costs you 20 up to 60 €.
• expenditure of time: It takes a lot of time, if you want to be professional and in good condition. You have to go jogging at least 2 hours, 3 times a week in order to be fit enough for a marathon.

Climbing

Climbing is one of the sports that causes many emotions at the same time: joy – fear, eagerness – boredom, trust – distrust, safety – unsafety.

There are two kinds of climbing. On the one hand you can practise this sport without a Climbing rope which is called BOULDERING. Normally you go bouldering very close by the ground which is easier in special indoor climbing centers. I tried it serveral times outside. It makes a lot of fun, but it is very hard to control your own body and to find the right combination between hands and feet. The world famoust speed climber “Dan Osman” shows us the highest level of Bouldering.

On the other hand there is the “normal” climbing with a Climbing rope and at least a second person who belays you.

The following characteristics give you an overview of this sport:

• health/risks: Climbing is healty because it is very exhausting that you get fit and improve your circulation.
• sex appeal: You get muscels and a high condition. Whenever you climb outside, you get a tan.
• fun factor: If you overcome your fear, you have a lot of fun.
• friends factor: Climbing is not a sport like football. Normally you go climbing with a second or a third person but not with a huge number of people.
• Costs: It will cost a lot of money, if you are a newcomer because you need climbing shoes, climbing harness and the other equipment.
• Expenditure of time: Normally good climbing areas are fare away. It takes a couple of hours to get there.