By Alexander Davies
From http://dsc.discovery.com/
More than 30 years ago, surfer Hunter Joslin was looking for a way to practice his skills while not on the waves. He came across an old balance board, and found it worked his balance and demanded leg and core strength. He improved on the design, and today, the Indo Board can be found in gyms all over the country.
While great for surfers, the Indo Board’s benefits can be enjoyed by all athletes, or by those just looking for a good workout. It comes in two main varieties; the board sits either on a roller or on an easier to balance, air-filled cushion.
As you can see in the video below, there are a lot of drills you can try, and only your imagination limits you:
If you want to try it out before committing the $100 to $200 for an Indo Board of your own, check your local gym- many offer classes.
By Noah Davis
From http://www.wired.com/
Just days before turning 29, Tim Cigelske decided he wanted to do something special for his 30th year on the planet. The Marquette University communications specialist (read: social media expert) asked his Twitter followers, and the answer came quickly: run a mile and drink a beer every day. The challenge made perfect sense for Cigelske. In his spare time, he writes Draftmag.com’s Beer Runner blog, which chronicles the intersection of lacing up the Nikes and leaning back with a brew.
More than 260 days later, he’s still going. Cigelske spoke with Wired.com about running at 11:30 p.m., the proper pint-to-mileage ratio, and why he might never stop.
Wired.com: How did this whole adventure begin?
Tim Cigelske: A day or two before my 29th birthday, I thought “Maybe I should do something for the next year.” I threw that question out on Twitter, and one guy said, “Why don’t you run and drink beer every day for the next year.” That sounded reasonable at the time. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Two hundred and sixty days later, here I am.
Wired.com: What have you learned?
Cigelske: One thing I learned is that I could even do something like this. I tried one other run streak that lasted about 20 days, and then I fell asleep early one night. (That was shortly after my daughter Clara was born.) I’ve been running since high school, but this is probably the biggest challenge that I’ve ever tried.
The other thing I’ve learned is how much support there is from Twitter, Facebook, Daily Mile, Untappd, and other bloggers. I’m not sure I’d keep doing it if it weren’t for all the people that have shown support. It sounds incredible corny, but it helps so much to know that I’m accountable.
I wrote an April Fool’s column about stopping the run streak. It was loaded with references to beers that didn’t exist, but there were a lot of people who didn’t know I was joking. I had to tell them to check the calendar.
Wired.com: Was there ever a time when you thought you weren’t going to be able to finish? Or, conversely, a point where you knew you could do it?
Cigelske: The plan was always to do it for a year, and as it’s gone on, I’ve realized that I want to keep doing it after a year. It is a little bit premature because I haven’t made it to a year yet, but that’s the plan. If you’re a runner, it’s almost easier to do a run streak than not because it removes the whole element of “Am I going to run today or not?” which is a lot of wasted mental energy. I have a routine; I know I’m going to do it every day.
Now, on day 260, I want to keep going indefinitely. Funny enough, there’s an official run streak organization and you can apply for membership after one year. There are people who have done it for 30 years. I don’t what to jinx it but knock on wood I’ll keep going after the year is over.
Wired.com: My favorite runs are the ones where you trace out a number, like 100 on your 100th day or 250 on day 250. Where did you get that idea?
Cigelske: I totally stole that idea. It’s become a Daily Mile meme. The first person I saw do it was a guy named Marty (@mjburian on Twitter). He just finished a 50-mile race recently, and he wrote out his name by running streets. And I’ve seen Jonathan Surratt (@beerinator) do it. He’s written out “beer.” So I just took it another step. One hundred and 150 were pretty easy. Two hundred and 250, that took some creativity.
Wired.com: You recently said you would run a beer mile if 30 people pledged to do a five-day run streak. Are you ready for the beer mile?
Cigelske: That was a partnership with Bolder. They came to me, we discussed some options, and we tried to get 30 people to do a run streak for five days. We got 60, and people are still going. One guy, after 20 days, decided to do 20 miles. It was kind of a shock that it took off. Now I have to make good on the beer mile part. I’ve done it before, but hopefully I’ll survive.
Wired.com: What’s the closest you’ve come to missing either a mile run or a beer?
Cigelske: I ended up running on a treadmill at 11:30 p.m. in New Jersey one night. My plan was to run straight through past midnight so I basically got two days in one. But halfway through my run, I realized I hadn’t had a beer yet for the day, so I cut my run short, went up to my hotel room and cracked open one of the beers I brought with me, just in case. I had a couple of beers because I met some friends at a bar, went back to the treadmill, and ran a couple miles at 1:30 a.m.
Wired.com: Any memorable beer-and-running combos?
Cigelske: I haven’t done a ton of races, but there was a 5K I did, and it was the fastest I’d run since high school. The night before I had a bunch of beers, including the New Glarus Wisconsin Cran-bic. I think the fruit-and-carb infusion helped.
I typically drink after my runs, but I’ve been known to have one before. One day I was feeling really run down at the end of a long week, and I thought I’d go out and have a couple of beers at happy hour. I ended up running an hour after that and felt great.
Wired.com: Is this the best shape you’ve ever been in?
Cigelske: If I’m not in the best shape of my life, I’m definitely close. I’ve never felt better. I’ve built my way up to running about 50 miles a week with no problem, on top of biking to work every day. But it took months to get to this point. I try to vary my workout routines as much as possible. I’ll do 13 or 14 miles with my daughter in her stroller one day and do interval workouts another. I recently did mile repeats on the track and averaged a 5:33 mile, which I think is the fastest I’ve run since high school.
At the same time, I’m averaging about one beer for every three miles I run. If nothing else, running allows me to enjoy the beer I love guilt-free. That was the point all along.
Photo: Courtesy Jess Cigelske
I think there was a little bit of a debate a while back about jogging being actually bad for you or like the best thing since sliced bread. We don’t wanna get into detail, we’re just here to advocate for bouncy jogging. It’s our favorite.
Some dudes actually took this a little bit more serious and got some sort of scientist to measure the distance boobs bounce when a chick jogs a mile. Results are surprising.
Playgrounds have come a long way since the early days of hot, steel slides and open-backed infant swings. Safety is a big issue on today’s playgrounds, but so is imagination and ingenuity. Take a look at some of the many unusually cool designs popping up around the world. And if you have a favorite we left off the list (which could easily have been twice as long), be sure to tell us about it in the comments.
In Japanese, Nishi-Rokugo means Tire Park. The Kawasaki plants are located not far away, so it’s possible they donated the 3,000 tires that make up the dinosaurs, monsters, bridges, slides, swings, and all the loose ones there for kids to stack and hop on. But this sand-bottom park is hardly just for kids. Parents can haul tires up specially designed tire steps and tube down wide concrete slides. I can imagine it’s the type of place you can spend hours at before you, er, tire, of it.
A banana slide, strawberry spinners, a pair of cherry swings, an orange see-saw and a watermelon jungle gym are all part of this unusual, small park in the south of Stockholm. It’s a great theme because it also teaches kids the importance of fruit over junk food. Reports coming out of the country indicate that the outdoors-loving Swede is on the way out. According to a study by Karolinska university hospital, obesity among seven year olds in Stockholm has increased from 8.5% to 21% over the last fifteen years. What could be better than exercising in fruit as an antidote?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
• Promote weight loss.
• Improve posture.
• Strengthen the back.
• Tighten abdominal muscles.
• Firm buttocks, calves and thighs.
• Reduce cellulite.
• Improve blood circulation.
They'll help you "get in shape without going to the gym," according to the Shape-Ups ad campaign launched last spring. That's quite a claim. And the Skechers company isn't the only one making it: A company called MBT has sold heavier, pricier versions of these rocker-soled shoes for several years with similar claims. Reebok has a version, too.
The idea: The heavily cushioned rocker sole forces wearers to work harder to maintain balance and stand erect, engaging muscles that are otherwise less active. More active muscles burn more calories. The shoes also enforce a rolling heel-to-toe gait that makers say simulates walking barefoot in the sand.
"Rocker-bottom shoes are not new," says Marlene Reid, a podiatrist in Naperville, Ill., and spokeswoman for the American Podiatric Medical Association. But in the past they were sold as therapeutic footwear for people with medical problems, including arthritis in their feet, she says.
Reid says the shoes might help people who stand for long hours or need to improve posture. But she worries: "The shoes limit normal motion in the foot. So you may be under-using some muscles and overusing others."
She also notes that shoes requiring good balance might make some people fall.
Studies cited on the MBT website tell a mixed story: In some cases the rocker shoes performed better than other shoes or exercise programs; in others they did not. Skechers has not published its small studies, but a larger study has begun, says Skechers vice president Jennifer Weiderman.
I decided to conduct my own, unscientific test by taking five consecutive 30- to 40-minute daily walks in the purported wonder shoes. I even threw fashion to the winds and wore them out for an afternoon of errands.
As predicted in the training DVD that comes with the shoes, they were awkward at first. They slowed my pace — something I resented, since I depend on my heart-thumping, arm-swinging, iPod-fueled walks for both mental and physical health. Going down hills was particularly tricky. By Day 5, though, I was almost up to speed and navigating those hills with skillfully rolling steps.
Also: I do seem to stand straighter in these shoes. And they are very comfortable. My feet do not hurt. But: My calves, thighs and buttocks don't hurt either, an indication that this new way of walking isn't new enough to be a major muscle-toner, at least not for already-devoted walkers like me.
Any added effect on weight or muscle tone may be "negligible," says Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise in San Diego. "If you are walking, you are walking."
But, he says, "if you are spending $100 or more on a pair of walking shoes, maybe you're going to go out and walk more. Anything that gets anybody up and moving is a good thing."
If your jaw just dropped, you're not alone -- many people experience visceral reactions (i.e. spontaneous muscle contractions, intense feelings of befuddlement and curiosity) when seeing AcroYoga(r) for the first time. But be forewarned: Observers may become die-hard practitioners, so say the group of seven teachers and students shown here. Recently, we captured them working their malleable magic at Om Factory in New York City. What you don't see are the Thai massages they give each other before, during and after completing each move, which help facilitate a sense of trust, solidarity, and utter relaxation (I had one myself, as Chris balanced me on her feet!). Complimentary massage -- the thrill of hanging upside down -- it's easy to understand the addiction. Here, we find out what keeps them coming back for more.
The Players:
Chris Loebsack, 37, AcroYoga(r), Teacher
Becca Krauss, 27, AcroYoga(r), Teacher
Mary Aranas, 49, AcroYoga(r), Teacher
Will Nagel, 38, AcroYoga(r), Teacher
Deven Sisler, 28, AcroYoga(r), Teacher
Mitch Gerbus, 26, Student
Alyona Mindlin, 28, Student
The Positions:
Flyer: The person who is at the pinnacle of the pose.
Base: The person positioned at the bottom of the move; supports the flyer.
Spotter: A person who is not involved in the pose but provides additional balance to ensure safety.
"I attended the very first AcroYoga(r) class in San Francisco 5 and 1/2 years ago, and I've witnessed how it can bring a community together, especially in big cities where you sometimes feel like you're alone. When you take a class, you touch people you don't know, so you quickly lose any initial discomfort and learn to harmonize with them physically and emotionally." -- Becca, flyer
"Being the base is all about learning technique -- where to place your feet, what angle offers the best support -- more so than physical capability. With time, you learn to completely trust yourself and what you can do. Then the reciprocal effect happens -- you also trust that someone else can also support you. Think of it as mutual empathy." -- Will, base
"T
he best prep for taking an AcroYoga(r) class is to take a standard yoga class first. If you have a strong understanding of your body, you'll feel more confident and open to new challenges." -- Becca
"The first thing you do in an AcroYoga(r) class is sit in a circle and introduce yourself to the group. Each person has a particular skill or strength -- for instance, I have a background in dance and choreography-that they bring to the table. The fact that you are acknowledged and respected for your gifts gives you positive feedback and makes you want to continue." -- Chris, flyer
This pose is also called "Tittibhasana on Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana"
"You may not be able to do a handstand on your own, but you may have mastered some of the building blocks of the move. What's great about AcroYoga(r) is that someone else is letting you use her body for support to help you get there. It teaches you that it's OK to play on the edge of your fears and try things you may not think you can do. That's how you change and grow." -- Deven, base
"AcroYoga(r) has the flow of dance, which I love, the spirituality and wisdom of yoga, plus the dynamism of acrobatics, and the loving kindness and partnership of Thai massage. It's everything I want rolled into one package. I'm 49, but feel like a 5-year-old playing on the swings with my friends, and at the same time I'm working on my balance, flexibility and strengthening my entire body." -- Mary, flyer
"I've been practicing ballet since age 5, but I've always struggled with balancing. Shocking, I know! After one month of taking AcroYoga(r) classes I could stand on one foot, no problem. For the first time, my mind wasn't in overdrive -- I stopped pushing myself, and I was patient with my body. That was the answer." -- Alyona, flyer
"We focus on making 'I' statements while we play, such as '"I feel tightness in my lower back,'" as opposed to making accusations, such as, '"You didn't have your leg straight enough!'" It helps you communicate more effectively and become a better listener. Each pose is a new partnership and a new negotiation -- you have to get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses and be sensitive to them in order to create a symbiotic relationship." -- Chris, base
"You and your partner share a unique kind of intimacy -- you're in tune with that person to the point that you breathe together. That closeness makes it more comfortable to be physical with people in a nonsexual way. You realize that your bodies can connect without a feeling of tension or awkwardness, and you carry that lesson with you when you leave class." -- Mitch, base
"Your body is a geometric collection of lines and curves. In AcroYoga(r), you use your body to create shapes -- triangles, squares and diamonds. So, if you relax into the poses, eventually they'll come to you naturally." -- Alyona
This pose is also called "Pose Dedicated to the Sage Koundinya"
"The big postures are always going to be there -- you'll get to them. What's important is honoring your body in every moment. If you're not feeling it, you don't have to do it. You're not striving for perfection-this is not a contest. It's OK to back off because you've created a safe, encouraging place of self-acceptance." -- Chris
"My first thought when I walked into an AcroYoga(r) class 5 years ago was 'what the %$#@!' I felt very intimidated. Even though I was a certified yoga instructor, I didn't know if I was strong enough to hang with this group of people. Three hours later, I felt so invigorated that I signed up to take the intensive AcroYoga(r) training courses. Now I can balance a 240-pound man on my feet!" -- Chris
"If it looks good, it usually feels good." -- Alyona
Originally published on FitnessMagazine.com, June 2009
The iStik is a $27 iPod case that has neodymium magnets on its two parts so you can stick it to your bikini or running shorts (one magnetic piece goes on the inside, case goes on the outside). Pretty clever. And also, based purely on the above imagery, I just bought a dozen --and I don't even own an iPod! Now that's how you sell products. Advertisers take note: when in doubt, T&A. A letter, a symbol, and another letter to live by.
Hit the jump for another product shot.
.
Posts
All Comments
