With that in mind we though we’d take a look at some of the best gyms on the strip in Las Vegas.  Ideally placed, these fitness centres are often state of the art and provide a respite from the roulette wheels, blackjack dealers and poker tables.

The Rio All-Suite is a good place to start, even though it’s sited just off the strip.  This is the venue of the annual World Series of Poker Championship so the combination of fitness centre and poker destination is a good one.  It has something like 2500 suites so finding a spare room shouldn’t be a problem.

The Mandalay Bay is another of our favourite hotels with an incorporated gym.  There are plenty of free weights here (not always the case in hotels) and also lots of machines of various hues.  There’s an atmosphere of relaxation here which only adds to the feeling of getting away from the tension of the craps table, the roulette wheel or the slot machines.

The Palazzo is our final recommendation and perhaps the best of the lot.  You will almost certainly have to purchase a Spa pass to use the facilities but for the keen fitness enthusiast it’s worth it.  It’s actually called the Canyon Ranch SpaClub and it’s more like a standalone gym and spa than an add-on to a casino.  There are fitness classes, free weights, machines, spa facilities and all the extras one associates with a five star destination.

Inside the Canyon Ranch gym

Of course if you’re enjoying yourself too much at the gym you may not want to to return to the poker table so, especially at the Palazzo, don’t forget the 888 reasons why you came to Vegas.

The above introduction is of course just the setting for what I’m about to rant about.  It’s Olympic year in the UK and although I’m a big fan of that particular event, it’s unfortunately riddled with ‘sporting’ events that don’t even come close to fulfilling what should pass for the qualifying criteria.  Now the following guidelines are obviously my own and some might argue that they’re a little strict but I don’t care.  Check out these Casino Bonus Codes then check the guidelines out:

It Should Be Athletic

Now to me this would seem like an obvious qualification – the activity in question should make you tired.  Not mentally tired, like chess for example, but actually physically exhausted.  Running and swimming good – archery and show jumping bad (and the horse getting tired doesn’t count).

It Should Be Of Practical Use

This means that if an event is invented purely to be a sport, it’s doesn’t really qualify.  Examples of sports with practical applications are things such as the javelin and the discus (weapons) and cycling and kayaking (transport).  Impractical?  The useless waste of time that is synchronised swimming – visit a Free Casino instead.

Historical Context

If a sport fails ti make the grade for one of the above criteria, it may sneak in via the back door if it has some sort of historical context.  By that I mean if an activity has been participated in for hundreds of years it can qualify.  Football is of not much practical use but it does have a history which dates back centuries.

I have one more criteria to weed out all the pointless rubbish – eliminate every sport which requires judging on artistic merit.  Synchronised swimming once again falls into this category, as does diving, rhythmic gymnastics and the like.  There are many more pointless activities which would be swept up by my new Olympic broom and tossed aside, which is what they deserve.

So I’ll now return to my first question – is poker a sport?  To that I can answer that if Dressage is in the Olympics, then poker should be too – Click here for more Info.

That was a time when a Muddy Fox Explorer was one of the best bikes you could lay your hands on and it was virtually impossible to spend more than £1000 on a new machine.  Over the years as construction materials improved and suspension began to feature on the better bikes, the total cost began to creep up.  You can still buy an entry level racing bike for perhaps £600 – £700 but you can also justifiably spend double or triple that amount.

The Muddy Fox Explorer

As the popularity of the sport began to take hold, more and more people began to turn up at races and other mountain biking locations and it was around this time that the dreaded Surrey Hills Mountain biker began to appear.  They were easy to spot – they’d roll up to some off-road location in their Merc and unload a gleaming, top of the range machine.  They’d have a helmet which cost half as much a your bike and they’d wedged their (usually portly) frame into the latest professional team kit.

There’s nothing wrong with all that of course and it’s almost certainly a touch of financial jealousy which is prompting this article but more often than not this weekend warrior would head off on his £2000 machine and fall off at the first corner, or fail to attempt the gentlest of short downhills.  There was always a touch of karma involved when you encountered one during a race and lapped the unfit lump for the second time, making a mockery of the huge amount of money they’d spent on their bike.

Anyway, as I said before, this is probably all motivated by jealousy that I can’t afford (or refuse to pay for) a £5000 mountain bike but I’ll still be fitter than the Surrey Hills mountain biker.

As a runner you’re not going to the gym to get yourself a body which will look good on the beach, the point is to exercise certain muscles which will complement your running.  So what are the areas a runner should concentrate on?

The Core

Vital for runners, cyclists and any other endurance athletes, the core is the midsection of your body and encompasses your hips, your abdominals and the other muscles which support the spine.  Core exercises will add to the strength which will help runners improve.

Your core muscles

The Back

Similar to the core, the back muscles are also an area which can be neglected but which can provide some essential stability.  A strong back will help your running posture.  Slightly lower down, the hamstrings are an awkward area to exercise and are often neglected.  Hamstrings exercises will help avoid injury and take some pressure off the knee joint.

The Legs

It may seem obvious that the legs need exercising but it’s important to exercise them in the correct way.  Runners don’t want to increase their muscle size unnecessarily by undertaking too many heavy weight exercises but some are necessary to efficiently increase strength in certain areas.

Of course you will also want to increase your muscle endurance and this is where the lighter weights and greater number of reps comes in.  Calf raises and quadricep curls are a good example.

Lastly, a quick mention of all in one exercises of the type you could perform with a Kettlebell for example.  You can perform several exercises at once, getting the boring gym stuff out of the way quickly and getting back out onto the road.

So in this article we’re going to dispense with the brand names and take a look at a naturally occurring substance which had been used for some years now by athletes and body-builders to improve their performances.  Creatine is a substance that is produced naturally in the human body (and in fact any vertebrates) and helps to supply energy to the body’s cells.  Muscle cells are the primary recipient of creatine which is transported around the body by the blood.  Around 95% of the body’s creatine is stored in skeletal muscle.

The Creatine molecule

Creatine was discovered and named (it’s derived from the Greek word for meat) in 1832 by a French chemist named Michel Eugène Chevreul.  About 50% of the body’s creatine originates from ingested food, especially meat, which meas that vegans and vegetarians have less naturally occurring creatine than meat-eaters.

Athletes and body-builders began to switch on to the benefits of creatine supplements in the early 1990s.  For these sportspeople, the benefits of creatine were several times those of a very high protein diet, i.e. an ability to train harder for longer than would have been possible before and therefore a contribution towards gaining muscle mass.

Over the last twenty years of creatine use, it has become a supplement widely used by ordinary gym-goers.  It’s very safe; it’s very hard to ingest too much as excess creatine just gets excreted in the normal manner.  Occasional concerns have been expressed over the years about allergies and hydration problems but the most extensive research over the last two decades has shown that taking 5g – 20g per day orally is almost completely safe.

If you’re thinking about taking the next step forward, creatine could be the answer.

Kettlebells

So that’s what they look like, a metal ball of varying weight and a looped handle on the top.  The shape is important because it allows a huge range of movement when exercising, making it possible to combine several exercises into one.  For this reason, kettlebell enthusiasts regard them as something of a total body workout.

Kettlebells originate from Russia, a country where the strongman competition has a long and respected history.  Competitions would be held in towns and villages and the winners would gain local celebrity status.  Bogatirs was the name given to these regional strongmen, as well as Girevik, which means ‘kettlebell man’.  It was kettlebells that these champions traditionally trained with – they would be made out of solid iron by local blacksmiths.  They could be manufactured in a variety of different weights for people of different abilities and the variation also meant that different body parts could be exercised.  One of the biggest users of kettlebells is reputed to be the Russian army who are said to use them as an integral part of their training.

As we said earlier, the design of the kettlebell ensures a total body workout if the proper techniques are learned and applied properly.  Importantly, there is plenty of focus on the legs, back and other often neglected parts of the body.  With kettlebell exercises, if you want to exercise the shoulders with a kettlebell swing, it will involve the back muscles, hips and quadriceps to name a few.

Kettlebells are widely available in most sports shops now so check them out, learn the techniques see what sort of difference they can make to your training.

So, mountain bikers, think you were the first to ride a bicycle off road?  Think again, cyclo-crossers have been at it for at least a hundred years, way before anyone though about sticking some fat tyres on a clunky bike in the 1970s.

Cycle-crossers will tell you that historically it was a way of keeping fit in the winter. When the road racing season finished, why not maintain your fitness by riding round a muddy field on a Sunday morning?  This does seem to have some link to the way cyclo-cross came about in the early 20th century; French road racers in particular are said to have raced each other from town to town in the off-season by the quickest possible route – cutting across fields and through woods, heading for the church’s steeple in the distance. This may also have given us the term ‘steeple chase’ as it was almost certainly the riders only point of reference.

The increased difficulty of controlling a road bike off road also helped riders improve their bike handling and the need to jump off and carry it over obstacles (logs, streams, etc) helped with their all round fitness.

The Origins of Cyclo-Cross Racing

The first properly organised cyclo-cross race appears to have been the French National

Early cyclo-cross

Championship in 1902.  The organisers were Daniel Gousseau and Géo Lefèvre (Lefèvre was also the man behind the Tour de France).

The sport received a huge boost in 1910 when Tour de France winner Octave Lapize mentioned his off-season cyclo-cross when explaining how he maintained is fitness. Subsequently National Championships were held in Belgium (1910), Switzerland (1912), Luxembourg (1923), Spain (1929) and Italy in (1930).  The first international cyclo-cros event was held in Paris in 1924.

It remained in Europe for the following decades until the 1970s when the organised races began to become popular in the United States; the first National Championship was held in California in 1975.

The Nature of Cyclo-Cross Racing

Although cyclo-cross is still regarded as a method of winter training by many riders, the scene has been big enough for so many years that some riders are cyclo-cross specialists, rarely racing in any other disciplines.

There are of course similarities with mountain bike racing but there are also significant differences.  Races tend to be shorter and run on courses with smaller laps.  Most races will not be more than one hour long and the format will be something like 50 minutes racing plus one lap – when the leader completes the race, everyone else finishes on that lap, whether they’ve been lapped or not.

Courses are set so that getting off at several points is unavoidable- big logs tend to be the main obstacles – and competent cyclo-cross riders are adept at dismounting and remounting in one smooth motion.  Bikes can be swapped while racing as long as you have a willing helper to hold the spare one.

The days of just adding some knobbly tyres to your road bike are also long gone. Dedicated cyclo-cross bikes have been available for many years now and feature better clearance between the wheels and the frame (to avoid mud clogging) and stronger brakes. Check out this Grand Prix start to a 1950 race:

Quad Stretch

The Quad Stretch is the one most prospective athletes are familiar with; it’s familiar to

Quad Stretch

cyclists and runners alike and anyone whose sport involves running of any degree.  Stand straight with your toes pointing forward then, keeping you knees together, bend one knee and lift that foot up until it touches your buttocks (or as far as you can go comfortably). Push your hips forwards slightly to target the quadriceps a little more and hold the position for thirty seconds.  Return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.

Hamstring Stretch/Calf Stretch

Our second stretch is great for the hamstrings and also for the calf muscles.  Stand up

Hamstring Stretch

straight to begin with then bring one foot forward, keeping the leg straight and supporting it on your heel.  At the same time bend the standing leg and lean the upper body forward, pushing your backside out as you do.  You’ll know you’re performing the exercise correctly when you feel the stretch on the back of your leg. Hold the stretch for thirty seconds, return to the starting position and swap legs.

Glutes Stretch

Now for the glutes, which are the muscles surrounding the hip area and another vital area

Glutes Stretch

to exercise for runners; again the repetitive motion suffered by this area means a warm-up is vital. Lie down to begin with with, then bring the knees up towards you.  Now place the foot of one leg on the knee of the other.  Now grab the thigh of the lower leg with both hands and pull gently until you can feel the stretch.  It is the upper leg you are stretching here and when performed correctly you will feel it on the upper part of your thigh.  Hold the position for thirty seconds then swap legs.

Hip Flexor Stretch

Our last stretch is the hip flexor and this exercise helps to prepare the buttocks, the hip

Hip Flexor stretch

and the quadriceps.  Begin the stretch standing upright then take one large stride forwards.  Your front foot should be flat on the ground and your knee at 90°.  Your back leg should be supported on your toes and the knee should be close to the floor. Hold this position for thirty seconds and swap legs.  When you’ve finished your run, head over to our favourite internet casino for some relaxation.

In this article we’ll introduce the leg exercises one can undertake in a gym by using just the machines – we’ll leave the free weights for another article.  All the following exercises are general leg workouts and are not solely focused on cycling muscles.  They are the Leg Abduction/Adduction, Leg Curls, Leg Extensions and the Leg Press.  Make sure you warm up well before you drag yourself away from the poker table.

Leg Abduction/Adduction

The most common way to perform the above exercise is to use a machine built for that

Leg Abduction/Adduction Machine

very purpose.  The adduction and abduction exercises are two different workouts; the abduction works the gluteus muscles (inner thigh) and to start the exercise the user places their legs against the pads which will be touching the outside of the thighs.  The exercise is performed by pushing the pads and opening the legs, then bringing them back together again.

The adduction version of the exercise is performed in the opposite way; the pads are on the inside of the thigh and the exercise is begun by bringing the legs together, than opening them again.

Perform 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps with a comfortable weight.

Leg Extension

The leg extension machine is a fantastic exercise for the quadriceps and always a popular

Leg Extension

exercise for any gym-goer.  The machine allows the user to sit down and hook their feet under the pads provided.  The exercise is begun by raising the feet out in front of the body and then lowering them again.

With this exercise it’s important not to lift too much weight, there’s a possibility of knee damage from overtraining.  Don’t try and perform too many of these.

Perform 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps with a comfortable weight.

Leg Press

The leg press is an exercise that works several muscles – the glutes, the hamstrings and

Leg Press

the calves and most people find they can lift significant amounts of weight using it.  Again though, overtraining can lead to damage so care should be taken and of course warming up is important.

The user will begin in a horizontal or declined position (with the feet higher than the head) and will then take the weight before releasing the clasps that will allow the exercise to begin.  When the reps have been completed the weight needs to be pushed to it’s limit while the clasps are replaced.

Perform 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps with a comfortable weight.

Leg Curls

Lastly, the leg curl is an exercise which isolates the hamstrings in an effective way.  The

Leg Curl

user lies face down on the machine and hooks the heels under the pads which hold the weight.  The exercise is performed by lifting the heels towards the buttocks then lowering them once more.  Beginners are advised to start with a light weight.

Perform 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps with a comfortable weight.

Abs for core stability

the road and you’ll receive a variety of answers.  The most obvious reason  to go and do some upper body weights is that if you’re a really committed cyclist, you could end up with some huge legs and a twig-like upper body.  However, the purpose of this article is to discuss the weights a person can do in the gym that will be beneficial for cycling.  At a basic level there are two main areas that can be improved in the gym and these are the (obviously) the leg muscles and the abdominal muscles.

The Abdominals

We’ll start with some basic abdominal exercises and this is an area which can make a real difference to your cycling and give you some Sizzling Hot abs; it’s the building block for your back and upper body strength and provides the stability necessary for improved training.  In fact exercising your abs can often be though of as the core exercise – even if the most physical exercise you do is playing poker, roulette or some other casino activity, ab workouts are useful.

• Basic Sit-Up – the easiest to learn and perform and all you need is a mat on the floor or an inclined sit-up bench.  The bench will have some foot hooks to help you perform the exercise while on the floor you may need to hook your feet under a dumb bell or barbell.  Just keep your back straight with your hands near your ears and your elbows out, sitting up then lowering yourself down slowly. Do 3 sets of 20 reps to start with.

• The Plank – you don’t need any equipment for this one, just support your body on your forearms at one end and your toes at the other end, keeping your back straight.  Do this for as long as can but to begin with, aim for a minute

• Bicycle Crunch – an appropriately named exercise that adds a bit of variety and complexity to the basic sit-up.  Start flat on the floor then lift your upper body, bringing your right elbow and left knee together; lower them and bring up your left elbow and right knee.  Do 3 sets of 20 reps to start with.

In Part Two we’ll check out some basic leg exercises.