Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.
Some stories are simply too bizarre and fall under the “you can’t make this up” category. This week’s story about the WalkStation is one such. SteelCase, the company you thought made only office furniture has now decided they need to bring your gym to your workstation - by putting a treadmill right under your desk. Introducing the WalkStation, apparently the first truly mobile office.
Seriously, though, I am not sure how great an idea this is. First, I concede that people with desk-based jobs tend to get less exercise than others. But there have been many recent reports suggesting that unless exercise is strenuous enough, it’s unlikely to make any difference to you (weight wise). Then there is the whole concept of spending countless hours on your feet which by itself is not such a great idea in the first place (of course you can always pull up a chair and risk being called that “treadmill person” - oh wait, that’s what they would call you anyway!).
Check out their demo video that shows people using this while using the computer, talking on a cell phone and even writing stuff down. I don’t know about you, but there are countless people who can barely point and click at the tiny icons on computer screens or write a line of legible handwriting these days, without the added challenge of doing those same things while moving at 3.5 mph!
My suggestion? Take a break from your work, head out to a gym and get some serious workout done. I feel the WalkStation will end up letting you get neither work nor workout done right.
More from this week’s top stories follow …
- NYC tries again to get calories on the menu: “People deserve to have more information when they are ordering food,”
- W.Va. hopes doctors can stop obesity: “We all know somebody that would have given everything to have their health, [...] And they could have, if they had taken the right precautions.”
- U.S. launches school commute exercise plan: “Safe Routes is potentially the tipping point to increasing opportunities for kids to be physically active [...] The trip to school is happening anyway.”
- Boxed rice is convenient - but comes at a cost: Boxed rice may be convenient, but these products offer little more than refined grains and lots of excess sodium.
- Product Combines Workstation, Treadmill: Steelcase Inc.’s newest product combines an office workstation with a treadmill so workers can burn calories while earning a paycheck.
- Pregnancy Food Pyramid: The USDA has expanded on the popular “my-pyramid” nutrition guide to include pregnant and nursing women.
- Does Grunting Improve Workouts?: People who grunt while exercising may offend nearby patrons instead of improving their overall endurance during workouts, according to a new study.
- A 6-minute shape-up: Who isn’t pressed for time? That’s why we need quick, efficient ways to work out for those days when we can’t swing a longer bout of exercise.
- Researchers: Staying Single and Chewing Gum Helps Shed Extra Pounds: Single individuals and those who chew on gum may hold the secret to shedding off those extra pounds, according to researchers.
- High Waist Circumference Independently Associated With Cardiovascular Disease and Especially Diabetes: Findings [...] confirm that a high waist circumference (WC) is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes independently of body mass index (BMI) and age.
- New York program gets kids up and running: The [Mighty Milers] program, which targets childhood obesity, is in more than 100 New York City schools plus 20 schools in other states and 20 in Cape Town, South Africa, where a non-governmental organization became interested.
- U.S. obesity ads called ‘namby-pamby’: [...] critics complain that the three new spots premiering this month are a wimpy attack on the costly and deadly explosion of obesity in America.
- 8 tips to cancer-proof your body: Straight from the lab: Stealth strategies for keeping the Big C at bay
- Researcher: Vibrations Help Slim Abdomen: A Maine researcher says standing on a vibrating platform for 15 minutes a day could help people achieve washboard abs.
- Whole grain cereals cut heart failure risk: study: Eating whole grain cereals has already shown promise for lowering blood pressure and warding off heart attacks, but it may also significantly reduce the risk of heart failure
- Study Shows How Exercise Helps Women’s Hearts: About 60 percent of the protection provided to women by exercise against heart disease and stroke comes from its effect on a few specific risk factors
- Weight Gain Ups Breast Cancer Risk: Throughout adulthood, especially in the years before and during menopause, weight gain raises a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
- Obesity ‘epidemic’: Who are you calling fat?: We’re told there’s an obesity ‘epidemic’. Yet there’s not a shred of evidence, says Professor Patrick Basham - and this crusade is harming our children
- The Global Problem of Obesity: In one of the largest studies ever to examine obesity rates across the globe, researchers found that more than 60% of men and 50% of women were either overweight or obese.
- Food cravings battle ‘pointless’: Women who tried to stop thinking about chocolate ate 50% more than those who were encouraged to talk about their cravings.
- Check children’s weight from year one, says expert: Children should be weighed and measured from the age of one in an attempt to tackle the growing obesity epidemic, a leading expert said today.
- Too much sugar causes wrinkles: It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but experts now believe that a lifetime of overeating sugar can make skin dull and wrinkled.
- Diabetes up amid rising obesity: Rates of obesity and diabetes are rising across England, although people are living longer than ever, government data has revealed.
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Have a great weekend!
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