Two news reports this week caught my eye and in my opinion they both get at the heart of what’s important as far as health and fitness are concerned.

The first story, Exercise 30 Minutes a Day? Who Knew!. points out that despite 14 years of public education campaigns only one-third of Americans know about national recommendations for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day, and fewer than half meet that goal, a new study has found.

The second story, Eating in America Still Unhealthy: CDC reports on the results of a U.S. government study released Tuesday. According to the study, most Americans don’t eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. The goal for the Healthy People 2010 program is to get at least 75 percent of Americans to eat the recommended two or more daily servings of fruit and for at least 50 percent of Americans to consume three or more daily servings of vegetables. But surveys from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that only 33 percent of adults meet the fruit consumption target and only 27 percent eat the recommended amount of vegetables. The statistics are worse for high school students — only 32 percent eat the recommended amount of fruit and 13 percent meet the goal for vegetables.

Can you imagine what our health would be like if we met these guidelines everyday!!? If you’ve been reading my newsletters, you have heard about these guidelines on many occasions, so they should come as no surprise to you. The difficulty, like many things, lies in the execution of the guidelines. It’s easy to find excuses such as lack of time, lack of money, inconvenience, no will power, too much conflicting advice, etc.

But if we boil these two stories down to their most basic level, it’s about moving more and eating better – the magic cocktail that will do wonders for your health and fitness. And if you would like a free taste of one of these cocktails, just give us a call at 610.355.0935.

To your health and happiness,

Jim

P.S. For an easy way to get your daily serving of fruits and vegetables, I’ll remind you about my AWESOME green smoothie – 6 bananas, a cup of strawberries, a cup of blueberries, and 1-2 hearts of romaine lettuce. Blend it all together with 2-3 cups of water, and there you have it in one fell swoop!

I’ll keep it brief today so that you can use the extra time to take a short online quiz. Our trainers are often asked questions such as “Will sit-ups help me lose my love handles?” or “Should I be walking in the fat burning zone?” Such questions are often the result of having heard or read something that seemed too good to be true, and the clients know they will get an honest, accurate answer from our expert trainers.

To gauge your fitness knowledge, MSNBC has created a simple test that looks at many of these fact versus fiction type questions. You can

which should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Good luck with the quiz; rest assured that your results will not be posted on our studio walls

We are co-hosting a seminar tonight at 7:00 at Terrazza in Newtown Square. Dr. Victor Sage, of Sage Chiropractic in Broomall, will present the latest research on osteoarthritis and osteoporosis along with the most effective treatment and preventive strategies associated with these painful conditions.

There is no cost for this event, and light snacks will be served. If anyone you know is affected by these painful conditions, feel free to bring them with you. Even if they learn just one simple technique for reducing some of the pain, they will thank you for it.

To find out more about this special event, please click here.

To your health and happiness,

Jim

It’s a frightening statistic – according to an article published this week in the Wall Street Journal, one half of women and one-quarter of men over age 50 will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture. (Please keep reading to find out about our upcoming Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis seminar.)

While the number of hip fractures has dropped significantly in the U.S. and Canada in recent years, thanks in part to bone-building drugs called bisphosphonates, the problem is that these powerful drugs, while known to prevent future debilitating injuries, are also suspected of increasing the risk for other terrible conditions. Balancing the risks and benefits is different for everyone, and depends on factors such as genetic history, diet and lifestyle. Figuring out how to proceed also requires having a very careful discussion with a qualified physician.

As an alternative to using such drugs, some clinics recommend fighting osteoporosis with lifestyle changes rather than pharmaceuticals. Many experts agree that sufficient calcium (at least 1,200 mg per day from food or supplements) and vitamin D (800 to 1,000 IUs per day) and weight-bearing exercise (at least 30 minutes, three times a week) are critical for building and maintaining strong bones, but they may not be sufficient for reversing serious bone loss once it’s set in.

The very best way to strong bones is to build them well to begin with. Nearly 90% of bone mass in females is built by age 18, yet few adolescent girls are getting the recommended amounts of calcium and vitamin D.

WEBMD has a useful summary of the benefits of exercise for osteoporosis, as well as specific recommendations for weight-bearing, resistance-based, and flexibility training. All three of these modalities should be part of any well-designed fitness program.

As further evidence of the power of exercise, Robert Recker, an endocrinologist and current president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation in Washington, D.C., says research indicates that moderate exercise increases and maintains bone mass and reduces the risk of osteoporosis. “The most compelling evidence,” he says, “is that if you don’t do anything, your fracture risk is much greater.”

While I had hoped to give equal time to osteoarthritis, which affects over 25 million Americans, I know the time spent reading these weekly emails is sometimes quite brief, and I may have already reached that limit. However, what I would like to do is to at least provide you with another useful WEBMD link that offers some great advice for exercising with osteoarthritis.

Seminar on Osteoarthritis and Osteoporosis

As you can see, there is a lot to be said about about osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. If you would like to learn more, we are hosting a seminar next Wednesday, September 23 at 7:00 at Terrazza in Newtown Square. Dr. Victor Sage, of Sage Chiropractic in Broomall, will present the latest research on osteoarthritis and osteoporosis along with the most effective treatment and preventive strategies associated with these painful conditions.

There is no cost for this event, and light snacks will be served. If anyone you know is affected by these painful conditions, feel free to bring them with you. Even if they learn just one simple technique for reducing some of the pain, they will thank you for it.

To find out more about this special event, please click here.

FT Fall Fitness Challenge

There’s still time to participate in our Fall Fitness Challenge, but you need to act soon. To find out more about the Challenge, including information on how you can

train for free for an entire month,

please visit www.ftmainline.com/fallfitness

To your health and happiness…

I hope you had a nice Labor Day and are now ready to settle into your non-summer schedule. Now is a great time to establish healthy routines that include a commitment to exercise and proper nutrition. To help with that commitment, we are offering new and old clients alike the chance to participate in our Fall Fitness Challenge. To find out more about the Challenge, including information on how you can

train for free for an entire month,

please visit www.ftmainline.com/fallfitness

Your Brain on a Bad Diet

A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said. Those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.

The results, based on brain scans of 94 people in their 70s, represent “severe brain degeneration,” said Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.

“That’s a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer’s and other diseases that attack the brain,” said Thompson. “But you can greatly reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s, if you can eat healthily and keep your weight under control.”

More than 300 million worldwide are now classified as obese, according to the World Health Organization. Another billion are overweight. The main cause, experts say: bad diet, including an increased reliance on highly processed foods.

Helping you to eat better and keeping your weight under control are at the core of what we do at Fitness Together, along with making you stronger, more flexible, and giving you more energy. And now added to the list: keeping your brain younger.

To your health and happiness…

I was at Barnes and Noble the other day and sat down to read the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. I was so pumped after reading a story about a guy who runs ultramarathons that I immediately wanted to send out a newsletter that day. But I figured getting two emails from me last week was probably enough, so I waited until today to send you this inspiring story.

Here’s the first two paragraphs, and then a link to the rest of the story:

“It’s been a month now, and the top of Arthur Webb’s right big toe remains a sunken rectangle of pale, wrinkled skin. Not that he’s upset, considering that Webb is the one who yanked the toenail off with a pair of pliers in the first place. It’s something he does to both big toes every year, just after he squeezes his feet into a pair of too-small shoes and runs 15 miles to loosen the nails. Otherwise, they tend to crack and bleed as the toes swell like tiny, overinflated balloons during the Badwater Ultramarathon, the grueling 135-mile race through Death Valley that Webb has run for the past 12 summers.

Think of Badwater as five consecutive marathons, only they’re uphill (from 280 feet below sea level to 8,360 feet above), held inside a blast furnace (the temperature hovers at 115º-and that’s at night) and capable of frying runners’ brains like a fistful of peyote (intense hallucinations from sleep deprivation are part of the event’s charm). During the day it’s 130º of shadeless hell, the heat mirage so thick that runners appear to be churning through a wall of water. Shoes actually melt, the soles disengaging like skin shed by small synthetic animals. The race is invitation-only and famously humbling, which makes Webb something of a legend. He has run the second-most Badwaters ever, finishing as high as fourth (in just under 34 hours), and he consistently “buckles,” earning a coveted Badwater belt buckle by breaking 48 hours. And, oh, yeah, Webb is 67 years old.” click here to read the rest of the story

OK, so you probably think the guy is a little crazy, and perhaps there is some evidence to support that view: To acclimatize for Badwater, he sits in a 170º sauna for an hour at a time-that is, when he’s not running in it. And come race time he endures stress fractures and vomiting; once, he briefly lost both consciousness and an active pulse.

But Webb doesn’t do this for fame and fortune (there is none); the chance to inspire others is, he says, why he is so fanatical about finishing every race he starts. And running never comes before family. Each year Webb dedicates his race to the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home in Santa Rosa, which cares for kids from dysfunctional families. He visits regularly, preaching self-reliance without self-pity. “You know that story about the engine-’I think I can’?” says Webb. “I take the think out. My thing is, ‘Yes I can, yes I can.’”

Sometimes, however, the body doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain. I encourage you to read the story to find out what happened to Webb at this year’s Badwater ultramarathon. And to think about him the next time you are looking for some motivation to exercise or to stick to a commitment.

And speaking of motivation and commitment, we are offering new and old clients alike the chance to participate in our Fall Fitness Challenge. To find out more about the Challenge, including information on how you can

To your health and happiness!