SNEWS best fitness reads from around the web

What did the SNEWS team read this week that other fitness insiders might find interesting? Well, read on to find out.

• Looks like accessories for walking might be in higher demand among companies that encourage their employees to schedule meetings to be conducted during a brisk walk outdoors. According to this Business Wire story, The American Heart Association and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., are teaming up to encourage meeting walks. Perhaps the SNEWS editorial team meeting will be conducted on a walk today. If you see two beautiful ladies walking on 55th St. in Boulder today, it’s probably us. In case you’re wondering, our third stooge is out on a press trip. Lucky duck.

• Despite much dispute over the level of fitness of the Olympic weight lifters, this study (the results of which were recently published in this Empower Her post) proves that you can be both a bit heavy and fit. Check out the story for a more in-depth explanation of metabolic fitness and why people can be “both fat and fit.” Check out another story on Bloomberg summing up the study here.

• Madonna. She wowed us in the 1980s with all of her shocking antics and continues to wow us with her nature-defying perfect body as she progresses further into her 50s. Now we, and your customers, might have a shot at looking like the pop legend. Check out this Instinct Magazine post about Madonna’s new Hard Candy Fitness line of workout DVDs.

• This Boston Globe Daily Dose post encourages people to use housework as their daily exercise. Think about it: You get a cleaner house and a thinner waist, but where does that leave you retailers. Don’t worry, we’re well-versed in the art of reading between the lines and we feel there’s room for sales of accessories like weighted vests for this soon-to-be growing army household-chores-as-fitness enthusiasts. We know for sure HyperWear is bringing back some revamped versions of two popular weighted vests to Health & Fitness Business Expo this year.

• We love it when celebrities use their power for good, so we were happy to read about Dallas Cowboy Hall-of-Famer Troy Aikmen and his partnership with local Dallas fitness guru Kenneth Cooper to help fight obesity. Check out this Dallas News The Scoop blog post. 

• This is a great read in the Huffington Post about one author’s experience with exercise and how it’s helped him in numerous ways from curing his writer’s blog to easing his panic over his manuscript.

• We all know CrossFit is blowing up, but what is its appeal? This Bucks Local News story dives into why people love participating in the high-intensity craze: It offers them a sense of community that they just seem to get hooked on. 

• You are what you eat, according to the popular phrase, but after reading a few stories this week on diet and exercise, we’ve come to the conclusion that your workouts are what you eat. Check out this Paxton Record story on how food affects workouts and what you eat, and when you eat it, can make or break your workout. Plus, check out this Fox News Latino story about how diet affects your aerobic capacity. Interesting stuff.

• According to a recent study from the Active Network and the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (formerly the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association), kids are motivated to participate in activities because they are fun, but adults don’t think the same way. Rather, adults think of exercise as something to check of their to do lists. For those people who think that way, show them this Las Vegas Informer story about how to make exercise more fun.

• CrossFit, Ninja Fitness, P90X; it seems fitness regimens are getting more and more hard core. Check out this Jakarta Post story about how now combat and self-defense sports, like Krav Maga, are becoming an increasingly popular way to stay fit and in shape. Plus, since a few of us are single gals who live alone, we suspect that it’s also a great way for women to learn how to defend themselves against any burglars or dangerous people on the loose. Get your boxing gloves and boxing accessories ready for sale.

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 you. Send a link to the story with the subject line “SNEWS Reads” to be considered.

–Compiled by Ana Trujillo