How does usain bolt run so fast?

Usain Bolt showed his dominance of men's sprinting at the athletics World Championship in Beijing this week with wins in the 100m and 200m. What's his secret? Is the way to win at sprinting to move your legs faster than your rivals do?

 Since the Beijing Olympics in 2008 Bolt has won every race he's entered at a World Championship or the Olympics, with the exception of one, where he was disqualified for making a false start.

When non-athletes want to run fast they set about moving their legs as fast as they can, so you might assume that Bolt has achieved this exceptional record by making his legs move faster than everyone else has. But this idea doesn't stand up - in fact, it falls flat on its face.

"Elite sprinters don't swing their legs any faster than recreational runners," says Dr Sam Allen of Loughborough University.

8 things you must do to be emotionally healthy.

Our emotions are the most present, pressing and sometimes painful force in our lives. Emotions dictate our thoughts, motives and actions. Hence we need to be emotionally healthy to feel happy and have a sense of purpose in our lives. Being healthy emotionally involves having a measurable control over your emotions rather than being at its mercy. 

 Here are eight needs you must meet to be emotionally healthy:

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

This famous health quote is so true as research has shown that there are so many health benefits that come with regular consumption of apples. Delicious and crunchy, apple fruit is one of the most popular and favorite fruits among the health conscious, fitness lovers who firmly believe in the concept of “health is wealth.” This wonderful fruit is packed with rich nutrients that are indispensable for optimal health. Certain antioxidants in apple have several health promoting and disease prevention properties, and thereby, truly justifying the adage, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

How to be irresistibly attractive beyond looks

Being really attractive go beyond physical beauty. It includes the way you carry yourself, the way you relate to people and react to situations. It involves being confident, assertive and compassionate, being independent but wanting. This means that you can be very attractive on a gut level to your partner or the opposite sex in general even if you don’t think you are a model that just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Did you know that the most attractive part of a person is the brain? When you master your feelings, improve the mind and feed the right emotion, you can attract and hold the attention of anyone.

How to break the cycle of negative thoughts

Sometimes what is holding you back from pursuing your dream is pessimism. A pessimist always has the feeling that things will go wrong. He always dwells on the negative part of a situation rather than the positive part. Most times his fears cause him to act in harmony with his beliefs and they become self-fulfilling prophecies.

How can you break this cycle of negative thoughts? You need to learn to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. You have to learn to be aware of your inner dialogue - the thoughts you have about yourself and what you are doing. When you start to doubt yourself, listen for a moment to that little negative inner voice. Whose voice is it really? Could it be something someone had told you about yourself? Tell yourself

How exercise affects your health

People are less active nowadays, partly because technology has made our lives easier. We drive cars or take public transport. Machines wash our clothes. We entertain ourselves in front of a TV or computer screen. Fewer people are doing manual work, and most of us have jobs that involve little physical effort. Work, house chores, shopping and other necessary activities are far less demanding than for previous generations.

Exercise is the miracle cure we’ve always had, but for too long we’ve neglected to take our recommended dose. Our health is now suffering as a consequence. – Dr. Nick Cavil.

Whatever your age, there's strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and even happier life.

Tips to give your self- confidence a permanent boost- II

I had a friend who was always unhappy. He had the habit of quitting half way on whatever he started and was always complaining about his predicament. He would say to me “Mart, when on earth am I gonna have my own penthouse by the beach with a fleet of cars”?  “I don’t enjoy this job. My boss is an ass, I’m quitting next month”. “I think my girlfriend is seeing another guy.” He always found something wrong with every situation. So I called him one day and laid it straight to him. I told him “Dave, your negative thought pattern is the root cause of your perpetual sad state. You keep seeing a problem even when there’s none”. 

I gave him a long lecture on self-confidence and optimism. Dave found himself happier over the next few weeks as he applied the tips I gave him. He no longer cared about some of the ‘problems’ he was always whining about.

Tips to give your self-confidence a permanent boost - I

Get to know yourself

When going into battle, a wise general would learn all he can about his enemy. You cannot defeat the enemy without knowing him. Now in this case the enemy is you. Get to know yourself well. What are your likes and dislikes? You need to start listening to your thoughts. Start writing a journal about yourself and the thoughts you have about yourself. Start analyzing why you have such negative thoughts. Think about the good things about yourself, the things you can do well, the things you like and write them down. E.g. I can play violin, I love singing and I’ve got a great voice. I can fix things etc.

Think about your limitations. Are they real ones, or just ones you have allowed to be placed there? Dig deep within yourself and you will find out that most of your perceived limitations are quite petty and does not really matter after all everyone has got some limitations, and you will come out with even greater self-confidence.

Tips to give your self-confidence instantaneous boost.

Groom yourself

 It is amazing how much of a difference a shower and shaving or make-up can make in your feelings of self-confidence and for your self-image. You could turn your mood around completely by simply grooming yourself. So clean up those fingernails and toenails and cut them short. Get that cute hairstyle you so admire. Brush and floss often and keep breath mints. Dab on some cologne or wear a nice perfume. You will surely fall in love with your new look.

Dress nicely

If you dress nicely, you will feel good about yourself. You will feel successful and presentable and ready to tackle the world. So the next time you are at the clothes shop, put some thought into the clothes you pick.

How your self-image affects your self-esteem

One of the things that held me back from pursuing my dreams for many years was fear of failure and the lack of self confidence I needed to overcome that fear. It is something we all face to some degree. The question is: how do I overcome that fear? The answer lies in working on your self-image and self-esteem. Consequently, you will develop the self-confidence you need to go through life, live your dreams, and be 100% happy with your life.

 

Many of us seem to lack self- confidence or self-belief. This is often as a result of having developed a negative self-image and low self-esteem over time through experience from childhood. As a child, you might have constantly been told that you are  clumsy, fat, dull, ugly etc. You have gradually come to believe those negative criticisms about you and have made them your reality. As you grow and interact with others, you begin to feel that others are more normal than you, you are no fun, you can’t do anything right, others are more good-looking or smarter and so forth. With time, such negative feelings begin to affect you. They inhibit you from realizing