According to a recent report, Britain is the third fattest nation on earth, after the US and Mexico. More troubling still is the fact that Britain is actually growing fatter faster than the two world leaders. A full quarter of her residents are overweight and nearly a third of Brits are obese.

Fortunately, a growing number of residents have decided to do something about it, on their holidays no less. We are speaking of course about Walking and cycling in Spain. Over the past two years, these calorie-burning holidays have grown in popularity by nearly thirty percent.

Why are they so popular? For starters, they are relatively inexpensive, which is a definite plus in the wake of the recession. They also offer tourists a vacation unlike any other that they have ever experienced. And that is what these tours are, an experience. Guests are taken off the beaten path to see another side of a place they only thought they knew. (more...)

England is home to four professional sports leagues, all of which operate at different times of the year. Association football is easily the most popular league with the longest season — it is played from August to May. The Rugby Union schedules games in the winter, while the Rugby League plays in the summer. Cricket is the second most popular league with a season that runs from April to September.

Established in 1863, Association Football is the world's oldest football league. The game itself can be traced all the way back to the early 14th century, making it the UK's first official sport. Football is so popular in England that there are four professional divisions that are followed with avidity by millions of UK fans who have custom printed sports clothes.

Cricket is the second most popular sport in the UK. It was invented in England where it holds a special place, since it is not a global sport. At last count, there were eighteen professional county clubs, all but one of them in England. Each year, teams compete in regular leagues play as well as special tournaments that were created to increase exposure and television revenues for the sport. (more...)

From the moment we are born many of us are conditioned and brought up to be competitive. From the first Personalized Sports Ornaments given to us as a toddler or the tennis rackets when we are a little older, we are encouraged to play sport – and to win at all costs.

The good side of this is of course that we are encouraged to partake in healthy sports, which can only improve our physical and mental agility. A healthy body, as they say, leads to a healthy mind and sport is invaluable in both areas.

Being competitive can of course be a good thing. Darwin did not come up with his survival of the fittest theory for nothing. He or she who is the fittest, most capable and most motivated will surely stand a much better chance of winning in life. (more...)

One of the most common sports injuries is the ankle sprain. Sprains can be divided into three types, based on how bad the injury is. The tendons and ligaments have been overly stretched but are not damaged. There is some pain and possibly some swelling and redness, but no difficulty with moving the ankle and walking should be easy after a few days.

The second type is a more severe injury, which may involve a tear of the ligaments with more severe pain and swelling as well as bruising. Walking on that foot is very painful. It will take some weeks for the injury to heal.Thirdly a complete tear through the ligaments with severe pain, swelling, loss of joint motion and complete inability to walk. If you suffer from ankle sprain or want to prevent it from happening, making stretching a part of your fitness regime will be very beneficial.

Ankle sprains are quite common and associated with sports that require a lot of running, jumping and change of direction for instance tennis, basketball and squash. The ankle twists unnaturally and turning of the ankle joint results in a rupture or over-stretching of the ligaments that hold the ankle in place. Another form of sore ankles which is more long term is called chronic ankle pain or posterior tibial tendonitis and it's felt more on the inside. Pain will be more severe upon weight bearing especially while walking or running or playing sports. This condition occurs when the muscles are strained and stressed as a result of over-use. Excessive pronation at the subtalar joint may lead to Posterior Tibial Tendon dysfunction and, treatment of this condition should take place as soon as possible to prevent the problem from worsening. Foot orthotics to support the foot and arch are recommended as they will help release tension on the tendons, allowing the body to heal faster in this area. (more...)

The telephone is something that we all take for granted. When we want to talk to someone we simply pick up or land line or mobile device and call the number that we desire. We do not care about the logistics and technology that it requires to make that call, we just want to talk to the person we are dialling.

When telephones were first introduced, companies had to undergo the massive task of creating infrastructure to support it. Local phone service providers had to spend millions of pounds when you factor in the inflation rates to build the structures that we need to make phone calls work.

At first it was usually one local phone provider in each area but gradually as technology improved and production costs fell, more and more companies tried to establish themselves as local phone service providers and competed like true sporting rivals. (more...)

The one thing that can unite a society is sports. We all have our favourite sport and our favourite teams and there is something about being prideful of your favourite one that sets us apart from everyone else, yet makes us extremely close at the same time. The biggest sport in the world is Football, and not the American version of it.

There are other fast growing sports in our world today as well, perhaps the fastest growing of them all is Mixed Martial Arts. There are numerous promotions all across the globe but none are bigger than the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Sports fans do not care about a cheap t1 line quote they care about their team winning or losing. Sports give us something to look forward to and it also allows us to marvel at something that we all wish we had the physical gifts for. (more...)

Like most European countries, football is easily the most popular sport in Italy. In fact, many fans claim that football is like a religion in Rome. When a top match is on, the streets are deserted and nearly every television is tuned in to the game.

The football team in Rome is called AS Roma. Founded in 1927, they are the city's only professional football club. They have competed in international competitions for nearly sixty years now. At last count, they had won the prestigious Serie A three times and the Coppa Italia title nine times. They are easily the most popular and successful professional football team in all of Italy.

When it comes to international competitions, Roma has won the top award just once in 1960. But they are a top seed nearly every year. They are also the most popular team in all of Italy with an average attendance of over sixty thousand fans. For the big games, the Stadio Olimpico often sells each one of its 72,000 seats. For accommodation just click here In the last few years, a number of other traditionally European sports have begun to gain wider acceptance in Rome. The Rugby Union has grown quite popular and they now compete in international tournaments. Local teams like Rugby Roma and S.S. Lazio also attract sizable crowds. (more...)

The first Formula One series race was held in the United Kingdom in 1950. Inspired by earlier competitions like Grand Prix Motor Racing, the series originally included only European drivers. The actual “formula” in Formula One refers to a set of rules and regulations that all participants must meet. The name alone lets fans and drivers know that the competition is top rate and that the rules are quite strict.

The early years of Formula One racing was dominated by teams run by specific car manufacturers. The most successful teams were from Italy. Drivers from the Ferrari and Alfa Romeo teams won several early championship titles. German carmakers like Mercedes Benz also won a number of early titles.

But the importance of these events went far beyond the race track. Through intense competition, automakers developed a number of new engineering and safety features that they would later include in their passenger vehicles. For example, the Fuel injection system that helped Mercedes-Benz win two straight championships soon became a standard feature in their demotic models. What does it take to win a car competition? (more...)

Dating websites are big business. The reason, of course, is that there is a big market for them. Vast amounts of people now use dating sites to seek out like minded individuals. How then, do people find suitable partners from such large databases? Simple, they rely on speciality dating sites.

Speciality or niche dating sites stick to a very specific target user. These websites are more efficient because they have a more focused user group, which automatically enhances the efficacy of the service. There is no point in having a humongous user database for a site if it's going to make it less efficient.

Speciality dating sites could cater to many different types of clients. There are sites for particular communities, a specific religion, a profession, or even hair colour! For example, a fitness singles dating site caters to people who share a common interest in sport and fitness. (more...)

When it comes to Christmas and birthdays, men can be notoriously difficult to buy for, which is why they often end up with socks and hankies. However, any present buyer is thrown a life-line if the intended recipient likes sport as it opens up a huge wealth of options.

You can go for sports memorabilia such as Soccer Ornaments or other fun sport shaped things such as mugs and even bubble bath – these make great stocking fillers.

Or maybe consider a book or a DVD related to one of his favorite sports heroes, although the danger with this is that other present givers might have the same idea! The more closely you know the person the better in this case as you might be able to find something that other people would not think of. (more...)

Many people prefer exercising at home due to the flexibility that it offers but there are pros and cons to exercising at home as opposed to joining a gym.

The advantages are obvious. You can exercise when you want and wear whatever you want, even if it is pyjamas and Burberry Schoenen You don't have to worry whether the fit bloke on the treadmill next to you has noticed the sweat marks under your pits or whether you are grunting too loudly on the exercise bike.

You can also watch some trashy soap opera while you exercise – what better way to spend an evening! And of course, you can exercise in all weathers, so no going out of the house in the pouring rain. Having an exercise bike at home is just so much more flexible and there are no costly gym subscriptions. (more...)

For those who need to tone up a bit, it is difficult to get motivated enough to join the gym or take up running. You want to make the effort and you get as far as buying the shorts and the new Puma trainers but then that final push is just too much and you end up putting it off until tomorrow – which often never comes.

The opposite is when you start out exercising and set yourself a tough regime which consists of exercise most days. It goes great for a couple of weeks but it does not take long to burn yourself out and you are back to square one.

Falling off the exercise wagon is pretty demotivating, and it often leads to other bad habits such as overeating or drinking as you feel that you have let yourself down anyway. The spiral starts from there and it is hard to get back into exercise mode. (more...)

Now, I have to admit that one of the things I love about exercise is the cool outfits that I get to wear. I may not be the world's most honed athlete, but one whiff of the sale at Lacoste Trainers shop and I break out into a sprint.

For the gym, you get to wear the coolest shorts and vests in baby pink colours. People there dress to be seen and it just would not do to wear ragged old trackies and a sweat stained t-shirt. A sweat band and a pair of cool exercise headphones to listen to MTV and I am happy prancing around on the treadmill even though I don't go very fast – or very far.

In the summer, tennis is always a must. I can still squeeze into a little tennis ensemble, especially as legs are my best feature. White shoes, white dress, oversized sun shades – and a glass of Pimms! What more could you ask for from a sport? (more...)

Formula One is the pinnacle of Motor Sport, attracting a global audience in excess of 500 million people and generating revenue of an alleged $3.9 billion. With twenty races staged in 19 different countries, F1 truly is a world championship event.

In the beginning

The first post war races staged in the early 1950s were predominantly European events dominated by Italian manufacturers Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. Alfa dominated the 1950 season before Ferrari hit back in 1951 with a new 4.5 litre which allowed them to seriously challenge their Italian rival’s dominance. Only the legendary skills of Juan Manuel Fangio kept the Ferrari challenge at bay. However, Alfa’s funding was tight and they were forced to withdraw from the championship prior to 1953 which opened the door for Ferrari and Alberto Ascari to lead the way for the first time. (more...)

If you are feeling less than thrilled with the state of your body, it may be time to start a new exercise and fitness routing. Instead of the gym, you might want to consider joining a sports club. This is a vibrant and exciting way to lose kilos, get into shape and also to meet new people.

Playing tennis, for example, is great exercise. The game builds great arm muscles and is a great cardio workout. Browse the internet for your local tennis club and check out the membership fees: these can be steep, but the extra cost may motivate you to hit the courts on a more regular basis.

Football is also a good way to boost your fitness levels. Soccer games involve a lot of running backwards and forwards and also require the muscle strength and coordination to pull off tactical manoeuvres and intricate footwork. Don't be put off by the games all-male reputation: there are numerous women's clubs and divisions opening up across the country. (more...)