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

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.

What if I told you I knew a way that you could have a longer life, a healthier heart, lower your blood pressure, lower your risk of breast cancer, lower your risk of prostate cancer, lower the risk of back pains and migraine headaches, have a better physique, raise your testosterone level,  have fewer menopausal symptoms, and have healthier semen!  Would you do it? What if I said you don’t have to go to a gym to do this, you don’t even have to get out of bed! In fact staying in bed is perfect for this. Because it is all about S…..E……X!  Yes, sex and a lot of it will do all of these lovely things for you!

Okay, researchers have known for a long time that people who have sex frequently, are healthier, have fewer heart problems and lower blood pressure.  But is it due to the sex….or are healthier people more frisky than others?

Recently CNN Health reported about a Yoga instructor and her husband who made a pact to have sex every day for a month and guess what?  They felt better!  They slept better, dodged colds and flu and had more energy!  Hey, that’s all good right?  Well, it turns out that there are a whole bunch of studies over the years that have proved that frequent sex is good for you.  Unfortunately, the research didn’t indicate what “good” sex was, but just that it was good if done, well, frequently…no suggestions of how many times or how long…and no technical advice was dispensed.

A study of almost 1,000 men in the Welsh town of Caerphilly (where the cheese comes from) found that the men with the highest orgasmic frequency had a 50 percent reduced mortality risk compared to the men with the lowest orgasmic frequency. Of course that doesn’t tell you anything about the frequency of women’s orgasms.. typical bloody men! But putting that aside, the study showed that sexual activity seems to have a very beneficial effect on men’s health.

That’s not all. In a study in New Scientist found that people who have sex once or twice a week get a boost to their immune system which means they are less likely to get a cold or even the flu. Once or twice a week folks. Come on, that’s easy!

Dr. Irwin Goldstein,  Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sexual Medicine,  is a proponent of the importance of sexual activity in humans! Not surprising really, that’s his audience. He said, “Holy God! Sexual activity is a very important thing to do!”  (Actually, I thought, God must know these things but Dr. Goldstein seems to think he didn’t).

So what are you waiting for! The benefits are enormous and this is one exercise you don’t need to go to the gym to do. In fact, I’m sure the folks at the gym would much rather you didn’t, do “it” there I mean

For regular gym goers this is our least favorite time of year. People who only go to the gym occasionally are out in force after the New Year making it difficult to find a place to park near the gym let alone find a machine inside to exercise on. And that’s even before you add in all the new Resolution folks. In short, it’s a madhouse.

But don’t let that discourage you from going or getting frustrated when you are there, instead use it as an opportunity to break out of your exercise routine (AKA rut) and try some new things.

Most of us who go to the gym regularly or semi-regularly have a well-worn exercise routine. We tend to do the same exercises time after time, use the same machines, lift the same kinds of weights in the same ways.

But in January that’s hard to do because there are so many new people around, taking up your machines, using your weights. So what do you do? Try something different.

Instead of just walking by that machine that looks like an oversized version of the device that Suzanne Somers made a fortune out of flogging on late night TV – you know, the one where you sit down and squeeze your thighs together – try it. You might be surprised how good a workout it gives to a muscle group you don’t workout that much.

If you can’t find a machine to use then just use the floor. Push-ups are a great upper body exercise, sit-ups really build up your core, squats help develop strong legs and good balance, and if you really are struggling for things to do then do a head-stand, it’s great for blood flow, and relaxation. OK,  so maybe a head-stand is not likely but the idea is that with a bit of imagination you can find lots of different ways to get a good workout, provided you exercise the single most important muscle in your body, namely your brain.

Face it, the gym is going to be packed for a few months so complaining about it isn’t going to get you anywhere. Getting frustrated is just going to increase your stress and worsen your blood pressure, the very things you go to the gym to reduce.

So suck it up. Try new exercises. If something you want to do isn’t available then do something different. Finding new ways to workout could actually make working out more interesting, letting you work new muscles, even helping you work old muscles in new ways.

If you are new to the gym, ignore the cranky regulars, they were once rookies themselves but they seem to have forgotten that. Learn the rules of etiquette about working out and sharing machines, but don’t let people intimidate you or bully you into stopping doing something just because they consider that “their” machine. As long as you are paying your dues you have just as much right to use it as they do.

Finally, watch other people. Learn from them. Get a personal trainer if you can afford it, or just watch someone who has a personal trainer if you can’t afford it. You get almost as much out of it and you save a chunk of change.

You are hopefully going to be doing this on a regular basis for a long time to come, so ease into it. Don’t feel you have to do everything right away. Learn good technique, take it slowly, build up.

And if you do that this could be the last New Year you make that New Year’s Resolution to start going to the gym regularly, because you’ll already be doing it!

We’re funny creatures. We can get ourselves to believe lots of things, except those that really matter.

The other day I was in the gym listening to a trio of young men, in their mid to late 20’s, talking about their Fantasy League football teams. They were completely engrossed in their conversation and got quite animated telling each other how their quarterback had done over the weekend, how many yards their running backs gained, how many catches their wide receiver made, how many sacks their defensive line made. They were tossing around names I’d never heard of but their friends would nod knowingly at each mention.

At one point one of them lowered his voice, almost to a whisper, and looked around him as he spoke. The other two leaned in, conspirators gleaning some secret information that no one else in the gym was privy too.

I thought “What the heck is the whispering for, it’s Fantasy Football. It’s all made up! No one cares” But they cared. For these three it was all very real. For millions of people around the country Fantasy Football is not just a hobby, it’s a passion.

The three young men in the gym clearly felt very connected to their teams, to the players they had chosen, and had strong opinions about other players and other teams. It was almost as if they felt that because it was “their” team, that they could influence the way the individuals played, and could take some measure of credit for their performance.

It all reminded me of a scene from a book by Roddy Doyle, ‘The Van”, about watching Ireland in the World Cup soccer tournament. The lead character is with his mates, and about 100 other people, in the local pub. Ireland are down 1-0 and time is running out. So his friends order him to go to the toilet. Apparently years ago he went to the bathroom during a similarly critical point in a game and Ireland scored. So, ever since, whenever the team were in trouble his mates would insist he hit the head, and ‘take one for the team’ so to speak.

Off he goes and of course he’s barely inside the door than Ireland score. He rushes out and his friends all mob him as if he somehow conjured up the goal just by pulling down his fly!

It’s a wonderful thing isn’t it, that ability we have to make us feel that we somehow helped make something happen, helped influence the outcome of an event thousands of miles away involving complete strangers who don’t even know we exist.

We can convince ourselves of that – or that turning our hats back to front and inside out can help our baseball team rally and win – yet when it comes to believing in our ability to change ourselves, so many of us don’t think we have the power or control to do so, that it is beyond our ability to influence events that close to home.

It’s a shame because self-belief is a terribly important part of any lifestyle change. We can plan as much as we like, we can think about it as much as we want, but if we don’t believe we can do it then we won’t be able to do it. It’s that simple.

It’s an odd state of affairs isn’t it. We can convince ourselves that we have control over others, even those we don’t know, but don’t believe we can control ourselves. That is why so many people find it hard to lose weight, impossible to give up smoking, tough to stick with an exercise program.

Maybe if they imagined it was someone else trying to lose weight they’d have more luck.

So, maybe that’s what we should set up, a Fantasy Fitness League, where we try to get fit by pretending we’ve doing it for other people. If we did our imaginations might not be the only part of us that we end up exercising.

I saw a cute Get Well card in a store the other day. It showed a woman, her nose red and eyes streaming,  sitting on a couch with a box of tissues by her side. The caption on the card said “having a head cold makes me appreciate small things”, inside the card it read “Like being able to breathe through my nose”.

Having just got over a stinking head cold and sore throat myself,  the card struck a chord. It made me realize that we can find gratitude in even the most unlikely of places.My cold was of the common garden variety; runny nose, not too much sneezing but plenty of snot and coughing. It didn’t lay me out or anything but it did leave me feeling a bit tired and lacking in energy and enthusiasm.

I still managed to go to the gym but did everything at a slightly lower level, and a slower pace than normal.

But while the cold was more of a nuisance and a pain than a serious health issue it did have one very big benefit; it reminded me  how lucky I am to be so healthy most of the time.

Often the only time we truly appreciate something is when we lose it, even temporarily. So it is with health. Normally I feel well in mind and body. So much so that it’s something I tend to take for granted.

Having a cold means you are suddenly and quite snottily reminded that you should never take anything for granted. It comes on suddenly and without warning and you go from fine to blah before you know it.

But while you are stocking up on tissues and pouring yourself yet another cup of hot tea with honey, the cold can also be a reminder that you need to appreciate good health while you can. That just waking up is cause for celebration; getting out of bed without moaning, groaning or aching is even more reason to be happy; and each act throughout the day that you can perform without pain or the need for medication is a blessing.

As my cold slowly waned and I returned to my usual ruddy good health I was left with a much deeper appreciation for how lovely it is to be well, to be able to do all the things I want to do without having to stop and catch my breath or recover from a coughing bout.

Even simple, everyday, things such as being able to smell is such a pleasure when you have been without it for a few days.

Gratitude is one of the most important emotions we can have. It’s a reminder to appreciate all we have, and not to feel deprived by what we lack.

Having a cold is a small price to pay for a deeper appreciation of good health, and a sense of gratitude for a fortunate life.

With so many people out of work or fearful of losing their jobs millions of Americans are looking for ways to cut back, to save a little money. Well, here’s a simple suggestion that could not only improve your bottom line, it could also improve your bottom!

Go to the gym.

What! You are probably saying. Gyms cost money, not just the initiation fee to join but also the monthly dues. But if you really think about it, going to the gym could end up saving you money.

Here’s how:

• By using the gym’s showers and towels and soaps and shampoos you don’t have to use your own at home
• That means you don’t have to clean your shower at home so often, saving money on cleaning liquids, sponges etc. And saving you time too. Let’s face it, cleaning the shower was never your favorite job anyway.
• Also you don’t have to launder towels at home saving more money – and if you wear your workout clothes into the shower at the gym you won’t have to launder those either!
• You won’t have to buy toilet paper as much either.
• They have cable TV at most gyms so you can watch ESPN or MSNBC or the Cooking Channel and keep up with whatever Rachel Ray is doing without having to pay for it at home. And of course if the show you like to watch is an hour long it also means you work out longer and get in better shape.
• It’s a great place to catch up on gossip. After  you have showered everyone is standing around chatting about everything from who lost on American Idol or why Lindsay Lohan can’t find true love, where the best new bar is or who a cool new band is. And you don’t have to spend money on People magazine to find out. It’s all free and fresh and current.
• You get to see naked bodies. In some cases you see some great ones which are an incentive to go to the gym more often so you can look like that. In some cases you see some pretty scary ones which also provide an incentive to go to the gym more often so you can avoid looking like that.
• You get great ideas for tattoos and piercings and where you really shouldn’t have them!

So you see, going to the gym can save you money.

And you’ll make friends with all the other money-smart folks who are going for the same reason.

And you’ll get in great shape and look much better and be healthier and generally have an amazing glow about you so that people will want to hang around with you and give you a job if you don’t have one or not fire you if you do have one.

Of course, the alternative is to stay home, sit on the couch eating left-overs and watching whatever crap is on TV because you don’t even have basic cable and that leaves you depressed so you start drinking the bottle of cooking sherry which is the only alcohol lying around which makes you feel even worse and by the time you’ve finished that you are too tired to even drag yourself to bed so you fall asleep on the couch and wake up looking like hell and with drool stains all down your shirt and then you start all over again.

Now which one sounds like more fun!

Lots of people point to the lack of things as one of the reasons they don’t work out as much as they would like; the lack of time; the lack of a convenient gym; the lack of energy. But really, the only thing stopping you from being active anywhere, anytime, is a lack of imagination. So, imagine this. An exercise to really work your legs and bottom, without ever leaving the comfort of your living room.

To do this exercise the only piece of equipment you’ll need is a wall. Most of us have that so no excuses.

First, pick a wall that doesn’t have any pictures on it or nails sticking out. Those always hurt.

Second, standing upright, place your back flat against the wall with your feet about one foot away from the wall.

Now keeping your feet planted, slide down the wall until your hips are parallel to your knees, or at least as close as you can get without putting too much strain on your knees, particularly to begin with. At this point your knees should be directly over your ankles and you should be in a sitting position. If your knees are actually touching your ankles you should either contact an orthopedic surgeon or Cirque de Soleil.

Keep your back pressed against the wall and place your hands comfortably on your thighs or just let them hang, whichever you prefer.

Hold this position for one minute or as long as you can manage.

Slide back up the wall and shake out your legs. Do that several times to begin with and you’ll really help develop good leg muscles.

The more you do it the longer you should hold the position and the more repetitions you should do.

If you want to add another element you could always get some hand weights and do some arm curls while you are sitting against the wall.

A twofer.. can’t say fairer than that.

One of the most simple and effective exercises is also one of the ones I see done badly, really badly, most often. It’s the sit up or crunch.

I can’t count how many times I’ve watched people in the gym doing sit ups where the only thing moving is their neck. They put their hands behind their head and bend at the neck, up and down as if that’s going to work out their abs. The only thing its working is their neck, and it’s doing that in a way that could easily lead to injury.

So, when it’s crunch time, here’s how you do it.

Lie on the floor with your knees bent and the soles of your feet flat on the floor.

To begin with keep your hands away from your head, just to get the technique right. Try crossing them over your chest, with each hand touching the opposite shoulder.

Tighten your abdominal muscles so that it feels as if your belly button is getting as close as it can to your spine.

As  you lie there pick a point on the ceiling that your eyes can focus on. This is critical in helping keeping good form throughout the exercise.

Gently contract your abdominal muscles and slowly raise your upper body off the floor as much as you can. As you do this keep your eyes focused on that point in the ceiling. Doing this will help you keep your head and neck in line with your body and reduce your inclination to bend your neck.

If you are doing this correctly your upper body should be in a straight line from the waist to the tip of your head – nothing should be out of line.

If you are not doing it correctly your body will be in a straight line but your neck and head will be tilted forward. That’s a great way to pull a muscle and hurt yourself. It’s also not working your stomach muscles as hard so you are missing out on the benefit.

Rise up as high as you can, pause for a second, then lower down but don’t go back all the way to the ground. Just before your shoulders touch the ground again raise yourself back up. Repeat.

If you are just starting out do this, say 10 times, to get used to the technique. As you get better you can do more.

If you’ve been doing sit ups for years and think you can do more by all means do, but remember, if you’ve been using poor technique you may suddenly find that doing them properly can be a lot harder than you are used to.

The wonderful thing about sit ups is that by building strong stomach muscles you give yourself a strong foundation for so many things. It gives you better posture when you walk or sit, it gives you more power when playing tennis or racket ball or squash, and it gives you a much cuter silhouette at the beach.

And let’s face it, spring is here so even if the Groundhog doesn’t agree, summer can’t be that far away.