SPORTS
Week four of getting fit while social distancing
In week four of my series about getting fit while social distancing, I went back to the wide world of YouTube to see what other channels have to offer.
I settled on another effeminate sounding channel called Popsugar Fitness. Maybe one day I’ll feel confident enough to try workouts from a more macho looking guy who promises me I will get as jacked as him, but I want to steer clear of that for now.
Pop Sugar Fitness is one of the biggest workout channels on Youtube, with more than four million subscribers and more than 570 million total views. A couple of workout videos get released every week, with hundreds dating back nine years.
Popsugar Fitness, as the name implies, seems to mostly cater towards women. While the workout leader could have just been encouraging the two ladies working out with her, she was looking up and addressing the camera right at me when she yelled “Come on ladies.” Also in one workout, the way I was asked to move my hips was a way I had never been asked to try before and am glad I was in the privacy of my own home.
Further research reveals Popsugar to be much more than just a YouTube channel. It is media lifestyle brand all to itself, focusing on catering towards women. While there is some turnover, every video is led by a different fitness personality.
Some I assume work at the channel while others are friends of the channel who drop by to maybe get some exposure or are workout celebrity’s in their own right.
Besides the main person leading the workout, there are usually two women on either side of her.
One demonstrates the easier version of every exercise in the workout while the other does normal version the person leading the workout is doing.
Usually both of these people serve to reinforce how much they are feeling the workout incase you needed to make sure it is not just you and your out of shape self that is feeling the burn.
I again settled on 10 minutes because I needed some comfort in dropping again into the unknown. Despite two weeks of doing exercises at home, I still feel a long way from what I would consider fit.
I had one previous experience with Popsugar Fitness in January. I randomly did a 10 minute workout my first day. While it said it was a standing cardio workout, I have come to learn since then, that for me, the only thing I will be feeling afterwards is soreness from my legs.
With a different workout personality putting out a different type of workout every day, with some workouts ranging from as long as 45 minutes to as short as four, I was not sure what I was going to get in terms of intensity with each workout.
My first one on Saturday was 10 minutes that had words like “standing” (so I would not have to face my shedding rug) and “barre” in the title. The lady leading it was a guest who’s claim to fame was being actress Drew Barrymore’s trainer.
The workout was tough. It was hard. I was not ready. The mentioned hip movements, supposed to work out your core, came in this workout. Despite the name labeling it a mostly core workout you could do standing up, the only thing burning were my legs from the workout and my cheeks from embarrassment at attempting to move my hips in a way I never want them to move again.
I usually have started my weekend workouts in this series being overly cautious and starting light, but this first day seemed like I might be in for a tough four more days. I saw no workouts on the channel with the beginner label or low impact next to it.
Luckily, I found shorter workouts. I found a five minute arm toning workout and a four minute core workout that I did the next two days that were easier only because they were shorter.
I have done a few arm toning workouts now since I own no free weights and want to avoid large quantities of pushups. Wiggling your arms at odd angles for 30 seconds to a minute straight will get them tired and sore, but not in the same way lifting weight will.
I get the feeling these short workouts are meant to be added on the end of some other workouts or are maybe a part of a longer workout that got cut off. Still, I did them on Sunday and Monday and my quota of two easier workouts out of five was met.
The fourth workout was a longer arm and core workout that got me back down on my shedding rug. Surprisingly it was not full of tons of pushup variations.
There was some awkward side planking that had me cursing at the workout leader.
It was not because my arm was hurting, but because the lack of circulation had my forearms falling asleep on me while trying to hold myself up. I guess these were the crux of the second half of the workout because we did a couple sets on each arm.
This was the one workout I did this week that was led by a guy. I am pretty sure he is one of two guys featured on the channel outside of guest instructors.
He happily admitted midway through the workout it was getting too hard for even him and the one women who was supposed to be doing the more advanced version that featured a small amount of weight that I opted not to include at the start.
This did not make me feel any better they were struggling. What are you doing leading a workout this tough without labeling it as such you evil tyrant?
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1
Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.
For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1
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