Today’s inspiration
Video from the all-women’s Crossfit workout of the day in Utah — pushups, pullups, ring dips, squats… ladies kicking ass!
Mommy (to be) rage: Hands off pregnant ladies
I think it’s Pregnancy Week at the Stumpblog.
I remember my younger sister telling me how creepy it was when total strangers would grab her belly in stores etc. when she was pregnant. Now regular site reader, world traveller, and cheese/chocolate aficionado, Lieke updates me on the “enjoyment” of having her body on public display. From the WTF? files…
Have you experienced similar bullshit? What’s up with this? Let’s hear your comments!
Krista, how can I get into better shape for laying beatdowns?
Excellent question darlings! Check out my advice on FighterGirls.com.
An inconvenient truth: Pregnancy, peeing, and jumping jacks
I have a girlcrush on Cassandra Forsythe. There, I said it. It’s not because she’s cute (though she is); it’s because she’s an awesome combination of super-smart, super-nice, funny, and absolutely willing to bring the truth to the booth, no matter how awkward, inconvenient, or… well, symbolic of our human frailty.
Postpartum Exercise Incontinence
“Before I had my baby, the women in my boot camp classes would say to me: “Just WAIT until you have that baby – you won’t make us do jumping jacks as much anymore…”
At that time I’d look at them strangly and laugh, not really knowing what the heck they were talking about…
Now, fast-forward to motherhood in my world. Because I worked out so much during my pregnancy I never thought in a million years that I’d ever be one of “those” women who had a problem peeing their pants when jumping or running.
I was wrong.
Dead wrong.”
Nonprofit gym helps low-income community get fit
Thanks to reader Emily for this link.
In many low-income neighborhoods, obesity and diabetes are huge problems. Fear of crime and traffic keep many residents from exercising outdoors, and indoor gyms are often too few and too expensive. Healthworks, a nonprofit fitness center in Boston, is trying to change that.
Shaky Man’s first film!
Fans of Shaky Man will enjoy his latest adventure: his first film! He speaks about his diagnosis and the role of vigorous exercise — including weight training.
What an incredible, brave man. Neil keeps it real.
By the way, that “105” bench press he mentions… Neil is talking about kilos.
Click post title to see the movie…
Pump till you puke
Powerlifter Logan Lacy talks to Ralph while trying to squat 1008 lb. Now that is effort, people!
Heavy metals in protein supps
Disagree with “you don’t need much protein” (Have you ever asked yourself: What do the mainstream nutrition drones want us to eat instead? Fat? Nuh-uh, that’s off limits. Carbs? Umkay. Great plan.) but the other findings should definitely make us cautious about what we buy.
Running roundup
A couple of interesting things about running in the news recently…
The metabolic secrets of good runners
A healthy heart and svelte physique are not the only physical changes wrought by exercise: researchers have also identified a host of metabolic changes that occur during exercise in physically fit athletes.
These changes suggest that exercise revs up the pathways that break down stored sugars, lipids and amino acids, as well as improving blood-sugar control.
A Calgary distance runner is set to run his 100th marathon of the year on Sunday. Five days a week, when most adults are at work, Martin Parnell runs 42.2 kilometres. Each session lasts about 51/2 hours, not counting a couple of eight-hour marathons he walked in minus-30 degrees with a leg injury this winter, a water pack frozen on his back.
He is raising money for Right To Play, a charity that uses sport to improve the lives of children in developing countries. The organization’s core values match the beliefs instilled in Parnell when he rode a bicycle through 10 African countries, stopping to kick rag-tied soccer balls with youth who owned little else.
“Reverse retouching” of models to fatten them up
“There’s another type of digital dishonesty that’s rife in the beauty industry, and it’s one that you may well never have heard of and may even struggle to believe, but which can be just as poisonous an influence on women.
It’s been dubbed ‘reverse retouching’ and involves using models who are cadaverously thin and then adding fake curves so they look bigger and healthier.
This deranged but increasingly common process recently hit the headlines when Jane Druker, the editor of Healthy magazine – which is sold in health food stores – admitted retouching a cover girl who pitched up at a shoot looking ‘really thin and unwell’.
It sounds crazy, but the truth is Druker is not alone. The editor of the top-selling health and fitness magazine in the U.S., Self, has admitted: ‘We retouch to make the models look bigger and healthier’…
I have taken anguished calls from a fashion editor who has put together this finely orchestrated production, only to find that the model they picked six weeks ago for her luscious curves and gleaming skin is now an anorexic waif with jutting bones and acne…
Naturally, thanks to the wonders of digital retouching, not a trace of any of these problems appeared on the pages of the magazine. At the time, when we pored over the raw images, creating the appearance of smooth flesh over protruding ribs, softening the look of collarbones that stuck out like coat hangers, adding curves to flat bottoms and cleavage to pigeon chests, we felt we were doing the right thing.
Our magazine was all about sexiness, glamour and curves. We knew our readers would be repelled by these grotesquely skinny women, and we also felt they were bad role models and it would be irresponsible to show them as they really were.
But now, I wonder. Because for all our retouching, it was still clear to the reader that these women were very, very thin. But, hey, they still looked great!”
Former Cosmo editor Leah Hardy’s column in the Daily Mail
Blog commentary: Reverse airbrushing: Photoshop Jumps the Shark