Developed by one of the game’s top coaches and endorsed by the Rugby Football Union, Rugby Games & Drills. contains over 115 games and drills designed to bring out the very best in players, regardless of age or ability or rugby code.

All you have to do to have a chance of winning a copy is email your name and address to editor@hkeurope.com

All entries must be received by midnight on Thursday 2nd February and 20 lucky winners will be drawn at random on Friday 3rd February. Entries received after this date will not be accepted.

Ever since Monica Seles was psyched out of the 1992 Wimbledon title after demands that she reduce the noise level of her grunts, this issue has been of great debate particularly in women’s tennis.

Professor Alison McConnell author of Breathe Strong, Perform Better published by Human Kinetic’s, suggests that there is in fact a physiological reason for a tennis player to grunt and that being a distraction to opponents is merely an added bonus!

Professor McConnell explains, “We all instinctively inhale just before we make a physical effort such as lifting furniture or swinging a racket at a ball. We do this because holding air in the lungs helps to provide the stability required for injury-free and forceful movements of the trunk.

“maximizing the power of a tennis shot is created by transferring muscular force to the racquet head efficiently. A strong core and trunk is vital for this process because the force transmission starts below the players’ waist. The muscles in the trunk also contribute to racquet head speed by providing a rotational force between the hips and shoulders.”

So how does this cause a player to grunt as they strike the ball? According to Professor McConnell it all comes down to breathing techniques.

“Efficient breathing is an incredibly important contributor to performance in all sports, but especially in a high-intensity, skill-based game like tennis. Any coach will tell you that the heart of a good stroke is a relaxed rhythm, part of achieving this rhythm is getting your breathing and stroke in tune.”

Simply exhaling as soon as the player has hit the ball will dissipate the stability and control in their core, this can throw them off-balance and break that all-important rhythm. The solution, according to Professor McConnell is through controlled, forceful exhalation using the larynx, or voice-box, to maintain stability in the core.

“Narrowing the opening of your lungs will slow down the rate of airflow from them, while maintaining stiffness in the trunk and control over the breathing rhythm. It is in using this technique that some players feel the need to grunt.

Of course this braking action doesn’t actually need to result in audible grunting but it is easier to coach the controlled exhalation if you can hear it. As a result some younger players may well be taught to grunt as a means of breath control.”

Professor McConnell goes on to suggest that the reason grunting is more common amongst women than men is that their upper bodies are generally weaker than those of men and thus require stronger control and stability through breathing techniques.

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Figures show that ministers have bought almost twice the number of tickets for Beach Volleyball, than they have for the athletics.

Officials have insisted that there is an entirely innocent explanation, claiming the decision was all about the timing of the events rather than an interest in the outfits worn by the players.

Beach volleyball, which will be played at Horse Guards Parade, in the heart of Whitehall, became one of the fastest events to sell out at the Games.

When asked if he could explain the why there seems to be a such strong interest in beach volleyball among ministers and civil servants Jonathan Stephens, permanent secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport explained “When purchasing tickets for staff to purchase we thought they were most likely going to be able to go at the weekend or on Fridays.”

We assume that they’ll all be taking their partners with them, so that’s alright then.

Throughout February the team is running The Nation on Trial initiative and is challenging everyone to get fit in the build up to the GB Rowing Team Senior Trials by getting taking their own 2km trial to mark a big year for British sport while also raising money for The Stroke Association.

2km is the distance GB’s top stars will race on the water at the Olympic Games this summer but for anyone aspiring to join the GB team the year-long selection process begins with a 2km test on a rowing machine and this is the public’s chance to have a go and win behind-the-scenes-prizes simply by taking part.

The challenge is simply this, participants train and build up to rowing the 2km as fast as they can on a rowing machine at a local gym or rowing club, getting fit in the process and reducing their risk of having a stroke by taking regular exercise.

The times for those aged 16-24 will also be assessed to see if anyone has the talent to be considered for the opportunity to train to be a member of the GB Rowing Team.

Who knows, the event could throw up a new generation of rowers destined for the GB Rowing Team as well as providing the nation to keep with an opportunity to keep up their New Year’s get-fit resolutions.

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Written for students and practitioners of massage therapy, physical therapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, sports medicine, athletic training and fitness instruction, Postural Assessment is a guide to determining muscular or fascial imbalance and whether that imbalance contributes to a patient’s or client’s pain or dysfunction.

Bestselling author and practicing physiotherapist and sport massage therapist and instructor Jane Johnson, breaks down the complex and holistic process of assessing posture into easy-to-assimilate sections.

She begins with a discussion of ideal posture and the factors affecting posture as well as how to provide the correct environment for assessment, necessary equipment and the importance of documenting assessment findings.

She then goes on to detail procedures for executing postural assessments from standing posterior, lateral and anterior views as well as with the patient or client in a seated position.

Postural Assessment will greatly assist practitioners in learning what posture reveals about the relationships among various body parts and in determining whether such relationships cause or contribute to pain or discomfort.

As a resource for novices, Postural Assessment offers guidance in observing and identifying common postural forms and interpreting those observations.

Price: £16.99 I €20.40
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The Active IQ Level 3 Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (QCF) is available at Levels 3 and 4 and is designed to prepare individuals for teaching in a wide range of contexts.

The qualification has been endorsed by the Institute for Learning (IFL) and appears on its ITT/E Qualifications Register.

Learners must be 19 years of age or older and be looking to start a teaching career in the lifelong learning sector.

Active IQ has recently approved three centres to deliver the Level 3 Award in Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (QCF): YBFIT Training, ICON TRAINING and UK FAST.

Suzy Gunn, Executive Director of Active IQ, said “The new qualifications are the first step towards practitioner status and, as such, are invaluable for those wanting to progress their career and get one step ahead on the career ladder”.

She went on “Through working with training providers and introducing new qualifications, we’re constantly providing up-to-date and industry relevant qualifications that will help the next generation of fitness professionals. This is something that the industry will see even more of as we enter 2012.”

Source: Active IQ

Readers will learn which exercises target which muscles and how to perform each one correctly and safely, while gaining insights into how to eat correctly in order to maximize results.

Whether your goal is to improve muscular endurance, build strength, increase muscle mass, tone existing muscles, or reduce body fat, Weight Training Steps to Success will help you be successful.

Price: £14.99 I €14.40
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Gardening is a very broad term that incorporates mowing lawns, planting seedlings, planting trees, and even picking flowers, fruits, or vegetables and different aspects of gardening will affect adults’ balance and gait in different ways.

This leads to a great deal of variability in the type and frequency of the tasks performed by older adult gardeners and the physical ability required for each of them.

One outcome of the findings is that it gardening could be incorporated into future fall-prevention programmes in which adults could advance to more difficult types of gardening as they become more comfortable and competent with the easier tasks.

This would allow an opportunity for progression in the level of physical activity for older adults which could further improve their overall health and functioning and reduce their risk of falling.

Source: Journal of Aging and Physical Activity

Written for students, professors and professionals in recreation, leisure, gerontology and ageing, Leisure and Aging provides a wealth of knowledge on various aspects of life for older people and the role of leisure within it.

It helps students think critically about a phase of life that seems remote from their own and provides a perspective to their understanding of ageing and leisure.

Price: £39.99 I €48.00
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The researchers, who sourced their data from a US registry of cardiac arrests during marathons and half-marathons, also found that a key factor in saving the lives of such victims was the ability of bystanders to start CPR.

The study found that the rate of cardiac arrest in marathons and half-marathons was the same as, or lower than, that for other strenuous physical activities, that male contestants accounted for most of them and appear to be at most risk.

The analysis also revealed that the most common cause was hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or coronary artery disease.

Senior author Dr Aaron Baggish said “We found that the risk of cardiac arrest for marathon and half-marathon runners is equal to or less than the risk for other athletes – including triathletes, college athletes and casual joggers”.

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This easy-to-use reference contains 50 techniques that help support or control joint mobility and provide greater stability than other methods of taping.

Though the text focuses principally on strap taping for physiotherapy, it also includes a variety of sport-related taping and other techniques used in orthopedic rehabilitation.

Many of these techniques can also be used or modified for use with neurological and pediatric patients or clients.

Price: £33.99 I €40.80
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By working with its global membership base of over 10,000 club and fitness businesses, examining industry research and monitoring consumer fitness behaviours, IHRSA has identified the most significant trends health club goers will see over the next 12 months.

Top Ten Trends
1. More People Working Out,
2. Specific Programming for Baby Boomers,
3. Youth Programming,
4. Social Exercise,
5. SGPT,
6. Technology,
7. Convenient Fitness, 8. Corporate Wellness,
9. Body Weight Exercise
10. Physician Prescribed Exercise.

Top Ten Activities
While trends are interesting, it is important to note that tried and true exercise never goes out of style. The top 10 health club activities per IHRSA’s member census of 3,024 North American health clubs are:
1 Free weights (hand weights, dumbbells and barbells)
2 Treadmills
3 Resistance machines
4 Elliptical trainers
5 Stretching
6 Abdominal machines
7 Stationary cycling
8 Low impact aerobics
9 Yoga
10 Stair-climbing machines

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Held every four years, this showcase event will take place over five days in the prestigious Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre adjacent to the historic River Clyde and plenary keynote speakers have been confirmed.

On Monday 13th August Professor Tom Kirkwood Director, Institute for Ageing and Health at Newcastle University will present Longevity, Physical Activity and Ageing

Professor Stephanie Studenski, University of Pittsburgh will speak on the theme of Prevention and Management of Neurological Conditions in Old Age though Physical Activity and Exercise on Thursday 16 August.

The final keynote speech, Sedentary Behaviour and Older People – New Insights will be given on Friday 17 August by
Professor Neville Owen Baker, IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne.

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The book presents a detailed examination of the considerations and challenges faced in the development of individual programmes to meet each key fitness component and fitness performance goal.

This text offers strength and conditioning professionals a scientific basis for developing training programmes for specific athletes at specific times of year.

Price: £28.99 I €34.80
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It says poor teachers could be removed within a term instead of a year, which can be the case at present.

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, says schools have been “tangled in red tape” for too long when dealing with struggling staff and in straightforward cases, the process could now be completed in weeks.

There will also be a requirement for teachers to be assessed every year on whether they meet new standards, which cover teaching and “personal and professional conduct”.

The government is also consulting on proposals that it says would deal with the problem of poor teachers being moved on from school to school.

This would mean that if a school made inquiries about a teacher it was thinking of hiring, previous employers would have to say, if asked, whether he or she had been through what are known as “capability procedures”.

Speaking on the BBC’s Breakfast programme, Mr Gove said that the planned process “only kicks in when it’s clear that there are problems”.

Source: BBC News
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Focusing on all lower-body muscle groups, especially those previously neglected by popular workouts, it features more than 80 exercises for both serious lifters and athletes, including detailed instructions for perfecting your technique and advanced variations to help you break through to the next level.

This is the comprehensive, hard-core guide you need in order to achieve the ultimate results!

Price: £12.99 I €15.60
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The hosts, who had to finish in the first four of the eight competing nations in order to book an Olympic team place, came into this competition under pressure after their shock failure at last year’s World Championships in Tokyo.

But they held their collective nerve by winning the team event with a total of 358.227 points ahead of France on 350.659, Spain (347.292) and Italy (346.334), as Canada, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Belarus all missed out.

Daniel Purvis led the British men with a fine all-round performance, finishing with the highest individual score of the day of 89.948 points for the six pieces of apparatus.

It meant the British men qualified a full team of five gymnasts for an Olympics for the first time since the Barcelona Games 20 years ago.

Before Monday’s competition there had been fears Louis Smith, bronze medallist on the pommel horse in Beijing four years ago, would be the lone British male gymnast at London 2012.

But now the men will join the British women, who secured a full team line-up at the London Olympics after finishing fifth in Tokyo.

Completely revamped photographs, illustrations and medical artwork offer a higher level of detail and clarity to illustrate how the body performs and responds to physical activity.

Both students and instructors can take advantage of the web-based ancillaries that accompany the book and offers new learning activities that complement each chapter in the book and study guide reminders that prompt students when to access the study guide to practice, review and develop their understanding of chapter concepts.

Price: £35.99 I €63.60
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Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was part of a £1bn strategy to encourage young people to take up sport – as pledged in the 2012 Games bid.

Mr Hunt said despite huge investment of public funds since winning the right to host the Games, participation by young people in sport has been falling. He said a “radical change” in policy was needed to address the problem.

Under the five-year, Youth and Community Sport Strategy, Sport England will help set up some 4,000 clubs where expert coaches will run sessions to create ties between schools and existing local sports clubs.

Already, 2,000 football clubs have pledged to be linked to secondary schools by 2017, in rugby union 1,300 clubs, cricket, 1,250 clubs and rugby league and tennis 1,000 clubs each, according to the government.

In an attempt to give greater public access to school sports facilities – three-quarters of sports halls and artificial pitches and a third of swimming pools in England are located on school sites – £10m of funding will be available.

Source: Sport England

A further £100m will be invested in creating the clubs and tackling the decline in sports participation when people leave school.
Of this, £50m will be invested to boost sport provision at further education colleges and universities with funding for a full-time sports professional at at least 150 further education colleges.

Between 2013 and 2017 around £450m will go to sports governing bodies to help develop their sport plans but their funding will be allocated on a “payments-by-results” basis.

Mr Hunt said: “Our bold approach will see money going to organisations that deliver on youth participation, but also withdrawn quickly from those which fail to meet agreed objectives.”

Sport England Chief Executive Jennie Price said: “Changing the sporting behaviour of a generation is a major challenge, which has not been achieved by any other Olympic host nation.

“With a new focus on young people and an even tougher, Government-backed regime of payment by results, Sport England and its partners are determined to deliver.”

The money comes from the Lottery and government funding through Sport England – £200m of which was from the current Spending Review settlement.

Source: Sport England

It offers a thorough explanation of considerations, controversies, recommendations and locations for accessing specific measurement tools and includes access to an online resource that presents 14 measurement instruments in their entirety.

It is intended for use as a reference for academic libraries, researchers and consultants in sport and exercise psychology and as a graduate-level textbook in sport psychology or sport science disciplines.

Price: £54.99 I €66.00
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