Spare the Spine

Greetings from Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. Located virtually in the center of the state, the city is also centrally located
in the country.

Muscles located in the central area of our bodies are called core muscles. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) says that core strength is important because the muscles of the lower back and abdomen serve as a solid foundation for nearly all bodily activities, movement, and posture.

Core training is rapidly gaining in popularity for one reason:
Sitting leads to a weak core.

Risks associated with a weak core include a common ailment...lower back pain. Other problems include poor posture, being injury prone, having minimal strength and (drum roll, please) a bulging waistline.

Professor Stuart McGill, professor of spine biomechanics at University of Waterloo, cautions that even some widely held notions - like, "stretching the back and increasing the range of motion will help prevent injury" - are questionable. In fact, he says research shows that people who have a greater range of motion in their backs are more susceptible to future injury. How's that for blowing a hole in your exercise routine??

One of my (mother's!) primary concerns as I began jogging and lifting weights was the risk to my lower back. "Once you've injured your back, it's not something that's easily fixed," she argues.
Point well taken.

So, for the health of all our backs, please take a few minutes to review Dr. McGill's recommendations for how to maintain
lower back health and prevent injury to this vital skeletal component.

This week, I'm staying at the newly remodeled Holiday Inn Presidential, one of the nicest properties in the company's portfolio, where I'm taking full advantage of the hotel's fitness center to keep my core in shape!

Don't Eat Like a Bird; Sing Like One

"'Eat like a bird' is a very poor analogy, since it is meant to denote light consumption," says Alan Weiss in his current Balancing Act newsletter. "The birds I've seen, from sparrows to seagulls, pack it down like there's no tomorrow since they have huge metabolisms. We're often blindly imprisoned by venerable but inaccurate bromides."

On another note, my dad,
Dr. Davis Bingham, is one of the gifted humans who sings like a bird. A profoundly healthy 77, he still conducts his church choir, and will be singing the baritone lead in Mendelssohn's "Elijah" this Sunday in North Carolina.




The last time I visited Dad and my stepmother, Joan, was the week after Thanksgiving last year, when DH and I were on our holiday eating binge.
(I admit, it was really awkward watching them eat responsibly, or watching television while they went to play tennis or work out in their gym.)

When I return to their home in mid-June, I will have lost 49 pounds - assuming I reach my weekly goals between now and then.
"Cant wait to see the NEW you!" Dad said in an email yesterday.

"..and I ran 25 minutes WITHOUT STOPPING today," I responded proudly.

What a difference a decision and some dedication makes!
This truly is the Best Life!

Willpower: Budget Wisely

Books like this get my attention: Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life.
Authors Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang, writing for the New York Times, cite scores of research showing we have a fixed will power budget, one that we should be careful spending.

"If we tap into this neural reservoir and use it on one thing, we have less for others," says psychologist Daniel Goldman. "Tasks that demand some self-control make it harder for us to do the next thing that takes will power...Some neuroscientists suspect that self-control consumes blood sugar, which takes a while to build up again, and so the depletion effect."

The flip side is that, unlike our assumption that we are born with a fixed amount of brain goo that depletes over time, science now confirms the brain makes about 10,000 new cells every day that migrate to where they are needed. Once there, each cell makes around 10,000 connections to other brain cells over the successive four months.

As a result, each time you exercise will power, you strengthen your brain’s "executive center" - located just behind the forehead. Learning to delay gratification in one area like food increases your ability to resist impulse buying at the store, for instance. (Remember our recent conversations about how developing discipline in one area - like food choices - improves our performance in other areas - like C25K?)

I suspect this is valuable information - not only for adults like us who are retraining our brains, but also for those of us who want to give our children and grandchildren a head start on healthy living.

Healthy You Challenge 2008

This week, I'm pleased to report the brain and body cooperated to produce another two-pound loss, bringing the totals since January 15 to 37 pounds and 31.5 inches lost. That means we’re 57 percent toward the goal of losing a total of 65 pounds in 33 weeks, or by August 12.

BMI: Start 33.9 / Current 27.9 / Goal 23.4 or less
Waist-to-hip ratio: Start .94 / Current .85 / Goal .80 or less

Train 'em Young!

Our effervescent Felicia requested we post a childhood photo. Here's one that, until recently, was always prominently displayed in my mother's living room. Notice those chubby cheeks, fluffy arms and chunky thighs? How about the little roll just below the shoulder?

Obesity in kids has reached epidemic levels. Experts estimate that 15 percent of kids are overweight and another 15 percent are at risk of becoming overweight. And two-thirds of these overweight kids will become overweight adults.

These alarming statistics have already prompted many of us to make a commitment to prevent obesity in our children or grandchildren by helping them maintain a healthy weight through appropriate food choices and adequate exercise.

Last week, several of us discussed having been reared as members of the "Clean Plate Club." Somehow, what began as the Food and Fuel Control Act of 1917 to preserve our food supply during WWI evolved into a movement forcing children to eat more than they really need.

I'm grateful the tide is turning, but my goodness, have you looked at a typical public school breakfast and lunch menu recently??

Having a Ball on Saturday

Weekends are for weddings...at least for me! Yesterday, I married a couple at the end of a windy pier at Butler Manor Bed & Breakfast.

This afternoon, our quartet will play for a wedding in the Anthony Chapel of Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Before I go to the wedding, I'm headed to the gym for an extended workout - which, beginning today, will include exercises specifically geared to improve my (novice) golf skills.

Today, I'll incorporate the Russian Twist on a Swiss Ball
• Lie on ball, with shoulder blades on ball and hips pushed up high off ground.
• Place hands together, as in the photo (or hold a single dumbbell when you advance in Swiss ball workouts).
• Keeping your hips up, turn your shoulders to the right so they are perpendicular to the ground.
• Twist back to the starting position, then twist to the other side.
• Do 10 twists to each side for a couple of sets.

Benefits to the Golf Swing include:
• Improved rotational strength and speed.
• Strengthened and better-protected spine
• Utilization of arms and core as one, similar to a golf swing.

After doing this exercise for just a short period of time, I should notice an increased ability to make a full and tension-free backswing as well as more power coming into impact during the downswing.

Actually, during that first position, I'll probably be praying, "Dear God, please don't let me make a fool out of myself by rolling off this ball. Besides, I've gotta play my cello this afternoon and can't afford to hurt my shoulder, okay?"