President's Council on Fitness

Every now and again, I hear a reference to the President's Council on Fitness. But in truth, I don't know too much about it. So, I checked it out. And you can too.

The website link is here.

Dominique Dawes and Drew Brees are co-chairs at this time, and Billie Jean King is a member of the council.

The organization is far more active than I imagined. The array of programs are impressive, and the resources informative. They have a foundation. They post to a blog and tweet away. Be sure to read the history page. It started with Eisenhower, and each subsequent administration has added to the structure, the programs, the interactions with the public, and so on. Really good stuff.

This is a valuable resource for the American public. Take a look, perhaps you'll find something new and interesting to inform your health and fitness. 

Eat Clean

Eating clean. It has slightly different meanings to people. For me, it means minimally processed / as close to the source as possible. A good slideshow on 10 ways to eat clean can be found here at Eating Well. And, another article from Live Strong can be found here.

Overall, eat fruits and vegetables.
Drink lots of water and enjoy tea, particularly green.
Eliminate or minimize alcohol.
Rid your diet of sugar.
Go easy on the salt.
Ban anything white -- flour, rice, pasta.
Use olive oil when you can to cut down on other fats.

I have been eating more quinoa and have discovered some gluten free options for pasta and crackers. I do love a good, salty cracker. Mary's Gone Crackers are some of my favorites.

If you're not ready to eat clean entirely, consider doing so as a detox -- a way to rebalance your system. You never know, you might just feel good enough to keep it up.

Axi, Ipsi & More

More interesting definitions from the fitness directory:

     Axilla: The armpit.

     Idiopathic: Cause of injury unknown.

     Iliac: Refers to the area of the hip bones on either side of the body.

     Ipsilateral: Situated on the same side.

     Voluntary muscle: Skeletal muscle; muscle under one's control.

Really, curious about that last one.

The Antagonist

I found a fitness dictionary online and began to explore it. You can find it here. Evidently there are agonists and antagonists. As follows:

     Agonist: A contracting muscle that is resisted or counteracted by another muscle, the antagonist.

     Antagonist: A muscle that produces an action that is exactly the opposite of the agonist.

And there you have it.

Going to the Max

The other day, I did my treadmill routine -- elevation steadily at 6 and then a pump up to 10 with a step down of elevation for each minute. Woohoo!

An added benefit to feeling great and sweating like crazy was my VO2max. That is maximum oxygen uptake, and I spent 4 minutes and 28 seconds in this zone. That's hard to do. And I was heaving. My heart rate monitor displayed my ticker chiming in the 160s and 170s -- 170s! That's high. And I was. I could feel this level of oxygen.

Spending time in this zone is critical. A weekly target is how I try to achieve it -- small amounts spread across the week of exercises. I don't always get it done, but it sure does feel great when I do.

I love going to the max.

Just the Flax -- Or Maybe Chia

Prevention has an interesting comparison of flax and chia seeds that you can find here. I have a stash of both. Actually my flax is in meal form, and I recently used it with water to substitute for the egg binding in a meatloaf recipe. The chia seeds are whole. I've had them now for well over a year. I discovered chia, ordered some, mixed a batch into a gel, and used it by the spoonful.

Essentially both seeds have similar properties and benefits.

But here are a few differences, considerations perhaps:
  - Chia have more fiber
  - Flax has double the B1
  - Chia has 11% RDA of selenium compared to 5% for flax
  - Flax has slightly more copper, folate, potassium, and magnesium
  - Chia offers more phosphorous

The bottom line is that both are good for you. The comparison lifted the glove for flax, but you can't go wrong with either and should consider variety.

Want to Be More Efficient?

It appears our body clocks are in the spotlight once again. An article at WSJ.com outlined research findings on the optimum times to do everything from think critically and creatively to exercise to Tweeting. A few interesting points:

• Best cognitive times are late morning
• Fatigue boosts creative powers
• 3 to 6 pm produces the least injury during exercise
• Eye-hand coordination is best in late afternoon

You can read the article in its entirety here and perhaps make adjustments or keep these points in mind.