Women’s basketball gets a new head coach > Introducing Steve Beauchamp Davie Wong Sports Editor FF most parents, the opportunity to be involved in their child’s sport career past the community league level is a dream, ora nightmare. For Steve Beauchamp, it’s a reality. For more than 20 years, Beauchamp has coached ona variety of levels. For 10 of those years, Beauchamp was a Royal. From 1985-1995, Steve was the head coach of the Douglas College men’s basketball program. He led the team to five provincial championships, and a second place finish at the National Championships. He left the program as one of the most Steve Beauchamp decorated coaches to coach at the college. Throughout his career, he’s received the opportunity to coach his children. He sees those opportunities to make a difference in the lives of his children. So when his daughter. Rachel Beauchamp, approached him and asked him to come coach for her team, the Douglas College Royals, it was bit surprising that his initial reaction was to turn down her offer. Fear of creating an awkward team atmosphere was the main factor behind the decision. But Rachel didn’t let up, and after talking to the returning members of the team, she convinced Steve to submit his name as a candidate and make his return to the collegiate coaching scene. The senior Beauchamp commented, “No doubt, the primary reason for me coming back was the fact that my daughter Rachel, plays on the team. She did a lot of behind the scenes soliciting to have me apply. High intensity interval training: Hype or hearsay? > HIIT training is best for weight loss, speed training, and time- crunched workouts Jamal Al-Bayaa Staff Writer print for 20 seconds at a 100 per cent exertion level, then rest for 40 seconds before doing it again. By the 5 minute mark, participants are already sweaty, and huffing and puffing like they're getting ready to blow a house down. If anyone is brave enough to follow this regimen for 20 minutes, they’ll definitely “feel the burn.” Or pass out. It’s really just a matter of which one comes first. Sound crazy to you? It sounds crazy to a lot of people, but recent science and trends have been crowding around the idea that HIIT training, as it’s called, is the most effective type of cardio you could be doing if you're training for speed, power, weight loss, and heart health. That’s pretty much all of the general reasons to do cardio in the first place, unless you have very specific requirements or ambitions. The secret to HIIT’s effectiveness at reaching those specific milestones is that it’s not really cardio at all, and yet it’s still cardio. Specifically, HIIT training trains anaerobics more than aerobics. Muscles more than lungs. It’s not quite cardio and not quite a barbell: let’s just suffice to call it bardio, and recognize it as an efficient fusion that will simultaneously gas you and give you strength and power. The tradeoff for the physical prowess acquired by sprints may be scoffed at by some, but they do exist. First, HIIT does not include long-distance endurance in the list of traits it effectively improves. As a partially anaerobic exercise, it isn’t well suited to large amounts of volume over a long period of time. Although sprinting for endurance is ineffective, adding 60 second sprints into otherwise singularly paced long-distance runs has been found to increase endurance levels in runners considerably. Second, the tradeoff for physical abilities may actually be mental regeneration. Steady state cardio (running on the treadmill for upwards of 20 minutes) was found to be exponentially more effective than HIIT at regenerating cells in the brain, suggesting that long distance running is more stress relieving and cognitively beneficial, which is something major for students to consider if planning a fitness routine. Lastly, HIIT training poses a greater risk of injury vy 9 2 tf LS 5 os > uv a o = to all who participate in it, but especially non-athletes (as compared to athletes of a similar demographic). Especially, UBC researches have shown that knee injury is much more common among these non- athlete groups. Take that with a grain of salt though—these study participants were engaged in little to no exercise, and then asked to immediately jump into an exercise regimen made for a highly conditioned athlete/ fitness enthusiast. HIIT training doesn’t hurt people, pushing past limits without considering how much a body can comfortably handle hurts people. With all that being said, HIIT training is a great way to spice up a workout, especially for athletes. For non-athletes, the principles can be applied in amore gentle way to build up fitness levels. Start this training for all the benefits, and then stick with it for my favorite reason of all: it’s actually fun! But after a lot of the returning players gave me their support to put my name in asa candidate, it made the decision easier.” Still, there will be those who question the decision to hire Beauchamp, and they will no doubt call attention to Beauchamp’s connection to his daughter. But he doesn’t think that will be an issue. “If you look at my track record, it’s not like ’m not qualified. And for those who have seen me coach my daughters, I probably hold them to a much higher standard.” It’s that higher standard that has likely pushed Rachel to where she is right now. Rachel, who is a PACWEST all- star, has been fantastic for the Royals in her first two seasons with the team. Beauchamp is coming from Holy Cross Regional High School, where he coached their basketball program for 10 years. In his years at Holy Cross, the school has never missed the Provincial tournament, won a couple of AA titles, and came close to winning a AAA title. He is coming in to fill the vacancy left by Courtney Gerwing’s departure, which is a job that he knows will not be easy. Nonetheless, Beauchamp is confident. “I think Courtney did a fantastic job in the short time she was here. But now, being in those shoes, I think we’ve got some good building blocks. We’ve got a good core of players coming back.” Getting 1n shape for the unshapely > Water aerobics: a low-intensity starter workout Mercedes Deutscher News Editor hose who don't have an active lifestyle—whether that be through health issues, age, or unhealthy living— may find fitness and exercise daunting. Even those who wish to partake in a more active lifestyle can easily be discouraged from going to gyms with fit people, or may simply not know where to start. It’s an issue that I personally have struggled with. Throughout most of my life, I haven't been an overly active person, but when complications with my birth control caused me to gain 80 pounds and 8 sizes in the course of 16 months, the appeal of an active lifestyle started to call to me. Still, the thought of going to the gym by myself was terrifying. One of many lower intensity workouts I’ve tried is water aerobics. Water aerobics is a fantastic low intensity workout utilized by all types of people, be they elderly or young, fit or unfit. Water aerobics classes are usually provided for the cost of admission at many local recreation centres, and are provided throughout the day at different intensities. You don't have to have a background in swimming to partake in the exercise either. Most classes are done in levels of water that reach around your chest, although some more challenging classes take place in deep water (where buoyant belts are worn to keep the participant above water). Water aerobics work by using water as a form of resistance to movement, which tones all areas of your body throughout the class as you complete cardiovascular exercises. Strength is built through the use of the resistance in water. Additional strength is built through the use of foam and plastic “weights,” which place additional resistance. Flexibility increases through the use of water aerobics, as the water often allows your body to move and stretch to levels with more ease than exercise on dry land. Not only do water aerobics build on several fundamental areas of physique, but they do so comfortably. Water aerobics do not drain energy like many exercise do, as the submergence in water keeps you feeling cool and refreshed. Of course, it should not be the end-all of exercise. There is only so much intensity that can be built in water aerobics classes, and the effects of the exercise may become less noticeable after going to classes for some time. At this point, it would be best to graduate to a more intense land-based exercise. Still, it is a fun starter exercise. Classes are often put to music and are upbeat, while some may employ the use of games. It’s a nice and relaxing exercise to start or finish your day on, and especially fun if you bring a friend.