Fitness Lifestyle - making fitness enjoyable

Making Fitness Part of an Enjoyable Lifestyle

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

Whether you are just starting to get fitter or have spent years working hard at the gym, chances are that, at some point, you have come across and despaired at the clichés surrounding fitness lifestyles.

These include things like having to limit your food to only bland, diet-friendly choices, feeling hungry and irritable while you doggedly power away on a boring treadmill every day, and just generally feeling imprisoned by the daily routines you have signed up for in order to start getting healthier.

The good news is that these clichés are not true –in fact, getting stuck into a regimen that you resent is an almost definite way to never integrate the changes you need into your lifestyle.

Patience and Mental Discipline is Important

Fitness is a flawed, long-distance event that will ask you to tap into the reserves of your patience and cultivate huge mental discipline. It is not a short-term, hell-month type of experience, and nobody gets fit in 30 days or three months.

If you are paying for services that promise you these kinds of results, you have been tricked, and need to hightail it back to the world of reality.

The truth is that fitness as part of your lifestyle can be something you truly enjoy that has positive effects on your day-to-day lifestyle, or something you dread and loathe doing.

The path that you end up following is one of your own choosing. This article outlines some ways to make it a good experience, and so ensure that you stay motivated to stick with it over the longer term.

Make Plans to Be Successful

If you are going to be working really hard, make sure you do it right, and are working towards the results you want. Plan on how to do this, and include rewards along the way as you reach your milestones.

Spending some time at one of the online betting NZ sites so widely available could be how you celebrate dropping your first dress-size, for example. These kinds of rewards will ensure you stick with your plan even when the going gets tough, and will help you acknowledge how far you have come.

Have Fun with Your Cardio Workouts

If you are one of the many individuals, myself included, that loathe running, I have excellent news for you! You don’t have to do it!

You shouldn’t be forcing yourself into your jogging pants to meet your cardio requirements. If you don’t enjoy it, find an activity that gets your blood pumping and heart thumping and do that instead.

Fitness - running on a treadmill - healthy Lifestyle

Stop Worrying about Everything

Once you have done the research you need to and selected a fitness programme that you feel is best for your requirements, settle in a little and enjoy the ride.

Put your focus on keeping your mindset clear and your discipline sharp instead of trying to find a way to get quicker results, or worrying about having chosen incorrectly.

Get Ready to Go the Distance

Release dangerous ideas about your self-image and thoughts that pigeon-hole you as an unhealthy or unathletic person.

These kinds of negative proclamations only halt your progress and encourage failure.

Remember that your brain can be either you best ally or worst enemy, and direct your thoughts towards its being the former.

Nutrition Tips - healthy habits - sports nutrition

5 Expert Nutrition Tips for Athletes

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

If you’re doing more than 90 minutes of exercise on a regular basis, especially if you’re doing high intensity or endurance exercises, you will need to be aware of what you’re putting into your body to get the most out of it.

If you’re training for strength or weight-less you will need to be especially careful of your daily calorie intake and eat a diet that will help you perform at your best and help you recover quickly. Here are 5 expert tips for getting the most out of your diet.

Carbohydrates Are Your Friend

Nutritional experts have known for many years that carbohydrates are the athlete’s main source of fuel, as the body breaks carbohydrates down into glucose – a form of sugar – and stores it in your muscles as glycogen.

When you exercise and burn calories, your body takes the stored glycogen and turns it into energy, which is what allows you to keep going even if you haven’t just eaten a carb heavy meal. However, it’s important to remember that if you’re exercising for less than 90 minutes you will have enough stored glycogen, so be careful not to overindulge.

Get Enough Protein, But Not Too Much

While protein doesn’t offer much in the way of energy to an athlete, your body does need it to maintain and replenish muscle. The average person requires 1.2-1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which is approximately 90 grams of protein for a 70 kg person.

Contrary to popular belief, the best source of protein is real food so stick to lean meats, eggs, fish, poultry, nuts, beans, or milk as opposed to protein supplements.

Take It Easy on Fats

The best type of fat is the unsaturated kind found in nuts, avocados, olives, vegetable oils, and fatty fish like salmon or tuna.

The internet has brought us many amazing things: with everything from online shopping and social media to online betting and recipes, no one can say that they don’t know how to cook healthy and delicious meals anymore.

There are plenty of ways to cook with less fat and cutting down your daily fat intake by just a few teaspoons make a huge difference. Remember – it all adds up!

Drink Fluids Early and Often

Heavy exercise, especially during hot weather, can quickly leave you dehydrated which will hurt your performance, and in the worst cases can even threaten your life. All high intensity athletes should drink fluids early and often.

In other words, don’t wait until you feel thirsty as by the time you’re parched you may already be facing dehydration. It’s important to drink fluids before, during, and after a workout because your body expels fluids during exercise through sweating.

It’s also a good idea to drink chilled fluids as they are more easily by the body absorbed as opposed to room temperature water.

Replace Lost Electrolytes

Electrolytes help to convey nerve signals throughout your body, and both fluids and electrolytes are lost when you start sweating.

As such it’s a good idea to reach for a sports drink post exercise, as these contain the right amounts of both sugar and salt which mimics natural electrolytes in the body.

If you’re losing a lot of fluids while you exercise, it’s a good idea to mix equal parts water and sports drink to maintain the correct balance of hydration to electrolytes.

Rugby Training Drills – The Basics

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

Core Skills and Fitness Rugby Training Drills

Rugby has been likened to a war game, with tactics and game play being backed up by core skills and fitness. To excel at the game, one needs a balance of the two. In this article, we will look at a  few key fitness and core skills exercises which can be conducted both on and off the field. Enter rugby training drills.

Most of them involve the ball, which is a great motivator as many players find ball work much more rewarding than pure fitness training. Please note that these exercises are for a pair of players, not individual work.

Rugby training drills are an important part of improving yourself and your team. Many of the rugby sites online which offer these rugby training drills will also offer some NRL betting tips for those who have a real love of the game, and are eager sports bettors

Truck And Trailer

This exercise improves both cornering and ball passing in tight spaces.

  • Draw a small square on the frilled using tape or chalk, about 5 meters by 5 meters.
  • The “truck”, runs around the square as a balanced but fast pace, while the “trailer” tries to stay as close behind him as possible.
  • While running, small pop passes between the two should occur
  • Keep this going for one minute intervals with 2 minutes rest in between.

Continuous Defending - rugby training drills - fitness collaborative

Relay Races

Much of the game relies on a sudden burst of speed and power in order to score a try, or catch a ball. Although relay races are common enough to be played at most high school athletics meets, they make a great rugby exercise too.

  • Set up two cones about 50 meters apart
  • Each player has to race around the cone carrying the ball and pass it to the other player when they reach the start again.
  • This can be done by more than one team to add to the competitive edge or involve a third person to time you to see if you can improve.

Bending Poles

Bending poles or agility poles are a great way to improve balance as well as speed and agility. Being able to alternate your weight to each foot is imperative to this exercise.

  • Set up a series of poles which are either solid into the ground or in buckets filled with sand, about 2 meters apart.
  • Each player has to run down the line of the poles, weaving in and out as one would do in a slalom ski course.
  • Time the runs to see who is the fastest and whether you improve or not.
  • This can be extended by setting up two courses and carrying the ball throughout the course.

Continuous Defending

This exercise requires three players. In this set of rugby training drills both speed and tactics play a part, increasing the core skills of tackling and dodging. No equipment is needed other than a ball and the three players.

  • Two players have to beat one defender by drawing and passing between themselves,
  • Initially, the defender tackles by using a two handed touch, although this can be extended to proper tackling for more advanced players.
  • As soon as the player’s score, the initial ball carrier becomes the defender, the scorer becomes the initial ball carrier, and the defender becomes the support player.
  • This continues for 30 seconds to a minute, with 2-minute breaks in between.

 

Mexican Chicken Salad - Healthy nutritious Meals - Fitness Collaborative

Quick Mexican Chicken Salad

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

Mexican Chicken Salad – Nutritious & Healthy Meals

You may groan at the mention of chicken salad. Oh no, not that again. Whenever we are trying to lose weight and work out, invariably one tends to eat a lot of chicken salad. Often at a restaurant it may the one of the only things which fit into our diet plan, thus leaving us with little choice than to half heartedly push lettuce leaves around our plates whilst watching our friends tuck into a plate of cheesy nachos. Enter the Mexican Chicken Salad.

This particular chicken salad has the best of both worlds. Quick and easy to make, it puts a new spin on things with a slightly spicier flavour palette and the addition of nacho chips for texture. Be sure to use only high quality, oven baked chips and not a packet of the local corn triangles from the nearest grocery store.

Another thing to remember with this healthy recipe is if you want to make it ahead of time, for work, for example, be sure not to add the nachos until you actually eat the meal. Otherwise, they will go all soggy and you will end up with a disappointing, squishy mess. Sit down with your meal and enjoy it while perusing some of the best NZ betting sites on the net, possibly increasing your bank balance while decreasing your waist.

Ingredients:

  • 4 corn tortillas (or ½ packet of good quality nachos)
  • 2 cups frozen corn (or tinned whole corn)
  • 8 cups bagged fresh spinach (or Chinese cabbage if you can get any)
  • 2 cups sliced chicken breast, (rotisserie chicken can be used but is not advisable as it is usually very full of oil and fat)
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 medium avocado, sliced in thick slices
  • 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 1/2 cup light sour cream
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
  • If you are using the tortillas in your Mexican Chicken Salad, then place them on a baking tray. Place the tray in the oven when it has reached the correct temperature. Cook until crispy about 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Prepare corn according to package directions if using frozen corn, if using tinned corn then heat gently in a microwave until warm but not boiling.
  • Toss spinach (or Chinese cabbage. Chinese cabbage has a very nutty, earthy flavour with lots of bite. It is great cooked or eaten raw.), chicken, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, and corn in a large bowl. Divide among serving plates if you are making enough for more than one person, if it is just for you serve the desired amount onto a plate. In a bowl, whisk together sour cream, olive oil, lime juice, chipotle chilli powder, cumin, coriander and a few pinches of salt.
  • Break tortillas into small pieces and sprinkle over salad. If you are using the nachos, crumble them slightly until about a third of their original size. Drizzle sour cream dressing on top.

This Mexican Chicken Salad is not only a great lunchtime option but will keep the whole family happy at dinner too. Remember that eating too many carbs too late in the evening is never a good idea for those wishing to reduce their waistline.

Are Smart Watches A Help Or A Hindrance To Getting Fit?

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

Today’s modern lifestyle makes sitting around and not exercising all that much easier. Growing trends towards getting off the couch are sweeping the world, however, along with little gadgets which claim to make your exercise time that much easier and fun.

Smart Watches, Your Fitness Friend On Your Arm

The smart watch is one such gadget. Falling into the smart device family, this little piece of technology is light, easily transported and always available. It can do all sorts of incredible things, such as answer phone calls, display messages, and of course, track your fitness goals and experiences. The Apple watch is one of the most popular smart watches aroudn today, as is Samsung’s competitor to the Apple watch, the Samsung Gear 3.

Motivation By Your Side

No one likes exercising alone, especially if they are just trying to get into it. The smart watch can help here, as it is almost like having an exercise partner with you all the time. You can set your goals on your watch when you are feeling particularly motivated, and your little friend will remind you of them at regular intervals.

Your watch can be used to play music to you while you sweat, or even say little motivational insights to keep you going. One can even access an online sports betting guide, read up on a few stats and take a breather while placing a bet on your favourite team.

It will track your steps, tell you when you have done well, announce how many calories you have burned, and even tell you what to eat post workout.  Stefan Olander, Vice President of Digital Sport at Nike says that sports trackers are extremely motivational and has quoted: “There’s incredible power in knowing how you’re doing”

The Flip Side To “Tracking”

As much as knowing how you are doing is incredibly motivating, the flip side to this is becoming more and more common. Over tracking is becoming an obsession whereby people use their smart watches to track their every movement.

This can cause one to become obsessed with one factor of fitness to the detriment of an overall healthy lifestyle.  Joshua Klapow, PhD is a clinical psychologist from the University of Alabama.

He has studied the effect of smart watches and other fitness tracking devices and warns: “You can get so caught up in tracking that it overtakes you emotionally and psychologically…Over tracking syndrome can be problematic when the behaviour you’re trying to engage in becomes secondary to the numbers.”

The Social Network Aspect

Sharing your progress on your personal fitness journey with your friends can be motivating in itself. As envisioned by technology visionaries like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, it’s important that devices help people connect. That’s why many smart watches allow you to automatically update and share any exercise achieved, such as runs or even simple workouts. Sharing anything on the web, even to your close friends, opens you up to judgment.

Let’s face it, most people judge others even if they don’t realise it. When you are doing well, and sharing your progress the positive comments can help to spur you on to even greater heights and achievements. There is nothing like feedback from real people to motivate you into reaching your goal.

smart watches - activity tracker - keeping fit with a smart watch

Unfortunately, like everything else in the world, this has a flip side too. Regular updates may peter out if you lose motivation, which may have a spiral effect on your psyche.

Knowing that your updates are fewer and further between may make you feel like a failure, thus perpetuating the cycle of being demotivated even more.

So, What’s The Verdict on Smart Watches?

In summary we can be safe to say that a smart watch can be both a help and a hindrance, depending totally on how you use it and let it affect you.

Woman planking at home in order to stay fit and healthy

Bringing You 3 Tips for Staying Fit When at Home

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

It’s important that we’re always working on staying fit, regardless of our circumstances are. No matter what kind of exercise it is that you most enjoy, the possibilities that you can do so without leaving your house are big.

You do not need to visit gyms in order to stay trim, and not only are you far more likely to do what you need to if you don’t need to commute, the money you save can be spend on rewarding yourself for sticking to your schedule!

Resetting Your Overall Attitude is Vital

When it comes to staying fit, your first task will be resetting your mind, and taking the focus back to your daily life, instead of having exercise immediately associated with having to go to a gym, or, at the very least, having to shell out money in order to get costly equipment installed in your home.

A great way to start making staying healthy a part of each moment of our day-to-day lives is to rethink the ways we eat. Simply not purchasing foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients can go a long way towards motivating you to stay in shape and away from the carbs and calories you are trying your best to avoid.

dumbbells at home workout to maintain and improve fitness for staying fit

Remember to Reward Yourself is Key to Staying Fit

When you have set your schedule for exercising at home, whether it is an hour of yoga 3 times a week, a run before work in the morning, or a 30-second plank 3 times a day, remember to include milestones in your timetable and properly reward yourself each time you reach one. This is integral to stating fit, as your goals have to be progressive.

These can be made up of a certain amount of time that you stick to your timetable, such as exercising for 5 days straight, or losing a certain amount of weight, but are important, and will help keep you going when the going gets tough.

One very popular way to do this is with a quick real money game visiting the site here – you will not need to break your day up by commuting to a land-based casino in order to play, and can relax and have fun with top titles right from wherever you are, as well as gaining real money rewards on top of the relaxation and enjoyment the games provide with!

Work Activities into Those You Already Enjoy

If you enjoy a particular television series or love reading at home, find a way to combine these pastimes with those that help you lose weight and aid in staying fit.

You could binge-watch your favourite show with the condition that you spend some of that time doing exercises with easily portable equipment like dumbbells, for example, or make it a rule that between each episode you need to hit 100 sit-ups.

Taking your book with you onto the Stairmaster, if you have one, is a great way to keep your mind off of the time you are spending doing something you don’t enjoy, exercising, with something you really do enjoy!

You could even make it a rule that the only time you are allowed to read your favourite novels is when you are in motion, and thus motivate yourself to do more every day.

All About New Zealand’s Wellington Cup Carnival

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

The Wellington Cup dates back to the late 1800’ and to this day it remains one of the most highly anticipated events on the New Zealand racing calendar. The Wellington Jockey Club, otherwise known as the Wellington Racing Club, organized the first ever Wellington Cup race in 1867 and it’s only grown from strength to strength ever since.

Up until 1974, the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day race was run over a variety of distances, including two mile stretches from 1874-1889 and again from 1942-1973. One and a half mile stretches were run from 1890-1941, 3200 metre runs from 1974 to 2008 and now, most recently 2400 metre racing has seen the downgrade of the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day race event.

The event had lost its Group 1 status due to the horses not meeting certain criteria. The Wellington Racing Club thus made a decision to reduce the races distance to 2400 metres in order to attract stronger competition and rebuild the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day race to its former glory.

A Prestigious Race Day

The Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day race is the most prestigious horseracing event on the New Zealand racing calendar. Punters from around Australasia and the globe can take part in the action with a mouth-watering selection of wagering activities running throughout the Carnival.

The Wellington Cup carnival is held over three consecutive Saturdays and attracts a he amount of attention. Young and old flock to the course and all sorts of entertainments are laid on.

Increase in Winnings

Shortly after the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day race was downgraded a group, the organizers had announced a notable NZ $50.000 increase in total prize money. This increases the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day race wings to a whopping NZ $250.000.

Opening Day

The opening of the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day propels the Carnival into a sea of premium class racing programs.

The opening day sees three group races ad sets the scene for the days to come, culminating in what’s now known as Super Saturday.

The Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day Super Saturday swings into gear on the following Saturday after the opening. This is the prized day of the carnival and showcases top elite Stayers and Sprinters.   The NZ $250.000 Group 1 J&N Berkett Telegraph is run over 1200 meters and is New Zealand’s richest open sprint.

Closing Day

Closing day for the Wallaceville Estate Wellington Cup Day carnival is set for the following Saturday, after Super Satruday. The closing day is more focused around fun lifestyle and entertainment events with top-notch eclectic fashion and food stalls pitches around Trentham.

The closing day plays host to top notch racing programs to end the event including the Group 1 Harcourt’s Thorndon Mile, which is a premier 1600 metre race, and the Group 3 Wellfield Desert Gold Stakes for three year old fillies.

All in all, its easy to see why the Wellington Cup Carnival attracts so much attention and why it captivates not only New Zealanders, but punters from across the globe. Make sure you brush up on your betting knowledge at your nearest horse racing tips NZ site today, and get ready for one of the biggest horse racing events in New Zealand today.

Is The Home Field Advantage A Myth?

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

Interestingly enough, studies have shown that although players certainly enjoy playing at home stadiums and the crowd support, it does very little to improve team performance. Some players claim that due to the intense concentration during matches, many times they will not even be aware of the crowd.

This seems to be supported by statistics as well, as there is very little to no correlation between team performance and home field advantage when looking at raw data in terms of win loss outcomes.

Familiarity of the stadium would also appear to have a slight bearing on the performance of teams, but not necessarily in the way that you might be thinking. It has been shown that in some cases the old adage of familiarity breeding complacency has as line of truth to it.

Conversely, a visiting team might find that the sights and sounds of something different help them to focus more clearly on the objective: to win the match or game.

The Supporters

Spectators at an event will tell you that their team performs better when they are being supported by them in the stadium. This appears to be anecdotal as well, with no significant scientific findings being able to support these claims.

While this is not an absolute statement, it does give certain credence to the notion that the size of the stadium can definitely have an impact on this notion. In a massive international stadium the sounds of the crowd are acoustically drowned out into a sort of beehive sound. This makes any personal messages coming from the spectators a non issue.

The Officials

Unfortunately, no matter how impartial our officials strive to be, there will always be a human element to their decision making, at least this is what the science is telling us. In a test group they found that referee’s were more likely to award penalties to the home team in a tense situation. More shockingly is that the exact same infringements are often denied to the visiting teams.

While the stats are still relatively small in number due to the tiny amount of resources and research that have been allocated to such pursuits, it still makes the mind boggle as to how such a time tested institution such as refereeing can be so vulnerable to the individual that is making the call.

This is not however to say that this is the case with all officials, but rather that the small swathe of the cross section that was used was telling a compelling story.

The Future

So, where do we stand on the home ground advantage issue? It really is an emotive topic and it has a tendency to polarize all parties involved, from punters on NZ betting sites, to players to spectators. Luckily we live in an age of advanced technologies such as instant replay, aerial drones, player sensors and referee cameras that there has never been a smaller margin for error in the human referee department.

Who knows? Perhaps one day we will find that the human element might be almost removed entirely from the field of sports, with decision making and match officials being plugged into a sporting neural network of artificially intelligent referees?

We can only wait to find out!

Everything You Need to Know About Tabtouch Perth Cup Day

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

The TABtouch Perth Cup day is part of Perth’s exciting summer sporting events. This takes place on New Year’s Eve, and contributes to the fun filled festivities of that day. The next Tabtouch Perth Cup Day takes place on 31 December 2016, and promises to live up to and even surpass the excitement of all the previous editions of this festival.

The Perth Cup is Western Australia’s premier thoroughbred racing event, and is the main feature of the prestigious Perth Summer Racing Carnival. The running of the Perth Cup attracts a huge crowd of about 35,000 spectators and punters every year.

Important Horse Races

There is an action-packed afternoon of great horse racing, featuring the Group Two TABtouch Perth Cup with prize money of 500,000 dollars, and also the Group 3 La Trice Classic. The Perth Cup is a Perth Racing Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race which is run under quality handicap conditions over a distance of 2400 metres. This takes place at the famous Ascot race course in Perth, Australia in January each year, usually on New Year’s Eve. The sponsor, as from December 2016 is TABtouch.

Ascot Racecourse

Ascot is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. The suburb covers a narrow strip of land along the southern bank of the Swan River, and is about ten kilometres from the central business district. The suburb was named after the Ascot Racecourse, one of the major horse racing tracks in Australia, which is located with the boundaries of the suburb. The race track is managed by the Western Australian Turf Club, who run two riverside racecourses, the Ascot and Belmont Park. Perth Racing has headquarters directly opposite the racecourse, and has a proud history of thoroughbred racing for over 160 years.

Ascot racecourse is regarded as the Grand Old Lady of Australian racecourses. The two kilometre race track has a modern well drained turf surface, and a three hundred metre inclining straight which is regarded by experts as notoriously difficult, and the most severe test of stayers in Australia.

Huge Attendance Figures

The TABtouch Perth Cup day is the most well attended horse race in Western Australia, and the 2016 event formed part of New Year’s Eve festivities. The Perth Cup returned to being held on New Year’s Eve in 2013, after missing the previous year’s race.

Many people regard horseracing as much more than a hobby or an exciting sporting event to watch on television. Thousands of people in Australia and any other country of the world like to place wagers on the horses through a range of quality horse racing betting sites and feel it increases the thrill if you have a financial stake in the outcome. Now every punter in the country can place a wager on every race in the country, and enjoy that excitement.

The big horse races are very important sporting events in each country they are held, and certainly the people of Perth enjoy to the full the TABtouch Perth Cup day, and all the social activities that go with it.

Should You Always Back Your Own Team?

Posted on by Eunice Mckinney

Should you always back your own team is a question that is often asked in the sporting fraternity along with why one should back them. Backing your own team has its positives and negatives.

You will hear many punters in Australia say that you should never bet on your own teams, the reason for this is that the punters get emotionally invested and it becomes tough to place a bet. There are many pros and cons to consider when choosing to back your own team and deciding to place a wager on them.

The Pros

The punter in Australia will know their own team better than any other team in the leagues, whether it be rugby, soccer or even cricket. The more you know about a team, the better your chances will be to make the correct decision on who to bet on.

This also makes researching more interesting as it involves your own team and who they will be up against on the seasonal schedules. Having the home team knowledge creates a great advantage as many of the punters will know what injuries the players have and what current form they might be in.

Knowing some of the smallest changes to a team can certainly give the punter a slight advantage, this especially counts when it’s a team in the smaller leagues in Australia, and the information takes longer to hit the press than the bigger leagues.

Knowing the coaches and their strategies is also a great advantage to the punter, as their patterns might become slightly more predictable during the season or even against usual opponents. All this information makes it easier for the punter to place a bet with a number of Australian betting sites with more confidence on their own team.

The Cons

Punters who root for their own team and get too emotionally invested should probably avoid betting on them. Without question, it is never as much fun putting yourself in a situation where you have to cheer against your own team. If you are not objective when betting on your own team, you could make some bad bankroll decisions by bringing in emotions such as betting bigger on your own team, or even doubling up for the next match as you think you know they will do better.

Knowing one team better than the other can also count against the punter as not enough homework might be done on the other teams of opposition. Without that equality the punter can make some bad decisions and really hurt their bank roll. There are so many new players and strategies in any particular sport in Australia that only knowing one team could be truly damaging to the punters pocket.

Conclusion

If the Australian punter is able to separate the emotional from the betting side of the sport, then it is advisable to go ahead and back your team. as the knowledge and history which you have gathered on your team will usually make it easier for the punter to make a well informed decision. However, it is vitally important to also do the required homework on opposing teams as only knowing your team will not be beneficial.

Should the punter be too emotionally involved and not be able to separate pride over cleverness it is highly advisable to rather not back your own team as it could be detrimental, but instead place wagers on other sports teams in which they can stay neutral.