The Sport Slice

Hey Guys, Hope you all had a great Christmas and ate lots and lots of chocolate! It is a time to indulge after all. But more importantly I hope it was well spent with family and friends! 2018 has been a good year for me and now I am looking forward to 2019 and I am optimistic about what it has to bring. Between my studies, my badminton and my coaching it is sure to be an exciting year.  Anyway back to the topic of Christmas... I don't know about you but I for one know that I ate too much food these past few days... And what better way to burn them off than some simple exercises? In this post I am going to give you guys 8 simple ways to burn off those Christmas calories! For any of you gym goers, you will be sure to enjoy this... 8 ways to burn Christmas Calories: 100g Roast Turkey (101 calories) = 8 minutes of skipping  One mince pie (200 calories) = Rower for 30 minutes 150g slice of cheesecake (440 calories) = Between 63 and 82 minutes of walking 1 individual

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts in the last while it has been a really busy time for me with work and training but I'm back and excited to post some of the topics I have been working on!   For this post anyway, I have decided to discuss briefly about how you can develop your game as a player and how key individuals such as family, friends and coaches in particular can play a role. I think that it is very difficult to get the balance between how much interaction you need. For example, "Do you need you parents at the back of the court?" This can be up for discussion and if I am being totally honest a discussion that could go on for years and years. There is no right or wrong answer. As children, we tend to like having someone at the back of the court or on the sideline to cheer us on and give us that extra bit of motivation. But how much is enough? For me, I grew up having my mum, a great badminton player herself to coach me and I am forever thankful to her for t

Hey guys, for this post I will be briefing you on intermittent fasting (IF) and how it might benefit you. At this moment in time, Intermittent fasting is one of the newest craze's. It is currently one of the World's most popular health and fitness trends. People are starting to use Intermittent Fasting to improve their quality of life as well as it being a way to lose weight.  So, to start of... What is Intermittent Fasting?!? Well IF is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting. This type of fasting doesn't tell you what you should eat, rather when you should eat and hence why it is such a big trend. The standard window for eating during IF would be 8 hours and then for the other 16 hours a day you would be fasting. But depending on your lifestyle this can vary to what suits you.  The reason a lot of people have started IF is because it is an easy way to lose weight. Our bodies can easily cope with it as well though as back before superma

Hey guys, really sorry for the lack of posts recently, it's been a really hectic time for me with work and training but don't worry I have lots of posts planned for the next few weeks as the badminton season draws closer.  For this post, I am just reflecting on a great pre-seasons training over the summer months as the badminton season kicks off again next week! I have some interesting posts planned for the coming weeks and I can't wait to share them with you all! As always, if you have any post suggestions or questions leave me a comment and I will try and answer it in an upcoming post!  Well what a summer that was! And how quick has it gone? Finally, I can say I have had a full pre-season training without no major injuries and I am now prepared for what the new season holds! I am delighted with the effort I have put in over the summer months to get my fitness levels up so that I am ready to go for the new season. It's never easy keeping yourself fit and injur

Hey guys, The world cup came to it's conclusion this afternoon when France took on Croatia to take the crown in a thrilling encounter with goals galore! All football fans were treated to a special final with lots of goals - A penalty, an own goal and a keeper's fumble... But some excellent strikes also, Perisic's goal my favourite! What was yours?!? Not only was it an excellent final but we also saw VAR used in a World Cup final for the first time!! What an exciting time for football! I think you will all agree with me in saying that I am glad the use of VAR didn't directly impact the result of the game - By that I mean it wasn't just the one goal between the teams. As a big footie fan, I am sad to see the end of the World cup, but what a World cup it has been! The highlight for me being Belgium's last grasp winner against Japan and also the superb strike from Nacho in Spain's 3-3 draw with Portugal. Special mention to Pavard with that special goal and also

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since my last post, I have been really busy with starting a new job but i'm ready to get back into it again! In this post I will outline 6 key benefits of listening to music while working out. I always listen to music when working out, especially when running or in the gym and here's why... Music is a good kind of distraction: A study showed that there is more to listening to music than just distraction but it did show that participants who listened to music while working out were less aware of their exertion. A distraction like this has been proven to enhance athletic performance by up to 15 percent. It ups your effort: Listening to music is a key component in my workouts and I find it helps me put in that extra ounce of effort! A study showed that cyclists who listen to music while working out actually work harder when listening to fast music rather than slow music. Songs between 120 and 140 beats per minute were suggested to ha

Hey guys, so for this post I decided to do some research into cold water therapy after training. The post will include the main benefits of this form of recovery with some guided research. Hope you enjoy and can take something from it! Cryotherapy or cold water immersion is used readily in today's world by the top athletes across many different sports as it is seen as an effective way to relieve muscle fatigue and tiredness. But is it the best method? It is seen as common practice in sport from rugby players to elite runners to professional soccer players. But are we right to question it's worth? Let's see what the research says... The theory behind ice baths is related to the fact that intense exercise causes microtrauma, which is tiny tears in your muscle fibers. This type of muscle damage is actually a goal of exercise as it stimulates muscle cell activity and helps repair the damage and strengthen the muscles (muscle hypertrophy). But it is also directly relate

Hey Guys, This is a bit of a different post as I found some interesting facts on Caffeine and it's effect on performance. Caffeine, itself, actually has many benefits in terms of physique and exercise performance.  Coffee is the second most common non-water beverage in the world. Only tea comes in higher. It has been proved that the caffeine in coffee has a host of benefits in terms of exercise performance. Take the gym, for example, a day where you are planning on doing some sets of weights. Caffeine, essentially makes you more alert so you can focus fully on the set you are about to do in the gym. While you are doing the set you will essentially have less fatigue and perceived exertion. In addition, you will have increased power output. To put it lightly, caffeine allows you to do more reps and weight in the gym which pushes you for progressive overload, which is key in building both muscle and strength.  Believe it or not, Caffeine also helps you lose weight! Caffein

Hey guys, so for this post I thought I would talk about coaching styles and how you can develop as a coach. For any of you who are coaches, in any sport, this may be interesting for you. When we think of a coach we think of a leader, a person whom we look up to, a role model. But what is a coach? Who decides to be a coach? How do we become successful coaches? Well, for any coach the main thing is that you develop a philosophy, but not only developing a philosophy. You need to OWN it. The thing is anyone can coach. But successful coaches own their philosophy. They trust themselves to get the best out of their athletes. A successful coach in my opinion is one that develop's a good relationship with their athletes. They communicate and let the athletes have their say. The athlete needs to feel like their opinion is valued. I quite like the philosophy of 'Athletes first, winning second'. This focuses on the development of the athletes rather than winning at all costs. T

Hey Guys, This post is all about muscle recovery including some tips to help your muscles recover quicker. There is nothing worse than sore, aching muscles when you are training!  Are your muscles constantly sore and tired after your training sessions? Read my tips to help you recover faster and become pain free quicker! One of my favourite sayings to keep me motivated: "Don't stop when you're tired, stop when you're done." The following tips aid my recover and allow me to train better!  1. Following high-intensity exercise it is important that you stay hydrated! Water helps to accelerate parasympathetic reactivation. Having a warm bath is another excellent way of hydrating your body as it puts the body into a parasympathetic state, causing increased circulation and vasodilation. 2. A combination of carbohydrate and protein post-exercise has favourable indications for muscle recovery. Carbohydrates are known for replacing lost energy stores but

">Hey guys, so for this post I decided I would talk a little about the wobble board and why I find it so useful for my training and rehabilitation. Such a simple, yet brilliant idea and I love it! If you don't know what a wobble board is, you're mad, but keep reading! It's such a simple thing but it has endless uses and I mean endless! You think your balance is good? Now challenge yourself on the wobble board. This is a wobble board... Such a simple idea but so so effective! If you don't have a wobble board you need to get one! Like now! This piece of equipment is probably one of my favorites and the best thing is you can use it whenever you want in the comfort of your own home. I have had so many ankle injuries, ranging from torn ligaments to tendinitis to a simple sprain and let me tell you this will become your favorite soon enough! I first got a wobble board following the recommendation of my physio, about 5 years ago, and from the day I got it I haven

Hey Guys, Finally finished my exams and my first year of college as a sport science student. I am looking forward to being able to get some more frequent posts up now! Hope you enjoy! For this post, I decided I would research some facts about controlling your hunger, which can actually be quite difficult. Especially in exam season, as some of you may know. Because we students tend to eat anything and everything in sight. Go on, admit it! I know I can be terrible for it anyway! Tired? - Eat. Bored? - Eat. Study break? - Eat. Sound familiar? I think so!  Managing your hunger is one of the key aspects of living a healthy, lean lifestyle.  So if you are one of those people who always seems to be hungry or you find yourself constantly snacking, no matter what the food is check out the following tips I have for controlling your hunger! Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night Weight Training Focus on getting enough daily fiber Split one meal sitting

Hey guys,  Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week I've been really busy with college exams and badminton trips. Anyway, I thought I would post a progress post as the badminton season draws to a close. It's been an eventful few weeks for me after my ankle sprain four weeks ago, when I thought my season was pretty much over. However, my rehab went better than planned and I got back out on the court... just about. Being competitive and wanting to help my teams, of course I wanted to play. My ankle wasn't 100%, but I managed to get through the last two weeks of the season. It's now time for me to rest up properly and allow my ankle to heal.  My first weekend, was a trip to Milton Keynes with the Leinster Senior team where we were in the division one play-offs, with the top two teams being promoted to the English premiership. It was my third year to be a part of this team and it was also our third year in a row to be in the play-offs. We really wanted to go

Hey guys, for this post I will talk a little bit about training our abs and how we should do this. It is something quite interesting that a lot of people tend to be misinformed about.  When we look to tone our abs and get that 'summer body' that we all want we tend to go straight into working the ab muscles only by doing sit ups and crunches. However, research has found that directly training our abs like this is not what makes our abs more defined. Unless you are very lean and your ab muscles are under-developed. Working the abs only does not make them show better! This is a huge myth because we cannot just work the muscle and expect the fat to be spot-reduced. That's not how the body works unfortunately.  If toned abs is what you are looking for then you should try focus on a diet specifically for fat loss around your waist. Your abs are there, they just happen to be covered by a layer of fat so a fat loss diet around the waist may be something that could wor

Hey Guys, So last night saw the end of the badminton at the Commonwealth games and I thought I would give you all a quick round-up. Take a look at the table below and you will see where the medals went! So, to start off with the team event, this was closely contended with India coming out on top securing the gold medal. They beat Malaysia 3-1 in the final which left the Malaysians taking silver. In the bronze medal match, England beat Singapore to ensure the bronze medal was going back to England. In the individual event, the bronze medallists were known first. Malaysia won 2 of these bronze medals in the Men's and Mixed doubles events. England, Scotland and India took the other three medals up for grabs. England's Rajiv Ouseph beat stiff opposition in H.S Prannoy from India, while Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour beat Canada's Michelle Li and finally India's Reddy and Ponappa beat home favorites Mapasa and Somerville.  There were

Hey guys, So at the weekend the All-Ireland Interprovincials took place where I represented the Leinster senior team as well as coaching the Leinster under 15 team.  On Saturday, It was an early start to the day for my under 15 team who started their campaign against Munster. They got off to a flying start winning 9-0, not even dropping a set. What more could I have asked for. Following this win, we set up a clash with Connacht who had narrowly lost out to Ulster 5-4 in the morning match. With a few changes made to my team we lined out against Connacht, winning 9-0 again, dropping only 2 sets. What a brilliant start to the day, which meant we had set up a thrilling final with Ulster. This was anticipated to be one of the tightest affairs but with my team playing some super badminton we outplayed the Ulster team, beating them 7-2. What a day and what a result it was for the Leinster under 15s, which included some Irish under 15 Internationals who will play in the four nations qu

Hey guys, thought I'd change it up a bit this week with the champions league quarter finals on. Who saw THAT goal against Juventus last night? Incredible just incredible.  Question of the week. Is Ronaldo the greatest of all time? After that wonder strike yesterday in Real Madrid's hammering of Juventus it's hard to say no. I have to say I'm not the biggest Ronaldo fan but that goal... Sheer class. The technique, precision, awareness to be able to pull that off in the biggest competition in Europe is very impressive. As the commentator said "He had no right to score that" and it's hard to disagree. Check it out for yourself and prepare to be amazed.  This picture says it all. For a player who is at the best of the game, this is pure magic. The picture speaks a thousand words. All soccer fans can come together in awe of this goal. It's not something you can hate no matter who you support.  Next up... Liverpool V Manchester City and Barc

Hey Guys, so for this post I am going to focus on the mental aspects of sport and what mental skills you require to be a successful athlete. Not only that but I will also discuss some ways of how you can leave your non-sport thoughts at home while training or competing so you can focus solely on the task in hand. A room full of trophies is not what defines a successful athlete. A successful athlete is one who is committed to being the best they can be no matter what their circumstances are and what limitations they may have. Being the best and being the best you can be are two completely different things. It is important that you understand that. These athletes are successful because they are training and playing hard, enjoying their sport and working towards their realistic goals. They believe that what they are putting into their sport is worthwhile and it enriches their lives.  There are nine learned mental skills that contribute to success in sports. These are all learne