The Fitness Guru

The Fitness Guru is going to be offering FREE Pilates Mat Classes in Brooklyn Bridge Park every Tuesday evening through the Summer, beginning July 7th!! Come and join us for a terrific workout at the base of the Beautiful Brooklyn Bridge.

The Countdown To Class!!

Guru In The Park:
in 4 days, 18 hours, 57 minutes, 5 seconds

Thank God! The Times Wellness Blog has been kind enough to post the results of yet another study suggesting that we can get fit in six minutes a week. Think of everything else we will have time for now. More work, more Blackberry, more emails, more Facebook, more Twitter, more blogs on wellness, more reality television. It’s like a dream come true.

Needless to say, I’m bothered yet again. You’d think by now I would stop reading these articles. The truth is–I have. This one was sent to me by my buddy, Seth, so I read it. Some day I will learn. My time could be spent doing other things.

The study is an interesting account of endurance training. The results suggest that endurance gains made through long term training can be matched through six minutes of very intense interval training per week. Great! For all the endurance athletes out there, that is good to know. As I am training for a marathon, it warms my heart to know that, if I am in a pinch, I can train for six hardcore minutes each week and that will benefit my endurance.

Here’s the problem: there is a suggestion, though no proof in the study, that the intense intervals will improve weight loss. Also, there is only brief mention of how INCREDIBLY taxing these all out intense intervals need to be. So Joe Average American is kicking back with the morning coffee and reading that maybe he can get rid of his gut (and 2 out of every 3 Joes in this country has a gut to get rid of) by running all out intervals for six minutes. He wanders off to his neighborhood gym where there is little in the way of supervision and he busts a move on the treadmill. His body, in no way, shape or form ready for such intensity, starts to break down, and in little to no time at all, Joe is injured, out of the game, and spends the next six months bemoaning his ill-fated attempt to lose his gut, which, due to his inactivity, continues to grow.

And even that doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is this: this is all being written up in the Times WELLNESS blog. Wellness. Well-ness. That word, for me, suggests a balance of mind, body and spirit. Where is the balance in reporting on a study like this?

In this day and age, we have too much interference on a minute-to-minute basis with our well-being. We are so busy focusing on everything around us that we rarely take the time to take care of ourselves. Disagree? Fine. Turn off your email for a day. Avoid Facebook or Twitter or your cell phone or your television or Youtube. Let’s go Hardcore Thoreau and just focus on you and the world around you, in that moment. Won’t happen. Can’t happen. We’re not wired like that anymore. And, consequently, we are left doing damage to our bodies and souls because of this unconscious addiction to stress. If you like studies, check out the one from MIT regarding Blackberry addiction (Crackberry) and stress. (Author’s note: the iPhone, with its 15.2 billion apps, ain’t a whole lot better.)

Exercise is your opportunity to free your body and your mind. Take an hour to do something that you enjoy doing and the benefits are tremendous, from healthier organs to happy moods and greater productivity in the workplace. A gentleman mentioned in the NYT Wellness article that six minutes is perfect for him because, as a 41-year old father of two, he doesn’t have the time to exercise “for hours.” I’m the 42-year old father of two and I say “Horse Feathers!” It’s not a question of hours. It is a question of making time on a regular basis to tend to yourself. Weight loss becomes the added benefit of that care. You want to lose weight? Feed yourself the right fuels, stay active and do things to reduce your stress level. It’s always the people who say that they don’t have an hour to spare that are most in need of sparing the hour. It’s your personal meditation. Not hippy-dippy-trippy Eastern meditation (though, folks, if you haven’t tried it, you really really should), but meditation in the spirit of relaxing and refocusing your energy to better serve your well-being, your family’s well-being, your goals and your quality of life.

Wellness Blog: get it together. There is no room in my schedule for six minutes a week. I’d rather run for an hour.

Just amazing!! Enjoy the video and have a terrific weekend!!

Here are some great stories out there for this week:

• From the good folks at Men’s Health, some quick ideas in the kitchen to help get you ripped up and in shape.
• The Ten Ingredient Shopping Trip
• And from Women’s Health: 11 Most Common Running Mistakes
• Exercise your way to a Better Sex Life
• Stretching in Bed
• President Obama’s Personal Battle Against Cigarettes
• Debunking Myths About Warm Ups and Eggs

I am asked all year long: “What can I do for my husband/dad? He doesn’t like to exercise. He just won’t do it!” I stopped selling gift certificates to well intentioned spouses because their men-folk would never redeem them. The certificate would sit and rot in a drawer somewhere.

(Cute.....but why is Dad always the jackass?.....)

So now, on the day we celebrate DAD, here are a few ideas of where you can spend your money:

REI LED Trail Cap

A great cap for Dads who run at night: it has a trail light built into the brim!

Golfer's Companion

This great little golf aid has a range finder (to gauge distance, as well as a mesh holder for tees and balls.

…..and for the fitness….ummmm…….non-enthusiast….

Beer Holster

…yup. Beer holster.

But getting back to the Dad who won’t exercise: here’s my idea!

1. Take a big box and wrap it beautifully (doesn’t matter what’s inside….keep reading…).

2. Let Dad sleep late.

3. Make Dad a big waffle breakfast and everyone present the meal to him while standing around the bed with the big, wrapped box.

4. While making a big To-Do about Father’s Day, the baby of the family (the youngest child, no matter how old he or she is) starts to cry uncontrollably.

5. When Dad says “what’s wrong?” the baby, still sobbing, cries out “My daddy is fat……”

Dad will join a gym on Monday morning.

Have a great day!!

The New York Times Wellness blog published a piece the other day about “core” training. “Core” is one of those words that has seemed to overwhelm the fitness industry, as certain terms will every so often. Everyone is focused on training their cores. “My trainer focuses on my core and training my core and so my core is powerful and I love my core.” I hate “core”–not the muscles but the term. I run a certification program for instructors and one of the first things I say to them is “Never, ever use the word ‘core’. At least not in my presence.” The word core is a crutch, a catch-all term that has made its way into the trendy magazines to the point where everyone uses it, regardless of whether or not they know to what they are referring.

The NYT blog is quick to point out that all this core-centric talk may not be doing much to insure the health of the modern American back. I agree 100%. There is absolutely no benefit from focusing on the abdominal muscles to help to strengthen the lower back. In fact, if you focus on just the abdominal muscles, you may be doing yourself far more harm than good. But I don’t like the idea that the focus is without merit; rather, I think it is necessary to expand the focus.

First point: pain is usually the result of an imbalance in the body. The imbalance may be create by a traumatic force, like a fall, or it may be created by repetitive stress, like sitting poorly in a desk chair or sleeping on a non-supportive mattress. If you focus simply on the abdominal muscles, you are working hard to create that imbalance.

Second point: the problem with SO MANY trainers and training techniques is that the focus is on muscular activation without regard to structure. The spine has an ideal state, an ideal form which allows it to serve as support to the body and as a shock absorber for any trauma that body may experience. When an individual moves away from that ideal position, the individual is doing away with all the support that the spine natural offers. When we exercise in that compromised position, we are ASKING for trouble.

Solution: trainers have to have a better understanding of posture in its ideal state and how to evaluate the postures of the clients they train. Right now, many trainers lack that ability. Consequently, all this “core” focus serves to reinforce bad, and sometimes painful, habits. Secondly, trainers have to understand that in order to attain balance in the body, all the muscles of the “core” must be trained: the many muscle groups of the abdomen, pevis and lower back. In addition, balance must be reach in the limbs in order to preserve balance in the torso.

It’s not as simple as making people do crunches or stand on a wobble board. That’s simple linear thinking that is a disservice to all who would look to the training profession for answers.

It would help to get people on the same page. Why is it that the government insists on licenses for massage therapists and physical therapists, but there is absolutely no criteria for personal trainers, Pilates and yoga instructors, et al. All the people in these professions are charged with the care and well being of human bodies. Shouldn’t the bar be set as high as possible?

When last we left the FDA, they were issuing a warning against a popular weight loss supplement, Hydroxycut. The warning was issued after 23 people had reported severe adverse reaction to the supplement, including one person who needed a liver transplant. Other issues included heart problems and muscle damage that could lead to kidney failure. All very serious stuff….but in 23 people– out of how many consumers that had purchased the product? And no mention of whether these people had taken the suggested dosage of the supplement (believe it or not, when people hear that something can help you lose weight, they tend to take more than they should. True.)

I have never been a big fan of weight loss supplements. I believe people take them in an effort to get the results without changing their behavior. In that sense, they are a crutch. As a nation, we are a mess in terms of weight management. And the supplements offer a false hope of change. It’s no wonder that people develop problems: some folks are probably popping the pills like Tic-Tacs (Editor’s Note: as of this writing, there is no existing FDA warning against Tic-Tacs.)

But now the FDA has issued a warning against Zicam. For those of you who don’t know, Zicam is a Zinc based nasal spray that works as a cold remedy. The warning suggests that Zicam can destroy one’s sense of smell. In 2006, Matrixx, Zicam’s parent company, paid out $12 million to 340 people who claimed their senses of smell had been damaged or destroyed.

I live by Zicam in the winter. The first sign of sniffles, I run to the drug store and stock up. I have never had any problems and I have found it effective. But what do I do now that I know my sense of smell is in danger? Do I continue taking the product? For heavy people, does the possibility of liver or kidney problems stop them from taking Hydroxycut? What do we do? Who do we listen to?

This week, it’s a new iPhone App. This one is Fitness Builder. It has all sorts of bells and whistles: fitness calculators (BMI, Body Fat %); weight tracking; progress reports; calorie calculators; and about 4000 exercises. That’s a lot of stuff. And the price of this App, which was just released yesterday: $19.99.

So today’s question:

Ah, the quiet Sunday morning with a cup of coffee…….let’s take a few minutes to think about how we can make the upcoming work week more productive….

Tired?
I am.

So is almost everyone I know. Seems to be a trend. When you are tired you a) crave junk food, b) are always in fight-ot-flight, c) have a greatly reduced immune system, and d) are so cranky no one wants to play with you.

Here are some hard stats:

• Sleep problems are reaching epidemic proportions, estimated to be the #1 health related problem in America – (CNN, May 1997.)
• Almost 74% of all Americans do not get enough sleep each night.
• Sleep deprivation costs $150 billion each year in higher stress and reduced worker productivity-(National Commission on Sleep Disorders, 2003.)
• Almost all adults don’t get enough sleep and most struggle to get up in the morning. “If we got enough sleep at night we wouldn’t need an alarm clock to wake us.” (Mayo Clinic). And half of America can’t get up without an alarm clock.
• Recent studies implicate sleep deprivation in diabetes.
• We sleep on average 6.9 hours/day, almost an hour less than a few decades ago.
• 43 percent of respondents reported that daytime sleepiness interfered with their normal daytime activities, including work. (NSF 2000.)
• 30-40% of heavy truck accidents are due to driver fatigue. National Sleep Foundation, 2002 Annual Sleep Survey.
• 51% of adults say they have problems sleeping at least a few nights each week.
• Almost 1/3 has trouble sleeping every night.

Blah blah blah blah…..

All I know is that if I’m tired, I’m probably pretty cranky and definitely useless after 2pm.

And sleeplessness has created a multi-BILLION dollar industry, from mattresses and white noise machines to Ambien and Unisom and fluffy pillows guaranteed to help you doze. You can spend a fortune trying to get to sleep at night. And in the end, there is no guarantee.
Add to that the fact that sleeplessness adds to our national weight issue (for those of you just catching up, 66% of the adult population is overweight or obese. That number is slated to go up to 85% by 2030). Sleeplessness makes you eat more and feel less satisfied. And it elevates levels of a hormone called Visfatin (ironically, “Fat Power”) from belly fat which creates insulin resistance.

Blah blah blah…….

If you have made it this far without dozing off, here’s what you are going to do:

1. Calm your mind
All those voices and noises in your head! How could anyone sleep? Develop a practice through meditation and breathing, or even something as simple as reading quietly. Teach yourself to quiet all that noise so that when it is time to go to bed, you are ready to sleep.

2. Keep you internal clock on time
“Yeah! It’s the weekend! I’ll catch up on sleep!” But that “catch up” is going to be trouble when Monday comes. Set your body to a specific clock and try not to vary it by more than an hour. The habit will pay off in better sleep hours.

3. Eat
Studies have shown that people who cut back on calories in order to lose weight also have problems with sleep. Have a small snack before bed. Try protein, like an egg or cheese. Protein will help the cause far better than fat.

4. Use the bed for sleep
Yes, yes I know. Ha ha ha. Okay now get serious again. No reading, no TV, no late night phone calls or texting. Sleep is your religion and the bed is your church. You must hold the church sacred. Go to bed and go to sleep. Period.

5. Start a bedtime practice of destressing
This can start a few hours before bed time. Find practices that help to calm you, like yoga and stretching; listen to classical music; read something that will focus your mind, like a book as opposed to a trashy magazine that will get your mind flying every which way.

6. Nothing electric for a couple of hours before bed
As a society, we are WAY too plugged in. Unplug. No TV,computer, phone, text– you know the list. It’s anything that stirs your mind and creates even a low level of anxiety. But also watch out for lights, even something as dim as your alarm clock or cell phone. Those little lights can be exptremely distracting.

And, finally, perhaps needless to say, if you sleep with someone who is disruptive, either because of snoring or a love of David Letterman…..well……you know what you have to do.

Now you’ll have to excuse me. My pillow is calling for my mid-afternoon nap.