[August 2010 Update: Last fall I bought a pair of Vasque Mantra hiking shoes on clearance at REI for $20. The Vasque Mantras are now my favorites, and I’ll keep on buying them (but if you have high arches the Vasque Breeze Low hiking shoes will probably fit you better). Last spring I bought a pair of North Face Hedgehog low-top waterproof hikers. I find that after 4 hours of hiking the Hedgehogs hurt my feet, especially where my foot meets my ankle. The Hedgehog tongues and metal eyelets seem poorly designed.]
Category Archives: Fitness
Quit Sit-on-your-bottom Activities
Quit spending money sitting down. Everybody wants your dollars and cents, and they want you to spend it in a chair–at concerts, movies, restaurants, ballets, musicals, coffee shops, meditation groups . . .
Stay on your feet. Go for a walk or a hike. Lift weights while you watch the news. Find a good deal at a gym (the best deals usually appear when a gym first opens for business and offers a contract that stipulates that they can only raise your fees by, lets say, 1 percent every 3 years).
Hiking and Backpacking Gear
As I have said numerous times, I take supplements (see the disclaimers and warnings listed at the bottom of Spinach, Greens, and Eye Health). Rather than listing the supplements in my posts, I have listed them in the sidebar on the far right. I do not expect you to buy these items, but the Amazon links do provide handy summaries, price comparisons, and reviews.
I have also mentioned that walking, running, and hiking are very good for the health (including respiratory, cardiac, and digestive health), so in this post I am going to list some of the gear I use on hikes. I am listing the Amazon links. You can follow the links to detailed descriptions, prices, and reviews. I own all of the following gear:
Joint Stress and Bone Bruising
I was telling my brother that when a joint starts clicking (when he feels the bones in the neck, spine, hip, or knee, etc., click on one another or clunk by one another), he should change his position in such a way that the “clicking” and “clunking” goes away. I’m not talking about an occasional clicking noise. In fact you probably won’t hear an actual noise. I’m saying that I don’t want to feel my bones clunking by one another. I don’t want to feel my joints clunk.
More About Running and Aerobics
You should try to run at 7 miles per hour for 20 minutes–it gets your heart rate up and provides both cardiovascular and respiratory benefits. I run at the gym on treadmills. The treadmills are equipped with shock absorbers and are generally easier on my joints. You can vary the treadmill speed and slant (elevation) in order to minimize the chance of injury due to repeated motion.
If your joints are not up to running, get on the recumbent bike for a half hour or use the elliptical machine. The recumbent bike is the one where your legs are positioned further out in front of you.
More About Cancer Prevention
In addition to my Anti-cancer Diet and Vitamin D, I work out at the gym 3 days a week and take walks and/or lift weights at home 3 to 4 days a week. At the gym, I run 2 miles and then lift weights for an additional 60 to 90 minutes.
I also take numerous 6- to 9-hour hikes up mountains and into canyons, sometimes for 7 days in a row. The hiking may help ward off colon cancer, and I am a firm believer that running helps stave off lung cancer.
