Posts Tagged usain bolt

All About Sasha Corbin – From Our England Netball Red Kits Player Series

For netball fans, following your favourite netball players online is cool, for example England netball star Sasha Corbin looks great on her Twitter profile in her red netball kit. She’s been tweeting in the lead up to her birthday and trip to Jamaica: “1 day left til I’m in Jamaica!! 2 days til I’m a year older… 23 on the 23rd:-D that only happens once! I’m practically a big woman:-s”

This England netball player, Sasha Corbin, celebrates her 23rd birthday on 23rd of April 2011. Sasha was born in London in 1988 and studied at Bath University for a degree in Sports Performance.

Sasha got into playing netball because her mother used to play every weekend, and also as it was part of her school PE (physical education) from Year 7. Sasha does mention in a feature on Team Bath’s website, that she took it further also because of the influence of her teacher.

She says that the five words which best describe her are entertaining, dramatic, funny, talented and bootylicious. On court she says that it is the jump and catch to jump pass that best characterises her playing style as she can’t keep her feet on the floor!!

She trained in the circus for pre-season training and she felt that she really tuned into the circus acrobatics. She had a lot of fun and after the training there her body can do some pretty unusual twists. She learnt something else important during her time there: which is that if any group of twenty people truly focus their minds as a group, they can build a human pyramid successfully.

The England netball player’s comments about some of her favourite famous people include saying that:

-She always gets goose pimples from listening to Lauren Hill
-Usain Bolt is a legend and the fastest man in the world
-She loves Beyonce

Earlier this year, in February Sasha was signed to Hertfordshire Mavericks, which meant she left Team Bath. This move meant that Sasha could move back to London, where she is from, and she started her new job of coaching in the borough of Haringey. Playing alongside other England netball players, such as Karen Atkinson, Naida Hutchinson and Louisa Brownfield should have a positive effect on Sasha and all of them in preparation for the Netball World Championships in Singapore 3rd to 10th July.

Sasha and the rest of the England International Netball squad’s participate in the tour to Jamaica, which offers an ideal opportunity for challenging competition before July’s World Championships.

Let’s cheer on Sasha and the rest of the England netball girls, and wish them luck for Jamaica and in July of course for the World Championships. Happy Birthday to Sasha for 23 on the 23rd April, and let’s hope that the England’s versatile netball kits assist the girls to victory!

Your Olympic Stars Take Breaks Too!

“When we train everyday, sometimes there are workouts you don’t like, don’t want to do. Bob says you’re putting money in the bank. I guess I put a lot of money in the bank over the last four years, and we withdrew pretty much every penny in the bank. After Bob and I both grab a little break, it’ll be time to start depositing”. — Michael Phelps

The Beijing Olympics is arguably the best Olympics in history because of the number of records broken and the glamour that the Chinese government put into the ceremonies. I was personally amazed by the feats of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone, Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili and Guo Jingjing. These athletes stood out from all the rest because of the character they showed in victory and defeat. They worked hard to represent their respective countries and they deserve all the admiration of the world. The above quote by Michael Phelps says it all— it’s all about “depositing and withdrawing” and look what he has achieved. What struck me the most is the fact that he mentioned “taking a break”. Yes, that’s one of the reasons why he is successful!

Athletes are credited for their supreme performance. Their training regimen is usually mentioned in commentaries. What the commentators fail to mention is the fact that these athletes take breaks as well.

Breaks have physical and psychological benefits. Rest is part of the success triangle which includes intense workouts and proper nutrition. Without rest, you will go NOWHERE!

PHYSICAL BENEFITS: The body needs to recoup. If you don’t give it time to recover, you will be fatigued and chances are, you won’t perform to your peak performance. When people ask me if training 8 hours a day is what a boxer does to maintain peak form, the answer is NO. A boxer trains with a lot of intensity: running in the morning and general boxing specific workouts in the afternoon. When they are not scheduled for a fight, they tend to disappear from the gym scene. The bottom line is, if they do this (intense boxing activity) 365 days a year/ 8 hours a day they are headed for disaster. The same principle applies to you. Take breaks during the week, don’t overtrain and avoid the plateau effect. There is no physical benefit in terms of improvements to an over- fatigued body.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS: You only get to be “in the zone” for so much time. The mind should also be given a break or else the athlete will crash. Boxing is a sport that requires a lot of sacrifice. Dieting while working out intensely is hard for the mind and body. Although it would keep you focused on the price, being in this situation 365 days a year would be too much. I value intensity but the mind deserves to relax. Consider doing yoga, meditation or anything relaxing to provide balance to your life.

I appreciate the fact that my students work hard in the training. It is good to push the body to its limits but it is not healthy to keep on doing that day in and day out. Take a break from your usual routines— take days off in between workouts— recoup, sleep and enjoy the rest of your day.

Learn from the Olympians. I am sure that after the hardwork that they all put into the Olympics, and all of the fun things that they weren’t able to do while in training for the biggest worldwide spectacle. Listen to the news online and on TV about these athletes—- then do the same thing. I’m sure it won’t cover anything much about working out.

Let me leave you one of my philosophies in training: You workout to prolong your life so enjoy it!