Recommended Reading

[kokopuffs]

IMHO the best periodical for health and fitness is a monthly magazine called RUNNER'S WORLD. It offers articles covering many aspects of running, fitness and nutrition. A variety of health professionals - not just doctors for those among you who hate them - provide input to those articles, backed by recent research and statistics covering nutrition and exercise. Yes, being a jogger I do have a penchant for that publication.

Allow me to rankle ire. As far as weightlifting magazines go, none of them seem to offer much more than praise for the latest nutritional supplement and energy booster. Big deal.

[Svadhisthana]

Also, the section of the magazine (usually one page) caled "The Human Race" is quite inspirational. Stories of runners overcoming obsticales and achieving great feats.

[Melina]

I agree with everything you said.
I also brought a copy to Greece to my sister ( I didn't bring only Kitchen Confidential...) who is a jogger but she didn't open it...

I hope she sees that thread now...

[chefboy2160]

Runners world rules . A body in motion tends to stay in motion ,
adversely a body at rest tends to stay that way . Of course thats just my opinion .

[Melina]

What do you mean chefboy? That runners are over appreciated?

[chefboy2160]

Hey Melina , what I meant by a body in motion was a person who stays active ie. running tends to be much more healthy and active than a body at rest ie couch potatoes . Sorry if there was a misunderstanding , but I like to stay active .

[chiffonade]

I prefer aerobics to running but that's just me. I did some weight training in my 20's and it laid the groundwork for muscle tone that (thank God) is pretty much still with me today.

Don't get me wrong...weight training magazines are really misleading. To get that skin-over-muscle physique, you have to do some of the most unhealthy things. You dehydrate yourself in order to show your striations (what makes muscle look like it has lines). You have to diet severely. What you see in the magazines are pictures of people after they have dehydrated and dieted. Before preparing for contests, they are twice as big as what you see in the photos because they still have some fat and water.

And steroids...sheesh. Don't get me started on that.

[catciao]

I agree with chiffonade. As a former bodybuilder and health nut I've come to believe that that level of building muscle is anything but healthy. In all my years reading various magazines on health and fitness, Runner World offers the reader sound advice. The muscle-mags are full of self-promotion and misleading advertising promising quick fixes in a bottle or little pill. On another note, though, everyone must continue to do weight-bearing exercises 2-3 times per week in addition to aerobic exercise. For one, it's within the muscle tissue that metablism takes place therefore the more muscle a body has the more metabolism or break down of calories can take place even at rest. Secondly and especially for women (although it still applies to men), weight-bearing excersice helps build and maintain bone mass. Women peak on bone formation at the age of 30, so if you're not lifting weight you are losing bone at a rate of 1-2% per year after that age. Too much bone loss and you have osteoporosis which now leads in mortality rate over breast cancer. So pick up your dumbbells!!