For all of you time crunched people: you can get fit doing these scientifically studied
exercises (NYT). All you need are yourself, a floor, a chair, and time to do a 7 minute set 2 to 3 times. Caveat: it's a painful 7 minutes, and some say that you should already be at a decent fitness level, and may need to warm-up beforehand.
Here's the academic journal
article.
posted by JiffyQ
on May 9, 2013 -
65 comments
Becoming the All-Terrain Human: [New York Times] "Kilian Jornet Burgada is the most dominating endurance athlete of his generation. In just eight years, Jornet has won more than 80 races, claimed some 16 titles and set at least a dozen speed records, many of them in distances that would require the rest of us to purchase an airplane ticket. He has run across entire landmasses (Corsica) and mountain ranges (the Pyrenees), nearly without pause. He regularly runs all day eating only wild berries and drinking only from streams."
posted by Fizz
on Mar 23, 2013 -
24 comments
If you've never done the Wingate-cycle test, let me try to explain what it feels like: It feels like your legs are giving birth. It feels like you've got an eight-martini hangover in your calves. Your face contorts like a porn star in an AVN-award-winning threesome scene. You emit noises that resemble feedback at a thrash-metal concert. Maybe your eyes are closed and you're rocking your head back and forth. The upside: It's over in 30 seconds. ... I rode the Wingate cycle as part of my research on a surprising and potentially life-altering theory called high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Think of it as the Evelyn Wood of exercise. The idea is that lightning-quick intense workouts might be as good for you as — if not better than — longer medium-intensity workouts.
[more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on Jan 20, 2013 -
79 comments
"Why do parasites harm their hosts? Conventional wisdom holds that because parasites depend on their hosts for survival and transmission, they should evolve to become benign, yet many parasites cause harm. Theory predicts that parasites could evolve virulence (i.e., parasite-induced reductions in host fitness) by balancing the transmission benefits of parasite replication with the costs of host death. This idea has led researchers to predict how human interventions—such as vaccines—may alter virulence evolution, yet empirical support is critically lacking."
Two papers demonstrate empirical evidence for related models predicting the origin of virulence:
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posted by Blasdelb
on Oct 21, 2012 -
23 comments
"
Ride With GPS is the best
bike route mapping tool for cyclists, runners or anyone wanting an easy yet powerful fitness route planning experience.
We offer tools to analyze cycling performance, including graphs of heart rate, cadence, watts (power output from a power meter), speed and elevation gain. Using all this data, we can offer training plans and other insight into your fitness. We work with all Garmin Edge bike computers, Forerunner fitness devices and any GPS unit that can export a TCX or GPX file."
posted by troll
on Dec 22, 2011 -
20 comments
Excercise a little abstract for you? Unable to see the point of going to the gym? Try
ZombieFit and get in shape for the end of the world.
posted by The Whelk
on Jun 29, 2010 -
53 comments
"The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds."
posted by jason's_planet
on Dec 7, 2009 -
97 comments
Bill Orban developed the "Five Basic Exercises" or
5BX program for the Royal Canadian Air force in the late 50s. Apart from the primary aim of getting people into shape it was designed to be simple to perform, to work on all the body, to require nothing in terms of special equipment or large spaces, to accommodate enough progression to cater for reformed couch potato and budding athlete alike and to fit into a time slot of 11 minutes including warm up. [Women, for whatever reason, were prescribed 10 exercises in 12 minutes with
XBX]. The book of the exercises was translated into 13 languages and sold 23 million copies around the world before falling into obscurity in the 80s.
[more inside]
posted by rongorongo
on Mar 25, 2009 -
34 comments
Gyminee is a truly excellent web app that lets you track workouts, nutrition and fitness goals. Prints grocery lists, lets you find workout buddies, etc. Very aesthetically pleasing, too. Considerably easier to use than
Fitday, which a lot of people swear by.
posted by jbickers
on May 19, 2008 -
15 comments
The Third World Squat (Some images not 100% safe for work)
When it comes to training someone who's new to the world of squats, deadlifts, and the fine art of picking up heavy stuff, I've found a substantial disparity in the learning curve between North Americans and those from third-world countries . . . There are a variety of possible reasons for this, but there's one dominant variable that's a great predictor of a trainee's immediate potential before they even step foot in the gym: The third-world squat.
posted by jason's_planet
on Dec 29, 2007 -
48 comments
“What is fitness?”(large PDF) is an essay by the leaders of the
CrossFit movement. The ideal they propose is an athlete who is “equal parts gymnast, Olympic weightlifter, and multi-modal sprinter or ‘sprintathlete.’ Develop the capacity of a novice 800-meter track athlete, gymnast, and weightlifter and you’ll be fitter than any world-class runner, gymnast, or weightlifter.”
posted by jason's_planet
on Jun 20, 2007 -
51 comments
Rice, the rocket. Secretary of State shares fitness tips with early-morning DC news. Next week: Cyclin' with POTUS (schedule subject to change).
posted by rob511
on Feb 28, 2006 -
17 comments
I can do that! The latest excercise craze sweeping LA! It starts with light stretching and breathing excercises for half an hour. Then assume the "corpse pose" and wait for the neck massage. If you can stay awake.
posted by raaka
on Aug 15, 2005 -
36 comments
Fitness to Practice is a collection of songs written and performed by Amateur Transplants, two practicing doctors from the UK. The album consists of
original songs as well as witty parodies of songs originally performed by among others
Tom Lehrer and
The Jam (mp3 links). The lyrics contain a lot of medical in-jokes, but the humour is broad enough to appeal to everyone.
posted by bap98189
on Mar 31, 2005 -
9 comments
