Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
My gym has been closed for 5 days now as they move to a new, larger facility and after 3 days, I was getting pretty restless. So I had my regular training partner stop by the house and we found a ledge by the front steps that had the right height to do single legged squats. All I can say is, wow. They are a great exercise and 4 sets of 10 on each leg is enough to reduce most gym rats to whining babies. Add to that my 70 yard long up hill driveway, and you have the perfect place to do hill sprints. I suggest doing the hill sprints first since you will have little chance of being able to do them after the single legged squats.
One of the things we found is that it is going to take a while to develop the balance you need to do them without using your partner for help. That’s OK. I figure it will take about a month of doing them regularly to get the balance down. I also noticed that my left leg is quite a bit stronger than my right leg. So hopefully, these will help even things out, and that should help out my back which I think suffers from the unequal strength. Give em a try, you’ll hate em.
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Spiritual/Emotional, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
Giant Burger-4800 calories
That describes just about all of the eating in America… or at least a large part of it, but this is absurd. Encouraging people to be unhealthy and irresponsible seems to be a corporate model these days. The problem is that there are always consequences and the health care system in the US will be crushed by these choices. While we are all inundated by food commercials on TV and billboards trying to get us to eat more, ultimately, the choice is yours. They can tempt you, but you are the one who does the eating!
At any rate, I was encouraged by the checkout lady at the grocery store last night. She mentioned to me that she had lost 70lbs and was walking an average of 2 miles a day and felt great. No kidding? Of course she feels great. And for a 48 year old woman, she looks great too.
Working in a grocery store has got to be tough since there is constant food being pushed in front of you and you get to see all sorts of things that are tempting. But she said that it is just a matter of saying no to the donuts and yes to the fruit and vegetables. Skip the giant burger or whatever other insane food item you are being tempted with. Even if you divide it into 4 parts, it is still 1200 calories each. Crazy. From MSNBC-
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The West Michigan Whitecaps, a minor league baseball team, will be offering up major league cholesterol, carbohydrates and calories in an enormous hamburger being added to the menu this year at the Fifth Third Ballpark.
The 4-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips, all on an 8-inch sesame-seed bun. That’s a lot of dough!
Single Leg Bench Squats- The Leg Killers
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Sports, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
These are very hard to do because they require both strength and balance. That’s why they are also very good to do. This picture is from MSNBC Health, but the exercise is well know and recommended by many trainers. They are especially good for people with back problems since they don’t require any extra weight on your back. I love traditional powerlifting squats, but these are well worth adding to your workout. If you have trouble with your balance, get a spotter to stand in front of you and hold his arms out for you to use as a balance point until you are comfortable doing them.
US Health Care Costs- Death by Prosperity
Posted by: Curt | Under: General Fitness | Add Comment
A new study has found the obvious- people in the US spend 2.5 times more per person for health care than other developed nations yet are far less healthy. While our system is great at treating symptoms, we are ignoring the problem- which is our generally unhealthy lifestyle. In a nation where infectious diseases kill very few people anymore, the big problem has become diseases of prosperity like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. These are all directly related to our lifestyle which shuns exercise and eats anything and everything we want. This “death by prosperity” is tragic and ironic. Until there is a concerted effort by corporations, insurance companies and the government to teach and encourage healthy lifestyle choices, the problem will get worse and the US will eventually collapse under it’s own weight. Not a pretty sight.
So do what you can to encourage your family, friends and co-workers to make some steps in the right direction. I know it is hard because everyone I know thinks I’m just a health and fitness fanatic that is so far out on the fringe that I’m not worth listening to. But every little bit of advice and encouragement can help.
Americans spend $2.4 trillion a year on health care. The Business Roundtable report says Americans in 2006 spent $1,928 per capita on health care, at least two-and-a-half times more per person than any other advanced country.
In a different twist, the report took those costs and factored benefits into the equation.
It compares statistics on life expectancy, death rates and even cholesterol readings and blood pressures. The health measures are factored together with costs into a 100-point “value” scale. That hasn’t been done before, the authors said.
The results are not encouraging.
The United States is 23 points behind five leading economic competitors: Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France. The five nations cover all their citizens, and though their systems differ, in each country the government plays a much larger role than in the U.S.
Posted by: Curt | Under: General Fitness | Add Comment
Here is the simple answer- which ever diet you can actually stay on. No kidding. There is not a one size fits all diet, and everyone is different. There are general principles that always work- like eat less than you burn, etc. but let’s face it, with so many different lifestyles, work schedules and body types, you have to find something that you can stick with. Andrew over at MPF has a good post about this that is worth the jump.
One thing I can almost guarantee will help everyone is to quit drinking sodas, sweet tea, coffee drinks with hundreds of calories of sugar and fat in it and all the other juices, energy drinks and other scams that the evil marketing machine has convinced you are normal. Even the little cans of Red Bull have 110 calories each. Stick to water, or coffee and tea without all the calories. If you are going to drink something with calories, get some nutrition out of it by drinking lowfat milk. Most people can cut 500 calories a day just by doing this. That is a lot of calories every week and it is also a lot of money! If you stick the money in a jar, you will be surprised how much extra you have at the end of a year.
Exercise Benefits for Older People
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Seniors/fit | Add Comment
This really goes in the “they spend money to do studies like this?” category, but it is worth reporting simply because there are a lot of people who think that once you are older and in poor shape that there is nothing you can do. Exercise at any age has positive benefits. There is one important consideration though- check with you doctor and make sure you are cleared for certain levels of activity before starting if you have serious health problems such as asthma, heart disease, etc. Even still, a certain level of exercise can be very helpful in restoring health. My Mom, who is in her 70’s goes to the YWCA each week for water aerobics with other seniors and loves it. In addition to the physical benefits, there are emotional and social benefits to group exercise classes- new friends and relationships. So if you are older or have a family member who is older, this info is worth paying attention to…
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“It’s not too late to start.”
The researchers put the volunteers into low, medium and high activity groups. About half the men reported a high level of exercise, corresponding to at least three hours of sport or heavy gardening each week.
About a third said they exercised moderately, such as taking walks and cycling, while the rest did little or no exercise, the researchers reported in the British Medical Journal.
Not surprisingly, death rates were highest among the sedentary group and lowest among the most active volunteers in the first five years of the study. But after 10 years people who began exercising at 50 had similar death rates to people in the high activity group.
The impact was similar to giving up smoking and the findings suggest further research to see what amount of physical activity makes a difference on health, the researchers said.
Diet, Sugar, Diabetes and The Naked Chef
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Quick Tips, Seniors/fit, Sports, Supplements, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
Check out these statistics from Dr. Gabe Mirkin on diabetes and then hit the link and watch the segment from ABC’s Nightline on what Jamie Oliver (aka The Naked Chef) is suggesting and doing to help the obesity problem. 2 things stand out- First, he says that we need a huge tax on sugar to discourage its overuse in pretty much everything we eat. Second, he points out that you have no chance of making big cultural shifts in something like diet and nutrition without a primetime TV show. That is a really interesting point when you consider the TV commercials that huge companies like Olive Garden, Red Lobster, etc run constantly to lure people into their restaruants. One other thing to note- he seems to recognize that the change will have to come with the kids and not adults. So he is teaching kids about diet and nutrition while they are still “saveable”.
In 2007, 233,619 Americans died from diabetes. 60 percent of the U.S. population over 65 suffers from diabetes or pre-diabetes and most have not even been diagnosed (Diabetes Care, February 2009). Four important reports should spur you to act if you have any of the risk factors for diabetes: “Diabetes Doubles Your Chances of Suffering from Dementia” (Diabetes, January 2008); “HBA1c Test Predicts Which Diabetics Will Lose Brain Function” (Diabetes Care, February 2009) “Rigorous Workouts Lasting as Little as Three Minutes May Help Prevent Diabetes by Helping to Control Blood Sugar” (BioMed Central Endocrine Disorders, February 2009); and “Exercise Capacity Predicts Which Diabetics Are at High Risk for Dying Prematurely” (Diabetes Care, March 2009).
If you have any combination of the following risk factors, suspect that you may be diabetic and check with your doctor:
* store fat predominantly in your belly, rather than your hips
* family history of diabetes
* overweight
* exercise less than three times a week
* high blood pressure
* HDL cholesterol lower than 40 mg/dL
* triglyceride level greater than 150 mg/dL
* history of diabetes during pregnancy or birth to a 9-pound baby
* thick neck
* polycystic ovary syndrome
* dark, thick skin around neck or armpits
* history of blood vessel disease to heart, brain, or legs
* HBA1C greater than 5.8
* fasting blood sugar greater than 100
* sugar two hours after eating greater than 100
* member of a high-risk ethnic population (e.g., African-American, Hispanic/Latino- American, American Indian, Alaskan Native or Pacific Islander)
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