Happy 2013!

Happy 2013! New Year and a re-vamped blog to write about anything I want!

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Interval Cardio

I have never been a cardio-lover, preferring weight-training over the monotony of cardiovascular exercises such as the elliptical trainer. Last year, I decided to switch to running as my primary form of cardio - inspired by an attempt to run a marathon (idea shelved until further notice) and found it harder but very rewarding. After a year of half an hour runs at a steady pace, the inevitable happened - I became bored. I still kept at it because I always felt so fantastic after a good run.

After a bit of research on how to improve my running experience, I came across an article that used interval training to set down a running routine that not only makes the whole experience more interesting but apparently is more effective at burning calories than the steady pace run. I altered the routine to suit me and it looks something like this:

Time	Pace	Duration
0 - 1 mins.	3.5 km/hr	1 minute
1 - 5 mins.	5.5 km/hr	4 minutes
5 - 6 mins.	6.0 km/hr	1 minute
6 - 10 mins.	5.5 km/hr	4 minutes
10 - 11 mins.	6.0 km/hr	1 minute
11 - 15 mins.	5.5 km/hr	4 minutes
15 - 20 mins.	6.0 km/hr	5 minutes
20 - 24 mins.	5.5 km/hr	4 minutes
24 - 25 mins.	6.0 km/hr	1 minute
25 - 29 mins.	5.5 km/hr	4 minutes
29 - 30 mins.	6.0 km/hr	1 minute
30 - 34 mins.	5.5 km/hr	4 minutes
34 - 35 mins.	3.5 km/hr	1 minute

I found this routine kept my mind engaged on the upcoming interval and found the 35 minutes go by quicker. In addition, since I am essentially pacing myself, I enjoyed the run a lot more than my usual steady pace (at 5.8 km/hr). This routine can easily be extrapolated to practically any cardiovascular exercise - I have already tried this on the elliptical trainer and found that it worked pretty well and took away some of the monotony.

The most important aspect of interval training is the benefits associated with it. Here is a great article that lists a few of these benefits:

Top Ten Benefits of Interval Training

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Playstation 3 versus Xbox 360

We recently purchased a PS3 after much deliberation. As part of our due diligence, we did a lot of online research but most websites did not really come to a conclusive answer as to which one is best. We calculated a price comparison for the PS3 and the XBox 360 and came up with this result:

Effective PS3 Price with all the features: $399.99
Effective XBox 360 Price with all the features: Up to $ 647.98 + $89.99/year (!!!)
These are the features that make PS3 a better purchase both in terms of performance and cost:

Source(s):

• Gizmodo.com - XBox 360 Failure Rate 30% 
• Gizmodo.com - PS3 Failure Rate less than 1%
• CNET.com reviews

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