Courtesy Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian

Do 10 dead lifts, 20 push-ups, 30 sit-ups. Repeat four more times as fast as you can.

Then collapse.

That was the recent workout of one of the hottest new addictions hitting gyms all over Oregon, from Portland to Beaverton, Gresham to Hillsboro, Medford to Hood River: CrossFit. And it was a relatively easy one by CrossFit standards.

Workouts that push bodies to the point of muscle failure are far from new. But in recent years CrossFit has captured the muscles and imagination of everyone from the super-sleek and fit to the pudgy and out-of-shape with its breathless, fast-paced array of muscle-twitching movements.

“I wanted to do something that would change me,” says 26 year-old Janelle Culley, who started CrossFit six months ago and now attends classes twice a week. “I’d never been strong before. If I can do this, anyone can.”

Are You Up For CrossFit Training?

CrossFit’s popularity is on the rise
Why has CrossFit become the world’s most popular and inspiring workout right now?

Some of it is exposure. The glut of infomercials, or seeing six-pack hard bodies doing squats, dead lifts, pull-ups and other torturous exercises in the annual CrossFit Games sponsored by Reebok and televised on ESPN, can inspire couch potatoes to get off the couch.

But beyond the allure of those TV-fueled fitness dreams, CrossFit Pearl District owner Jeff Duncan says the training is what gets people hooked.

Most CrossFit instruction happens in group settings that generate camaraderie and motivation, making each gym a supportive CrossFit community that keeps people coming back for more punishment, Duncan says.

CrossFit also focuses on universal movements that don’t favor a particular sport. Everyone starts out equally, at least theoretically.

“If you get someone who has never played sports and someone who was a good college football player, none of that matters,” says Duncan. “It’s a level playing field.”

Another appeal is that workouts are short but intense trials of physical and mental toughness, and people are drawn to challenges that test how tough they are, Duncan says.

Duncan, 28, cites his life as a CrossFit success story.

Four years ago he took his first CrossFit class in Tacoma. He barely finished it but loved the workout so much that he started taking more and more classes. Though always in shape, the 5-foot-9-inch, 172-pound Duncan evolved into the finely sculpted yet limber-as-a-cat instructor that he is today. He’s built like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat.

In December 2009, Duncan moved to Portland from Tacoma to start his CrossFit gym, now almost a year old with 85 regular members and growing.

What is CrossFit?

Most gym workouts typically isolate a single muscle — a biceps curl, for example.

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning program based on functional movements that focus on, and require the use of, multiple muscles. The popular dead lift simulates picking something up off the ground, for example. Squats replicate standing and sitting. The snatch resembles lifting an object off the ground and then above the shoulders.

Typically, a CrossFit class — the workout is often posted online beforehand — features stretching followed by an explanation of the form and mechanics of one or more exercises. At the end of class, the exercises are done in a timed sequence several times, with 10, 20 or 30 repetitions for each exercise. This workout of the day, or “WOD,” often causes muscle failure or something close to it.

“The intensity is about challenging our bodies,” says Duncan. “If we aren’t challenging our bodies, then our bodies won’t adapt. It’s important to have that intensity because you will eventually get better. At one point, you will need to move more weight or move fast. But first, you should establish the mechanics.”

What are the dangers of CrossFit?

Many non-CrossFit trainers believe CrossFit trainers don’t stress those mechanics often enough, however. Read more>>>

This article originally appeared in the April 25, 2012 edition of The Oregonian

CrossFit: The Fitness World’s Hottest Craze

PRESS RELEASE

April 18, 2012, 8:06 a.m. EDT

Fidelity Retirement Savings Assessment Finds Working Americans Facing Significant Drop in Income in Retirement

Analysis Outlines the Estimated Impact of Five Actionable Steps to Help Avoid a Potential Income Drop in Retirement

BOSTON, Apr 18, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fidelity Investments(R), the leader in helping Americans save for retirement(1), today unveiled its Retirement Savings Assessment(TM), the first industry analysis that provides actionable and quantifiable steps across three generations (Baby Boomers born between 1946–1964, X born between 1965–1978 and Y born between 1979– 1991) to potentially help close their estimated retirement income gaps.

The research finds working American households may experience a potential income drop of 28 percent in retirement(2), and nearly four-in-ten (38 percent) retiree households report not having sufficient income to cover their monthly expenses. These estimated retirement income gaps could force significant sacrifices that could include cuts in discretionary expenses. To help improve Americans’ retirement readiness, Fidelity conducted an analysis that quantifies the potential monetary benefits of five straight-forward steps — such as adjusting asset allocation and annuitizing retirement assets. Within the context of a comprehensive retirement plan, this analysis can help individuals better understand which steps may make the greatest impact.

“While there is evidence that Americans are saving more for retirement, our analysis finds that they need to take additional steps to prepare for the future and take better control of their personal economy,” said Kathleen A. Murphy, president, Personal Investing, Fidelity Investments. “The study underscores the importance of early engagement in the retirement planning process and the potential impact these five actionable steps can have in helping address the retirement income gap that many Americans are facing today.”

Five Steps That Can Improve Monthly Income in Retirement… Read more>>>

Your Retirement Income – Is It Protected?

Sizing down too fast: risky business

June is just around the corner, and bridal blogs and magazines are filled with suggestions for nervous brides hoping to shed pounds before the big day.

Scary new weight loss drugs are winning market approval and the world — including Forbes — is talking about the über-creepy feeding tube diet.

But any time you try to speed weight loss beyond the doctor-recommended 1 to 2 pounds a week, you take risks.

So now it’s time to look at how far we’re willing to go to lose weight – and what risks we’re willing to take. Here are the latest diet trends, and a realistic assessment of the dangers they pose.

1. The Japanese Weight Loss Pill

What it is: A supplement imported from Japan known as Xiushentang, marketed as Japan Rapid Weight Loss Diet Pills in three colors: green, yellow, and blue. Ten days ago, the FDA issued a strong warning, stating that the medications contain the chemical phenolphthalein and the weight loss drug sibutramine.

Why it’s dangerous: Phenolphthalein is listed by the FDA as a suspected carcinogen, and sibutramine, sold as the brand name diet drug Meridia, was pulled from the market in 2010 for raising the risk of heart attack and stroke.

2. Clen Fat Burner

What it is: Clenbuterol is a steroid used to treat repiratory illnesses in horses. It’s not approved for human use, but is taken illegally by athletes and models to boost muscle mass and trigger weight loss. It made headlines last summer when athletes were banned from the Pan Am games after testing positive for “Clen,” as it’s familiarly known.

Why it’s dangerous: Clenbuterol hasn’t been tested in humans, but there’s evidence from animal studies that it’s taken up by muscle tissues throughout the body, and therefore can damage the heart muscle. It’s illegal to use it in human consumption, yet it’s easily available from many pharmaceutical websites with a quick Google search. There’s a separate concern that we might be taking clenbuterol unknowingly; this summer the FDA warned that up to 40 percent of imported meat had tested positive for clenbuterol, carried over from animal use.

3. The Brazilian Diet Pill

What it is: Nutritional supplements imported from Brazil, sold under the name of Emagrece Sim and Herbaslim. The long list of ingredients includes Librium, the antidepressant Prozac, and the stimulant Fenproporex. Since 2006,when the FDA issued a warning against these drugs, news reports have sounded the alarm.

Why it’s dangerous: The combination of uppers and downers can cause severe mood swings. Allure Magazine reported on models who were experiencing extreme personality changes, as well as other odd symptoms, such as a hypersensitivity to touch. Meanwhile the drugs continue to sell briskly via websites that tout their amazing weight loss benefits.

4. Qnexa and Successors

What it is: The supposed future blockbuster diet drug Qnexa is just the first of several weight loss drugs in final phase testing. All are combinations of existing drugs, making for a faster approval process. Contrave, from Orexigen, is a mix of bupropion, an antidepressant also used to quit smoking, and naltrexone, used for alcoholism and addiction to opiates. Arena pharmaceuticals’ Lorcaserin, an appetite suppressant, may finally be approved by the FDA later this year.

Why it’s dangerous: Honestly, any drug that messes with metabolism and mood is likely to have tricky side effects. Last year the FDA sent Contrave back into testing, requiring long-term studies to make sure it — like many diet drugs that work as stimulants — doesn’t raise heart attack risk. Lorcaserin, which had much better safety  in studies, was also sent back by the FDA for further testing due to concerns about heart valve damage.

5. The K-E Diet

What it is: Forever more to be known as the “feeding tube diet” or “nose drip diet,” the K-E method involves inserting a naso-gastric tube through the nose, through which a nutrient solution is delivered directly to the stomach. As reported by Forbes, the K-E method limits calorie intake to approximately 800 calories a day, as you eat no food while you’re doing it. There’s not a lot more to say about this crazy new diet trend that hasn’t been said. Popularized by brides looking to drop the proverbial 1o pounds in two weeks (except this diet promises a 20-pound loss in 10 days), the procedure involves finding a doctor who will oversee the procedure.

Why it’s dangerous: Well, it involves inserting a feeding tube down the nose into the stomach. There’s considerable risk of inflammation and infection.  The process puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis, which means burning fat instead of glucose for energy. Technically it works to lose weight, but ketosis elevates the levels of ketones in the blood, which puts considerable stress on the liver and kidneys. And consider the questionable credentials of any doctor willing to do this procedure on an otherwise healthy patient. There’s just no other way to describe this trend than courting disaster.

Courtesy: http://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2012/04/19/5-deadliest-diet-trends/

5 Deadliest Diet Trends: Pills That Really Can Kill

Wasn’t that diploma our ticket to success and happiness for a lifetime?

Well, obviously it wasn’t, no matter what we were told. The sad fact is that that old diploma you might have is probably woefully out of date and the same skill sets you studied so hard, may not even being taught anymore.

So, you need to capitalize more on your life and work skills to land a new job today and a resume – the right resume – can be the key that opens the door for you. Here are a few hints from  Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter from http://money.usnews.com that can be a real help:

5 Resume Statements That Prove You’re Fit For the Job

By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter

April 16, 2012

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter

Determining how to communicate your value in a resume and prove that you are an employer’s bottom-line solution can often cause anxiety.

While it’s critical to focus on measurable achievements, your resume should also look beyond numbers and relate soft skills that you’ve applied to projects and interactions. These soft skills directly tie into your emotional fitness, and ultimately, demonstrate your cultural fit with your target employer.

Proving emotional fitness means you show your resilience and strength in areas that often directly impact business, including:

1. Shifting unwavering opinions

2. Uniting disparate groups

3. Pacifying unhappy clients

4. Conveying enthusiasm; motivating others

5. Navigating treacherous business seas

The following are examples of what you’d write on a resume to knit threads of emotional nuance and personal culture with a bottom line, to convince an employer you’re the best fit for the job.

Example 1: Demonstrating an ability to shift unwavering opinions:

“Opened door to new market vertical, leading to more than $20M in new business. Won over adamantly uninterested hospital department head in first meeting after quickly ‘getting a read’ on corporate and personal challenges.”

Note: The second sentence focuses on soft skills in “getting a read” on the department head’s challenge, and this ability ultimately supported the $20M result.

Example 2: Showing aptitude in bringing together disparate groups: Read more>>

Tips On Finding A New Job – 5 Resume Statements

We’re Not Young

Did you know that an average human body attains full physical maturity and stops growing at around the age of 18? More shockingly, signs of aging start appearing as early as when one is 20 years old, even though most people fail to notice them.

For optimum Fitness and Health you have to start taking care of yourself from an early age. If watched closely, faint wrinkles, thinning of hair, nails and skin, loss of firmness in the limbs and neck can be perceived in your late 20s. By the time we reach 30, all major organs begin to deteriorate. Interestingly our cognitive prowess is at its highest between the ages of 30 and 40.

Why not use this thinking ability and pay attention to the signals that our body gives us?

The most common, but grave mistake which most of us make is with our food habits. We may put our body through dietary abuse thinking that our young bones can take it, which is true up to a certain extent. A younger body does have better metabolism and a greater ability to digest ‘junk food’ than a relatively older human being, but the effects of this ‘exploitation’ manifest themselves much later in life in the form of metabolic disorders, hypertension, high blood-pressure, diabetes and may even lead to different heart diseases.

As the body starts to move downhill, it gives clear evidence of the harm that we’ve unconsciously caused to ourselves. That is why it is very important to become conscious about your Fitness and Health as early in life as possible.

Parents need to inculcate these habits in their children from an early stage, so that the children can grow up to be healthy adults. What about the parents though? No one told them these so very important things when they were in their pre-adolescent years. Is it too late for them? Do not worry; the good news is that most of the damage caused to our body due to wrong eating habits is reversible. What you need is a little discipline and a strict workout schedule.

There is no age-bar to start exercising. One can start as early as their early teens or as late as senior adulthood. With a little bit of work, you will start feeling young again. In fact you will feel the Fitness and Health benefits within a few weeks. Again, starting to eat healthy is not enough.

Remember, you are not only trying to maintain your health but also gain back what you have lost over the years. For that you need proper instruction and training. Join a good gym and follow the instructions of the trainer. A Fitness and Health trainer in a recognized gym or health club would not only be able to tell you the best exercise routines according to your body condition and age, but will also guide you through a proper diet plan. Through proper consulting you can find out all about the right kinds of food, the right amounts, and the right time of the day to consume them.

There is a reason why the Fitness and Health industry has taken the world by storm. With our daily routines getting tighter due to ever increasing pressures of work and family life, we tend to ignore healthy habits and only concentrate on getting through each day as it comes. People need to realize that our bodies are our most precious asset. A person’s Fitness and Health should hold as much value to him or her as a priceless treasure, and they should take every measure possible to guard it.

With a little bit of work, you will start feeling young again. In fact you will feel the Fitness and Health benefits within a few weeks. Again, starting to eat healthy is not enough. Remember, you are not only trying to maintain your health but also gain back what you have lost over the years.

Fitness and Health – Priceless Treasures

If you have lots of money, Monday, April 16, was one of the best tax days since the early 1930s: Top tax rates on ordinary income, dividends, estates, and gifts remain at or near historically low levels. That’s thanks, in part, to legislation passed in December 2010 by the 111th Congress and signed by President Barack Obama. Starting next January, rates may be headed higher.

For the 400 U.S. taxpayers with the highest adjusted gross income, the effective federal income tax rate—what they actually pay—fell from almost 30 percent in 1995 to just over 18 percent in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Read more>>

How to Pay No Taxes: Ten Strategies Used By the Rich

Associated Press

I don’t know why it is, but we tend to believe almost anything we hear that is part of the evening news. We know that many of the “news” stories are more “attention getters” than straight news, but it doesn’t make any difference to us.

It was reported, so it is “Gospel” – right up there with Mark and Luke. Take the “diet soda is ruining our health” scenario stories that have gotten a lot of play in recent months.

Some of the reports have been down right scary. You can get fatter. You are more subject to diabetes.

Well, I did not give up my diet soda – I know there are many reasons other than weight control that play into this decision and tell me I should give it up. But I haven’t and I have not gained a lot of weight or fallen victim to the many other potential health problems.

A post on the NPR Blog deserves a quick read if you are trying to make up your mind whether or not to kick the diet soda habit. As for me, I’m happy with my weight loss and would never go back to the sugary kids stuff. Read NPR’s post here…

Do You Really Have To Give Up Your Diet Soda?

Courtesy of Washington Post April 1,2012

The American Dream. It’s out there, you just have to have the courage to pursue it with all that you have. Of course, ‘all that you have’ assumes that you have the education required to perform well in your chosen field.

If you don’t, it’s no big deal, the government has programs that will guarantee the loans you need to get all of the college education you need to live the American Dream.

It sounded great. And it was. All you had to do was study hard, get the job you prepared for and pay off those student loans that the government guaranteed for you.

But for many seniors that dream is turning into a nightmare as witnessed in this article in the Washington Post:

New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.

 That even seniors remain saddled with student loans highlights what a growing chorus of lawmakers, economists and financial experts say has become a central conflict in the nation’s higher education system: The long-touted benefits of a college degree are being diluted by rising tuition rates and the longevity of debt.

Some of these older Americans are still grappling with their first wave of student loans, while others took on new debt when they returned to school later in life in hopes of becoming more competitive in the labor force. Many have co-signed for loans with their children or grandchildren to help them afford ballooning tuition.

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• Hefty paychecks for lobby shop CEOs
• Satellite-image firms gird for cutbacks
• Mike Lawrie, the turnaround executive
• Key economic events for the week of April 2

View all Items in this Story

So what happened? I’m sure that the path was different for each person who now finds themselves struggling to pay off decades old student loans rather than living the retirement they had dreamed of but they all had one thing in common. They placed today’s comfort and fun ahead of tomorrow’s security.

For most of these people there is no quick and easy fix. They are being hounded by bill collectors and worrying about what to put on the table this evening.

If you are still in your earning years, let this current situation be a wake up call. Sit down with your spouse and your financial advisor. Review exactly what your plans are for your retirement years and make certain that you are properly funding those plans. Whatever you do, do not put off for tomorrow what you should be doing today. You only have to look around you to see what a bad decision that would be.

Retired And Buried Under A Ton Of Debt

Oh, my aching back! Have you ever said that? I mean for real, not just as a sarcastic comment when something goes wrong. Well, if you haven’t, chances are better than even that you will.

According to research disclosed by the Healthy Back Institute, some 80% of Americans will experience back trouble at some point in their life. And over 31 million of us are experiencing back pain as you read this!

Now, if you’re like most folks, you’ve probably been told by your health care practitioner that overuse of your muscles… poor posture… and even your genetic history are the primary causes of your back pain.

Unfortunately, they don’t have it quite right. I won’t say they are completely wrong – posture does play an important role in back pain. But it is more than simply standing up straight and your pain will go away.

More often than not, you slouch due to muscle imbalance. Muscles on one side are getting more, or less, use than the opposing muscles and are correspondingly stronger, or weaker, than the opposing muscle. This causes the body to “tilt”, if you will, and puts strain on the back.

A couple excerpts from “Perfect Posture In 30 Days” says it much better than I do:

Poor posture results most commonly in rounded shoulders, the head falling forward, and protruding upper back. This may occur from too much sitting at your computer or TV, slouching will you drive or sit and poor body awareness.

This results in either shortening of certain muscles or weakening of certain muscles. This waterfall of tiny structural changes, which does not happen over night, slowly begins to shift the alignment of your major joints such as your neck, shoulder girdle, spine, pelvis, knees and ankles.

And…

Your body’s primary goal is to maintain center of gravity. Guess what happens when you are not properly aligned? Your body must expand much more energy to counter balance the pull of gravity it is resisting against.

This results in the common neck, back and shoulder pain, headaches and tiredness, because your muscles, ligaments and joints must take on the extra weight. This irregular stress can lead to osteoarthritis and degenerative bones. Fusion of the spine can occur to counteract the stress of the weakened spinal joints.

And… this all makes us feel, act and appear years older than we actually are. No one wants that. Most of us would like to feel years younger than we are, not older. But we can’t feel and act young when we are in pain.

While perfect posture is only a part of the solution to staying as young as possible, it is a significant part. Just right click on the following link and start on your own path to staying as young as possible by o Perfect Posture In 30  Days.

Perfect Posture In 30 Days – Free Download