the helipad open

The Federer vs Safin semifinal match from the Australian Open has gone down in history as one of the greatest ever. The epic battle extended over 4 hours and 28 minutes with Safin prevailing with a backhand winner to convert his 8th match point in the fifth and final set. While Roger's aura of invincibility did suffer a minor blow, he has bounced right back to take the Rotterdam Open and the Dubai Open.

Below are pictures from Roger's practice session at the Dubai open, with none other than the great Andre Agassi. Roger and Andre couldn’t resist the temptation to have a friendly knock about on the world’s highest tennis court, the helipad of the Burj Al Arab, at a staggering elevation of 1053 feet.



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pakistan's new cricket outfit

Inzamam-ul-Haq, captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, posed as a Moghul warrior for a publicity stunt ahead of the much awaited Indo-Pak series. It comes as no surprise that Inzamam was the focus of this week's BBC Caption Contest.....



Caption 1: What? I'm out?? The ball hit me here Mr Bucknor, right here on this sticky note

Caption 2: Off with Shoaib's head for recommending Lamb Vindaloo

Caption 3: I'm all set for our "Day-Knight" games!

Caption 4: What ? No prep-H ?! Go raid Gangulee's locker...

Caption 5: Inzaman's jaw drops as he sees Pathan roll in with a magnet ball

fat reduction myths

We'd all like to lose our love handles overnight. Most of us have endured hundreds of crunches in our vain attempts to reduce those calcitrant deposits around the waist. But contrary to what the infomercials suggest, there is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex (hormones), and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. Although fat is lost or gained throughout the body, it seems the last area to become lean or the first area to get fat is the midsection (in men and some women) and hips and thighs (in women and few men). Sit-ups, crunches, leg-hip raises, leg raises, hip adduction, hip abduction, etc. will only exercise the muscles under the fat. At the end of the day, it is the elegantly simple equation of calories-in versus calories-out that does the trick.

Performing lighter weight with more repetitions (15-50 reps) does not burn more fat or tone (simultaneous decrease of fat and increase muscle) better than a heaver weight with moderate repetitions (8-12 reps). Weight training utilizes carbohydrates after the initial ATP and CP stores have been exhausted after the first few seconds of intense muscular contraction. Typically a set's duration is 20 to 30 seconds. For the average fit person, it requires 20 to 30 minutes of continuous aerobic activity with large muscle groups to burn even 50% fat. Performing a few extra repetitions on a weight training exercise is not significant enough to burn extra fat and may in effect burn less fat. If intensity is compromised, less fat may be burned when light weight is used with high repetitions.

the quest for fitness

my love of tennis, and my desire to stay athletic have driven me to get serious about exercising. for the past 2 months, i've been averaging 3 workouts and 1 intense session of tennis, totalling 7 hours of physical activity each week. my standard workout routine consists of the following:

20 min run, starting at 6.2 mph and ending with 7.0 mph (300 calories)
15 min eliptical step (125 calories)
15 min abs
10 min lower back
10 min stretching
45 min circuit weight training (300 calories)
OR
60 min tennis singles (500 calories)

my diet for the past 2 months has comprised of the following:

9AM kashi cereal (300 calories)
noon tuna sandwich (400 calories)
3PM salad/soup (350 calories)
6PM protein bar (300 calories)
8PM protein shake (650 calories)
10PM light dinner (600 calories)

sheik recently introduced me to exrx - an excellent repository of health and fitness information combined with some useful calculators. so i ran the numbers, and here's what we have so far:

basics:
male, 29, 172 lbs, 72 inches

body mass index:
23.4 (population average is 25.9)

waist to hip ratio:
0.8 (population average is 0.88)

estimated calorie requirements:
normal days = 9 resting hours, 12 very light hours, 2 light hours, 1 moderate hour, 0 heavy hours = 2858 calories
workout days = 8 resting hours, 12 very light hours, 2 light hours, 1 moderate hour, 1 heavy hour = 3322 calories

estimated calorie intake:
2600 calories

my "calories-in" versus "calories-out" equation seems alright. now i need to compute my target heart rate which means i need to purchase the long overdue polar hrm. i also need to take the 12-min run test. my hunch is that i will end up with an "average" rating, or "good" if i push my limits.

this is work in progress. stay tuned for more data and results as i continue to study and improve my overall fitness level.

master's degree holders to get green cards

Humbling losses by the U.S. men's basketball team at the Olympics last year could hint at what lies ahead for the nation when it comes to economic and technological leadership, according to a new report from a tech industry trade group. The study, to be released Tuesday by the American Electronics Association, argues that the next wave of breakthrough technologies could be created abroad if the United States does not act now to maintain its competitive edge.

"U.S. policy-makers and industry leaders need to recognize that as we neglect our technology infrastructure--skilled labor, (research and development), and a business-friendly environment--many countries are adopting economic reforms and are directly competing with the United States for foreign talent, innovation, and technology products and services," the report states. "Unless this realization hits home, American losses will not be confined to the basketball court."

The study comes on top of other calls for the United States to take steps to improve its technological competitiveness vis-a-vis other parts of the world. Technology prowess is seen as critical to a nation's overall economic health, given the way advances can create new industries, high-paying jobs and a higher standard of living.

To be sure, the U.S. system of technological innovation isn't in tatters. Many United States-based computer and Internet companies are doing well, venture capital investment in tech mecca Silicon Valley is rising again, and the country boasts top research universities. But other nations have been building up their technology industries. India and China, for example, have attracted research operations from technology companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Intel. And critics have called attention to potential problems in the United States, including relatively safe research projects and a declining presence of women in the computer field.

The new report from AEA calls for more funding for the National Science Foundation, specifically for research in the physical sciences, engineering, math and computer science. U.S. federal funding of research and development (R&D) has declined over the past two decades, the report states: "It peaked in 1987 at $75 billion and still was below this peak by 2002 at $71 billion, adjusted for inflation to 1996 dollars."

The report also recommends immigration changes. Individuals born in other countries represent one of every five scientists and engineers in the United States, accounting for more than a million workers, according to the study. Among other things, AEA calls for all foreign master's and Ph.D. students in the United States to receive "green cards," or permanent residency status.

AEA also argues for improving the U.S. education system, making the R&D tax credit permanent, and creating a tax credit for training workers. "Companies often lack incentives to invest in educating and retraining workers, as they risk losing that return on investment if the worker subsequently leaves the firm," the report says. "By providing human capital investment tax credits, the U.S. government can encourage companies to retrain workers by reducing or eliminating out-of-pocket costs."

Besides drawing an analogy between the U.S. economy and the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team, AEA suggests that the country is like the "proverbial frog in the pot of water" when it comes to technological leadership, oblivious to a slowly building catastrophe. "In our report, we analyze a number of competitiveness factors that, when taken in isolation, as they so often are, would not necessarily constitute a crisis," AEA President William Archey said in a statement. "But the interrelationship--the cumulative effect of these trends--makes the more compelling argument that the status quo is unsustainable."

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buoyant determination

Bob Martin's photograph of the 200m freestyle at the Paralympic heats won him the World Press Photo Award for 2004

ain't no cosmic lottery

My country-woman gets some well deserved converage on the BBC. Her success ain't no cosmic lottery.

The girl who is breaking barriers

Sania Mirza, the first Indian woman to get to the third round of a tennis grand slam, has a long way to go but her confidence may get her there, says leading Indian sportswriter Rohit Brijnath.

Sania Mirza's serve won't win any awards for design and her toss is so high you can have a cigarette waiting for it to come down. She is a few biryanis (flavoured rice) heavier that an elite athlete can afford to be and her acceleration on court is more Ford than Ferrari.

But no big deal; this you can teach an 18-year-old. What you can't is chutzpah, and toughness, and Sania Mirza has both. Though when I first saw her, it was hard to believe. For a while at the Australian Open, and only that, Sania Mirza froze. You could see it in her awkwardness when matches began, as if the enormity of the moment had short-circuited her brain, as if nerves had locked her elbow and anxiety shackled her feet. So everyone feels suffocated under pressure, everyone chokes. Even Australian Open champion Marat Safin, he said so himself.

Bolder generation

Mirza, who was turned away by her first coach when six, was now playing in the main draw of a grand slam singles for the first time; a teenager out of Hyderabad was rubbing shoulders with a muscular, glittering Serena Williams. Hell, a choke made sense. Indian athletes anyway, at least in the past, were known to go a little weak-kneed when confronted by an alien environment. Raised amid inadequate facilities, poorly travelled, physically out-matched, assisted by inferior coaches, awe followed them on a leash. But this is a bolder generation, more likely to shrug off the cloak of intimidation, and it is somewhat apparent in Virender Sehwag's audacity, in Irfan Pathan's cool debut in Australia, in Anju George's resolve in the long jump arena. These athletes, and they are a growing tribe, believe they belong. It's not something learnt from a coach or found in a textbook, but a self-belief that swirls in an individual athletes' mind. And it is what Mirza has. Quite simply, Mirza thawed at the Australian Open after the odd hesitant set, she folded her nerves as she does her spectacles, put them aside and embraced the moment. She let her forehand sing, and her small fist pump, and her mouth grimace; there was a sense she enjoyed this metallic taste of battle and could do with some more.

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