Fitness News & Views
A Publication of Graham Fitness
| January 15, 2014 |
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1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 |
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Get Relief from Back Pain – Guaranteed!
If you suffer from back pain, even if the pain is chronic, even if you have lived with it for years, I can help you. And I’m so sure I can help you, if you don’t experience substantial relief in as little as five weeks, I will refund your money. Every dime of it!
My program involves 3 simple enjoyable exercises that you do on your own every day, and 10 to 12 more that you do twice a week during sessions with me. The program lasts 5 weeks, but most people get noticeable relief in one week.
The 5-week program costs $499. But unlike medical treatment, this service is guaranteed. If you don’t get substantial relief as defined by you, I will refund every dollar. That’s how sure I am that it will work for you as it already has for others. (By the way, I will provide referrals you can call who have gotten pain relief from my program.)
Here’s what my last client, S. Derrick, had to say: “My back is considerably better...I would recommend your program to anyone with back pain.”
Call me at 803-447-8557 or email me at tim@grahamfitness.com. Why suffer another week?
Personal Note
Over the holidays, I thought I had a melanoma on my back. Last week I got definitive word that it was benign. I believe God honored the prayers that many of you said for me and I thank you for them.
For four weeks, I was concerned that I might not see another Christmas. The experience, though stressful, taught me a lot. It showed me how precious life is and how much I’ve been taking for granted. The world is full of God’s goodness. In fact, he is the source of all things good. Imagine a place where God is absent and there is no good thing at all. That place is hell.
Take time daily to thank God for all the good things in your life, and never take them for granted.
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The New Year inevitably brings resolutions, and that′s good. Just as certainly, the New Year brings broken resolutions, and that′s bad, since most resolutions are positive.
The most common resolutions have to do with getting fit, and they involve either exercise or diet or both. Successful goal setting involves thought, planning, and the willingness to persist even when difficulties arise which they most definitely will. Here are a few suggestions to help you stick with your promises to yourself.
First, set realistic goals. If you are 75 pounds overweight, don′t resolve to lose it all in 6 weeks or even 6 months. As a matter of fact, forget about your weight altogether for now. Instead, as a first step, resolve to drop one dress size or one pants size. I tell my clients who want to lose weight to take a dress or pair of pants that′s one size smaller out of the closet and hang it up as inspiration. I also tell them to avoid the temptation to get on the scales for at least the first month of their program.
There is nothing like putting on that smaller dress or pair of pants and realizing you are getting slimmer. But you can be getting significantly slimmer without losing much weight. It has to do with building muscle and losing fat, and it will all work itself out in the end (pun intended).
Second, make a plan of action. A resolution without a plan is simply a wish destined for failure. Determining a plan to get in shape could be nothing more than calling a personal trainer, preferably me, and allowing me to work with you to design a program specifically for you. Or you might plan to walk 30 minutes 6 days a week and lift weights three times a week. You will also need to look at your normal week and see when and how you are going to make the time for your workouts. In addition, your plan might involve eating properly and what that means to you. A good plan involves more than just saying, ″This year I′m going to get in shape.″
Third, make a mental commitment to your resolution. Tell yourself why it is important to you to trim your excess fat. Perhaps you′re on blood pressure medication and you′d like to get off of it. Maybe you are borderline diabetic, or maybe you are just tired all the time and would like more energy. Whatever your reasons, write them down and mentally commit to them.
Fourth, plan for setbacks. You will face some obstacles along the way. For instance, you can expect to plateau at some time during the first few months of your program. After several weeks of progress, your body will seem to stop responding to your workouts and conscientious eating. If you are mentally prepared for this you will not be thrown off by it, but if you are not prepared, it can be devastating to your psyche. If you keep working your program, in time you will come off of these plateaus.
You can also expect to miss a workout somewhere along the line. You might even miss a week or two because of sickness or some other reason. Don′t let this keep you from resuming your program as soon as you can. Missing a week won′t hurt you unless you use it as an excuse to quit altogether.
Getting fit is not easy. You may be motivated now, but exercising is difficult. It involves discipline and dedication, and, most of all, persistence, but the rewards are worth the effort. So keep with it, and make this your best year ever.
I know it′s hard for most of us to comprehend, but for some people exercise is a compulsion. When exercise takes priority over everything else, it has become an addiction. The symptoms of this strange malady are increased fatigue, injuries, irritability, and problems with work and relationships.
In fact, not only is an exercise addiction unhealthy to relationships and income, but it can also be harmful to the heart. A study published last year in Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that excessive exercise can cause structural changes and damage to the heart and large arteries. An enlarged heart, often called a ″runner’s heart,″ is one such change. This condition can cause an abnormal heart rhythm and can be fatal in some circumstances.
A good indicator that exercise has become a compulsion is if it disrupts normal areas of your life or if you experience withdrawal symptoms or depression if you miss a regular workout or if you continue to exercise when you are sick or injured.
Do you think professional athletes make too much money? Most people do, but most people don′t realize how very few professional athletes there are in the U.S. It′s a very elite group.
If we combine the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Hockey League (NHL), and Major League Baseball (MLB), there are a total of 4,292 pro athletes. Here′s the breakdown:
NFL 1952
NBA 450
NHL 690
MLB 1200
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Considering that there are over 317 million people in the U.S., the number of pro athletes playing major sports in America is about 14 per million or .0014 percent of the total population. Maybe they aren′t overpaid after all.
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Please Support The Loyal Advertisers That Make This Newsletter Possible
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I came across this headline while surfing the net a couple of days ago. It was on the ″Science Daily″ website.
″Peanut and Tree Nut Allergy Incidence Lower Among Children Whose Mothers Ate Them During Pregnancy, Study Finds.″
I don’t know. It just struck me as funny – a little sick maybe, but funny nonetheless.
Fitness fads come and go, but let′s say goodbye to several of them in 2014. It′s hard to understand how some of these things even get started, much less gain acceptance. This list comes from Diane Mapes, an NBC contributor for the Today show.
1. Pole dancing. This is a risky exercise that produces more bruises, cracked ribs, and broken toes than toned abs.
2. Hot yoga. Performing any exercise in 98 degree heat is nuts. Why not do pushups in a sauna?
3. Gas mask training. Some crazy trainers offer classes where participants use gas masks to restrict their oxygen intake. It′s supposed to prepare you for high altitude runs and such. According to one participant, ″It′s like being strangled while you′re exercising.″ Sure, this makes good sense.
4. Backwards running. Now this is just plain silly. If God had meant us to walk or run backwards, he would have put eyes in the back of our heads.
5. Stiletto workouts. This one goes beyond silly to downright stupid. This is a foot or ankle injury waiting to happen.
6. MOB Races. These are ″mud, obstacle, and beer″ endurance challenges. I’ve done four mud runs and they were fun. But the problem is promoters keep making them harder, longer, and more dangerous. In some, participants have to swim under electrified wires. Now that’s intelligent. In others, they run through fire. What’s next? Live ammunition?
7. Stability ball exercises. I′m not talking about crunches or back extensions on balls, but there are classes where people stand on the balls while doing biceps curls or shoulder presses. These kinds of stunts belong in circuses, not gyms.
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Have you ever wondered what it means when a study finds that your chance of developing bunions is doubled if you wear leather shoes? (I made this up, so don’t worry if you wear leather shoes.) Sounds pretty risky, doesn′t it?
Well, it′s really not as bad as you think. Let′s say that people who don′t wear leather shoes have a 1 in a thousand chance of developing bunions. But people who do wear leather shoes have twice the risk, or 2 chances in 1000. When you look at it that way, it′s really not that big of a deal, is it?
This is just a media ploy to make health news more exciting. Educate yourself, and don′t fall for every sensational health statistic you hear.
Occasionally I′m asked if sweating has any health benefits, and of course, the answer is yes, it does. Sweating cools the body. (Technically, the evaporation of sweat cools the body, but we won′t get into that in this article.) Other than that however, there are no health benefits that come from sweating.
The harder you workout, the more you will sweat, and a good intense workout produces many beneficial physiological effects in the body, but sweating in and of itself does not provide or amplify those effects. Sweating doesn′t cleanse your body of toxins. You can′t sweat out a cold. As a result, sitting in a sauna to produce a good sweat is a waste of time. You might lose a little weight due to water loss, but as soon as you rehydrate, you put the weight right back on.
A couple has their first child, and after the delivery, the doctor tells them he has bad news. ″Your child is just a head,″ he says, ″but the head is healthy and should live a long life.″ So they raise the head, love it, nurture it, and just before its 12th birthday, the doctor calls the couple into his office again.
″I have great news,″ he says. ″Medical science has advanced since your child was born, and we can now do a complete torso transplant and give your child the body he has never had.″
The parents are thrilled and tell their child, ″Son, we have a great surprise for your birthday. We′re going to give you a wonderful gift.″
The head says, ″Yeah, well it better not be another damn hat.″
Graham Fitness
Tim Graham
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Website: www.grahamfitness.com
Email: tim@grahamfitness.com
Phone: 803-447-8557
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Harbison Recreation Center
106 Hillpine Road
Columbia, SC 29212
Phone: 781-2281
The Harbison Rec Center offers more facilities for less money than anywhere else in town These are just some of the features: a new weight room with all new machines, free weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes; a 25 meter junior Olympic size indoor heated swimming pool; sauna; whirlpool; racquet ball and tennis courts; a basketball gym; and miles of traffic-free trails for walking or jogging. There are classes for seniors as well as summer camp and after school programs for kids. Also newly remodeled locker rooms and an all-purpose room for large gatherings. All for only $315 a year for singles or $600 a year for families Check out their website: http://www.harbisonhoa.com/rec.
Wolf′s Fitness Center
5432 August Road
Lexington, SC 29072
Phone: 356-6400
Wolf′s is a total fitness facility offering some great amenities. There′s a huge recently expanded weight room featuring free weights and machines. There is a cardio area with treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, stair steppers, and the cardio theater. Other amenities include an indoor walking/running track, sauna, child care facilities with an attendant, tanning beds, showers, locker rooms, and sports supplements. Prices are very reasonable and there are no enrollment fees ever. Wolf′s also offers a full slate of fitness classes including kickboxing and pilates, as well as all new spinning classes . Check out their website, www.wolfsfitness.com.
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