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"Change The Way You Look at Things, And The Things You Look at Change"
Can you change your body with just your thoughts? This may sound wild, but there is evidence to support such a thing.
Some Research
First, a Harvard study by psychologist Ellen Langer, followed 84 hotel maids from seven different hotels. The idea was to look at whether or not the perception of exercise influenced the results. The maids were asked how much they exercise, to which 67 percent reported they didn't exercise regularly. And more than one-third of those reported they didn't get any exercise at all. They assessed the maids' body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, weight and body mass index. The researchers found that all of these indicators matched the maids' perceived amount of exercise, rather than their actual amount of exercise. The maids were then split into two groups, one being told just how much exercise they were actually getting just by doing their jobs, and that it even exceeded the surgeon generals recommendation. The other group was told nothing.
Findings
One month later, Langer and her team returned to take physical measurements of the women and were surprised by what they found. In the group that had been told they were essentially already exercising at work, there was a decrease in their systolic blood pressure, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio -- and a 10 percent drop in blood pressure. When asked whether or not the maids had made any other lifestyle changes, they answered that they hadn't. This leaves only the change in perception of what they were already doing to be key. The important takeaway from this, to me, is not that the maids lost weight after changing their perception to their physical activity, but rather how their previous perception kept them from the changes in the first place -- even with the same activity level. Are you, or someone you know already putting in the work but deep down believing that you just can't get the body you want? Your perception may play a much larger role then you think.
Another Study Looking at Strength Gains
Another study done by Erin M. Shackell and Lionel G. Standing at Bishop's University demonstrates some correlating evidence, but rather than looking at weight loss, they analyzed the impact of thought training and strength gains. They randomly split 30 college student athletes into 3 groups of 10. One group mentally practiced a hip-strength exercise. One group physically practiced the exercise. And the control group did nothing. The mental training group was directed to imagine doing the exercise in extreme detail, including adding weight and performing four sets of eight repetitions.
More Interesting Findings
The group that did the physical exercises saw gains of 28.3 percent. The control group saw little to no gains. Both of these would be expected. What was unexpected was the mental training group saw gains of 23.7 percent -- almost as much the physical training group!
The Takeaway
Most people find no problem accepting the idea that things like stress, anxiety, depression, etc., can have a negative impact on our health. Or that visualization can help athletes performance. But the idea what we can physically change our bodies simply with our thoughts turns most conventional thinking on its head. The power of the placebo effect is impressive. But what is equally important is what is known as the "nocebo" effect. Just like positive thoughts can affect you with the placebo affect, the opposite can be true with the nocebo affect. Remember how they maids health markers correlated with their perspective of lack of exercise even when they were getting it?
I don't think it's good advice to say we don't need to take action, but rather sit around and think about taking action but rather, align both. Do what you believe will get you the results you want, and believe what you are doing will accomplish this. And remember, what can work for us, can also work against us. If you are putting in the time and work and not seeing the results you want, ask yourself what results you truly deep down believe you can achieve. Can you honestly see yourself in the body you want? Or do you have limiting beliefs telling yourself how you cannot get there? This may play a much bigger role in results than conventional thinking allows. It is possible your perspective and self-limiting beliefs may literally be hindering your progress.
"The energy of the mind is the essence of life." Aristotle
More Resources
If this kind of information interests you and you want to learn more about the effects your thoughts, beliefs, and intentions can have, here are a few more sources you can check out.
The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
Upgrade Your Brain by Jon Spayde (Experience Life article)
The Intention Experiment and The Field by Lynn McTaggart
Spontaneous Healing of Belief and The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden
The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto
The Living Matrix: Film on the New Science of Healing
[photo via http://www.elec-intro.com/maid-of-ringtone]
Survival of the Fittest: Facebook Edition
This NYT article made me feel better about not having blogged since August (even if I am
lumped into the kids' group). I have a list of potential topics as long as my arm, but can't make any promises about when I'll be able to post again here...soon?
In the meantime, I'm posting lots of fitness content daily on my Survival of the Fittest page on Facebook.
Come talk to me there!
[image via econversemedia.com]
Some Days...
... don't you feel like this? :)
Mouthguards That Move You
If you look reeeaaally closely, you can see my speed-enhancing, strength-boosting Pure Power Mouthguard. Do performance mouthguards really work? Hey, I caught her, didn't I? (Photo credit: Dobson Images)
Athletes will do almost anything to get an edge, and lately, performance mouthguards from companies such as Makkar and UnderArmour have become become a topic of conversation around the Gatorade cooler.
But are these companies just fast-talkin'?
Recently, The New York Times published a piece on performance mouthguards, with athletes, dentists and exercise physiologists supporting claims that these bite-sized bits of plastic can indeed boost performance, if only marginally. These four paragraphs sum up the case nicely:
[I]t isn't clear how much of an edge [these mouthguards] actually confer. A study sponsored by Makkar in 2008 at Rutgers University found that athletes wearing Pure Power Mouthguards could jump higher and perform better at their peak, but it did not find that their endurance was any better.
"There wasn't a huge difference," said Shawn Arent, an assistant professor in the department of exercise science at Rutgers who led the study. "It's not the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's not magic. But for an elite athlete who has been training for a long time, even a 3, 4 or 5 percent increase in performance is a hard thing to come by."
Similar research by Under Armour and Bite Tech with athletes at the Citadel, a military college, showed that using the mouth guards helped improve endurance and air flow.The UnderArmour performance mouthpieces fit only over your lower teeth and are made to reduce jaw-clenching, thus reducing the release of hormones that cause stress, fatigue and distraction.Dena Garner, an assistant professor at the Citadel who has studied athletes using Bite Tech devices since 2005, said she thought some of her original findings were "a fluke." But "every time I've done lactate studies with this mouthpiece, I'm finding there is a difference," she said.
The Makkar-made Pure Performance Mouthguard, or PPM, on the other hand, fits over your upper teeth (more like a conventional mouthguard) and is based on the principles of neuromuscular dentistry. The idea is, if you align your jaw in its ideal setting, you'll release tension, open up your airway and position the facial joints to work optimally, allowing for the recruitment of more muscles, creating a domino effect in the body. (For more on how the PPM works, see this November 2009 article in USA Today.)
In October, I paid a visit to Chad Boger, DDS, a neuromuscular dentist in Plymouth, Minn., to see what the hype was about. (In the interest of full disclosure, I'll tell you he agreed to outfit me with a PPM for free. And in fact, he's the one who alerted me to the existence of performance mouthwear about two years before I finally made my way in to see him.)
The process took two to three hours and began with an hour of TENS to the face, neck and shoulders to loosen the muscles. Then, we tested numerous sets of my jaw to find what increased performance and what didn't, based on strength and flexibility tests he administered there in the office.
(Thumbs up for the comprehensive PPM fitting process.)
There were marked differences in my performance on said tests between when I was wearing it and when I wasn't -- again, not night and day differences, but a measurable increase in strength and flexibility. So it really comes down to why not.
The "not" factor, for many, would be price. Performance mouthguards can range from several hundred dollars to over two thousand dollars. If your sport is your life, it's an investment that makes sense. If not, it probably doesn't.
Summary:
-Performance mouthguards cannot work miracles. If you are not fast, a performance mouthguard will not make you fast. But it might make you a leeetle bit faster. If you are not strong, a performance mouthguard will not make you strong. But it might make you a leeetle bit stronger.
-If you're not a pro athlete or you don't have the cash for a performance mouthguard, train right, eat right and you'll get more than a teensy gain in performance, anyway.
-If you have expendable income and/or are a pro athlete, I'm not sure what you're waiting for. "Why not" applies here.
For more on the Makkar Pure Power Mouthguard (PPM), click here, and for more on UnderArmour performance mouthguards, click here.
Losing Exercise: Don't Do It
It seems that every few months, an article appears disparaging the value of exercise for weight loss. The latest is "Why Doesn't Exercise Lead to Weight Loss?" from the Health section of the The New York Times.
The article posits that because a study of 58 obese subjects who did 12 weeks of aerobic exercise at 70 percent of their max heart rate (i.e., steady-state cardio) -- without changing their diets -- resulted in, on average, just a seven-pound weight loss over that time period, exercise doesn't play much of a role in weight loss. (Never mind that an unmonitored diet means the tendency to disproportionately increase food intake once you start exercising was also unmonitored.)
Writer Gretchen Reynolds also points to a study on the "afterburn effect" -- the tendency for the body to burn an elevated number of calories for hours after a workout -- that concluded afterburn was a bust. Yet strangely, the type of exercise used in the study was relatively low-intensity -- an hourlong cycle at just 55 percent of aerobic capacity.
What makes this strange -- and noteworthy -- is that it's usually high-intensity activities that are thought to trigger the afterburn effect.
As someone working for a publication that strives to provide both depth and breadth of information, this sort of half-picture presentation is disturbing to me. When did journalists set exercise up as the antidote to terrible eating habits? The kind of thing that maybe we shouldn't bother with if we aren't seeing dramatic weight loss no matter what we're eating and drinking? When did we stop differentiating between different intensity levels of exercise? Between cardio and weightlifting, and their many subsets?
Perhaps, rather than renouncing the role exercise -- that vague catchall -- plays in weight loss, we should focus on the synergy that occurs when you make specific lifestyle and exercise choices. Rather than make sweeping generalizations and dismissals, let's dig into the details about what type of exercise has what type of effect, and the impact eating nutrient-dense foods has in supporting our fitness goals, regardless of how much and in what ways we're moving. The devil -- and devil dog -- is in these details.
There are a huge number of places to get great fitness information, on the web and otherwise -- and most of the people providing said information work in the trenches of the fitness industry, so they're witnessing firsthand what works (and doesn't). A few of my favorite sources that have covered the topic of fat loss (I'm positive I'm overlooking quite a few -- my apologies!): Alwyn Cosgrove, Leigh Peele, Mike Roussell, Robert Dos Remedios, Sara Cheatham, Michael Boyle, Josh Hillis, Jason C. Brown, Pamela MacElree and Craig Ballantyne.
The last time this happened -- August 9, to be exact, when Time published the hysteria-inducing article "Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin" -- a number of reliable fitness experts crafted thoughtful rebuttals. My favorite was by Tom Venuto, author of The Body Fat Solution.
I think it applies nicely to this more recent article, as well -- take a few minutes to read it, and see what conclusions you draw about the role exercise plays in weight loss: "Why Time Magazine Owes the Fitness Industry a Big Fat Apology."
UPDATE: To read a response from Pilar Gerasimo, editor in chief of Experience Life, click here.
(photo credit: LAYeiser)
Uncomfortable Excuses
During an especially grueling circuit workout Monday night, I took note of my threshold for discomfort for the very first time. Or at least, I took note of it more consciously than I ever have before.
It was a repetition-based circuit, meaning we had to complete a certain number of reps of each exercise before we moved on to the next. This is my favorite type of circuit, because the faster you get through the workload, the sooner you're done. And, it adds a little competitive zing to the class (which, let's be honest, is the real reason I like it).
There were eight exercises in total; four for the upper body and four for the lower body. Half the class started on the upper body and the other started on the lower body. I started on the upper body, and moved through the exercises pretty steadily, though I took a couple mini-breaks along the way to catch my breath and take a swig of water. In retrospect, I didn't even think about it -- feel a little burn, take a little break.
AS I GOT TO THE FINAL THREE EXERCISES, however, I noticed that a woman in the other group was already on her second-to-last exercise, and I became enraged. Not at her -- I'm no Christopher Carter -- but at myself. I suddenly realized I'd been backing off automatically whenever I hit a certain subconscious, predetermined point of exertion, and I was lagging behind because of it. Don't get me wrong: Backing off can be a good thing, if you're gasping for air and seeing black around the fringes of your vision. But I wasn't anywhere near that -- in fact, upon checking in with myself at that moment, I had to admit I was only mildly uncomfortable.
Why was I holding back? What was I worried was going to happen if I pushed myself harder?
Well ... I was just afraid of being more uncomfortable, frankly. And once that truth burbled to the surface, I couldn't deny that it was an awfully wimpy excuse. So, I decided to find out what would happen if I didn't ease off, and I got after those final three exercises like nobody's business.
The verdict: not that scary, after all. Also, I finished first in the class, ahead of the woman who had no idea we were competing. (Yesssssss! A most satisfying victory.)
UPON CONTEMPLATING MY EXPERIENCE LATER, I was reminded of several things I've read over the past couple years (and that might have helped me earlier, if I'd have been paying closer attention).
1. ONE OF THOSE THINGS WAS EAT, PRAY, LOVE author Elizabeth Gilbert's experience meditating among mosquitoes, and her determination to transcend. If you recall, what started as a miserable experience ended with her achieving a whole new level of enlightenment.
2. ANOTHER WAS THE WORK OF BYRON KATIE, who recommends addressing negative self talk with a few questions about what the truth really is. I didn't realize how very applicable these were until I revisited Helen Cordes's 2004 article for Experience Life, "Coming to Terms," which I've excerpted below.
When confronted with an uncomfortable situation, Byron recommends asking yourself:
- Is what I'm saying to myself true? (In my situation, the statement to question would be, "I'm too tired to continue exercising at this level.") Think carefully about the answer and don't simply accept what you've said or been told in the past. She says you may come to realize that it's your interpretation of the fact that is causing you the most pain.
- How do I react when I think that thought? What do you feel emotionally, and what do you feel in your body when you let these statements inhabit your mind? How do you typically treat yourself when you think each of these thoughts? Make a list of your resultant attitudes and behaviors. Ask yourself: How do I live when I believe this thought? Two good follow-up questions: Can you see a reason to drop the thought? Can you find one stress-free reason to keep the thought?
- Who or what would I be without that thought? What would you be like, and how would you feel if you were not hostage to that thought and the resulting feelings? Imagine that you didn't have the ability to think the thought as you stand in the presence of that situation.
3. THE LAST WAS RESEARCH ABOUT THE HIGH-INTENSITY WORKOUTS TABATA AND HIIT. Both are super-effective fat-blasting, endurance-boosting, mitochondria-increasing interval workouts performed at maximal or near-maximal intensity, and I've been researching, writing about and even doing both for some time now. (See "The Tabata Tune-Up" in the March 2008 archives, and keep your eye out for an article on HIIT in the December 2008 issue of Experience Life.) Yet while we all understand the definition of "maximal" -- giving it everything ya got -- it sinks in much more slowly from an operational perspective. How often do we really experience what that feels like physically? In my case, except when I'm playing rugby, it's more often near-near-maximal. But that's not going to be good enough anymore.
In the end, I got a great workout and made what I hope will prove to be another breakthrough in my training -- although I was rewarded for my efforts with a nasty case of delayed-onset muscle soreness. But hey, no pain, no gain, right?
What do you do to push past self-imposed limits during workouts?
(photo credit: Vlastula)
Heading South
[That's me in the middle, with U.S. teammates Lindsey Stephenson and Phaidra Knight. Photo credit: Lesha Meyer]
Things are going to be pretty dull around the blog this week -- I'm in Miami training with the U.S. women's 7s rugby squad. Later in the week, we'll be traveling to the Bahamas to play in a tournament that will, if all goes well, qualify us to play in the first-ever Women's 7s World Cup next March.
I'm unbelievably excited to be part of the occasion -- it's been a few years since I've played international rugby, and for a while there, I didn't think I would again. But, as any of you who play or played a sport know, it can be really tough to give it up for good.
And yet I don't think I would have been able to make my way back if it weren't for the rigorous health and fitness education I get -- sometimes through osmosis -- working at Experience Life; through conversations with fitness experts, the volume and quality of the resources I get to dig through, and the example my coworkers set by pursuing what they're passionate about. Not to mention the chance I get to interact with those of you who read and comment on Survival of the Fittest. Thank you -- I'm truly grateful.
If you'd like to follow along with the U.S. women's 7s team and our behind-the-scenes goings-on this week, check out our shared blog at http://blog.uswomensrugby7s.com.
If not, see you back here next week!
No Massage For You, Period
This post is all about the photo above, but a little background: I often miss connecting flights. Most often because my first flight is late, but occasionally because of my own stupidity. I once missed a flight while I was sitting right in front of the gate because I was crying, eating a cheeseburger and talking on the phone (long story) -- turns out I can do three things at once, but not four.
The point is, I'm used to getting stranded somewhere other than my final destination. Sometimes it's even a little bit nice to have that time to myself -- especially since I started a tradition a while back that involves treating myself to a nice sit-down meal and seeking out the nearest Xpress Spa. I figure it's a good chance to get some oft-neglected soft-tissue work.
So when I found myself stranded in Cincinnati for an extra seven hours a few weekends back (thanks, Delta), I hit the steakhouse and then went in search of a massage. Since the bank account wasn't particularly flush, I opted instead for one of the cushy black massage chairs pictured above. Almost like the real thing, if you squinch your eyes shut hard enough and pretend the passersby are not, in fact, staring at your gyrating torso.
Afterward, as I went to grab my bags, the warning sign attached to the contraption caught my eye. If you can't read the blurry shot above (sorry, I only had a camera phone), it says: "This product should not be used by pregnant or menstruating women ..."
Umm??! Pregnant I can totally see. But I had no idea about the dangers of menstruation and massage.
Actually, I'm still not sure I know what those dangers are. (Snort.)
Do you think the makers of this sign were worried about the risks menstruating women posed to others (as in, Moon blood is dirty, icky ladies shouldn't sit here!) or do you think the concern was centered around the fragile state of menstruating women?
Do tell.
[A big thank-you to my graphic designer friend Lesha, who combined the two original photos I took. And created a zoomed-in effect! And circled the relevant copy! She's great.]
Experiments in Fitness
Today's post was written by Charlotte Hilton Andersen, brilliant and charming host of The Great Fitness Experiment. If you're not familiar with her blog, check it out immediately for a no-holds-barred account of her approach to fitness, which consists of doing something spanking-new every 30 days. (This month's fitness experiment? Kettlebells. I love me some kettlebells.) Here, she explains the method to her madness.
____________
HEALTH AND FITNESS ARE really very simple. Lift heavy weights. Except that cardio is the secret to burning fat. Lots of protein fills you up. But vegetarians live longer. Don't take supplements because nature is best. Except for Vitamin D, B6, calcium, magnesium, iron and Omega-3's. Eat whole foods. But buy these specially formulated, packaged (and expensive) health foods. Listen to your body to know when you are hungry. So here are ten tips to conquer cravings.
Catch all that? No? What's wrong with you? Don't you have 28 hours a day to read all the latest health and fitness research? So how do you know what works? And just because it works for someone else, does that mean it will work for you? You can't know. Unless you try it yourself.
It was from this mental schizophrenic rambling that The Great Fitness Experiment was born. I decided to go from gym rat to lab rat, taking on a new Fitness Experiment every month to try and separate the hypertrophy from the just plain hype.
Over the course of a year I have learned one important lesson: Every reasonable workout works. Until it doesn't. It turns out that the key to fitness bliss is ... change. Not only is change good for all your fitness markers -- I can hear your muscles screaming from here -- but it also keeps the boredom away. Not to mention all the potential for public humiliation! So it is with great excitement, I bring to you:
Charlotte's Guide To Making Your Own Fitness Experiment
1. Pick a fitness routine. Tear one out of a magazine, search one out on the Internet, ask friends and family or shell out bucks for the sweetest late-night infomercial star -- just pick something. You only have to do it for 30 days (28 if it's February!) so even those of you with commitment issues can handle this without calling in Sarah Jessica Parker and crew.
2. Make it fun. It will help if you pick something you like. After doing this for a year, I am pretty much open to trying anything I don't have to pay for but if you are just starting out, go with a program that appeals to you. Everything will be boring to you by day 30 so don't stress too much. And if it's not boring? You've found your fitness Shangri-La and can officially become that smug person at parties who drops split times and weight sets like Disney Princesses lose parents.
3. Line up some good Gym Buddies. Not only will they motivate you to stick with it and pick you up when you're down -- both literally and figuratively -- but they are invaluable for tasks like deciphering weird exercise pictures, loading the weight bar evenly, and even shielding you so can pick a quick wedgie. Yep, they're great. And no, you can't have mine; they're taken. Although I do have a pretty sweet crew, if I do say so myself. My right-hand girl is Gym Buddy Allison (a.k.a. Good Sport Allison). She is the ideal Gym Buddy: She will try anything I throw at her, keeps the complaining to a minimum and is always good for a laugh when I drop a weight plate on my foot. Not to mention she's freakishly strong. Then there is Gym Buddy Mike, a former competitive hammer thrower (10 points for anyone who watched that event on the Olympics!) who coaches us in proper technique for all the Olympic lifts. Plus he always carries jelly beans. Who doesn't love that? Gym Buddy Megan is our pace dog and runs our butts into the ground. She's also good at keeping your treadmill running while you sprint to the bathroom to take care of your runner's tummy. Everyone needs a friend like that. Gym Buddy Jerry is in charge of witty one-liners, Gym Buddy Shalome bends us into burritos and no one can forget Turbo Jennie -- official cardio butt kicker and the only girl who can make me bounce like Beyonce.
4. Get a sense of humor. When you change your routine this much, you're not going to be great at everything. You want to be the best? Great, stick to your sport and call me when your knees blow out. The rest of us just have to accept that failure comes with the territory. There will be Experiments that you hate. And there will be Experiments that hate you. It's all about the learning, and if you can laugh at yourself then you won't cry. Not that I've ever cried over an Experiment. Ahem.
5. Track your stats. Here's where the science part comes in. If you don't write it down -- and by "it" I mean everything -- then you will never know what works. Memories lie, number don't. Decide what is important to you (and it had better be more than just weight) and then keep a workout journal. It isn't about "progress" or even "accountability" -- it's about seeing which types of exercises your body responds to and how. The Gym Buddies and I track weight, inches (chest, waist, hips, thigh, calf and arm), body fat percentage, weight loads and reps, one-rep maxes, pull-ups, and fast mile and sprint times. It's all in the details.
Everyone is a researcher of their own body. The trick is to be conscious of it. Make a plan and then chart your data. It'll either make you the world's biggest fitness geek or a really fit human being. Or both. Either way, you can sit at my table in the cafeteria.
Intrigued? Motivated? Just want to watch someone else get snapped in the face with a resistance band so you can have a good giggle? Come join the Gym Buddies and I over at The Great Fitness Experiment as we squat like Sumo wrestlers, hoo-ah like Navy Seals, bend it like ballerinas and get hemorrhoids like Olympic weight lifters. We can always use a new test subject!
Bring Work to Your Workout!
From a press release I recently received:
No. Just ... no.
If only there was a way to work out without actually having to leave your computer, right? Well good news, there now is!
SurfShelf, a portable, polycarbonate tray that attaches to any exercise machine, allows anyone to use their laptop while exercising. Lightweight and completely portable, it maintains a solid foundation for laptops of virtually any size allowing you to stay connected while burning calories!
Music Video Tuesday
"Music Video Monday" would have sounded more pleasing to the ear, I realize, but I was on my way home from vacation yesterday. My apologies if you checked in here last week -- I meant to mention that things would be pretty quiet (OK, completely silent), but the usual pre-vaca deadline crush eradicated all fun from my life. Did I mention I've got a flair for the dramatic?
Anyhoodle, my friend Daniela made me a pre-game mix CD last weekend, and she included the song "Untouched" by The Veronicas, a coupla Australian sisters who have somehow miraculously combined the magic of the "She's a Maniac" legwarmers-n-leotard workout from Flashdance with the totally inspirational and synthesizastic sound from the 80s gymnastics movie American Anthem.
(You know, the one where the reclusive, eccentric musical genius composes tunes for his beautiful, very slightly rebellious cousin Julie, who is trying to make the U.S. gymnastics squad while staying true to what she believes in? Which is apparently good music. And she performs her routine to this brand new sound and blows everyone's minds? Oh, and it's a touching love story, as well. But not between the cousins. If I could get my hands on American Anthem and The Last Unicorn, my DVD collection would be complete.)
Cue the electric violin.
"Untouched" by The Veronicas; "La la la la?" is the only real question.
Jennifer Beal is a maniac.
Someone has actually posted all of American Anthem on YouTube, 10 minutes at a time.
Here's a taste of the mad synthesizer.
So, will you be adding "Untouched" to your workout playlist? Or is it not your style?
Lastly, a bit of a lovefest. I just wanted to say thanks for all the nice comments on my last post, and on every post, really. You guys are so very thoughtful, open and articulate, and I feel lucky that you read this blog. Electronic hugs.
Dear Running Shoe Companies
Not every woman likes her running shoes to look like a My Little Pony threw up all over them. How 'bout you try offering a few more gray, blue, green and yellow options?
And don't do that thing where you make the blue pastel and the green all minty. Loophole closed.
Sincerely,
Jen Sinkler
Wiley Wins!
I just found out my friend and former Minnesota Valkyries teammate, Sara Wiley (pictured at left with a "bring it" expression on her face), won the NSCA collegiate strength and conditioning professional of the year -- congrats, Y! She's the associate director of strength and conditioning for athletics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and absolutely amazing at what she does (hence the award, obvy).
If you want to check out my March interview with her on developing optimal quadriceps-to-hamstrings strength ratios for knee health, click here.
Pro Girls' Sports
[Pictured: The U-19 New York Rugby Club during a pre-game cheer. Photo credit: Sabrina Asch]
Lately, I've been hearing a lot about the importance of not specializing in one sport too early in life. And it's an absolutely legitimate point -- specialization, early or otherwise, can lead to overuse injuries, muscle imbalances, and burnout if you train too often or skip the cross-training. Not to mention that funneling your kids' energy strictly into structured activities means they miss out on some of the cognitive benefits of spontaneous play.
But too often, I think articles on kids and sports -- especially girls and sports -- stray into fear mongering territory (though Mistress Krista plucked two nice paragraphs from that article in her blog entry "Hurt Girls" -- once you click the link, scroll to see the post).
So it was really nice to see that the following Good Morning America segment about a group of rugby-playing girls from inner-city New York focused mainly on the confidence-building impacts sports can have. (Of course, because it involves rugby there are still the obligatory mentions of blood, bruises and beer. Sigh. The injury rates in girls' rugby are about on par with soccer and basketball, so can we be done using the word "violent" now?)
Because I don't have kids, I can only speak to the role sports have played in my own life. The payoffs in terms of friendships, teamwork, work ethic and confidence have been immeasurable, so I have to believe it's possible to both play sports and just plain play.
Agree? Disagree? Parents, what's your perspective?
Fast Money, High Heels
Last night at rugby practice, my teammate Ida Bernstein mentioned she planned to run a 150-yard dash this morning. In three-inch heels. On Live With Regis and Kelly.
Over 500 women and a number of men competed in the event, setting a new world record for participation in a high-heeled event. (Who knew there were others?) One of the reasons so many people tap-tap-tapped over to Central Park bright and early for Live's High Heel-a-thon? The lucrative prizes. Another was, I'm sure, the fact that the race benefited the March of Dimes. But Ida was in it for the cold, hard cash: First place took home $25,000; second place received $5,000; and third got $2,500. (The men's grand prize was $1,000.)
That kind of dough could fund a lot of rugby travel. And Ida is fast, so I decided to DVR the show to see how she fared. I'm glad I did -- SHE GOT SECOND PLACE. (First place went to an ex-track athlete from Penn State, and third was an ex-track athlete from Iowa State.) And in their post-race interview, Kelly Ripa accused Ida of throwing an elbow to get by. Entirely possible. And highly entertaining.
BUT ... WEARING HIGH HEELS? Let alone running in them? Not a great idea. Among the risks involved with wearing high heels are osteoarthritis of the knees, back problems, hammertoes and sprained ankles. (Interestingly, a wide heel base can be even worse for your knees.)
All that is old news, yet some gyms offer group fitness classes during which participants wear stilettos, and part of Ripa's training regimen for the race included leg presses and squats on a balance board. Exercises that are bad enough on their own, but she did them in heels. Watch the video here. Gah!
All that said, would I run 150 yards through Central Park in high heels for $5,000? In a New York minute. Would you?
UPDATE: Below is a video of the event, as well as the interviews afterward. Best part by far is the sound of that many heels hitting the pavement.
[image courtesy of Pσrcelαΐηgΐrl°]
The Trials of Dara Torres
Loved the Sunday NYT article on 41-year-old swimming phenom Dara Torres, "A Swimmer of a Certain Age." The results of the Olympic Trials this Saturday will determine if Torres will compete in her fifth Olympics (good lord, and she even skipped two). Got opinions on the is-she-or-isn't-she-doping debate?
(Torres was also on the April cover of Experience Life; for editor Laine Bergeson's interview with her, click here.)
Smell Ya Later!
Part of working out is getting a little funky, but still, smelling bad is the pits (ha). And high
temperatures plus hard workouts means I'm having trouble finding a deodorant that works quite as hard as I'd like it to. If you don't mind, I'd like to enlist your help.
My armpits used to smell like flowers. No, really. Fa brand roll-on in Spring Flower. But those of you who know me know that any time I get attached to a body-care product, it's only a matter of time before it disappears from the shelves forever. (I have friends who refuse to share details about their favorite products lest my curse be contagious. It's not, I swear.) I'm sure it's partly driven by marketing and the emphasis on revamping or replacing products with what's "new and better," but the other part, I remain convinced, is the curse.
And so inevitably, several years back, my favorite Fa scent vanished. The representative I spoke with at the time assured me their "Sensitive" fragrance was the same product in new packaging, but my armpits begged to differ. So, I bought every remaining bottle of the old stuff still left in their warehouse. (Thank you, Dad, for my tendency to hoard.)
SINCE MY SUPPLY RAN OUT, I've tried to think of it as a blessing in disguise. After all, Fa lists potentially cancer-causing aluminum as an ingredient.
Lately, I've been using the Thai Crystal Deodorant Stone. And it works. Sometimes, anyway. (Sometimes on one side and not the other, which is baffling. I generally consider myself competent enough to apply evenly.)
But I wonder if there's a better product right under my nose.
So I'm asking you to take pity (or "pitty," as it were) on me and share what you use to stay smelling sweet through the sweatiest of times. Men's or women's formula, I don't care. Just leave your recommendations in the comments section.
On a marginally related note, Charlotte of the fabulous blog The Great Fitness Experiment recently shared a very funny account of a diaper-laundering incident gone wrong in "Poo Sniffing." Sometimes working out stinks.
[photo by Roadsidepictures]
Take Your Dog to Work -- or to Work Out
[Zoey and Ellie: BFFs. Photo credit: Lisa Dombroski]
Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day, which Erica pointed out in the comments section of the CrossFit Philly blog yesterday. But if taking yer pooch to work isn't possible, consider making him or her your workout buddy.
"Forty percent of pet dogs are overweight or obese. That's close to thirty million dogs in the United States alone dealing with health implications of weight problems ... like diabetes, heart problems, aching joints, difficulty breathing, intolerance of exercise, even an increased risk of cancer," according to Fitness Unleashed!: A Dog and Owner's Guide to Losing Weight and Gaining Health Together by Marty Becker, DVM, and Robert Kushner, MD. So gradually amping up the exercise is good for both of you.
Many of you are already out there with Buffy, Fluffy and Spike. According to this Fit Sugar post, which cites research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, dog owners walk an average of 300 minutes per week, whereas folks without dogs only walk around 168 minutes.
Co-owners of Thank Dog Boot Camp, Jill and Jamie Bowers (don't you love aptonyms?), have based a business on the concept of working out with your doggie friend, and I think they're on to something. Lately, I've been working out early in the morning with a group of friends, and taking the pooches pictured above for a trail run by Wissahickon Creek afterward. Their sheer joy in being unleashed upon nature is almost enough to make me forget about the pain and tightness in my lower calves. Almost. (But on my to-do list is getting my gait checked out, because something is up. Jogging should not be so painful.)
LASTLY, I CAME ACROSS AN ARTICLE about the very cool Seattle Animal Shelter's Get Fit With Fido program. Every Wednesday and Saturday, you can volunteer to run adoptable dogs from the shelter on 2- to 4-mile routes. The volunteers wear bright yellow, and the dogs wear "I'm available for adoption" banners.
The program has been so successful that there's a spinoff (kind of like "Private Practice") called the SAS Annual Furry 5K, where 2,500 runners/walkers, 1,000 dogs, and one "very brave" (or very stupid?) cat participate in a five-kilometer event each June to raise money for the Help the Animals Fund. Looks like the race was last Sunday, but there's always next year to do your doggone duty.
Danny DeVito Detour
Last night I saw Danny DeVito by the pretty-pretty fountain in Logan Square. He was filming an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Which has nothing to do with fitness, really, besides the fact that I was on my way home from the gym.
Best part? They had to stop shooting because it was too overcast.
Not-So-Instant Replay at Cranky Fitness
If you want to check out a rerun of my gently used January 30th entry, "The Benefits of a Superior Posterior," it's being featured as a guest post over at Cranky Fitness today. (May I just say, wahoooooooo!!)
The Cranky tagline? "Your Guide to Health, Fitness, Nutrition, Personal Development, and Whining." Definitely worth adding to your Google Reader.
Speaking of which, if you haven't signed up to receive Survival of the Fittest updates via email or RSS feed -- and you're sick of clicking obsessively on your favorite blogs each day to see if they've updated -- fill out or click on the widdle-bitty widgets at right (if you can't see 'em, scroll down a bit). If this is not one of your favorite blogs, please disregard these instructions.
Meet Posterior-Chain Barbie!
And the winner of the Posterior-Chain Barbie design contest (see the bottom of the "Perfectly Balanced [Strength Ratios]" post for details) is ...
[drumroll]
Reader Kim, who is clearly a master of Microsoft Paint. (Never mind the scary soulless robot eyes -- after all, since when does Barbie have a soul?)
Who wouldn't purchase one of these?!
Sugar and Spice, Pushups are Nice ...
... but please show your might by doing them right! (Photo above ganked from www.withfitnessandhealth.co.uk.)
This morning, I read Tara Parker-Pope's Well blog entry "The Art of the Pushup" in The New York Times, and thought, nice topic! Pushups -- not to mention pull-ups, squats and other old-school calisthenics -- are excellent markers of strength (often, even those who look strong can't handle their own body weight).
Plus, pushups (also known as press-ups) help keep your scapulae positioned correctly -- important for avoiding shoulder injuries.
After skimming the blog entry, however, I clicked on the embedded link to this pushup calculator, which "tell[s] you how many push-ups you should be doing," and thought ... not so nice.
And then I watched the accompanying video called Drop and Give Me Twenty! after which I cringed and hid under my desk for a while (see the video here; scroll down just a bit).
WHY WAS I SO AGITATED? The answer is two part.
1) Because of this particular distinction in the calculator's form guidelines:
All calculations are based on these guidelines.
Male subject
-forefoot or toes on floor
Female subject
-knees on floor or mat
I mean, really? There's no third measurement option for women who do pushups on their toes? We are all automatically relegated to doing modified, or "girl," pushups, which, as Alwyn Cosgrove points out in The New Rules of Lifting for Women (Avery, 2007), take your core out of the movement? (The book points out you're better off starting with 60-, 45- or 30-degree pushups, placing your hands against a wall or on a bench. For a nice pushup progression, see Krista Scott-Dixon's "Mistressing the Pushup.")
2) And also because the pushup form of the women in said video is utterly atrocious. (Think I'm exaggerating? Watch it.) Not a good example among the bunch -- heads hanging low, backs swayed, elbows barely bending, and even, at minute 3:01, an especially gruesome attempt at a clapping pushup from a woman who is essentially starting from her hands and knees, rear high in the air.
But not a word about these form indiscretions is uttered in the video -- just woman after woman in a Crunch fitness class, committing every pushup no-no in the book. (There are, however, several readers who express their disdain in the comments section.)
I FELT ... MISREPRESENTED. And angry. I mean, not a single example of a woman doing pushups on her toes?!
Parker-Pope's full column on the topic, "An Enduring Measure of Fitness: The Simple Push-Up," again makes the case beautifully for pushups being an effective and worthwhile full-body exercise. But then, again, we return to the gender divide. As quoted in the article:
"It's sort of a gender-specific symbol of vitality," said R. Scott Kretchmar, a professor of exercise and sports science at Penn State. "I don't see women saying: 'I'm in good health. Watch me drop down and do some push-ups.' "Perhaps some Penn State women's rugby players would like to swing by and visit Kretchmar during office hours, just to enthusiastically demonstrate their pushup prowess?
Something else that comes to mind is the 30-second pushup test that's often part of the fitness testing at U.S. women's rugby tryouts. If you don't get to at least 25, you've missed the mark. I'm trying to picture what would happen if a player asked to do pushups from her knees....
BUT I WONDER if I'm just out of the loop on this. Are pushups, done on your toes and with perfect form, a point of pride in women? Or do I hang out with too many jocks?
For those of you who like to partake in the many variations of the pushup, such as clapping (or plyo), stability-ball, medicine-ball, dumbbell, rear-elevated, weighted, Hindu, fingertip, knuckle, one-armed and handstand, here are some exercises.
For women and men alike.
From the "Join the Movement" Web Extra, April 2007:
Stability-Ball Pushup
Assume an elevated pushup position with your hands on a stability ball. Lower your chest to the ball while concentrating on maintaining stability in your core (avoid bending at the waist). Press back up to the start position. Complete 10 to 12 pushups.
From "Jump To It," December 2004:
Plyo Pushup
Assume the pushup position, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and elbows bent. Push off the ground explosively, so that your hands lose contact with the floor, and attempt a clap while your upper body is in midair. Land with your hands in the starting position and immediately push off again. Work up to repeating five to 10 times. Do three sets with a one-minute rest in between.
Depth Pushup
Assume the pushup position, but this time with both hands on a 5- to 8-pound medicine ball, elbows fully extended. Quickly remove your hands from the ball and drop down, catching your fall with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, elbows slightly flexed. Absorb the shock on your wrists and elbows by allowing your elbows to bend and your body to drop into pushup position until your chest touches the ball. Then immediately and explosively push up by extending your arms forcefully. Try to achieve maximum height so your hands leave the ground and then land back on the ball. Repeat the movements immediately three to eight times. Complete three sets, with a one-minute rest in between.
From "Man Alive," September 2004:
Dumbbell pushups
Kneel on the floor with a pair of dumbbells in front of you. Grab the dumbbells, spacing your hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing back toward your legs. Keeping your grip on the dumbbells, get yourself in the classic pushup position. (Your arms should be straight, elbows unlocked with your legs straight out behind you, feet together.) Lower yourself down, then push back up until your arms are straight once more, elbows unlocked. Perform as many repetitions as possible.
Lax in L.A.
Work Out cast members I spotted during the pull-up shoot last Thursday:
and
Work Out cast members I had the nerve to ask for a picture with:
Exactly.
Welcome to Survival of the Fittest!
(Photo credit: Samantha Hawkins)
As I was paging through a women's fitness magazine the other day, I came across an article offering a plan to melt 10 pounds of fat from my frame in a month. I felt a frisson of annoyance. Don't get me wrong -- I think it's crucial to maintain a healthy weight for your general well-being, not to mention your energy level and day-to-day functional capabilities -- but the topic of weight loss with the end goal of zipping into your skinny jeans is so ubiquitous that the very thought of it makes me want to bare my teeth.
Sure, I want to look svelte, but I also want to do something with my strength. And I don't see fitness information presented from that perspective nearly often enough. (A pointless aside: I couldn't settle on whether to use the somewhat lifeless word "information" in the previous sentence, but when I searched for synonyms in an online thesaurus, "hot poop" was suggested. I stuck with "information.")
Although the content of men's mags tends to be closer to what I'm looking for in terms of training perspectives, it mainly caters to -- duh -- men. And there, still, the angle is often geared toward aesthetics. Meaning, I don't always want to wade through articles on building size to get to the stuff that interests me more.
While losing weight and gaining muscle mass are both extremely worthy fitness goals in their own right, I often feel like I have to choose between being a matchstick or a meathead, and neither category suits me particularly well. I find myself wishing for more information with a practical, performance-oriented bent.
Sure, there are Web sites populated with articles written by those with advanced fitness degrees, but sometimes the lingo is as advanced as the degrees, and I'm left with less workable knowledge of a concept than I'd prefer.
I do my best to deliver interesting, practical fitness content in my domain of the print version of Experience Life -- namely, in Form & Function, Fitness Fixes, Full Speed and the fitness features -- but my responsibility to our readership as a whole means some topics are outside the scope of what's important to enough people.
I realize I'm starting to sound like Goldilocks: "This one is too hot, this one is too cold ..."
So. When my editor in chief asked each of the Experience Life editors to start our own blog on this spankin'-new Web site, I figured this might be a way for me to compile the right -- "just right," if you will -- mix of fitness data for me, and for any other fitness Goldilocks out there.
To that end, part of the territory I'll cover here is fitness for sports, from an athlete's perspective -- and I use the term "athlete" to encompass everyone from members of an adult soccer league to those who get paid to play.
I'll also be seeking answers to the most critical of questions. Such as, is it true that chocolate milk is a viable recovery drink? And if so, can anyone else hear those angels singing? (There's good -- no, great -- news for choco-milk lovers on that front.)
Before we commence, I want to be clear about something: I don't have a degree in kinesiology or nutrition; just a degree in professional editing. Nor am I a personal trainer, although I'm toying with the idea of getting certified.
What I am is a fitness journalist and a lifelong athlete who has followed some of the most challenging fitness programs around, and asked a whole lot of questions along the way.
Far better, wielding my title of fitness editor, I have access to some of the most knowledgeable fitness experts around the world.
I'm looking forward to sharing said experts' opinions (plus my own experiences and lessons learned the hard way) about how to get faster, stronger and more agile. About how to avoid and treat the most common sports injuries. About the fitness lore we're not sure whether or not to believe.
Along the way, I'll probably also try a few silly fitness fads, test out some gear and explore whatever other ideas this blog generates.
Every couple weeks, I'll check in here and talk to you. Offer up relevant topic suggestions, and I'll do my best to cover them, here or within the pages of Experience Life. Or, feel free to submit ideas to me at jsinkler@experiencelifemag.com.
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