Bulgarian Split Squats

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Bulgarians are real "thigh busters." Play the video and little explanation will be needed. Daughter Jennifer demonstrates and prefers a 3-count on the descent and a 1-count coming up. Try varying the tempo and reps. And if your body weight alone isn't challenging enough, hold a pair of dumbbells. A few sets of these and your thighs will scream for mercy!

To Grunt or Not to Grunt, that is the Question

Deep breathing is essential in a good workout. But when does deep breathing become grunting? And does grunting actually help? Or is it merely a form of exhibitionism? To grunt or not grunt, and what constitutes a grunt, these are the questions discussed here. So before making that next giant exhalation in public, understand about grunting's value and protocol. Go to Grunting.

Who is No. 1 in Fatness?

"The defeat of famine is the goal of all successful societies. Unfortunately, triumph often evolves into the other extreme -- gluttony." --Living the Fitness Lifestyle


Beverley Balkau, director of research at the French National health research institute INSERM in Villejuif, led a study published in the journal Circulation that concluded obesity is becoming a global problem.

It puts the rest of the world close to par with the United States, long considered the country with the worst weight problem. An estimated two-thirds of Americans are overweight and a third of these are obese.

Read the full story here.

Smoking With Kids in The Car

I can remember long car trips with my mother and stepfather smoking, and often with all the windows rolled up. My mother deluded herself by saying smoking was harmless to her because “I don’t inhale.” And since I didn’t smoke I was only inhaling "harmless" secondhand smoke.

Effective January 1, 2008, such behavior by adults in California will result in a $100 fine. Gov. Schwarzenegger signed into a law a bill making it illegal to smoke in a vehicle if someone under age 18 is present. Similar laws are in effect in Arkansas and Louisiana and under consideration in other states.

As someone who generally objects to government intrusion into most personal behavior, I am cautious about cheering for such legislation. I can see dangers down the road when government becomes too "helpful" in saving us from ourselves.

So call me inconsistent, because at the same time I am in favor of practically any legislation that discourages smoking and protects non-smokers, especially children. The tobacco industry has a powerful lobby. I personally find little distinction between tobacco peddlers and drug dealers. One may have the law on their side, but both are in the business of destroying lives.

The law takes effect January 1st.

Read more about the new law here.

A Cell Phone As Your Personal Trainer

The prototype Wellness mobile phone from Japan’s NTT DoCoMo Inc. has a way of keeping track of a user’s health, according to company spokesman Noriaki Tobita. It can take your pulse, check your body fat, time your jogs, and tell you if you have bad breath.

Spokesman Tobita calls the device a “hassle-free way of keeping track of a busy person’s health.”

Call me an old coot — go ahead, it’s ok — but if the latest multi-multi use cell phones make lives “hassle-free,” I'm not convinced. For example, now motorists will be able to distract themselves even further while driving in traffic. They will be able to yak on the phone and check their body fat.

Those less critical of the devices than I am may want to read more about the Wellness mobile phone here.

Advances in Dietary Supplement Research

Many of us take supplements of one kind or another. Personally, I am very careful about taking them and skeptical about many of the claims made by supplement manufacturers. I do not rely on their advertising claims. I hope you don't either.

Some supplements, high quality fish oil (Omega 3) immediately comes to mind, have unquestionable value. While some others are suspect. A few have even been proved dangerous, such as some of the diet pills that we've all read about.

The Gray Iron advice is to take only those supplements that you have discussed with your physician. Remember that certain substances may interact negatively when combined with prescription or over-the-counter medications you might be taking. Ask a pharmacist for professional advice.

To read more from the National Institutes of Health, go here: Advances in Dietary Supplement Research Highlighted.

USMC: Uncle Sam's Mountain Climbers

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

The Marines love this little gem of an exercise called Mountain Climbers. I was a jarhead so I speak from experience. But my guess is that the other branches appreciate its conditioning merits, too.

If you are in fairly good shape, MCs are good ones to add to your cache, especially when they are used as part of a circuit or interval workout. Senior beginners, however, or those who are very overweight, should put MCs on hold until they’ve reached post-beginner stage.

That said, here is what to expect:

High repetition MCs will really get you huffing and puffing and fit nicely in a resistance/cardiovascular combo workout. As you watch the short video (Jennifer demonstrates), you will see how maintaining a solid push up position while chugging away engages your entire body: abs, back, chest, arms, shoulders, and of course your legs.

The following is a quick little body weight only workout that will demonstrate what can be accomplished on those days when you can’t get to the gym.

1. Mountain Climbers: Do them fast and with vigor for 20 reps, 10 each leg.
2. Flip over onto your back. Do 10 standard sit-ups.
3. Flip back over to the push up position. Do 10 standard push ups.
4. Stand and do 10 squats.

Catch your breath and repeat. Do as many rounds as your time and fitness level allow.

Do You Think You Have Good Endurance?

Is anyone out there an ultra-marathoner (not something I'd recommend, by the way), or maybe a super triathlete, or veteran English Channel swimmer? Think you're tough? Can you run or swim till you drop?

Well, this little lady named Godwit would laugh at your wimpy efforts. Don't believe me? Check it out here. It is an amazing world we live in. Have fun.

Smart Pills

It probably won't surprise readers of my blog to learn that people who take supplements are generally better nourished than those who don't take them. In fact, a substantial proportion of seniors (people 51 and older) don't get enough vitamins and minerals from diet alone, and fewer than half of them take supplements every day.

The widespread inadequacies should be considered when developing recommendations for supplement use for seniors, according to Rhonda S. Sebastian of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Gray Iron recommends taking a quality vitamin/mineral supplement, but with the approval of your physician. This is important because the USDA also notes that many people get too much of some vitamins and minerals and not enough of others. So be a smart supplement swallower. And remember, too, that no amount of supplementation can make up for a highly inadequate or gluttonous diet.

For the story of the report by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, go here.

Another Fat A-- Nation

It should be small comfort to learn that the U.S. is not the globe's only gluttonous country. In fact, most highly developed nations have the same "Super Size Me" problems.

The Aussies have come up with an idea to trim the blubber -- and also reduce their growing cost of health care, which in the end must be paid for by everyone, the obese and svelte alike.

The Australian General Practice Network (a physicians group) suggests the following: To combat the spiralling problem of type-2 diabetes, heart disease and cancers linked to obesity, they want the government to pay overweight people a 170 dollar ($141, U.S.) subsidy to do something about their expanding butts and waistlines.

"We believe that this (money) will go a long way to helping people get access to accredited weight-loss programmes where the people will be supported," network chairman Tony Hobbs told state radio.

Does this sound crazy? Or are they really on to something down under?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can think of several reasons why it wouldn't work and would lead to unpleasant, unintended consequences.

What do you think?

Read more about it here.

Politics and Brain Functions

Here at Gray Iron Fitness we have made it policy to keep politics out of our mission. Opinions? Sure, we've got them. But our job here is encouraging senior fitness and healthy lifestyles. Period.

Still, you do have to have some fun now and then. It's healthful. So here's a report from the British journal Nature Neuroscience that says the brain neurons of liberals and conservatives fire differently when confronted with tough choices, suggesting that some political divides may be hard-wired.

Could the study have been weighted to get the outcomes the researchers wanted? It's possible. But let's have some fun. The findings probably confirm many of your beliefs about "the other side," no matter which side you may be on.

Read all about it here.

Do You Want Fries With That?

If you eat "clean" 90 percent of the time, does it hurt to once in a while indulge in, say, a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake?

Normally, Gray Iron would say go ahead and take a break, as long as it is just that: a break. But in no way is Gray Iron defending saturated fat. No question about it, loading up on saturated fat is not good for you.

(Note that we are talking about saturated fat, not the heart healthy fats found in fish oil, avocados, olive oil, and most nuts and seeds.

Now, according to a study by researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia, just one piece of high-fat carrot cake, for example, and a milkshake diminishes your body's ability to defend itself against heart disease.

Their study included 14 trial participants, all healthy and between the ages of 18 and 40.

The indication is clear: Eating foods high in saturated fat is harmful to your health and especially your heart.

Read what they found here.

Your Health Profile and History

The American Academy of Family Physicians suggests keeping a Health Journal to be shared with your doctor and to help keep track of things that may make you sick. The journal, according to the academy, should include the following:

• Any illness or injury you've sustained.

• Any hospitalizations or surgeries.

• Any symptoms or allergies that you've had.

• OTC medications, prescription medications, supplements and vitamins that you take, including the dosage and how often you take them.

• Any diseases, conditions or illnesses that run in your family.

Gray Iron agrees wholeheartedly with the suggestions, of course, but would add a couple of things for those of us living the fitness lifestyle.

Keep a record of the lab test results from your last physical and of course know your blood pressure readings.

Your journal doesn’t need to be fancy or time consuming. Keep it simple but update it as things occur.

Read more about the recommendations here.

Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette . . .

Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette.
Puff, puff, puff until you smoke yourself to death.
Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait,
But you just gotta have another cigarette.

—from a song Phil Harris (photo at right) used to sing.

Sometimes after an anti-smoking rant, I ask myself: Does any smoker actually decide to stop because of something they've read here? After all, anyone with at least a toe-hold in reality already knows that smoking is self-destructive?

Yet if you are still a smoker, at some point some piece of information, somewhere, may turn out to be the tipping point. That you will have finally had enough. Could this be it? Read on.

Health Day reports that current smokers without the gene for Alzheimer’s were 70 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than nonsmokers or former smokers without the gene.

Before you light up the next one, read more about the researchers' findings here.

The One-Arm Dumbbell Press

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Daughter Jennifer lives near a small village in the foothills of the Austrian Alps, not very far from where a well-known California governor and former Mr. Universe grew up. There must be something in the water.

The one-arm dumbbell press of course develops shoulder and arm strength. Maybe even more than pressing a barbell or two dumbbells at once, one-arm pressing requires serious tightening all of the muscles of your lower back and abdominals (currently known as the "core"). And that is a good thing.

I always recommend exhaling as you press and inhale as the weight returns. If you are a beginner, develop a smooth style and tempo similar to Jennifer's before moving up to heavier weights. Give it a try. I think you'll realize right away its value as a compound exercise movement.

Why Not Roll The Dice?

A realistic fear many have about aging and dying has to do with making their final exit in a nursing home. The best nursing homes are humane; but even then they are nothing more than warehouses for mere existence. So it is normal to hope and pray for a health span that is equal to your lifespan, regardless of its length. And though hope and prayer may have value, they are not enough.

Ignoring lifestyle factors that will either (a) help or (b) hurt one’s chances of remaining healthy and active until the end of life is childish. One well-worn joke told by many a boozy bar patron (usually a guy with a cigarette in one hand and a double whiskey in the other) is about how he plans to die at 100, after being shot by a jealous husband for getting caught in bed with the man’s wife.

Sure.

More likely, his lifestyle choices will lead him to either an early grave or spending his later years barely aware of his own existence. Someone, I’m certain, will remind me about a friend or relative who smoked two packs a day, drank like a fish all his life, and remained spry well into his 90s. While the author/runner Jim Fix took good care of himself and checked out early in life. The stories many be true. But it is the unmistakable mark of an immature thinker to base lifestyle choices on anomalies.

Of course, there are never absolute guarantees of good health to the end of life, but it is certainly possible to put the odds way in our favor. The question is: Which lifestyle are you betting on with your life? Even some who have lived long enough to be called seniors still lack the mental maturity to play the odds. Please don’t be one of them.

Fit or Fat: The Choice is Ours

Patty was asking questions at Costco’s customer service counter as I stood waiting nearby, and with a clear view of the crowded warehouse store.

I thought how fortunate we are to live in a nation with such an abundance of products, goods that our free market economy provides. I looked at the huge shopping carts filled with a variety that most of the rest of the world envies. I recalled photographs taken in the old Soviet Union, with its citizens standing in long lines to enter dismal stores with few choices and limited quantities.

My second thought, however, was not as positive. I watched shoppers lining up at checkout counters and once again realized how we have, on average, become a fat and flabby nation. Month after month, reports in the media have been telling us about poor health and illnesses that will be the result of it. We have been warned, too, about the growing number of fat children who will early in life contract many of the diseases associated with old age.

Media reports are one thing. A more startling impression is actually looking at most large groups of people today. Thirty years ago, extremely overweight people stood out in a crowd. Nowadays, they are often the norm.

The problems created by being overweight and obese range from societal (rising health care costs, for example) to the personal. It is on the personal level that I focus. How, I ask, can anyone experience all that life has to offer if you are obese? I am not a psychologist, and in many instances I realize there are psychological factors involved. Yet after all the talking is out of the way, it always comes down to personal choice.

The choice is ours.

Health Club Naughty Secrets

In earlier times, the gym business was different. The owner was also the business manager, bookkeeper, salesman, custodian -- and your personal trainer -- all wrapped into one. If that sounds like too much for any one person to handle, remember that most gyms were independently owned and most had a lot fewer members. There were no Pilates, yoga, step, kickboxing, or spinning classes, either. You lifted iron. There weren't other options.

How can anyone argue against more exercise options? Yet the little secret today is that huge numbers of not truly motivated people join health clubs and soon dropout. The thing is they also usually sign up to have dues automatically withdrawn from their bank account. Then, after dropping out, they tell themselves they will get back in the gym again, so they continue paying dues.

Health club owners don't talk about it, but if everyone who paid dues worked out regularly, there wouldn't enough equipment or hours in the day to accommodate them. Paying for workouts not taken may sound crazy, but I guarantee you that many people do it. Gym owners have a special place in their hearts (and pocketbooks) for those who pay but don't use the facilities.

I do not dislike gyms or gym owners. I have belonged to many gyms and belong to one now. I have known gym owners who became personal friends. But my advice to anyone paying dues to a health club and not using it this: stop! Yes, everyone should exercise. But a gym or health club is not necessarily for everyone. If you are a member of a gym and don't use it regularly, deep down you probably dislike going there. So stop wasting your money. Find a form of exercise that you like and will actually practice several days per week.

Health club owners may dislike my saying this: But if you aren't using the facility, cancel that membership today.

Don't Skimp on Fish Oil

I've been half-expecting someone reputable to tell us that fish oil really isn’t all that its cracked up to be, that all its great press may be exaggerated. Instead, it’s just the opposite. Each new report seems to reveal yet another health benefit attributed to taking fish oil. Improved cardiovascular function was only the beginning of the good news.

Now here’s a study that suggests fish oil may even be beneficial to people with mental illness. So the good news about Omega-3 just keeps piling up. Are you taking fish oil yet? If not, why not? Ask your physician if there’s any reason why you shouldn’t take a quality fish oil supplement.

Personally, I take salmon oil capsules every day. I like the Vital Choice brand, which is endorsed by several well known physicians. It’s easy and efficient to order by clicking the Vital Choice label on my web site. Vital Choice products come from wild Alaskan salmon from some of purest water on earth. You want to be certain that you buy a pure, high quality brand.

To read more about how fish oil may also help people with mental illness, go here.

Jack LaLanne Was Right

There's a page in my book, Living The Fitness Lifestyle, titled "Self Delusion and the Scale." I quote Jack LaLanne (early photo at left) who said long ago, "Your waistline is your lifeline." LaLanne was and still is way, way ahead of his time. He's now in his 90s and still working out.

Reuters reports the latest validation of LaLanne's comment in an article, (the) "Tape measure, not scale, key to knowing heart risk."

Too much emphasis is placed on body weight alone, when stripping down, looking in the mirror, and putting a tape measure around your waist are better indicators of health and fitness. The report is definitely worth reading.