ON is IN

Why cycling is great for your legs, lungs, immune system and mind, plus 11 other great benefits of life on two wheels!

To those already engrossed in the cycling world, the benefits of cycling will already be abundantly clear, but for anyone who needs a reason to get out on the bike here’s a list of some of the biggest perks.  

The bonuses to cycling – including physical health benefits of cycling, mental health benefits of cycling, and an almost guaranteed broadening of your social circle – are as numerous as the beautiful roads you can find.

If you are thinking of starting cycling, now is the perfect time to make some hefty savings. Our best Black Friday bike deals page is pack with deals and discounts across all things cycling to get you going for less. 

But when it comes to picking a new hobby, there are of course plenty of options out in the world to weigh up, so here’s why we think cycling is the best:

1. CYCLING IMPROVES MENTAL WELL-BEING

A study by the YMCA showed that people who had a physically active lifestyle had a wellbeing score 32 per cent higher than inactive individuals.

There are so many ways that exercise can boost your mood: there’s the basic release of adrenalin and endorphins, and the improved confidence that comes from achieving new things (such as completing a sportive or getting closer to that goal such as completing your first 100-mile ride).

Cycling combines physical exercise with being outdoors and exploring new views. You can ride solo – giving you time to process worries or concerns, or you can ride with a group which broadens your social circle.

Former Hour Record holder Graeme Obree has suffered from depression through much of his life, and told us: “Getting out and riding will help [people suffering with depression]… Without cycling, I don’t know where I would be.»

2. STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM BY CYCLING

Dr. David Nieman and his colleagues at Appalachian State University studied 1000 adults up to the age of 85. They found that exercise had huge benefits on the health of the upper respiratory system – thus reducing instances of the common cold.

Nieman said: “People can knock down sick days by about 40 percent by exercising aerobically on most days of the week while at the same time receiving many other exercise-related health benefits.”

Professor Tim Noakes, of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, also tells us that mild exercise can improve our immune system by increasing production of essential proteins and waking up lazy white blood cells.

Why choose the bike? Cycling to work can reduce the time of your commute, and free you from the confines of germ infused buses and trains.

There is a but. Evidence suggests that immediately after intense exercise, such as an interval training session, your immune system is lowered – but adequate and effective recovery after cycling such as eating and sleeping well can help to reverse this.

3. CYCLING CAN HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT

The simple equation, when it comes to weight loss, is ‘calories out must exceed calories in’. So you need to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. Cycling burns calories: between 400 and 1000 an hour, depending on intensity and rider weight.

Of course, there are other factors: the make-up of the calories you consume affects the frequency of your refuelling, as does the quality of your sleep and of course the amount of time you spend burning calories will be influenced by how much you enjoy your chosen activity.

Assuming you enjoy cycling, you’ll be burning calories. And if you eat a healthy diet that creates a calorie deficit (one that is controlled and does not put you at risk of long-term health conditions, we stress) you should lose weight.

4. CYCLING BUILDS MUSCLE

The resistance element of cycling means that it doesn’t just burn fat: it also builds muscle – particularly around the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves. Muscle is leaner than fat, and people with a higher percentage of muscle burn more calories even when sedentary.

To be clear – you won’t end up with quads like a track sprinter unless you invest a serious amount of time at the squat rack. But you will develop a nice toned derriere.

5. YOU CAN ENJOY SECOND BREAKFASTS AFTER CYCLING

If you decide to cycle to work, you’ve got a great excuse to add a couple of extra snacks to your day.

Since a half hour ride to work should be burning between 200 and 500 calories, you’ve got a license to enjoy a smug second breakfast at your desk.

If you’re serious about burning fat, you could do your morning ride fasted (sans breakfast) – but that’s mainly a habit reserved for the most dedicated of riders, and it’s a training tool best used with care, and in moderation – to avoid negative effects on your health.

6. CYCLISTS HAVE BETTER LUNG HEALTH

You won’t be alone if this point seems contradictory to common sense. But studies have suggested that people who ride a bike are actually exposed to fewer dangerous fumes than those who travel by car.

A study by the Healthy Air Campaign, Kings College London, and Camden Council, saw air pollution detectors fitted to a driver, a bus user, a pedestrian and a cyclist using a busy route through central London.

The results showed that the driver experienced five times higher pollution levels than the cyclist, as well as three and a half more than the walker and two and a half times more than the bus user. Long story short: the cyclist won.

7. CYCLING CUTS HEART DISEASE AND CANCER RISK

Cycling raises your heart rate and gets the blood pumping round your body, and it burns calories, limiting the chance of your being overweight. As a result, it’s among a selection of forms of exercise recommended by the NHS as being healthy ways to cut your risk of developing major illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

New evidence was presented in the form of a study conducted by the University of Glasgow, earlier this year. Researchers studied over 260,000 individuals over the course of five years – and found that cycling to work can cut a riders risk of developing heart disease or cancer in half. The full study can be read here.

Dr. Jason Gill of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences commented: “Cycling all or part of the way to work was associated with substantially lower risk of adverse health outcomes.»

8. CYCLING IS LOW IMPACT

Many of the upshots we discuss when we talk about the benefits of cycling are exercise related. Reckon it might be easier to just go for a run?

Running is weight bearing – and therefore injury rates are higher. Cycling, by contrast to running, is not weight bearing.

When scientists compared groups of exercisers – long distance runners and cyclists, they found the runners suffered 133-144 per cent more muscle damage, 256 per cent more, inflammation and DOMS 87 per cent higher.

Whilst cycling is less likely to result in an overuse injury, they can still crop up. A professional bike fit is a good idea – skimping here is a false economy if you end up spending more cash on physio.

The lack of weight bearing also means that cycling does not do as much to increase bone density as other sports – so it’s a good idea to add a little strength training in to your programme.

9. CYCLING SAVES TIME

Compare these three experiences:

1. Get in the car, sit in traffic, queue to get into the car park, park, pay to park, arrive
2. Walk to bus stop, wait for bus, complain about bus being late, get on bus (pay), watch as it takes you round-the-houses, arrive, about half a mile from your destination
3. Get on the bike, filter past traffic, lock the bike, arrive

Short journeys contribute massively to global pollution levels, and often involve a fair amount of stationary staring at the bumper in front. Get on the bike, and you’ll save on petrol or cash on public transport, as well as time.

10. CYCLING IMPROVES NAVIGATIONAL SKILLS

In the world of car sat navs and Google maps, sometimes there’s just not that much incentive to sharpen your natural sense of direction (however superior or otherwise it may be).

Unless you’ve invested in a GPS cycling computer with mapping capabilities, then getting out and exploring the lanes can provide essential exercise for your internal mapping capabilities, giving you (with practice) a better idea of which way is West.

11. CYCLING IMPROVE YOUR SEX LIFE

Most of us know that sex is a good thing, but not everyone knows that it’s actually good for your overall health. In fact, regular sex could indeed prolong your life.

Dr Michael Roizen, who chairs the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, says: “The typical man who has 350 orgasms a year, versus the national average of around a quarter of that, lives about four years longer.” Similar findings were revealed for women.

So can cycling improve your sex life? Well – it builds some rather essential muscle groups. Dr Matthew Forsyth, urologist and keen cyclist from Portland, Oregon, commented: “All these muscles [worked on the bike] are used during intercourse. The better developed these muscles, the longer and more athletic intercourse will be.”

Add in that – thanks to spending plenty of time showing off all the lumps and bumps in skintight lycra (and occasionally double-oh-AND-seven) – cyclists tend to be fairly comfortable in their own skin, and you’ve got a recipe for success.

12. CYCLISTS SLEEP BETTER

It probably isn’t rocket science that tiring yourself out on the bike will improve your sleep – but now it’s been proven. Researchers at the University of Georgia studied men and women aged 20 to 85 over a period of 35 years, and found that a drop in fitness of 2 per cent for men and 4 per cent for women resulted in sleep problems.

Dr Rodney Dishman was one of the lead authors, and commented: «The steepest decline in cardiorespiratory fitness happens between ages 40 and 60. This is also when problems of sleep duration and quality are elevated.»

Looking for causes behind the link the scientists suggested it could be a reduction in anxiety, brought about by exercise, that elevates the ability to sleep. Exercise also protects against weight gain with age, which is another cause of sleep dysfunction.

13. CYCLING BOOSTS YOUR BRAIN POWER

Exercise has been repeatedly linked to brain health – and the reduction of cognitive changes that can leave us vulnerable to dementia later in life.

A 2013 study found that during exercise, cyclists’ blood flow in the brain rose by 28 per cent, and up to 70 per cent in specific areas. Not only that, but after exercise, in some areas blood flow remained up by 40 per cent even after exercise.

Improved blood flow is good because the red stuff delivers all sorts of goodies that keep us healthy – and the study concluded that we should cycle for 45-60 minutes, at 75-85 per cent of max ‘hear rate reserve’ (max heart rate minus resting heart rate) four times a week. Nothing stopping you riding more, of course.

14. CYCLING IMPROVES SPACIAL AWARENESS

Cycling isn’t just about raising your heart rate and getting you breathless – unless you’re doing it on Zwift. There are technical elements – climbing, descending and cornering all teach you to use your body weight to get the bike to go where you want it to.

Gaining the skills to manage these technical elements can provide a massive confidence boost – especially when you start to see improvement. Plus, you might just find your abilities to manage that dodgy shopping trolley with the wonky wheels greatly improves.

15. GROW YOUR SOCIAL CIRCLE THROUGH CYCLING

Cycling is an incredibly sociable sport. Grassroots cycling revolves around cycling club culture – which in turn revolves around the Saturday or Sunday club run: several hours of cycling in a group at an intensity that enables easy chat, interrupted only by a cafe stop for a coffee for a caffeine boost (or the occasional puncture).

Joining a cycling club or group is an excellent way to grow your social circle, and if you’re new to riding – you’ll probably find all the maintenance and training advice you may have been looking for there, too.

Source: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/benefits-of-cycling-334144

Why Cycling Is Good For The Environment

As modes of transport go, they don’t come much ‘greener’ than cycling. The environmental benefits of cycling outweigh pretty much any disadvantage you could even try to think of.

Whether you cycle to work, school, the shops, or simply to keep fit – every turn of the pedal helps protect our planet in one way or another.

Or, maybe you don’t currently cycle but are looking for a way of reducing your carbon footprint and living a more eco-friendly lifestyle – you’re in the right place, and cycling is a great place to start.

While many of the benefits seem obvious, others are less so. Read on to learn about 5 of the biggest environmental benefits of cycling.

Cycling reduces air pollution

If you’re reading this blog, we’ll assume you’re already pretty clued up on air pollution and are conscious of your efforts to reduce your own output.

But – in a nutshell, air pollution is the small particles, chemicals and gases released into the air, often from things like the burning of fossil fuels, transportation, and wildfires.

Driving motorised vehicles, like cars, is one of the biggest contributors to air pollution. Car fuels, in particular, include gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen dioxide, which are seriously harmful to the environment when released in large volumes.

On the other hand, cycling releases very little CO₂ into the air. So, straight away, it has an enormous environmental advantage. Shorter journeys, in particular, are where you’re most likely to notice the biggest environmental benefits of cycling.

According to environmental organisation Hubbub, 50% of the journeys we take each day are less than two miles – meaning lots of unnecessary, excess pollution is sent into the air for journeys which could, in theory, be done on foot (or pedal!)

Hubbub also states that in the UK alone, more than half (55%) of transport emissions come from cars, which has a hugely negative impact on our air quality.

Switching short car trips for a cycle instead has huge environmental benefits, and what’s more – it’ll keep you physically fit, too.

Cycling reduces noise pollution

Pollution doesn’t just come in invisible gas form – there’s also noise pollution to be mindful of too.

Noise pollution is usually classed as any unwanted or disturbing sounds that affect humans and animals’ health and wellbeing in that particular area.

This type of pollution also impacts the health and wellbeing of wildlife. Studies have shown that sudden, loud noises can cause small insects like caterpillars’ hearts to beat faster and bluebirds, for example, to have fewer offspring.

Animals use natural sound for all sorts of reasons, such as navigation, finding food, attracting mates and avoiding predators. If we, as humans, disrupt these sounds with noise pollution, it makes it difficult for animals to survive.

Animals have to alter their behaviour and may even have to change locations to avoid noise, which has a detrimental knock-on effect on our entire environment. For example, if a bird leaves its forest and others follow, that forest may decline over time. This could then lead to that forest being cleared. This is called deforestation – we’ll come onto that a bit later.

However, if there’s less noise from vehicles, traffic queues and the like, animals are more likely to stay and allow surrounding nature to thrive.

So, by leaving the car at home and choosing to cycle instead, you’re not just helping to save the planet – but animals, too.

Cycling boosts biodiversity and protects green spaces

By its simplest definition, biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth. But, more specifically, biodiversity is the number and types of plants and animals existing in a particular area or space. It also takes into account how life and species’ on Earth interact with one and other.

Biodiversity is important for several reasons. Firstly, a healthy ecosystem means good quality and variety when it comes to things like food, water and air.

However, as the temperature of the Earth gets warmer and the weather gets more unpredictable (otherwise known as climate change), fewer plant and animal species can survive.

Improving biodiversity is another important environmental benefit of cycling. As cycling generates less noise and air pollution and emits fewer gases that contribute to global warming, it also protects green spaces and the wildlife that exists within them.

Over time, switching your car journeys (again, particularly the shorter journeys) for cycling reduces the need for surfaces to be paved for vehicles. This even includes areas you might not have otherwise considered – like your front drive, for example.

Fewer paved surfaces mean more green spaces by default. So, by cycling, you’re doing your bit to boost biodiversity and protect that precious, natural greenery.

Cycling reduces the need for deforestation

Heavily linked to the earlier notion of protecting green spaces, the issue of deforestation is one of the largest, ongoing issues regarding land use – not just here in the UK but globally, too.

By definition, deforestation is the action of clearing a wide area of trees or forest. These spaces are often then industrialised, which, for reasons discussed previously, can have devastating impacts on the environment.

For a start, the very building and construction of an industrial site involves vehicle transportation and the use of non-eco materials. Then, once in operation, sites often burn fuel and emit all sorts of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Not to mention the additional noise and air pollution from importing and exporting goods.

However, if more people chose to cycle instead of drive, there’d be a bigger case for keeping these green, cycle-friendly spaces alive. Long term, there’d also be less of a need for metal production to help build cars.

The metals used in car production often need to be mined from the Earth – a process that often requires deforestation to work.

Can you see how it’s all linked?

Cycling helps to reduce global warming

Cycling has been long-established as part of the solution for a low-carbon, greener future for the planet. And if you weren’t quite sure why before, you certainly are now after reading this blog.

There’s little doubt among scientists and environmental experts that human activity contributes massively to global warming. But the good thing is that, as humans, we also have the power to enact positive change.

According to data from Cycling UK, just 6% of urban passenger miles are from cycling. However, it’s estimated that increasing this to 11% by 2030 and 14% by 2050 could cut CO₂ emissions from passenger transport by 7% and 11%, respectively.

In fact, research also suggests that if people in England cycled as much as people in the Netherlands, there’d be around two million fewer car commuters on the road. In theory, this would reduce the UK’s CO₂ output by an average of more than 1,500 tonnes a year.

So, what are you waiting for?

Source: https://www.cycleplan.co.uk/cycle-savvy/environmental-benefits-of-cycling/

Run, Run, Run

THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER
by Alan Sillitoe, 1959

«The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner,» by Alan Sillitoe, was first published in 1959. It is a first-person monologue spoken by a 17-year-old inmate of an English Borstal, or reform school. Smith, the only name this character receives, has received a two-year prison sentence for breaking into a local bakery, but he has discovered a way to improve the conditions of his stay in jail. The warden of the reformatory has his heart set on the winning of the Borstal Blue Ribbon Prize Cup for Long-Distance Cross-Country Running (All England), and Smith, the fastest runner in the institution, needs to do nothing but train for the race. He can trade his daily chores for the mitigated freedom of early morning runs in the countryside around the reformatory.

Yet things are not quite as simple as they seem, and the nature of the monologue, crude and colloquial in language and tone, underlines the tremendous class distinction between what the narrator Smith terms the «in-laws» and the «out-laws.» People like the warden and his cronies speak Oxford English and support and perpetuate the system, while the residents of the Borstal are denizens of the working class who have nothing to lose. It might seem that Smith would have little choice or desire not to play along with the powers that be, but during his stay in prison he has developed his own personal and idiosyncratic sense of morality. For him, to win the race would be tacitly to accept the premises of a self-serving establishment, and his own sense of defiance and self-worth can only be maintained by his individual conception of honesty. As he says, «It’s a good life, I’m saying to myself, if you don’t give in to coppers and Borstal-bosses and the rest of them bastard faced in-laws.»

While it might appear that Sillitoe is simply delineating a social and economic struggle between the classes in postwar England, the situation is much more complicated. In Smith’s world of the underclass there is no such thing as solidarity and brotherhood. In a series of flashbacks that illuminate his early life and the robbery that got him into his immediate trouble, we find that he has always been alone. Smith and his pal Mike are clever enough to hide their loot so that the police will not catch on to two teenagers who have suddenly become relatively wealthy, but the boys are even more wary of their own neighbors, who will turn them in out of spite and jealousy. Loyalty is something that simply does not exist in these circumstances, and trust is a silly idea for fools. In the end a person can be true only to himself, a self that can make mistakes but will never let him down. Loneliness becomes a natural condition. As Smith says, «I knew what the loneliness of the long-distance runner running across country felt like, realizing that as far as I was concerned this feeling was the only honesty and realness there was in the world.»

Smith’s experience with his family bears out his conclusions, for his father died a horrible death of stomach cancer after a lifetime of slaving in a factory, while his mother was constantly unfaithful to her husband. The death benefit of 500 pounds is quickly spent on clothes, cream cakes, a television set, and a new mattress for his mother and her «fancyman,» and things are immediately back where they began. Thievery is all the boy knows, and even the army can provide no outlet. As far as Smith is concerned, patriotism is another false idea concocted by the government to protect its own advantage, and life in the army is little different from life in prison. In declaring himself a robber and an outlaw, Smith is at least acknowledging the state of warfare that exists between people like him and the people in power, landowners and the politicians who look like fish gasping for breath when the sound is suddenly turned down in the middle of their speeches on television.

Powerless as he may be in an England that views him as only another cog in the economic machine that grinds out more comfort for the rich, Smith seizes on the moment to shake his fist in the faces of the «in-laws» as he turns toward home in the Borstal race. Though he is far ahead of his nearest competitor, he slows down and then stops before the finish line, allowing his rival enough time to catch up and to win the race. Smith’s gesture is meaningless to everyone but himself: «The governor at Borstal proved me right; he didn’t respect my honesty at all; not that I expected him to, or tried to explain it to him, but if he’s supposed to be educated then he should have more or less twigged it.» But, if nothing else, the long-distance runner has remained true to himself; he has not been duped into believing the false promises that would only enslave him even further. There is virtually no hope of social change in the bleak universe that Sillitoe has created, but there does remain comfort in the affirmation of the individual human spirit that will not be broken. If truth and honesty can exist anywhere, Sillitoe asserts, they survive in the ability to look squarely at oneself in the face of all the odds. Paradoxically, honesty may reside in recognizing and accepting the dishonesty of contemporary existence.

eBook The Longliness of the Long Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (movie)

Chariots of Fire (1981)

Chariots of Fire is a British film released in 1981. Written by Colin Welland and directed by Hugh Hudson, it is based on the true story of British athletes preparing for and competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four, including Best Picture.

Synopsis

The movie is based on the true story of two British athletes competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Englishman Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), who is Jewish, overcomes anti-Semitism and class prejudice in order to compete against the «Flying Scotsman», Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), in the 100-meter race.

In 1919, Abrahams enters Cambridge University. He attempts and succeeds at the Trinity Great Court run, which involves running around the court before the clock finishes striking 12. Meanwhile, Liddell sees running as a way of glorifying God before traveling to China to work as a missionary. He represents Scotland against Ireland, and preaches a sermon on «Life as a race» afterwards.

At their first meeting, Liddell shakes Abrahams’ hand to wish him well, then beats him in a race. Abrahams takes it badly, but Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm), a professional trainer that he had approached earlier, offers to take him on to improve his technique. However, this attracts criticism from the college authorities.

Eric’s sister Jenny (Cheryl Campbell) worries he is too busy running to concern himself with their mission, but Eric tells her he feels inspired: «I believe that God made me for a purpose… (the mission), but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.»

Despite pressure from the Prince of Wales and the British Olympic committee, Liddell refuses to run a heat of the 100 meters at the Olympics because his Christian convictions prevent him from running on Sunday. Liddell is allowed to compete in the 400-meter race instead. Liddell at church on Sunday is seen quoting Isaiah 40, verse 31: ‘But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and be not weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’

The story compares the similar athletic experiences of Abrahams and Liddell while portraying their vastly different characters and reactions to adversity. High accomplishment comes to those with high aspirations, high energy and the capacity for great effort. But the central motivation and ultimate results of their accomplishment depend on their character and personality. This is a true story about two very different British athletes who accomplish at the highest level in their field, yet are driven to these achievements by very different motives along very different paths.

Cambridge Champion

Englishman Harold Abrahams is the son of a wealthy Jewish financier in London. Highly sensitive to the anti-Semitic sentiments of the British upper class, he is determined to prove his worth and acceptability in everything he does. A runner of remarkable ability, in 1919 he enters Cambridge University and promptly completes a running feat which no one has been able to accomplish for 700 year. Abrahams’ passionate aspiration is to win a gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1924 summer Olympics in Paris.

While at Cambridge, Abrahams meets a lovely young singer Sybil Gordon and they soon fall in love. To her he confesses his heart’s turmoil. He has gone through life with a sense of helplessness, anger and humiliation because of the second-class treatment rendered to him as a Jew. To him running is a means of seeking revenge and conquering the social opposition. “I am going to take them on one by one and run them off their feet.” He strives to fit in and prove himself a loyal and capable Englishman. “So you love running?” Sybil asks him. “I am an addict. It’s more of a weapon. It’s a competition. You win because you are ruthless. … A weapon against being Jewish, I suppose. I’m semi-deprived. They lead me to water but won’t let me drink.”

Flying Scotsman

Eric Liddell is the son of deeply religious Scottish missionaries, born and raised along with his sister Jennie in China and recently returned to Europe. Eric is a born runner with tremendous speed and a natural love of the sport who becomes widely known as the «Flying Scotsman.» Committed to a missionary’s life like his parents, Eric is requested by his church leader to dedicate his remarkable athletic ability to the service of god. “Run in God’s name” and let the whole world know it is God’s inspiration that makes you a champion. He too is destined for the Paris Olympics for the glory for God.

The first time Abrahams sees Liddell run he is bedazzled. Eric collides with another runner, falls down during a 400-meter contest between Scotland and France and appears to be out of the race. Then miraculously he gets up, starts running again, makes up a 20-meter deficit and wins the race. This indicates just how great is the unexpressed human energy which can be released in the right circumstances. It took the accidental fall to bring out the true greatness of Eric’s potential. “I’ve never seen such commitment and drive in a runner,” Abrahams remarks. Even more remarkable is the obvious joy with which Liddell runs. He tells Jennie, “I believe god made me for a purpose – China. He also made me fast. When I’m running I feel his pleasure, not just fun. To win is to honor him.”

Contest

The amateur spirit of the Olympics is still respected in Europe and professionalism is shunned. But times are changing. Sam Mussabini, a brilliant professional running coach, is looking for talent to shape. Abrahams approaches Sam and tries to hire him as a personal coach. Sam replies that it is customary for the coach to choose a worthy student, not vice versa. Abrahams is willing to break the rules in order to accomplish. Sam knows that social rules may be broken, but there are rules for accomplishment that cannot. At their first meeting, Liddell shakes Abrahams’ hand to wish him well, then beats him. Abrahams is crushed by the defeat and cries out to Sybil. “I don’t run to take beatings. I run to win. If I can’t win I won’t run. Now what do I stand for?” After the race, Sam contacts Abrahams and offers to train him for the Olympics, assuring Harold that he can improve enough to match Eric. Even though the university authorities frown on his hiring a coach, Abrahams persists.

Conflict

On the boat sailing across the Channel to France, Liddell is informed that the preliminary heat for the 100 meters is to be run on a Sunday. He informs the British team leader that his religion prevents him from running on that day and he will have to forgo the race. “If I win, I win for God. To win on Sunday would be against God’s law.” Once in Paris, the team leader informs the rest of the British Olympic committee, which includes the crown prince, and they call Liddell and press him to relent. When he adamantly refuses, life responds and unexpectedly presents a solution. Lord Lindsay, another member of team who has just won a silver medal in another event, offers his place in the 400 meters to Liddell. Another member of the Committee explains how fortunate it is that they did not try to force Liddell to violate his conscience. He is “a true man of principle and a true athlete. His speed is a mere extension of his life, its force. We sought to separate his running from himself. For him it is God before King.” Whatever the mind fervently believes in – whether higher ideal or mere superstition – has the power to evoke a response from life. The power of Eric’s belief is equal to the power of all those of his community who share that belief.

Olympics

Abrahams faces Americans in the 100-meter final who are touted to include the fastest men on earth. He has already lost two races to the same competitors. Before the race he confesses to Sam, “I am 24 and I have never known contentment. I’m ever in pursuit and I don’t know what I’m chasing. I’ve known the fear of losing. Now I’m almost too frightened to win.” Abrahams goes on to win the event and emerge with the title of fastest man on earth. After the race he and Sam celebrate in private their shared personal accomplishment. He lived for another 54 years and was considered the grand icon of British athletics. Eric races in the 400 meter against equally tough competitors and wins his race as well. He mixes with the crowds in jubilant celebration. After the Olympics, he returned to China where he died during World War II.

Accomplishment

Who accomplished what and how? Driven by a complex and a fervent aspiration to win a respectable place in English society, Abrahams has achieved the greatest title in amateur athletics. The drive for social acceptability is a very powerful motive. He has leveraged the energy of that drive for achievement. He ran in the name of his country and under the banner of patriotism, but really he ran for himself. For him running was a labor in a life and death struggle for acceptance and respectability. It is doubtful whether even this remarkable accomplishment gave him the peace and fulfillment he was seeking. Liddell ran in the name of God and for the joy of self-giving to his God. His very act of running was a self-fulfilling joy. One believes in his concept of God and service, the other in his own inner potential. Both accomplish on the basis of their beliefs.

Source: https://humanscience.fandom.com/wiki/Chariots_of_Fire

The Real Life Inspiration Behind Forrest Gump (eBook ) – Forrest Gump (movie)

«Forrest Gump» famously inserted Tom Hanks into old archival footage, interweaving moments from real U.S. history with the fictional story of his character: A simple yet sincere man, sharing homespun wisdom on a park bench to different strangers while recounting the story of his ever-so-charmed life.

Director Robert Zemeckis and ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) employed digital compositing and other groundbreaking visual effects to give Forrest’s tale a true-to-life veneer. Thanks to the wonders of CGI they were able to rewrite history cinematically, having Forrest intersect with presidents and pivotal moments in American culture across three decades. 

The film won six Oscars and is endlessly quotable — but what you might not know is that the character of Forrest Gump was loosely inspired by three real men.

Sammy Lee Davis was the inspiration for Forrest’s war wound

As «Forrest Gump» was celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2019, USA Today spotlighted Sammy Lee Davis, a decorated Vietnam veteran, as one real-life inspiration for the character. Nicknamed «the real Forrest Gump,» Davis was at the film’s anniversary screening on the National Mall in Washington, DC. President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1968, and he’s at least famous enough to have his own Wikipedia page.

You can see footage of the Medal of Honor ceremony in «Forrest Gump» — though of course, it’s Hanks who shakes Johnson’s hand. Like Forrest Gump, Davis was shot in the buttocks and elsewhere in his back over thirty times, by friendly fire. The moment where Forrest shows the President his butt wound was invented for the film.

Winston Groom dedicated his novel to two other men

Screenwriter Eric Roth adapted Winston Groom’s novel, «Forrest Gump,» for the big screen. Groom, who passed away in 2020, dedicated the book to Jimbo Meador (pictured above) and George Radcliff, two of his childhood friends. Both men are private individuals, but Distractify notes that their «speech patterns are similar to Forrest’s.» Hanks originally sought to downplay Gump’s Southern accent but Zemeckis coached him to keep it and adhere to the source material.

The Bubba Gump Seafood Company is now a real restaurant chain, but it started out as a fictional business endeavor launched by Forrest and Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise). The idea for that stemmed from conversations that Groom had with Meador — appropriately, at lunch. He explained to Distractify:

«Although he never did any shrimp farming, [Meador] was always interested in it, and we used to talk about it a lot. Jimbo knows everything there is to know about shrimp. We used to have lunch about once a week, and it occurred to me after one of these conversations while I was writing Forrest, ‘What better thing to do than make Forrest a shrimp farmer?’ «

Meador also owned a river delta boat and had a seafood processing job, much like Forrest does in the movie. He reportedly shunned the public spotlight after he started getting copious interview requests from the likes of David Letterman.

The same goes for Radcliff, who only consented to an interview with Mobile Bay Magazine because the writer was someone he had known for a long time beforehand. Radcliff appears to have wholly or partly inspired the felicitous nature of Forrest’s journey through history. He once beat Paul McCartney at arm-wrestling, for instance, without knowing who «that little drunk English guy» was.

What’s interesting about Radcliff is that he was a scrapper, meaning he liked to fight. This might be part of what Groom meant when he told The New York Times that Zemeckis sanded the «rough edges» off his book character. He originally wanted John Goodman to play the role of Forrest Gump. That would have been a very different movie.

At the end of the day, «Forrest Gump» is still cut from a fictional cloth, but art does imitate life. To do a mad-lib bit of paraphrasing with Forrest himself, «[Movies are] like a box of [inspirations].»

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/604990/the-real-life-inspiration-behind-forrest-gump/?utm_campaign=clip

Sport: Five reasons to work out – READING/LISTENING ACTIVITY (with video)

En este video te propongo una actividad (nivel avanzado) de lectura para practicar la comprensión oral y la pronunciación en inglés. Los derechos del texto que leo pertenecen a: https://www.britishcouncil.org/

Click on the picture to watch my video

Five reasons to work out

I’m sure we all know by now that exercise is great for you. But let’s be honest, sometimes finding that motivation to work out can be a little difficult. So, in this post, I am going to share my top five reasons for working out.

1. Exercise can completely change your mood!

When you work out, your body produces endorphins, which will give you a rush of euphoria and happiness. You will feel better after a workout than you did before it. Next time you’re having a bad day, try going for a fast-paced run or taking a spinning class, and the day won’t seem so bad after all.

2. Exercising is sociable.

Whenever I move to a new city to study or work, I look for exercise classes to do. You meet like-minded people, you can support each other during a difficult workout and you all share a collective feeling of euphoria when the class finishes!

3. Exercise makes you feel confident.

We all know the physical effects of exercise on our bodies but we don’t always talk about the mental effects. Exercise might give you a feeling of confidence from being comfortable with your body and appearance. This new confidence might even help in your social or work life.

4. It helps to relieve stress.

Focusing on lifting weights or going for a run can help you forget the problems and stress of daily life, studies or work. During exams, I always spend an hour a day in the gym. It makes me feel less anxious and it also helps me to sleep those important eight hours the night before a big exam.

5. Finally, exercise makes us feel strong, fit and healthy!

Every day, the 20 minutes on the treadmill get easier, the weights feel lighter and you feel a great sense of achievement. It’s a great feeling doing something you couldn’t do before and knowing it’s a result of your hard work.

So, next time you’re feeling down, put your trainers on and get sweating. It might not be easy but I promise you will feel so much better once you have finished!

Source: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/magazine/sport/five-reasons-work-out