SNEWS best fitness reads from around the web

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

• With IHRSA 2012 showing several suspension-training contraptions that took us back to our playground days, it’s sad to see this news that half of pre-schoolers aren’t playing outside, especially little girls. Read more in this CNN article.

• The results are in from the Physical Activity Council’s 2012 Participation Report. More Americans are hiking and camping, and fitness remained the No. 1 activity — but, overall, Americans’ level of activity decreased. Click here to read the full topline report and find out which states are most active, which activities are drawing increased spending and more.

• Not that the SNEWS team really needs much workout motivation (if you’ve seen us, you know), but if the mayor of our town initiated a fitness challenge like the one in this Sommerville News article, we might be a little more inclined to get moving to fit nicely in our itty-bitty bikinis and Speedos. 

• So many of us may have heard the news: Chocolate eaters tend to be slimmer than non-chocolate eaters. The SNEWS team rejoiced at that study and promptly stocked our snack drawers with Godiva. While it acknowledges that wasn’t one (thank goodness), this Daily Press article warns us not to be too fooled by food myths, including the one that claimed eggs are bad for you and that cutting tasty carbohydrates is good for you. 

• Stretching. It’s the topic of many fitness articles, and as much a mystery to exercisers as women are to men. But this Post Crescent article puts and end to the guesswork. Tell your customers that they no longer have to guess about optimal time. The preferred order of things is this: Warm up, stretch and then get into your workout.

• First the Latin-infused Zumba hit the market, now Molly Tanuvasa is bringing the Polynesian-infused Hot Hula. A few weeks ago, SNEWS brought you some Health Notes about how hula hooping torches calories, and this class seems to do that in a fabulously fun way. Read a little more about it in this Tampa Bay Online story.

• Maybe you’ve seen the Craigslist Killer on Lifetime, or maybe you’re just naturally skeptical of all things Craigslist. If you are, here’s more fuel for your flames: A personal trainer, Dejon Alan Miller, who advertised on Craigslist, recently was arrested for physically abusing the women who responded to his ad. So show your customers this NBC News story, and that specialty’s safer, when they go trolling for used fitness equipment on Craigslist. 

• Today is Good Friday, and many of our religious friends may have given up something for this past Lenten season. This fun column in the Huffington Post by Penny Love Hoff discusses her jump onto the Lenten bandwagon, and she encourages readers to take on fitness during this coming year, not just during Lent. 

• We love gadgets and gizmos just like the Little Mermaid did. This Fox News article points out three new whozits and whatsits for fitness buffs everywhere, including the Nike Fuelband, which helps users track their workout progress; the TowelMate, which stores and protects your iPhone and other gadgets while you work out; and Icebreaker Merino wool apparel, which keeps you dry and regulates your body temperature so you don’t overheat. 

• If you’re anything like the SNEWS team, you’ve probably got a little shoe graveyard going on in the basement, but now that we’ve read this post on FitSugar, we are definitely going to recycle its residents. I mean, after all, why keep your shoes resting in peace when they can be used to create something new and awesome? 

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