Maxed Out

My home weights' maximum is 165 pounds, 215 if you add my ankle weights to the bar. Today I planned on doing power cleans and other similar exercises, but because I have not read in detail of the proper form of power cleans (which I plan to soon), I only did deadlifts. At the school gym I was deadlifting 225 pounds with a mixed grip for 4 sets of 5 reps. I was using 45 pound plates, which brought the bar higher on my legs, so the range of motion was less than if I used my home weights (25 pounders). It is ideal if the weights are 45 pounders because that range of motion makes it much harder to lose proper form, which is the most important part of lifting. Because I am just a weep bit flexible, I could maintain a straight back while deadlifting with my 25 pound plates. I warmed up with a set of 5x60 pounds, then 5x110, 5x140, 5x160, 5x175 and finally 3x205. Once I finished my warmup I did 215 for 5 reps for 5 sets. Thus I maxed out my home weights. I could do more reps, but with fatigue I risk losing good form and them risk injuring myself. I personally don't think anyone should deadlift for much more than 8-10 reps per set.

So what should I use now? I should not just consider myself done with pulling weights off the floor. You know what? I'm going to get more into my reading and learn the power clean! That's an exercise that I'm pretty sure I could do well at once I know how to do it. I've read that the power clean also has great carryover to track and field because it's an explosive movement. If that's the case, then I have yet another reason to work on power cleaning!

Arms For Jumping!

Everyone should know that you use your arms (not only your legs) when jumping. I knew this, but I was just wondering to myself randomly a few minutes ago: how much do the arms aid in my jumping! Here's what I did:

First I went on our scale. I weighed in at 162 pounds. I then tried throwing my arms up as fast and hard as I could. I used no leg movement and very little core movement. I repeated this process for a bit to see if I could improve on my numbers. As I threw my hands in the air, I closely observed the scale.

I'd say that the average weight I took off at the peak of my arm swing was about 65-70 pounds, and my "record" was a little over 80 pounds. That means that because I weigh 162 pounds, and I peaked at -80 pounds, I nearly cut my weight in half by just swinging my arms! Obviously my legs, hips and core can generate more force than my arm swing, but I found it pretty interesting that my arm swing took off half my weight. So, all I need to with my legs is generate 80 pounds of force (pretty easy) and I could lift myself off (barely) the ground.

This is totally random, but I found it interesting, hope you did!

Speeding is Good

This was my final paper: my choice paper. I chose the genre... and as you could probably tell, I chose all my topics for my papers. I received an "A+" on this paper. You can not really get an "A+" in college, but because it only had two mistakes when he first saw it and he learned from it, he gave me an A+. Made me pretty happy!

Speeding in a car down the roadway may not be good for one’s health, but on the other hand, sprinting is. Sprinting improves cardiovascular health, athleticism, increases muscle size, and once someone is good at it, it can be quite fun. How does one become good at sprinting? Becoming a faster sprinter may seem simple: just become faster. Someone becomes faster from just running, right? Not really. There are much more efficient and fun ways to become a faster sprinter.

Just running for miles and miles is not the best way to increase speed. To be honest, running for miles and miles can get really boring and might even slow some people down. Before getting into exercise strategies to increase speed, it is necessary to describe what makes someone faster. To become faster, one must become leaner, improve running technique, improve flexibility, become more powerful, create a stronger core and be more explosive (being able to activate muscle fibers faster).

Becoming faster can be a fun, but difficult process. If someone is overweight, one of the first things that person must do is get rid of excess body fat. It is of utmost importance to lose excess body fat to become faster. To lose weight safely, one should keep a healthy diet, perform moderate weight lifting and moderate aerobic exercise. Going from overweight and doing little to no exercise to doing extreme exercise in attempt to lose weight quickly increases injury risk (Irish Times).

The next most important thing to do to increase sprinting speed is to improve sprinting technique and form. If someone is lean, powerful and overall very fit but has ugly form, that person could be beaten in a race by someone who is in slightly worse physical condition, but has better sprinting form. Not only does having good sprinting form make someone faster, it also decreases the chance of injury. I personally experienced this when I ran with poor form and experienced knee pain and shin splints. Both of those injuries sidelined me of the sports I was playing at the time. I fixed my form and have not had any running injuries since then.

Once a sprinter knows what proper sprinting form is and how to execute it, the sprinter should practice his or her form to perfect it. Doing so will also train the muscles and the central nervous system to function and work properly while sprinting.

Becoming flexible helps sprinters in more ways than one, thus flexibility exercises should be included in any sprinter’s workout regimen. Being flexible decreases a sprinter’s chance of injury, and being flexible also allows a sprinter to have longer strides, both of which are very important for sprinters (American Journal of Sports Medicine). Dynamic stretching (stretching while moving) and static stretching (holding a position in which a muscle is stretched) are both effective at increasing flexibility. Dynamic stretching should be part of a sprinter’s warm-up before exercising, while static stretching should be used in a sprinter’s cool down after exercising.

Sprinting is a movement that requires a lot of power (Smirniotou). A very effective way to improve power is through weight lifting. For a beginner, any kind of weight lifting will improve power. After a month or so of weight training, a sprinter should focus on heavier weights that work more muscle groups. Lifting heavy weights work the fast twitch muscle fibers (the muscle fibers that are used for speed) more than lifting light weights does.

What is considered a “heavy weight” when lifting? Lifting a weight that can only be lifted for 2 to 6 repetitions is considered a “heavy weight” and will usually give sprinters optimal results. Lifting a weight that can only be lifted for only one repetition is very heavy, but will give very little results. Lifting a weight that can be lifted for 7 to 12 repetitions will give a sprinter a lot of muscle and power, but eventually will build more muscle than necessary, which could slow a sprinter down. Lifting a weight that can be lifted for more than 12 repetitions is too light and will increase endurance, which is ideal for endurance athletes, but not sprinters.

For sprinting, some people may think that they should only train their leg muscles, but that is not the case. When sprinting, the arms and core are heavily involved. Pumping the arms back and forth is necessary to maintain speed and proper form while sprinting. The core keeps the body upright and stops the sprinter from twisting his or her body too much while sprinting. Powerlifting movements (squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press) are effective for increasing power and core strength, thus should be used by any serious athlete (Brown).

    Even though powerlifting heavy weights builds a strong core (Brown), sometimes that will not be enough work for a sprinter’s core. Doing core exercises, such as plank variations and hanging leg raise variations are helpful to strengthen the core for sprinting.

Doing plyometrics (exercise involving repeated rapid stretching and contracting of muscles to increase muscle power) is another very effective way to train for speed (Stein). A few good plyometric exercises are jump squats, box jumps, quick feet, clapping pushups and almost any other jumping exercise. Doing plyometrics will increase the power of the concentric (contraction) movement of the muscles (Hannusch). It does so by exercising muscles while they are in a eccentric (stretched) position. In simpler terms, plyometrics put tension on a stretched muscle to improve explosive power (Hannusch). Plyometrics are extremely effective at increasing speed, but should only be used by advanced athletes. A beginner or an out of shape athlete can easily injure themselves by doing plyometrics (Irish Times).

    Some sprinters have trouble bringing their knees high enough while sprinting. Core exercises, hill sprints, technique practice, increased flexibility and some plyometrics should aid in taking care of this problem.
    Some long distance runners do not want to add sprinting to his or her routine because he or she might assume sprinting will not help him or her with long distance running. This assumption is not valid. If a long distance runner’s long distance running is mostly replaced by sprinting, then yes, sprinting will not improve his or her long distance running. If sprint workouts are only added once or twice a week, his or her long distance runs will likely improve. Doing sprint workouts teaches runners to bring their knees higher, which most long distance runners could improve on. Sprint workouts will also increase muscle strength, which helps prevent injuries and increase overall speed. Not to mention, someone can burn more calories in less time from interval sprinting rather than from long distance running.

Sprinting and sprint training are very good for one’s health. Being a good sprinter aids in almost any sport, provides better overall health and will improve one’s physique. Remember, for someone to become a faster sprinter he or she should keep his or her diet in check, lose excess body fat, improve his or her running form, strengthen his or her core, become more powerful, flexible, and explosive.

Works Cited

Brown, Scott. "Powerlifting is Not about Building Bulk." Nanaimo Daily News: 8. ProQuest

Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Jan 29 2004. Web. 1 Dec. 2012 .

Smirniotou, A., et al. "Strength-Power Parameters as Predictors of Sprinting Performance."

Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 48.4 (2008): 447-54. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

"Hamstring Injuries in Sprinters. the Role of Concentric and Eccentric Hamstring Muscle

Strength and Flexibility." American Journal of Sports Medicine 22 (1994): 262-6. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.

Hannusch, Jeff. "Add Plyometrics to Training to Increase Strength, Speed." Times - Picayune

(pre-1997 Fulltext): 0. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Sep 07 1994. Web. 4 Dec. 2012 .

"Losing Out to Extreme Exercise." Irish Times: 17. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand.

Nov 18 2008. Web. 4 Dec. 2012 .

Stein, Jeannine. Los, Angeles T. "Working the Whole Body `Functional Fitness' Takes Broader

Approach to Building Health." Journal - Gazette: 0. Dec 25 2005. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 6 Dec. 2012 .

Community Little Theatre’s The Wiz

This is my literary review paper. I had to write a review on a book or on a local performance, movie or something like that... I received an A on this paper, and then my professor asked if he could have a copy to give to the director!

On November 1 and 10, I went to watch the live performance of The Wiz. The Wiz was

put on by the Community Little Theatre (CLT) in Auburn, Maine and was directed by Nakesha K. Myrick, who was assisted by Mitchell C. Thomas; The Wiz was originally written by William F. Brown and the music was written by Charlie Small; its first performance was put on in 1975 (Ledingham). Brown wrote the The Wiz as a spin-off of the classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was written by Frank L. Baum and published in 1900 (Greenberg). The Wiz is basically the same story as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but was made to represent the rough times the African Americans went through in the 1970s. Throughout the play, we were given illusions to the poverty and rough conditions of the African Americans.

The Wiz had almost the same plot as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so I will not describe the whole story. The only variations from the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz I noticed were: almost everyone in the cast was an African American; the set in Oz looked similar to a run down city; the songs were much different (better, in my opinion) from the original; Dorothy’s slippers were sliver, not ruby; and we met both of the good witches. CLT’s performance also put in a few jokes here and there about the recent election and some “Maine jokes”, which added some good humor to the play.

From what I could see, the performance’s only flaw was that there was a few times in

which I could not hear a few actors sing or speak. This happened both nights, the second night was nowhere near as bad the first night. Besides the few times in which I could not hear the actors, the singing was superb. I have been to countless musicals put on by CLT and I think it is fair to say that the singing in The Wiz was their best. Aunt Em (played by Lena Warren) deserves a special mention. Even though she only sang one song, I would say she was the best singer in the performance.

The acting was great, all of the main characters were very well developed. The actors and

actresses managed to remain in their characters the entire performance, which I as an actor know can be pretty difficult. The actors and actresses had energy throughout the whole performance, yet another difficult feat accomplished.

In the past, a lot of CLT’s costuming was quite cheesy, however, that was not the case with The Wiz. They did a great job creating the costumes, especially the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow’s costumes. Their costumes made them almost seem real! As for the witches, they could have got away with almost anything, but CLT really excelled my expectations on the witches’ costumes: the witches’ dresses were all unique and well done. As for the Wizard? I loved his costume; it fit his character perfectly. The rest of the cast had decent costuming, but nothing that stood out.

A majority of CLT’s cast were children. The children and some adults played all the

Munchkins, the Flying Monkeys, the Winkies, the Crows and the Citizens of Oz. In acting, it can be hard to work with young children, but CLT did wonderfully directing the kids: they sang and danced very well. There were times where the kids had the whole crowd saying “Awe...”, which was fantastic.

After the play, I asked around what people thought. Almost everyone said, “I loved it!” or

“It was great!” Quite a few people said it was a great performance, but they wished that they could have heard the actors throughout the entire play, because there were times where they could not hear anything the actors were saying. My sister said she really liked the jazzy theme of the play. After the performance, my friend, Jenna said, “I don’t usually like musicals, so I wasn’t expecting to like it...but I loved this one!” Anyone who likes musicals or even someone who does not enjoy musicals would probably have enjoyed CLT’s performance of The Wiz.

Works Cited

Greenberg, Josh, Contributing W. "Wizard of Words L. Frank Baum Created the Endearing

Fantasy Land of Oz Walking the Walk." Syracuse Herald American: 17. Oct 06 1996. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 8 Dec. 2012 .

Ledingham, Jo. "L. Frank Baum Classic Meets Lady Gaga, Sarah Palin; Pop Culture-Infused

Wiz Eases on Down the Road." Vancouver Courier: 36. Apr 29 2011. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 14 Nov. 2012 .

The Wiz. By William F. Brown and Charlie Small. Dir. Nakesha K. Myrick and Mitchell C.

Thomas. Cond. Paul G. Caron. Chor. Audrey Martin and Tiffany Warren. Community Little Theatre, Auburn, Maine. 10 Nov. 2012. Performance.

Fight the Epidemic

Persuasive! I received an A on this paper.

America has a serious epidemic on its hands. That epidemic is obesity. Obesity in America has risen from 12 percent in 1991 to 19.8 percent in 2001 (Condor, America's Obesity). That’s a 7.8 percent increase in 10 years. That is only the obese. Someone can be overweight, but not obese. 45 percent of Americans were overweight in 1991, which rose to 56.4 percent in 2001 (Condor, America's Obesity). That’s a whopping 10.4 percent increase in 10 years! In 2011, some researchers from Britain predicted that 52 percent of the American population would be obese by the year 2021 (Sutton Coldfield Observer). That is, unless we fight it.

Before getting into fighting this epidemic, I will explain what exactly defines someone as obese or overweight. To be defined as overweight, someone’s body mass index (BMI) must be between 25 and 30. To be defined as obese someone must have a BMI over 30. To estimate someone’s BMI, follow these 4 steps. I will use a man weighing 158 pounds at 68 inches for an example, so that it is easier to understand. For me to estimate this man’s BMI, I need to multiply his bodyweight in pounds by 0.45 (158 x .45 = 71.1). Then I will multiply his height in inches by .025 (68 x .025 = 1.7). Next, I have to multiply Answer 2 by itself (1.7 x 1.7 = 2.89). Finally, I will divide Answer 1 by Answer 3 for his estimated BMI (71.1 divided by 2.89 = 24.6) (Condor, America's Obesity). Note that if someone is muscular and has reduced body fat, then having a BMI over 30 is not a sign of obesity (Condor, America's Obesity).

I will be honest, when I see someone who is at a healthy body weight, I think they tend to have a better looking physique than someone who is overweight or obese, but obesity does more than just negatively affect physique. Obesity is terrible for one’s health. Obesity greatly increases the chance of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Condor, America's Obesity and Edelman, Robin). Obesity also decreases the chances of survival if one is diagnosed with certain kinds of cancer (Edelman, Robin).

Obesity is a real, widespread and very dangerous problem and we must fight it. This fight begins in the kitchen. If anyone struggles with his or her weight, he or she must keep his or her diet in check to fight obesity at home. Tracking his or her calorie intake to make sure he or she is in a healthy calorie range is extremely important. If that someone eats more calories than that person burns, that person will gain weight. Fast food and junk food are usually very high in calories. That’s a good reason in and of itself to avoid junk food, not to mention all the useless sugars, salts, fats and empty carbs from junk food. Here are some examples of good foods to eat: lean proteins (chicken, fish, etc); non-meat proteins (nuts, soy, etc); vegetables (lots and lots of vegetables); whole grain carbohydrates (whole grain breads, oatmeal, etc); fiber (vegetables, oatmeal, fruits, etc); healthy fats (fish oil, olive oil, etc) and water. Here are some foods to avoid: processed carbs (white bread, pasta, etc); foods high in bad fats (red meat, bacon, cheese, butter, mayonnaise, etc); processed sugars and artificial sweeteners (candy, cakes, pies, ice cream, soda, most desserts).

There have been millions of studies on food, but overall, just eating a clean and healthy diet should be fine, just everyone should make sure to keep his or her servings in check. Large portions of healthy foods are still large portions, which still equals more calories than necessary.

Enough about diet, lets get in the fun part of fighting obesity: exercise. Obviously, working out burns calories. Someone can lose weight without exercising, but that person would have to eat less and would get slower and less appealing results than they would if they exercised. Let us say someone was trying to lose weight and was not exercising. Assume they were eating 2,000 calories a day and expending 2,250 calories a day. They would lose a little weight, but not much. Now if that person would start exercising everyday and burn 500 calories every workout, that person could eat up to 500 more calories a day and still lose the same amount as they were before, or they could only eat a few more calories and lose weight at a faster rate. Dieting without exercise can lead to not only losing body fat, but also can lead to losing muscle and bone (Hellmich, Nanci), yet another reason to exercise.

What are the best exercises to lose fat? Combining weightlifting with aerobics (also known as cardiovascular exercise) is probably the best way to lose fat. This is because aerobics burn a lot of calories during a workout, but will not burn many after a workout (Laura, S. J.). Weightlifting on the other hand, will burn less calories during a workout, but will burn more calories during recovery from a workout (Condor, Weights Give a Great Lift). Bob Condor explains this in his article “Weights Give a Great Lift: Strength Training, Advocates Say, Redefines Body at any Stage of Life”. He says, “When a person lifts weights, it causes micro tears in muscle fibres. During the next couple of days, the body repairs the "damage" and builds the muscle even stronger. As we build more muscle, more calories are required to keep the muscle nourished. As a result, the body will burn more overall calories and fat.” (Condor, Weights Give a Great Lift). Furthermore, weightlifting combined with aerobics will make someone look better (Hellmich, Nanci). If one can not get themselves into weight training and aerobics, then playing a sport he or she enjoys on a regular basis would be better than not exercising at all.

How could someone help in this fight against the obesity epidemic? I already explained two simple ways to help fight this epidemic: eat healthy and exercise. Some people may think, “How on earth will just me exercising and eating healthy fight obesity?”, One way is that they are ridding themselves of obesity, so that is one less person to add to the obesity statistics. Another way is that they may inspire their friends and family to exercise and eat healthy, removing them from the statistics as well. Their friends and family then could inspire their friends, which could create a domino effect.

Works Cited

Condor, Bob. "America's Obesity Crisis Grows again." Chicago Tribune: 3. Nov 18 2001.

ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 30 Oct. 2012 .

Condor, Bob. "Weights Give a Great Lift: Strength Training, Advocates Say, Redefines Body at

any Stage of Life." The Gazette: 0. Aug 13 2001. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 1 Nov. 2012 .

Edelman, Robin. "Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease." Nutrition Today 40.3

(2005): 119-25. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 31 Oct. 2012.

"Frightening Statistic Over Obesity in America that Will Happen here Unless we Fight it." Sutton

Coldfield Observer: 44. Nov 25 2011. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 30 Oct. 2012 .

Hellmich, Nanci. "Lifting Weights Helps You Lose Fat and Look Better." The Province: 0.

Jun 08 1998. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 3 Nov. 2012 .

Laura, S. J. "Cardio Vs. Weights: The Battle is Over." The Washington Post: 0. Apr 24 2007.

ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand; The Washington Post. Web. 1 Nov. 2012 .

You Probably Do Not Lift Things Right

Here's my informative! I received an A- on this paper.

Do you actually know how to properly lift something heavy up off the floor? There is a pretty good chance that you do not. Alison Smith, a chiropractor, referring to Americans, states, "Eighty percent of back injuries could have been prevented if they had known how to do the proper lifting techniques. But statistics indicate the average American has not the foggiest idea how to prevent back problems..." (Smith). From this information we can conclude that the most common cause for back injuries is lifting improperly. I will explain to you how to lift things up the right way.

Before we even get into describing how to lift things up, let me explain the difference between an arched and a curved back. The “S” shape of your spine is its natural curvature (Smith). When you make a “S” shape in your back while standing or sitting that is an arched back. The natural “S” in your back can be used interchangeably with a “straight back”. When you make a “C” shape with back, it is curved, which can develop from bad posture and laziness. Obviously, these examples are a bit exaggerated, but you can get the gist of it.

Lifting something up can depend on the object’s weight, but it is best just to always use proper lifting technique. If it is something light, like a sock or a notebook, then lifting it up with improper form is not all that bad, but it would not be all that good either, especially if you make a habit of it. Breaking the habit of lifting things up the wrong way is very difficult. Believe me, I am still breaking my bad habits. To break your bad habit, I recommend always trying to use good lifting form, even for your socks. To prevent injury when you are lifting up something heavy, like a TV, a loaded barbell or a couch, you better be using proper lifting technique. Always trying to keep good posture will improve the muscle memory in your back, eventually making good posture a habit, not a chore. Once good posture is a habit, it will be less likely that you will slip out of good lifting technique and injure your back.

How do you use good, strict form? Let me explain. Remember that you must maintain the natural arch in your back. Maintaining the proper “S” in the back is the most important factor when lifting, according to Alison Smith. To get low enough to lift something you will have to bend at your knees, hips, and a little bit in your ankles. From there, grab the object and push through your legs to lift it up. That is the basics of lifting things up.

You might be wondering how to hold the arch of your back. If you have a poor muscle-mind connection with your back muscles this could be difficult. A good way to help maintain your arched back is to tense the muscles in the lower back, suck in your gut, and lock your shoulders back. To lock your shoulders in the right position just roll your shoulders back and down and tense the muscles you feel being used, this will engage and tighten your upper back muscles. Do all of the above while lifting, and you should be able to maintain the arch of your back. Be aware that if you have tight hamstrings, your hamstrings will pull your lower back down, making your spine curve.

As I told you already, the most important thing when lifting to is keeping your back straight. Keeping a straight back may be the most important part of lifting, but there is more to it. You should have figured out by now that if you are going to bend down without curving your spine you need use your legs. There is a wrong and a right way to use your legs. As a kid I was told to “lift with my knees”, but that puts the wrong image in my mind. Granted, it is better than lifting with only my back, but when I hear “lift with your knees” I think of someone bending mainly the knees and the ankles. If you do squat down with that form, your knees will travel past your toes, putting most the of stress from the weight in your knees.

If mainly bending at the knees and ankles puts too much stress on your knees and bending in the lower back puts too much stress in your lower back, how do you lift properly? You must bend at the hips as well. Actually, you should bend almost exactly the same amount as you do in your hips as you bend in your knees. When you bend too much in the ankles and the knees, the stress from your body weight and the object you are picking up are transferred to your knee tendons. Doing so will cause knee pain and eventually knee injury. On the other hand, bending more in your hips will transfer the stress on the knee tendon to your gluteus maximus (your butt). The gluteus maximus is much stronger than your knee tendons, so the gluteus maximus would not get injured from a heavy load. A good cue to use the right amount of hip movement is to push your butt out as you bend down to lift the object. You might look weird, but your knees and spine will thank you later. If you are still having trouble not letting your knees travel past your toes, try pushing through your heels instead of the balls of your feet.

It is nearly impossible to keep your back straight while not letting your knees travel past your toes if you have a narrow stance. When you are lifting something heavy, you will need to have a slightly wider than shoulder width stance to keep good lifting technique. Doing so will also give you more power to lift heavier objects with more ease.

When you pick something up, you will have to put it down eventually. All you have to do is the same exact thing as your did when lifting, but in reverse. Simple? Yes, it really is simple this time.

A good way to teach yourself good lifting mechanics is to work on deadlifting. The deadlift is a full body exercise. It teaches proper lifting technique while giving you immense strength. The basics of lifting apply to deadlifting, but describing exact deadlifting form is another, longer topic. One lesson I learned from deadlifting that I can share with you is when lifting heavy objects you must keep the weight close to you as possible. The farther away the object is, the less leverage you have, and more strain is placed on your lower back. If you lift things up in your life, I highly recommend you learn to deadlift. You might think you can not deadlift because you have had a back injury. Of course you should check with your doctor first, but Henderson (now a powerlifter) had a back injury when he was 19 years old and now does some serious deadlifting (Thew). Thew also says that weight lifting (specifically deadlifting) improved Henderson’s life.

Remember when lifting something up, keep your back straight, use your legs to lift, do not allow your knees to travel past your toes. Repeat that process in the reverse direction to put the object down. Finally, remember it is probably a pretty good idea to learn deadlifting technique.

Works Cited

Smith, Alison. "SPINAL ACCORD // Chiropractors Take Firm Posture on Prevention of Back

Injuries." Austin American Statesman: 1. Jun 06 1989. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Thew, Chris C. "Lifting His Way Out of Abyss ; Champion Powerlifter Henderson Lived with

Back Pain; Until He Discovered Healing Power of Weights." Spokesman Review: 0. Jan 18 2002. ProQuest Central; ProQuest Newsstand. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Dangerously Dehydrated

Hey folks! I'm posting my essays I wrote for college writing on here. My first one was on hiking Mount Katahdin... I kind of change the story a little to make it more intense and compact. I received an A on this paper, even though I thought it did not deserve an A.

The struggle began on July 26, 2012: Nine of my friends and I had to climb Mount Katahdin, which stands at 5,268 feet high, making it the tallest mountain in Maine (Houghton Mifflin). Our group was composed of mostly teenage guys: Daniel, Jake, and Kenan were all pretty athletic and around 13 years old, Joel, Nick and Douglas were not quite as conditioned and were in their late teens or early 20s, but had naturally athletic builds, Colleen and Linnea were the only girls, but both were pretty fit and lightweight, Mr. Estes who was in his forties (our leader) was extremely athletic as a kid...and that carried over to now, me? I am kind of a health freak, so I made sure I was in pretty good shape.

At 8:00 am, we packed up our campsite and started up the mountain. I packed warm clothes, knowing that it usually was very windy and cold above the tree line. Because all of my extra clothes added some weight to my backpack, I got rid of some water to lighten my load. Everyone else just wanted to have a lighter load, so they packed even less water than I did. That was our first and biggest mistake.

The first mile or so was easy. It was not too hot, it was not too cold and I felt a nice burn in my legs. Our group quickly broke into three groups due to varying paces. I was in the middle third of our group with Nick, Joel, and Douglas. The four of us had to keep making stops for the slowest third of the group, so our overall pace was not that great. The slow pace got us caught in hot and humid weather near the base of the mountain, causing us to get quite sweaty. That was not good: we needed all the water we could get, and sweating excessively was not going help to retain that water. After going through one of my four water bottles, we arrived at Chimney Pond. Chimney Pond was about three miles from the start of our hike. We took a break while our leader, Mr. Estes, checked us in at the Ranger’s Station. We were behind schedule, so our break was brief. Our next goal was to reach Pamola Peak. The hike up to Pamola Peak via Dudley trail was only about one and half miles. Kenan and I bragged to the rest of the group saying, “Eh, that’s nothing. We can run that distance on flat ground in about ten minutes!” Mr. Estes just chuckled and continued on, knowing it was not going to be that easy. He was right. It was nowhere near flat ground and was pretty darn steep. My legs and lungs were on fire most of the hike from then on. I would have actually prefered it to be a little steeper so it would not be awkward to use my hands. Of course it had to be at that point where your legs had to do almost all of the work. All this work caused me to sweat even more.

Our group stopped at a sign about half way between Chimney Pond and Pamola Peak that pointed to a detour we could take to look at some caves. It was only a “one half of a mile” detour and caves are pretty cool, so why not? We left our bags at the sign and headed over. The sign said it was a one half of a mile detour, but it felt like much more than that. Not to mention “one half of a mile” was only one way and we still had to go back to our bags after spelunking through the caves. We did not bring any water on our “little” detour, so by the time we got back to our bags everyone was parched. We all drank a bunch of water. I even poured a little water on my head to cool off, not knowing I would do anything for that water six hours later. Within the next hour, we hit the tree line. By that time, half of my water was gone. I figured it was going to be windy and chilly up above tree line, so I would not sweat nearly as much. Because I would not sweat as much, I probably would not need as much water! I was dead wrong. It was a little less humid, but there was no wind, no shade from the sun, and it was hot. It was then I realized that I really needed to ration my water. After climbing for another hour or two, Kenan, Jake, Daniel, Douglas and I made it to Pamola Peak. I only had one water bottle left, which was 32 ounces, but I still had quite the hike ahead of me: Knife’s Edge and the descent. Around 2:00 P.M. everyone arrived at Pamola Peak, we ate, discussed the water problem and were in awe of the majestic view. Nick started the discussion about water off, “Guys, I think I am going to run out of water long before I get down.” I replied, “Yeah, me too-” as I showed them that I only had one water bottle left, thinking I had the least. Until I was shown everyone else’s water supply and realized I was not going to get water from any of them because everyone else had less water than me.

Now, you may have noted we were at Pamola Peak, not Baxter Peak. Baxter Peak is the highest peak of Mount Katahdin. We hiked this far, so we had to finish off the whole thing! Knife’s Edge was between us and Baxter Peak. Knife’s Edge is one mile long. It has a few extremely steep parts, but only in short spurts. The rest of it has only a slight incline. The trail on Knife’s Edge was only one or two feet wide, with steep drops on either side. The challenge was staying balanced while looking at the epic view. Luckily, no one fell off the mountain while going across Knife’s Edge, although I did bruise my shin on a rock while climbing one of the steep parts, but I am used to bruising my shins from playing years of soccer.

Jake, Kenan, Daniel and I were the first ones to Baxter Peak! Of course, as guys we had to flex and yell out our victory back at everyone else. The problem with the (or lack of) water was getting worse, because Douglas and few others already ran out of water on Knife’s Edge. Douglas drank two energy drinks to quench his thirst after he ran out of water despite the fact that I told him many times most energy drinks are dehydrating.

As we enjoyed the great view of the peak we had a snack. I had a Clif Bar and an apple. The apple tasted glorious. Probably just because the apple was extremely juicy and my body needed all the liquid it could get. After we ate our fill, we started our descent down Saddle trail, an easier but longer trail than Dudley trail. It was still very hot and sunny, which made me eager to get below the tree line. Sadly, Linnea hit her knee pretty hard while going across Knife’s Edge, which slowed her down dramatically. Mr. Estes walked with Linnea and he also carried her bag. The rest of us went ahead, then stopped for 10-20 minutes to let Linnea and Mr. Estes catch up. We repeated this process for a hour or so hour until Mr. Estes told us we could go on ahead as long as we waited for them at Chimney Pond. My right knee ached from a past sports injury, putting me in the slower half of the group on the way down, that is, not including Mr. Estes and Linnea. When we were about two hours from Chimney Pond we all were out of water, except me. I had about two mouthfuls of warm water that I was saving for when my mouth became even more sticky and dry. I could tell everyone was dehydrated: Many, if not all of us were complaining about having headaches, feeling light headed, having try throats, and a lot of muscle spasms. Little did I know, these were also signs of heat stroke (Grizzly Gazette), which can become deadly if not taken care of (Morris).

By 6:00 P.M. most of us finally returned to Chimney Pond. Seeing the pond that we could not drink without the risk of getting some strange sickness made us even more thirsty. We waited there for a couple hours for Mr. Estes and Linnea and Nick. Turns out, Nick had a leg spasm so bad it pinched a nerve so he could not even bend his left leg, slowing him down to slower than Linnea’s pace. When the trio showed up, we gave them a rest and then told the ranger we were all on our way down. Only three miles left until we arrive at the van where all our extra water was. My month became sticky and dry during the first mile, so I decided to drink the last of my warm water. Despite it being warm water, it tasted amazing. As I began to swallow my first mouth full of water I coughed, wasting half of my water. My parched throat could not handle that much fluid yet. With the rest of my water I decided to drink slowly so I could keep it down. That water helped, but not much: I was still very dehydrated. Douglas (who was walking with me at the time) told me: “I can’t flex my calf without it spazzing out! Kinda cool!” This was even more proof that he was extremely dehydrated, yet he could keep up his good humor (Morris).

After walking for awhile, I noticed two things. The first thing I noticed was that I was not sweating anymore, and neither was Douglas. This struck a memory: One day during track one of my teammates stopped sweating during an intense work... he continued with the workout, then passed out after finishing a quarter mile sprint. If that was a sign of what was to come, this last part of the hike was not going to be pleasant. I then prayed silently: “Please Lord, let the rest of this hike me incident free, amen.” The second thing I noticed was that it was getting dark. With a slightly raspy voice Douglas said: “Great, it’s getting dark and my flashlight isn’t working.”

It was quite dark for the last mile, but we could still make out most of the ground beneath us, so it was not too much of a problem. Finally, we reached bottom, incident free, but a few stubbed toes. Kenan, Jake, Colleen, and Daniel were already at the van, each of them already drank at least a full water bottle. Douglas, Joel (right behind us) and I also drank a full water bottle each. Slowly everyone else showed up, all very dehydrated. We all survived, but were lucky: thousands of people die every year from heat stroke (Morris). We had a grand hike, even though we all were dehydrated and on the brim of having heat stroke (Morris). Call us crazy (or stupid), but some of us hiked again the very next day... but believe me, we brought a whole ton more water, even though it was a rainy day!

Works Cited

Grizzly Gazette "Signs and Symptoms of Heat Stroke and Heat Exhaustion." CanWest Digital

Media [Swan Hills, Alta., Canada] 2012: 8. ProQuest Central. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/1024845276?accountid=40168>.

Morris, Chris. "Guard against Heat Stroke in Hot Weather; Muscle Cramps, Dizzyness Early

Signs of Trouble for Athletes and Children Dehydrated during Outdoor Activities." CanWest Digital Media [Moncton, N.B. Canada] 2007: B2. ProQuest Central. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/422947659?accountid=40168>.

The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Geography "Katahdin, Mount." Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 1997. Credo Reference. Web. 28 September 2012.