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.

• The SNEWS team knows that all our members are awesome, but one day we hope to be as awesome as Lois Campbell, a 104-year-old bad ass (it might not be respectful, but it sure is accurate) from Forest Grove, Ore., who exercises regularly and watches what she eats. Check out this story on OregonLive.com about Campbell’s healthy habits.

• The SNEWS team always fits in exercise when traveling to trade shows and media events, but we waste an awful lot of time sitting in airports eating fast food. While we sometimes use that time for writing, it might be nice to cure airport monotony with a workout. At least that’s the goal that San Francisco International Airport must have had in mind when it established its Yoga Room in the newly refurbished Terminal 2. Check out this USA Today story on the Yoga Room.

• Some parents might think that buying their video-game loving kid a Wii or Kinect with tennis and dancing games will help make them more active, but CBS News said that isn’t the case despite what previous research may have suggested. Experts did say that while playing games on Wii might burn a few more calories than traditional video games, it’s not a big difference at all.

• Oh no! You better check this list from Women’s Health Magazine on which exercise machines to ditch at the gym. Are some of your top sellers included? Don’t worry too much; many of the alternate exercises use other gym equipment.

• In this article in the Spokesman-Review, a high-school junior embarks on a venture to turn fat into muscle by participating in a teen health and research study, which he’s using for motivation. The study will include 20 children and it aims to understand how to curb the obesity problem in our younger generations. This might be a great study to follow and see how it works out for these youngsters. And hey, they may be your future customers.

• SNEWS recently reported that stair-climbing exercise machines are increasing in popularity, but there’s another stair-climbing trend out there: Running up the stairwells in some of the world’s tallest buildings. The Empire State Run-Up, which is in its 35th year, challenges people to run up 86 flights of stairs from the ground to the Observation Deck. Check out this Today story on the event.

• What? Cake for breakfast? Sign us up! According to a recent article in the New York Times, a study of 144 obese individuals ages 20-65 were divided up and put on two plans that were identical except for one very sweet exception: after breakfast one group was allowed to choose dessert. The group that ate dessert lost an additional 13 pounds on average than the other group in a 16-week follow-up, which found the non-dessert eaters gained all but 3.5 pounds of their weight lost back. Sweet!

• Yoga is a time to come down from the day’s stresses for some, a time to exercise and strengthen their muscles for others, but for those participating in the National Yoga Asana Championship this weekend, it’s become a sport. Judges will focus on the technicality of participants’ postures and whether they have strength, balance and flexibility. But apparently competitive yoga isn’t new, it’s been done in India and other places in the world according to this story in the Clarion Ledger.

• “The Biggest Loser” is a popular show, and lots of people watch it and get inspiration to get fit and subsequently come through your doors. The Fit Bottomed Girls (who vow to help you “Keep a lid on the junk in the trunk”) chatted up “The Biggest Loser” master trainer Bob Harper about everything from show drama to his favorite workouts. Check out the post.

• Childhood obesity has been a hot topic in the news for the last few years. And now programs that have been started to fight the problem are starting to show results. At least that’s what the Miami Herald reported when it wrote this story about the KidFit program, which helped an 8-year-old girl lose eight pounds. The program helps kids exercise and learn how to tend to a garden with fresh vegetables in order to prevent the health problems that come as a result of being obese.

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