The Gym

Yes, the gym – as in, the place where I’ve been the past two nights.

That makes two more nights than I’ve spent at one of these places in the past, oh, three or four years combined.

You see, I’m no bodybuilder. I’m not into getting all buff and stuff, nor do I really care what people think about my physique. I mean let’s face it. I’m a short, skinny, pale, redheaded kid. It is what it is 🙂

At the same time, I have not been exercising anywhere near as much as one should if one is trying to take good care of oneself.

And so, I made a promise to take better care of myself this year, which means this strange place called the gym may start becoming a lot more familiar to me. Not to try to get huge, but instead to get healthy.

I joined a place that is just a few minutes away from my house. It’s great. New, clean, plenty of space, open 24 hours, very affordable…and all kinds of TV sets including of course ESPN which I no longer have after cancelling cable last year (another story for another time) so as an added bonus it’s a place to watch sports! All while getting off the couch and out of the house.

Jackpot.

Here’s to all of us being healthy and taking better care of ourselves in the year ahead. Oh, and if you need me this week I’ll be watching the Australian Open on TV #3 by the elliptical machines.

Have a great day.

The Most and Least Active Cities in America

Ahh yes. Nothing like a study and corresponding list of results to give me a reason to post a blog. This one comes from Men’s Health. It’s the ‘Most and Least Active Cities in America’ list.

I know you want to see where your city ended up, so go ahead and take a look:
http://www.menshealth.com/health/most-active-cities

Here’s the criteria used in finding the results:

We looked at where and how often people exercise (Experian Marketing Services); the percentage of households that watch more than 15 hours of cable a week and buy more than 11 video games a year (Mediamark Research); and the rate of deaths from deep-vein thrombosis, a condition linked to a lot of sitting (CDC). And since some people define “exercise” loosely, we gave credit for any physical activity in the past month (CDC).

How did your city do? Did you score high marks? Are you near the bottom? I’m not one to take too much stock in polls and surveys so I’m not here to say these results are the hard truth by any means. Doesn’t mean it won’t make for some good water cooler conversation though.

This list brings up an important topic: Exercise. Last I checked, this is pretty vital to your health.

Are you exercising or getting physical activity on a regular basis? You don’t need me to tell you to do this. Just ask any doctor or health professional. They’ll be happy to tell you…for a small fee of course 🙂

For the record, I am no model of health. I eat food that no one has any business eating, I should work out more, etc. Just writing this as an informative piece and hopefully it will motivate you (and me) to keep moving and getting that exercise our bodies need.

Hope you have a happy and healthy day.

Oh, I almost forgot. While I’m on the topic of exercise…I came across a report a few months ago that talks about the negatives of sitting at a desk all day. Check out the article – it’s a pretty good read. It includes audio and video segments as well. Worth a look.