Winter Sports: Biathlon

Biathlon consists of two sports combined cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It's generally accepted that biathlon generated in Scandinavia resulting from the activities of hunters who used to skiing in snowy winter woods while carrying rifles. Sometimes when men gathered for rest, they used to arrange real competitions who were the fastest skier and the most accurate rifleman.

Skiing and rifles shooting have also been combined for military use, as ski-wearing troops can travel off roads area where vehicles cannot. Biathlon also was used as an alternative training for the military.

Thus, the first biathlon club, the Trysil Rifle, was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defense at the local level. The first standardized rules for biathlon were elaborated in 1948 with the founding of Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon, and in 1998 the International Biathlon Union was established.

During the 1950s biathlon was widely developed in Russia and Sweden and was enjoyed by the public. This popularity promoted to entry biathlon into the Winter Olympics. In 1958 in Austria the first World Championship in biathlon was held, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first included in Olympic biathlon.

A biathlon competition consists of a race in which participants ski around a cross-country track, and where the total distance is divided by either two or four shooting rounds, half in prone position, the other half standing. Olympic biathlon shooting distance is 50 meters. All cross-country skiing techniques are allowed in biathlon, which means that the free technique is usually the preferred one as the fastest.

The 20 kilometers individual biathlon race for men and 15 kilometers for women is the oldest biathlon competition. The participants start in intervals; they complete five laps and shoot four times totaling 20 targets. Shooting positions include: prone, standing, prone, standing. Depending on the shooting results, extra distance or time is added to the rival's total running distance/time. The participant with the shortest total time wins.

The Olympic sprint biathlon is 10 kilometers for men and 7,5 kilometers for women. The participants start at intervals, usually 30 seconds apart and must complete three laps. They shoot twice, once prone and once standing, for a total of 10 shots. For each miss, an additional 150 meters must be skied before the race can be continued.

In a pursuit, men's distance is 12,5 kilometers, and women's one is 10 kilometers - both done in five equal laps. Starting intervals are based on time differentials from the sprint. The athletes shoot the first two times in the prone position, and the last two standing. For each miss, a 150 meters penalty lap must be skied. The participant crossing the finish line first becomes the winner.

The relay teams consist of four biathletes, each ski 7,5 kilometers for men or 6 kilometers for women. Each team member will ski one leg, consisting of three laps and two rounds of shooting: one prone, one standing. For every round of five targets there are eight bullets available. For each missed target one 150 meters penalty loop must be skied taken. The first-leg players start all at the same time, every member of a team will touch the team's next-leg participant to perform a changeover. The team of the first racer to pass the finish line is the winner.

Women ski 12,5 kilometers and men ski 15 kilometers in mass start race, which is done in five laps. It is very similar to pursuit, but all competitors start racing at the same time. Winners and ranking are determined by the order in which the competitors cross the finish line.

Although biathlon usually is considered as the winter sport, there is a popular variant as summer biathlon, which includes cross-country running with shooting, or competition, combining running with swimming.

Step Aerobics as a Fitness Style

This is probably one of the simplest and most effective styles. Stepping aerobics does not require undue concentration and concentration of thoughts on the correct assimilation of certain movements, it is very simple. All that you need is to be able to walk nicely. Step aerobics is popular everywhere, and every day it is gaining more and more followers. This far from being a new sport as it is known for more than ten years.

Step aerobics is unique in its kind. You do not have to buy exercise machines. A bare minimum is enough, which certainly exists in every home. This minimum consists of a step bench, a wide rubber band, a ball, and two small dumbbells that will give the desired load to your shoulder girdle.

The distinctive features of this new sport are as follows: you do not pump the whole mountain of muscles in the wrong place, but get a harmoniously developed body and a perfect posture, and are able to develop beautiful, expressive and precise movements. Step aerobics is one of the fastest ways to "make" one’s waist. But the most trained part of the body will be your legs that will become thin and strong.

Benches for step aerobics can be different. The main requirement for them is that you should be comfortable to exercise on them. Ideally, the bench should be from one to one and a half meter in length and not less than 40 cm in width. But we must remember a bench that is too broad, will not work either. It will be inconvenient to deal with. Good is considered the width from 40 to 60 cm, and the height of the benches depends just on you. The higher it is, the greater the load gets a person that exercises on it.

No less important is the surface of this sports equipment. In no case should it be slippery. As a rule, it is covered with the ribbed rubber. This is done in order to prevent possible injuries. A broad, thick rubber band is also useful for step aerobics classes. It greatly varies and increases the efficiency of exercises. The ball that will suit can be almost of any size - from a little tennis ball to a rather large football.

In step aerobics the same exercises are used as in the classic gymnastics. All of them are designed for training the muscles of the heart, and for the development of better coordination of movements. But there is one significant difference between step aerobics and the classic gym. That is that doing similar exercises, we can achieve much higher load, and therefore, the result will be felt much quicker. It is very important that this aerobic is quite effective for those muscle groups that are very difficult to use: the buttocks, back of thigh and hip adductor.

Newcomers are better to start step aerobics classes in a sport club where you will learn to train properly. Group lessons are fun, they go dynamically. You can also work out individually with an instructor. Then you quickly learn to control your body, and to measure individual loads.