Cool salad ideas

There's always a place for sharing a great article on how to made salads that aren't the same old thing. Summertime is great for gathering all these fresh ingredients. Here's the article from the Times.

Don't cheat

I saw an ad for a rope-less jump rope once. How idiotic is that?

The whole point of jumping rope is get into a rhythm. I see tons of products advertised to make exercise easier, mostly trying to trick people into whittling down their midsections.

Good exercise can be hard, but it gets easier. The key is to know your limits. Instead of choosing the easier machine at the gym, go with a free weight but use a manageable weight. Free weights are, for the most part, better at building the body. Instead of walking that last mile, jog slower.

Work hard in the moment and the rewards will come.

combating office fatigue

If you sit at the desk in front of a computer for most of the day, the neck, forearms and back are in definite danger of becoming too stiff. In my newspaper days, one real estate reporter had carpal tunnel syndrome so bad she wore wrist supports and had a swivel support system for her forearms attached to her keyboard. I never forgot that sight.

Get up and walk (standing straight as if a tight string was pulling you up from the heavens) and grab some water. Stand up and do some side bends and neck twists. Rotate your hips. If you're on the phone a lot, ask your office manager to order you a headset.

Also make sure your keyboard sits comfortably with about a 90-degree bend in your arms. The top of the monitor should hit eye level. These are tips from years of having an ergonomic consultant visit us in the newsroom.

It's bad enough a lot of work in The Office. Let's not let it make us old.

congratulations Alberto!

Alberto Contador won his second Tour de France today, outclassing his rivals in the mountains and the time trial over the three-week race. Lance finished an admirable third, proving that his legs, lungs and heart are still among the strongest in the world.

Once thing Lance showed in his comeback was that he never really took time off from taking care of his fitness. He raced mountain bikes, finished marathons and simply made sure that invigorating exercise was still integral to his daily routine. 

So do something everyday for your health. Eat some avocado. Do some lunges. Read the op-ed pages. 

Are you fit?

Can you run 1.5 miles in 10 minutes? How many push ups can you do?

Can you jump onto that banister and climb through your window when you accidentally locked yourself out of the house?

What are true measures of fitness? 

To me, it doesn't really make that much sense if you can do an Ironman triathlon, but you can't kick my butt.

Health care reform begins at home

As national health care reform takes shape, hopefully, it's time to consider what may be the only really effective health insurance. 

The only real control we have is preventative care. While health news seems to change daily, we have to listen to our own bodies and use logic. Floss. Eat more vegetables. Eat less. Force our bodies to work so they work well. Stretch. Walk up the stairs. 

Seinfeld once joked about people who work out in the gym just so they could be in shape to go to the gym again. Well, it is funny how our society has made exercise seem like a hamster wheel. But like cars, regular maintenance helps everything out in the long run. 

Stand tall. Take small steps. But take control.

As Michael Jackson sang: "I'm looking at the man in the mirror."

Or as my friend Taharba said about his regular workout habit: "Just gotta keep it tight."

Exercise of the day: Renegade row

This exercise is very tough if done correctly. It's good for your back and forces you to stabilize your core. Get in push-up position holding two dumbbells. Pull one dumbbell up to your waist. Repeat on the other side. Keep your body straight. 

One key is to weigh down the opposite side you are pulling from.