What is a Pine Tar?

There are a lot of talk about Pine Tar because of New York Yankees starter Michael Pineda who uses it to have a better grip of the ball when pitching. He put the Pine Tar at the right side of his neck and got caught and was ejected from the game which the Red Sox won 5-1.

Pine tar is a very sticky substance that is created from pine wood. Heat and pressure is applied to the wood to produce pine tar.

It is widely use in baseball, to have better grip of the ball when pitching and is applied to the handles of baseball bats also for better grip. It prevents the bat from slipping when you are hitting hard swings.

Based on the 2002 Official Rules of Major League Baseball the batter may use pine tar only from the handle of the bat extending up for 18 inches only. However, it is illegal if you use it on the ball since the MLB Official Rules stated that any foreign substance to a ball is expressly prohibited.

It seems Michael Pineda is not a fan of the MLB Official Rule book.

Kale is Good for you!

Kale (borecole) is a very nutritious vegetable that has a green or sometimes purple leaves. Kale tastes better when frozen, it is a lot sweeter and more flavorful if it is frozen.

A lot of health experts are a fan of Kale with its healthy properties. Kale packed with high levels of beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, Vitamine A, folate, iron, magnesium, potassium and rich in calcium. Kale is also a source of two carotenoids namely lutein and zeaxanthin.

Just like broccoli, kale has sulforaphane that is a potent chemical with anti-cancer properties.

It has high concentration of Vitamin C that boost collagen and copper which has a good anti-inflammatory properties to protect your skin from the sun. The Vitamin A in Kale promotes healthy cell growth to keep your skin young and fresh.

Kale is packed with both Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, this acids keeps your scalp and hair moisturized that keeps you from having flakes and brittle hair. It also helps in the circulation of blood in your scalp that promotes hair growth.

Don't Have Enough Time to Work-out? Then Why not Do it for just 30 min a Week

Do you work from 9-5, and have lots of things to do after work like taking care of your kids,  meaning you don't have time to exercise on a regular basis. What if I told you that you can do it for just 30 minutes a week?

Researchers found out that a 10-minute exercise 3 times a week can make you fit. Now you have no excuse not to work-out. They found out that working for long hours is not what matters most but how you exercise. You need to push yourself to your limits for you to succeed. It is called High Intensity Training (HIT), you need to exert all your efforts in short bursts that lasts for only a few minutes but can give you a lot of benefits like weight loss and toned muscles.

University of Ontario researchers study 10 men and 10 women and divide the into half to perform High Intensity Training (HIT) which is 6 bursts of 30-second sprints and the other half to do the hour-long runs three times a week for six weeks. The results was outstanding, the people who performed HIT lose twice as much weight as the others who are doing the regular long-hours workout. The lost an 12.4% of their fat mass for just a little time.

So how do you do High Intensity Training (HIT)? The ideal set-up is three times a week that includes walking, running, and cycling for 10 minutes. Combined that with squats and lunges that concentrates on large muscle groups. This will give you metabolism-boosting effect that will burn significant amouth of calories. It will also induce catecholamines and growth hormone in the blood that will hasten the loss of fatty tissues.

Here are Great High Intensity Training (HIT) that you can follow:

40 seconds hard exercise - you will need to push your limit for two brief 20-second bursts. You can do cycling, sprinting, or swimming. If you choose cycling, you can do it indoors using a stationary bike just increase the intensity or if you prefer outdoors do it up-hill.

- start out normally for a few minutes then when you are ready go in full speed with all your might for 20 seconds.
- Slow down to recover for a few minutes then speed up again in full for another 20 seconds. All in all it will only cost you about 10 minutes to do this exercise. Do it three times a week and you will see results.