Weights? Wait
Are you thinking about lifting weights to increase your metabolism and burn calories faster? It may not work as well as fitness magazines and personal trainers claim, says a story in the January issue of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter.
Strength training is touted as a way to increase your resting metabolism so your body burns calories at a higher rate, even at rest. But how much it rises depends on how intensely you train. “Average gym-goers don’t work out long enough or hard enough to achieve any significant calorie-burning after-effect,” says the article. To make a difference, you must train long term and strenuously.
Strength training is good for building stronger muscles and denser bones. But the best workouts should incorporate a balance between a cardiovascular (aerobic) workout and strength-building exercises. If you’re looking to lose weight, you should engage primarily in aerobic exercises such as running, biking or brisk walking four or more times a week for at least 45 minutes. For the average person, this will boost metabolism and burn more calories than will strength training.
The snow workout
When the streets, parks and forest preserves are coated with snow–we know it can happen–strap on some snowshoes for a fun way to burn off those holiday pounds. You’ll drop twice as many calories as you do walking, assures Mike Duffy, outdoor sports director at the Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Mass.
Duffy offers these tips in the January issue of Family Circle:
– Beginners should select lightweight and versatile recreational snowshoes.
– When taking strides, walk like a cowboy, with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your feet parallel and your toes pointed slightly up as you step.
– When going uphill, dig the toe of the snowshoe into the snow When doing downhill, bend your knees slightly and let your foot slide a bit until the claws on the bottom of the snowshoe “catch.”
– For extra balance and to enhance your cardio workout, take along some poles.
– Kids will find this an entertaining way to exercise if you create games such as “follow the squirrel tracks.”
Pitch old drugs
With the year still young, now is a good time clean the old, outdated drugs out of your medicine cabinet. Generally, medicines lose their potency in a year, says Robert Weber, department chair at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, in the January issue of Shape.
First, toss out the obviously expired prescription and over-the-counter medications. Then look at the rest for warning signs that they’re going bad. Toss those that have changes in consistency or color, or bottles of tablets with a powdery residue at the bottom. Get rid of liquids with sediment too.
But don’t toss them in the trash or flush them down the toilet. They could contaminate the groundwater or fall into the hands of children. Rather, take them in their original packaging to a pharmacist, who will dispose of them properly.
Hiccups deadly!
OK, not really. But if that didn’t scare them out of you, try these ideas in the Jan. 1 issue of Bottom Line Personal:
Stick a finger in each ear. This stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the abdomen and controls hiccups.
Draw an imaginary line down the roof of your mouth with a cotton swab. The self-tickling stops the throat spasm that causes hiccups.
Breathe into a paper bag. It produces carbon dioxide, which calms the diaphragm. (Don’t do it alone; it may make you faint.)
Have someone ask you a question that makes no sense. Such a distraction could make your body forget to hiccup.
