Body in Motion

Push yourself

If you do the same workout routine over and over, there's a good chance you will reach a plateau and probably give up. Maybe that's why my condo gym has been empty lately. In January, people resolve to exercise more. In a few weeks they see results, then nothing. This is not the time to quit. This is the time to shake things up, give your body a new challenge. How? Try these tips, which were published in the Albany Times Union, based on advice from Ruth Esposito, a nutritionist in Clifton Park, N.Y.:
    •   Push yourself further: Try to exercise a little harder every week so your body doesn't establish a pattern. Add additional weight, boost the speed on the treadmill, or add additional resistance to the bike -- anything to make your body work harder.
    •   Try weight training: Muscles need more calories to operate than fat does, so building muscles can increase your metabolism.
    •   Don't starve yourself: Remember the perils of yo-yo dieting. Instead, adopt a long-term, low-calorie diet so that your body gradually loses weight.
    •   Water, water, water: Drink lots of water. Water helps suppress your appetite, metabolize stored fat and improves muscle tone.

You want fries with that?

Can you believe this: McDonald's is redesigning some restaurants with feng shui in mind to make them  more appealing to customers. Meanwhile, more than 1 billion adults are overweight, and 300 million of them are obese, according to the World Health Organization. I'm sure the average McDonald's customers won't be thinking about that when they plop down on leather seats, gaze at bamboo plants and listen to trickling water as they expand their waistlines ... because they will be one with the world, or one with their cellulite.

Mark your calendar

If you're into supplements, check out the LifeExtension Nutrition center in Fort Lauderdale. Chances are, they have whatever you're looking for. The center, at 1100 W. Commercial Blvd., also offers free lectures:
    •  March 20: Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle & Healthy Weight Loss Tips. (Top 10 benefits of exercising, the importance of BMI and basic nutrition.)
    •  April 17: Diabetes
    •  May 22: Achieving Healthy Hormone Levels
    •  June 19: Skin Cancer and Prevention
Lectures begin at 6 p.m. Call 1-888-895-4771 to reserve a seat.

Reduce your risk of stroke

The Associated Press reports:

      Being merely moderately fit -- walking briskly half an hour a day -- can lower the risk of having a stroke, according to a new study whose findings apply to women as well as men.    

      Much of the previous research on stroke and fitness has been on men and relied on participants to report their physical activity, said Steven Hooker, who heads the University of South Carolina's prevention Research Center in Columbia and led the study. About a quarter of those in the new study were women, and everyone had a treadmill test to measure his or her fitness level.

   "It seems that benefits we've been observing in men for many years ... are also observed in women," Hooker said.

   He said even those who were moderately fit had a lower risk of stroke. Most people can reach that fitness range by walking briskly for 30 minutes a day, five times a week, said Hooker, who presented the findings Thursday at the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans.

Casting call

Would you and (fill in the blank) like to be a contestant on The Biggest Loser? If so, head over to Festival Flea Market Mall on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to audition.  For Season 6 the NBC show seeks twins, family members, mother and father plus child combinations, husbands and wives, siblings, grandparents, cousins, fiancées, co-workers, best friends, former teammates and/or athletes, retirees, college students etc. to complete for $250,000. Contestants must be 18 or older  and a legal U.S. citizen. Bring a photograph and/or video. The first 500 people in line will be guaranteed an interview. Casting agents urge contestants to NOT show up more than three hours before the start time.

•  Festival Flea Market Mall is at 2900 W. Sample Rd., Pompano Beach. More info: www.festival.com, 954-979-4555 or 1 (800) FLEA MARKET. For those unable to make the casting call, please visit www.nbc.com/casting  to find out how to apply.

Spare me

Sometimes I wonder why some people go to the gym. I'm talking about the two people I saw at my condo gym this morning. They were side by side, one on the stationary bike and the other on the Tony Little glider. I think they burned more calories talking than they did exercising. The biker was hardly pedaling and the glider was hardly gliding. I saw not one drop of sweat on them. They should have stayed home, called each other on their cell phones and walked around the living room while discussing how their children were doing in school. I didn't need to hear their conversation, and other people were waiting to use the equipment. How about a little common courtesy?

Another reason to exercise

Sometimes soothing music, a relaxing bath or even a nice massage aren't enough to ease work-related stress. So, the next time you feel like ripping someone apart at work, go to a quiet area and do 100 push-ups, crunches or jumping jacks. Then, when you get home, go outside and run as fast as you can. Do intervals. Go fast, then slow, then faster, then slow, then faster ... until you drop. Then, get that massage. You'll feel much better in the morning.

Upcoming races

Tribute to the Military 5K, Sunday, Feb. 17, 8 a.m., Merrick Park/City, Coral Gables

Carnival Miami 8K, Friday, Feb. 29, 6:45 p.m., Brickell Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street, Miami

Baptist Health  Tour of the Gables 5K, Saturday, April 12, 7:30 a.m., Coral Gables City Hall

Register: www.footworksmiami.com

Go ahead - Nobody's looking

Q. I already know the answer: Go see a shrink. Problem: I hate to exercise in public. I don't have agoraphobia, but I absolutely hate to pass by people's houses. Other half of this problem: Exercising at home is so dull, and the TV and fridge are sitting right over there. If I could wear a bag over my head, assuring that no one knew who I was, I could walk in public. If I could dance to my favorite music at home, I would. I think the answer might be getting a good sound system and some Beach Boys CDs. And a shrink?

A. Not that there's anything wrong with the Beach Boys solution, but I'm not getting good vibrations that you'll stick with an exercise program that consists entirely of pretend surfing in your living room. Plus, that TV and fridge probably aren't going anywhere. So, yeah, I saw a shrink -- well, sort of: Mark Anshel, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at Middle Tennessee State University. People who talk as you do are usually self-conscious about their bodies and how others view them, he says. The mind-set is rampant among middle-aged participants in Anshel's campus wellness program. "There is a hesitancy among the faculty and staff to use a facility used by people half their age," he explains. "It can be really debilitating."    His solution for them might work for you, too. It starts with developing a workout routine. "Know what you're going to do, have a sequence, a start time and a finish time," he says. Then, bulk up your social support by exercising with a friend or a coach -- either outdoors or in the gym. Both of these moves should help keep your mind focused on the task at hand rather than on what that skinny ninny on the treadmill is thinking about you (‘‘although there's a high likelihood that no one is thinking anything about you," he adds). If those methods don't make public exercise easier, Anshel urges you to get more help than a newspaper blog provide. Several conditions, including depression and anxiety, could be contributing to your problem and require professional counseling.

---THE WASHINGTON POST

How about a triathlon?

                                                      

If the 5K is too short and the marathon not challenging enough, try a triathlon. Take your pick: Ironman (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run), Sprint (half-mile swim, 12.4-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run); Olympic (0.93-mile swim, 24.8-mile bike ride and 6.2-mile run); or Half-Ironman (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run). You've got the running down, so start working on your biking and swimming. You can always hire a coach. Meanwhile, these steps from the Los Angeles Times will get you going:

    • Become a member. Joining a triathlon club or training team is a great way to begin.
    • Watch first. If you're not sure a triathlon is for you, or if the whole notion of a race is intimidating, check one out.
    • Practice full disclosure. Let your family and friends know what to expect.
    • Sign up for the race. It will keep you motivated.
    • Consider an intermediate goal such as a 10K run or a 50-mile bike race. A less ambitious event is terrific preparation, boosting confidence and highlighting potential weaknesses.
    •  Prevent surprises. Research a race course as much as you can ahead of time, learning the terrain and grades for the run and bike portions and possible weather conditions.

More info: http://www.usatriathlon.org/

Get out

It's nice to get out of the gym every so often and go the park for a nice long bike ride. That's what I did Saturday. I enjoyed it so much that I did it Sunday, too. There were no noisy treadmill motors, no screeching StairMasters and no grunting weight-lifters. Just a nice cool breeze around the 4.5-mile  jogging/biking/rollerblading path circling the golf course in Pompano Beach. It's a shame to avoid the outdoors this time of the year, when other parts of the country are covered in snow and ice. What's keeping you in the gym? Is it the numbers that pop up on the exercise equipment every time you burn a calorie? Come on, do you really think those figures are accurate?