It just keeps getting worse
obesity, diet, exercise, hiking, bicycling
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Obesity rates just keep rising in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control have announced.
According to the Centers' weekly morbidity and mortality report, more than a quarter of Americans admitted to being obese in a 2007 survey. That represented an increase of 1.6 percentage points since the last survey in 2005.
Even worse, in some southern states, the obesity rate was as high as 30 percent. It seems that southern cooking with its emphasis on fried foods is really taking its toll.
At the other end of the spectrum, Coloradans can pat themselves on the back for perennially having the lowest obesity rate, 19 percent. Evidently with all that gorgeous Rocky Mountain scenery to hike through and lots of bike trails, people in Colorado are motivated to get off their butts and exercise.
Let's hope that the rising cost of gas will have a bright side: Maybe people will have an incentive to leave the car home and walk or ride their bicycles more. Dare we hope?
Here's a link to the CDC report:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5728a1.htm
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on 7/18/2008
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0 |
2.6
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Wounded Warrior II
yoga, sports injuries
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It's hard to believe that an activity as relaxing and stress-reducing as yoga can actually cause injuries, but it can happen, as a story that MSNBC moved yesterday reports.
Any activity, no matter how beneficial, always brings a risk of overdoing. In yoga, injuries usually result from beginners attempting difficult poses before they have mastered the basics, or from former practitioners coming back years later and trying to jump right in where they left off.
Any good yoga teacher will suggest modified poses for beginners. I would urge newbies to master them before moving on to the more strenuous poses. And listen to your body...If a stretch doesn't feel right, don't force it.
Here's a link to the MSNBC story. I certainly hope it doesn't discourage anyone from trying yoga. Any activity carries risks if you don't do it right. Just start slowly and work your way into it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25400799/
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on 7/16/2008
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0 |
4.7
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And the winner is....
weight loss, biggest loser, exercise, diet
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The results are in! The winner of The Star-Ledger's Biggest Loser Challenge is Tom Feeney, who lost an astounding 49 pounds in three months. That was about 20 percent of his starting weight!
As his prize, Tom won an extra week of paid vacation, a six-month gym membership, and $10 for each pound lost, for a total of $490! Tom lost the weight on a combination of healthy eating, exercise and lifestyle changes.
Second prize winner Pat Turner lost 8.4 percent of her body weight. Five other participants, Peter Barash, Jack DaSilva, Vinessa Erminio, Brian Levy and Beverly Reid exceeded their weight loss goals. These seven people together lost 176 pounds.
Of the 59 people who initially signed up for the challenge, 27 attended enough weigh-ins to qualify for recognition. Altogether they lost 407 pounds!
Thanks to Mona Rowe and Monique Alston of The Star-Ledger's Human Resources Department for organizing this challenge. They hope to start another one in the fall. I'm looking forward to coaching again!
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on 7/10/2008
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0 |
6.6
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Just one week to go!
biggest loser, weight loss, healthy eating, walking, jumping rope
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The Star-Ledger's Biggest Loser Challenge is nearing the end!
The final weigh-in will be next Tuesday, and then we'll know who the winner is! Right now Tom Feeney and Pat Turner are just about neck-and-neck in terms of percentage weight loss.
Today about a dozen participants took part in the walk around the building at lunchtime. They walked around the block five times for a total of a mile. Then we gathered for a healthy lunch of salad and wrap sandwiches.
After yesterday's weigh-in I got a small group together on the parking deck for a jumprope session. Those who joined me were amazed at how much exercise you get from jumping only 30 seconds!
Our cumulative weight loss is now 382.4 pounds! The winners for the last two weeks were Vinessa Erminio, 5.2 pounds, and Beverly Reid, 2.4 pounds. Way to go gals!
Let's see if we can break 400 pounds at the final weigh-in next week!
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on 6/26/2008
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0 |
3.7
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Might as well jump
jumping rope, circuit training, cardio
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As the saying goes, it's a sad day when you don't learn something new.
Well, today I learned something cool ... I learned to jump rope!
I've been following the Men's Fitness series "The Eternal Beach Body Plan." Several of the most recent workouts have included jumping rope, which until now I had never been able to learn.
This morning when I was warming up for my workout at the gym, I noticed a guy jumping rope in the aerobics studio. He seemed to have mastered it...doing all sorts of cool variations.
I got up and went into the studio, grabbed a jumprope off the rack, and when he was taking a break, I went up to him and asked if he had any pointers on how to get started. He suggested that I try jumping up and down while twirling the rope in one hand to get the rhythm. I took his advice, and did the jumping for a minute. Then I tried it with the rope, and of course caught it on my feet on the second jump.
But even with the jumping alone, I could feel an awesome burn in my abs. Hmmm...maybe this is the way to get a sixpack, after all!
The way the workout was structured, I was to do a circuit of 10 exercises, which included two sets of jumping rope alternating with lifting exercises. When I came back for the second set, I jumped for 70 seconds, and to my amazement after that I was able to jump with the rope about five times! Excited, I told my new friend that was the most I'd ever done in my life!
By the last set of jumps, I was up to 10! It felt so cool!
As soon as my workout was finished, I drove straight to Sports Authority and bought a speed rope. As soon as I got home, I started practicing on my driveway...doing a few more jumps each time. The last time I kept count, I was up to 28!
I got my son Doug to take pictures of me as proof of my new skill. As an aspiring trainer, the more exercises I know that I can teach,... read entire entry
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on 6/22/2008
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11.1
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"Glorify God in your body"
treadmill, weight loss, pushups, bench presses
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"Know you not your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
A story moved on the wire today about Mark Brown, a football player turned pastor who has written a book called "Coming Alive at 55."
In the interview, Rev. Brown tells how he got himself back in shape after being injured in an auto accident a few years ago and letting his weight get out of control. He believes strongly that physical and spiritual health go hand in hand.
Rev. Brown's website (www.drmdb.com) includes a feature called "Word and the Workout," in which he reads Bible passages while running on the treadmill. He cites the above quote from 1 Corinthians as his favorite Bible verse.
Memo to Fitster Kettlebell: What a great example of how promoting fitness can be doing God's work!
Here's a link to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's interview with Rev. Brown:
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-0/1213432344262990.xml&coll=2&thispage=2
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on 6/17/2008
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0 |
15.8
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The heat is on
yoga, heat yoga
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When I previously blogged about yoga back in March, Fitster slizzard suggested that I try heat yoga. I had heard good things about it and wanted to try it sometime.
As it turned out, World Gym Paramus is now offering a heat yoga class on Saturday mornings, and today I finally had a chance to try it.
The class runs for an hour and a half with the room heated to 85 degrees. One of the regular participants in my Friday morning class was also in this class, and before the class I asked him how they compared. He said he liked them both, for different reasons. He said that while he found our Friday morning instructor, Karen, to be "more athletic," he considered this instructor "more sensual," and that he found the heat yoga class cleared his head more.
Well, I found this class to be plenty athletic, with lots of planks and other core exercises. And with the extra half hour, it was a pretty intense workout.
A couple of cautions: If you try it, be sure to bring water, because you're going to sweat like a pig. Also, make a pit stop immediately before the class begins, because your bladder will be screaming in no time!
My verdict? I enjoyed the class. It was a nice change of pace from my regular routine, but I don't think I'll be doing it on a regular basis.
In my previous blog, I described yoga as "the perfect warmup." I said I found that the regular hatha class energized me for the rest of the day.
The heat yoga, on the other hand, completely sapped my energy. I didn't feel like doing any more exercise afterwards. It was like exercising in the sauna.
I'm glad I tried the heat yoga, but with a limited amount of time available to work out, I think my time is better spent on weight training and cardio.
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on 6/14/2008
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0 |
9
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Star-Ledger Biggest Loser Challenge update Week 9
weight loss, biggest loser
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I haven't posted the latest BL news for a couple of weeks. The total weight loss is now 353.2 pounds, with 24 people weighing in faithfully each week.
The winners for the last two weeks are:
Week 8: Peter Barash (5.6 pounds)
Week 9: Sandra Comarcho (8.2 pounds)
Good work you guys! Beach season is here, and you're going to be looking better in your bathing suits!
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on 6/12/2008
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0 |
3.7
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Let's get Britney, Tatum and Amy into the gym!
exercise, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, runners high
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As if we need another reason to work out, researchers have now discovered that exercise can prevent substance abuse.
Those of us who have experienced that runner's high after an intense workout know that it beats any kick from drugs or alcohol.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has discovered that teenagers who exercise regularly are far less likely to smoke or use drugs than those who don't exercise. But then, anyone who smokes isn't going to last long in the gym or on the athletic field.
Here's a link to the MSNBC story:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25063203/
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on 6/10/2008
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0 |
15.8
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Any way you spin it, these guys are jerks
spinning
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If you live in the New York metropolitan area, you've probably been hearing about the case of two Wall Street types who got into a fight during a spin class at a fancy Upper East Side gym last summer.
On Monday, a jury acquitted Christopher Carter of assault charges stemming from the incident in which he allegedly attacked Stuart Sugarman, who was making loud and obnoxious outbursts as they worked out.
Carter repeatedly told Sugarman to shut the f*** up, and was rebuffed. Finally, when he couldn't stand it anymore, Carter got up grabbed Sugarman's stationary bike by the handlebars, lifted it up and pushed it into a wall with Sugarman astride it, then dropped it.
Sugarman went on riding and completed the class, but afterwards he decided he had to go to the hospital, and claimed that he suffered a herniated disc as a result of the attack. The jury found Carter not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing in the incident, but Sugarman still plans to file civil actions against Carter and the Equinox fitness club.
My spinning instructor at World Gym, Brian Mahoney, didn't mince words when I asked him what he thought of the case. "I think that they are both jerks and the instructor should have handled this before it got out of hand! All three of them are wrong!" Brian said.
Here's my take on it: In most spin classes there's loud music playing, and if you have enough excess energy to yell loud enough to be heard, then you're just not working hard enough!
Fortunately, we've got a nice bunch of people in our class. Everyone's there for one reason: to get exercise, not to make spectacles of themselves. And even if a couple of loud jerks should infiltrate the class, I'm sure Brian, who's a former Marine, would be capable of handling it!
Here's the New York Times story about the verdict:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/nyregion/03spin.html
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on 6/5/2008
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1 |
13.6
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Bicycle commuting saves both time AND gas
bicycling
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We all know that bicycling saves gas, but did you know that if you live in a congested urban area, it can save time as well?
Transportation Alternatives, the New York City bicycle advocacy group, recently conducted its annual commuter race, and on the route from Brooklyn to Manhattan, the cyclist beat both the automobile and the subway.
I was active in TA back in the '80s when I lived in NYC. I wrote articles for their newsletter, The City Cyclist, and served as a facilitator for one of their conferences on making the city more bicycle-friendly.
Before that, when I was working as a reporter at the Record-Journal in Meriden, Conn., I wrote a weekly bicycling column, "Biker's Byline." For one column, I conducted a commuter race of my own. I raced several of my co-workers from their homes to the office on my bike as they either drove or took the bus. Needless to say, I beat the bus handily. And even in a relatively small city of 55,000 people, I either beat or tied the people who lived within the city limits. The only ones who beat me were those who lived in the burbs.
So give bicycle commuting a second look. You may find it's not that time-consuming after all!
Here's a link to a news story about the TA contest:
http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/2273985.php
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on 5/30/2008
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0 |
14.5
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Star-Ledger Biggest Loser Challenge Week 7
biggest loser, weight loss
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After seven weeks, participants in The Star-Ledger's Biggest Loser Challenge have lost a total of 326 pounds!
This week's winner, Cindy Delonas, lost 3.2 pounds!
Also, I neglected to post last week's winner. In a repeat performance, Brian Levy lost another 3.4 pounds. Congratulations Cindy and Brian!
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on 5/29/2008
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0 |
6.5
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Happy Heinz Day to me
age
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You've all seen the label on Heinz ketchup bottles with the famous "57 varieties" slogan. Actually, when company founder Henry J. Heinz came up with that slogan back in the 1890s, the company was already making more than 57 products. He chose the number "57" simply because he thought the numbers "5" and "7" looked nice together.
I think of today as my "Heinz" birthday because as far as I'm concerned the number associated with my age has no more basis in reality than the Heinz slogan. Age is just a number. It has nothing to do with the state of my body or spirit. If I tried to fit the general notion of what a 57-year-old should be like, I wouldn't be lifting weights, riding a bike or aspiring to become a personal trainer.
These days you often hear expressions like "60 is the new 40." With all the advancements in medicine, coupled with a healthy lifestyle, anyone can maintain the body of a much younger person. There's a website called RealAge, where you can enter all sorts of information like your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, diet, exercise habits and medical history, and it calculates your "real" age. It told me I'm really a 45-year-old!
When I was approaching my 40th birthday, the British pound had been devaluated several times, and there was talk of devaluating the U.S. dollar. If they could do that, I reasoned, why couldn't I devaluate the year?
If I devaluated it by 20 percent, then I'd only be 32, and when I hit 50, I'd only be 40.
Looks like I've managed to hold myself to that formula. Most important, I feel like a 45-year-old.
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on 5/23/2008
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0 |
11.3
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Healthy munching
munchmobile, diet, exercise
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It's ironic that my latest update of The Star-Ledger's Biggest Loser Challenge coincides with the launch of the Munchmobile, the paper's annual celebration of overeating.
The Munchmobile, a k a the Big Dog, is a customized van topped with a huge hot dog. Each week during the summer months, reporter Pete Genovese takes a crew of half a dozen selected readers on a tour of casual dining establishments around New Jersey. On each tour, they visit half a dozen restaurants that share some common theme: It might be Italian one week, seafood another, breakfast another. At the end of the trip, each of the "Guest Munchers" is ready for gastric bypass surgery.
Last Thursday, this year's version of the Munchmobile was unveiled with great hoopla. The giant hot dog was paraded through the newsroom to the accompaniment of a local high school band, then marched up to the roof of the parking garage where it was mounted on top of the Big Dog. And all the employees were treated to a free lunch of ... you guessed it ... hot dogs!
Summer is a time when we all have healthy appetites. After all, we're spending more time outdoors, doing yard work, and, lets hope, playing harder. Jumping into the waves Down the Shore, or enjoying a good softball game or a hike in the mountains, works off calories and entitles you to a little self-indulgence, maybe a cold beer or an ice cream cone once in a while. But it's not an excuse to completely pig out.
With warm weather at hand, take advantage of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are coming into season. Visit your local farm market and enjoy the fresh locally grown produce. Get as much of the healthy stuff into your diet before you allow yourself some guilty pleasures. And take advantage of the longer days and warm weather to get outside for a walk, a run or a bike ride.
Ironically the Big Dog launch took place on the very spot where I have been conducting n... read entire entry
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on 5/21/2008
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0 |
11.7
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An enlightening weekend
acsm, personal training, certification, workouts
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For the past three days I have been attending an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer workshop at Manhattan College in The Bronx.
The workshop is intended to help aspiring trainers prepare for the ACSM's certification exam. It's essentially a cram course that extracts the key concepts from the voluminous study materials published by ACSM for those planning to take the exam.
After trying to read and absorb the overwhelming amount of information in the recommended texts over the past few weeks, I was somewhat relieved to find that much of the workshop reinforced material that was covered in my WITS course last fall, in some cases going into greater depth on the science behind the material.
The instructor, Tedd Keating, is a professor of physical education and human performance at Manhattan. He presented the material in a lively and interesting fashion.
There were 12 people participating in the workshop for all three days, with two more joining us for the one-day session Sunday. It was a diverse group, including several people already working as personal trainers, as well as a couple of firefighters, an actor, a Jehovah's Witnesses volunteer, and, of course, one middle-aged journalist. I learned as much from my fellow students as I did from the workshop presentations.
For me, the most valuable part of the workshop came in Sunday morning's session, at which we were presented with several hypothetical case studies of people embarking on an exercise program. Using the information provided, we got together in small groups to determine each person's risk factors and individual needs, and then to design a workout program involving cardio, flexibility and resistance training. This is exactly the sort of exercise I'd been looking for.
Curiously, a case study we dealt with involved a client named "Homer," an overweight, 37-... read entire entry
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on 5/12/2008
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0 |
23.2
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Van Saun Park is melting in the dark
running
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Spring was never waiting for us girl, it ran one step ahead, as we followed in the dance...
Am I the only person in the world who thinks "MacArthur Park" makes perfect sense? Most people seem to think that Jimmy Webb was smoking funny cigarettes when he wrote those lines about the cake being left out in the rain, and the "sweet green icing flowing down."
This evening I went for a run in a local park. It was a beautiful day, after it had rained cats and dogs all day Friday. That's when I experienced a "MacArthur Park" moment.
Hasn't anyone noticed how it looks in spring when all the green petals and seed pods drop off the trees? Most people don't think of those as flowers, since they're green, but all deciduous trees are flowering plants, and that green stuff that falls off is the petals.
When it rains, mass quantities of those petals come flowing down and cover the ground, and you can see where the image of the "sweet green frosting flowing down" came from.
Very pretty to look at, but of course the stuff gets stuck in the treads of your sneakers when you run over it.
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on 5/11/2008
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0 |
6.8
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Star-Ledger Biggest Loser Challenge Week 4
weight loss, squats, deadlifts, exercise ball, shoulder presses
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Nice going, Biggest Loser Challengers! After four weeks, our total weight loss is now 255 pounds! Collectively you lost 50 pounds last week, 2 1/2 times what you lost the week before!
Congratulations to Keisha Wade, biggest loser of the week at 6.2 pounds! Way to go, Keisha!
After a month, it's time to change your workout. Here’s a fat-loss workout program, adapted from "The New Rules of Lifting" by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove. ¶
Superset 1)
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Squats: 3 sets, 15 reps, 75 sec. rest
Deadlifts: 3 sets, 15 reps, 75 sec. rest
Superset 2)
Supine hip extension on Swiss ball: 3 sets, 15 reps, 75 sec rest.
Dumbbell shoulder press (can pimp it up as push press): 3 sets, 15 reps, 75 sec rest
Superset 3)
Lunges: 3 sets, 15 reps, 75 sec rest
Swiss ball crunch: 3 sets, 15 reps, 75 sec rest)
Do this workout twice, resting at least a full day between workouts.
For the next two workouts, do only 12 reps per set, but lift slightly heavier weights and rest only 60 seconds between sets.
Then for the fifth and sixth workouts, go a little heavier still, doing 10 reps per set and resting 45 seconds between sets.
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on 5/9/2008
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0 |
4.2
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Spinning class pays off big time!
spinning, bicycling
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In a previous entry, I sang the praises of Brian Mahoney's spinning class at World Gym. Today the class really proved its value.
This afternoon I did a 25-mile ride in Bike Bergen, a benefit bikeathon for the Interreligious Fellowship for the Homeless of Bergen County. This was the first time I had set foot on my real bike this year.
I've been taking part in Bike Bergen for several years now. I completed the ride in less than two hours, a personal record. Not only that, but there's a very steep hill on the route that I never had been able to get up all the way without getting off and walking the bike. This year, I made it on the bike for the first time!
Clearly the off-season conditioning from the spinning class made a difference! Thanks for kicking my butt, Brian!
As if that wasn't enough to make my day, my church team, the First Congregational Flyers, took home the trophy for raising the most money: $1,055! It's for a great cause. The IRF sponsors overnight shelters for the homeless, as well as transitional housing for formerly homeless people who are getting their lives together. My church regularly serves as an overflow shelter for the IRF, and I have served as an overnight attendant many times. It's a very rewarding experience, as well as a wake-up call. With the cost of housing these days, many of us are one mortgage payment away from being homeless ourselves.
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on 5/5/2008
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1 |
18.4
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