The other day the fabulous Miss Shirl and I were out walking when we came across three fellows working their gluteus maximi off. All they had was one piece of equipment in the park -- basically a glorified pull-up bar -- and some rubber bands, but man were they getting a great workout. It reminded me that if you really want to stay in shape all you need is the desire and a bit of imagination.

See what I mean……….

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlNZ-YS5qes

I have a friend, whom I have never met.  He is a young man in (where are you from Henrik?)  Oh, yes, Henrik lives in Sweden.

He is 30 years old going on “Wise” man  and he has spent (how many Henrik?) oh, yes, 5 years training himself in the power of Positive Thinking. Here  is what he has accomplished – in his own words:

• Switched from a generally pretty negative attitude to a much more positive one.
• Lost 26 pounds during 4 months in the winter/spring of 2009. I did it by using a program called Turbulence Training, check out the review here.
• Become a lot more present. I used to live a lot of my life in my head, in the past and in the future. Today I spend a lot more time living it in the present moment. It’s a wonderful thing.
• I have become a less shy and more confident person.
• I get things done. I used to be a real procrastinating slacker that never got much done. My effectiveness and productivity have shot up quite a bit since then (although I certainly still have room for improvement).
• I have created a highly successful blog. This blog has – in July of 2010 – 32000+ subscribers via email and RSS and hundreds of thousands of visitors each month. How did I do it? How to Build a Somewhat Successful Blog: 16 Lessons I Have Learned has a lot of answers.

Henrik is a man with a mission.  I have never actually met him, but his blog is filled with interesting lessons and lovely positive thoughts.  His picture is perfect for what he advocates.

So it was terrific tonight when I got home and got a message from Henrik.  My day had not been stellar!  It was one of those days when my computer wouldn’t do anything I asked of it, and although I was all set up for my favorite client, she came in and asked for other things which I could not bring up on my computer immediately, which made me feel the fool and a tad inept when she found a spelling error in the very first title page.

Geez, I felt completely disheartened after trying a number of times to burn a DVD of my work for my client, only to send her home with a DVD with “Nothing” on it.  Duh!

Knowing this, I spent another 2 hours trying to burn a “corrected” version of the DVD.  To No Avail!  Sorry, the computer said, No Can Do because the original can’t be found.  What?!!! It’s a Movie!  You Can Burn a Movie, said I…but no.

Then, I opened my g-mail and Henrik sent me this:

I am not great about getting out of bed. Once I’m up it’s fine but the actual getting out of bed after the alarm has gone off isn’t easy. However, when it comes to other wake up calls I don’t waste any time. If I start to put on weight, I change what I’m eating until I’m back to my normal size. If my cholesterol is heading in the wrong direction I make adjustments to my diet until it’s back in a safe range. There are some wake up calls you simply don’t want to miss.

Don't miss that wake up call!

Yet a lot of people do just that. A recent study found that one year after suffering a heart attack, or undergoing heart bypass surgery or angioplasty, only around one third of people are still exercising regularly to reduce their risks of having a second attack.

The study was done by researchers at Case Western Reserve University. They followed 248 people who had just had a serious heart issue. All 248 of them took part in a 12 week course to help them make the lifestyle changes they needed to turn their health around. But one year later only 37 percent of the group were still exercising three times a week. And women were more likely than men to have dropped out.

Now, many of these people were seniors and retired so it wasn’t as if they didn’t have enough time to exercise regularly. And they weren’t being asked to do a triathlon or run a marathon. All they had to do was exercise regularly – something as simple as brisk walking, some light weight lifting etc. Yet despite having had one heart attack or heart bypass surgery they still couldn’t find the motivation to make a change that could prevent them having a second one.

The other day I met a man who had a similar wake up call. He’d taken a new test to predict his risk of developing diabetes. It’s a simple blood test but it looks at a number of other factors to make the assessment. It rates your risk on a scale of one to ten – with ten being the highest risk. This gentleman’s score was 8. He immediately signed up for an education class on how to make the changes he needed to make. The class was filled with other people in his shoes and the course instructors said one of the best things everyone could do was to join a gym and exercise regularly.

Three months later the man’s risk is down to a 5 and getting lower all the time. He recently returned to the class and was talking to some of the other participants. He said many of them say they are “considering” joining a gym but haven’t gotten around to it. Considering! What’s to consider. If your life is at risk, and in this case it is, what else do you need to help you make the changes you need.

Too often we get comfortable, even complacent, with our lifestyle even when we know it’s putting us at risk of heart attack or stroke or diabetes or all of them combined. Change isn’t easy, it requires a lot of effort to stop doing what we have always done and start doing what we have always avoided.

But the alternative isn’t much fun. If I hit the snooze button on my early morning wake up call, all I’m at risk of is sleeping late. If I get a test that says my lifestyle is slowly, or not so slowly, killing me and I ignore that wake up call, the consequences can be really unpleasant.

Breathing is one of the most basic of human functions. In fact, it is the most basic. Stop breathing and everything else stops too – pretty quickly. We all do it, every single second of every minute of every day of our lives. But often we are not even aware of how we do it, or the fact that we are doing it wrong.

Breathing deeply

How can you breathe wrongly you are probably asking? Well, it’s easy. You do it without even being aware of it.

Next time you are standing in line at Starbucks or waiting for a bus or train, or in line at the supermarket take a look at all the people around you and try to notice how they are breathing. With some people it’s easy to see, or even hear, particularly with someone who is overweight – their breathing is often labored because every movement is more tiring, more taxing on their body. You can hear them breathe, you can see their chest rising and falling, as if everything is a real effort.

With other people it’s less obvious but if you watch closely (not too closely, you don’t want them calling security on you!) you can see them breathing too. It’s often quite short, shallow breaths.

Then notice how you breathe. You might be surprised to notice that you usually breathe in short, shallow breaths too. What that means is that you are not taking in as much oxygen as you could, or as you should. And over time that can have a profound impact on your physical and emotional health.

Every breath you take

One of the most important elements in yoga, perhaps the most important, is the breath, noticing the breath, focusing on it, trying to make it long and deep and smooth. Why? Because numerous studies have shown that deep, controlled breathing can:

• Ease muscle tension
• Help you feel more relaxed
• Lower heart rate and blood pressure
• Increase lung capacity
• Help people with respiratory diseases like asthma and emphysema breathe more easily and reduce need for medication
• Ease anxiety

Not bad for something we all do every day eh! The problem is most of us don’t really breathe in a way that can help us maximize the health benefits of it. So here is one way to do just that.

Learning to breathe

1) Start by observing the way you normally breathe. You should notice that as you breathe in your abdomen rises and then falls when you breathe out. Watch this for a few moments to really get a sense of the rhythm and flow of your breathing.

2) Begin to deepen your breathing and extend that movement. So, as you breathe in do so more slowly and longer than normal. Let your abdomen rise as much as is comfortable, then as you breathe out slowly let it fall.

3) Don’t try to use or expand your lungs and chest while you are doing this, use only your abdomen.

4) Do this for 20 breaths.

That’s it.

Simple, but amazingly effective.

There's a book for everything - even breathing

A fresh breath of air

So try it a few times a day at first, see how it feels. Try it particularly after a stressful event, focusing on the sound and feel of your breath, and see how quickly it helps you calm down.

Then, as you get used to it, try it more and more often. Try it standing in line at Starbucks, or waiting for the bus, or in line at the grocery store. The more you do it the better you’ll get at it and the more benefits you’ll get from it.  It could prolong your life!

Tonight I was supposed to meet Kevin at the gym at 5:30.  We like to hit the gym at least 4 times a week, Monday nights are usually cardio, and other days we play squash or go to a yoga class.  However, today I was editing the show I produce and then I accompanied my daughter in her quest to find a new apartment.  When I looked at the clock I knew I wasn’t going to make it to the gym by 5:30!

Stretching is good for You!

Sometimes the gym takes a back seat!

My daughter was filling out an application for the apartment she liked and it was 5:15 and I was completely on the other side of town.  If I left immediately I would still be 1/2 an hour late.  So I decided to be late for the gym and just be with my daughter.  Suddenly I felt guilty.  Guilty for being late, guilty for not exercising.  Just plain guilty.

How Guilt Effects the Body

I started to feel bad.  My neck ached and my head began to hurt.  Guilt is a pretty powerful mind bender!  So, I looked it up, did you know that “guilt” is a perception of your belief system.  The way you live your life in general can be generally divided into two camps.  Good and Bad.  What do you perceive as being good?  Well, usually good things that you do will gain you approval and bad things you do will get you disapproval.  But whose making the judgment?

Beliefs become Behaviors!

If your belief system says that not going to the gym is bad you will feel guilty and that guilt can cause anxiety, depression, and a feeling of remorse, or failure.  Geez!  What the heck?  In other words we label things as being good or bad.  The problem is who is deciding what these labels are is it our own belief system or is it a peer pressure, a society  or cultural belief?  Who is the “Boss” of you?

I'm sorry!

Inappropriate Guilt!

When you take on the belief system of others it creates an internal conflict that can manifest itself as “inappropriate guilt.   That is a guilt that is brought on by you believing that something is “bad” just because others think it’s bad.  So it’s very important to find out what you, yourself truly believe. Because a life filled with guilt is no way to live.  Right?

I want to be joyful, and happy, and feel good about myself.  So when Kevin called to ask where I was, I told him, “No One is Home!”.

Do you think that’s bad?

What do you do when you really don’t feel like doing anything. The other day I really just felt like taking a nap. Getting through the afternoon without falling asleep was tough and I certainly didn’t feel like going to the gym after work. But in the end I did. Why? Because on Mondays I always go to the gym.

Now, I really don’t think that being a creature of habit is always a good thing.

Which way will you go?

I mean, doing exactly the same thing, exactly the same way, day after day has to get a little bit boring. But there are times when it does come in handy, and scheduling exercise is certainly one of those times.

Remove the guesswork

First, by making it a routine you take some of the guesswork out of when you’ll do it; you don’t wake up every day thinking “shall I go to the gym today?” you just know that on certain days you go – regardless of whether you feel like it or not, because let’s face it, most of us never feel like going to the gym, and certainly never on a Monday night after a long, fun-filled weekend. Or, come to think of it, even after a boring weekend.

Second having a routine gives it a sense of importance and priority. It shows you have carved time out of your day to do something valuable for your health. It’s not just a ‘might do”, it’s written in ink in your diary.

Now there are going to be times when you either really don’t feel like doing it, or you can’t because other things come up that you can’t get out of. And that’s OK, because you know those are only occasional things and they show you have a degree of flexibility. So, if you can’t make it on a Monday then go another night when you normally just hang out at home.

Create your own exercise routine.

Just Another Manic Monday

I’m clearly not the only one who does this because on Monday night’s the gym is packed. There are lines to get on the treadmills. The free-weights area is just a zoo and virtually every workout machine is being used.

If you go there on a Wednesday there are fewer people. Thursday fewer still. Friday is almost a ghost town and the weekends are generally more casual too. People who work out regularly have their routines. They know what works for them.

Find a routine that works for you!

So, all you need to do is find a time and routine that works for you. The easiest way to start is pick the night that has the crappiest TV shows on – that alone should give you seven days to choose from!

Okay everyone, gather round.  I have some really good news for you.  You know how we are always telling you to run or walk or go to the gym, dance or play a sport at least 4 times a week for 30 minutes, and more would be better? Well, I just found out that that’s all phooey!  You don’t have to exercise for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week.  The guys in the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada – who study the effects of motion on the body – say all you need is 6 minutes – three times a week!

Six minutes! That’s just about the same amount of time it takes to boil two eggs! Or make a decent cup of tea.

Imagine all the gyms and sports clubs closing due to the lack of people participating in those 30 minute ab classes.  How about all those dance classes, squash courts, and swimming pools becoming idle, because everyone can get all the exercise they need in just 6 minutes…gee you could even brush your teeth while you are doing your 6 minute regime!

The new study was published in the Journal of Physiology. The lead author of the study, Professor Gibala, says by alternating short bursts of intense activity with brief rest periods participants experience the same benefits as traditional types of long term exercise, and they do it in less time and with less overall exercise.  Wow!

Interval training is a method of exercise where you make an  “all out” effort, like a really intense sprint followed by walking, but this new study showed that interval training does not have to be “so extreme” to  be effective.  That means us ordinary folks can benefit from a less intense effort and still reap the abs!

Professor Gibala put a group of 10 students on stationary bikes and had them ride for 50 minutes at a moderate pace five days a week, while another group of 10 were told to grind through four to six sets of 30 second sprints on the bikes just three days a week.  Both groups had equal gains in “blood vessel elasticity,”  which indicates reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.  This supported an earlier study Prof Gibala did which showed that both groups increased their energy levels which resulted in longer sustained performance.

So there you have it, and it’s simple to recreate your own routine into an interval training session.  Whatever you do, whether it’s jogging, biking or swimming, just alternate one minute sprints followed by one minute of coasting.  Just 6 minutes, imagine, you will never again be able to say, “I just can’t find the time to exercise!”

This past weekend Kevin and I took a hike.  Our original thought was to hike the famous trail in Mill Valley called the Dipsea.  Every summer the Dipsea trail is used for one of the most famous running races in the U.S.  It is a race from Mill Valley up the hill and over what is usually a lovely hiking trail to Stinson Beach.  It’s one of  the oldest running races in the United States, second only to the Boston Marathon.  It’s just 7.2 miles long but it’s not the length of the race that is challenging it’s the terrain.  It’s uphill right out of the gate… straight up a flight of more than 650 stairs -- the equivalent of running to the top of a 50 story building -- then it’s another  6 1/2 miles of winding, challenging dirt and sand trails with ruts and ditches, dips (hence the name) and ledges.  In short, it’s brutal.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8BJW-rxAcw

I had lived in Mill Valley for years but never entered the race or even taken the trail, so Kevin and I were interested in lollygagging around at a nice friendly hiking pace and finding out what the big deal was.  After all, over 1,500 people enter this race every year.  7 year olds run it, and a gal named Shirley Matson who is 61 has won 3 times!  Go Shirley!

The race is staggered depending on your handicap, youngest and oldest go first,   so that it’s more balanced,  22 year olds are set loose later and have to pass all the runners ahead of them and that itself is a challenge since the course is so steep and is on a single thin trail; that’s difficult enough let alone having to pass hundreds of other runners to get to the front!  And they do, you see the Dipsea is a first come first served race.  That is, the first one to cross the finish line wins!

Anyway, Kevin and I knew that the Dipsea Trail was in Mill Valley just outside Old Mill Park, so we set off to begin our quest.  I knew that the stairs were the beginning challenge of the race and I honestly thought, “Gee only 7 miles?  That’s nothing!” But finding the start of the trail proved to be more challenging than we thought.

Well after about an hour of hiking up and down trails following what we thought may or may not be the Dipsea we realized that whatever trail we were on it wasn’t Dipsea but what the heck, we were still having fun. We were passing through a forest of gorgeous redwoods, past raging streams and waterfalls. How bad can that be!

In fact, we didn’t find the trail until we were on our way back down the through the hills of Mill Valley, when we saw a sign with an arrow that read, “Dipsea”.  As it happened we found ourselves at the very top of the stair cases that begin the treacherous race.   We were descending, but there were a number of people running up the stairs.  Since we were at the top the first of these intrepid athletes were pretty tuckered out.  Heavy breathing, sweaty, and all  pretty excited to see the end of the last stairway so near.  Most were affable and able to say “Thanks” as we cheered them on!

I would say all and all these folks had taken these stairs before and were in pretty good shape, but about half way down the stairs there was an elderly man, about I’d say between 40 and 65.  I say elderly, because he could be a forty year old in really bad condition, or he could have been a 65 year old just beginning to add exercise into his life.  Whatever he was, he was really pooped.  He could not even say “hi”, he was really exerting himself to the max.  I’ll bet this guy said, “Today, I’m going to get in shape!”  but I wondered how he would feel tomorrow.  I could already feel his pain!

Here’s the thing.  Exercise is something you add into your life and you keep adding in small doses until your mind and your body are ready to really work those muscles.  This guy looked like he was really not enjoying this trek.  I was worried that he might collapse from over-exertion.  So here are some signs to lookout for when you exercise, from Chris Dunn an  exercise physiologist.

You should be able to talk and hold a conversation during the activity, if not, you may be over doing it.  If you can’t finish, you’re overexerting.  If you feel faint or nauseated…you’re doing too much.  If you have muscle cramping or joint discomfort. Stop and consider realistically how you can change your routine.

Did you hear that? I said routine and that is key.  Be realistic, if you haven’t trained for a while take the time to start slow and progress gradually.  Allow time for your body to adapt to your new exercise regime or it will be too painful to do it on a regular basis.

For Kev and I, we’re going to continue walking down the Dipsea Stairs, and maybe someday we’ll turn around and take the challenge.

These are stressful times. Every day we are faced with difficult decisions. No, I’m not talking about politics or work or even family. I mean the problem when folks bring food into work and leave you asking yourself “Do I eat the chocolate chip cookie or the apple pie,” or the other daily dilemma “Should I shop online at work and risk getting caught or wait till I get home?”

That’s why it’s all the more important for us all to have some physical outlet, to ease the tension, and maybe even help us make the right decision.

Now, you may not have the time to hit the gym or perhaps never go to the gym because it’s too expensive,. but here’s something you can do at home any time of the day or night and it’s guaranteed to help relax and refresh you.

It’s the whole body stretch. It’s easy to do and it works on the whole front of the body as well as stretching out all the muscles that get tight sitting in front of a computer all day long.

Here’s how you do it. If you have one of those big, bouncy rubber exercise balls handy pull it out. If you don’t find a small footstool or similar sized object and put a thick towel or blanket over it to make it comfortable.

Lie face up on the ball and slowly adjust your position until the ball is halfway down your body and your back is fully supported. Straighten your legs and then stretch back over the ball so that your body is draped over it and your arms are hanging towards the floor.

That’s it. Hold it for 3-5 breaths. Sit up. Repeat.

Want to see how to do it. Here you go.

It’s amazing how something as simple as this can really help ease stress and tension and just let all those muscles that have been hunched and crunched all day stretch out.

So our great friend, and English correspondent, Vicki told me the other day that many of our blog postings are clearly not written with parents in mind because many of the things we talk about or encourage people to do are things that parents just don’t have time for.

And after taking care of baby Emma Danger I can really understand what she is talking about. We took care of Emma recently – while her parents were in Europe catching up on culture and sleep – for 9 days and 28 nights, at least that’s how it felt!!

Actually, Emma is a gem of a baby; she’s pretty good at sleeping through the night. Once you get her to that point. Up till then it’s a team operation feeding, cleaning, clothing, calming her. Which helped me understand exactly what Vicki was talking about.

You see, unless you have kids you don’t really get just how much work is involved in taking care of them. I never had kids myself, I skipped that stage and just went straight to being a grand dad – which I love. But what’s fascinating to me is just how all consuming having one kid is. It takes two of us to get Emma up and fed and ready in the morning. It’s incredible.

My mum had five kids under the age of ten, at one point four of us were under the age of five. I have absolutely no idea how she did it. To be  honest, neither does she, she simply says “ah well, you just get on with it.”

And she is right, you don’t have a choice, or time or anything. So, when Vicki says this blog doesn’t always take into account parents she is right on one level, we make assumptions about people having the time or making the time to exercise or go to the gym.

But to be honest if you have a young family you probably don’t need to go to the gym, because there are more than enough opportunities to use the kids as exercise equipment!

• Chasing them around is aerobic.
• Carrying them around is weight training – particularly as they get a little older and try to resist just being carried around all the time, that is weight and resistance training.
• Playing with them is both aerobic and weight training – kids love to be lifted up and tossed up in the air. Do that a few times and you’ll know you are getting a workout. But the best bit is listening to them laughing like crazy when you do it – that’s the best incentive to work out that you will ever get.
• Lie on your back and use your baby as a bench press. Lift them up and down. Up and down. It’s great fun for baby and bloody hard work for you.
• Hold baby in your arms and do squats. The kid won’t have a clue what you are doing but your thighs will. Oh boy will they!

See, the only limitation to your workouts is your imagination. And when you are around a kid you quickly realize, it’s time to let your imagination run wild.