Posted: 20 Sep 2010 12:14 PM PDT

Let's be honest: There are as many temperaments as there are styles of exercise. I prefer flipping tires and slinging kettlebells with my friend Jef, while my friend Bonnie prefers the peaceful movements of yoga. Different strokes but hopefully all happy folks.

Let's take a look at cardiovascular exercise and see which end of the spectrum we all fall at.

Walk like an Egyptian. This weekend, there is a Jimmy Fund Walk to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Walking is somewhat of a "buy in" as far as fitness goes; not the hardest of aerobics workouts, but it certainly helps you burn a few calories and can help you get started on your way.

My friends Diane and Margaret are doing the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon route walk as I type, and I'm sure that their legs and feet will make a rather unreasonable cry when they're complete. So when it comes to walking, it can be a walk around your neighborhood if you want, but ramping it up to where you're really covering some ground is where the payoff really is.

Kick back or join the pack. The front row of cardiovascular equipment at the club I work at is recumbent bicycles; they're a little bit easier than sitting up on a conventional stationary bike and, therefore, people seem to relax on them a bit more.

Sure, you can get a decent leg workout on them, but if you really want to rev up your cycling, try a spin class. Crazy intensity followed by some recovery, charismatic instructors guiding you through the class and keeping you entertained and an almost "pack mentality" as the class all pulls together to make sure everybody kicks butt and has fun.

To sneakers or to Vibram, that is the question. It really is; I have completely switched to wearing the Vibram Five Fingers as has my lovely wife Andrea. She has never really been an avid runner and has just recently started enjoying her exercise more now that she has embraced the differences between heel and toe striking. And let me tell you, if she enjoys running because of this new technology, anyone can.

Take your pick, lower your head and go for it. Have a great week, gang!

Darin St. George is a personal fitness coach at Gold's Gym in Natick, Mass. Visit his website at www.TrainerX.com.

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Health: Reverend setting fitness example for black community - Peoria Journal Star

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 09:06 PM PDT

Checking in on the Rev. James Bailey since he kicked off his weight-loss challenge in July:

Pledges are still coming in for each pound he loses by November. Most pledges are in the 50 cents to $2 range, but one man pledged a straight $1,000.

More members of Ward Chapel AME Church, where he is the minister, have joined him on the weight-loss bandwagon. Unlike Bailey, they haven't turned their personal goal into a public challenge.

Other community groups have contacted him to talk about getting involved in the church's Healthy Living Campaign, which is the larger goal behind the 41-year-old minister's efforts to get back to his high school weight.

Notably, Philip Lockwood, an organizer of the annual Steamboat Classic race and Building Steam, the fitness training before the race, has talked with Bailey about helping the church develop community-based fitness programs.

After 35 years, the Steamboat Classic committee has earned a reputation for bringing world class athletes to Peoria, Lockwood says. Now the committee wants to use its expertise to get people physically active in their neighborhoods.

"Some people may need help getting out the door," Lockwood says. "What the church wants to do wraps around nicely with what we've been talking about for some time."

Additionally, Lockwood says his group has been looking for avenues to reach out to the local black community.

"For the last 20 years, a majority of the (Steamboat Classic) winners have been Africans, but hardly any African-Americans participate," Lockwood says. "How can we call ourselves a community event if we're not representing the African-American community?"

As much as Bailey wants to lose his own weight, he wants to see black church congregations take on the weight of reducing the prevalence of obesity among African-Americans, along with the high rates of hypertension, diabetes and heart disease that come with those excess pounds.

Ward Chapel celebrates its 164th anniversary Oct. 17. Bailey notes. "A lot of wonderful things have happened in that time, but the question I raise is what difference would it make if we weren't here?"

For Bailey, promoting healthier lifestyles is the difference he can make for himself and the difference the church can help make for an entire community.

So, how much weight has he lost since Ward Chapel kicked off the Healthy Lifestyles campaign in July, with a day-long community health fair and a minister's weight-loss challenge?

As of Monday, Bailey was down 14 pounds, almost halfway toward his goal of 30 pounds to be lost by Nov. 6, but not as close to his overall 50-pound goal as he'd like to be.

He's encountered familiar challenges along the way - challenges familiar, at least, to anyone who has ever tried to lose weight.

There was that week-long church conference in St. Louis earlier this month and the small pressure of trying to eat healthy when there's not a lot of time and the choices are either fast-food restaurants or hotel or restaurant buffets.

"Especially with buffets," he says, "you have a lot of choices to get into stuff you don't need."

He managed by selecting more vegetables than meat and staying away from condiments.

But, whether eating at home or on the road, he also felt his daily morning workouts at the gym weren't enough. He was beginning to plateau, he says, so he switched locations and routines, going from jogging and working out on machines at the gym to the church basement, following along to "Insanity by Beachbody," which bills itself as the "Ultimate Cardio Workout and Fitness DVD Program."

Shortly after 7 a.m. on a recent weekday morning, Bailey walked through the church sanctuary in gym shorts and T-shirt, worn out from the video workout.

"No bones about it," he says, "I'll have 30 pounds off by the next weigh-in." Anything else is "unimaginable."

He gets inspired when he imagines the possibilities of a collaboration between the church and the Steamboat Classic organizers.

"What would be exciting for me," he says, "is putting together a walk/run and race that addresses African-American health issues."

Pam Adams can be reached at 686-3245 or padams@pjstar.com.

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Cardio routine can nurture sweet dreams - Reuters India

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 02:54 AM PDT

A man sleeps in a tunnel with one arm resting on a pedal of his bike in central Beijing August 25, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/David Gray

By Dorene Internicola

NEW YORK | Mon Sep 27, 2010 5:19pm IST

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Sleepless and sedentary? Instead of counting sheep in a field, try running through a meadow.

Experts agree that an aerobic exercise routine during the day can keep you from tossing and turning at night, even if they're not sure why.

"The bottom line is we really don't know why people tell us that exercise helps them sleep," said Dr. David Davila of the National Sleep Foundation.

"But if people are normally active, reaching their aerobic goals, chances are they will sleep the right amount for what they need."

Davila, who practices sleep medicine in Little Rock, Arkansas, said the low-grade sleep deprivation suffered by many time-pressed, under-rested Americans has a cumulative effect.

"People have more car accidents and what they call 'presentee-ism', or poor performance, at work," he said. "There are fallouts for the average person."

But evidence is emerging that aerobic exercise can offer relief from insomnia.

A recent study at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois tracked 23 previously sedentary adults, primarily women 55 and older, who had difficulty falling or staying asleep.

After 16 weeks on an aerobics training program that included exercising on a treadmill or stationery bicycle, average sleep quality improved.

"Most of poor sleepers became good sleepers," said Dr. Phyllis Zee, the lead researcher in the study, which was funded by the National Institute on Aging.

She said an earlier study using Tai Chi showed less dramatic results, as did a control group doing non-physical activities such as cooking classes and museum lectures.

"This is the first time that I'm aware of where we've looked at the benefits of aerobic exercise as a treatment modality in a population with insomnia," Zee said.

She added that she sees a lot of patients with insomnia, which afflicts 25 percent of the population and can reach as high as 40 percent in older people.

"We tell them to get regular exercise. But we really don't emphasize how to exercise."

If your schedule dictates that you can only hit the gym at 5 a.m. Dr. Shawn D. Youngstedt, an expert on sleep and exercise at the University of South Carolina, believes that an hour of exercise can do more good than an extra hour of sleep.

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Health Aerobics Cardio

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

“Darin St. George: Different cardio exercises - MetroWest Daily News” plus 2 more

“Darin St. George: Different cardio exercises - MetroWest Daily News” plus 2 more

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