Exercise Log Blog

To help Maintain Fit users stay fit through the holidays, we put together a music workout mix.  Today was the first of two login help sessions to help members access their account and download the workout mix MP3.  Several people logged in and downloaded the music during the session.  We would love to hear your thoughts on the mix and how it has helped motivate you to workout through the holidays.  Post your thoughts in the forums:

http://beta.maintainfit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13

The next login help session will be Tuesday, Dec. 18 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM MST.  We look forward to answering more questions then.

I was trying to think of a way to help people stay motivated to exercise and overcome all the food they were eating during the holidays. What I came up with was to provide a free MP3 with some high energy workout music. It will be available to all members of Maintain Fit until January 1, 2008. Please post a comment or visit the forum and let me know what you think about the music and if it was helpful!

Learn more about it here: http://www.maintainfit.com/articles/content/view/21/1/

Or, to listen to a sample of the workout music mix MP3, use the player below…

Happy Holidays!

 

 FREE MP3 Workout Music Mix [1:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Boise Turkey Trot relay is the first relay race I had ever run, and it was a lot of fun.  There’s a bit of a story about how I got invited to run in the relay race, so I wanted to post it.

I was sitting at my desk yesterday when my phone rang and a familiar voice (albeit one I had not heard in a while) announced himself. After the typical small talk he told me about the Boise Turkey Trot relay race he and three friends had registered to run the next day. Apparently one of his friends had injured his back and he wondered if I could fill in. I said I would.

The race involved a two mile course around the beautiful Ann Morrison park near down town Boise. Each team member would run the same two mile course and would predict his finishing time before the race began. Awards were given in a unique way. Rather than giving the prize (four large turkeys) to the team with the fastest time, the team that came closest to their predicted total time was the winner.

We drove to the park in the rain and found a group huddled under portable heaters with hot chocolate and coffee being served. Everyone was dressed up warm while waiting to run. The rain drizzled down throughout the race, but the temperature wasn’t too cold (about 50F). I found my friend and met the other two runners in our team. I also got a cup of hot chocolate for my daughter.

Based on my what my treadmill has been telling me I figured I would run the two miles that would be my part of the Turkey Trot Relay in about 19 minutes. As it turns out I ran at a comfortable pace and finished in 16:24 (so much for treadmill readouts). We apparently ran in a different order than what we told them and so the results website shows them assigned to the wrong person (I ran the second leg). Not bad for having less than 24 hours to plan for it.

I got a great pair of socks with turkeys on them and had a fun activity with my family. Our overall time was only off by 2:19 from our estimate and the fastest runner on our team finished in 14:38. It was a fun race, one that I’ll probably do again.

A research study conducted in the UK by Cancer Research UK and the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme has recently been published online, which again suggests a link between cancer and obesity. Similar to the study published by the World Cancer Research Fund and mentioned in my last blog post, this study surveyed 1 million women in the UK aged 50 and older. The study aims to explain correlations between obesity and various kinds of cancer, including breast cancer, endometrial (womb) cancer and ovarian cancer. Find the study and its publications on the official website http://www.millionwomenstudy.org/

The results are similar to those in the previous article showing an increased risk of cancer due to obesity. This reinforces that it pays to eat right and get regular exercise. If you have ideas about how to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, post it in the community forum.

Have you ever heard that you can reduce your cancer risk by being physically active?  If not, then be sure to read on.

It seems obvious to many people that physical fitness promotes a healthy and happy life. There is now scientific evidence that it may also prolong life. A report recently published by the World Cancer Research Fund outlines the relationship between obesity, diet and various forms of cancer. I have long known that a healthy lifestyle brings many different benefits. It’s nice to know that I’m also reducing my risk of cancer by exercising regularly. Among their published recommendations are:

1. Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight

2. Be physically active as part of everyday life

3. Limit consumption of energy-dense foods. Avoid sugary drinks.

4. Eat mostly foods of plant origin

5. Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat

6. Limit alcoholic drinks

7. Limit consumption of salt. Avoid mouldy cereals (grains) or pulses (legumes)

8. Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone

9. Mothers to breastfeed; children to be breastfed

10. Follow the recommendations for cancer prevention

While you may not be able to eliminate your risk of getting cancer, these suggestions may significantly reduce your risk. A summary including these points (with references) and a copy of the full report are available for download or hard copy purchase from the report website here: http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/

This short podcast talks about Google maps’ distance measurement tool. I’ve recently found that this little piece of technology helps me get more out of each run, since I can plan ahead and know my course and distance. Leave your feedback and let me know what you think of the podcast.

Google Maps

 

 Google Distance measurement tool: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tonight I posted my first run in the new website since it went live. I’ve been so busy launching the new site that I didn’t have time to run very much. The run was beautiful! I live on the outskirts of Boise near farms and horse ranches. I ran a three mile route that had a perfect view of a brilliant sunset and went past a golf course and a sod farm and a couple of horse ranches.

I sent the first e-mail out today announcing the new Maintain Fit website. The technology I used to send the e-mail is an open source application written in PHP. If you don’t know what PHP is, don’t worry too much. One frustration was that in the final import of my mail list from the website accounts, the First and Last Names were left off. As it turns out everyone got and e-mail entitled “Dear First Name Last Name,” (that is, if it wasn’t sent to the junk folder). Sorry about that! I have identified the problem and corrected it for future e-mails.

I’m sure interested in hearing what you all think about the new site. I’m sure the next batch of changes based on your feedback will be much improved.

http://www.phplist.com/

After nearly two years I have finished the bulk of the changes that I wanted to make to the Maintain Fit website. Some of the exciting features are designed to give each user the customizable experience that he wants. For example, it is now much easier to add new activities. This means that as you think of new activities that you would like to log, these can be added quickly (post a request in the forum). Another great new feature is that each user can add custom log fields that are important to him. For example, you could add running partner, or which pair of shoes correspond to each run and include that in graphs and analysis. All logs are sortable, which lets you get a glimpse into what is important to you.

In addition to the fitness section, I have added a community forum where like minded people can discuss fitness, diet and exercise and how it relates to each of us. We hope that you will stop by the forum and post or answer questions. You can also leave your suggestions about new activities and exercises to add.

An articles section has fresh new content, including videos and your own success stories. If you have a great story I’m sure there are a lot of people that want to hear it.

I’m excited about the new Maintain Fit and hope you are too. Keep coming back to look for great content and to stay MOTIVATED to stay fit and healthy!

Welcome to Maintain Fit. It used to be that technology was amazing and impossible to understand and explain. It seemed more akin to magic than reality. How does a crystal help your stopwatch accurately track time? How do GPS, and other wireless systems work? How do x-rays allow medical professionals to see your bones and teeth? How does sunscreen prevent sun burns?

This blog and podcast will aim to explain technology in an easy to understand way. If you have questions about your favorite mystery, send it along and we’ll let you know HOW IT WORKS!