Volume ninety-nine, Issue Ten SPORTS 15

Bobcat Teams Leap into New Year Bobcat Schedule

Continued from page one
Tory Gillis | Sports Writer
Switching over to hoops, the Lady
Bobcats were just 10 points shy of
catching the Wesmen this week-
end. With their 56-66 deficit on
Saturday, they marked their 12th
straight loss, sitting at 1-13. The
women played their hearts out,
with the usual suspects racking
up points for Brandon—as Mela-
nie Thompson added 13 points
and Nicisha Johnson contribut-
ing a team-leading 15. Next up
they will host two highly ranked
teams—The Saskatchewan Husk-
ies (4th) and the U of Alberta’s
Pandas (3rd) on Friday the 16th
and Saturday the 17th.
The Men’s basketball team has
the ball rolling on the start of a
streak, after beating U of W in
both games of their home-and-
home series. The two victories,
the last being squeaked out with
Upcoming Action:
an 80-79 decision, brings them
up to 6-8 on the season. The Bob-
cats will be in town this weekend,
looking for a third and fourth
win with tough matchups against
Alberta and Saskatchewan. Each
game is key to improve upon
their standing in Canada West’s
Great Plains division, in which
Regina is the only team ahead
of them, ruling the pack with 16
points. The Bobcats remain just
two wins behind at 12, and are
looking to move ahead.
All four teams have some great
matches coming up, and each are
hungry to gain ground in their
respective divisions, and keep to
the win column. If 2009 contin-
ues with the success that the bob-
cats have been earning of late,
fans are in for an exciting second
half at the BU gym.
The BU gym will be busy as
both the Men’s & Women’s Vol-
leyball teams will hit the court
in Kamloops Jan 16th. The Uni-
versity of Calgary Dinos will
visit Brandon on the 23rd and
again on the 24th vs both the
men and lady ‘Cats. The 30th
and 31st of Jan will see Trinity
Western taking on the cats as
well, with another double fea-
ture each night.
Bobcat Basketball hits home
this weekend, with a visit from
U of Saskatchewan on Friday
the 16th and U of Alberta Sat-
urday night. The ‘Cats then hit
the road for the 23rd and 24th
to take a crack at the U of M
Bisons, before returning to each
face the U of W Wesmen again
on Jan 29th.
Upcoming Bobcat Action
Friday, Jan. 23 Men’s Volleyball at the BU Gymnasium - 8 pm
Versus University of Calgary (CW)
Saturday, Jan. 24 Women’s Volleyball at BU Gymnasium*
Versus University of Calgary (CW)
Saturday, Jan. 24 Men’s Basketball @ Winnipeg - 6 pm
Versus University of Manitoba (CW)
Women’s Basketball @ Winnipeg - 8 pm
Versus University of Manitoba (CW)
Saturday, Jan. 24 Men’s Volleyball at the BU Gymnasium - 8 pm
Versus University of Calgary (CW)
Thursday, Jan. 29 Women’s Basketball at the BU Gym - 6 pm
Versus University of Winnipeg (CW)
Men’s Basketball at the BU Gymnasium - 8 pm
Versus University of Winnipeg (CW)
Friday, Jan. 30,31 Women’s Volleyball at BU Gymnasium*
Versus Trinity Western U. (CW)
Men’s Volleyball at the BU Gymnasium - 8 pm
Versus Trinity Western U. (CW)
*Times to be announced unless otherwise stated.
- Denotes Home Games (CW) - Canada West Conference Play
REMEMBER BU STUDENTS!!!
Admission to all Bobcat Athletics games is FREE!!! So bring
your student card and SUPPORT YOUR BOBCATS!

Finding The Balance

Cara Edge | Staff

While working out itself can be
quite the energy drain, setting
up an appropriate plan for your
new found exercise routine can
be just as daunting. It is tempt-
ing just to hit the gym and focus
on one particular muscle group,
or set of activities, but balance
is key to achieving your fitness
goal, regardless of what it is.
Myths propagate the fitness
world that prevent people from
achieving their results. Many
believe that cardio is the best
way to lose overall weight, but it
has no use for those who want to
build muscle mass. Some believe
that weight training is only useful
for gaining weight. Many people
neglect to even consider flexibil-
ity training as an adequate part
of their routine. However, each
of these has an integral part in
Flickr.com, Creative Commons, 2009.
ensuring that your fitness goal is
well-maintained, and more im-
portantly, safe and healthy.
Cardiovascular activity, wheth-
er it is aerobics, running, or
anything that gets your heart
pounding, is not only a proven
way to aid in reduction of body
fat percentages, it also has health
benefits for your heart. Even the
most muscular man can be con-
sidered out of shape if cardio is
not incorporated into his train-
ing program. Cardio allows your
heart to get the exercise it needs
to stay strong. It also provides a
good warm up for muscles that
will be used in other activities,
such as weight lifting. Without
properly preparing these muscles
for work, they are more likely to
become injured.
While weight training brings
to mind the image of an Arnold
Schwarzenegger-type muscle
man, weight training should be
an integral part of every work
out regimen. Not only will it
give you a more defined and
toned body, additional muscle
strength can help you daily life,
from carrying around textbooks
to climbing university stairs.
However, weight training also
aids in the reduction of body fat
in that it increases your metabo-
lism, the speed at which your
body burns calories. While it
does not achieve the same rates
as cardiovascular exercise, it
is able to sustain the increased
speed for a longer period of
time.
Flexibility is one of the most
overlooked components to a
well rounded exercise program.
While some people still do take
the time to stretch, incorporat-
ing a day of Pilates or yoga into
a routine will allow not only for
increased flexibility, but will also
help prevent injuries by insuring
that muscles do not remain tight.
Not only will your body feel long
and lean, a focus on stretching
and breathing also helps clear
the brain.
Finally, the most important
component to an exercise regi-
men is rest. While trying to
be active every day is a positive
goal, allowing muscle groups
adequate time to rest and heal
before being worked again is im-
portant to prevent and decrease
pain and injury.
While there is constant con-
flict over which component of
an exercise program is most im-
portant, finding ways to incor-
porate all aspects into each work
out session or each week will not
only help you achieve your fit-
ness goals, but will also make
sure that your work outs stay as
safe as possible.