Salon.com > Exercise

Yes, music helps your workout routine

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

“I dare them to find the iPod on me,” Richie Sais told the New York Times in 2007, when he was preparing to run the Marine Corps Marathon. USA Track & Field, the national governing body for distance racing, had just decided to ban athletes from using portable music players in order "to ensure safety and to prevent runners from having a competitive edge." Sais resolved to hide his iPod shuffle under his shirt. Many fellow runners protested the new rule, which remains in effect today in an amended form: It now applies only to people vying for awards and money.

Bad news: Sex doesn’t burn that many calories

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:30:00 +0000

Buried in an article reviewing the myths and facts of obesity and weight-loss in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine is this gem:

“Myth number 7: A bout of sexual activity burns 100 to 300 kcal for each participant.”

There’s no shortage of Web sites extolling the cardiovascular virtues of sex, from undressing to foreplay to intercourse. Suffice it to say that they’re long on pseudo-science and short on data. A random sample:

Overweight-only gym helps members relate

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:10:00 +0000

DALLAS (AP) — Downsize Fitness is an exclusive health club, evocative of the nation's trendiest gyms. But there's a strict requirement to join: You must be 50 pounds or more overweight.

The chain wants its members to feel comfortable while exercising, so there are no mirrors inside and the windows are fogged. Even the equipment is designed for heavier people.

Chicago entrepreneur Francis Wisnewski says he started the gym because "I've been overweight my whole life, and I was embarrassed to go to the gym myself."

The first locations opened in Chicago and Las Vegas in 2011, and expanded to Dallas in 2012.

Gym member Janie Busch said she likes the supportive atmosphere.

Krisanne Hale, a personal trainer in Dallas, is still trying to lose weight. She says that helps members relate.

Exercising my demons

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 13:00:00 +0000

From the age of 18, at the slightest hint of stress, I would lace up my running shoes and head to the gym. Although I rarely drank and never touched any drugs, legal or otherwise, addiction was no stranger to my family. My gene pool is littered with a fondness for Jim Beam, heroin, and cocaine. But instead of the Everclear or ecstasy, I reached for the elliptical, and whatever else I could get my hands on. In fact, just thinking about the variety of machines awaiting me at the gym made my heart thud with anticipation. Should I hop on treadmill first? The stationary bike? Or should I spend the next several hours on the Stairmaster, step after step, climbing to nowhere? I was like an alcoholic in a liquor store, awash in booze. The possibilities seemed endless.

Say the words "exercise addiction" to most people walking down the street and many will tell you that it's an addiction they wouldn’t mind having. I learned the hard way that exercise addiction is all too real and that it's nothing to envy. My own journey down the path to exercise addiction started slowly, in college. For quite some time, I stayed well within the range of physical activity recommended by health officials: 30 minutes per day, three to four days per week. Sometimes I went to the gym five times a week. Other days, I didn't make it at all and my life continued to revolve around its usual axis.