The Centers for Disease Control are reporting an upsurge of reported seasonal influenza cases in the past couple of weeks indicating that we may be in for a particularly nasty Flu season. Even if you do not normally get a shot, this year you should. Continue reading
Hola todos! Welcome to the inaugural edition of music suggestions for the gym. It’s a new year and a new fabulous you. Let’s celebrate by kicking out the tunes. Of course you are welcome to recommend the hot jamz you are listening to. In fact, I insist. I have my own taste in music and you have yours. I tend to go towards indie/hip hop/weird eclectic international stuff but I like a good song, so please share yours with us! Continue reading
We’re gonna talk about this little bit of insanity for a second, ok, kids? Ok. In the vein of the old mantra, “If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” the weirdo troll monsters, 4Chan /b/ (whatever), spent the better part of yesterday calling for Operation Cut For Bieber. This appeared to be some sort of bullshit movement hoping to get young people to self-mutilate as part of an asscrappingly horrendous demonstration in protest of Bieber’s alleged habit of smoking “the good Lord’s ganja” — and it has all the markers of being one of the more heinous things we’ve witnessed with regard to social media and peer pressure. Continue reading
As many people do upon entering a new year, I was reflecting on the past year and some of the significant changes I made concerning my health. Things on January 1, 2012, were not at all where I wanted to be: I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life, I was abnormally inactive, and I was overindulging with food and drink. When I got sick in December 2011, my doctor of 10 years handed me a printout about how to lose weight. I was mortified. I had to do something differently or I was going to be facing some serious consequences. Continue reading
Time to get serious again, folks! While cleaning out my parent’s first floor after the hurricane I came across some stories I had written. Luckily, the ink on most of them were still visible. The following is one of those stories. I wrote it in the Fall of 2005, towards the end of my battle with an eating disorder. Although I no longer suffer, each day I continue to struggle with it.
With her left hand she grips the porcelain bowl. The right index finger enters her mouth and moves back to the farthest reaches of her throat. She tickles her tonsils and feels the bile rise; almost there. Remove the finger, let the floodgates open and expel dinner. A running shower prevents detection. The bowl a putrid mixture of acid, food and soda. The tomato sauce had been tastier on the way down. Nothing sticks around for long. Continue reading
Hello, friends. I’m your Super Squats Challenge girl. Are you tired, run down, listless? Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular? The answer to all your problems is to do jumping lunges! Continue reading
DO YOUR LUNGES! DO THEM FOR AMERICA…OR WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD! Continue reading
In this week’s episode: Dancing Queen runs a race! How? What? WHY? Those answers are still not clear, but I will tell you about it anyway. Continue reading
Have you ever been to a GNC or The Vitamin Store? It is bewildering the volume and variety of weight training nutritional supplements available. Ditto if you’ve ever read a fitness or weight training magazine. Everyone has this product or that product they insist will give you amazing gains, deep cuts, and noticeable results in just (insert unrealistic time frame).
I’m here to tell you that, after 20 years of weight training, I’ve come to a conclusion: there’s not very much out there that’s worth spending your hard earned money on. The majority of it is just bunk. Some of it might work, but the effect is so minor as to not be worth it for the amateur weight trainer or fitness enthusiast. If you were an Olympic athlete competing in events where fractions of a second can mean the difference between a Wheaties contract or four more years of anonymous high altitude training in Denver, then sure, go spend the money on anything that will give you even the slightest edge. I’m pretty sure Michael Phelps doesn’t have an Intense Debate account, so I’m not going there.
For the rest of us who just want to be a little stronger, a little bigger, maybe a little more lean, here’s the supplements I recommend, because they’ve produced tangible, noticeable results for me. Continue reading
…and we’d like to tell them that they’re insane. Ok. Seriously, sure, fine, we get it. Let’s do exercise! It’s good for the body and the soul. It’s all about mind over matter, friends. “You can do it!” says Chuck Norris probably. Ok. We really hate Chuck Norris. Anyway, here’s this thing that will probably make your heart exit your body and ask you if you’ve lost your goddamn mind. Continue reading