SNEWS best fitness reads from around the web
The SNEWS team loves to read. And we’ve put together a list of articles and blog posts that caught our attention this week. In case you missed them, this week’s selections include a story about pole dancing for Jesus and another about an 81-year-old who finally qualified for the Boston Marathon. Check them out!
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What did the SNEWS team read this week that other fitness insiders might find interesting? Read on to find out.
- Jesus seemed like he loved everybody and withheld all judgment, but some of his followers are having a problem with women in Old Town Spring, Texas, pole dancing to Christian music to honor Jesus, according to this NBC Sports story.
- A few months ago, SNEWS did a piece about the growing popularity of rowing machines, and highlighted a product called Indo-Row, designed for Indo-Row classes. This New York Times story discusses Indo-Row and several other virtual reality rowing exercise classes.
- There has been a growing trend of fashion designers collaborating on active apparel, but nothing as high-profile as Stella McCartney designing the Adidas uniforms worn by Great Britain’s Olympic Teams. Take a look at this slideshow from the Guardian to get a sneak peek at what the high-fashion athletic apparel looks like. McCartney has been designing yoga and other fitness apparel for Adidas since 2004.
- What’s keeping some of the SNEWS team members from running the Boston Marathon? Speed. What kept 81-year-old Clarence Hartley from running it? Well, when he was young he didn’t really want to, and then there were the Korean and Vietnam wars and battles with lymphoma and prostate cancer. But Hartley will take to the starting line in Boston on April 18, and he’ll finally run the race he’s had his sights set on since 2005. Check out this NBC Sports story.
- On Monday, SNEWS will bring you a report on all the cool suspension training equipment at IHRSA, but this Reuters story discusses the super-awesome antigravity training equipment and courses such as the Alter-G antigravity treadmill and antigravity yoga classes where participants hang from hammocks.
- It’s spring now, and columnist Shelly Greenfield wants to know if you and your customers are still on track with their New Year’s fitness and health goals. She notes in her Post Bulletin column that many people work hard only to just stop and give up, but she offers some tips on how to get back — and stay — on track.
- Chances are, a lot of your customers are making the workout mistakes recently released by the American Council on Exercise, and reviewed in this Sacramento Bee article. Some of the common mistakes include landing on the heel or ball of foot improperly while doing plyometrics, not doing active recovery intervals during high intensity interval training and incorrectly using kettlebells. Share this information with your customers purchasing equipment for any of those activities.
- Still need help convincing that customer to purchase that elliptical or treadmill? Share this information from the Cleveland Clinic, recently published in U.S. News, that said aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise helps lower blood pressure, lower harmful LDL cholesterol, improve endurance, decrease heart rate, lose or maintain weight loss, manage stress and improve quality of sleep.
- It’s a topic that is constantly debated: What is more important, fitness or BMI? This press release posted in the Houston Chronicle calls for fitness experts to take part in a survey about the topic so hopefully it can be put to rest.
- Oh, abs, we’ve been searching for you for so long, at the gym, while on a run, while cooking “flat-belly foods,” but according to this post on NaturalNews.com, there are five exercises that can help us better find you, including an old-school bicycle exercise, leg raises and crunches. Do you have any accessories that can help your customers better perform such exercises?
- Perhaps it has something to do with it being election time? Those government types in Washington, D.C. are flocking to get fit. The Washington Post reports that fitness gyms and clubs “were among the most active leasing space throughout the Washington region in 2011,” accounting for about 20 percent of retail leases signed for spaces 20,000 square feet or more.
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.
