Horton, Maroney, Raisman looking good

Three members of the medal winning 2011 World Championships Team – Jonathan Horton of Houston, Texas, McKayla Maroney of Long Beach, Calif., and Alexandra Raisman of Needham, Mass. – are on the athlete roster for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, an official outfitter of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams for London 2012.

The gymnasts will serve as Ralph Lauren brand ambassadors leading up to and throughout the Games. …

USAG

See a larger version of that Business Wire photo on Full Twist.

There seems to be more opportunities for more gymnasts leading up to this Olympics. It’s not Nastia and Shawn, everywhere.

I could watch Beth do Bars all day

Gymnastike:

… Watch as the British women’s gymnastics team trains in Tokyo during the 2011 World Championships.

The British women had a favorable showing in Tokyo, successfully qualifying a full team to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games and finishing an impressive 5th place in the Team Final. …

… Beth Tweddle, Hannah Whelan, Rebecca Downie, Danusia Francis, Imogen Cairns, Jennifer Pinches, Laura Edwards

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike. (mostly Bars / Beam)

http://www.gymnastike.org/embed/NzMyNTI4ODY2?related=1

Watch more video of Workout Wednesday, Season 5 on gymnastike.org

Plenty of personality. I was super happy the host team qualified.

Inside Gymnastics Cirque week

Publisher Chris Korotky is in Vegas supposedly 🙂 researching an article for the next edition of Inside Gymnastics.

Sounds like a pretty sweet gig. He was at Elvis last night. Michael Jackson IMMORTAL tonight.

Follow the trip on the Inside Gymnastics Facebook page.

Immortal, a touring show, is the first of two Cirque MJ productions in development. Still “under construction” it’s worth seeing. In Sin City until Dec. 27th.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Retrosi – recommended coaching books

Championship Gymnastics. Gerald George

Modern Women’s Gymnastics. Bill Sands.

Gymnastics- How to Create Champions. Leonid Arkaiv, Nikolai Schilin.

Sacred Hoops- Phil Jackson.

Peak Performance. Charles Garfield, Hal Z. Bennett.

The Vision of a Champion. Anson Dorrance.

Zen Lessons- The Art of Leadership- translated by Thomas Clearly.

It’s Not About The Bike- Lance Armstrong.

Psychology and Gymnastics. The Ultimate Guide for Coaches, Gymnasts and Parents. Drs. Sue and Joseph Massimo (yet to be released- Don’t worry, you will be the first to know when it is out!)

And if none of those work I highly recommend: A BARTENDERS GUIDE TO COCKTAILS 🙂

details – BOOKS EVERY COACH SHOULD HAVE

improvements to Twitter

Twitter is like Facebook … with most of the best features removed. You either hate twitter, or love the minimalist, often cryptic, comments. Like Haikus. 🙂

But hate it or not, twitter is here to stay.

Happily, they’ve just announced some major improvements soon to be rolled out.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

That interface is already available for iPhone and Android. Link on the bottom of this page — fly.twitter.com

Shawn Johnson ‘Fitness for Life’ Act

Rather than making fat illegal, some new legislation in Iowa seeks to combat childhood obesity with the help of gadgets.

… Since 2004, the University of Northern Iowa and the Grundy Center (Iowa) School District have partnered together to improve physical education classes by emphasizing the use of technology. …

The Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act:

The Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act expands the concept … to more schools. The bill creates a new grant program to fund the expansion of masters’ degree programs in physical education at 10 colleges and universities. The masters’ programs must emphasize the use of technology in PE teaching and innovative teaching practices. …

details on Congressman Bruce Braley’s website

That’s the latest, greatest fitness gadget, the Jawbone Up:

… Up has a sturdy steel frame encased in a flexible hard rubber wristband. Built-in motion sensors can track the steps you’ve taken (at least while walking or running), distance traveled, pace, calories burned, and the hours you were in a deep or light state of slumber. You pay $100 for the band, which comes in multiple colors and small, medium and large. The band works in tandem with the free companion iOS app, which you must download from Apple’s iTunes Store. …

Unfortunately, reviews have been BAD, so far.

Still — I like what this Bill is doing. Good luck Shawn.