Once upon a time there lived a man who could do anything. He was sat on a rock when a small child approached him. "Can you do anything?" said the child, inquisitively. "Of course I can child" said the man, "for I am the man who can do anything". "Can you create a rock so heavy that you cannot lift it?" Asked the child. "Yes" said the man "didn't you hear? I am the man who can do anything".
The man created a rock that was so heavy that he couldn't lift it. Impressed with his own work, the man said "you see child, look at that rock. I cannot lift it, it is huge". The child then asked "Can you lift the rock?" "Yes" said the man, "obviously, I can lift the rock, I can do anything". The man then lifted the rock with ease. The boy looked confused, but the man stopped him, saying "don't be confused child, just blindly except it, push logic to one side, for logic cannot do anything. And if something doesn't seem right, just come up with a supernatural resolution to the problem and pretend that there is no problem after all, then you will see that you too can do anything."
And so, the child became a psychic. Performing the impossible and charging people by the hour to give them hope. After all, this is what the man who could do anything taught him. Ethics don't matter when you are the man who can do anything.
The end.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Should you take vitamin supplements?
As you run more often and cover longer distances, training can become harder and your speed is likely to stop increasing. At times like this, runners look for ways to speed up their recovery and increase their strength. There are a number of ways to do this, but an increasingly popular way is to look for supplements, so; do they work?
In the UK our medicines are regulated by The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), however, they do not cover food supplements, specifically stating that vitamins; “are generally subject to food safety and food labelling legislation rather than medicines control”. This means that food supplements are not subject to the same level of medical controls and trials as medicines so it’s particularly important that you look very carefully at this subject.
The majority of written advice given to runners falls into two categories:
- Take vitamins that contain anti-oxidants to reduce free-radical build up.
- Take supplements to help the joints.
Taking Anti-Oxidant vitamins
The sell normally goes like this: When you run, something called ‘Free-radicals’ build up in your muscles and this damages them. You need to introduce Anti-Oxidants in vitamins (the most popular aimed at runners are Vitamins C and E) which will break down the Free-radicals and aid your muscle recovery.
Are they safe?
As we already know, these are not subject to medical trials in the UK and so we need to do a little research ourselves. These supplements are big business and big business tends to be very good at concealing anything negative about the products which make them a lot of money. The best way to check vitamin safety currently appears to be this Cochrane Summery. This was a trial on almost 300,000 participants which looked at the deaths of those taking vitamins against those not doing so, or taking a placebo. They discovered that, far from helping people live longer lives, the vitamins appeared to increase the chances of death very slightly. The vitamins that seemed to be linked to increased chances of death were beta-carotene and possibly vitamin E and vitamin A.
Do they work?
Okay, so there’s no evidence that they help people on an everyday basis, but is there any evidence that they help runners to improve performance (if we ignore the chance that they may slightly increase our risk of dying).
There is some evidence to suggest that increased Anti-Oxidant levels in the body may improve recovery times. This study, concludes that: “The human studies reviewed indicate that antioxidant vitamin supplementation can be recommended to individuals performing regular heavy exercise.” However, your body will adapt over time to deal with increased Free-radicals from exercise. The same study points this out: “training results in increased activity of several major antioxidant enzymes and overall antioxidant status”.
A fascinating study performed in Taiwan looked at the psychological impact of taking vitamins. They discovered that people who were told that they were taking a healthy multi-vitamin pill (which was really a placebo) created an illusion of invulnerability. They smoked more and believed themselves to be healthier than the control group who were told that their pill was a placebo. This suggests that there’s a danger that taking a ‘health giving’ pill may reduce your efforts to train hard and eat properly and that’s what’s really important. Here’s the study in full.
So really, it’s down to you. Personally I do take vitamin C and I believe it helps my running, whether that’s because it’s doing something physiological, or simply that I’m experiencing an illusion of invulnerability, I don’t know. Perhaps in runners that illusion is a good thing, it could help them break down perceived barriers about speeds and times. I would be interested to see a study on that.
Take supplements to help the joints
Take supplements to help the joints
I’ve included this here because it seems that there has been a growing industry built up around joint supplements recently, Holland and Barratt even have a whole section dedicated to it on their website. The most popular product aimed at runners tends to be a combined Glucosamine and Chondroitin pill so I’m going to focus on that.
Are they safe?
In a word: Yes. Both Glucosamine and Chondroitin occur naturally in the body and studies have shown that taking supplements does not cause the body to stop producing them and no other damage has been shown.
Do they work?
The labels to many of these products, as well as the websites that they are stocked on imply that these products enhance the way that your body maintains joints. This therefore leads to healthier joints and less injuries for runners.
Most studies have found that there is no benefit of taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin at all. To my knowledge there has only been one study which showed benefits – this was a study on osteoarthritis sufferers which was funded by a Pharmaceutical company. The fact that the only study to find benefit from the supplement was funded by a company with a vested interest in doing so makes me question the benefits.
Considering that these are quite expensive, my advice is to stay away as they are very unlikely to help your running, despite what people who are selling them may tell you. If you do take them then there is no danger and they appear to give roughly the same benefit as a placebo (although reading this may have ruined that for you!).
Monday, June 10, 2013
UK CrossFit T-Shirts
So I started doing CrossFit some time ago - for those of you who don't know, it's a competitive sport which uses elements of gymnastics, and Olympic weight lifting. It's great fun and I have really enjoyed being part of it.
It was whilst searching for some unique CrossFit inspired clothing that I came across a company called RX'D Limitless, based in the UK. I hadn't been able to find many CrossFit t-shirts in the UK but these were something quite different, so I took a punt and bought one. I received it a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I also love the fact that they are limited editions and you can hardly get hold of them. I was impressed with their unique designs (no dragons or swords in sight) and the fact that they did womens crossfit clothing.
They have some designs on their Flickr page, here's one I really liked (but it was sold out - that's the problem with limited edition):
It was whilst searching for some unique CrossFit inspired clothing that I came across a company called RX'D Limitless, based in the UK. I hadn't been able to find many CrossFit t-shirts in the UK but these were something quite different, so I took a punt and bought one. I received it a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I also love the fact that they are limited editions and you can hardly get hold of them. I was impressed with their unique designs (no dragons or swords in sight) and the fact that they did womens crossfit clothing.
They have some designs on their Flickr page, here's one I really liked (but it was sold out - that's the problem with limited edition):
25 Years of Virtual Memories
I always try to think that there are good things to come out of any situation. When I was attacked by a gang whilst on holiday, robbed and hospitalised, I wasn't so sure. However, I went to counselling and was taken through a process of looking at your life year by year and highlighting good points each year - I really enjoyed it. Since then I decided to do the same thing but focusing just on virtual memories from computer games ... and here it is.
If this is the one thing I've got out of the bad situation then I'm pretty happy - I love these memories and each one is stronger than the negative memory I now have of the incident. That's how much computer games have made an impact on my life, if you think that's sad or uncool that's fine, I'm just glad I wasn't just sat watching TV that I wouldn't remember instead.
I don't have a memory for every year, I've tried to highlight just the strongest ones (please note these aren't always my favourite games, just best individual memories):
Age: 3-5
System: Commodore 64
Game: Speed King
Memory: Speed king was a motorcycle game which I loved playing. The problem was that I was too young to understand how the gears worked, which meant that I was terrible. I remember my older brother reassuring me "don't worry, just wait and the other bikes will come back round again" sure enough, they would come round to lap me and I'd happily drive along with them for a bit until they all got past and I'd wait for them to lap me again.
Age: 6-7
System: Commodore 64
Game: Trap Door
Memory: I remember this as the first time I'd seen a TV show made into a game and I was really excited about it. My main memory is spending hours opening the trap door and throwing things down it that I shouldn't, then putting things on top of the trap door and opening it to fling them across the screen. In that sense it was a peak into open world games that I'd never seen before - you could kind of do what you wanted with the trap door. Although it didn't get you very far and was fairly limited.
System: Sega Mega Drive
Game: Golden Axe II
Memory: It was whilst visiting friends in Manchester that I first came across the Sega Mega Drive, it had been released for a year but I hadn't seen one before. I was absolutely blown away by the first game we played - Golden Axe II. Picking up the controller I remember feeling like I'd gone into the future - this was a hell of a step up from my Commodore 64. Taking it in turns between four of us (two at a time) we completed the game in one day and then started to replay it with unlimited magic. My favourite memory was of one of my friends telling me "you get bravery points if you jump down the holes" only to discover that it killed you. Brilliant.
Age: 9
System: Sega Mega Drive
Game: Sonic
Memory: After saving up for a year, my brother and I managed to get our sister on board to club together birthday and Christmas money and get a Mega Drive of our own (yes, that's really how hard we had to save for it). Getting Sonic was another huge leap forwards for me. It was the colours and the speed that hit me - I'd never imagined that a computer could 'run' so fast. I was hooked. My best memory is still singing the level select to the theme song so that I wouldn't forget it (I can still remember it now without looking it up - Up, down, left, right A+Start) and then jumping in to whichever level I wanted - brilliant at the time.
Age: 10
System: Nintendo Game Boy
Game: Populous
Memory: I swapped my copy of R-Type for Populous with another 10 year old on a ferry (to either France or Denmark), I hope he enjoyed R-Type because I loved Populous. I played this game more than any other on the game boy (closely followed by Super Mario Land 2). The best memory was spending a four hour car journey pinning back the enemy and beating them without using any of the powers - best car journey ever.
Age: 11
System: Sega Mega CD
Game: Sonic CD
Memory: I loved my Mega CD. This again took a massive savings effort to get, but we managed it. I remember being blown away by FMV and spoken audio from the games (I was clearly easily pleased), but the thing that really impressed me and my best memory of the console was just watching the Sonic CD intro and showing my friends how impressive it was. The game itself was great too - the 3D special stages stand out in my mind particularly. Incidentally, the Mega CD was the first time I heard a games console say a swear word - Ground Zero Texas had an intro which included the line "it scares the crap out of me". That was enough at the time to make me think it was the coolest game around - even though it had terrible game play!
Age: 12
System: Atari Jaguar
Game: Syndicate
Memory: I don't know how I managed to buy a Jaguar, but at the time I thought it was the best thing imaginable. It had Doom, Syndicate and Alien Vs Predator and I was happy with that. My best memory is playing Syndicate with a friend, taking it in turns to control the game whilst the other shouted things like "get in the car!" or "RUN!" at the top of our voices. I could get lost in that game world for hours, planning assassinations and escapes through the city. It was an amazing game.
Age: 13
System: Sega Saturn
Game: Command and Conquer
Memory: Okay, I kind of wanted a Playstation, but my love for the Mega Drive and Mega CD made me get the Saturn. The first game that I got with it was Command and Conquer and I loved it. I'd been a fan of Dune 2 on the PC but this was taking things to the next level. I remember the first night I had it, sneaking out of bed after I was meant to be asleep to carry on playing it into the early hours, completing level after level. What a great memory.
Age: 14
System: Sega Saturn
Game: Duke Nukem 3D / Death Tank Zwei
Memory: First off, I loved Duke Nukem 3D, I was at the right age to find the toilet humour hilarious - but the best memory for me was spending days smashing every single toilet in the game in order to access Death Tank Zwei - once I had that I would have my friends over and we'd battle in our little tanks for hours. For us it was the ultimate party game.
Age: 15
System: Sega Saturn
Game: Panzer Dragoon Saga
Memory: What a game. The thing that I really remember about this game is the combat - fighting whilst flying through the air on a dragon, I remember the graphics being much better than they are, looking at the video. It almost makes me sad to look at it now, in my mind this should still look cutting edge! This was the first game I played that really embraced 'experience' points. I know that there were plenty of games before it which used them, but I never really played them very much at all.
Age: 16
System: Playstation
Game: Grand Theft Auto
Memory: I didn't own a Playstation, but I have a very clear memory of going to a friend's house and playing GTA for hours. I'd not come across many open world games up until now and the ones that I had come across tended to be a lot less like real life worlds. This was new, refreshing and addictive - at that time I couldn't have even imagined that they would bring out a 3D version in the not too distant future.
Age: 17
System: Dreamcast
Game: Powerstone
Memory: Two player gaming at parties with friends whilst drunk for the first time always involved Powerstone. We knew it was childish and stupid, but the games we played were epic and I have some amazing memories from this game - throwing chairs, pulling off special moves, running for the power stones - it was great fun and simple enough to enjoy after drinking some beers.
Age: 18
System: Dreamcast
Game: Shenmue
Memory: First off, the graphics were staggering at the time, but my best memory was the first time I played it, walking into an 'arcade' in the Shenmue world and my friend saying "surely you can't play the games?" Of course, you could. That was a level of immersion for us which we'd simply not seen before. The game was huge and looked beautiful - even if you did have to get a job as a fork lift truck driver!
Age: 19
System: Xbox
Game: Halo
Memory: "Gin Halo" - what an idea. It was simple, we played Halo multiplayer on one screen, every time you die you have to drink a shot of gin until 1.5 litres of gin were consumed. Luckily this was fairly well spread out and nobody died in real life. It was a good night though, I remember hiding behind a rock terrified of moving for a good few minutes before someone spotted me.
Age: 20
System: Xbox
Game: ISS 2
Memory: ISS 2 was a classic football game which came along before the series turned into Pro Evolution Soccer. The beauty of it was the 'fun' of the game - often matches would end 4-3 (or those were the ones I remember). However, my memory of this was beating my over competitive house mate over and over again because I found a bug with the offside rule - you could hold down Y and make your player run offside - as long as he was miles offside when you played the ball, the game wouldn't flag it, leaving you to slot the ball past the keeper every time. I would normally win 10-0 but never told my house mate how I did it. He used to go crazy, throwing things and getting really upset, but (as he was a Man United fan) I never told him a thing and he never worked it out. Just to make it more amusing I did tell the other housemate we lived with, who then did the same thing to him over and over. As he was a Nintendo fanboy his response was "xbox is crap, that's the problem".
Age: 21
System: N64
Game: Mario Kart
Memory: An old game, yes, but definitely the most played game for me this year. Living in a house with 7 other students in our final year of University, what else would we do with our time? Most days we'd play a complete Grand Prix in 4 player...by the end of the year we knew every cheat and shortcut in the game, but it was still amazing fun. I remember more than one phone getting thrown at the wall in anger as a blue shell connected on the final lap. Amazing gaming.
Age: 22
System: Nintendo DS
Game: Super Mario 64
Memory: I spent this year in Austalia so I bought a DS for my gaming needs. It was stolen just after I returned to England, but whilst I had it I did treasure my time on Mario 64. I'd play it on the bus on my way to work and on the way home. The problem was that I was rubbish at it and kept getting stuck - but that at least meant that I got a lot of gaming time out of it! The best memory of that game was on the bus to work one day when a group of school kids gathered around to watch my gaming skills...I don't think they were very impressed, but it was nice to have an audience.
Age: 23
System: SNES Emulator
Game: Secret of Mana
Memory: Wow, what a game! My housemate introduced me to this in London and we played the whole game through. I couldn't believe it was a SNES title, it was amazing. Great memories of laughing at our uselessness and the game itself, if you haven't played this game it's the only one on my list that I'd say you really have to. Wonderful experience in multiplayer.
Age: 24
System: Xbox 360
Game: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
Memory: Online gaming finally hit me in the face and it came in the form of Rainbow Six Vegas. Of course, I'd played online before, but not a massive amount and not on a games console since my Dreamcast (ChuChu Rocket so nearly made the list earlier), but when I started playing this online I was suddenly back in love with gaming. I felt like I could just play this all day every day. My best memory is a hung over day sat in my lounge in London, not leaving the house and just playing online co-op games all day. Waste of time? Whatever - what else can you do in that kind of state?
Age: 25
System: Xbox 360
Game: Gears of War 2
Memory: Another online game which I loved. This time it was the first time I'd played online with a group of friends who I knew in real life. We played hoard mode and had our favourite map to play it on, all the areas got renamed over time, one small room somehow become 'the deli' and my favourite memory is of shouts from my teams mates to "quick! Get to the Deli!". Good times.
Age: 26
System: Mega Drive Emulator
Game: Dr Robotnik's mean bean machine
Memory: Another old one which I started playing on emulators, this is possibly my favourite 'same room' multiplayer game of all time. It's a puzzle game a bit like columns, but when you score points you make things harder for your opponent. There are many ways to play the game - go for quick but small scores to disrupt your opponent's plans (annoying beans), save up and go for a big score (Champagne beans), just try to keep your screen clear (Tetris beans). I remember playing a shot of sambuca for every loss on this game. Painful, but good memory.
Age: 27
System: Xbox 360
Game: Braid
Memory: The only game that I've ever been able to play with my fiancee. That's the good memory for me, both of us working out the puzzles and taking it in turns to control the player. A lovely game which really makes you think - it reminds me of portal in the way I feel about it, a great memory for me.
Age: 28
System: Xbox 360
Game: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Memory: My favourite game of this console generation, this is full of good memories for me, but I do specifically remember playing with a friend for the first time, both hiding on a hill and him saying, "you go out and I'll cover you" just as he got stabbed in the back, I turned around just in time to get stabbed in the face. Very funny...no? I guess you had to be there, I'm glad I was.
25 years of gaming right there. I can't believe how many classic games I've not included on this list, but these are the strongest memories...I could have done 10 for most years, but there we go.
Here's to the next 25!
Taken from my blog here.
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