So if a picture is worth a thousand words, and a short video is made up of hundreds of pictures, is a short video worth hundreds of thousands of words? And what if you don't make the video yourself but steal it straight off YouTube?
So yeah, this video, which all of you have probably already seen by now but I hadn't, cracked me up. And it offers a little metaphorical motivational encouragement. (Note: you can turn off the sound if you're at work, you don't really need it).
Are there "stairs" in life that others seem to ascend and descend with no problem, but somehow you just can't seem to get the hang of 'em? If so, what do you do: find your own awkward way, or avoid them entirely and keep your world just a little smaller? (Personally, I've tried both ways.)
And yeah, it's summer, so as is customary, my blogging activity is getting even more sporadic and superficial than in other seasons. But I'm okay with that. You too may find that summertime offers many more absorbing options besides the interwebs. Beaches, bike trails, festivals, parties, parades, pools, forest paths, foreign lands, ferries, roller coasters, kites to fly, sprinklers to run under, campfires to light, gardens to tend to, hobbies to obsess over, watermelons to eat, and naps to take.
¡Hasta luego!
What kind of fun are you guys planning on having this summer when you're not at work or on the web?
So originally this was going to be an "Ask the Trainer" post, until I realized I'd actually forgotten to Ask one of the Trainers! So later I guess on that.
And then I thought, hey, what about a Wordless Wednesday post, that'll be quick! But that would require finding a copyright-free image so earth-shattering it would shut me up entirely, and that quest would not ultimately be any sort of time-saver.
Part of the reason I got a late start posting is I was having fun swingin' in the park, and then got caught up in email, which I get a lot of, and I was pondering the thought-provoking Just One Thing missive I receive that was all about Giving (and asking, and communicating, and other similar things).
So I thought, well, maybe I'll write a post about that!
Why yes, I believe this IS the same picture as last time!
What's happened recently in the health and fitness world that I was too lazy to blog about?
Well, favorite Fitness blogger Charlotte from The Great Fitness Experiment did something childish, various research studies said something or other about things that might either kill you or help you live to be 100, etc, a poll revealed a surprisingly lame thing men find particularly attractive in women... all this and more!
My kinda cooking demonstrations: Jack Sh*t does battle with a mango, and Hannah Hart demonstrates her patriotism by baking apple pie the 'Merican way at My Drunk Kitchen. (Note: Hannah is adorable and cracks me up; however, if you have loved ones with alcohol issues or strong feelings about Apple Pie, Baking or Patriotism, you may want to skip this one).
And what health research did Crabby Tweet about this week? Well, sure, you could look at the sidebar to find out, but then you'd have to scroll.
Painkillers Linked to Heart Rhythm Disorder: http://bit.ly/oSLk9K (yikes! Not just prescription NSAIDS--stuff like advil too)
Will going to a chiropractor help your back? This study is no help: http://on-msn.com/pmfvpA Bottom line seems to be: maybe?
I wear a size 10 shoe so I'm TWICE as hot right? Poll: Women with Size-5 Feet Most Attractive to Men http://bit.ly/2jAjRG
Any other health bloggers just get an email that it's National Fried Chicken Day, with ideas for pairing wine with KFC? #WTF? #PRFail
Are you getting enough good bugs in your diet? Probiotics may be good for your mental health as well as physical: http://bit.ly/nIzNVz
Does it seem like there's a new "hooray for vitamin D-3 study" every 3 minutes? This one says good for elderly women. http://bit.ly/pX0lMG
Awesome slideshow on finding ideas for blog posts by @nomorebacon. http://slidesha.re/pKXids (Great timing for this here lazy blogger !)
1 more reason I say stand up! @HeartsHealth: Sitting for Long Time Linked to Pulmonary Embolism http://bit.ly/r3fRfo
Annoying study: moderate salt reduction won't decrease your chance of dying. http://bit.ly/ojfrAY So: reduce more, or don't bother at all?
Though this study seems mainly relevant to mice contemplating spaceflights to Mars, love the headline: "Red wine: Exercise in a Bottle?" http://bit.ly/l9YwB2
Eating lots of veggies? Yet another reason to feel smug: leafy greens help build muscles! http://bit.ly/mCnQ3N
Biggest surprise: black tea lowers cortisol? Surprising Signs You'll Live To Be 100 http://bit.ly/mOMVst
You already knew to do strength training for healthy aging; this study says lift HEAVY for best benefits: http://bit.ly/jYAkKq
Full confession: back when I worked in an office, I used to occasionally call in sick when I wasn't actually sick at all. I felt a little slimy about it, and hated to lie, but on the other hand, I never got sick so those days specially set aside for me to cough, sneeze, barf, and ache? They'd have been totally wasted!
But now I'm more grown-up and honest and ethical. So I'll just come right out and say:
Sorry there's no Cranky Fitness blog post today. It's because I screwed around doing other things and ran out of time came down with leprosy.
Everyone knows you can't blog with leprosy.
Note: you have my complete permission to call in sick today to your own blog, job, household chores, book club, cooking class, or whatever the hell else you need a break from. Let's see if we can get CDC's attention with a scary new nationwide outbreak of leprosy, shall we?
Go ahead, little slackers. Call in sick. You do look a little feverish! Must be leprosy.
This blog covers subjects of fitness But sometimes, as God is my witness, We need to be random And share with the fandom Some studies that are mostly hit/miss
What? Why're you looking at me like that? Poetry is educational. It's classy. Makes us look like we're into culture and all that stuff.
I know we joke about how a study is published and then the next week another study contradicts it, but in real life it usually takes longer than a week. Not this time.
I mean, we're talking seriously lazy. "One in six say that if the remote control was broken, they would prefer to watch a TV program they didn't like rather than get up to change the channel...."
And yes, this study is related to fitness. "More than half (58 per cent) ... blamed their barren sex lives on a lack of fitness."
Seems straightforward enough. Except...
The week after this study came out, it was followed up by this one:
The British birth rate is on the increase. "The UK population grew more in 2008 than at any time since 1962." How they're managing that when they're too lazy to have sex would make an interesting study in itself.
Um... this method doesn't look like much fun, judging by her expression...
All right, so half of the increased births were to women "born overseas, but living in the UK." Even so, if they're living in Britain, aren't they affected by the environment they're living in? According to the first study, Glasgow was "Britain's most slothful city, with 75 per cent of people admitting they don't get enough exercise, followed by Birmingham and Southampton in joint second place with 67 per cent admitting their laziness."
If you're surrounded by that many lazy bums, it's going to rub off. If nothing else, it's an environment geared toward people driving cars rather than walking, living in buildings with easily accessible elevators and dingy, hard-to-find stairs, being surrounded by fast food and slow traffic. Besides which, there have been enough studies out there demonstrating that hanging around obese people will increase your chances of gaining weight. One study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, "found that a mutual friend becoming obese correlated with a 171 percent increase in the probability of obesity in the other friend."
No, as I see it, the second study is 180 degrees from the first. The women being 'from overseas' isn't really an important enough factor. We tend to pick up on the behavior of those around us.
I know I tend to sound off a lot about journalists, but sometimes it's hard not to. For example, a Bangladesh newspaper picked up on an article in an American publication, which featured an interview with Neil Armstrong confirming that the Moon Landing was a hoax. Only problem? It wasn't a real story. It was a hoax. (I mean the story was a hoax. A hoax of a hoax, if that makes any kind of sense.)
This is the part that got me. The journalists' defense? "We thought it was true so we printed it without checking. We didn't know The Onion was not a real news site."
Okay, let me make this clear. Just because The Onion makes incredible sense sometimes Does Not mean it's real, 'k?
Okay, one last weird story. I realize everybody's getting more lawsuit-happy these days, but even so...
Legal case against God dismissed A US judge has thrown out a case against God, ruling that because the defendant has no address, legal papers cannot be served.
Oooooookay. I'm not even going to try to relate that one to health or fitness.
Note: I'm on the road today. Typing on a keyboard while driving is probably still legal -- I mean, you can text while you drive -- but I thought it better not to risk it. So this is a vintage post that I've unpacked and brought down from the archives. Crabby will be back tomorrow with more fresh Cranky Fitness! -Merry
Sometimes exercise might not be the right answer.
I'm not talking about the retired professor who wrote "The Joy of Laziness," advocating that people exercise less and sleep in more. He felt that exercise made people more stressed, while laziness (such as hanging out in a hammock) made them more relaxed. I'd like to put that theory to further non-rigorous testing before offering an opinion one way or another. I'm talking about an article in Psychology Today about how exercise might not be the best way to respond to stress. This is totally contrary to my oft-repeated mantra of exercise or else, but this article made me think. (In itself a good thing.)
Basically the author suggests that exercise might not be the best response to stress. Or at least, not all the time. She advocates positive social contact instead. (I'm grossly oversimplifying what the author wrote, but that's a side effect of my laziness testing.) She quotes a neuroscientist, "You may think exercise is curative... but the calm you get from jogging 10 miles is more analgesic than therapeutic."
This runs counter to everything else I've read on the subject. Everywhere you look experts are recommending exercise as a form of stress management. Exercise helps the body relax. It doesn't make my problems go away, but if I'm relaxed I'm better prepared to face them.
The idea of deliberately not exercising worries me a bit. It would be so easy to slide into the habit of using stress as an excuse not to exercise. Working out is the best way to blow off steam that I know of. Perhaps the solution would be for people in high-stress situations to exercise in a social setting: go to a gym, join a cycling group, something like that. I've always been a loner when it comes to exercise, but maybe I could persuade the dog to come along on a run.
I don't think there's anything wrong with positive social contact when you're having a stressed-out day; I just don't think it should take the place of exercise.
I remember reading of one woman who used to stuff herself whenever she was upset, taking the concept of comfort food to an extreme. Then she switched to exercising when she was upset, which at first was great. She lost a lot of weight, toned her body, and felt good about herself. But she felt good about herself only when she was exercising. So she ended up exercising for hours at a time (I believe her exercise drug of choice was dancing), to the point where she seriously injured the tendons in her legs but wanted to continue dancing anyway. Someone in that situation should probably try hammock testing for a change. Or social contact. (Or social contact in a hammock.)
Seems to me that if you have a tendency to take things to this extreme, then exercise might not be the right answer for you. I suspect this woman is the exception rather than the rule. But that's just my opinion. What do you think?
Note: the hammock up above is available for a mere $19,500. (Background setting not included.) I don't know how you're supposed to relax in something that expensive, but it does look nice.
