Weight Lifting Makes You Smarter- Really
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/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
Hack Squats
There is an old stereotype out there of the dumb weightlifter who really can’t do anything else very well. I think that stereotype really came from people who just don’t want to workout. Actually, the reverse is true… people who lift weights become measurably smarter. Really. I’ve met many very brilliant people in the gym and they weren’t just treadmill rats, they were hard core weightlifters. In one gym I worked out in, the evening crowd included a bunch of high powered personalities. One guy was an eye surgeon, another was a lawyer, another a CPA, etc. Of course there were stupid people in the gym as well. But there are stupid people everywhere. Yet, the perception persists and I really don’t know why- maybe the high school jocks vs. geeks thing. But the fact is that even at the most basic level, people who exercise are smarter simply because they realize that exercise is important for good health.
But, that’s not even the point of the article I’m referring to. Andrew over at MPF linked an article which suggests that weightlifting actually increases your cognitive abilities.
…Researchers in British Columbia randomly assigned 155 women ages 65 to 75 either to strength training with dumbbells and weight machines once or twice a week, or to a comparison group doing balance and toning exercises.
A year later, the women who did strength training had improved their performance on tests of so-called executive function by 10.9 percent to 12.6 percent, while those assigned to balance and toning exercises experienced a slight deterioration — 0.5 percent. The improvements in the strength training group included an enhanced ability to make decisions, resolve conflicts and focus on subjects without being distracted by competing stimuli.
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I’ve been lifting weights ever since college and I don’t think most people consider me all that smart. It’s scary to think what I would be like if I didn’t lift weights every day! Anyways, good article. Check it out.
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, Travel/fit, Youth/fit | Add Comment
Ok, this is not really an endorsement even though I really do like cheddar cheese. By the way, sharp cheeses are a great way to add flavor without adding a lot of calories.
Correlation between depression and junk food found
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
Skip this for better health!
Whenever you start looking for cause/effect relationships, you invariably run the risk of getting it wrong and possibly backwards. But in this study there is a pretty good case to be made for eliminating as much junk food from your diet as possible since the correlation is so strong. It is possible that depressed people just eat more junk food. But with what we know about how diet affects every area of our lives, it is very likely that whole, natural, healthy foods benefit our brain function. So with that in mind, check out this article over at MSNBC Health and pass it along to your friends and family who might be struggling with depression. My experience is that changing your diet and adding exercise to your daily regimen has a powerful effect on mood as well as physical well-being. For a good 6 meal per day diet, check out this page…
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British and French epidemiologists analyzed food and mood data from 3,486 men and women (average age 55) in the Whitehall II study on London-based office staff. Each participant answered a food frequency questionnaire in which they were asked how often they had eaten a designated portion size of a food during the previous year (set responses ranged from “never” to “six or more times per day”).
That data was then converted to a daily intake and two dietary patterns were identified: the “whole food pattern” (defined by a high daily intake of vegetables, fruits, and fish) and the “processed food pattern” (characterized by high consumption of sweetened desserts, chocolates, fried food, processed meat, pies, refined grains, high-fat dairy products, and condiments). Five years later, all the participants answered a short questionnaire designed to measure symptoms of depression in the general population.
10 Suggestions for Happiness in 2010
Posted by: Curt | Under: General Fitness | Add Comment
Well, it has been about 2 weeks since I have been able to post anything due to a server/IP problem at the hosting company. Very frustrating! We’ve found a work-around, but hopefully the issue will be resolved soon.
At any rate, here is a list of 10 things you can do to increase your happiness (From MSNBC). Some of them are really very simple and just require a slight change in lifestyle- some of them are things you already know and just need to remember to do.
Here is one that I found to be very true since I’ve been scanning all the old family slides and digitizing them to put on DVD’s for other family members. Lots of fun!
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Flip through old photos
When you’re feeling down, break out your kids’ baby albums or pics from your favorite vacation. It may actually make you feel happier than a square of Godiva chocolate would! That’s what researchers at the United Kingdom’s Open University found after they examined how much people’s moods rose after eating a chocolate snack, sipping an alcoholic drink, watching TV, listening to music, or looking at personal photos.
The music and chocolate left most people’s moods unchanged; alcohol and TV gave a slight lift (1%), but the winner by a long shot was viewing pictures, which made people feel 11% better. To keep your spirits high at work, upload your favorite pics to your computer and set them as a rotating screensaver. Or splurge on a frame that flips through digital photos.
