100 Push Ups……really?

I was reading Kevin Rose’s blog recently and came across the 100 push ups challenge.  If you have been on the Internet, you have probably come across Kevin’s work as he is the founder of Digg.  Digg is like the ultimate news and information site where content shows up based on what the community (us) ”diggs.”  Kevin says on his blog that he is in the best shape of his life.  I already knew he is a rock climber, as he climbs at a local gym, but I didn’t know he is also into nutrition, and apparently, does a lot of push-ups. 

The 100 push ups challenge is a six weeks training program to get you to 100 consecutive push ups.  They put that word “consecutive” in there lest you think you can do five push ups, watch Battlestar Gallactica, then do five more, and over a period of a few weeks get to 100.  No sirree, we are talking in-a-row. 

I always thought of push ups as a chest exercise, but the site says they also define your abs, triceps, shoulders, and torso.  I don’t think you’d want to do just push ups and think you are going to be in the best shape of your life, but combined with other great habits, you are sure to get there. 

As readers of this blog know, Jeff and I have this list of weekly challenges.  If you are playing fantasy football, you pick the same number of challenges this week as you have starters in your fantasy football league.  If you are not playing fantasy football, you can play to, and let’s say you end up with seven challenges each week – which we’ve found is about the average.  EVERYBODY who plays Fantasy Healthball MUST check the little box in front of the “exercise” challenge.  It is the only mandatory weekly challenge.  So, I’m thinking, why not try the 100 push ups challenge to meet your exercise challenge for their six weeks?  If you can do the 100, you get a Fantasy Healthball high five.  If not, we bet you’ll be able to do more than you started.  Give it a shot, and let us know how you are doing.  — Jim Ballard.

2008 Rules Now Posted!

Our crack staff has now posted the official rules (a.k.a. “how to play”) Fantasy Healthball.  Click here to learn how to play.  Whether you are already in a fantasy football league or not, we’ve got you covered.  If you are not in a fantasy football league but want to give it a try, there is still time.  For first timers, check out Yahoo!, or CBS Sportsline, or the NFL.   Our reader “ffballer” suggests this site for thorough videos on how to play fantasy football.

If you are not in a league and don’t plan to be, we’ve got ways for you to play and get healthy too.  Check out our “how to play” and send us an email or post a comment if you have any questions. 

Right now, you’ll just find the written explanation of how to play.  Over time, we’ll also be adding more videos of how to play, videos describing our roster challenges, videos with exercise ideas, and videos of some great Fantasy Healthball tailgatin’ recipes. 

So keep an eye out. 

Meanwhile, our 2008 Fantasy Healthball season starts on Labor Day.  You’ll keep track of your scores daily on the challenge roster and then watch the weekend’s games.  You’ll kick-off the season with a win or a loss against your NFL opponents.  More to come before kickoff…… — Jim Ballard

Fantasy Football – It’s time!

Fantasy football everywhere you look?  Now’s the year to join in.  Click here to learn more about fantasy football.  One very popular option is Yahoo! Fantasy Football which offers a free game where you manage your own team of professional football players from the opening kickoff right through the late-season playoff races.  Soon we’ll be posting the 2008 season rules for Fantasy Healthball, the fantasy sports diet and nutrition program that you can play alongside fantasy football.  Want to lose some weight or just get into better shape while competing with your friends and taking on the NFL Pros?  You found it, baby!

We’ll show you how to play Fantasy Healthball even if you are not in a fantasy football league, but if you want to be in a league, now is a good time to sign up.  Check out the links on our website.  Below is some info. from the Yahoo Sports option.  The football season is fast approaching, time to get ready!  — Jim Ballard.

Yahoo! Fantasy Football:  Your goal is to get the best team on the field each week, since the better your players perform in real-life games, the more value they bring to your fantasy team.  While you sit back and watch your team progress through the season, we do all the hard work of gathering statistics, computing point totals, and updating standings.  Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football PLUS runs throughout the entire 2008 football regular season, which begins on Thursday, September 4, and is scheduled to end on Sunday, December 28.  Sign-ups begin in early June and continue through Friday, October 17.

Create a Custom League and personally invite only those managers you want to join. As the league founder or commissioner, you can configure virtually all aspects of your league, from the scoring system to the style of draft.  To join someone else’s Custom League, you must get the League ID# and Password from the commissioner.

If you don’t have enough managers to build an entire league yourself, join one of our Public Leagues and compete against fantasy fans from around the world. All Public Leagues use the same default settings. You’ll randomly be placed in a league with other managers who have chosen the same draft type and competition level.

Join a Head-to-Head League and square off weekly against other managers. Each manager sets his/her lineup based on league requirements and is matched up each week against another manager according to the league’s schedule. Whoever accumulates the most fantasy points — based on your league settings — wins the game. Weekly results are then tallied into an overall record.

Join a Points League and simply set your goal on being the highest scorer. Set a weekly lineup based on league requirements and hope your players collect more fantasy points than anyone else’s. Points are tallied throughout the football season, and the team with the highest total at the end of the year wins the league championship.

There are three different draft options available to managers in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football.  Participate in a live online draft, where each manager selects a squad in real time. Join an autopick draft and our computers will select a team for you. You’ll get the best possible players based on either our default rankings or a set of personalized rankings you submit in advance.  lastlyk, Custom Leagues can also conduct their own offline draft wherever and whenever they want.   Click here to find out more!

NFL Kick Off, Fantasy Healthball Season Kick Off

A big circle on our Fantasy Healthball calendar around September 4, the first game of 2008.  Redskins vs. Giants.  That is also the first week of the Fantasy Healthball 2008 season which starts on Monday, September 1st – RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.  You score your Fantasy Healthball “Healthpoints” Monday through Saturday and then watch the games on Sunday to see if your healthy efforts were enough to beat your NFL opponents.  Work your tail off and you’re likely to get a win, but if you phone it in, you can bet your NFL opponents won’t be doing the same.  Game on.

We have gotten many requests, from those of you playing our off-season version called “Training Camp,” to post the rules of play for the regular season.  We are working on that right now and will post them to our website under the “Start Playing” tab in a couple weeks so that you have everything you need once you start your fantasy season.  Keep watching this blog and we’ll let you know when the site has the new info. 

Meanwhile, treat this like your exhibition season, your “tune-ups” for the actual season starting in less than a month.  Now is the time to get those habits firmly in place so that you are putting your best foot forward once the season starts and the competition is live!  The NFL pros have that first week circled, they will be waiting……… — Jim Ballard

The Start of the Day is the Night Before

One of my weekly challenges that I continue to fight with is “Eat a Healthy Breakfast”.  It seems so simple, just make sure you don’t walk out of the house without at least having a decent cereal, fruit and juice.  How hard is that?  However, I continue to score less-than-perfect weeks in this category.  Why?  Well, I have found that a good start to my day, doesn’t begin at breakfast.  It begins the night before with a good night’s sleep.

In order for me to score well in Fantasy Healthball, I have come to realize just how much the decisions I make at night affect me throughout the next day.  I also often take the “Get a Minimum 7 hours of sleep” challenge, because I am a night-owl.  Always have been.  And like many parents with young children, the time in the evening after the kids go to bed is “my time.”  Finally, I can get caught up on the sports scores of the day, or listen to music, or read, or whatever I choose to unwind after a full day.  But if that time turns into a late enough bedtime, then it not only jeopardizes my ability to get 7 hours of sleep…It also potentially  squeezes out an opportunity for a morning workout and/or breakfast.  The domino effect of that decision to stay up later absoultely has the cumulative effect of reducing my weekly Healthball score.  

So, as much as I like to stay up and enjoy the late evening hours, part of the discipline in fighting for better health has included setting a 10:30 p.m. bedtime for myself.  This allows my “6:00 a.m. workout plus breakfast” master plan to fully take hold.  And, the more I exercise, the better I sleep, and the more energy I have to fill up my active days.  It does all work together.   But, sometimes we have to remind ourselves just how much our decisions one day can have lasting effects throughout the week.  — Jeff Hagen