Back Pain relief- my new inversion table
Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Seniors/fit, Sports | Add Comment
Inversion Table
After years of chronic lower back pain due to injuries when I was younger, I started searching for some remedies that would help without resorting to painkillers and drugs. I usually take a couple of Aleve each day to keep myself functional, but I’ve avoided anything stronger. So when a friend of mine suggested I try getting an inversion table, I thought “what the heck, it can’t hurt and it might help”. Sure enough, after 3 days of use (about 5 minutes, twice a day) there is already some improvement. I also hang from the pull up bar at the gym to stretch but the limit there is a minute or so because you eventually lose your grip. So, if you are fighting back pain like I am, I can give a thumbs up to the inversion table. You can find them pretty much everywhere- Sams, Costco, Amazon, etc. Mine is a basic model that cost slightly over 100.00 and works very well, so you don’t need to spend a lot of money.
Posted by: Curt | Under: Children/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Prime/fit, Sports, Youth/fit | Add Comment
The US military has a big problem- most young adults and teenagers are not qualified for military service and obesity is one of the biggest factors. CNN has the whole story-
More than a quarter of young adults are unable to meet physical requirements to join the military, creating a potential threat to national security, a group of retired armed forces leaders said Tuesday.
“It’s not drug abuse, it’s not asthma, it’s not flat feet — by far the leading medical reason is being overweight or obese,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Norman Seip at a news conference.
About 27 percent of young adults are medically ineligible for the military, according to Mission: Readiness, a group of retired admirals, generals, and other senior military leaders.
Mission: Readiness’ report, “Too Fat to Fight,” said that 75 percent of young Americans between the ages of 17 to 24 do not qualify for the military because of failure to graduate [from high school], criminal records or physical problems. The study cited Department of Defense and health data.
While school lunches and nutrition are important, the big problem is lifestyle. Most kids can eat pretty much anything they want if they are active and exercise enough. But with the rise of the video game and TV generation, most kids don’t get anywhere near enough physical activity. When you add to that a diet rich in high calorie, high sugar junk food you can see where the problem comes from. Eating fresh, nutritional food is just not a part of the average American’s lifestyle and that is what we need to get back to if we are going to have any chance of saving our kids from an adulthood of diabetes, heart disease and all of the associated problems.
Senior Adult Exercise Guidelines from the NIH
Posted by: Curt | Under: 50's/fit, Health, Ladies/fit, Seniors/fit | Add Comment
Out for a walk...
The National Institutes of Health has a new website up that helps senior adults start or re-start an exercise program. There is a ton of good info here and lots of exercise programs sorted into categories like- endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. For more info check out the website and pass it on to other folks you know who work and live with senior adults. The benefits of exercise for seniors are huge and well documented so encourage the people you know to got out and exercise!
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
If you live in the southern US right now, you are in one of the worst allergy seasons in many years. Soon, as spring moves north, the allergy problem will attack up there too. Back when I was growing up, my father used to call allergies “hay fever” because they had the effect of making you feel like you are really sick- and many people do have pretty severe allergic reactions to the pollen from plants. So what do you do? Well, taking some common precautions will make a big difference. Prevention has a list of 9 things that make allergies worse and one of them is simply ignoring them until you are miserable. Taking your allergy medicine before you head out into the pollen will help a lot. Generic Zyrtec and Claritin are available everywhere pretty cheaply.
Some things you eat and drink can also make your allergies worse since they trigger histamine release in the body- wine has this effect on many people. The opposite of this is the effect that natural, local honey has. Eating natural, locally produced honey tends to help with allergies since it contains pollen from local plants that your body adapts to over time- sort of like a vaccine.
The other thing you can do that helps is to exercise. even when you feel tired and sluggish because of your allergies, going to the gym and exercising will definitely make you feel better and help clear your head.
Training With the Stars- Apolo Ohno
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
Great video showing a typical training day for Apolo Ohno as he was preparing for the Olympics. I live his attitude- “No regrets, no regrets”. The 45 minute session on the stairs is sick… Remember, stairs are a great way to exercise no matter where you are. If you’re traveling, you can hit the stairs in the hotel and get a great leg/cardio workout in 30 minutes.
“Superfoods” for Disease Fighting and Anti-aging
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
Blueberries
Here is a good quick list of some of the foods that appear to have the best disease fighting and anti-aging properties. The thing I like about this list is that there is nothing really crazy on it and all the foods are readily available at the grocery store. From Prevention-
PROTECT YOUR HEART
•   Fill up on barley
•   Fill up on pinto beans
•   Fill up on grapes
•   Fill up on macadamia nuts
•   Fill up on mineral water
•   Avoid energy drinks
STRENGTHEN YOUR BONES
•   Fill up on lean top sirloin
•   Fill up on broccoli
•   Avoid salt
PROMOTE DIGESTION
•   Fill up on blueberries
•   Fill up on popcorn
•   Fill up on bananas
•   Avoid dried plums
SHARPEN YOUR VISION
•   Fill up on collard greens
•   Fill up on low-fat or nonfat milk
•   Fill up on nuts
•   Avoid refined foods
PROTECT YOUR BREASTS
•   Fill up on cauliflower
•   Fill up on sweet potatoes
•   Fill up on tomato sauce
•   Avoid grapefruit
CLEAR YOUR LUNGS
•   Fill up on pears
•   Fill up on edamame
•   Fill up on brown rice
•   Avoid soft drinks
PAIN PROOF YOUR JOINTS
•   Fill up on olive oil
•   Fill up on oranges
•   Avoid beer or hard liquor
BOOST YOUR MEMORY
•   Fill up on apples
•   Fill up on chicken breast
•   Fill up on coffee
•   Avoid liver
SMOOTH YOUR SKIN
•   Fill up on canned light tuna
•   Fill up on dark chocolate
•   Fill up on black tea with citrus peel
•   Fill up on carrot juice
•   Avoid alcohol
