Health and Happiness

Current Fitness News

2008-10-20T15:32:00.002-04:00

Google News Alert for: Fitness

QPR SWEAT OVER HALL FITNESS
Sportinglife.com - UK
Fitz Hall will be given a late fitness check ahead of QPR's trip to Swansea. The defender had to be replaced by Matthew Connolly after an hour of Saturday's ...
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LIVESTRONG.COM Chooses ADAM Content to Support Online Health ...
MarketWatch - USA
COM has licensed its health content for its new health, fitness and lifestyle web portal. Launched earlier this year, LIVESTRONG. ...
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Soccer-Bayern optimistic over Toni fitness for Fiorentina clash
Reuters.uk - UK
MUNICH, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Bayern Munich's Italian striker Luca Toni has a good chance of recovering from a rib injury in time to face his former club ...
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Three Guineans die in fitness test to join police
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
CONAKRY (Reuters) - Three Guinean men died from exhaustion in the past week while taking part in intense physical endurance tests to become policemen in the ...
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Three Guineans die in fitness test to join police
Reuters South Africa - Johannesburg,South Africa
CONAKRY, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Three Guinean men died from exhaustion in the past week while taking part in intense physical endurance tests to become ...
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Zumba(R) Fitness to Host First-Ever Zumba Instructor Convention
MarketWatch - USA
On Saturday, November 1st, Zumba Fitness(R), will host a Zumbathon Party at 8:30 pm in the Plaza International Ballroom. All proceeds from the Zumbathon ...
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Zumba(R) Fitness to Host First-Ever Zumba Instructor Convention
International Business Times - New York,NY,USA
On Saturday, November 1st, Zumba Fitness®, will host a Zumbathon Party at8:30 pm in the Plaza International Ballroom. All proceeds from theZumbathon Party, ...
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Telegraph.co.uk

Watch out Daniel Craig: Fitness tips from a James Bond stuntman
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
"It'sa very particular, very extreme kind of fitness," he explains, "consisting of stamina, flexibility, strength and core stability, ...
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Goal.com

Evra In Fitness Battle
Goal.com - Switzerland
Manchester United are sweating on the fitness of Patrice Evra ahead of the Battle of Britain tomorrow night... The Red Devils square-off against Celtic ...
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iTech Fitness, Softkinetic collaborate
ITWeb - Gauteng,South Africa
BY ALEX KAYLE , JOURNALIST iTech Fitness, an active gaming developer, and Softkinetic, a 3D gesture recognition software provider, have partnered to develop ...
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School districts receive grants to promote fitness

2008-08-29T17:53:00.004-04:00

NEW LEXINGTON, OH - What used to be home economics has transitioned into a nutrition and wellness class for students of Crooksville High School.

The class, required for graduation, is only one of many changes the school and district are implementing to encourage physical fitness and healthy lifestyles for their students and staff.

Soon a one-mile walking trail will line the campus, complete with physical fitness stations along the way. New fitness equipment, including a climbing wall with a dry-erase surface, will be in the gym, candy and pop can no longer be found in the vending machines and even pre-schoolers are learning about nutrition from recently purchased educational material.

"We're pretty excited. We've gotten off to a pretty good start," said Crooksville High School Principal Jacqueline Bolyard.

The Crooksville Exempted Village School District, New Lexington City Schools and the Southern Local School District each received a $50,000 grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation in Nelsonville. It's a grant called the Healthy and Fit in Southeastern Ohio initiative and is a multi-year initiative designed to improve the health, physical activity and nutrition of families.

"The biggest thing is impacting the health of the students. We hear about the obesity epidemic so much in the news and Perry County is number one in the state for the rate of diabetes, so any impact that schools can have on that," said Deborah Raney, cardiovascular grant coordinator at the Perry County Health Department.

With the help of school administrators, teachers and parents she's helped form wellness committees within the schools and has helped guide districts through the grant writing process to earn the foundation grants.

"They (teachers) see those children many more hours than what parents might actually see them. Being a role model, teaching physical health and activity is very important," she said.

The Southern Local School District has also started a wellness committee and already had a fitness trail, but will receive upgrades, like getting paved, with some of the grant money.

A fitness center for staff is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week on school grounds and has about 20 pieces of equipment.

"For our little district, a very poor district, we're doing a lot to try and improve the health and wellness of not only kids, but the community," said Dzidra Brown, district nurse.

The home economics class at Miller High School is now a nutrition and wellness class and nutrition information is being incorporated into the curriculum in the physical education classes.

Vending machines now carry Gatorade or flavored water instead of pop and administrators are exploring options to replace unhealthy snacks in the machines.

"Kids today don't eat healthy enough and we aren't active enough. The schools are able to be a role model and provide healthy cafeteria choices and teachers are being more aware of the need for more physical activity," Raney said.

She said Hocking College has volunteered labor for the school projects, The Shelly Company, based in Thornville, donated $10,000 for material and the Perry County Engineer's Office has hauled stone at cost for the projects.

"It fell into place. It's just been one of those community projects people are involved in and excited about," Raney said.

Zanesville TimesRecorder
LEEANN MOORE August 29, 2008

Treadmill Workouts Help Stroke Survivors

2008-08-29T17:42:00.004-04:00

Function improved even after conventional therapy, study found

THURSDAY, Aug. 28 -- Working out on a treadmill improves brain function and fitness for people who have survived a stroke and gone through the usual rehabilitation program, a new study found.

"You address two problems these patients have," said study researcher Dr. Andreas Luft, a professor of clinical neurology and neurorehabilitation at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. "One is that they don't know how to walk. Not walking, they become deconditioned and lose cardiovascular fitness. With the treadmill type of training, you improve walking and also increase fitness."

Luft worked with physicians at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center on the study. It compared the brain and physical function of 37 people who had had strokes and worked on a treadmill three times a week, with 34 people who were given traditional stretching exercises.

After six months, peak walking velocity increased by 51 percent in the treadmill group and just 11 percent in the stretching group. Cardiovascular fitness increased by 18 percent with the treadmill routine, but decreased by 3 percent in the group limited to stretching.

And magnetic resonance imaging showed an increase of blood flow carrying more oxygen to the brainstem and cerebellum for those who worked on the treadmill.

"The most important clinical aspect of the study is that it is saying recovery can occur long after a stroke and can occur even after all the routine therapies have been tried," said Dr. Daniel Hanley, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins. "Scientifically, the most important point appears to be that rewiring of the brain may be involved in this process, not just body conditioning."

The average age of study participants was 63, and the average time they began the treadmill program was 50 months after the stroke, Hanley noted.

"The average stroke patient now has about eight physical therapy sessions over six to 12 weeks," Hanley said.

The study, published in the Aug. 29 issue of the journal Stroke, shows that treadmill work "should be part of standard treatment for every stroke survivor who has a walking habit," Luft said.

That may not be an easily achievable goal, Luft acknowledged. "Most physical therapy departments have treadmills, but they don't use them to the extent that we used them in the study," he said.

And stroke survivors can't just climb on a treadmill and start walking, Luft said. "Because this is exhausting, it should always be done under supervision," he said. "There is always the risk of running into heart problems and falling. We used special treadmills with handrails and also monitored the heart rate to achieve the level of exertion we needed."

Nevertheless, Hanley said, "the study defies current practice."

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay News

Fitness Stories

2007-10-30T17:11:00.002-04:00

Dromore pair are fitness worries
BBC Sport - UK
Their opponents at Omagh, Mayobridge, have been boosted by the return to full fitness of star forward Benny Coulter. Coulter has recovered from ligament ...
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Fitness boss in running for award
BBC News - UK
Louise McDonald, 26, set up her first woman only health and fitness club in Motherwell in 2004. She now has four Curves franchises with 1500 members and an ...
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FOXES DUO FACE FITNESS TESTS
Sportinglife.com - UK
James Wesolowski and Iain Hume face late fitness tests ahead of Leicester's Carling Cup clash against holders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. ...
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Fitness and age in Ehud Olmert's favour
Times Online - UK
There are several factors in Ehud Olmert's favour. At 62, he is relatively young for a diagnosis of prostate cancer. He is physically fit, a keen runner who ...
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Choice known to fudge on fitness
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
By MATT WINKELJOHN For now, Tashard Choice's surgically repaired right knee will not be well enough for the Georgia Tech senior running back to play ...
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United fears over Ferdinand fitness
FOXSports.com - USA
Rio Ferdinand has been rated as 'touch-and-go' for Manchester United's top-of-the-table clash against Arsenal at The Emirates on Saturday. ...
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Botswana: Galo Health and Fitness Expo
AllAfrica.com - Washington,USA
As a way of encouraging healthy living among Francistowners, Galo Shopping Mall held a health and fitness expo and turned a visit to the shops into an ...
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New Report on Exercise Envisions Better Physical Fitness Future ...
PR Web (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
Major reviews of the medical literature on exercise have documented the significant health benefits of physical fitness and health risks from the lack of it ...
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Surprise Elementary wins $1000 fitness grant
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
... to help jump-start the school's new physical fitness program, "Foundation for Fitness." The Surprise Lady Cubs softball team had a successful season, ...
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2007-10-29T16:55:00.001-04:00

FITNESS IN MOTION
The Patriot-News - PennLive.com - Harrisburg,PA,USA
BY SHANDRA MARTINEZ Now you can burn calories while earning a paycheck with Steelcase's new Walkstation, which merges a workstation with a treadmill. ...
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Branson flexes fitness muscle
NEWS.com.au - Australia
HE'S shaken up our airlines and financial institutions, now Richard Branson is set to revolutionise Australia's fitness industry with a new chain of gyms ...
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Ahead of the Bell: Life Time Fitness
CNNMoney.com - USA
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - A Bank of America analyst downgraded shares of Life Time Fitness Inc. on Monday because of economic softness in one of the ...
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Girlfriends, Fun & Fitness Event
WLNS - Lansing,MI,USA
That's because they attended the girlfriends, fun and fitness event at the Michigan Athletic Club. The free event introduces people to a variety of MAC and ...
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Langman passes first fitness test
Newstalk ZB - New Zealand
Laura Langman's chances of being fit for the World Netball Championships in 11 days have received a boost. She has completed her first pain free run on her ...
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Peake Fitness in fine shape at the top
Bolton News - Bolton,England,UK
By Staff Sports Reporter Bolton Over-35s League: THE top two met in Division One and it was Peake Fitness who came out on top in a tight game to replace ...
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Ateliers fitness centre in Velachery
Chennai Online - Chennai,India
Ateliers Fitness launched its fitness centre at Velachery recently, with Jangid, Additional Commissioner of Police, Chennai, inaugurating it at a formal ...
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Paying personal attention: Local fitness business prospers due to ...
Record-Searchlight (subscription) - Redding,CA,USA
Today, Adamson's Peak Performance has six personal trainers who work with some 75 fitness clients. The personal trainers make between $18 and $25 an hour. ...
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Bucs Wait On Seema Fitness
Football365.co.za - South Africa
Orlando Pirates captain Lehlohonolo Seema will undergo a fitness test on Monday to assess whether or not he'll be ready for Wednesday's PSL match against ...
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Miracle Berry

2007-10-22T22:11:00.002-04:00

Here's an article I found pertaining to the Acai Berry. I love it!

The Health Benefits of Acai One of the newest nutritional secrets to be revealed to the modernized world is the Acai fruit. Harvested in the Brazilian rain forest from Amazon palm trees, the Acai berry has long been recognized and esteemed by Brazilian natives for it's nutritional benefits and capacity to promote energy and strength. This fruit is now becoming available worldwide and is used mostly in nutritional juices. Acai berry powder is also put in capsules and can be taken as a supplement. Fruit is good for you; and most everyone knows that. Certain fruits have been recognized to have much higher nutritional content and antioxidant properties than others. Of this category of fruit, the Acai berry comes out as a leader. With a high content of vitamins B1, B2, B3, C, and E along with iron, phosphorous, calcium and potassium, the vitamin and mineral content in this grape-sized, unique-tasting fruit alone would make it worth adding to your diet.
The Acai fruit has up to 33 times the antioxidant properties of red wine grapes.
Along with anthocyanin, Acai contains Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids, which help fight the buildup of LDL, or bad cholesterol, in the body while also helping maintain HDL, or good cholesterol. Antioxidants, which include the vitamins C and E that are found in the Acai fruit, help to neutralize oxygen-free radicals, which are an unhealthy byproduct of the process the body uses to turn food into energy. The overall boost to the immune system when adding Acai to your diet can make for a much healthier - and longer - life.
Increased Energy and StaminaOne of the first things people note when they start adding Acai to their diet is increased energy - and this seems to happen not within weeks or months, but days - and the positive effects keep increasing as time goes on. Many people, men in particular, have reported a marked improvement in sexual function after adding Acai to their daily regimen. This has led to Acai often being called the "Amazon Viagra".
If you are looking for a stronger immune system, increased energy and strength, more years to your life and more life in your years, the Acai fruit should be a part of your daily diet for good!

Article reduced due to space limits. See full article at: http://www.besthealthproduct.com/acai-berry-acai-plus/acai_health_benefits.php

Back from Upper Michigan

2007-10-15T12:49:00.001-04:00

Michigan is beautiful in the Fall. We left for Mt. Pleasant on Thursday (a little late because Clark had to stop in to his pre-school for a hearing test) at about 10:30 in the morning. Clark and Gabe were pretty good in the car. Our first stop was a park in Midland for lunch. It was cool and breezy, but better than being at work. And, the kids loved playing and running around. Then, we went to Central and toured the campus. I like to do this every two-three years. We go to the stadium, the book store, see some of the houses I lived in while in college, etc. After dinner, we spent the night at my sister-in-law's apartment. This was not fun because the kids would not go to sleep. Gabe (17 months old) kept screaming at us to take him out of the pack and play. The next morning (Friday) we had breakfast, spent over an hour packing up, and left for the Sleeping Bear Dunes. This was a good time! That night, we drove to Kim's grandparent's house in Traverse City...actually, they live in the peninsula about 20 minutes north of town. We had a nice time visiting and slept a little better that night. On Saturday morning, we decided to go into town and spend the day there. First, we went to a local park to let the kids play. They had fun, and we took some neat pictures from the park. Town was fun too. We had lunch outside at a small cafe. That evening, the in-laws took us to dinner at the Peninsula Grille...good stuff. On Sunday, we thanked our hosts for a good time and letting us crash at their place, and left for Frankenmuth where we were to meet Kim's dad and new wife for dinner. It was a relatively short visit - some conversation and dinner - but we had a good time and the food was tasty. We got back in the minivan and headed for home. We all had a great time. The colors were beautiful, and the kids got to see a lot of cool things. Today, we are recovering!

Clark

2007-10-10T19:45:00.000-04:00

Here is our oldest, Clark. He's 3 1/2 years old.

This is his first go at soccer.

What is wrong with kids these days?

2007-10-07T23:52:00.000-04:00

Ok...that's a broad question. Specifically, pertaining to weight and health - what's wrong with kids these days? I see so many fat kids, it makes me feel sad. There are many, many programs out there offered to make sure our youth stays healthy, but they don't seem to be working. Hmmm...I wonder why. Maybe it's because parents aren't doing their part. You can't rely on a governmental program to correct your child's bad habits - and that's usually what it is. Bad eating habits, and being lazy...and not getting enough exercise.

I don't think we can blame video games...

I had games when I was a child. Video games were just coming out. They were fairly crude and simple, but we spent a lot of time trying to master them and competing for the best score. But, we also had the drive to do things outside. I was lucky, I lived in a great neighborhood, with plenty of kids and things to do. But we got bored too. That's when we make up a new game, or rehash an old one. We used to play sports, ride our bikes, play tag, four square, ghost in the graveyard at night, etc. The point is that there were plenty of things to do because we wanted to do things outside. And every community has parks and playgrounds.

So why don't kids want to be outside? Is it that there are too many fears floating around out there? Too many worried adults that scare kids into staying inside? Fears of strangers, fears of getting injured, social fears...I don't know. Fear is sometimes good, and you can never be too cautious with your own kids.

Maybe it's the availability of junk food. Junk food takes many forms, candy, pop (soda), chips, and many other snacks that we not think of as "junk", but have plenty of sugar, chemicals, etc. Parents have to supply this food or drive the kids to the fast food joint. Now I'd like to point out that having the occasional Big Mac won't kill you. It has probably been ten years since I've eaten one, but if I had to, I would. We all occasionally eat food that is less than healthy, but it's ok because we do it occasionally.

Why are there so many overweight kids? Well, I think I've demonstrated (with all the random thoughts) that I don't know. But, I do know that parents need to influence their kids to be active. Schools can obviously help, but they only have kids for a portion of the day, and have to make sure they are educating our kids properly. Most programs aimed at reducing kids' waist sizes seem to be reactionary. Schools are set up to teach, not to be health clubs.

Parents need to look themselves in the mirror and take full responsibility for the issues their kids have. Yes, there are many reasons for weight gain, but its up to the parents to make sure their kids stay healthy.

Ok...it's getting late and I have to work tomorrow.

Before I sign off, I'd ask that you ask yourselves if you are doing everything you can to live healthy lives. Everything you do affects your kids. If you don't have kids (I'm guessing you do, otherwise you probably would not have read this post) be healthy for yourself and your loved ones.

Jason

More blogging

2007-10-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

The four of us are going up north (upper Michigan) this week to check out the beautiful Fall colors. We plan to leave on Thursday and return on Sunday. This is the last vacation before my Christmas (I mean “holiday”) break in late December. Here’s the itinerary:
Thursday morning - take Clark to school for the mandatory hearing screening
Thursday afternoon - visit Central Michigan University’s campus
Thursday evening - take sister-in-law to dinner and crash at her place
Friday morning - grab a quick breakfast, then head to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. Spend the day there.
Friday evening - Drive to Kim’s grandparent’s place in Traverse City. They live in a nice house on the East Bay. We’ll spend Friday and Saturday nights there.
Sunday afternoon - Stop off at BirchRun for father-in-law’s birthday dinner. Can’t wait t eat that famous chicken.
Sunday evening - Update blog. Need to figure out how to import content to blog related to health, family, etc.
A random thought/question - ever try Acai berry juice? I’ve been drinking a combination of Acai berry, cherry, and pomegranate juice for the past two months - usaually after I exercise. I have to say…I feel great! Lot’s of energy, and my allergies seem to be less intrusive. Actually, they appear to be about 20% of what they used to be. One quick note: I ran out of this juice for two days and my allergies took over! I was miserable to two days. I’m going to research more and find out if there are any facts out there about the affects of Acai, pomegranate, and cherry juices.
Anyway, try it out. I bought the juice at Costco. You can buy two 48-oz bottles. I usually mix a little OJ (about 1 oz)with about 8 oz of this juice and drink daily.
I’ll upload some pics when we return.
Have a great week!

more pictures of the family...

2007-10-07T21:41:00.000-04:00

A picture of Gabe at the 4th of July parade showing his patriotism...

We look forward to this parade every year. It's a great time with the family...plus there's lots of free candy and usually ice cream.

The only negative is the loud sirens from the fire trucks. But the kids love it otherwise.

A pic to start off with...

2007-10-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a random pic of Louie and Gracie. Gracie is the black dog. Louie's nickname is "The Meatball"...enjoy!

PS...some kind of issue with posting pics. Keep getting errors. I'll post more tomorrow.

First Post and a few quick thoughts

2007-10-01T21:18:00.000-04:00

This is exciting...my first post.

I know, I know...everyone has a blog. I am not unique.

But, it feels good to start something new. And this something is a great way to get things off my chest - a stress reliever. Plus, it's an outlet for me to share information...and my opinion. I like to throw out my opinion for those interested. And, I hope I'm able to find interested folks who like what I have to say. Or at least find my thoughts mildly amusing.

This is also a great way to brush up on my typing. I've never been a particularly strong typist. Is that a word? Back to the point...

I'd like to share information regarding health, fitness, and well-being. This is very important to me, as it should be to everyone. We only have one body and mind. We need to not only treat them well, but feed, exercise, and stimulate them.

Health and well-being are broad concepts. They range from eating right and exercising, to spending time with your family, doing well at work, testing yourself, and many, many other things.

My family spent time at a local park yesterday. It was great - my two sons enjoyed playing on the playground with other kids, chasing the ducks, and watching for fish. My wife and I enjoyed watching the boys, the fresh air, and the nice scenery.

This simple trip to the park was important because it was a nice experience with my family, and we all took something different away. These quick escapes are what life is all about. The trip was simple, but very enjoyable.

The point is, we need to find things we like, and do them.

Another point would be that a proper family, exercise, work, fun balance makes for a fulfilling life.

Well...that's it for my first post. Hopefully, you'll find it short and sweet.

Now, I have to figure out how to get the word (mine) out there where people will find and appreciate it.

Jason