SNEWS best fitness reads from around the web

What did the SNEWS team see this week that other fitness insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out.

• Old age is no time to rest. At least not for Jack Faust, a 101-year-old Navy veteran who is about to compete in the National Veterans Golden Age Games yet again. The wheelchair-bound centenarian doesn’t let age or stereotypes stop him from collecting gold and silver medals in rifle and shuffleboard competitions. This Fox News story highlights how other senior citizens should follow in Faust’s footsteps as exercise helps maintain and build muscle mass and increase energy. Tell your older customers there’s no need to win medals, they can just hop on whatever machine they’re buying from you for 30 minutes a day!

• Wow. We at SNEWS hope the owner of our gym is as generous as one at Anytime Fitness, Radley West, who gave a kidney to a member of her club. West said in this story on IHRSA’S website that she was a prime candidate for the very generous undertaking because she was in great shape, leading her to believe she wouldn’t face much risks in what she said was an already low-risk procedure. There’s a new take on customer service, retailers: Donate an organ and we’re pretty sure you’ve got a customer for life!

• One in three people are obese, according to this CNN Health story, even among the homeless population. Though traditionally homelessness has been associated with being underweight, the Journal of Urban Health said that isn’t the case any more, due to the overabundance of cheap, non-nutritious food those of us looking to help purchase for them. The article cautions these kind-hearted folks to make healthier choices when helping out the homeless.

• Every morning before our daily run, we take our multivitamin along with a few extra vitamin D pills. Turns out we’re smart on both accounts according to Reuters Health, which said that vitamin D supplements and exercise can help older adults who are at high risk for falls. While we’re not older adults, yet, we are quite clumsy and do fall frequently. Let’s hope our upping of vitamin D helps us in that department.

• Ever been exercising at the gym and ever so slyly glance at your neighbor’s treadmill stats to see if you’re faster? Then if you’re not, promptly up your speed? Turns out a lot of people have that tendency and exercising with others boosts motivation, according to this article in Psyche Central.

• I’m sure you’ve had many a potential customer who wouldn’t pull the trigger on a purchase because they just didn’t think they had enough time to use the machine or equipment. Well, there’s no excuse, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Use the tips outlined in this article when you have one of those customers in your store. The tips include waking up early, stop watching TV at night and getting family involved, among others.

• We thought this was only true with chocolate, but turns out too much of any good thing isn’t good. According to Georgia’s Fox 31 news station, there are plenty of opportunities to over train and hurt yourself (or for your customers to over train and hurt themselves). Offer up these tips on how to rest properly and allow muscles to recover so they’re not blaming you or your equipment when they pull a hammy.

• We know we’ve reported this before, but fitness DVDs continue to reign when it comes to the ultimate staple product. This New York Times story features a fitness DVD release party in Manhattan where women eagerly snapped up fitness DVDs by some man who has apparently has abs like Atlas. Now we have to ask ourselves, are fitness DVDs surviving because of the content or because of the visual treats?

• While we were perusing the aisles at IHRSA, we happened upon an Italian company that had people suspended in white sheet hammocks every day of the show. The participants not only looked as though they were getting a workout, they also looked extremely relaxed. This Boca Mag blog highlights the benefit of this anti-gravity exercise which is rising in popularity.

• When it comes to doing the right things, especially for our health, some humans behave like stubborn dogs. Sit! We’ve shouted at them, only to have the pup disobey in the most adorable way. Stay! We yell, only to have them dart away to chase a squirrel. For years experts have been shouting at us: Exercise! Eat healthy! Get rest! Stress less! Often to no avail. This Seattle Times column discusses the three keys to good health: Exercise, relaxation and sleep. Will we learn this time?

Have you read anything interesting you’d like to share with us? Maybe we’ll include it next week’s column with a little shout out to whoever sent it to us. Send a link to the story with the subject line “SNEWS Reads” to be considered.

–Compiled by Ana Trujillo