New Year's Edition Challenge Home Stretch
Rules, Nuts, and Pushups Everywhere
my body inspires my mind
Super Bowl? Ummm...no...not for me...
This weekend has been a marriage of my mind and body. I have been developing a hightened sense of body awareness this year and it has increased my self awareness of my intellect and my ... More
Rule breakers
I have a teeny anxiety disorder, and by teeny I mean mammoth, and so I follow the rules precisely. What will happen if I don't follow the rules? I DON'T WANT TO KNOW. Something dire, no doubt. Humiliation, punishment, the end of the ... More
i saw someone's nuts.
A few days ago, I was getting changed in the Crunch locker room and as I turned around to put something on the bench behind me, I noticed that someone had very neatly laid out a handful of ... More
A Super Social Weekend in Which Feats Were Still In the Forefront
My weekends aren't usually so jam-packed. I might go out one night, or meet up with friends for brunch, but this entire weekend was packed to the gills with social fun. A calculation last week showed that I needed to do at least 73 ... More
The New Year's Edition Challenge is on!
Final Sprint
Pour on the Steam
Three thousand and sixty eight workouts. 907 feats accomplis. 29 days down, and just four days to go. Happy Monday afternoon brave challengers! You are nearly 300 strong, and staring down your calendars at the final week of the challenge. Wherever you are in your feats and workouts, all roads lead to Friday. Friday will be a time to have a drink, to sleep in, and very possibly to leave the bed unmade. Not to panic, we've got something in store for you. But that's all to come. Now is the time for the final kick. You've been good to your body for 29 days. Let's see what it can do. Impress yourself. Pour on the steam.
My Body
Michael Hayes on Yoga Thinking and Being the Biggest Person in Class
Michael Hayes is a massage therapist, yoga teacher, and the founder of Buddha Body Yoga.
I don’t look at yoga as a workout. I look at it as something else. I’m exploring the inside of my body and teaching the gray matter of my brain. I’m opening up new ways to think, and the more ways I think, the more I am capturing different possibilities.
I’ve been a massage therapist for around 15 years, and I really got into yoga maybe 14 years ago. I went to this class, and it basically kicked my ass. I was a martial artist and had been a martial arts teacher, and I was so taken aback by how this was doing me in. We did jump backs and handstands, and I was like, "Excuse me?" I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. But I refuse to let things kick me in the butt, so I went back and decided to study.
More...New York
Poet Laureate
How to Piss Off Women at the Gym
In a recent Men’s Health newsletter, I received a list of 30 “hot” things to say to a naked woman in bed. They include: “Good morning,” and “I’ll go make the coffee.” Also, “You sleep. I’ll go check on the baby,” and my personal favorite: “Hungry? Stay right here. I’ll go make a burrito.” Reading these, I worry about the state of romance in America, or at least among Men’s Health subscribers. In any event, the list inspired me to think about hot things to say to girls at the gym. After minutes of deliberation, I realized there aren’t any. So instead I made a short list of things not to say to women at the gym.
More...What's In Your Gym Bag?
Pedro Carries Certain Dri and Calvin Kleins
"What's in Your Gym Bag?" wants to know what you've got stashed in there.
Who: Pedro, Dolce & Gabbana Sales Rep, spotted at Crunch Gym at 7:30 P.M. on Superbowl Sunday.
What's in your bag, Pedro?
- Sweat-wicking Adidas pants that keep me dry and comfortable while I'm working out.
- Certain Dri deodorant is obviously a must
- Aveda's botanical kinetics purifying gel. Super gentle, which is good because I wash my face a lot.
- Toothpaste and a tooth brush. Oral hygiene is just as important.
- An extra pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs. It's all about the Calvins!
New York
Retreats
Yoga and Pilates in St. Petersburg
- What: A week in St. Petersburg, Russia at the peak of summer when the sun barely sets. Daily yoga and Pilates with DVD Diva Kristin McGee, plus city hikes, trips to Russian bathhouses, caviar and vodka tastings, private tours of cathedrals, gardens, and markets, and accommodations in a private mansion near the city center.
- When: July 17 - 24, 2010
- Why: St. Petersburg is the Venice of Russia, and Kristin McGee is the host of one of our favorite Pilates DVDs ever.
- How Much: $3,000, includes accommodations, all meals and activities.
- Link: Escape to St. Petersburg
Newslinks
Novels Can Make You Buff and Maltesers Can Make You Fat
- New research says you can read your way to greater fitness. In a recent study, teenage girls in a weight loss program who read a novel with an overweight character whose adventures improved her self-esteem, taught her about nutrition, and engaged her in physical activity, lost a lot more weight than program participants who didn't read the role-model novel.
- Maybe you're not going to wear the ColdAvenger on the slopes, but you should definitely wear a helmet. The latest study shoes protective headgear cuts your risk of sustaining a head injury while skiing or snowboarding by 35%.
- The Obama administration is launching an initiative this week to push junk food and soda vending machines out of schools. If only they could keep my officemates from stocking the pantry with Hershey's kisses!
MVP Workouts
Drew Brees, Superbowl MVP, Uses TRX Straps and is Gluten Free
In case you weren't one of the 900 million people last night watching along, quarterback Drew Brees led the New Orleans Saints to a cathartic Superbowl victory. Today, inspired, we give you the Drew Brees workout. First, the diet: Give up gluten, dairy, and nuts. What? Yes, our six foot, 209 pound Superbowl MVP is on the no gloo, no moo diet. Second, hire Todd Durkin of Fitness 101 in San Diego. Durkin will crush you with weird TRX-driven core and balance exercises; he'll make you compete against other superathletes; and then, reports WSJ.com, he'll do this:
At the end of each workout, when Brees is exhausted, Durkin takes out a deck of playing cards, faces Brees and starts throwing the cards in the air, one every few seconds. Brees can lunge or jump but he’s only allowed to catch with one hand. “It takes great focus and concentration,” Brees says.
In sum: A deck of cards, a few straps, and hold the milkshake.
My Body
Clotilde DuSoulier on 20-Minute Workouts, Cooking, and Creativity
Clotilde DuSoulier is the creator of the award-winning cooking blog, “Chocolate and Zucchini,” and is the author of the cookbook, Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen, and the travel guide, Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris.
In what ways are you committed to your health? There is a bit of French popular wisdom that says, "Tant qu'on a la santé..." implying that, as long as you are healthy, nothing else is worth worrying about. And I do think the most important asset in life is health, so I strive to maintain mine as well as I can -- eating well, not drinking too much, exercising, getting enough sleep, staying out of the sun... But I also believe in balance and living life to the fullest, so I don't obsess over it. Mostly, though, I just feel better if I do all those things, so I don't find it too hard to reconcile short-term and long-term benefits.
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Lite FM Elliptical Sundays
[Ed note: It's another new feature! Every week, we're highlighting one of the great minds and bodies in our Social Workout community. This week's featured mind/body: The ever fabulous vonhottie. Look for her workouts on the homepage all week].
**Public Service Announcement: The water at Crunch Lafayette will be turned off on Monday 2/8. Something about a water main repair near Astor Place. You're welcome.**
On Sundays I like to do what I call, "Lite FM Elliptical." I wear short shorts, tube socks, a side ponytail, my Mystic Pizza t-shirt and play all the Easy Listening cheesy '80s songs. Here are the rules:
Wake Up Call
On Health and Country
Kids playing pond hockey in New Ulm, Minnesota, January 1975.
"Physical Fitness is stressed is this community of German descendants. The Town Has a Turner Club for youth interested in gymnastics. Turnvereins, or Turner Clubs, began in Germany in the 1800's and stress health through exercise, especially gymnastics."
Wake Up Call
Sail Forth!
Sail Forth - Steer for the deep waters only. Reckless O soul, exploring. I with thee and thou with me. For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared go. And we will risk the ship, ourselves, and all.
Image: "Ski-zeilen" or Ski Sailing, St. Moritz, January 1938
Summarizer
He Should Take Out the Trash, She Should Moan Like a Spider
March 2010, Men's Health vs. Women's Health.
MH: Ads for cars, blocky red and black font. WH: Ads for engagement rings, slim teal and black font. MH: Is there a flirting technique that actually works? WH: My boyfriend has slept with tons of girls. How do I get over it? MH: Oysters are protein-rich, which makes them the perfect appetizer. WH: Dairy makes you lose abdominal fat. MH: Girls like it when you hold the door. WH: Looking at a photo of your honey's face can reduce physical pain. MH: If you have a long face, you should have a short beard. WH: If you have a toned back you should wear backless dresses. MH: When it's rainy, wear Ecco boots. WH: Calvin Klein makes hoodies for gym rats. MH: Paul Walker surfs. WH: Paula Patton does Ashtanga yoga. MH: Pork Chile Verde is a Healthy Winter Warmer. WH: Have a smoothie for breakfast if you want to look good on your date tonight.
More...New Year's Edition Prizes
Double Your Pleasure With Pilates Duets
SoHo office buildings are fascinating. Social Workout HQ is located on the 12th floor of one such building, and our neighbors in the warrens of halls include design firms, PR companies, modeling agencies, and who-knows-what-they-do businesses with intriguing names like Gigantic, Inc. And that's just on our floor. Down on the 9th floor, around a few bends in the maze, is a Pilates studio called Mongoose Bodyworks. One lucky New Year's Edition Challenge completer will be winning a free private session at MB, and to preview the prize, Katie and I went downstairs last Friday for a Pilates duet session.
New York
Oh, and du.et is cool;)
" More comments...Newslinks
Overly Personal Adjustments and Olympic Tweets
- Not everyone likes hands-on adjustments in yoga class. And people in Aspen, Colorado especially don't like them when they're under the clothes and in "private areas."
- About one in five people have the "unfitness gene," which keeps them from developing more endurance as they train, says new research. But don't worry, cause even if you're the one in five, you still lose weight and feel better and gain muscle tone and everything else.
- A bunch of people freaked when they thought they wouldn't get Twitter feeds from athletes during the Winter Olympics, but the IOC clarified: Athletes can still Twitter, and it's all going to be okay.
My Body
Michael Olajide Against the Machines
Michael Olajide, once the #1 ranked middleweight boxer in the United States, runs Aerospace High Performance Center a boxing-inspired group fitness gym located in Manahattan's meatpacking district. Olajide, known as "The Silk" when he fought, helped prep Will Smith for Ali, and his gym now draws a who's who of models and actors, including Hugh Jackman, Mark Wahlberg, and 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski.
I was born in Livepool, and raised in Canada where I began to box professionally. In 1986, Madison Square Garden bought my contract. I was maybe 22, and moving to New York and fighting at the Garden, on TV, was like a dream come true. In 1990, I got hit in the eye, and I wasn't able to fight to the level I thought I could, so I retired. My record was 28 - 4, with four knockouts. I was the number one contender. There's a champion, and then there's a number one contender, so #1 is still not first. When you don't get what you came for, it's hard. I still had a lot of competitive fuel.
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