Reader mail 8
“I was unfit my entire life and avoided the gym for years, convinced that it was going to be just like High School gym. In my late 20s, I went through a rough patch and got seriously depressed. My weight ballooned to the point that when I turned 30 things were at their worst and I weighed 315 lbs. A few years ago I finally decided that I had to stop ‘waiting’, and get to it…”
In Which Scarlett Johanssen Does, Verily, Bring It Upon the Buttocks of the Mass Media
In the Huffington Post, Scarlett Johanssen opens a can of whupass on critics and tabloids who make up BS about celebrities…
Inspired by Shaky Man in the Gym? Donate to Parkinson’s research
Fans of Shaky Man in the Gym: If you’re inspired by Neil’s story, as I was, consider making a donation to the Unity Walk NSW 2009 for Parkinson’s NSW (Neil’s page — with a gym photo!), or a donation to the Parkinson’s foundation of your choice, such as:
How much should you passively stretch?
In general, active mobility (warmup through movement, taking joints through increasingly full range of motion) is best done before workouts, and passive stretching (ie traditional stretch-and-hold type stretches) afterwards.
But how much passive stretching to do? A recent study suggests that a couple of 30-second passive stretches may be sufficient to decrease stiffness…
Breaker! Breaker! Haul your rig over and we’ll bust some lunges
From the Globe and Mail July 9, 2009:
Truckers have long been perceived as the unhealthiest members of the modern work force: a pill-popping, chain-smoking lot who only unbuckle for a plate of steak and eggs at truck stops.
But a growing number of health nuts have infiltrated the 18-wheeler set. And their bosses – concerned by the added costs and dangers of having unhealthy employees on the road – are encouraging more drivers to follow suit…
Supplements: What you don’t know (and probably wish you didn’t, after reading this)
The sports-supplement world has many power brokers… They have risen along with an industry that in three decades has grown from a niche business serving iron-heaving behemoths to a broad-based juggernaut with nearly $20 billion in U.S. sales in 2007, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
Despite the move into the mainstream the industry remains fertile ground for kitchen chemists with little or no formal education in science or nutrition—and in some notorious cases former steroid users and dealers. They help decide what compounds go into the fat-burners, muscle builders and preworkout drinks consumed annually by an estimated 33.5 million Americans…
1 run a day, every day
From RossTraining.com:
Throughout this blog’s history, I’ve highlighted several inspirational stories. Inspiration has come from different faces and different places. There are those who have overcome adversity, others who defied the odds, and others who have performed at the highest level. We all find inspiration from different sources (and for different reasons). What is inspiring to one may not light the fire for another. I therefore strive for variety within this section.
Today’s story is one that is quite unique. The individual performance of Mark Covert at any given time may not be record setting, but the cumulative total certainly is. Mark Covert has run a mile or more every day for over 40 years. Assuming he continues, he will soon close in on 15,000 consecutive days.
Rant 52 July 2009: Mistress goes to the mountain
Things I learned on my summer vacation: Oxygen is important. Colorado grandmothers make Marines look like crybabies. Also, eyeballs can explode. Cooool.
“Extras” responsible for 36% of energy intake
A recently published study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined Australians’ consumption of “extra” foods, which were defined as “energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods”. (Which is a kind way of saying junk foods or fake foods.) The study also looked at how much of a contribution these foods made to total energy (ie calorie) and nutrient intakes.
Industrial farming = < nutrition
From Mother Earth News:
Plant breeders have increased yields in most crops, but this is causing our food’s nutrient content to decline.
- Wheat and barley: protein concentrations declined by 30 to 50 percent between the years 1938 and 1990.
- In 45 corn varieties developed from 1920 to 2001, concentrations of protein, oil and three amino acids have all declined in the newer varieties.
- Six minerals have declined by 22 to 39 percent in 14 widely grown wheat varieties developed over the past 100 years.
- Average calcium content of broccoli was 12.9 milligrams per gram of dry weight in 1950; 4.4 mg/g dry weight in 2003
Why? And what to do? Read more