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Fans of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot would not nominate him for any fitness awards, as heavy lifting with the little grey cells does not count.  His love of cuisine, dislike of outdoor sports, and fondness for spotless outfits also do not speak in his favor.  However, when we look at the mystery of our shrinking clothes, he may have some key training points.

For example, he collects the data.  What did we do?  Who was there?  What did we notice?  How did we feel?  What were the results?  He does not ask what we were supposed to be doing, or what we intended to do, but what we actually did.  Recalcitrant witnesses eventually admit that they did, in fact, go back for the second piece of cheesecake, or that they saw Granny do it, but denied it because they weren’t supposed to be in the hall surreptitiously texting that cute boy from down the street, the one with the motorcycle and the unfortunate haircut.

Then he looks at the patterns.  What little thing that was so ordinary that no one bothered to notice it made all the difference?  (Besides the fact that someone substituted poisoned mushrooms for chanterelles on the pizza…)  Was it that we no longer walked to the village to get our newspaper and so missed out on some healthful exercise?  Was it that we got extra excitement searching for the missing jewels?

Finally, he puts everything together into a plan.  Some time spent reflecting on all he has learned allows him to create a solution.  And soon the offending desserts can be locked away where they can’t do any harm.

Fitness grows on trees?

The Easter feast is behind us.  Maybe we resisted and left the chocolate bunnies and Peeps to the small people, or maybe we have our own little cache of foil wrappers hidden among the strands of plastic grass in our baskets.  This is not a lecture about candy.

Nope.  This is about renewal.  We have made it to spring, to Easter, to new life.  We have made it through winter to strawberries, sunshine, asparagus, and new flip flops.

We don’t have to be the same.  This is the season for growing.  Where would we like to flower?  What fruit will we produce?  If we cultivate endurance, strength, flexibility, beauty, that is what we can harvest.

Let’s go dig the garden.

Friday Exercise: Band Walks

The Amazing Stickie likes to protect her knees.  She knows that the best way to do that is to strengthen the muscles around her knees.  Band walking helps create knee stability from side to side.

There are lots of kinds of exercise bands.  In the picture, Stickie is using the kind that looks like a tube with handles on the end.  She stands with her feet on the tube and holds the handles to put tension on the band.  It is also possible to do this exercise with the kinds that look like giant rubber bands.  In that case, Stickie would put both ankles inside the rubber band (carefully, so as not to lose her balance!).

Stickie lines her toes up with a line on the floor.  She works out in my gym, so she picks one of the lines between the floor tiles and uses that.  This is not necessary, but it is instructive because many people doing this exercise find that they creep backwards at an angle as they proceed.

Of course, Stickie is standing with amazing posture.  She steps one foot to the side and then brings the other foot to meet it.  Simple enough.  The thing is, she does this with control, not allowing the band to snap her second foot over to her first foot.  She walks about ten steps in one direction and then returns in the other direction, working both sides.  For those who really want to know what muscles are working, the step out works the abductors and the step together works the adductors.

Three sets is usually sufficient.

Thursday Book Report: Albinus on Anatomy

There is not much text in Albinus on Anatomy by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle.  They present the plates as studies for art students.  For fitness people and people who like pictures, the book is all about cool drawings.  Who doesn’t need to see a skeleton, partially muscled, standing in front of a young rhino?

Albinus, for the record, was an anatomist (1697-1770), not the guy who drew the pictures.  That was Jan Wandelaar.  The account of how they worked together is both fascinating and creepy.  I mean, what could go wrong with a naked model and a fresh corpse in winter?

My kids would have found it absorbing and it is definitely going on display at my house in October with the rest of the Halloween things.

About 1:10 on that last question

It’s not that hard.  Just go play.

Sure, there are better and worse ways to work out.  Let’s pick the ones where we don’t get hurt and the ones that are fun and life giving.  Let’s skip the obsessing over the perfect ratio of work to rest, cardio to strength, spandex to cotton.

Get out there!

Are we there yet? And other important journey questions

Most of the time I wear my Fitbit.  I don’t have the fanciest version.  I don’t even use all the features mine has.   A week or so ago, I took it off to charge and didn’t put it back on for days.  And that is a good thing.

A Fitbit or other tracker (I happen to have a Fitbit, but I have no strong opinion on which kinds of trackers are best, as will be evident by what I’m about to say…) is a tool, not a goal.  Ten thousand steps a day will not perfect me.  A few more, a few less, and I will still be fine.  It is important to remember who is boss.  Hint:  it is not the little rubber and plastic thing on the wrist.

The tracker’s job is to remind.  We need mindfulness.  If our inner Lao Tse of the ten thousand mile journey needs a little help counting the steps after the first one, no problem.  But the number of steps does not measure the quality of the journey.

What do we see on the way?  How do we feel?  Where are we going?

Guest Post: How to evaluate a mass-media health article by Syd Salsman

I was thinking about all the information that bombards us on the news and in magazines and all over the internet.  As you may know, my son is studying to be a librarian and information professional, so rather than ask him and paraphrase, I asked him to write a post.  This is what he says.  Syd wanted me to use a photo of Melvil Dewey, the decimal system guy, but I am lame and couldn't get it to work. Instead, because I am his mom and can do it, here is a picture of him with his mouth full - js

The first step is to read the article critically and thoughtfully, looking for exaggerated claims and sales pitches. Many otherwise sensible articles have exaggerated headlines. A headline claiming a miracle cure isn’t necessarily a sign the article isn’t reliable, but if the article itself makes claims of a miracle cure or outrageously effective weight loss method, be suspicious. There are no shortcuts and a reputable health article will not claim there are.

Look for specifics of the scientific study or studies the article is based on. Is this a report on one study, or a pattern that scientists have identified across studies? Who did the studies? Look for MDs and PhDs, not vague claims of expertise. What organization are they affiliated with? If you’re not familiar with the organization, Googling it can give you a good quick impression of whether they are a reputable medical center like the Mayo Clinic or a fly-by-night snake oil outfit. As a general rule, if the organization’s website focuses on selling a product rather than facilitating access to information and services, suspect snake oil.

If you’re satisfied that the article is reporting on a study done by real doctors working with  a reputable organization, and the article has quoted from the study extensively and provided clear context, the article is likely reliable. If you’re still not sure how reliable the article is, the quickest route to certainty is to find the study itself.

To find a study, pull as much information on the study as you can from the article itself, and plug it into Google. This will usually work, but if it doesn’t try plugging the same information into Pubmed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/). Once you’ve found the study, skim the summary, chapter headings, and conclusion. Do they seem to reflect what the article says? Do they suggest anything useful for you as a health-conscious person? Many studies are done on rats or with very small, non-representative samples of people, so even a solid study can fail to offer much to incorporate into your own life. This doesn’t mean it’s bad information, but it may not have the implications for human lifestyle choices a mass media health article might suggest.

In general, regard mass media health information with skepticism. Some good sources for health information on the Internet are Pubmed Health (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/), and The Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-care-and-health-information). Pubmed Health has a specific search option for consumer information, and the Mayo Clinic website allows you to search  a library of symptoms, tests, procedures, and diseases. Both of these are far more reliable than say, The Huffington Post. Most of all remember, before you apply health information to your own life, consult with your doctor!