AmazingMFitness.com

FineThanx is a new automated phone system that automatically calls your elderly family members to check how they are doing. It checks in on clients once or twice daily and if no one answers or the person is unwell, the system calls a member of the “care circle”. If everything is fine, the system will send a report by email, so you can continue working or finishing that golf course unbothered and check in for reassurance on your iPhone or PC afterward.

Here’s a sample FineThanx call:

Product page: FineThanx

I know it’s painful but I love stretching. I just wish I could do more of it — especially during work hours when I’m just sitting at my desk for almost eight hours straight.

Luckily, I just came across these tips from Esther Gokhale,author of “8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back.” She developed a method called Stretchsitting,described as acomfortable way to sit that can helpreverse the damage caused by years of bad posturedue tohunching in a chair.

Here’s an excerpt from her instructions:

Stretchsitting – which involves lengthening the spine against the back of a chair – immediately decompresses discs, preventing further damage and allowing them to heal. Over a period of months, you can actually become to 1 taller. Other benefits include improved circulation and nerve function around the spine. Here are Esthers instructions on how to Stretchsit:

1. Before you begin, attach a cushion to your chair so that it hits you at mid-back, below the shoulder blades ( or try the Stretchsit Cushion from Esther Gokhale)
2. Scoot your bottom all the way back in the chair.
3. Lean forward from the hips, and tilt your ribcage forward, like you are doing a mini-crunch.
4. Hold the armrests or side bars on your chair and, while still tilted forward, press against them to get a gentle stretch in your lower back.
5. Keeping the stretch, lean back from your hips and stick your mid-back on to the Stretchsit cushion.
6. Come out of the mini-crunch and relax completely, letting the Stretchsit cushion keep you in mild traction.
7. Roll each shoulder back and rest your hands close in to your body.
8. Angle your chin down slightly, letting the back of your neck be long.

Brazil’s health minister has a remedy for the nation’s high-blood- pressure problem: More sex.

Minister Jose Temporao says adults should be exercising more to help keep their blood pressure down and he says a good cardiovascular workout includes sex, “always with protection, obviously.”

Temporao also recommends dancing, a healthy diet and regular blood-pressure checks.

The minister made the comments Monday while launching a national campaign against high blood pressure in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia.

The Health Ministry says that 21.5 percent of Brazilians had high blood pressure in 2006. That jumped to 24.4 percent in 2009.

- The Associated Press

I was thinking about something the other day when killing myself on the stepmill machine doing intervals at the highest setting. Am I able to push hard at the highest setting because I am in decent shape, or is it just because I am a sicko who can push through pain? Part of me thinks that I am just good at pushing hard even when my body tells me to back off. In the spring and summer I play tennis for hours with a good friend of mine who is the same age and works out year round as well. We are both winded and drenched with sweat within 30 minutes of playing, but push on. Again I ask myself, am I in good shape or do I simply have a high pain tolerance. Let's discuss this topic in more detail. I don't have a concrete answer, but would love to explore this idea with you guys and get your feedback as well.

[Just another cool photo that has nothing to do with the article. I didn't want to show people in pain, plus this photo blends in well with the colors and shades of my site.]

Let's Talk About "Linda" and Her Struggles With Weight Loss

I used to manage a woman named Linda. Linda was 52 years old and had been overweight her entire life. She did everything wrong as far as keeping her weight under control. Linda was a big-time compulsive eater and ate every 2 hours the entire day, to "keep her metabolism from slowing down". She even lectured me about this on a regular basis, saying that my metabolism would slow down if I continued to eat just a few times per day. She gave everyone diet tips and the two years she worked for me she stayed 100+ pounds overweight the entire time. Linda said she couldn't exercise due to fibromyalgia.

"When I Try to Exercise, It Hurts Boss!"

Linda's excuse for not exercising was her "fibromyalgia". Fibromyalgia is a legitimate condition where people feel fatigued and have body-wide pain, but there are many people who do as Linda did and claim they have this condition as an excuse to be lazy. Linda was not diagnosed by a doctor, she said that it was obvious because when she exercised it "hurt." When I asked her what her symptoms were she said that her legs would get a burning sensation when she rode an exercise bike and she would breath "really hard" even just walking on a treadmill. "Boss…when I walk at the same speed as other people I breath a lot harder and it hurts….I tried to lift weights once and it hurt for 4 days. I hate having fibromyalgia!"

Do Fit People Simply Have a Higher Pain Tolerance?

The thing about pain is that you can't tell how much pain someone else is feeling. When I am doing an intense interval session it hurts "quite a bit", during the sprinting part. I don't feel like anything is being damaged, but it takes mental discipline to keep pushing. Pain tolerance is a weird thing as well. Two people can feel the same amount of pain and mentally cope with it in different ways. I am positive that my interval hurts me much more than Linda's walking speed hurts Linda. The difference is that I know that the reward will be worth it and part of me likes to see how far I can push myself. Linda simply has a personality where she searches for the path of least resistance. Unfortunately that is the path of least reward as well.

The Skill of Pushing Through Pain, Creates Elite Athletes

I believe that pushing through pain (not injury) is what allows your body to reach the next level of conditioning. I am convinced that some of the fittest athletes in the world simply operate longer and more often on the edge of pain – adapt – and then push to the next level. Once they reach the next higher level of conditioning they push to the edge of pain again and they continue to progress.

Here is An Entertaining Fact About Pain Tolerance…

Swearing can actually increase pain tolerance. Here is an excerpt from the article I'm linking to, which describes a recent study examining pain tolerance.

They recruited 67 undergraduates, and asked to make two short lists of words – one containing five words they might use after hitting themselves on the thumb with a hammer, the other containing five words they might use to describe a table. The participants submerged one of their hands into room temperature water for three minutes, to provide a standardized starting point, then transferred it to a container of cold water and instructed to keep it submerged for as long as they could. In one condition, they were told to repeat the first swear word they had included in their list; in another, they repeated one of the words describing a table.

Contrary to their hypothesis, they found that swearing actually reduced the amount of pain felt. The participants kept their hands submerged in the cold water longer, and also reported experiencing less pain, when they repeated a swear word than when they repeated a word describing a table. Swearing was also associated with increased heart rate.

Swearing therefore enabled the participants to tolerate to the cold temperature for longer, and also caused a reduction in their perception of the pain felt. A difference between males and females was observed. Swearing led to a greater reduction in pain perception and a bigger increase in heart rate in females

"Damn this F@#&%N Interval Workout!"

I would probably attempt to swear during intervals, but I am typically out of breath…plus I'd get booted out of the gym. Swearing has come in handy a few times when I've stubbed my toe or hit my head. I actually believe jumping around helps ease pain tolerance as well. If I hit my head, knee, or "funny bone"…I can't stand still. A few F-bombs and circling around or jumping around when I jam my toe works wonders. Who made up the name funny bone anyway? It is anything but funny when you hit that part of your arm!

What's Your Opinion on Being Fit Vs Tolerating Pain?

I would love to hear your opinions on this subject matter. I think there are some people who so probably feel more pain, but my guess in that a large portion of the population simply lives a life of seeking the path of least resistance. There is always some type of discomfort to be expected or price to be paid for anything worthwhile…right?

Tags: Interval Training, HIT, metabolism, treadmill, walking

Digirad Corp. of Poway, CA has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA to begin marketing its Ergo mobile nuclear imaging system. Thanks to its solid-state gamma camera, the Ergo provides a degree of portability and flexibility not previously seen in the field. Imaging studies can be conducted in the nuclear medicine department or brought to the patient, saving time and improving patient satisfaction while delivering high quality results. The large field, solid-state gamma camera also expands the reach of portable nuclear imaging to areas outside cardiology and oncology, offering a 12.25 x 15.5 inch field of view, an intrinsic spatial resolution of 3.25 mm, an energy resolution of 7.9%, and 5 Mcps.

Digirad plans to begin shipping production units in June to hospitals in the US and abroad.

Press release: Digirad Receives FDA Clearance for Ergo Large Field-of-View, Solid-State, General Imaging Nuclear Medicine Camera…

Link: Digirad…