A few months back I came across the Uphill Fitness Training Program. When I first heard about it, I admit I was a bit skeptical. Is it really that effective? Can something that simple really help me get into the kind of shape I want to be in? However, now that I’ve tried it, I know it works. There are a number of things I like about it, but here the top 5 things I love about Hill Sprinting:

1. No equipment necessary: One of the best things I love about running hills and making it a part of my workout routine is it doesn’t involve a lot of fancy, expensive equipment.

All I need is a good pair of shoes and a hill and I’m good to go. No machine to buy, no power supply required, no equipment to lug around. I just put my shoes on and head on over to the hill of the day.

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Have you ever experienced a dull ache or sharp pain in your shoulder or upper arm? Maybe you are unable to sleep on one side because your shoulder wakes you up at night. Perhaps, you have discomfort reaching behind your back to tuck in your shirt or grab your wallet. If so, you may be suffering from a rotator cuff injury.

Rotator cuff injuries, such as tendonitis, bursitis and tears plague several people in our population. The rotator cuff consists of four small muscles, which form a sleeve around the shoulder and allow us to raise our arm overhead effectively. These muscles, consisting of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis, oppose the action

of the deltoid and depress the head of the humerus (upper arm) during shoulder elevation to prevent impingement.

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Now we all know that pitchers can get hitters out without throwing the ball with Nolan Ryan type speed.

But why are most of us so obsessed with throwing the ball with obscene velocity?

In visiting with good friend and Minor League Pitching Coordinator of the Washington Nationals, Brent Strom, I recently asked him What are professional scouts looking for in baseball players? His response, The first thing we look for in a pitcher AND a position player is speed arm speed bat speed foot speed. For pitchers in particular, we are looking for a live, dynamic, loose, whip-like arm action. Bottom line, if the young man s arm isn t explosive even if he

is great at getting people out he will never, ever get on our radar screen.

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Softball is a popular sport these days. Corporations, adult leagues and inner-city competitions are fueling the demand for skilled and competitive players. While softball may be experiencing a surge of interest, the basic techniques to improve your game and gain a competitive edge have remained the same.

Many do not realize that basic softball movements such as batting and throwing are not a directly related to arm strength. The movement begins in the legs. The power is then transferred into the hips, the torso, the upper back, the chest, the shoulders and then the arms.

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Train up a child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. This applies not only to the spiritual side of our children s life, but to the physical as well. In fact, it applies to all things in life.

Teaching our children about exercise, in my opinion is no different than teaching our kids, to respect their elders, or teaching our children proper table manners, or talking with them about the things of God. Children learn by example. So, it is imperative that we keep ourselves healthy spiritually and physically. Helping our children be spiritually healthy means taking them to church, reading the Bible, praying, and

living our lives the way Christ guides. Helping our children be physically healthy means taking our children for walks, jumping on the trampoline, biking, swimming you get the idea. The more active our children see us as parents, the more likely they will want to duplicate our actions.

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