Who are the fittest athletes?

Fitness is a term that refers to five traits: cardiovascular efficiency, muscle to fat ratio, strength, agility and flexibility. The preferred unit of measurement when comparing different athletes’ fitness is ‘VO2 max-the maximum volume of oxygen that one can consume while exercising. Of all sporting codes, cycling boasts the fittest. Lance Armstrong’s VO2 max is 83.8. He also boasts a resting heart rate of 32 beats per minute -compared with 60-70 for the average man-which rises to 201 at full exertion. According to his biographer Dan Coyle, these attributes make him ‘the world’s greatest human power plant’.
As Coyle put it:

“the tour is the hardest event on the planet, nothing comes close. Studies have shown that tour riders spend more daily energy than Everest climbers. During those three weeks they spend energy at a rate that exceeds the capabilities of all but four animal species. Imagine running a marathon a day for 20 days. The food alone is ridiculous: on big days, they eat an equivalent of 28 cheeseburgers.”

Breaking Barriers: Performance Anxiety

Some of the effective ways of overcoming performance anxiety is by being calm and establishing a ‘control room’. Sven Groan Erikson has more…
“Football is fast sport which leads to inner mental pace. So players in pressured situations not being calm enough do the opposite of what is expected of them; names such as Pele, Zidane and Beckham posses this natural ability of inner calm and control. This is simply because of their confidence to resist being controlled by their opponents, mass media and the public. We can build our own control room and run it as the tightest of ships. It would be very crucial to think as follows:

‘In here, I say what goes’
‘I am the master in my room’
‘I am strong in my room’
‘I am secure in my room’
‘I am not bothered by what the opponent does’
‘I control my technique’

Adapted from Sven Groan Eriksson on Football. some sections have been edited.

Sven on the Real Winners

“ Mental difference decide who the winners are.”

Many of us believe that teams with the most talented players are more destined for success than their counterparts. Sven Groan Erikson says otherwise.

Railo: Do you think it’s the most talented players in football who are the winners in the end?
Erikson: Unfortunately no, talent is a pre-requisite for success. If you look at the top footballers, playing ability among them is even. We can’t train more than we do either! So it’s mental differences which decide who the real winners are.
Sven also believes in athletes of a particular mental set up. He believes in, “great ambition without fear of failing” rather than great ambition with a performance anxiety and a great fear of losing. Read more…

Adapted from the Sven Goran Erikson on Football.

Good luck 2010!

A new year has begun and Map sports would like to wish all athletes competing in different sports codes a successful spell. Last year(2009) saw lady luck smiling at Map as we swooped more than six(6) trophies from different competitions. Clearly we made our mark on the sporting stage. Good luck guys and maintain the good performance.

The Battle of Highbury

The battle of Highbury is undoubtedly a collectors piece for Arsenal football clubs and it’s fans. This was a fiercely contested exhibition match between Italy and England at Highbury (by then Arsenal’s home ground). By then Italy’s vengeful leader Mussolini, had promised the players a brand new Alfa Romeo and a cash bonus, had they defeated England. The incentive did not work; England won 3-2 at the end rubbing salt on the fresh wounds of defeat the Italians had suffered to them during the 1938 world cup.