BirdWoman

And what does the women's pic get across? DON'T FUCK WITH US!!! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond...I've been away from my computer since Friday. Here is what my education is telling me It doesn't really matter if you do cardio then strength or vice-versa. In this scenario, it is purely the individual's preference. There are pro's and cons to doing cardio before strength. PRO-the muscles are nice and warm, thus reducing the risk for injury. As we all should know, it is very important to warm up before doing any kind of strength training, whether it be a 5minute jog or an hour run. CON-depending on the duration and intensity of your cardio, your muscles may be somewhat fatigued for the strength training. The more fatigued the muscles are, the more susceptible you are to injuries; these injuries may not necessarily occur to the muscle you are working, but to other muscles for compensation of the fatigued muscle. If you do strength before cardio, that also holds some pro's and cons. The PRO is that the muscles are already warm so you should be able to jump right into the cardio without any further warm-up. The CON is that if you do a high-intesity type of strength before cardio, the same holds true as cardio before strength in that the muscles are already tired and may cause you to "slack" (if you will). My personal preference: I like to do a little cardio for a nice warm-up (20-30min of light to moderate intensity), then do moderate strength. I then finnish with another 15-20 minutes of light cardio as a good cool-down and also added cardio. Play around with it for a little bit, especially with the intensity/duration of both the cardio and strength. You may find that for some strength it is better to do cardio first, whereas it may be better to do strength before cardio. Like I said at the very beginning, it is purely up to the individual. If there's anything else I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask! Stacey "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Very nice! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Performing flys will work for the pecs, as it works primarily the pec major but also a little of the pec minor. Some people choose flys over the press, especially on a machine, because of the decreased stress on the cuff muscles. However, the seated press machines allow you to work both the pec minor and major depending on the grip you take on the "bar". An advantage to that over flys is that the angle of torque created on your shoulders is much less than flys. They both will work, and it depends on personal preference. As for doing flys because of the similarity of arm position in flight...true, the arms are in roughly the same plane of movement with the exception of hand placement/shoulder rotation around the axis. in flight your arms are swept back with your palms facing back, which puts the shoulder in posterior rotation. With flys the palms are face-up and you are performing shoulder adduction. I guess what I'm getting at here is that the pecs play such a minor role in flight because the majority of muscle emphasis is on shoulders/upper back. The only reason why you want to work on pecs is to balance out the antagonistic muscle pairs (ex. pecs and lats, biceps and triceps, etc) as to avoid injury. Make sense? Stacey "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

You've come to the right place. I have a lot of experience in weight training from my athletic background and also my soon-to-be college degree in Sport and Exercise Science. What the others have said is pretty close to what you want to do, but I'll give you all the advice I can. First off, it can be more difficult for females to fly the suits, especially the S/S3. The larger surface area, combined with generally weaker upper bodies, can make for some difficult flights. It is important to work on the entire upper body with emphasis on the specific muscles, so keep that in mind. Another thing to keep in mind is that you want to do static training because of the mechanism of movement (i.e. holding one position for a period of time). Here is what I would work on and how: 1-the specific muscles that the suit requires are the deltoids, mainly the middle and anterior portions. A)To work the middle delt: do lateral raises with a weight, where you start with the weight at your side and gradually raise it straight out to the side up to shoulder level. Don't raise the weight above shoulder height. Start by holding it there for 10 seconds, then gradually increase the time as you can. When you can hold the weight for 20 seconds for three sets, you can up the weight. DO NOT start with a weight that is too much; doing so can cause undue stress on the muscles that make the rotator cuff and thus lead to shoulder problems! B)To work the anterior delt: Do the same lift as above but move the weight slightly to the front (only about 30-45degrees). ***You can also work your middle/ant. delts by doing the seated shoulder press, either with a machine or free weights. If done with free weights, sit upright and start with the weights at shoulder height, elbows flexed and in at the side. Slowly raise the weights over your head and bring them together. The long count is raising, the short is lowering. 2-You need to work the upper tricep as well, and this will also work the inferior head of the anterior delt. To do this, perform a front raise, where you raise a weight from the side of your body to straight out in front of you. Hold it there in the same manner as above for the delts. 3-To work your posterior tricep, you can do either tricep extensions or tricep kickbacks. The extensions can be done either on a machine or with free weights where you start with the weight behind your head so that your elbow is flexed, then raise the weight above your head slowly as to fully extend your arm. If you do the kickbacks, kneel on a bench with one knee and have the same arm for support on the bench (i.e. right hand and knee on the bench). Hold your left arm into your side while holding the weight up close to your shoulder so that the elbow is flexed. While "squeezing" your left tricep, extend your elbow so that the weight and your lower arm end up by your butt. The long count should be while extending, the short count while flexing. 4-You can't forget about your trapezius. You can do seated rows (with a machine) or with free weights. If using free weights, you can do lateral raises. Using the same stance with a bench as you did for tricep kickbacks, let the weight hang in your hand straight at the ground, elbow extended. When you raise the weight, you are going to flex at the elbow as you perform shoulder adduction (squeeze your shoulder blade toward your spine). Try to keep the elbow in toward the side of your body. The fast count is raising, the slow count is lowering. 5-Dont' forget your pecs. Even though these muscles play a small role in flying as the majority is in your shoulders, they are still important. Push-ups, horizontal bench press or the military press will all work. If you do push-ups, you will also work your deltoids and laterals a little as well. However, don't let push-ups replace the specific exericises I have mentioned. I hope this helps! If you need clarification on anything, or want more lifting workouts, please feel free to contact me. I feel like I have a lot to offer in this area and would love to help when I can! Flock Hard- Stacey BMI "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I'm a senior in college now and a couple weeks ago I was sitting in class when my professor started talking about something that only god knows what it was. All of a sudden she looks at me and says, "Like skydiving. I'll bet that jumping at night isn't that safe." Here is how the rest of the conversation went: Me: Actually, it is. Her: But I'm sure you don't jump at night. Me: Actually, we jump at night all the time. Her: But it can't be safe, right? Me: It is if we take all the necessary precautions, like lighting up the landing area and having strobes on us. Her: I'll bet there are other times when it's not a good idea to jump though. Me: yeah, like when the winds are extremely high or it's a low ceiling. Her; I'll bet that jumping at 6:00am isn't a good time to jump. Me: Actually, being on an early bird load to watch the sun rise is awesome. Her: But isn't it to dark? Me: Not in the middle of summer. Her: But it would be too dark right now. Me: It would be no different than doing a night jump. Her: But I'll bet it's not a good idea to jump at midnight. Me: We do midnight jumps on New Year's Eve. Her: But I'm sure you don't let everybody jump at night. Me: As long as they have a high enough license to jump, they can jump whenenver they want. And it goes on, and on, and on. I dont' think she ever got the point. "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I'm looking at graduating college with a Sport and Exercise Science degree (AKA kinesiology) in the next year and was wondering if anybody knows of any potential jobs in skydiving where that could come in handy. Some of the careers with this degree are occupational/corporate fitness, strength/conditioning coach, acceleration programs, personal trainer, etc. There is also recreational/fitness centers where you can do things like fitness assessments, program development, etc. When I was at Skydive Chicago last year on my way to Rantoul I noticed that there were daily fitness activities in the morning (i.e. yoga, strength, etc). Are there a lot of big dz's that have such programs? Do teams do any strength training or use trainers? Any info would help...just trying to find a way to not have to work in the "real world" too much. Flock Hard- Stacey BM-I "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I'll be there, count me in! I know a few others from CO will be there as well, and if I trained them you know they're good flyers. Stacey BM-I "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Does Colorado really count as the "midwest"? I hope not. When I think of the midwest I think of a lot of corn and really flat land...no place to go snowboarding. This might start of your trip you're talking about...I know for a fact that there are going to be a ton of us birds down at Eloy for the holiday boogie. It's definately not the midwest, but there will be a lot of flockers that are from around those parts. Nonetheless, it will be a great time with great flocks! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Aww, gee thanks. And just how do you know that I'm better looking than Chuck and Lou? "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Damn, you think I'm great and you don't really know me that well...sweet! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

J.E.- You just found out that there's a BirdWoman?? I guess I should post more often I will send DJan an email and have her get in touch with you. Long Soars- Stacey BM-I "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

Doing steep dives are very possible and very easy. If you collapse your arm wings by bringing them down to the side and keep your legwing fully inflated, it will cause you to go into a dive with a very fast and steep angle of attack. I have hit 180mph doing this getting down to a student. If you have ever flown head-down and know what it's like to relax in a dive, it will help immensly. When you come out of it by inflating your arm wings, you will feel a very rapid deceleration. Whether this is hard on the suit or not remains to be seen, and whether you actually climb is another point to tackle. You would have to have the software for the ProTrack to determine if there is any positive lift created. Just be careful and keep an eye out for canopies in the air as you will be burning up altitude rather fast. Backflying in the WS can be tricky. A lot of people have a hard time getting onto their back, which can best be achieved by doing a half roll. It takes some practice to get the technique down, but the easiest way I've found is to twist at the waist and look where you want to go. This goes with the idea that "where your head goes, your body will follow". Collapsing an arm wing to do a roll is usually unstable and will probably cause you to loose some altitude. Once on your back, you really have to push down on the legwing because there is a lot of material that the air is pushing against. I have found this to take some concentration and strength, much like regular back-tracking. Play around with it and don't get frustrated...it will come with time. Right on with your 99s jump. I scare our pilots all the time by talking with them up for a good 15 seconds after the tandems get out. The first few times I did that everybody on the ground got worried because they didn't see me open for quite some time...it's great, isn't it? If there is anything else we can do to help, feel free to ask. Long soars- Stacey BM-I "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I'll add in my 2-cents here as well. I completely agree with what my fellow BM-I's have said. I know what it's like trying to figure out what to do after your first couple of flights because I had to go through the same thing. The most important thing is to get as much knowledge about the suit as possible. This can be obtained by going out and playing a little game with yourself: what happens if I do this with one arm wing? What happens if I do this at the same time as that? so on and so forth. It is kindof like when you first started jumping off AFF and you experimented with moving your body in different ways and seeing what happens. However, when attempting more advanced maneuvers (i.e. barrel rolls) you should ask the best way to do it. There are a lot of flyers out there that think they know the best way to do something but they don't...I know from experience. If you're the only one flying at your DZ, make a post here and I'm sure you'll get some answers. Hope this helps! Stacey BM-I "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

If you're over that way this weekend, I'd be more than happy to give you some pointers. I will have my rig/S3 with me in case I get a chance to make a flight... "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I'm flying into Ontario tomorrow evening (Wednesday) and was wondering if anybody will be in the area that could give me a ride to Perris Valley. My flight from Denver gets in around 6:13pm so I could meet you at the airport around 6:35 to allow time for baggage, etc. If you could help me out that would be great. Email if you can (see below). Long Soars- Stacey Skydvnkid3@aol.com "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I don't know if anybody has noticed, but you don't have to do any kind of a mod to get a glowstick inside the armwing of the S3. There is already an opening (and a big one at that) at the base of the wing when it is not attached to the body of the suit. Search around and you'll find it; it's big enough to get your entire hand into. Stacey, BM-I "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I will also be available for wingsuit instruction/coaching/organizing at the boogie, aside from the time I'll be playing with the girls for the record. I am in the process of getting some demp suits here from BirdMan; take advantage of the CASA and the state's only certified BirdMan Instructor (BMI) and come learn to fly! Contact me for more info. Stacey Carl, BMI Skydvnkid3@aol.com "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

As the cheif ground crew person for all of Jeff's demos, I have spoken with the other members of the team and they want to do all the normal demos, especially now more than ever. We are deciding, as a team, who will fill the role of flying the flag. Nobody can fly it like Jeff did, and it will be difficult to see it flown by someone else. Frank, myself, and the rest of the team are in the process of making sure that things continue as they normally would. Stacey "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

How is Lost Prairie? Simply put, it's the best boogie I've ever been to. I've been to both Quincy and Rantoul (technically the same boogie), Eloy, Byron, and a few other small boogies. LP is definately the best. You just can't beat the scenery and the people, or the flat out good vibes and awesome time. I'll be the BirdMan representative (with a full line of demo suits)...hunt me down when you get there! Stacey "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

One of my kinesiology professors is starting to put together her lecture for a class (Exercise PhysiologyII) for next semester and she is including a brief section about terminal velocity, impact, etc. She doesn't have any pics of today's canopies-I had to explain them to her-so I thought I'd send her a bunch of good pics depicting what you can do today with canopies. Something to show the students that they're not used to seeing... "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

I posted this in Gerneral Skydiving Discussions as well, but thought I'd also try here. What are some good websites that I can download really good swooping pics from? I have already gone to a couple of dropzone websites, Pro Swooping Tour, Go Fast Sports, Big Air Sports. Any ideas? Fast Swooping! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

What are some good websites that I can upload some good up-close swooping pics? I've already gone to Skydive Elsinore, Perris, Big Air Sportz, GoFast, and Pro Swooping Tour. Thanks! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me

8 hours is nothing! It's about 18 hours from here in Denver. Although, that is nothing compared to the time it took to drive from Lost Prairie to Rantoul last year. I think I lost track of how long we were on the road somewhere in South Dakota... I need to become buddies with a guy on our airport that just flew from Denver to Kalispell in about 3 hours. I don't know what kind of plane it is, but it's a low-wing single engine aerobatics plane that is pretty long. I think he said his cruising speed was around 280 knots..must be nice! "I don't know where it is that I'm going, but wherever it is there I'll be!" --quoted by me