Attribution: By get directly down

Cleaner Teeth = A Healthier Heart?

According to a recent study carried out in Taiwan, regular dental checkups may lower your risk of a heart attack. Researchers followed 100,000 people over seven years and discovered that those who had their teeth cleaned twice or more in a two-year period had a 24 per cent lower risk of heart attack, compared to those who had cleanings less frequently. Wondering why? Well good oral hygiene reduces inflammation-causing bacterial growth, which can accelerate the onset of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Coauthor of the study, Zu-Yin Chen, M.D., explains, “The more inflammation you have, the likelier you’ll have plaques forming in the blood vessels, leading to potential heart attack or stroke.”

Avoiding Brain Drain

Giving your memory a needed boost could be as simple as gazing to the left or the right. In a research project carried out jointly by the U.S. Army and several universities, three groups of undergraduates stared at a map of America, while wearing special glasses that forced them to look either left, right or straight ahead. They were then tested on the location of different states. Researchers discovered that the students’ ability to correctly identify a state increased by 25 per cent when they were gazing to the right.
According to associate professor at Montclair State University, Ruth Propper, Ph.D., that’s because our bodies are “cross-wired,” with the left side of our brain controlling the ride side of our body and vice-versa. Since the left side of the brain is linked to language and speech functions, gazing right can help you to better remember a conversation or presentation. However if you need help memorizing directions, try gazing to the left, since the right side of the brain is associated with spatial information.

Attribution: By rover0

Fancy abseiling down a waterfall or scrambling through boulder-filled streams? Then the sport of canyoning - a cross between mountaineering and caving, where your objective is to go down as opposed to up – might just be for you.

Canyoning incorporates elements of walking, scrambling, rock jumping, abseiling and swimming. It’s an extreme sport but anyone with a reasonable degree of fitness and basic abseiling skills can get involved.

One of the most popular canyoning spots in the world is in the Blue Mountains, several hours’ drive west of Sydney. Here, beginners can join up with a guide or tour group and try their hand on spots such as Grand Canyon and Tiger Snake. Most operators will supply all the gear required. For the very experienced the Danae Brook Canyon is one of the toughest in the area, dropping more than 2,000 feet in 1.5 miles. Canyoners must make at least nine rope descents, including an 89 foot waterfall drop, and swim through deep pools.

One of the most experienced canyoners in Australia is Dave Noble, who has made around 70 descents in the Blue Mountains. For Noble, seeking out new and challenging canyons is all part of the sport. “The darker, the narrower, the twistier the better,” he says. “People say, What if you get stuck in there? But that’s what you are after. To be forced to improvise to get yourself out.”

Attribution: By rockfingrz Photography

Christmas could come late this year for IBF middleweight boxing world champion Daniel Geale and his family. The Tasmanian is set for a unification world title bout against Russia's WBO middleweight world titleholder Dmitry Pirog, on December 31 in Las Vegas. Here’s the lowdown on the man they call “The Real Deale.”

Career Highlights
In May, Geale took the IBF middleweight world title after defeating reigning titleholder Sebastian Sylvester in Germany. He is only the fourth Australian to win a world title on foreign soil. He successfully defended the title in October, against Nigerian Eromosele Albert, choosing to fight to a packed home crowd in Hobart, Tasmania. He’s a former IBO Middleweight champion and won a welterweight gold in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Training
The Launceston-born father of three trains six mornings a week at the Grange Old School Boxing Gym in New South Wales. He also leads and trains an amateur club, runs regular Boxercise training with NRL club, The West Tigers, and conducts one on one personal training several times a week.

What to Expect in Vegas
Dmitry Pirog won the WBO title in July 2010 against the previously unbeaten American Danny Jacobs, in Las Vegas. He has made two successful defenses in Russia. Geale acknowledges that defeating the Russian won’t be easy. "He's a skillful, tough sort of guy, so we're expecting a hard fight," he says. "The big thing now is to fight the big-name fighters and he's up there, he's one of the world champions, so he's one that we want to knock off."

Attribution: charlie llewellin

While the daredevil acrobatics that free-running entails may seem a little unrealistic, becoming a runner is, thankfully, within reach for most of us.

Here are a few tips to help improve your stride.

Get Motivated
It’s all too easy to make excuses not to run. If you find it hard to stick to a new training program, consider finding a running partner – it’s hard to miss a workout when someone else is counting on you. Keeping a diary is also a good way to stay on track. Jot down each run, your distance covered and time taken, and keep it in a prominent place, like on the front of your fridge.

Eat Right
Running two or three miles at an gentle pace will burn between 200 to 300 calories, so starting a new running program isn’t an excuse to go crazy on the carbs. Sports nutritionist Nancy Clark advises having a small snack, one or two hours before you train, and eating healthily for the rest of the day. Water is all that’s needed for rehydration. “Beginner runners don't need a sports drink, because they're not running far enough," says Clark

Training
New runners need to start slowly. Progress will ultimately depend on your body and pre-existing fitness, but trainers agree that building up strength and stamina gradually is more beneficial in the long run. Your actual running technique is less important but aim to run tall (not slouched) and straight.

Prevent Injury
Stretch after you run, not before. Research has shown that stretching before a run makes no difference to injuries. Aim to stretch calves, quads and hamstrings for 10 to 15 minutes after you run.

Attribution: jonnyfromtheblock

Four metre jumps, back flips across wide gaps, sprints straight up concrete walls? These moves might sound like something conjured up by a Hollywood stunt department, but they’re par for the course in the discipline known as free running. Defined as a form of urban acrobatics, where individuals use the natural features of the city environment to perform movements and manoeuvres, free running is currently the most watched sport on YouTube.

Free running draws on moves from gymnastics, the martial arts and parkour, a discipline similar to free running. However while parkour places its emphasis on the efficiency of movements – the sport was developed as a way of overcoming obstacles as easily as possible – free running focuses more on the aesthetics and freedom of movement. The discipline has a virtually limitless amount of moves, since manoeuvres depend not just on the terrain but also on an individual’s own interpretation.
UK free-runner Ryan Doyle reckons the most dangerous part of the sport is over-estimating your capabilities. "You’ve got to budget your energy carefully,” he says. “After the run your body is exhausted. Every step and every movement has to be spot on."



Ryan was the recent victor at the Red Bull Art of Motion, held in August, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Red Bull has organized this competition, which takes place in various locations around the world, since 2007.

To find out more about free running head to YouTube.

Attribution: Christopher Neugebauer

It’s the fastest growing female sport in the world, and now guys too can get in on the action. Men’s roller derby, known as “merby,” is starting to gain popularity in Australia, with several leagues already established in Queenstown.
So for those of you who fancy getting your skates on, here’s the lowdown on the fast and furious world of roller derby:

The History
Roller derby originated in America in the 1920s, but remained largely under the radar for many years. Lately, countries like the UK, America and Australia, have seen increasing popularity for the sport, thanks in part to Hollywood film Whip It, starring Drew Barrymore.

The Sport
Roller derby is an aggressive, full-contact sport. Teams take part in bouts, where the aim is to get their fastest skater, known as a jammer, around the track ahead of opposition players. Team members can use any means possible to stop the other side’s jammer – meaning high speed smashes are common.

The Culture
Risqué outfits and edgy skate names like Kitty Von Krusher and Margy Bargy are all part of the female scene. Players register their name in the US, meaning no two players can have the same alter ego. New players wanting to join a team who can’t skate are known as “raw meat.”

Merby
Merby is a rougher, more physical game than the female version. It’s also faster, since many of the guys playing have come from a speed skating background. As for the risqué outfits - the captain of merby team the Uppercuts, Gerard "Gedi" Nelson, isn’t shy to bust out the gold shorts when the occasion calls.

Attribution: Menage a Moi

Being happy is as much a part of our health as keeping fit, or eating well. And yet the actual act of being happy is something that can elude many of us. Surveys have shown that the proportion of people who describe themselves as ‘very happy’ has fallen in the last fifty years, while levels of depression have risen significantly.
So how can the average, Mojo-wearing, Aussie male find true happiness?

1) Get a houseplant
Back in 1976, two researchers from the US, Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin, attempted to measure happiness. They gave a group of elderly nursing home residents a plant to care for. Another group of residents were also given a plant, but were told the nurses would be responsible for them. Three weeks later the group who had cared for the plants themselves, reported higher levels of happiness than those who hadn’t. Eighteen months later their health had improved and fewer of the group had died.

2) Have sex
Living in the moment is the key to happiness, according to a study carried out by psychologists at Harvard. The researchers collected information from 2250 volunteers, on their daily thoughts, activities and feelings and discovered that people were happiest when having sex, engaged in conversation or exercising.

3) Stop worrying about it
Mark Williams, professor of clinical psychology at Oxford University, believes that the way we seek out happiness is partly to blame for our failure to find it. “It's this tendency we all have of wanting things to be different from how they are right now. Ironically, letting go of that quest to be happy can offer a tremendous sense of relief."

Attribution: By nick@

Sebastian Vettel’s age has dominated the headlines throughout his F1 career. His 2010 World Championship title, at the age of 23, made him the youngest F1 champion in history. In 2006 he was the youngest man to drive at a Grand Prix meeting, at the age of 19 years and 53 days. And at the 2007 US Grand Prix he became the youngest driver to win championship points.

In fact Vettel’s driving career actually began at the age of three, when his father, Norbert, gave him a 60cc go-kart for his birthday. 'Seppi began to drive circles constantly around the courtyard at home,' Norbert recalls. 'We made a circuit out of old tyres.' Go-karting became an important part of Sebastian’s life; the family, who lived just outside Frankfurt in Germany, would spend every other weekend at the karting track.

By the time he turned 12, Sebastian was a part of the Red Bull Racing’s Junior programme, and entered F1 as a test driver, only days after finishing his final school exams. To drive a F1 car is, he says, is a thrill. ”Nothing comes close to the sensation of the forces, the power, the braking, the deceleration and the cornering speed.”

Vettel’s defense of his title is looking good - he’s currently leading the 2011 Championship, after winning six out of eleven races.

It’s billed as one of the most exciting international inshore racing circuits, where spectacular crashes, capsizes and near misses are all part of the action. The Extreme Sailing Series 2011 kicked off in Muscat, Oman back in February, and during the course of the year will be traveling to a variety of destinations around the world. Chief Umpire Ewan McEwan explains the format. “It’s all about putting the world’s best sailors in very fast boats on small racetracks,” he says. And the result? “Lots of high-adrenalin fuelled incidents requiring quick-fire decisions.”

Attribution: By LaSK92

The Venues

The Series takes place at nine different venues around the world. The most recent event took place in Boston, where Dean Barker’s Emirates Team New Zealand clinched victory. The Kiwi team is now leading the series overall. The Series finale takes place in Singapore in December.

The Vessels
The teams do battle in the Extreme 40, a catamaran designed for speed. Powered by its enormous sail, the Extreme is capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 knots. If you want to know what it feels like to be aboard one of these performance-focused vessels, try sticking your head out of a car window at 73kph while it’s raining. Alternatively you can take up the VIP experience; a fifth man seat is available onboard during races, allowing you to experience the thrill of speed sailing up close and personal.

The Teams
Some of the world’s top sailors are taking part in the Series, including Loïck Peyron and Franck Cammas, who recently broke the outright round the world record.
Next stop on the circuit will be Cowes in the UK, 6-12 August.

Meet Billy “Mojo” Horne, a professional mixed martial artist. Mojo hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and currently fights on the MMA Big Show circuit. A Jiu Jitsu specialist, Mojo trains with UFC star Rich “Ace” Franklin and reckons his biggest strength in competition is his aggressive style. “A lot of guys don’t know how to deal with it,” he says.