XML FeedsNo work-out; Tapering; US Obesity
By admin on Jan 21, 2009 | In Running
Oh, did I mention that I am racing Miami Half Marathon this Sunday? Not that it matters to you but, oh well, my promise to run three half marathons in three months is well on its second leg. Nothing spectacular about it but it keeps me running at least three times a week. Maybe more. Nowadays, I am no longer setting any time goals for myself (though I sort of improve a little bit when I pursue the running seriously). I just have other matters to attend to beside running. My work is getting busy again. I am back to Rehab setting and though this gets boring at times it still makes me happy taking care of the patients. I need this work to pay my bills but also to keep me in shape, or at least prod me to be in good shape. When lifting heavy people you will need to work-out whether you like it or not. I just can't believe the bariatric cases I meet at work. I have so far, treated three women who were more than 500 pounds each. They can be a spectacle for other patients but golly, I am getting afraid that I will be treating more and more of them because of the weight trend of American kids. A few years back, health specialists in the US sounded the alarm about increasing childhood obesity in the US and I am seeing a few of them in our Rehab now. And I am heartbroken because these are just kids. How in the world can a parent stomach his or her child living a life so limited because of severe poundage? I am inclined to blame parents for the misery of their obese children. I had a twenty-one year old woman who could not even take a shower because of her size. What kind of life is that? And why would you do that to a 21 year old who, at that age, should be in her peak of active lifestyle? I get so so so angry after I talk with these kids who, despite their severe handicap are all so willing to do anything, virtually anything -- not to look pretty or to be with friends and have good times BUT to live for a few more years. These kids are dying at no fault of their own. It is a form of child abuse to let a kid grow into this size. This should not happen to anyone! Their chest weights are enough to put a heavy pressure on their lungs that they develop apnea at nights necessitating the need for Bi-pap machines. Their hearts get so overworked to support their whole system. These kids are swimming on their pool of death. There has got to be a way to prevent this obesity on everybody and it begins in childhood!
Anyway, I am tapering now for my next race. I am trying to sleep early. I have stopped watching TV and reading books for a while.
Lately I have gotten myself into playing these logic games (some hospital friend suggested that I start doing mental games and puzzles to prevent my brain from slowing down :) ) , To keep the mind sharp, one needs to use it harder.
60 min treadmill am; 1 hr uppers pm
By admin on Jan 20, 2009 | In Running, Exercise
Alright, it's tough to squeeze time for work-out with my current schedule. But I will remain positive and thankful I still can do this. I feel great and... sleepy.
Gym happy
By admin on Jan 18, 2009 | In Running
It is very pleasant for me to linger in the gym after a hectic work day. I get the opportunity to listen to my favorite music while relaxing. I am very serious when I am at the gym but I try not to concentrate too much on how I look or how my muscles have developed or how much weight I lost. I focus more on being slow, taking time, and resting. There is really no value in getting too obsessed with work-outs and exercises and sports. First I am in no hurry to acquire a Herculean built in a short time. In 4 years I'd be 50 so speed is not something I look forward to. This is the stage when I prefer everything to go slow-motion because, gosh, you know why. Second, I don't think I was born to compete in sports. My body would not probably let that happen unless due to some miraculous turn, I'd metamorphose into a genetically blessed runner like (I can't even think of a famous runner -- maybe the British Radcliff, or, bike like my idol, Lance Armstrong). I haven't improved as much as I would like but that doesn't matter. What's important is I am in constant motion, I can relax for an hour or so with music and I can always experiment with my body when I work out in the gym. I am a PT so I am lucky enough to be able to apply what exercise and fitness and health I learn through my body to my work and with my patients.
Just like any health-care worker I am interested in reading articles or reports or journals dealing with healthy lifestyle. Through the years I have gotten used to being asked about everything : what type of activity should one person start with towards good health, how to prevent and treat injuries, what types of safe activities to do as we get older, etcetera. The information I give is always related to medical issues, and you can probably see that in this blog - I don't think I can give any advice on how to improve sports performance or become an Olympian in 2012. I reserve that to real coaches and athletic trainers and personal trainers. There are many of them around.
When I speak of health/fitness/athleticism, I speak of at least two distinct categories here. The first category is the health and fitness of the general population, which, realistically means preventing diseases and injuries by maintaining good health and high quality of life. This is where majority of the people belong to. We are the joggers and walkers, the occasional recreational sports men. We are the ones who are careful with the food we eat, we go to the MD to have check-ups, we avoid stress, we keep a healthy lifestyle. We join support groups. In races we are either the middle of the pack or tail end of the pack participants and oh we are just way too happy to be there. We make the Champions look good and we usually say to ourselves, "How the hell can he run that fast?" This is the category of the population I usually deal with.
As I said previously, the other category of the population are the ones involved with athletics. These are not necessarily healthy (if you'd look at football players or sumo wrestlers and boxers you'd know what I mean). Most likely these are the genetically-blessed sports performers who will take only a few days to improve performance what many of us will take years to achieve. These athletes are also called elite sportsmen, they are one of a kind and they always have a reserved place in many competitions. But I don't usually deal with them ( unless they get injured ) so I would not talk much about this category.
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