ira’s abs—Athletic Challenges and Achievements by Ordinary People

Alps Hiker Jumps Off Cliff

Jul 22

paraglider paragliding

I rode a gondola last week in Austria to 6600 feet to ponder the magnificent view of the Alps and take some summer snaps. As I started walking back to the gondola station, I passed a serious hiker carrying an enormous black, cylindrical backpack, maybe four feet tall and 20 inches in diameter. He totally ignored me on the three-foot wide trail—I thought he was a bit unfriendly, as we were the only two people on the ridge. But I was awed that he was going to camp out for weeks, I thought, and had to plan so carefully, be sure to take enough food, water, countless other supplies along with the tent that was obviously crammed into his bag. I have enough trouble remembering to take a cell phone or pen when I go out for a walk.

When I arrived at the gondola, the clock showed that the next descent wasn’t for 15 minutes, so I decided to go back near the ridge and throw a snowball in July while standing in the white patch of snow just near the cliff. Imagine my surprise to see this “hiker” in black maneuvering a large curved wing made of parachute-like material that was attached to his harness somehow and also by maybe 20 lines or risers half going to each hand for controlling the wing.

The wind was somewhat brisk, and I took three or four videos of him trying to organize his wing and keep the lines untangled. But one end of the wing kept crashing to the ground. Finally he looked away from the edge, toward the wing, inflated the fabric, then reversed his direction by 180 degrees so his back was to the wing, and he ran off the cliff. This is called a reverse launch, and the sport is called paragliding. Breathtaking.

I have to admit there is a difference between watching some life-threatening, death-defying activity on TV or in photos and seeing it right up close. Even for me, after parachuting in the army. I am still wondering precisely how you learn the skill, because there must be a way to practice parts of it in advance. And what if the wind is too strong and drags you off the mountain in the opposite direction from where you intend to go?

flying in the Alps

Anyway, this guy made it, and it was very exciting to watch. He fell off the cliff and out of site until a thermal (patch of hot rising air) picked him right up, and he was high above me. You could hear a slight whistling as he passed close by…right with the birds who were soaring effortlessly as well.

Although thermals are perfect in this sport, I was reminded of my first week at Fort Benning Georgia in 1963, where I went to jump school. In combat jumps, the planes are stacked, so that those in front fly lower than the ones behind, presuming that by the time the second or third wave of jumpers is out of their planes, the earlier jumpers are way down toward—or on—the ground in the designated drop zone. Unfortunately when I arrived, we heard how the first jumpers met thermals and were taken up, rather than down, and were shredded and killed by the propellers of the following waves of planes. Very gruesome, and just for training, not even combat.

After people heard that I had jumped, they often said how brave I was. But it was relatively safe…the stats proved that fewer people were injured or died from parachuting (percentage-wise or when considering miles traveled) than from driving cars (see details below). Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: jumping off of cliffs, military parachute jumping, parachuting, paragliding

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3000 Sit Ups A Day!

Jul 21

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Cristiano Ronaldo

Recently found yet another picture of Cristiano Ronaldo and his abs. I watched the World Cup games for the first time and was happy to recognize this soccer star and his name…even though he couldn’t bring his team to victory. But when I find it impossible to exercise my abs consistently or even for very long in a day, I am nearly depressed or at least disheartened to read that according to the British Daily Mail, Cristiano does 3000 sit ups a day. If it were even true, how long does it take to do that? At one a second, that’s 50 minutes. So it has to take longer, maybe an hour to an hour and a half.

How do athletes fit in all that practice? I used to know a prima ballerina for the New York City Ballet who told me that anyone could make time to practice at the bar every day for an hour and a half. What kind of mere mortal am I that I can’t find that “little bit” of time each day of the 12 hours when I am not sleeping, eating, showering, dressing, and brushing my teeth and hair? Oh yes, most of us have to commute to a workplace (or soccer field or ballet studio) and then work (or hit a thousand practice goals). Not much time left.

And yet somehow these stars can squeeze in 75-90 minutes of leg stretches or abs exercises. I have to view this routine as an inspiration and not a giant source of depression. Here I go…right after I eat breakfast…and the food digests…and before my business lunch today with my lawyer and the time to dress and drive to the restaurant…and doing any work in the remaining minutes available. Keep you posted…

Tags: abs exercises, Armani, Cristiano Ronaldo

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Hiking In The Alps

Jul 20

Posted by ira in hiking

Alps vista

Last week I was in beautiful mountains—the Austrian Alps—with trails that in winter are covered with snow and skiers. But in the summer, when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees, there are thousands of

mountain hikers

people walking on the trails with one or two extendable hiking sticks for balance. Amazingly, more than half of the people seemed to be gray hairs over 60. My friend said that his sister is 82 and has been “walking” all over the world. Some of the old folks who had just finished hiking would sit down in the gondola or on a bench and be unsteady, shaking and seem like they were barely able to balance without their hiking sticks.

hiking sticks in town

Who would believe that such elderly people could walk so far and up and down the hills on narrow footpaths or wider paved surfaces strewn with pebbles and rocks that were treacherous and could easily lead to a misstep, slip and fall. Of course there were young people too, with babies on their backs or five-year-olds somehow taking shorter walks. But it is all very impressive.

busloads of elders

Many hikers took the chair lifts and gondolas to start their hikes at higher altitudes. Although I was only 4700-6600 feet above sea level, I found myself breathing heavily sometimes to take in enough oxygen. I thought I was in decent shape from all my tennis playing, but it was definitely an effort on occasion.

joy in the world

Personally I didn’t find it as challenging or exciting as some of my other sports, but, like tennis, it has the great advantage of being do-able when your ancient. And clearly it is an activity that many find satisfying, healthful and glorious.

meadow view

Maybe you want to try it yourself.

Here is the Wikipedia description:

“Hiking is one of the fundamental outdoor activities on which many others are based. Many beautiful places can only be reached overland by hiking, and enthusiasts regard hiking as the best way to see nature. Hikers see it as better than a tour in a vehicle of any kind or on an animal, because the hiker’s senses are not intruded upon by distractions such as windows, engine noise, airborne dust and fellow passengers. Hiking over long distances or over difficult terrain requires both the physical ability to do the hike and the knowledge of the route and its pitfalls.

distant Alps

“In the United States and United Kingdom, hiking refers to cross-country walking of a longer duration than a simple walk and usually over terrain where hiking boots are required.[2] A day hike refers to a hike that can be completed in a single day, often applied to mountain hikes to a lake or summit, but not requiring an overnight camp. Bushwhacking specifically refers to difficult walking through dense forest, undergrowth, or bushes, where forward progress requires pushing vegetation aside. In extreme cases of bushwhacking where the vegetation is so dense that human passage is impeded, a machete is used to clear a pathway. Multi-day hiking in the mountainous regions of India, Nepal, North America, South America, and in the highlands of East Africa is also called trekking; the Dutch refer to trekking also. Hiking a long-distance trail from end-to-end is also referred to as trekking and as thru-hiking in some places, for example on the Appalachian Trail (AT) or Long Trail (LT) in Vermont. The AT is almost 2200 miles. The Long Trail is 272 miles and the oldest long-distance hiking trail in the United States.”

Tags: activities for elders, Austrian Alps, hiking

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Abs Make The Man (Look Better). Do You Agree?

Jul 19

Posted by ira in abs pictures

Although these models are showing some latest swimsuit designs, I am noticing the abs…or lack of them. For some mysterious reason, I am willing to work a bit painfully to create a midsection that looks like the guy on the left instead of continuing to look like the two men on the right. All vanity, but it does feel good to crunch.

good abs

teensy abs

absent abs

Tags: abs, comparing abs

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Austrian Alps Abs

Jul 18

Posted by ira in abs pictures

ira's Alps abs—7/11/10

Spent a few days in the Austrian Alps after many days with family and friends in CT, NYC and Rhode
Island. Too busy to crunch with all that travel and restaurant and hotel dining, and the tennis on both continents just doesn’t build muscle. So my abs are disappearing again. Did try out some machines in the hotel and found that my right arm seemed much much better. No pain and minimal discomfort after all my tears from over exerting on the pull up bar a year ago.

Tags: abs in the alps, ira's abs

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Affleck’s Abs

Jul 16

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Just returned from two weeks out of town to bump into this image of Ben Affleck from his new movie, The Town, due out in September. This picture was grabbed from the trailer for the movie. I am so inspired to start doing crunches again after almost a month of not doing them.

Affleck makes some abs

Tags: Ben Affleck, Ben Affleck's abs, New movie, The Town

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How John Isner Trains For Long Tennis Matches

Jul 1

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, gym stuff, tennis

I wrote recently about the dangers of playing sports like tennis in hot weather. Doing it is much more difficult than watching it. I remember during the 2009 Australian Open that announcers were commenting on record temperatures over 100 degrees—it reached 111 one day. I had trouble in Miami, where I grew up, when I visited last year and played in just 87 humid degrees. How do players survive it for hours?

Isner and Roddick—2007

I heard that John Isner trained for this year’s Wimbledon by practicing heavily at Saddlebrook Resort in Florida’s mid-day heat. He spent up to 3 ½ hours a day on strength training and endurance. He also drinks coconut milk. By the way, he is 6′9″ and weighs 250 pounds. You can get some sense of his size in these pictures.

John Isner

So I looked up his specially designed training program and found this story by Joey Johnston of the Tampa Tribune:

… Before Wimbledon began, Craig Boynton, Isner’s coach, told the player he was strong enough to play for 10 hours. It was meant as confidence-building inspiration. But he wasn’t far off the mark.

“We develop programs for a lot of different players – some of them follow the plan and others don’t as well as they should,” said Jason Riley, Saddlebrook’s director of sports performance, who serves as Isner’s strength and conditioning coach, along with Kyle Morgan.

“John is meticulous about it. He implements the plan. He really takes care of his body. Coming out of college, it’s just speculation, but I’m not sure if his body would’ve held up. Physically and mentally, I’m not sure if he could’ve withstood a match like that.”

The essentials:

Diet: Riley is a big proponent of coconut water, which mimics electrolytes. He stresses food that provides sustained energy, such as fish, chicken, brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole wheat pasta and “a ton of vegetables.”

“When you go 70-68 in the fifth set, there’s going to be a lot of inflammation in your body,” Riley said. “The more antioxidants and vegetables you put in there, the better off you’re going to be.”
Does Isner ever stray from his diet, perhaps getting spotted as a fast-food drive-thru?

“I’m sure he does – but not very often,” Riley said with a smile. “You’ve got to know the times you can do those things – and the times you can’t do those things. He’s in a good place with his body now and he doesn’t want to mess that up. That could mean gaining weight or losing weight.”

Strength and conditioning: Isner alternates between the weight room and exercises to aid his movement and agility. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Andy Roddick, Craig Boynton, diet, heat at Australian Open, Isner workout routine, Isner's 2010 Wimbledon match, Isner's coconut milk concoction, Isner's diet, Isner's training routine, Jason Riley, Joey Johnston, John Isner, Kyle Morgan, Saddlebrook Resort, Tampa Tribune

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Isner-Mahut Match Like Running Two Marathons Or Doing Jumping Jacks Throughout 11 Hours

Jun 30

Posted by ira in diet, tennis

While we admire John Isner winning the longest-ever tennis match against Nicolas Mahut—70-68 after 11 hours over three days, and 7 hours five minutes for part of the fifth set alone on the second day in 81 degrees—it’s the fitness, endurance and determination to keep playing by both men that impresses me the most. Even if Isner was looking and acting like a zombie with no idea of where he was and what was happening.

John Isner

How did they survive it? Here is what : Lauren La Rose wrote for The Canadian Press:

…So just what would it feel like to play that much tennis over the course of three days? Imagine expending the energy equivalent of running two marathons, says Brendon Gurd, an assistant professor in the school of kinesiology and health studies at Queen’s University.
Gurd says the intensity of tennis is probably on par with a light jog.

“It was separated by two nights, but they essentially jogged for 11 hours total, so it’s a huge demand,” he said from Kingston, Ont.

“What goes along with that is as they’re exercising, they’re using stored fuels, so they’re using carbohydrates stored within their muscles, they’re using fat stored in their fat cells, so a lot of that as you continue to exercise will become depleted.”

Lance Watson of B.C.-based LifeSport, who has been coaching triathlon and distance runners for more than 20 years, including Canadian Olympic triathlete champion Simon Whitfield, said the big difference with tennis is that it’s a stop-and-go sport.

“Eleven hours of that would just be brutal because there would be so much muscle teardown,” he said from Victoria.

“I guess for the regular person if you could imagine doing sets of jumping jacks on and off for 11 hours I think that would be a comparison.”

Nicolas Mahut

Gurd said in a rough estimate, the players were probably burning somewhere in the neighbourhood of 600 to 700 calories an hour, but those figures could potentially be higher.

Both Gurd and Watson said staying nourished and hydrated while competing is critical.

Watson said in working with Ironman athletes, a huge part of their preparation and training is becoming systematic about the way they consume calories and fluids. For example, many will set their watches to go off every 15 minutes to ensure they’ll remember to eat a certain amount of carbs, he said.

“They would be probably preparing their hydration and their nutrition for their typical length of match and they wouldn’t have probably preloaded and kept the calories coming in in anticipation of that kind of an endurance match.”

Gurd said Isner and Mahut were probably eating as many carbohyrdates as possible to stay fuelled, while also guzzling Gatorade, which is source of both carbs and hydration. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Brendan Gurd, Canadian Press, carbs and protein needed for athletics, fuel for human endurance, hydration, John Isner, Lance Watson, Lauren La Rose, Lifesport, longest tennis match ever, Nicolas Mahut, Queens University, Wimbledon 2010

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Slip, Slop, Slap And Pee Clear To Prevent Heat Problems During Summer

Jun 29

Posted by ira in exercise, sports

I recently played tennis seven days in a row and 11 out of 13 days. In these hot, humid summer months, when the temperature is often over 80 (it was 95 two days ago), my routine has been to go on the court around 7 pm and play an hour and a half or two hours until dark. Then a shower, a meal. It’s 10:30 by the time I am done, and I am tired. Too tired and sore for abs crunches and weight lifting, especially on days when I play tennis in the morning for two hours as well.

So here are some guidelines on how to avoid heat injuries (I located them on The Stretching Institute’s web site). Most obvious is to drink gallons of water, but not usually known is to avoid caffeine, alcohol and sugary, fizzy drinks like sodas and cola.

Tips for Training and Playing in the Heat.

Heat injuries, which are totally preventable, are generally defined in three stages:

Dehydration: This is the first stage—your body simply suffers from a lack of fluid.
Heat Exhaustion: This is the next step, and if not treated immediately, serious injury and even death can result.
Heat Stroke: This is the worst stage—a victim can die within minutes.

What Causes Heat Injuries?  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: avoiding heat problems, desired urine color for athletes, heat injuries, pee clear, slip slop slap, symptoms of heat problems, what to drink during sports in hot weather

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Abs Abound On Abercrombie’s Bags

Jun 25

Posted by ira in abs pictures

Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch thinks its customers love abs so much that they put a set on their shopping bags:

Abercrombie Abs

Tags: Abercrombie & Fitch, abs, Abs bags, shopping bag pictures

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Cardio Exercise May Be As Good As Anti-Depressant Drugs

Jun 21

Posted by ira in exercise

Here’s an article in Time Magazine claiming “that patients who undergo aerobic exercise regimens see comparable improvement in their depression as those treated with medication…Exercise boosts mood. It not only relieves depressive symptoms, but appears to prevent them from recurring. So do some cardio if you are moody or feeling depressed.

“…Smits and Otto recommend the familiar 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, like walking, five times per week, or 30 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise three times a week. These doses, which are regularly recommended for physical fitness, are the only ones that have been well tested for depression. “But we can’t say at this point that more wouldn’t be better,” Smits says. “Or maybe less would be better. We really don’t know.” Too few tests have been run. It is also unclear whether anaerobic exercise, like weight lifting, would have the same mood-lifting effects – or whether exercise works as well in severely depressed patients as it does in sufferers of mild or moderate depression.”

Tags: benefits of cardio exercise, exercise as good as anti-depressant drugs

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Ronaldo’s Relaxed Abs

Jun 18

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities, soccer

We’ve seen his abs before, but this is such a nice shot of them that I had to post it. He just casually slouches in a chair, and the abs define themselves so easily. Think he does any special stomach exercises? Or does he just hit soccer balls upside down all day? I read that he is the highest paid FIFA player.

Cristiano Ronaldo's abs pop without any effort

Tags: abs, Cristiano Ronaldo, great abs pictures, soccer stars, World Cup star players abs

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Jason Statham’s Workout Routine

Jun 14

Posted by ira in abs pictures, diet, exercise, gym stuff, photos of celebrities, weight loss/overweight

After admiring his physique, I bumped into this Men’s Health article about how Jason lost 17 pounds in six weeks and how he grew all his muscles. It’s an eye opener to someone like me who loves sugar and spends 30 minutes doing only abs exercises. Jason’s entire routine takes just 35 minutes. But he does it six days a week, and the pictures show he is doing something very right. I love his comment in the article: If Statham’s workout is your model, you should understand that, at times during our talk, he referred to it as horrible, nauseating, bastard, murder, nightmare, and priceless, preceding each description with the word “f–king.”

Jason's muscles pop in Transporter 3

Statham’s Secrets of Superlean

Actor Jason Statham took on a brutal new training regimen and dropped 17 pounds in 6 weeks. So, what are you waiting for?

“He’s a bit lardy, isn’t he?” Jason Statham says in his gritty British voice, chuckling. He’s referring to the man in two pictures he’s holding, a pair of classic “before” shots, one from the front, one from the back. Indeed, the man in the photos has some extra dough, and not the green kind. There’s muscle there for sure, but no definition at all. Jason Statham isn’t ripping on just anyone: He’s the guy in the photos.

Jason Statham’s weight gain came the same way it does for most of us: a few too many beers and a couple of extra servings, compounded over time. Work out hard and you’ll crave calories as fuel at the same time you loathe the millstone they can form around your middle.

“I never gave a f–k about a calorie,” Statham says. “An apple? It’s good for me. I’d have five. Bananas? Eat the bunch.”

Statham was staying active at work, filming the shoot-’em-up War, in which he has his first fight scenes with a worthy adversary — Jet Li. But the pounds crept onto his torso and hung there like the remembrance of meals past.

Now Jason Statham brushes aside the ugly photos on the coffee table in his living room and gives me a dose of his current reality: He lifts up his shirt. He’s shredded — rumble-strip abs, cords in his chest, veins in his arms.

“That’s 17 pounds in 6 weeks, mate,” he says, and then plops down on his sofa again. “And that’s working out 6 days a week for, at most, about 35 minutes a day. I’ve never, ever gotten results like this before.”

That’s a bold statement from a man who used to be on the British Olympic diving team and lists mixed martial arts (that’s UFC-style fighting) as a hobby. In fact, he sounds like an infomercial. So what’s the secret?

Prepare to sweat. And hurt. And, well, eat. But only enough to stoke your fire, not smother it.

Jason in jail in Death Race

The Workout

If Statham’s workout is your model, you should understand that, at times during our talk, he referred to it as horrible, nauseating, bastard, murder, nightmare, and priceless, preceding each description with the word “f–king.”

What follows are his general guidelines and some sample exercises. For a typical week’s complete workout, go here.

He works out every day but Sunday with Logan Hood, a former Navy SEAL that runs Epoch Training (www.epochtraining.com). Saturdays are reserved for hour long sustained trail runs in the Hollywood Hills while the other 5 days are spent at 87Eleven, a full service action film company and stunt studio located in a converted warehouse near the Los Angeles airport. Hollywood stuntmen own and train at the unique facility. There are trampolines, climbing ropes, heavy bags, barbells, kettlebells, crash pads, and a complex apparatus of pullup bars.

There are only two real rules to the workout.
1. No repeats. “I haven’t had one single day in 6 weeks that has been a repeat,” he says. “Every single day has had a different combination of exercises. Obviously, you repeat exercises over the course of 6 weeks, but you’ll never do that workout you did on Thursday the 23rd of August again. It always changes, and that’s what keeps it so interesting.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Death Race, diet, Jason Statham, Jason's workout, Transporter 3, workout

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Some Readers Becoming Fitter, Finding The LIFE LESSONS Inspirational and Sending In Their Own Stories

Jun 13

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, abs pictures, gym stuff

There are people I know who are acting more healthfully since I began writing and talking about this site. And some have said how much they like the philosophical anecdotes about life that I call LIFE LESSONS. There are many more OTHER PEOPLE’S STORIES AND PHOTOS on the site now. This is great. Why not email me—or upload—your story?

Below is a recent photo of my abs. I injured my arm last August, stopped going to the gym, and cut way back on my exercising. So my muscles shrank alot. But I started playing sports more and doing crunches at home. You can see progress photos above since the beginning. And then there is the guy in this video…he is my inspiration.

need more abs—6/13/10

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http://www.irasabs.com/?feed=rss2

Tags: abs, health, inspiration, life lessons

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Movie Muscle Machos With Well Built Bods

Jun 12

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

These two guys put a lot of time into making their muscles pop out. I admit I have a lot of admiration for what it took to look like this. Jason’s workout routine sounded so impressive that I will post it soon. When he does pull ups in Death Race, I can relate to some of his efforts. When he strips to the waist for his girl friend in Transporter 3, I can understand why some people think of sculpted bodies as beautiful objects and forget that there are people with feelings and emotions inside. The Expendables is a new action movie due out in this August that not only has Stallone AND Statham in it, but also Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke. Lots of macho men with muscles in this flick for sure…

Jason Statham's abs look sensational in Death Race

Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables

Tags: abs, Death Race, Jason Statham, muscular men, Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables, well built bodies

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Abby Is Alive, Located And Rescued

Jun 11

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, sailing

Abby Sunderland in happier, warmer days

After 20 hours of silence, contact was made again, and help is on the way. The boat’s mast was broken by 30-foot waves and is dragging the sail in the water. The yacht is not taking on water, and Abby seems fine. You can read all about it here.

But renowned Australian round-the-world sailor Ian Kiernan said Abby should not have been in the southern Indian Ocean during the current southern hemisphere winter. “Abby would be going through a very difficult time with mountainous seas and essentially hurricane-force winds,” Kiernan told Sky News television.

Makes me wonder why then she chose to take that route at this time? But that is part of the excitement and mystery of learning about other people’s adventures.

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16-Year-Old Girl In Trouble On Solo World Sail

Jun 10

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, sailing

It all sounds so do-able, when you read about people’s heroic and victorious adventures. Kids who row across an ocean alone, climb Mt. Everest, sail around the world. But these attempts are very dangerous, and much of their success is pure luck in my opinion, often related to good weather. Let’s hope this girl is located, and that she is ok. Do you think their parents are irresponsible for letting them take off. Could anyone stop the kids from trying? You can learn more about Abby by reading her blog.

Abby's 40-foot sloop, Wild Eyes

By JOHN ANTCZAK, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – A 16-year-old Southern California girl attempting a solo sail around the world was feared in trouble Thursday in the frigid, heaving southern Indian Ocean after her emergency beacons began signaling and communication was lost.

Abby Sunderland’s family was talking with U.S. and international governments about organizing a search of the remote ocean between southern Africa and Australia, family spokesman Christian Pinkston said. Conditions can quickly become perilous for any sailor exposed to the elements in that part of the world. “We’ve got to get a plane out there quick,” said Pinkston, adding that the teen’s family in Thousand Oaks was asking for prayers for her safety.

“They are exhausting every resource to try to mobilize an air rescue including discussions with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Coast Guard and various international rescue organizations,” he said. The closest land is France’s Reunion Island, east of Madagascar, though the exact distance wasn’t clear.

Abby Sunderland is hopefully NOT lost at sea

Abby last communicated with her family at 4 a.m. PDT and reported 30-foot swells but was not in distress, Pinkston said. An hour later the family was notified that her emergency beacons had been activated, and there was no further communication. Pinkston said the beacons were manually activated.

Her brother, Zac, who sailed around the world at age 17, told Los Angeles radio station KNX that Abby was in a heavy storm at the time she called home. “We’re still trying to figure out the rescue situation,” he said. “There’s two boats headed out to her position, one is an estimated 40 hours, the other is 48. Right now we’re trying to figure out if there is any way faster. She’s in the middle of nowhere pretty much in the southern Indian Ocean. There’s nothing closer.” He said Abby’s boat was most likely not completely submerged because another beacon would be triggered at a depth of 15 feet.

Abby set sail from Los Angeles County’s Marina del Rey in her 40-foot boat, Wild Eyes, on Jan. 23 in an attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone without stopping. Her brother briefly held the record in 2009. Abby soon ran into equipment problems and had to stop for repairs. She gave up the goal of setting the record in April, but continued on.

On May 15, Australian 16-year-old Jessica Watson claimed the record after completing a 23,000-mile circumnavigation in 210 days.

Abby left Cape Town, South Africa, on May 21 and on Monday reached the halfway point of her voyage. On Wednesday, she wrote in her log that it had been a rough few days with huge seas that had her boat “rolling around like crazy…I’ve been in some rough weather for awhile with winds steady at 40-45 knots with higher gusts,” she wrote. “With that front passing, the conditions were lighter today. It was a nice day today with some lighter winds which gave me a chance to patch everything up. Wild Eyes was great through everything but after a day with over 50 knots at times, I had quite a bit of work to do.”

Information on her website said that as of June 8 she had completed a 2,100-mile leg from South Africa to north of the Kerguelen Islands, taking a route to avoid an ice hazard area. Ahead of her lay more than 2,100 miles of ocean on a 10- to 16-day leg to a point south of Cape Leeuwin on the southwest tip of Australia.

Tags: Abby Sunderland, sailing around the world

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Marc Sokilik Is Still Standing Tall On The Winner’s Podium

Jun 9

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, shot put, sports

IRA—FINALLY GOT THE PICTURES OF ARIZONA’S SHORTEST SHOT PUTTER WINNING A BRONZE MEDAL AT THE SENIOR OLYMPICS IN FEB 2010. STILL THROWING IN THE 65-69 AGE GROUP UNTIL DECEMBER, AND ONLY 10 YEARS AWAY FROM THAT GOLD MEDAL AT, 80 WHEN I WILL BE THE ONLY COMPETITOR.

You can learn more about Marc’s sports background and success by visiting this site. He has been putting the shot since junior high school, and has been winning Senior Olympic medals since 2005. I asked Marc how many competitors are left standing now, and how far he threw that little lead globe? Here is his response. What a fantastic athlete this guy is. There aren’t many like him!

OKAY I AM GOING TO BRING YOU UP TO DATE:
IN THE FEB ARIZONA SR OLYMPICS I THREW THE SHOT PUT 31′ 5″
AND GOT THE BRONZE OUT OF 13 COMPETITORS IN MY AGE GROUP.
IT WAS A NATIONAL SR OLYMPICS QUALIFYING MEET SO THE COMPETITION
WAS A LITTLE STIFFER.

It sure was tougher. Last Senior Olympics competition in Arizona, he came in second with a 31 foot throw, and the gold medal went to someone who threw the shot just 31′1″

THIS PAST MEMORIAL DAY I ENTERED THE ST. LOUIS SR OLYMPICS AND DID NOT
GET ONE MEDAL, BUT HERE IS HOW I DID

SHOT PUT 4TH PLACE 31′ 5 1/2″ 13 COMPETITORS
FOOTBALL DISTANCE 33 YARDS 5TH PLACE 45 COMPETITORS
FOOTBALL ACCURACY 6 OUT OF 10 THROWS 5TH PLACE 45 COMPETITORS
SOFTBALL DISTANCE 38 YARDS 6TH PLACE 45 COMPETITORS
SOFTBALL ACCURACY 6 OUT OF 10 THROWS 5TH PLACE 45 COMPETITORS
AROUND THE WORLD BASKETBALL 6 OUT OF 15 OUT OF THE MONEY

NOT BAD FOR A BAD NECK AND BACK AND A PARTIALLY TORN ROTATOR
CUFF, BUT I CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR WHEN I MOVE UP TO 70-74
AND BECOME THE YOUNGEST IN MY AGE GROUP.

Marc Sokolick lets another shotput fly—2/10

Another bronze for Marc at the Arizona Senior Olympics—2/10

Tags: Arizona senior olympics, Marc Sokolik, shotputting

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Frank Adams’ Innovative Tennis Swings Filmed For Possible TV Airings

Jun 8

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, sports, tennis

Two days ago I was part of a film shoot describing a different way to hit a tennis ball. What fun!

Frank Adams coached players for 50 years. But after three decades, he figured out a movement he calls Natural Tennis that is based on the same arm swing you do automatically when you walk down a street or catch and throw a ball without thinking. He thinks the way the pro’s hit—and amateurs try to imitate—is difficult, stressful on the joints and terribly misguided.

Dean Adams films me demonstrating an old-style swing, while Harry Moses (center) directs

Frank’s friend and neighbor, award-winning producer/director Harry Moses of documentary movie and “60 Minutes” fame, was in charge of the shoot, and I was one of the converts who briefly demonstrated my before-and-after-Frank swings. I also described how much my game has improved. Frank not only showed his innovative moves to the camera, he also taught two women who don’t play tennis how to do it the Natural Way in just 10 minutes.

The plan is to edit the two hours of footage down to three or four minutes that is presented to The Tennis Channel as a possible special or maybe a few of its One Minute Clinics. Frank’s son Dean is a professional filmmaker who is working with Harry on the editing and operated the camera.

Harry (left) and I laugh with Frank Adams during a filming break

This filming all happened hours after Nadal won the French Open. Frank has often admired Rafa’s athleticism, but claims this champion is too extraordinary to be copied by mere mortals. The injuries he and other professionals endure are all part of Frank’s evidence that the ideal way to hit a tennis ball is NOT how it’s generally being taught.

Although I have only been learning tennis seriously for three years, the first 12 months was just two hours of lessons a week attempting to hit a ball with multiple confusion. For a forehand, I had to: turn my body 90 degrees to the right, adjust my feet, extend my left arm and aim my left hand at the ball, raise my racket, bend my knees, watch the ball, swing with top spin, follow through, delay looking across the net, shift my weight to my right foot with a giant step, grab my racket at the throat with my left hand, make sure my racket hits my shoulder.

Whew! I was often exhausted. I could hardly remember to follow all these commands. My brain is just not able to recall them and direct my body to act. I have enough trouble simply watching the ball until I hit it.

Frank’s method worked for me instantly, so I adopted it. My backhand improved dramatically, and my forehand is more consistent. I am such a believer that I have also helped Frank edit the manuscript for his book and participated in the creation of multiple-exposure pictures that will illustrate Frank’s moves in print.

It’s all very exciting, and has accelerated my skills and playing level. My only apology is to my first-year coach, a young woman formerly 120 in the world who taught me the modern method so patiently and passionately. I know she thinks I have gone over to the Dark Side. But she definitely instilled in me her love of the game, the benefits of practice, and the need to jog around the court two or three times to warm up before every session.

It's a wrap! Karen Merritt (far left), Wanda Heckel and Ed Letteron were also filmed in the shoot

Some of you may remember my earlier posts about Frank’s method and that I also made simple videos of his moves that are on this site as well as on YouTube. Reaching a wider audience would capitalize on Frank’s insights as well as assist the many players who are struggling to emulate their tennis idols.

Tags: Frank Adams, French Open, Harry Moses, how to hit a tennis ball, natural tennis, playing like a tennis pro, Rafael Nadal, tennis

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Sports/Exercise Report for May

Jun 6

Posted by ira in archery, exercise, hunting, sports, squash, swimming, tennis

May results set some good records. I was active 23 days, up from 20 in April, though below my record 25 days in November. Being out of town for my son’s college graduation was a welcome and happy break.

I played tennis or practiced during 17 days over 37 ¾ hours, which is up from last month’s 15 days/31 ¼ hours and is greater than my high of 16 days, though below my record of 41 ¾ hours. I was fairly tired the day I played with three different groups over 5 ¾ hours, and temperatures in the high 80’s and 90’s exhausted me. Many days I played tennis matches in the mornings and then hit balls with a friend in the afternoon. Forcing myself to fit in crunches is the ultimate challenge, and I usually failed at it.

My nine crunch session equaled my high in December. I set a new record of three sets of 450 (1350 total), up from my previous record of 1050 total in January. Then to vary my routine, I started just doing different stomach exercises for 30 minutes a session. We’ll see if I can fill in that one missing muscle, because I really only have a feeble five-pack at the moment. I was told that if you don’t change your routine, your muscles get used to it and don’t grow as much. Jason Statham’s abs still look better than mine.

There were also two squash sessions for two hours total, way below my record of 8 days and 7 ½ hours. I went bow and arrow hunting for wild turkeys four times for 19 hours and also spent two days (3 ½ hours) chain sawing shooting lanes and clearing trails in the woods. Never even took a shot though this year. Too few birds. And two few weight lift days—just two. But my wrist and shoulders are healing—even swam some butterfly laps yesterday and felt no shoulder pain.

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Roller Skater Sets Record For Jumping Off Of Buildings

May 31

Posted by ira in skating

Another inspiration. This world champion in-line skater, Taig Khris, set a new record on his second try for jumping from a structure. He said that it was his dream and passion for two years. I can’t believe the French government, assuming it owns the Eiffel Tower, let him try it and allowed the building of the ramp.

Tags: determination to realize a dream, setting record for jumping off of a building, skating, Taig Khris

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Astonishing Trials Riding Bicycling By Hans Rey, Danny MacAskill And Den

May 25

Posted by ira in cycling

In the post about Gary Gianni, he mentioned a biking celebrity named Hans “No Way” Rey who is one of the most famous trials riders. This variant of cycling requires unbelievable control, balance, coordination and skill. It involves moving the bike over obstacles as large as mountain boulders, rooftops, and city sculptures..even riding on chains and railings or tops of fences. However the rider cannot touch either foot on the ground. Hans was a pioneer in this variant of mountain biking and has won many competitions since he was 16. Here are three videos of riders who will introduce you to an unimagined ability that is universes away from what you and I did on a bike when we were kids.

This video has been watched almost 18 MILLION times. Be sure to see the stunt around 3:10 to 3:20. Danny rides on just a front wheel as easily as just a rear wheel.

And here is a good summary of Hans Rey’s story. You can start around 1:24 after a weak introduction. He is a great champion who inspired many riders.

Tags: Danny MacAskill, Hans Rey, specialized mountain biking, trials bicycle riding, videos of trials riding

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Jordan Romero At Age 13 Arrives At Top Of Mount Everest!

May 22

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, humorous stories, mountain climbing

Jordan on top of Mt. Elbrus (highest in Europe) at age 10—7/11/07

The kid made it. Although he certainly sounds like a young man, rather than a boy. What an inspiration for those of us wanting to excel in any of our individual pursuits. You can read more about Jordan and see pictures of him in an earlier post. You can also visit his website, and watch the team’s progress as they climb down the mountain. One of the most adorable items in this latest story is that his FAVORITE good luck charm was a pair of kangaroo testicles. Wonder how heavy they are?

Also found an article from January 2009 that commented on Jordan: “… Jordan still needs to raise about $180,000 to complete these last three climbs, the bulk of which will go to Everest and Vinson. In order to raise the money, Jordan sells t-shirts and was recently awarded a Polartec Grant to help him in his quest.

You’ve got to hand it to the kid, he’s very dedicated to achieving his goal of becoming the youngest person to ever climb the Seven Summits, and he seems to really love being in the mountains.”

So the team behind and with him is really doing more than just walking up hills. It’s a huge logistical and fundraising effort.

By CARA ANNA, Associated Press Writer
Sat May 22, 5:16 am ET

BEIJING – A 13-year-old American boy became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest on Saturday, surpassing the previous record set by a 16-year-old Nepalese.

Jordan Romero called his mother by satellite phone from the summit of the world’s highest mountain, 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level. He is now one climb away from his quest to conquer the highest peaks on all seven continents.

“He says, ‘Mom, I’m calling you from the top of the world,’” Leigh Anne Drake told The Associated Press from California, where she had watched her son’s progress on a GPS tracker online.

“There were lots of tears and ‘I love you! I love you!’” Drake said. “I just told him to get his butt back home.”

The teenager with long curly hair — who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was 9 years old — says he was inspired by a painting in his school hallway of the seven continents’ highest summits.

“Every step I take is finally toward the biggest goal of my life, to stand on top of the world,” Jordan said earlier on his blog.

The former record for the youngest climber to scale Everest had been held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal. He reached the peak at age 16. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: adventurous teenagers setting world records, Jordan Romero, youngest person to climb Mount Everest

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16-Year-Old Jennifer Watson Becomes Youngest Person To Sail Around The World Solo And Without Assistance

May 21

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, sailing

Another youngster makes inspirational sports history.

Jessica Watson upon her arrival back home in Sydney—5/15/10

This time it’s 16-year-old Jennifer Watson, an Australian who just completed a solo sail around the world. “People don’t think you’re capable of these things—they don’t realize what young people, what 16-year-olds and girls are capable of,” Watson told the raucous crowd at the Sydney Opera House, many wearing pink clothes and waving pink flags in honor of her 34-foot yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady. “It’s amazing, when you take away those expectations, what you can do.”

Jennifer at welcome back home ceremony with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd greeted Watson at the Opera House with a grin and a hug, dubbing her “Australia’s newest hero”—a description Watson dismissed.

“I’m actually going to disagree with the prime minister,” she said, as the crowd laughed. “I don’t consider myself a hero. I’m an ordinary girl who believed in her dream.”

Nevertheless she survived the isolation, monstrous storms with waves 40-feet high and seven boat knockdowns. Her parents survived the storms of criticism for being so reckless and allowing their daughter to make such a dangerous 23,000 nautical mile journey. But Jennifer has been sailing since age eight, so her family was confident she’d make the trip safely.

You can read more details in this article by Kristin Gelineau. And you can also enjoy more about this incredible adventure by visiting Jennifer’s blog

Jessica before her launch last October 17

Tags: Australian PM Kevin Rudd, I am not a hero, inspirational teens, Jennifer Watson, sailing, surviving dangerous journeys, world's youngest solo round-the-world sailor

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13-Year-Old Jordan Romero Is Climbing Mt. Everest This Week

May 19

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, mountain climbing

Jordan Romero on his way up Mt. Everest

Here is an inspiring article about a person who is obviously not ordinary. But what an inspiration for those of us with dreams and who, like myself, need to push hard to be disciplined about efforts like gym exercises and abs crunches. Jordan Romero is a 5′10″ 13-year-old who has been climbing mountains for years, has already reached five of the Seven Summits—the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents—and hopes to become one of just 200 people who have climbed all seven of those mountains. So now he is about to take on Mount Everest and become the youngest person in the world to reach that summit.

Jordan on the top of Oceania's highest mountain—9/1/09

The article questions whether any 13-year-old is able to understand the risks involved, how it will affect his brain development and whether his attempt should even be allowed. What do you think? He is already camped at 21,000 feet and waiting for some high winds to subside before climbing the next 8000 feet to the top by Sunday. Best wishes, kid…

Tags: climbing Mt. Everest, climbing the Seven Summits, Jordan Romero, mountain climbing, Team Jordan, youngest person ever to attempt climbing Mt. Everest

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Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan Admires Dancer’s Abs

May 16

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Too funny. Reading Maureen Dowd’s political column about Elena Kagan’s lifestyle—much discussed now that she has been nominated for the Supreme Court by President Obama—and bumped into this surprising tidbit: “Don’t bother trying to get her out for dinner on a Monday night when “Dancing With the Stars” is on. Her heart belongs to Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s abs!”

So of course I had to look up this professional dancer and instructor to learn who is is and see what he looks like. Found these great shots that will inspire me and you too to exercise more. Any female viewers Wanna Dance?

Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s abs are a must see for the former Dean of Harvard Law School

Dancing with the Stars Professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy makes some women see stars

Tags: Dancing with the Stars professionals, Dean of Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan, Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s abs, Maureen Dowd's column about Elena Kagan, President Obama, Supreme Court nominee

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How Important Is Being Dignified In Sports?

May 14

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS

I found a story on the internet about a college rugby player who scored his first goal ever and was forced by tradition to “shoot the boot.” This is when he drinks beer out of a rugby shoe still covered with the game’s mud and grime (and possibly foot fungus too).

I asked him if I could post his story on this site, and he declined, saying he was applying for jobs and was worried that prospective bosses searching the net wouldn’t think he was a serious person, though he was clearly a devoted sportsman and outstanding team player.

All sports have these rituals of initiation. Who couldn’t understand that and accept them? What kind of nerdy, staid boss? And who’d want to work for such a stiff? Awright, I get it, I get it.

Jeez in England for centuries, when a youth kills his first deer, he smears blood all over his face to celebrate his de-virginizing. I remember seeing these photos in Scottish sporting estates of boys AND girls barely 14 or 15 smiling proudly beside the antlers and beaming parents.

But the rugger’s rejection reminded me of another college senior who gained 30 pounds of muscle and described his transformation on this site…but later asked to have his story and pictures removed, because prospective employers might not hire him if they saw how he used to be skinny.

Now here I am at age 69 flashing my abs and showing totally undignified pictures in a world of adults who are all trying to “act their age” and maintain the respect of others who are presenting more proper, age-appropriate faces (and bodies) to the world. I sure am out of step.

Okay, okay. It’s easy for me to imagine being turned down by an East Side NYC co-op, or rejected at a country club, if I am not behaving in a socially acceptable manner. I can even foresee some people not going into a business deal if I am too unconventional.

But it reminds me of the straights in suits from the east meeting the blue-jeaned digital entrepreneurs of the west. The new tycoons of Silicon Valley sure showed those dying manufacturers from the heartlands that clothes and old customs didn’t make the financially successful man. Certainly not having the stodgy graces of a 19th Century industrialist in a $2000 suit with hand-stitched buttonholes.

Plus it always seemed to me that it was a lot more fun to be youthful and free and not weighed down by too many social conventions…if you could get away with it.

Take any dignified man in the world and give him a baby, preferably a child or grandchild, and everyone allows him to kneel down on all fours and play with the youngster, while being as silly or ridiculous or undignified as he wants. But as soon as that powerful geezer rises up, he must withdraw back into his shell of reserved appearances. Boring. Deadening. Not for me.

Is it for you? You CAN create a life that may not require you to be so stiff and withdrawn, so formal and respectable. There are many worlds in which to earn a living that are more forgiving, be they advertising, the arts, digital domains, sports. How important is that for you?

While I understand why those two college seniors felt the need to hide their past shapes or shenanigans in sports, I think it is a sad and negative commentary on how much of our society works. One benefit of growing older is that hopefully you are long past those situations in which other people’s judgments will rule your behaviors and your life. But we all know that I am just thinking wishfully and dreaming fancifully. We are never totally free of those outside opinions, unless we are completely senile, crazed or totally self-centered and absorbed. And in those cases, who wants to hang out with you anyway?

Tags: acting your age, need to be dignified, society's pressures on your behavior, sports traditions

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Models With Abs In Calvin’s New Ads

May 13

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Even the New York Times is finally recognizing how many readers like to look at abs. Here is an article talking all about it with a video from the Calvin Klein campaign. And a couple of pictures for continued inspiration.

The article talks about how Mark Wahlberg modeled underwear in 1992 ads for Calvin Klein underwear and became a successful actor, and now maybe this latest campaign’s young model and actor, Kellan Lutz, can follow in Mark’s footsteps. The secret: “…note just how far an actor can go by adhering to the simple example set forth by Mr. Wahlberg — the School of Marky Mark, if you will. The single lesson is success by six-pack.”

Calvin Klein ad abs

Kellan Lutz abs in ad on building side

For those of you curious about Mark Wahlberg’s abs and long ago Calvin ad, check this out:

Mark Wahlberg showed great abs in this 1992 Calvin ad

Tags: abs, Calvin Klein underwear ads, Kellan Lutz, Mark Wahlberg

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Nagged To Flash By Goofy Giddy Graduates

May 12

Posted by ira in abs pictures

My son and his friend John (goofin’ right behind me) nagged and goaded me to flash my abs amidst the celebration at New York University after the school’s graduation ceremony. You can see it’s far from a six pack after eating some corn and potato knish. But as undignified as this is, I don’t mind being a little zany with all those young people acting giddy to be leaving school and scared about entering the “real world” at last.

flashing and funning at NYU—5/11/10

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Exercise Should Be Like Brushing Your Teeth

May 8

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise

Jane Brody wrote an article for the New York Times this past January 10th that questions the benefits of dietary supplements like vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidant drinks. She describes what a good diet should be and urges us all to exercise.

…Each year millions of people fall prey to false promises that this, that or the other formula or fortified food can protect their hearts, prevent cancer, improve memory, strengthen their bones, uncreak their joints, build their muscles, even enable them to burn extra calories without moving.

The desire to achieve a healthy old age is laudable indeed, and will be even more so in the future. According to a projection of the century-long rise in life expectancy published in The Lancet in October, more than half the children born since 2000 in wealthy countries can expect to celebrate their 100th birthday.

If so many of us are destined to become centenarians, it is all the more important to be able to enjoy those years unencumbered by chronic disease and disability. There is no virtue in simply living long; the goal should be to live long and well.

But while much is known about how to raise the odds of a healthy old age, only a minority of Americans incorporate into their lives what is likely to give them the biggest bang for their buck. Like the woman in the health food store, they’d rather rely on supplements of vitamins and minerals, fish oils and herbs, perhaps washed down with pricey antioxidant juices.

Unfortunately, sound evidence for the benefits of most such products is sorely lacking; in some cases the best scientific evidence has shown no benefit, and in a few cases has even shown harm…

…we are a long way from consuming the kind of diet most closely linked to a low risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and dementia. That diet need not be strictly vegetarian, but it should emphasize plant-based foods over the meat and other products that come from animals that eat plants. The closer to the earth we eat, the healthier — and leaner — we are likely to be.

…The second crucial ingredient is regular physical exercise. I know, you’ve heard this song before and you know you should do it, but … fill in the blank: you hate exercise, you have no time, the weather is lousy, the children are sick, you’re injured, you don’t get enough sleep as it is. It’s easy to find reasons not to exercise.

It’s time to stop making excuses and make regular physical activity an integral part of your life, like eating, sleeping and brushing your teeth. You don’t decide every day to do these things, you just do them. Likewise with exercise. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: are diet supplements good for you?, how important is exercise, how to exercise your body if you hate exercise, Jane Brody, the most effective exercise is brisk walking, what it takes to live to 100

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Sports/Exercise Report

May 6

Posted by ira in archery, exercise, hunting, sports, squash, tennis

April results were a bit inhibited by a sore back for 10 days. I only had 20 days of sports and ab crunch activity, down from 21 in March and a record of 25 physically active days in November My crunch sessions totaled eight, up from just four in each of the last two months (my record is nine crunch sessions in December). I did increase to 1000 total-in-a session ball crunches (three sets) up from highs of 750 in March and 550 in February, but below my record 1050 in January.

For the month I played tennis 15 days and 31.25 hours, up from last month (record is 16 days and 41 3/4 hours), squash two days and 2 hours (record is 8 days and 7.5 hours), practiced archery twice and went hunting for turkeys with a bow once for seven hours. I also lifted weights at home three times.

It’s nice to see my abs showing again and to be improving my tennis game with more outdoor practice possible. Spring is definitely here at last.

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Soccer Six-Packs

May 4

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities, soccer

Photographer Annie Leibovitz presented some beautiful portraits in a recent Vanity Fair magazine. It was the abs displayed that really captured my imagination and are an inspiration.

Didier Drogba (L) and Cristiano Ronaldo are soccer stars with super abs

Check out this story and video during the shooting.

Tags: Annie Leibovitz portrait, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Vanity Fair, World Cup star players abs

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Ken Kantrowitz Has Been Swimming For Life

Apr 28

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, aging, sports, swimming

Ken Kantrowitz, age 70, is one of those fortunate individuals who discover a passion that embraces him for life: he loves swimming in pools, has been competing on and off for 55 years, and still practices eagerly many many days each week. Inspired by this web site to describe his love affair, he has written a detailed narrative that shows his determination and what it took to make the most of his talents. Especially interesting is that after college and daily swimming, Ken gained 60 pounds due to the lack of intense exercise. Then at age 48, he returned to the pool and the regular exuberant workouts he loves, and much of the weight dissolved in the water. Most years he swims 5-10,000 yards (3-6 miles) a week and 300 to 350,000 yards a year. His best year was 504,000 yards (306 miles).

Ken's specialty was the butterfly—1996

SWIMMING FOR LIFE: MY SWIMMING CAREER
by Ken Kantrowitz

CHAPTER ONE: ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOL DAYS
When I was six years old, in 1946, my dad took me to a swimming pool and saw that I received lessons to learn how to swim. My teacher, according to my dad, was Jack Morris (more about him later.) Today I would call what I learned to do “swimming doggie-paddle.” It was one step beyond learning to float. I could keep my head above the water level, move my arms and legs and very slowly get from one spot in the pool to another. During the next few summers I went to summer camp and had some more exposure to what a person could do in the water. I was very comfortable in this element and usually had to be bribed to get out of the pool or lake. Little did I know in those days in elementary school that my prime passion at the age of 70, in 2010, would be working out in a swimming pool three or four times a week for an hour and a half each session, and swimming competitively.

In 1954, in the ninth grade, when I was fourteen years old, I wanted to play for a high school varsity team. I was, and still am, a spectator and participation sports nut. Through grade school and junior high, I played softball, baseball, touch football, and basketball. These sports and several others were played on the street in pick-up games, at the Pittsburgh Oakland “Y” on Saturdays and during the summer school vacation, and in a league or two, whenever. Getting into a swimming pool, a lake or an ocean was an afterthought most of the time when the opportunity arose or if we wanted to cool down after doing other exercising land activities or sports. In most sports, I was decent or better than average, but I didn’t feel that I was good enough to make the starting high school varsity in any particular sport.

Ken (far left) and friends—4/94

I knew how to swim I thought— but not really! “Doggie-paddle” wasn’t VARSITY SWIMMING. So in ninth grade, I tried out for the Varsity Swimming team. Coach Claude Sofield, who was a junior and senior high school physical education instructor, coached the Taylor Allderdice High School Varsity Swimming Team in Pittsburgh. Al Wiggins, who swam for Allderdice and the Oakland “Y,” was one of the premier swimmers in high school and in the state and the country. Al set the state record for Pennsylvania in the 100-yard backstroke and eventually was an All-American at National Champion Ohio State and later a top medalist in the Olympics. It was an understatement to say that he was my HERO. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Al Rose, Al Wiggins, benefits of swimming, Coach Claude Sofield, Coach Jack Morris, Ira Rubin, Jimmy Goldman, Ken Kantrowitz, Lew Goldhammer, Morris Shratter, Ohio State University swim team, Richard Rosenzweig, senior olympics, swimming, Taylor Allderdice swim team

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Paulina’s Lament About Body Modification

Apr 27

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, aging, photos of celebrities, plastic surgery

Since starting this site and becoming more aware of popular culture, I keep bumping into the obsession in so many countries with physical appearance, particularly breast size, and how it distorts what women of all ages—but especially girls—think of their bodies. It’s clear how imperfectly many females view themselves due to the society’s ideal dimensions promoted in the media. It also affects how men and teenage boys regard their potential dates and mates.

As someone who spends hours exercising to change my body slightly and come closer to the fantasy me in my mind (more ab definition, more muscle cuts), I certainly can’t criticize most of the two million women a year worldwide (300,000 in the U.S.) who enlarge their bosoms for cosmetic reasons to ease their insecurities or to help them believe they will have a better chance of attracting a man. Both plastic surgery and muscle building may have the same goal—to look “better” in the mirror and on the beach— but it is obvious that surgery is a lot more serious and riskier than crunches and weight lifting.

supermodel Paulina Porizkova—1985

The attention to celebrities’ body changes is mind-boggling. Here is an article by Paulina Porizkova, who in the ’80’s was one of the top models in the world— she was twice voted by People Magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world…and also nominated in 1989 for a Golden Raspberry award as one of the worst actresses in a film. I never heard of her before this story appeared, so in case you are as naive about some icons as I am, I have added Paulina’s bio after her article.

You will notice that Paulina minds when women make body changes to conform to the current mass standards of beauty—which she just happens to have been born with—and she faults Kate Hudson for feeling insecure and modifying her “perfect” body by having breast implants. Yet the bio mentions that Paulina had a gap in her teeth, resisted smiling in her photographs, and eventually had her teeth corrected. Paulina also says every woman is uniquely beautiful and should celebrate any good features if she can find them. For me this sounds like a rich person saying all poor people shouldn’t mind poverty, because they have an abundance of spiritual riches.

April 22, 2010

Why Kate Hudson’s (Alleged) Breast Implants Have Me Heartbroken
by Paulina Porizkova, Supermodel

Kate Hudson has gotten implants. Allegedly. This news headed straight to my heart from the lips of Wendy Williams who got it from some gossip rag. My coffee was getting cold while I, heartbroken, sadly gazed at the before and after pictures of Kate Hudson on the screen. The before: an amazingly fit, gorgeous, and yes, small-breasted young woman in a to-die-for red bikini; in the other, a blond starlet sipping a latte. The cup size was undeniably different. (And no, we’re not speaking of the latte.) Was there a chance it was merely a hardworking push-up bra? I find myself practically praying over Kate’s boobs. Pathetic, I know…

two shots of Kate Hudson, 2009 (left) and 2010

My issue here isn’t with Kate. If big boobs make her happier, then more power to her. The issue here, this fixing something perfect to something else perfect, is so much a sign of our times, and one that truly saddens me. The availability and ease of transforming our bodies is completely losing our identities and uniqueness. No one ages anymore, no one has imperfections of any kind anymore, all smiles are flawless and no one past 35 can express displeasure. Madonna no longer looks like Madonna: what started as a sexy, well shaped, and somewhat hairy Italian girl has ended as a cool Nordic blonde. It’s not that she doesn’t look great, she does. But she is starting to sort of melt away into the stew of the famous women over-fifty-high-cheek-boned blondes-who-cannot-frown.

Generally, I’m all for self-improvement. If you don’t know something, do look it up. Do learn another language, do travel, do open your heart and mind to new experiences. And by all means, pluck your mono-brow, dye your mouse-brown hair and work out to firm your body; after all, if fashion changes to celebrate hairy plump women you can go right back. But please, before permanently removing or adding a part to you to fit societal graphs of pulchritude, consider that that change will be permanent. If, a hundred years ago, you were unhappy with your nose – tough luck. You could hide your flaws, accentuate your strengths, and sometimes, more often than not, realize your flaws were your strengths and were precisely what made you unique and beautiful. That’s how, for example, we got the incomparable portrait of a large nosed Madame X, proudly displaying a profile that makes ME want a big nose.

Paulina writes she now has saddlebags and cellulite

Personally, I believe that every woman in the world is beautiful. Sometimes the distribution of her attributes is not immediately apparent; sometimes it’s a little uneven, but if she knew how to celebrate the things she was given, whether it’s a beautiful pair of eyes or legs, or intellect, or a sense of humor- she could see how uniquely beautiful she was. Lest you feel like interjecting, “oh please, easy for you to say, Miss Former Supermodel…” for your information, I have saddlebags and cellulite, and no matter how hard I work out, that is my body shape and I’m stuck with it. I look horrendous in short shorts and any pant or trouser that is tight in the thigh. But, for the body type of a saddlebag/cellulite, I think I look really great. I have a small waist (which seems to come with my specific body type) and so I take every opportunity to show that off. In my opinion, I’m one hot example of a saddlebag/cellulite woman over forty. If I went and lipo-ed my thighs to the size of Gisele’s, I still wouldn’t look anything like her, and instead, I’d start looking like everyone else. I would be a poor example of a woman with skinny thighs. That is my trouble with Kate. I used to use her as an example of the perfect beauty with a small chest. Now, with her new boobs, she just looks like any California blond actress. Instead of enhancing, she has diminished herself.

Wouldn’t Audrey Hepburn, Jane Birkin, Twiggy, Charlotte Rampling, and Jean Harlow have lost their special brand of elegant, feline sexiness if they were tipping over under the weight of great ol’ mammaries? Compare any one of these natural beauties to someone like Heidi Montag, and it’s like comparing a Hastens Swedish handmade mattress to a cheap plastic pool float.

Heidi Montag after multiple plastic surgeries

So why? Why do we all want to look the same? It can’t all be about being attractive to the opposite sex. There are men who prefer the full breast; there are men who prefer the well-shaped leg or the round behind. There are all sorts of tastes out there, for all sorts of women. And the way to get their attention is by being different, by standing out. Once you start to blend in, you are no longer special.

That’s the end of Paulina’s article. Now here are some facts about her life:

Paulina Porizkova (born April 9, 1965) is a Czech-born supermodel and actress. She holds both Swedish and United States citizenship.

A photographer friend took pictures of Porizkova and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980. At 5 feet 10 1/2 inches (180 cm), she was the perfect height for a fashion model. Elite head John Casablancas noticed Porizkova’s attractiveness and potential, and offered her a ticket to Paris. It was an extremely tempting offer for a teenager who was eager to get out of Sweden and to support herself.

She quickly rose to become a top model in Paris during the early 1980s, and her fame spread to the United States when she posed in swimwear for Sports Illustrated magazine. She appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 1984 and again in 1985. (Her first appearance as a model in the magazine was in 1983.) A third consecutive run as the S.I. covergirl supposedly was dashed when she appeared on the cover of Life magazine in a swimsuit. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bio of Paulina Porizkova, breast implants, Heidi Montag, Kate Hudson, Madonna's changed looks, Paulina Porizkova, Paulina's saddlebags, plastic surgery, pros and cons about plastic surgery, supermodel Paulina Porizkova

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Michael Moschen’s Passion For Practice

Apr 26

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, juggling, sports, tennis

A week ago I went to NY University to again see a neighbor of mine perform his rare art on stage. Sometimes Michael Moschen juggles balls with extraordinary finesse or humor. He can simultaneously bounce balls continuously with the soles of his shoes. Other times he moves objects in ways so unusual and dexterous that you can hardly believe what you are seeing. He has created new illusions and motions with objects like metal sticks and circles, is inspired by everyday actions like a curved shape rolling down a hill of sand, and invents maneuvers that no one else even imagines, much less is capable of executing. Check out some of his videos, particularly the giant triangle inside the museum (go to 2:00 if you are impatient) in the video above and from 2:30 to 4:12 in this one below:

But it’s his dedication and years of practice to acquire a “skill set” that I want to focus on. This time I was connecting his words and actions to my desire to improve at tennis and squash. You could relate it to any skill that you are working on.

He has one segment of his show involving four billiard-ball-sized crystal spheres that he manipulates in each hand and up to seven of them with both hands. It takes maybe six minutes. But he told me that after he thought of this feat, he practiced for hours every day for two years, before he was ready to go public. You won’t believe what capabilities his hands and fingers have.

In last week’s performance, he said that he normally practices four hours each morning and four hours each afternoon. Every day. I can’t imagine anyone practicing something every day. Or even six days a week. Doesn’t life invade any planned routine? But he insists he is constantly practicing.

The next night a friend said he’d read that for someone to be an outstanding professional athlete, like one of the top 100 tennis players in the world, you have to practice at least four hours every day for 10 years. And of course this assumes you have some natural talent to begin with. Practice alone won’t make you an outstanding player if you are uncoordinated or can’t relax or have poor vision or are too small in some sports or too heavy in others.

Jaime Escalante says you also need “ganas,” which is Spanish for desire. Richard Heckler says you have to practice the motion 300 times to begin to get it, but 3000 times to really integrate it into your brain and muscle memory.

Of course the the most successful pros know how important constant practice is. After winning this year’s Australian Open, Roger Federer admitted,

“Look, it’s no secret I’ve struggled the last, what is it, five matches I’ve played here in the States. It’s disappointing, I think, my performance overall, if I’ve got to analyze right now after the match.

“But I fought as much as I could under the circumstances with my game having issues at the moment. Definitely lack timing. I don’t know where that comes from because I played so nicely in Australia. So it’s disappointing to not be able to back it up.”

“[This loss] only fuels my desire to go back to the practice courts and come back even stronger. I don’t like to lose these type of the matches. I’m looking forward to the clay court season now. It helps to kind of move on to a different surface. Definitely need to practice harder, and that’s what I’ll do.”

So practicing is clearly needed to improve any game or skill. Enjoying those weekly contests without practice in between may be fun or frustrating, but it is unlikely to make you a much better player or performer. Practice, practice, practice. Let’s do it!

Tags: acquiring a skill, extraordinary juggling, how much practice does it take to become good at sports, importance of practice, Jaime Escalante's belief in ganas, Michael Moschen, Michael Moschen's crystal balls, Michael Moschen's giant triangle, New York University performance art, Richard Heckler's belief in practice, Roger Federer, Roger Federer practices hard

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Jaime Escalante Taught Us All How To Win

Apr 21

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES

Jaime Escalante died last month. I had just mentioned him on April 19th, when I was writing about Gonzalo and other youngsters from low-income neighborhoods who are taught soccer to build confidence and then learn to express their feelings by writing poetry for the first time.

Jaime Escalante

Jaime was the teacher portrayed in the film “Stand and Deliver” who proved to the world that some poor, disadvantaged, minority kids could perform just as well academically as middle class, suburban white kids if given the opportunity to learn with a dedicated educator. In fact Jaime’s students did better on one SAT Advanced Placement test than kids in any other school in California and made teachers everywhere reconsider the potential of minority and economically deprived students in their classes. One obituary described him as the most famous teacher in the world.

He didn’t use sports as a way to build confidence. He used calculus. But I wanted to highlight his achievement anyway, because so much of sports has to do with self-image and mental attitude, belief in yourself, how to perform under pressure and in competition. Just like life.

I’ve seen the movie a few times, even last night, and it’s very inspiring. While the need to practice a sports skill is obvious, the parallel in the classroom is long hours of instruction, study, and practice taking tests and answering problems and questions. The film shows the kids signing a contract with their teacher—and their parents signing too—that commits them to come to special classes on weekends, during Christmas holidays, and early in the mornings before their regular classes

actor Edward James Olmos in the movie about Jaime

Jaime talked about “ganas,” the Spanish word for “desire.” You have to have it if you are going to put in the hours, succeed, make a difference in your outcome.

My friend Joe always talks about his “passion” for life, for his work (directing plays and running a theater). Not everyone has enthusiasm or passion. We are not sure you can manufacture it or pretend you have it or make a lot of progress without it.

But if you are determined or driven or incredibly focused, it’s more likely you WON’T be stopped or thwarted by the obstacles in front of any goal. Life is messy. People are messy, and jealous, and envious and don’t want to see others succeed and rise above their circumstances and make more money and receive accolades. People want to be superior to others—it’s a survival thing according to some social scientists and psychologists. If they can’t rise above you, they will try to keep you suppressed and beneath them—that’s one way they stay relatively superior.

Jaime overcame those hurdles. He inspired the kids who could barely imagine what potential he saw in them. Then there was the principal and the other teachers who said he was wasting his time on lazy Latinos and gang kids who were limited mentally and were lucky if they could “rise” to car repair jobs and waitresses. There was also the national college application testing (SAT’s) company that claimed the high grades his kids achieved must have been attained by cheating—and demanded a retest under carefully supervised conditions by the testing company’s personnel. There was violence against him, his own family’s struggles with his long hours and ridicule, and he even had a heart attack from the stress just before the first test.

There was even the skepticism from the parents of his students Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Ben Fernandez, changing a kid's attitude about his chances for success in life, Edward James Olmos, Elaine Woo, Garfield High SChool, how to increase self-esteem, instilling confidence and self worth, James Joyner, Jamie Escalante, Photo Film Workshop, Stand and Deliver, teaching minority kids calculus, the best teacher in the country, using calculus and sports and photography to build confidence

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The Greatest Athlete Of All Time?

Apr 20

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, sports, squash

Yesterday I heard for the first time about the greatest squash player in the history of the game: Jahinger Khan. He was undefeated for almost six years and won 555 matches in a row! This is the longest record of consecutive wins by any athlete in any sport. After that loss, he was undefeated for another nine months.

How he even began playing squash is a story I just discovered in the following excerpts by Richard Eaton from the official Dunlop British Squash Open program

“When Hashim Khan returned home (to Pakistan) after winning his first British Open in 1951, he was driven through Peshawar in an open top car amidst celebrations so great that schools were closed for the day.

When Hashim won it again, his distant relative Roshan Khan, who had once been a street sleeper, came to England with £5, a borrowed overcoat and warnings that he would starve. Instead, his capture of the British Open title by beating Hashim in the 1957 final opened a door to a better life and did much to begin the Khan legend.”

Roshan then taught his son, Jahangir Khan, who won the British Open ten times and was eventually named the Sportsman of the Millennium, with his image cast on postage stamps.

Jahangir Khan—1984

Startling enough that this superhuman athlete’s father used to sleep in the streets. Listen to how unlikely that Jahinger would even play any sport. During his earlier years, Jahangir was a sickly child and physically very weak. Though the doctors had advised him not to take part in any sort of physical activity, after undergoing a couple of hernia operations, his father let him play and try out their family game.

In 1979, the Pakistan selectors decided not to choose Jahangir to play in the world championships in Australia, judging him too weak from a recent illness. Jahangir decided instead to enter himself in the World Amateur Individual Championship and, at the age of 15, became the youngest-ever winner of that event.

In 1981, when he was 17, Jahangir became the youngest winner of the World Open, beating Australia’s Geoff Hunt (the game’s dominant player in the late-1970s) in the final. That tournament marked the start of an unbeaten run which lastedover five years and over 500 matches. The hallmark of his play was his incredible fitness and stamina, which his cousin, Rehmat Khan, helped him build up through a punishing training and conditioning regime. Jahangir was quite simply the fittest player in the game, and would wear his opponents down through long rallies played at a furious pace.

In 1982, Jahangir astonished everyone by winning the International Squash Players Association Championship without losing a single point.

Here is part of a documentary in Pakistan that interviews him perhaps in 2009, tells his story, and shows him playing squash as a youth.

The unbeaten run finally came to end in the final of the World Open in 1986 in Toulouse, France, when Jahangir lost to New Zealand’s Ross Norman. Norman had been in pursuit of Jahangir’s unbeaten streak, being beaten time and time again. “One day Jahangir will be slightly off his game and I will get him,” he vowed for five years. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: British Open, Hashim Khan, Jahinger Khan, longest winning streak for any athlete, overcoming illness to excel at sports, Rehmat Khan, Richard Eaton, Roshan Khan, Ross Norman defeats Jahinger Khan, Sportsman of the Millenium, squash, top squash player in history, training routine for Jahinger Khan, youngest winner of World Amateur Squash Individual Championship, youngest winner of World Open Squash tournament

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Transforming Lives Through Sports And Other Activities

Apr 19

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, soccer, sports

I interviewed an upcoming soccer star today. He’s been playing since third grade in Cleveland, Ohio and has risen to regional and now national prominence. “I used to be timid and afraid of the ball. I changed by playing soccer,” explained Gonzalo Villafan proudly.

I should mention he is only 10 years old and the animated beneficiary of an America SCORES after school program that uses sports—specifically soccer—to reach out to kids in low income neighborhoods.

“At first some people would argue, and everyone gets confused. Then the coach gives direction…and we learned how to work as a team and communicate with each other.”

Amazingly, along with soccer, the kids are taught how to write poetry! Gonzalo said “…teammates and coaches pushed into my creation and that I not be afraid. I never wrote before. Just shy with other kids…then I express my feelings and make it into a poem.”

He wrote about the Balloon Boy fraud and recited his poem in front of 600 people back home. “They stood up on their seats and clapped and shouted.” Gonzalo was one of two youths chosen to represent Cleveland in the national recital. When is the last time you were brave enough to talk to a group that large?

Shayanna Love and Gonzalo Villifan present Sunil Gulati with a soccer ball for his support of America SCORES

Today he was in New York for the first time to be in a poetry slam at the auditorium of the New York Stock Exchange. He was in a group of 30 kids from around the country who rang the closing bell, met members of the New York Red Bulls soccer team, some other professional league soccer players, team owners and even Sunil Gulati, the president of the US Soccer Federation.

This all reminded me of a photographer I knew, Ben Fernandez, who taught ghetto kids how to take pictures to push them away from drugs, away from negative influences and thinking positively for themselves. It increased their self-esteem and gave them the confidence to try for more achievements. Angel Franco, became a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist. Fung Lam went to Harvard and became a doctor. Ben went on to found the New School’s photography program.

Another friend built metal robots that “talked” and helped autistic kids in hospitals respond to outside stimuli, when efforts by humans couldn’t penetrate their mental bubbles. So there are a number of ways to reach youngsters who have the odds stacked against them. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: America SCORES, America SCORES National Poetry SLAM, Angel Franco, changing lives through sports, Fung Lam, Gonzallo Villafan, Julie Kennedy founded America SCORES, New Jersey Red Bulls soccer team, Photo Film Workshop, photographer Ben J. Fernandez, reaching disadvantaged kids, soccer, Sunil Gulati

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HelluvAchievement—Climbing From One Plane To Another

Apr 15

Posted by ira in plane walking or jumping without a parachute

A skydiver has pulled off an astonishing stunt by climbing out of a glider’s cockpit, crawling along the wing and then somersaulting underneath and stepping onto the wing of a second glider flying below.

Paul Steiner then moves back onto the main fuselage of the second glider while the first glider turns upside down and flies overhead so that he can reach up and hold the tail fin at 100mph, forming a human link between the two aircraft. He then leaps off and parachutes back to the ground.

The spectacular stunt, captured on YouTube, was carried out by the Red Bull skydive team 2,100 metres above the mountains in Styria, Austria. And they look mightily relieved as they returned to their airfield.

You can read the story here. Then we can all admire adventurous people like this who have adrenaline needs we can’t imagine and are fearless compared to those of us with what we call “common sense.”

Tags: fearless stunts, Paul Steiner, plane walking, Red Bull Sky Dive Team

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Spring Into Shape With Smart Exercise

Apr 12

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise, gym stuff

When I started reading this article, I immediately thought, “Another author telling the same obvious tale—exercise is good for you. Don’t people get it yet? Is it really necessary to keep saying the same thing?”

But then I recognized one of the books Dr. Ni has written—I already own it and like it. And he talks about injuries, while I also was enduring a back pain that may have come from too many weights lifted or too many crunches after too long of not doing too much. So I am sharing a few excerpts. He also mentions and includes links to Tai Chi and acupuncture.

No Pain, No Gain? Think Again! I have a number of patients who are “weekend warriors”—people who don’t exercise much during the week but go to the extreme on weekends. They’ll engage in vigorous physical activities like mountain biking or high-impact aerobics—and then usually end up in my office with an injury. There is nothing wrong with these intense athletic activities, but when they are done infrequently, they often lead to injuries.

To reap the benefits of exercise, it isn’t necessary to work out to the extreme or get your heart pumping to its maximum. On the contrary, many studies show that regular, moderate exercise does more for your health and waistline than periodic intense workouts. Also keep in mind, when exercising beyond a healthy level of heart rate, your body switches from burning fat to burning carbohydrates for energy. The old maxim of “no pain, no gain” is destructive, and the wear and tear of physical strain takes its toll.

… From my clinical experience and research, I am convinced that it is best to exercise four times or more per week, for 30 minutes each time.

…In my 25 years of clinical practice and research on centenarians, I have never met a healthy person or centenarian that lived a physically inactive life. Exercise brings with it numerous benefits, from boosting your energy and reducing stress hormones to lowering your risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer depression, and diabetes.

Dr. Maoshing Ni, Longevity Expert
Author of Secrets of Longevity: Hundreds of Ways to Live to Be 100

Tags: avoiding sports injuries, Dr. Maoshing Ni, how much exercise a week, how to live to be 100, Secrets of Longevity

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Old Spice For Your Abs

Apr 10

Posted by ira in abs pictures, humorous stories

Here are some silly commercials made in a zany style by an actor with nice abs and other muscles:

Tags: abs, Old Spice commercials, selling with silly stuff

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Thoughts About Birthdays And Aging

Apr 7

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, aging

Ira—Does it feel any better being in the 7th decade as opposed to the 6th decade? Happy Birthday!
—Mickey Fierberg-Freundlich

I still feel young, Mickey, and my body is still working after so FEW years of physical activity. But getting this close to 70 sounds and looks (on paper) somewhat elderly (but not yet ancient). I will work at acquiring that “It’s only a number” attitude, but I am not there yet. Any suggestions from readers are welcome, although drinking until I can’t think straight probably won’t happen for me.

One thing I do believe is that each birthday confirms obviously that I lived another year. I am very grateful for that achievement and feel extremely fortunate to keep reaching higher numbers. I often mention to younger friends and relatives who make fun of what an old fart I am that I knew someone in high school who died at age 17, andr a former girl friend who died at 45, and many other people I know who are gone. It’s all attitude, isn’t it?
— ira

A belated Happy Birthday, Ira!! What a wonderful way to spend Easter Sunday and your birthday—sounds like all of you had a blast!
—Stephanie Logan Kennedy

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Hunting On Easter

Apr 5

Posted by ira in aging, exercise, hunting, running

I organized a hunt yesterday for around 20 friends and family members. My kids traveled as much as six hours round trip to be part of the event. There was food and drinks and even a cake with candles, because today is my birthday. I have made it this far…69 years. What a treat. I am grateful to be alive, to have lived this long, to still be journeying and celebrating.

This morning I forced myself to do 700 crunches (300 bicycles and 400 non-stop balls) after warming up with a brisk 1500 meters of indoor rowing.

Oh yes, that hunt: it was for plastic Easter eggs, about 100 of them, hidden in the cracks between stones in old walls, under plants, in the branches of trees and bushes. It’s a lot of fun. And great exercise. I spent over an hour planting these multi-colored symbols of spring and new beginnings, stooping and bending, keeping my Springer Spaniel from eating the candies stuffed inside. In a warm year like this one, I worked up quite a sweat.

When everyone had arrived, and I shouted “GO!” to launch the egg search, the energy release is a mini-explosion . The kids run like crazy in all different directions, but the adults and post-teen children are running as well, either helping the little ones or competing with them unashamedly. You ever try keeping up with a five-year-old racing for candy? Not easy, bless their little hearts. And they are tireless. No one ever has “enough.”

Then I walk around for another half hour checking all the spots. You’d be amazed how many eggs are missed that are right out in the open. People just pass by them. No wonder I can’t see a tennis ball at 100 mph, when the average human eye walks by a static object without noticing its existence. And every time I announce that there is still another egg to be found, the crowd rushes and crushes to my general vicinity to seek out the missed prize.

Lots of laughs. The downed “game” is devoured within an hour, along with the cake—I had three pieces—and ice cream for those who reward themselves for such an active workout.

Who says exercise helps you lose weight? Not on Easter Sunday or your birthday.

hunters and game—4/4/10

Tags: can adults run as fast as kids under 7, how to gain weight by exercising, hunting on Easter, starting hunters at age 5

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April Fools Joke With Abs And Angst

Apr 2

Posted by ira in abs pictures, humorous stories, photos of celebrities

abs in Coldplay fake fragrance ad—4/1/10

Coldplay launch their own fragrance
April 1, 2010 9:00 am
Angst by Coldplay, available from today

We’re very pleased to announce that Coldplay have today launched their own exclusive fragrance, Angst by Coldplay.

“This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” said the band’s frontman, Chris Martin. “People like to smell nice and we thought we could help them out.”

Martin was quick to point out that there are bigger and better scents available, but that the band are simply trying to make the best aroma they can, for their own pleasure. “If anyone else likes it,” he explained, “then that’s a bonus”.

The core ingredients of the scent are listed on the Brian Eno-designed bottles as sangre, sudor and lágrimas, all of which have been sourced from Fairtrade suppliers.

Angst by Coldplay is available from today, April 1st, in the Coldplay official store, priced at £42. Click here to order your bottle now.

…and when you go to the Coldplay merchandise store, the fragrance Angst is sold out.

Tags: April Fools joke, Chris Martin, Coldplay, having fun while you work

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Another Inspiring Person…He Climbs Mountains

Apr 1

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, aging, mountain climbing, sports

Timothy Egan tells a story in today’s New York Times about his friend who is off to climb Mt. Everest at 62. There are so many people who continue to inspire us.

John Rudolf—2008

SEATTLE — My friend John Rudolf left for Mount Everest on Monday, off to clamber up toward the roof the world at an age, 62, when some people have trouble getting out of bed in the morning — or at least finding a motivation to greet the dawn.

He’s in great shape, full of the kind of energy that could keep a poker game going at 3:00 a.m., and I’m convinced if weather, luck and logistics are on his side, John Rudolf will join a very small club of people who have climbed the highest point on each of the seven continents. For him, Everest is the last one left on this most rarified of bucket lists.

Oh, and he’s been diagnosed with prostate cancer as well, though at this point it’s in a wait-and-watch stage.

“Sometimes I wake up in the morning like that character in the Kafka novel ['Metamorphosis'], I look at myself and say, ‘How did I get old?’” he said. “Because I don’t feel like that guy.”

Tags: climbing Mt. Everest, climbing the highest points on each continent, how aging affects people, John Rudolf, mountain climbing, Mt. Everest, older people's dreams, Timothy Egan, why people risk death, your bucket list

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Sports/Exercise Report

Mar 31

Posted by ira in Zumba dancing, exercise, gym stuff, rowing, sports, tennis

March ended up being an exhausting month of activity: 21 days total of sports and gym time and four crunch sessions. This compares with records of 25 physically active days in November and nine crunch sessions in December. I did increase to 750 ball crunches twice, up from 550 in February, but below my record 1050 in January. I think the two weeks of vacation travel with restaurant meals was unsettling and used up exercise opportunities. I can’t yet play tennis on a plane.

The three draining days of downhill skiing (one of those on moguls) wore me out for the last two weeks. The week I returned home, I played squash and tennis 9 out of 10 days. I was tired. For the month I played tennis 13 days and 27.5 hours (record is 16 days and 41 3/4 hours), squash two days and 2 hours (record is 8 days and 7.5 hours), made it to the gym four times (just 2 hours), rowed 4 times and went to one Zumba class.

The last day I played tennis on the 29th, I was terrible…lots of unforced errors. Somehow I just couldn’t make it easily through 3 1/2 hours of tennis, when in previous months I was able to last for 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Maybe I will be recharged after my 69th birthday on April 5th.

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How Do You Row Across An Ocean Alone When You Are Only 22?

Mar 30

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, rowing

Katie Spotz just completed a 70-day solo row across the Atlantic two weeks ago, the youngest person to ever cross an ocean in a rowboat. She is 22 and has been planning the trip from Africa to South America for two years. What an achievement, what an ordeal, what a brave journey, what an inspiration. You can read about it in this New York Times article written by Christopher Maag. Or you can go to her web site This is merely Katie’s latest athletic accomplishment. She really is not an ordinary human. One has to ask how some people become so extraordinary? Immediately below are some excerpts from the Times article.

Katie Spotz in her boat that she rowed across the Atlantic

Amazingly “…her biggest boating experience (prior to attempting the ocean crossing) consisted of a 40-mile practice row on Lake Erie that ended with her boat being pinned against a cliff by wind and waves. The boat was nearly destroyed. Many people asked Spotz how she could row across the Atlantic if she could not even row on Lake Erie.

The answer, she said, is that the biggest danger in ocean rowing besides hurricanes is coming too close to shore, where the current can overwhelm the rower and push the boat into the rocks.

…Her 19-foot yellow wooden rowboat was broadsided by 20-foot waves as she approached South America. It was a frightening ride, even though the boat was built to withstand hurricanes and 50-foot waves, said Phil Morrison, the British yacht builder who designed it…

…the voyage (was) a grueling test of endurance. Spotz developed painful calluses and rashes from rowing 8 to 10 hours a day…”

Here is some more on the story from an issue of EcoWatch published before Katie began her unbelievable rowing adventure.

Spotz plans to leave West Africa in mid-December and remain at sea from 70 to 100 days and travel 2,500 miles from Dakar, Senegal to Cayenne, French Guiana. Her 400-pound boat will be equipped with many safety measures, including a GPS tracking device, emergency beacons, water-maker, satellite phone and more.

Spotz is spending her days in Ohio working on three areas—physical, mental and ocean training. She is mixing high intensity cardio workouts with weight lifting and weekly long rows on the erg machine, and uses meditation as a form of mental preparation. Her boat is docked at the Mentor Harbor Yachting Club and she is training on Lake Erie through October, when the boat will be shipped to Africa.

Katie loves challeges

“I love challenges, especially challenges where you push your mind over matter,” she said. “One reason I am particularly interested in ocean rowing is because it becomes a way of life. When you compete in most endurance events, you complete the event and then go back to all the comforts of home. I want a raw, inescapable challenge.”

Spotz is no stranger to challenges. In 2006, Spotz completed a 3,300-mile bike ride across America for the American Lung Association. In 2007, she went to Australia for a 62-mile ultra-marathon. And last year, she became the first person to swim the entire length of the 352-mile Allegheny River to increase awareness of the need for safe drinking water. In November 2008, Spotz also completed a 150-mile run in the Mojave and Colorado desert. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: blueplanetrun, Christopher Maag, EcoWatch, Katie Spotz, Katie Spotz bike ride across America, Katie Spotz is first person to swim Allegheny River, Katie Spotz runs in the desert, Katie Spotz runs ultra marathon, need for clean drinking water, rowforwater, rowing across the Atlantic, youngest person to row solo across an ocean

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Knees Up And Abs Out

Mar 29

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Prince Harry on military tour in Afghanistan—2008

Kim Kardashian

Tags: celebrity abs, Kim Kardashian, photos of celebrities with abs, Prince Harry

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The Dangers Of Exercise And Bodybuilding—April Fools

Mar 28

Posted by ira in bodybuilding, exercise, gym stuff, humorous stories

Tags: bodybuilding hazards, dangers of exercise, humorous stories, improbable developments

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Seeing Old Age As A Never-Ending Adventure

Mar 27

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, aging, exercise, plane walking or jumping without a parachute

Here is a New York Times article by Kirk Johnson about elderly folks 70 to 90 who are walking on flying airplane wings, climbing Mt Everest, going to the South Pole. They are an inspiration to us all to stay healthy, in shape and to keep thinking what used to be called “young.”

Wingwalking at 89 years old

…Intensely active older men and women who have the means and see the twilight years as just another stage of exploration are pushing further and harder, tossing aside presumed limitations…

“This is an emerging market phenomenon based on tens of millions of longer-lived men and women with more youth vitality than ever imagined,” said Ken Dychtwald, a psychologist and author who has written widely about aging and economics.

Tags: adventure experiences for old people, elderly people who are physically active, Ken Dychtwald, Kirk Johnson, walking on flying airplane wings

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Can Anyone Fit In An Hour Of Exercise Each Day?

Mar 23

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise, gym stuff, weight loss/overweight

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Healthy middle-aged women in America will be hard pressed to get in the full hour of moderate exercise it will take to avoid gaining weight as they age, and it may be too challenging for some.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday found that middle-aged women need to get at least an hour a day of moderate exercise if they hope to ward off the creep of extra pounds that comes with aging.
“Time is a four-letter word,” said Eva Lazarra, 48, a pharmacist at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, who was taking a break from work to lift weights at the facility’s fitness center.

“In a realistic world of a working mom with a family, it can be difficult. I’ve done my best,” said Lazarra. “I have done marathons. I have done triathlons. Unfortunately, we have to start looking at prevention, and that being part of our daily life.”

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are already waging a war on childhood obesity. It may take a similar push in adults to help them avoid the health consequences of obesity such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

Already, two-thirds of U.S. adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese — a condition that increases their risk for diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illnesses. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: how much exercise it takes to avoid gaining weight, how to avoid weight gain, Journal of American Medical Association, Michelle Obama's war on childhood obesity, obesity

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Older Women Need Exercise PLUS DIETING To Lose Weight

Mar 23

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise, gym stuff, weight loss/overweight

CHICAGO – Rev up the treadmill: Sobering new research spells out just how much exercise women need to keep the flab off as they age — and it’s a lot.

At least an hour of moderate activity a day is needed for older women at a healthy weight who aren’t dieting. For those who are already overweight — and that’s most American women — even more exercise is called for to avoid gaining weight without eating less, the study results suggest.

“We all have to work at it. If it were easy to be skinny, we would all be skinny,” said John Foreyt, a behavioral medicine expert who reviewed the study but wasn’t involved in the research.

Brisk walking, leisurely bicycling and golfing are all examples of moderate exercise. But don’t throw in the towel if you can’t do those things for at least an hour a day. Even a little exercise is good for your health even if it won’t make you thin, the researchers said.

Their findings are based on 34,079 middle-aged women followed for about 13 years. Most were not on calorie-cutting diets. The women gained an average of almost 6 pounds during the study.

Those who started out at a healthy weight, with a body mass index less than 25, and who gained little or no weight during the study consistently got the equivalent of about an hour of moderate activity daily. Few women — only 13 percent — were in this category.

Few already overweight women got that amount of exercise, and the results suggest it wasn’t enough to stop them from gaining weight. Read the rest of this entry »

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Dressing For Spring Skiing

Mar 23

Posted by ira in humorous stories, skiing

Some of you have asked about the weather in Canada. I heard it was going to be around 50 in the day and 20 at night and cool on the top of Mont Tremblant.

The first day I wore a long sleeve fleece under my ski jacket and was sweating like a horse.

The second day I wore a T-shirt under the ski jacket and saw a teen-ager wearing just a T-shirt. She said she wasn’t the least bit cold, although I zipped my jacket when the wind blew.

The third day I was really aware of how to dress, even though it was cloudy. I didn’t even have to zip up my jacket. Here is how I was skiing:

Spring skiing in Canada—3/18/10

Tags: dressing for spring skiing, spring skiing in Canada

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Sports/Exercise Report

Mar 22

Posted by ira in exercise, skiing, sports, squash, tennis

February was full of sports activity, but little exercise and crunches. Maybe I am just too tired to work on muscles and abs. Could I be lazy as well? Can’t really say that when I was active 24 out of 28 days.

I played tennis 15 different days for a total of 41.5 hours. (The totals in December and January were 15 and 14, 41 3/4 and then 36) There were eight days that I played squash for 7.5 hours (up from once in December and two times last month). I went cross country skiing twice and downhill skiing once (in a storm on powder) (up from once in each of the last two months). And I did crunches just once a week, four times in the month (down from nine times in Dec and seven times in Jan), and 550 ball crunches was my largest amount (down from my record of 1050 last month). For a guy who used to do almost no sports or exercise in previous lives, this is a huge improvement. Nevertheless, I feel badly that I am not working on my abs and chest muscles.

Guess I should start doing them if I want that six-pack..

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What Made This Ski-A-Mogul Achievement Possible?

Mar 21

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, skiing

A friend said he was very proud that at my tender age I had just learned to ski moguls He thought it was cool. Of course I am pleased to have accepted this challenge and finally achieved the impossible. And of course another friend said that I was too old to be doing this.

I have been wondering why I was able to do this after so many years? Instead of plodding along at a snail’s pace—a scared snail in fact—who traversed a mogul field by going all the way to one side and then all the way back 100 feet or so to the other side, I was finally able to zip down within a narrower 15 or 30-foot corridor. How did this happen? What was the difference that allowed me to not fall, to speed up, to lean downhill?

Ira on far right at end of last mogul run—3/18/10

I have concluded it was because my son was there as an inspiration. I wanted us to be able to ski together on the same trails at the same time. My being on a blue, while he was on blacks would not have been satisfying. I had to overcome my fears. I had to make it down through the mogul field. I had to go fast enough to not make him impatient or bored. And he was kind enough to put no additional pressure on me.

So I rose to the demands of this occasion. I always had the talent. I was merely able at last to call up my latent skills and deliver the motions. If inspiration can move mountains, it can also let some of us ski on mountains.

I’d like to be able to do this in tennis and squash as well. Maybe in other aspects of my life outside of sports. Too bad my son will be away in school for almost all those contests…

I finished the Andre Agassi auto-bio, Open, on this vacation. A great depiction of what the pro-tennis life can be about. Terrible. What a grind. But more importantly, Andre describes in detail how much of a mind game this sport is. And many others must be as well. In my earlier posts, I have guessed ones mental attitude was critical. Now it is more than confirmed. Momentum. The change in one’s outlook. The killer instinct. The passion to win. These are all very very real. I love the challenge of improving my performance. Now I must go hard after my goals…

At lunch yesterday in Montreal, the waiter told us an astonishing observation: “In the two years I have been working at this restaurant, you are the first English family who tries to speak French.” My son has been studying in school, so he is pretty conversant in French, and I know enough words to ask for tarte du pomme and say merci beau coup.

However to hear that no other people raised speaking English would try a few words at the table is stupefying to me. It tells me how afraid people must be to fail. Or too lazy to try to learn. How can they realize any dreams (assuming they have them) if they don’t take chances and risk losing or making mistakes? Especially a mistake as minor as using the wrong foreign word. Like I once asked in Italy for fish (pesce) ice cream instead of peach (pesca) ice cream…it’s a family joke still. I also told a Spanish grave digger I was visiting my cousin’s (primo) cemetery instead of my first (primero) cemetery. That’s another family laugh at me. And the poor gravedigger kept trying to help me find my dead cousin…

Are you one of those people afraid to make any mistakes? Maybe a slight change in behavior will lead to bigger, more meaningful changes in the future…

Tags: fear of failure, resistance to take chances and make mistakes, the power of inspiration, we have skills that we can't always call up

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Moving Through The Moguls Like A Mughal

Mar 18

Posted by ira in skiing

One of the great satisfactions about learning a new skill is progressing…moving towards the goal, feeling the power of achievement, the elimination of an interim obstacle.

I had that a few days ago in a black diamond mogul field at the top of Mount Tremblant Ski Resort, which is 135 kilometers (84 miles) northwest of Montreal, Canada.

To begin with, I can’t ski moguls. Too hard to think fast, turn my skis in time, lean downhill, not fall backward, overcome my fears. Growing up in Miami Beach, Florida did not prepare me for snow skiing. Unlike my kids who were skiing at the small mountain five minutes from our house and getting lessons from their school every winter Friday since third grade.

But at 24, I made it to a Vermont mountain for my first attempts to ski snow. Followed by a few times every few years to master—no, barely pass over—the downhill runs. I have broken a foot following a champion ski lady I was dating. I have tested my first ski boots by taking a one-foot jump that had me in the hospital with a twisted ankle three days before a long-awaited family trip to Sun Valley, Idaho (not much skiing that year).

Now I can get by on the green-circle (easy) and blue-square (medium) marked trails. However haltingly. It’s those black-diamond (hard) paths that are the real challenge. They are steeper and faster and often have moguls. So I avoid them most of the time in the interest of not getting hurt. Obvious. Logical. Right?

Viewing mogul trail from top of Mont Tremblant—3/18/10

What’s a mogul? It’s a bump of snow formed when skiers push the snow into mounds or piles as they execute short-radius turns. Once formed, a naturally occurring mogul tends to grow as skiers follow similar paths around it, further deepening the surrounding grooves known as troughs. Picture whole fields of them, like giant mousetraps, waiting to catch you, pull you into them, and break your legs, skis and spirit. Terrifying.

I have had lessons from professional instructors teaching me the theory of how to maneuver through the mogul fields. All sounds good. But I can’t do it. Can’t lean the right way, keep my weight balanced, turn the skis, climb the sides of the mounds to slow me down, not fall into the troughs that are way too narrow for my skis to cross. It’s just not possible for me to keep my chest aimed straight downhill and both shoulders in a perpendicular line to my direction of travel. So I fall…and fall…and fall. And promise that I will practice another year.

However I only skied with my grand kids and my brother’s kids twice each of the last two years…plus one snowstorm striving to keep up with a friend who loves powder and has been freestyle skiing since he was five. Not much practice that way.

And it’s scary to do something that is going to knock you on your butt and remind you what so many contemporaries have told you for 25 years with disdain or know-it-all authority: “You are too old to learn how to do moguls.” “Your bones are too brittle.” “You should stick to just nice curvy-carving like I do on almost-level green trails.”

That is why the other day was so strange and unexpected. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: acquiring new sports skills, breakthrough sports achievements, difficulty of black diamond ski runs, fear of injury in sports, moguls, Mont Tremblant, pride in personal progress, spring skiing

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The Joys Of Curling By Mickey Fierberg Freundlich

Mar 16

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, curling

My curling story has lots of twists and turns and begins in the early 1990’s after my dear Mom passed away. As my two sisters and I were cleaning out her apartment, I noticed her golf equipment and asked my sisters if they wanted it. They said no, so I packed it up and brought it home with me to Sudbury, Ma. Immediately, I enrolled in a golf clinic through our local Park and Recreation Center.

I was feeling good about playing golf, and then a few weeks later I accidentally re-established a friendship at the local gas station. The friend was a scratch golfer and was coming back from a medical leave to play. She heard my story about starting to play golf and invited me once a week in the summer to play golf with her.

At the end of the season, with winter approaching, she invited my hubby, Mike, and me to an Open House at her Curling Club. We took to the game quickly and enrolled in Mixed Curling on Wednesday evenings. Enjoying that, I also started playing with the women in Days’ Curling on Monday a.m.’s. (I had just turned 50, was already involved in women’s softball and was very much interested in doing some winter sports, too, though skiing did not look too inviting at that age.)

Broomstones Curling Club—historic photo

And I have been doing it ever since…almost 20 years. I’ll tell you how the sport is played in a minute. But first I want to tell you what it is that attracts me to curling? It helps me concentrate on strategy, efficiency on being on the “Broom,” and keeping my balance. There is a feeling of “well-being” working with the team, having the same goal. And I love the sociability involved. I have made a great many friendships over the years.

I curl primarily in the a.m. with women, but occasionally will join the pick-up game Saturday mornings with both men and women playing. I have enjoyed many games at our home club or played away during each year at other clubs in competitions known as Bonspiels (competitive playing for points and/or pins or trophies). I have traveled to: Nashua, NH; and Brookline, Winchester, and Cape Cod in MA. Right now I am at the end of our season and curling once a week. But from November through January, I curled competitively with the women in what is known as Wintershield. That is when I would travel to other curling clubs for the day. You can learn more about the Broomstones Curling Club at our website. The Club has 200 regular adult members, including 87 women, and another 168 college, junior and other kinds of members.

Curling is done inside a building that is part “ski lodge” and part “hockey rink.” The ice is “pebbled” by an iceman or woman. What they do after each game is come on the ice and spray it with water as they walk down the lanes. Thus, the iceman recreates the small bumpy effect, as opposed to making smooth ice for ice and hockey skating.

the stone has just been thrown and the escorts are sweeping the ice

You do not need skates or special shoes to play. A clean pair of sneakers will do. The club will supply the broom for you. All you need to borrow or buy is a “slider” to put on the sole of the sneaker shoe that you will push away and glide while delivering a Stone. A Stone is a round-shaped granite rock that weighs 42 pounds and has a handle on top to grip onto. Some people struggle with the delivery. You will feel more comfortable after you practice. You do have the broom pole to hold onto with the other hand for support.

The two teams are each made up of four players, so you need eight players to start each game. The Captain (known as the SKIP) is the director of the game. Each team’s SKIP is situated at the far end of the lane (which is called a SHEET). The VICE SKIP is the assistant, and the 2ND person will start off escorting the stone that (the LEAD player has “pushed” or “thrown” and) is then gliding down the ice in the lane. The two people escorting the stone have ordinary-type brooms and will judge the force of the throw. The SKIP will judge the line the stone is traveling to its ultimate destination. That is when the SKIP will yell SWEEP-SWEEP and HURRY-HURRY as the stone is arriving at the other end of the ice towards the bulls eye area, called the HOUSE. The escorts (the 2ND’s) will sweep the ice, clearing it of any loose ice bits to make it smoother if they want the stone to travel farther. Sweeping causes the ice to melt and generally causes the stone to move faster and straighter; less sweeping means that a stone will slow down more and CURL (turn) more. Usually, the LEAD will set up some blockage with the two stones she has thrown (they are called GUARDS).

The team-mates turns are rotated by the other team (opposition team) taking turns. Each person throws two granite stones. One does not pick up the stone like a bowling ball, but gently swings it from back to forward and, depending on what the SKIP directs you to do, either an inside (clockwise) or outside (counter-clockwise) turn. This rotation determines how the stone will travel to its final destination—whether it will be a “DRAW” into the HOUSE, in front or behind a stone or be a “TAKE OUT” of an opponent’s stone.

Mickey (in plaid) with curling teammates

Between the length of the lanes there are two HOG lines. The closest one to the team delivering the stone signifies that the player throwing the stone must release their hand from the handle of the stone before it reaches the nearest HOG line. The farthest HOG line signifies that the stone must travel over it in order to keep it in play. If the stone does not reach the second HOG line, then it is taken out of play.

Judgment in weight and how fast the stone is traveling is the secret to success. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bonspiels, Broomstones Curling Club, curling, curling "hole-in-one", curling button, curling medals, Curling Museum in Chicago, eight-ender, hog, house, Mickey Fierbrg Freundlich, rules of curling, sheet, skip, stones, Wintershield

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A Romance With Curling On Wall Street

Mar 15

Posted by ira in curling

Just three weeks ago, there was a New York Times article by Eric Dash about Wall Street’s fascination with curling. Here is the opening paragraph:

Wall Street trading is often described as a blood sport. But inside the great investment houses, the sport of the moment is, of all things, curling — that oddball of the Olympics that is sort of like shuffleboard on ice.

Tags: calming yourself by watching curling, curling, Wall Street loves curling

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High Protein Diets Can Make You Gain Weight Not Lose It

Mar 12

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, weight loss/overweight

Since I began this web site, it’s obvious to me that there are thousands or millions of articles telling people how to be healthy and fit: just eat “right” and exercise. So easy as to almost be boring. How many times do people need to hear or read these almost identical words of well-meant guidance? But humans aren’t logical. We are emotional and often take actions that are against our better interests. As one friend said to me over 20 years ago, “I knew what I was doing, and I didn’t want to do it. I just couldn’t stop myself.”

Maybe it takes the 10th or the 99th article to stimulate a reader to make a meaningful change in her behavior. I will keep trying. So here is another good one by author and wellness expert Kathy Freston, who interviewed Dr. Dean Ornish about diet and losing weight. You can read the whole article here after glancing at some of the excerpts below.

Everyone knows that diet and exercise play a role in how much we weigh, but many are surprised to learn what a powerful role emotional stress has in causing us to gain weight and how stress management techniques can help us to lose it and keep it off…

Good carbs are whole foods. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and soy products in their natural, unrefined, unprocessed forms. Because these good carbs are unrefined, they are naturally high in fiber as well. The fiber fills you up before you eat too much…

Diets that are high in animal protein are usually high in saturated fat, which promotes both heart disease and cancer…Fat (from any source) has nine calories per gram, whereas protein and carbohydrates have only four calories per gram. Thus, when you eat less fat, you consume fewer calories even if you eat the same amount of food—because the food is less dense in calories…

As you begin to eat more healthfully, your taste preferences change. You begin to prefer foods that are more healthful. And you connect the dots between what you eat and how you feel…

KF: What is a reasonable rate of weight loss?

DO: In most cases, no more than three pounds/week.

KF: What if we want to lose weight faster; is there a healthy way to do it?

DO: Do more exercise and meditation and eat smaller amounts of healthy foods and less salt. Regular exercise not only burns calories, it also raises your basal metabolic rate, the number of calories you burn while at rest. Thus, exercise helps you lose weight even when you’re not exercising. Do some strength training as well as aerobic exercise. Walking a mile burns even more calories than running a mile. Exercise in ways that you enjoy, then you’re more likely to do it. If it’s fun, it’s sustainable.

Tags: Add new tag, animal fats versus carbohydrates, Dean Ornish, exercise helps you lose weight when you are resting, how many pounds should you lose a week, Kathy Freston, negative emotion helps you gain weight, obesity is killing people more than smoking possibly, weight loss, why high protein diets don't help you lose weight

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Please Don’t Worry About Me, I Am Fine

Mar 10

Posted by ira in Zumba dancing, exercise, gym stuff, sports, tennis

Some readers are wondering why I haven’t been posting lately—the longest interruption in a year. I am simply out of town on spring break vacation, was preparing for the trip, was working on some intense business obligations and have been playing sports almost every day! Even went to the gym three times so far this week.

Yesterday one friend wanted to play tennis twice during the day in 76-degree sunshine, and then my daughter challenged me to join her and her friend in a Miami Zumba class. We were the only non-Latinos in the class, and it was really a sensuous, sexy, sweaty group. Lots of rolling hips and hair-whirling heads. Even the elderly women shook shoulders and twirled like girls. I love it. Spicy, like Hot Salsa. Blasting music…my ears were ringing. And a very different flavor from the Zumba class I took in Connecticut. As a result, I slept more than nine hours last evening. I was really tired.

So please be patient. I am reading Agassi’s auto bio and Brad Gilbert’s tennis guide called, Winning Ugly, so my tennis game should improve. I have lots more to tell, once I am back home on my own computer with a number of articles and stories ready to post. Thanks for your patience…

Tags: Agassi's autobiography, Andre Agassi, Brad Gilbert, tennis, Winning Ugly, Zumba

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Eye-For-An-Eye Or Turn Your Other Cheek?

Feb 26

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, sports, squash

Which do you prefer of these biblical admonishments? In your life and in sports?

There was a controversial event at the 2010 National Collegiate Squash Finals that was very upsetting and confronting for me. It made the papers, ESPN, and YouTube and also generated much commentary.

With Trinity College seeking its 12th consecutive annual victory, and leading Yale four matches to two (with five out of nine needed), the Trinity #1 player, Baset Chaudhry, the #1 ranked college player for four years, won the final point in the third game, thus winning his match and the team national championship.

Baset Chaudhry howls at Yale's Ken Chan, while Ira rises next to lady in orange sweater—2/20/10

At that instant, Chaudhry let out a howl, a scowl and three-inch-away face-down at his Yale opponent, freshman Kenneth Chan, who is at least a foot shorter. The cameras and videos recorded the moment, and the fire was ignited on the explosion that resulted.

“Bad sportsmanship,” “He lost it,” “Penalize and punish him,” were some of the damning comments. The lion against the lamb. The bullying giant versus the innocent little guy.

I was there for two days of the tournament, I know Baset, admire his talent and have seen for years what a gentle young man he is. He also has high grades that have earned him academic recognition and a job already waiting after he graduates this spring.

What was largely ignored by the media is that Chan was constantly bumping into Baset, losing from the beginning (three games in a row), and in the middle of the second game, after Chan made a difficult point, Chan let out an enormous howl up at Baset’s face that was startling, unsportsmanlike and unforgettable. But no picture was taken or published of that provoking gloating. Only one of Baset at the moment of victory giving it back to him.

Polls in the Hartford paper show that of 2000 readers, 61% think that Chaudhry’s behavior was unacceptable. A former sports coach I know agreed, as did a friend who has been a jock all his life. You are supposed to be gracious in victory, able to control yourself, especially in a gentlemanly sport like squash. Even if you are a kid in your early twenties and not a professional athlete. No excuse, no justification is possible. No matter what someone did to you before, no matter what insults might have been said (I have no knowledge or grounds to think that was the case this time), regardless if someone taunted you, cursed you, made comments about your mother or yelled in YOUR face before you yelled back in his. You’re expected to smile and be a nice guy. A good sport. Well done, old chap. You did your best. Cheerio.

I find it hard to agree, even though I was told that I am acting like a “fan” now (which I am), rather than like a neutral observer.

I mind when people not involved in something tell others how they “should” act. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 2010 College Squash national finals, Baset Chaudrhy, example of bad sportsmanship, getting away with "murder", getting even, imagining experiences you haven't had, Paul Assaiante, politicians who are not punished, side-stepping revenge, Trinity College Squash Champions

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Your Chair Is Your Enemy

Feb 23

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, weight loss/overweight

Ahhh the frustrations of living a fit and healthy life. I already referred to an article suggesting that if you exercise, there is a good chance you will GAIN weight…because you will be hungrier—and eat more—after all that calorie burning. Now here are excerpts from a New York Times article by Olivia Judson suggeting that even though you exercise daily, you can still gain weight if you mostly sit the rest of the day. What a battle for those trying to lose a few pounds…

It doesn’t matter if you go running every morning, or you’re a regular at the gym. If you spend most of the rest of the day sitting—in your car, your office chair, on your sofa at home—you are putting yourself at increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, a variety of cancers and an early death. In other words, irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you.

That, at least, is the conclusion of several recent studies. Indeed, if you consider only healthy people who exercise regularly, those who sit the most during the rest of the day have larger waists and worse profiles of blood pressure and blood sugar than those who sit less. Among people who sit in front of the television for more than three hours each day, those who exercise are as fat as those who don’t: sitting a lot appears to offset some of the benefits of jogging a lot…

For many people, weight gain is a matter of slow creep—two pounds this year, three pounds next year. You can gain this much if, each day, you eat just 30 calories more than you burn. Thirty calories is hardly anything—it’s a couple of mouthfuls of banana, or a few potato chips. Thus, a little more time on your feet today and tomorrow can easily make the difference between remaining lean and getting fat…

…But it looks as though there’s a more sinister aspect to sitting, too. Several strands of evidence suggest that there’s a “physiology of inactivity”: that when you spend long periods sitting, your body actually does things that are bad for you… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: burning calories in unexpected ways, how to exercise when you are not in the gym, how to lose weight in just two weeks, Olivia Judson, too much sitting is bad for your health

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Blood On The Court

Feb 18

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, skiing, sports, squash, tennis

Yesterday after I slammed my head into the squash court wall, there was enough blood on the floor and in my cupped hand that I wondered if I had a concussion or was going to need stitches for the ¾ inch gash above my right eye.

Later while watching the Olympics, I grimaced during the three crashes I saw in the women’s downhill ski competition. And Lindsay Vonn won a gold medal in that event in spite of her pained shin, her almost-ripped-off thumb.

This morning I read about a snowboard athlete, Kevin Pearce, who wiped out in training and is in rehab learning how to walk again. Shaun White (gold medal snowboarder) has experienced a list of injuries from his sport that makes one pity his mother: He fractured his skull, broke his right hand and right foot and was knocked unconscious—all by age 11.

Now that I follow professional athletes—or even the amateurs I know—we are all getting injured all the time. It comes with the territory. But I lived for decades without messing up my body. I didn’t have broken anything, much less limps, bruises and aches. Can any of you who play sports imagine such a pain-free existence?

I can’t any longer. Though I am not taking the extreme risks of the pros, who might die or be permanently disabled from their passion to play and excel. I still can’t grasp those rock climbers who fall to their deaths with one slip of the finger. Unimaginable.

In an article about the dangers of Olympic winter sports, I read that Statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission make clear just how dangerous winter sports can be and not just for Olympians: 139,332 Americans were injured while skiing in 2007 and even more, 164,002, got hurt while snowboarding that year. And when looking at all winter-sport injuries, including sledding, snowmobiling and ice skating, 10 percent involved a head injury.

Why do we all do it, to whatever degree? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: amateur athlete winter sports injuries statistics, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Dick Button won two consecutive gold medal Olympic figure-skating titles, Evgeni Plushenko needs to compete, how many doors into a squash court, Lindsey Vonn shin injury, number of skiing injuries in US, number of snowboarding injuries in US, Olympics, sports injuries, why do we risk injuries playing sports, winter sports

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Exercise For People Over 50

Feb 16

Posted by ira in exercise, humorous stories

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I’m at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

Tags: exercise for people over 50, humorous advice

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Fiona L’Estrange’s Life-Long Love Of Horses And Dressage

Feb 15

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, horseback riding

Horses have been part of my life most of my life. My father rode, my mother rode. My grandfather was absolutely passionate about horses. He was the British ambassador in Honduras and was able to get heavily into polo ponies…civil service allowed you to live the grand life. He had nothing—no money, an old car. Broke his hip riding a polo pony in his 80’s. That was chips for his riding. The end.

Fiona L'Estrange and Digger before their dressage demonstration at the 2002 Belmont Stakes

So I came by my love of horses honestly. In the genes. Always ridden since under age 10. Rode at boarding school. We had a house in London, where I grew up, lots of friends who rode and took lessons, and I went with them. I borrowed a pony when I was 11 and then graduated to horses.

I still take lessons—you have to, even those at the Olympic level have trainers. You always need eyes on the goal, especially with a horse you’re piloting. That’s what makes riding such a difficult sport.

“Horses are extraordinary and unique. No other animal could be so misjudged, mishandled, mistreated and abused and still try to serve willingly and to the best of it’s ability.”

People are always trying to make the horse submit. They shouldn’t do that. They try to make the horse think like a human. It doesn’t work out so well. You have to learn to read the horse and have a working partnership. The best riders know how to ask a horse to be his best. It’s the only way to have a great partnership. It’s a great feeling, I think for both horse and rider, when a session goes really well.

When I was growing up and through my teens, mostly riding in woods and fields, we played hunting games, like egg and spoon, balancing while galloping, sack races (hopping alongside the horse). It took lots of skill, practice and training. We had bending poles races (you weave left and right around them), relay races, teams. It teaches you to work together. I participated in Pony Club……it was all huge fun.

When I was 19, I came to America. There was a bit of hiatus while I was getting adjusted. I lived with a race car driver who traveled to various tracks around the country, so I decided to get back into riding during these race weekends–then suddenly I was riding around the New York area during the week too.

I also hunted both in the UK and here. The staff wear pink coats so that you can clearly see them in the field. They keep the hunt together. The Master leads the entire field. The Whippers-in are responsible for the hounds. The rest of us are in black jackets and tan britches.

In my early 20’s, I did a little bit of hunting in Rhinebeck, NY and took lessons at Claremont Stables in Central Park (in Manhattan at 89th street) for about a year and a half—sadly it has since closed.

I had a full-time job then as a Production Executive. I was up at 5-6 am and rode in Central Park on a thoroughbred I’d leased from an illustrator’s representative. Then I’d be at my office job by 9 or 9:30. Did that 5-6 days a week. When that horse developed arthritis, he was retired to a place that had a horse named Melly who was headed for the slaughterhouse. I bought him. My first horse.

Fiona and Digger cantering

Even though I was traveling for consulting business then to Japan and Italy, I started competing in dressage and eventing. Eventing is a real discipline—it is dressage, cross country, then show jumping all with the same horse and rider, all in one day—a true challenge for all.

I still like to gallop and jump, but not in competition. When you jump in eventing, the heights go from about 2’6” to nearly 4’. To be competitive, you also have to be concerned with speed. In the cross country phase, you go from light to dark and dark to light. You go up and down hills, all at the same speed. There are penalties for going over the allotted time.

In my late 20’s, I evolved into just doing dressage. I am mostly teaching just dressage now. For the most part, I won’t take people’s money to teach them to jump at a higher level—other trainers do it better.

After Melly died, I bought my second horse, Julian, who was largely unbroken, but turned into a really good eventer. Then two years later I sold him to a friend and bought Digger.

Digger and I have had 21 years of loving time together. I bought him as an unbroken two year old and did all the work with him myself. We entered major competitions and won major awards. In June 2002, we were invited by an Olympic judge to demonstrate dressage at the Belmont Park track in Long Island, NY, between races and just before the Belmont Stakes. A friend of mine created an audio using Shrek music, “I’m a Believer, sung by Eddie Murphy—did you realize there is a Princess Fiona in the Shrek movies? It was fabulous and fabulous fun to ride on that track in front of apparently 6 million people, both spectating and watching on tv! Actually I’ll bet most of the tv watchers were either in the loo or at the fridge!

on the track at Belmont Park

There were so many friends, travel, fun and incidences. And it was a ton of work. We did well at the Devon horse show, the biggest dressage and breeding show in the country. Four exhausting days of competition in Devon, Pennsylvania. Amateurs can compete against professionals. Once I began teaching, I couldn’t be considered an amateur. So I am competing against many Olympic riders most of which are riding horses that cost a small fortune! You can pick your classes, but not who’s in them.

In dressage classes, you compete for a score, not just 1st, 2nd, 3rd through 6th. There is no money for winning. You are competing against yourself. 100% is perfect, but no one in the history of dressage has ever reached that. The highest so far is 82%, and my best was a 71%. There are from 7-28 movements in each test, and each one is graded 1 to 10. Then it’s all totaled and converted to a percentage.

What I love about dressage is that it’s very intellectual, a thinking person’s sport. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Belmont Stakes, Claremont Stables in Central Park, demonstrating dressage at the Belmont Stakes, Devon Horse Show, dressage, Dressage appeals more to women than men, Eddie Murphy in Shrek, eventing, Fiona L'Estrange, fox hunting, horseback hunting, horseback riding, horseback riding is not dangerous, how to train a horse, Master and Whipper-in, Pony Club, practice made John Irving a better writer, President Franklin D. Roosevelt preferred hard-working people, Princess Fiona in Shrek movies, reading a horse, Richard Uhlmann, rules for teaching horse riding in Europe vs America, Spanish Riding School in Vienna, why I love dressage

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How Risk-Averse Are You In Life And In Sports?

Feb 12

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, aging, humorous stories

Are you willing to take chances? I think I am. I’ve made investments in start-up companies, begun new books or magazines when I was a publisher, learned to ride a horse English-style at 50 and jump bareback at 52. I began serious tennis lessons at 65, and I’ve taken up squash for the first time when I was 68. But on the tennis court, I often play the safer shot and am gentler with my follow through for fear of hitting the ball too long. Then my opponent often smashes it back for a winner. No good. I must have more courage.

When it comes to food, I know people who order the same meals each time in restaurants. They admit that they are worried about not liking some unknown choice and are then stuck eating something they think tastes horrible. Or not eating it and wasting the money. And not reordering, and then going hungry. Or they don’t want to think about another decision, so they order what is familiar. A seven-day-a-week meat-eating friend told me proudly that he recently ordered trout for the first time and is now eating fish twice a week. He is in his mid-50’s.

These are little steps, but maybe they reveal bigger truths about who we are and how we play at sports and the rest of our lives. Yesterday I gambled and ordered the special appetizer the waitress had described, but not told me the price. As I said to the owner at the end of the meal, all the appetizers on the menu were around $10-13. Imagine my shock when the special one was $19! He said the waitress had made a mistake with the bill and insisted that the price should have been $17. But it certainly makes me leery about taking a chance again and ordering food blindly in his place. That price equaled the cost of some of the entrees. And I was unwilling to ask how much it cost before I ordered it. Too awkward for me.

Yesterday I also had another confront about my appearance. I have been playing many more hours of tennis and squash the past few months since my arm injury kept me from exercises in the gym. My upper-body muscles are gone or soft. I may be as fit as I was in the army at 21, when I ran five miles a day and jumped out of airplanes. But I look older. Of course I am older. So what’s my problem?

Well part of my goal in building muscle—and especially abs is to look “better”—and also younger. As I wrote in a previous post, millions of people reach for those goals by coloring their hair and undertaking plastic surgery. Very common and socially acceptable, although more for women than men.

graybeard Ira—2/1/10

But what the hell, you only live once. So tired of how gray my beard and remaining head hair had become, I went back to the hair salon for a cut and color. I was willing to take THAT chance, if not a riskier tennis swing or skiing down a steeper, black diamond trail.

What happened yesterday was a very funny development: the stylist tried a new color on my beard, and I ENDED UP LOOKING TOO YOUNG! This was a minor disaster, and she wasn’t sure how I was taking it and what to do about it. It was hilarious. My beard went from white to almost black. A clearly different color than the hair on my head. I was two-toned, like a tiger…well not that different. But anyone could tell.

the beard that still looks too young—2/12/10

This was a problem. I considered shaving it off on the spot. A friend at tennis had advised me to do that if I wanted to drop five or more years of appearance. I was almost at that point. I had taken the chance of a newer beard color, because the old one faded back to white weeks before my head hair. Now I was stuck. Of course it is only hair, it will fade in time, grow out, I am not a celebrity or going to job interviews. I am not dying. I will get through this. I will survive.

An hour later, after I learned more of what most women go through, after consultation with the owner of the salon, I had another paint brushing of bleach and coloring agent, and it didn’t look so bad. But I clearly looked more like when I was 20 years younger. And I have a picture to prove it.

my beard in 1980

The biggest problem is that I no longer recognize myself in the mirror. And I am sure other people are going to do triple takes when they see me. I will have to insist that, “I am not Chuck Norris.”

Now if I could only apply this gutsiness to my athletic pursuits, I’d be terrific. So many sports are mental games more than physical challenges. I have to take more risk…

…Ha Ha Ha Ha. I told you. Bumped into someone I work with for years—but hadn’t seen in three DAYS— and after her startled look at me, she asked if I was growing a beard! I had to tell her I have had the same beard for over 30 years, but that it was just darker than the last time we met.

Tags: afraid to take chances, aging, are you too conservative, Chuck Norris, fear of making mistakes, hair coloring that goes wrong, hair salon disasters, how safe is your sports game, humorous stories, importance of appearance, laughing at yourself, learning new sports at older age, life lessons, missing out on life's offerings, overcoming fears of being ridiculous, parachuting, riding bareback, taking chances in a restaurant, taking risks in life, trying different foods

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A Reader Writes About Hair and Abs and Food

Feb 12

Posted by ira in aging, exercise, humorous stories

Is that you Ira?

Not to worry Ira; the only reason you felt uncomfortable with your new hair, and the possible clash with your beard, is that, subconsciously, your mind could not associate your “mature” looking hair with your 30ish’ body architecture. Images of you have caused such a sensation globally that the Web is now replete with illustrations such as the one here, fashioned – of course – after your new sculpted body. You have started a new trend Ira. Next, IRA’s Eatery, featuring Mussels Marinara.

Robert Doornick

Tags: reconciling mind and body, Robert Doornick

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Squash Spree With Champion Players

Feb 10

Posted by ira in squash

Just had an exhilarating squash fest—attended matches three out of four days, and hit balls three sessions for an hour each, once with a former champion professional player and top coach. Also played some tough singles tennis in the mix as well.

Trinity wins its 11th national squash team title-2/09

Two of the viewing contests were at a New England Small College teams three-day conference, which was won by both the men’s and women’s Trinity College teams. The men’s side is astonishing, having won the national championship 11 years in a row and their last 220 consecutive matches…a record for all sports in the world. The women’s team is number two in the country, rising steadily each year from fifth place in 2007.

Trinity’s men’s team has many super-talented players. Included among them are three of the top 10 players in the country and five of the top 20. At the head of the list is Baset Chaudhry, who has earned the nation’s first place individual position three years in a row. He is soft-spoken and gentle off the court, but a formidable opponent whose win-loss career record at Trinity is 52-2.

Baset Chaudhry after winning the national squash singles title—2/09

I also witnessed a very exciting challenge match within the Trinity women’s team. The number three-ranked player, Nour Bahgat, took five games to beat the number two player, Nayelly Hernandez, and squeaked out a game-five win at 13-11 (it takes 11 to win, but it has to be by two points). In 2009 Nour was the top college women’s squash player. Injuries kept her lower on the ladder this year, so now that she is well enough to play, she is clawing her way back up to the top.

Nour Bahgat is fighting to regain the #1 spot in women's singles

Though down 0-5 in the first game and 6-10 in the second, she fought fiercely to win both. Nayelly came back in the next two games to force a very tight fifth game. The whole match seemed filled with some pushing and body contact, yelling and frustration. But the drive to win was almost visible for both players. I admire so much how athletes who are behind have the will and determination to not give up and make extraordinary efforts to overcome the momentum against them…and then they win.

The Trinity men’s coach, Paul Assaiante, was the referee, and one of his pointers to the women afterward was that the contest was a good learning lesson. They both received more experience in how rough a match can be when they compete against other school’s players.

My three, squash-hitting sessions were capped off with hard drills by Nour’s father, Mohsen, who had trained her since age five, competed in international tournaments as a youth and won the Egyptian Masters (over 40-years) tournaments each year from 2005 to 2009. He is 57 and has a long history of training, coaching teams, consulting and refereeing. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Baset Chaudhry, capoeira, challenge matches, college squash mens champions, coming from behind in sport, Egyptian squash masters champion, fierce competitors, longest winning streak in sports, Mohsen Bahgat, Nayelly Hernandez, NESCAC, NESCAC squash weekend, Nour Bahgat, Paul Assaiante, Trinity College, Trinity men's squash coach, Trinity squash, will to win

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Reader Writes That Fitness (Not A Sculpted Body) Is What Really Matters

Feb 9

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, aging, exercise

Back on December 30th, a reader criticized this site for promoting the wrong message about the importance of abs, thin bodies and hair coloring, all intended to make us look younger than we are. She said that I am a pawn in a superficial society focusing on youth, and I am spreading a teaching that is bad for the average person who does not look like a movie star or model.

I just received an email from Robert Doornick referring to that earlier post and making some other observations about fitness and good health:

The web site looks great, and continues to expand with time. You’ve started a trend! Unlike that person who speaks negatively about the wrongfulness of obligating people to look better than they can or should at any given age, I firmly adhere to the principles that aiming for a fit body has little to do with the resulting aesthetics of a more “sculpted look” – unless of course vanity comes into play, in which case that becomes a personal issue – but instead, it has everything to do with maintaining a healthier body, embracing a more active and productive life, along with equally important side effects such as a more fit mind as well. If one ends up having a more pleasing architecture as a byproduct of exercising and eating right, then so be it; lest we not forget that it takes such a well tuned body to perform in sports, lead a much more productive life and – for those of us who don’t adhere to physical exercise – enjoy a healthier and longer life.

Indeed, Advertising agencies manipulate consumers in the wrong way by using physical perfection, love and sex as appealing incentives for using or wanting products and services. In that context, the comments made by this person in your web site are indeed correct. Perhaps this same person should also be reminded that www.irasabs.com does not sell cars, toothpaste, clothing, or any other product or services. Replete with its countless and ever increasing accounts from willing participants, this implies that the clearly popular Site is about staying fit and healthy, rather than associating with a centerfold in order to drive the latest Automobile!

I for one have been working out for decades, and my body has at times looked fit enough, and at other times a bit on the bulky side. I have never lost sleep over its appearance however, and my satisfaction has always come from the knowledge that I was taking care of this bipedal vehicle so that it would transport me safely through life’s challenging roads; and even when desired, allow me to willingly take the bumps, just for the fun of it!

I applaud you for irasabs.com Ira, and for facilitating this fun enclave of like-minds. May the Force Be With You, and I mean this strictly in the gymnastic, resistive kind of way!!!

Robert

Tags: ad agencies manipulate consumers, body aesthetics don't matter, fitness and good health, fitter body leads to fitter mind, well-tuned body enhances sports performance and longer life

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Gary Gianni Rides Road Bikes, Mountain Bikes, and Spins in Cellars in Winter

Feb 8

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, cycling

I like to test myself…and then you feel real good about what you’ve done. Biking is my thing, and most people on a bike have a smile on their face.

My wife passed away after 27 years together. So one of my philosophies is to Do It Today, because tomorrow you may not be able to. That’s carried over to my biking—when the weather is great, I ride with my friends.

Gary Gianni during his first Century (100 miles) ride—

Everyone rides a bike, when they’re a kid. I also messed around with bikes in my 20’s. But I played in a band part-time for 15-20 years after that, and I had no time to ride. I got tired of that. Then a friend offered me his mountain bike in 1988, when I was 35. (I’m 56 now.) So I quit playing and started riding, just five or 10 miles. There were trails near our house that I’d go on with my neighbor, who was 10 years younger. I met more people who rode, and it just became a passion.

Next it became a bit competitive. My two boys started riding with us. It makes me smile and feels good. It’s a great means of seeing things—more than hiking in the woods and trails. It’s so much fun.

Then a lady gave me a road bike, just left it at my house one night. I started riding on the road, which is safer and better for your cardiovascular system. You can go a lot faster and keep up your heart rate. Mountain biking is more up and down, while road biking is more steady. Once you get into a zone, you can really fly. It takes over your body physically.

Hill on the RAGBRAI out of St. Olaf, Iowa—

Once I did the RAGBRAI [the Register’s (a local newspaper) Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa]. It’s a seven-day ride, 450-500 miles, a different route each year. There are 10,000 riders! Such an experience. You camp out each night after a set number of miles. So when I hit the 60-mile mark one day, there are 23 miles to go. I got into the zone, going 23 miles per hour, and I decide I’ll just go this fast as far as I feel good. I was in such a mental zone. I made it the whole way. That’s a pretty good clip.

The fastest rider I know does 21-22mph for 50 miles. You just feel good about it. You just have to do it. My girl friend Susan (see her story posted on 10/25/09) flew by me one time and went for five miles in the zone. The endorphins and adrenaline are flowing, everything seems to be right. You’re shifting nice, and you just go with it.

Susan and Gary at Pennwood, CT, New Year's Day, 2006

Then there are those times when you just bonk, and you can’t get out of your own way. Nutrition, eating well, and hydrating plays such a big part of it. You’re just tired, and your legs feel like lead, but it will pass. You’ll get your energy back. Younger riders are lighter, and they fly by you. Though there are a lot who can’t keep up with me. Physical conditioning is very important. There are even a lot of guys in their 20’s and 30’s I mountain bike with who can’t keep up with me.

In the summer, I go out 3-4 times a week. Two weekdays and Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes it’s 2-3 days in a row. It’s good to recover and back off a bit. You get a pain here and there, and you have to listen to your body and take it easy a little. Road riding takes up a good part of the day.

When we ride on roads, we usually won’t go less than 35 miles. We try for a 50-75 mile ride. If I’m going with friends who are fast riders, we travel at 17-18 mph. We live near a lot of hills, so when we go with older, slower riders, we go 13, 14, maybe 15 mph.

I once did 140 miles in a day. Four of us rode to Lake George, New York from Winsted, CT. It was 10 hours in the saddle. That’s a decent pace. Some fast guys can average 20 mph, but we were doing it for the enjoyment, just to have a good time.

A 66-year-old friend rode cross country, from Virginia to Oregon. Ten to 12 riders for 12 weeks. There were cars that hauled your supplies, sponsored riders and helped with breakdowns.

He and I also did the Border Raiders ride, named after Quantrill’s Raiders, back when there were border wars with slave states before the Civil War in the 1860’s. It’s 500 miles over eight days across four states (Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri). You go 160 miles in 100 degrees, from convenience store to convenience store. Grueling. You just keep filling up.

I’m talking with friends about doing a double century ride—200 miles—in one day. It’s kind of nice to push yourself a little bit. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Arizona Trail, babyhead rocks, bikerag.com, Border Raider's bike ride, Bunker Hill Road, Case Mountain, century bike ride, cost of different bikes, cycling, different clothes for biking, dirtrag.com, double century bike ride, Gary Gianni, Hans Rey, Kaibab Forest, Lance Armstrong, Maah Daah Hey Trail ND, mountain biking, mountain biking in East Burke VT, Mt. Greylock MA, Nassahegan CT, passionate cycling, Pennwood, Quantrill's Raiders, RAGBRAI, Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, road biking, road biking vs mountain biking, Spinervals DVD's, spinning, Susan Georgia, Tunxis State Forest CT

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What’s Your Choice: Money, Career Or Tennis For Fun?

Feb 7

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, tennis

Lindy Coco used to shovel snow off the court to play in 5 degree weather—2/4/10

My partner in tennis doubles last week was Olindo Coco, nicknamed Lindy (after Charles Lindburgh). He is 93 years old, has been playing tennis two to four times a week for 65 years, and has great reflexes at the net. He may not run after the ball like a kid, but when his racket reaches that ball, he can often place it like a pro…all right, maybe a retired high-level amateur.

What an inspiration. Hope I’m alive that long, much less hitting tennis balls. How did he do it?

It started with his multi-decade marriage to tennis, along with a 56-year marriage to his wife, Jeanette, who died in 2000. “I love the game so much that it cost me a lot of money.” To be able to keep on playing two to four times weekdays, as well as taking his kids ice skating or to the beach, he worked out a deal with his boss. He was allowed to work at home and at night as a detail artist retouching photographs for Sears and JC Penney catalogs. He was with that one company for 25 years.

Every time other firms offered him a better job for more pay, he turned them all down. “I had the perfect situation with a flexible schedule that gave me as much family time and tennis time as I wanted.” So he stayed put and honed his game. All that fun and exercise and cardio. What more could you want if you’re as passionate about tennis as Lindy is?

When he lived and worked in the Bronx for 31 years, there were eight guys as crazy about the game as he was. They played year round at Pelham Bay Park, sometimes in 5-degree weather. Even when the snow was a foot or two deep, those tennis nuts would shovel it off and compete. With one partner, Art Merrill, he won 51 straight sets.

After moving to New Fairfield, CT in 1978, he made new friends at Rogers Park in Danbury, picking up games or spending hours perfecting his strokes against the wall.

Cardio and proper diet are two ingredients for good health. So Lindy never, ever eats once he is full. He chews his food slowly, and is often the last one to finish eating. He’s been observed stopping his fork with food on it when it is two inches from his mouth. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: a life of fun instead of money, choosing your sport over your career, Lindy Coco, senior tennis players, tennis players over 60

4 Comments

Guess What Most Motivates People To Lose Weight

Feb 4

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, weight loss/overweight

I saw a friend this week I hadn’t seen in two years. He looked good. Here is our conversation:

me: You look a little thinner. Have you lost any weight recently?

him: No. I’ve weighed the same the last few months.

me: Well what about in the last year or two?

him: Oh that far back. Yeah, I lost 30 pounds.

me: Congratulations. You look great. How did you do it?

him: I changed my diet—stopped eating junk food. I started exercising. Then I quit drinking. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol in over a year.

me: That’s amazing. What motivated you to do it? It takes a lot of discipline to make all those changes.

him: (totally straight-faced) I had a heart attack and thought I was going to die. Had to go right to the hospital, and had two stents put in. Only took a day.

me: (silence)

So the fear of Death is a great motivator. How come so many wait until it comes that close before we are prodded to do something about our health? Or make changes in other parts of our lives? I’m a big procrastinator myself…when it comes to taxes. But not when we are talking about that other certainty in Life: Death.

Another overweight friend and I were talking today. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: how to lose 30 pounds, how to really lose weight, the biggest motivator for weight loss

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Scary’s Abs And Bare Skin On A Bear Skin

Feb 3

Posted by ira in abs pictures, exercise, photos of celebrities

Melanie Brown

actor Mario Lopez has asymmetrical abs

Former Spice Girls member Mel B was known as Scary Spice when she was singing and writing songs. For a Las Vegas burlesque show, she was doing a half hour of cardio and 200 sit-ups…three times a day! Look at the results.

Tags: celebrity abdominals, Mario Lopez, Melanie Brown, Scary Spice Mel B, Spice Girls, stomachs of the stars

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2000 Cyclists Spinning To Beat Cancer

Feb 2

Posted by ira in cycling

I went into Manhattan two days ago to cheer for spinners at the Cycle for Survival. This is an indoor charity event where people can hop on a stationary bike and pedal to raise money for research on rare cancers. There were 400 teams (of one to eight riders) split between two Equinox gyms in which people would spin for a half hour or more. With music blaring, bikes close together, “coaches” with microphones saying “climb that hill,” “sprint for the finish line,” and friends and relatives waving arms and yelling, it was a very exciting, energetic and emotional experience.

spinning to fund research

Some of the cyclists are cancer patients. Most are not, and everyone’s participation is providing hope, support, and fund-raising enthusiasm. Over $2.2 million has been raised so far this year, a total of $4 million since the first annual event in 2007, all used for research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Next week 100 more teams will be cycling for the first time in Chicago.

he rode the whole four hours

Of all 500 teams, and over 2000 cyclists, only 25 are extremists who pedaled for all four hours. I was yelling for a cancer patient I know who rode solo the entire time. In good weather he rides about 70 miles a week. He says, “I cycle because it keeps me alive…because l can…because I am still here.”

A number of celebrities were cycling as well. Here is one I cheered on, Chris Mullin, a five-time NBA All-Star who also won Olympic gold twice.

NBA All Star, Chris Mullin

Most funds for research are granted to the more prevalent illnesses like breast and prostate cancer. However more than half of all cancers are classified as “rare,” because each one affects less than 200,000 people. These include cervical, stomach, brain and all pediatric cancers. It’s unbelievable that so little money is being directed to cure these rare cancers.

To learn more, visit the event’s web site, www.cycleforsurvival.org

Tags: cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Chris Mullin, Cycle for Survival, cycleforsurvival.org, Equinox gym spinning, fund-raising for rare cancer research

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The Joy Of Losing

Feb 1

Posted by ira in tennis

Have a new tennis buddy I am losing to every single time we play singles (three days). Last month he was on the court 24 days. Now that is really commitment. He also does a half hour of sit ups every morning, when he first wakes up, and then another half hour around 4:00 each afternoon.

What fantastic discipline. No wonder I haven’t yet recorded a victory. No wonder he is such a strong competitor. But when he places his shot so perfectly that I can’t even touch the ball with my racket, I am watching pure poetry. It is a pleasure to applaud such skilled execution. Maybe someday soon I will take a set. For now, I have never enjoyed losing so much.

Tags: benefits of commitment and discipline, importance of practice, tennis, when it is a pleasure to lose at sport

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Tennis/Crunch/Sport Report

Jan 31

Posted by ira in exercise, sports, squash, tennis

Finally, finally and finally, the Australian Open is over. I become too interested in these contests and spend so much time watching that other interests are short-changed. Now I can do more reading, writing and exercising.

So here is what I did in January.

I played tennis on 15 days—one more than last month—for a total of 36 hours (down from 41 3/4 in December). Almost can’t imagine how I was doing five hours a day last month sometimes, but it was usually doubles. Played more singles recently.

My abs crunches set a lifetime record and also were modified.

Jan 1: 100+100+100=300 bicycles + 500 balls
Jan 5: 250+250+250+250=1000 balls (legs on exercise ball, back on floor)
Jan 9: 100+100+100=300 bicycles + 550 balls (a record)
Jan 18: 250+300+300+200=1050 balls (a record)
Jan 23: 100+100+100=300 bicycles + slow balls
Jan 27: 100+100+100=300 bicycles
Jan 29: 40 slow balls

When I did 1050 ball crunches, it took half an hour. So I am experimenting with the theory of reducing the time exercising but doing the moves more slowly—when I lower myself back to the floor, I am taking 15 seconds for just one descent. We will see if this builds muscle as well or better than faster, but more, reps.

I also went skiing once, played squash twice (one session was 10 games, and I wasn’t tired), lifted some weights just once (my injured arm was able to do it), and rowed once.

Another activity that took up some very exciting time was attending five of the Trinity College squash matches at Hartford and New Haven. Trinity has now won 217 consecutive matches over 11 years, the longest of any sport. The team has also won the annual national contests 11 years in a row. I am a big fan, and love rooting for the players and coaches I have come to know and admire.

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Growing Older Is What We All Do, Like It Or Not

Jan 26

Posted by ira in aging, photos of celebrities

How is aging altering your appearance? Watching how people evolve physically is a transition that fascinates me. When I went to my 50-year high school and college reunions in the last two years, I loved seeing how people had changed. Most were mellower, some—like my friend Cindy—smiled more than I remembered, and others were completely unrecognizable. I don’t think I was so identifiable, especially with my beard. Would you have guessed it was me?

Cindy—1957

Cindy—2009

Ira—1961

Ira—2008

More important is being fit and healthy by eating right and exercising. Abs are a nice cosmetic benefit that are good for your core. Some defined muscles are also a visual treat. But toned muscles and the mobility to enjoy life and keep playing sports is the key goal…An inevitable part of the older-growing process is to wrinkle and gray (if we live long enough and don’t color our hair). I’ve observed aging with equines and canines. Now here are some famous feminines who’ve been affected by their years. MAYBE YOU SHOULD SEND IN PHOTOS OF YOUR CHANGES OVER THE DECADES. I will include them with pictures of celebrity males who’ve “matured.”

Elizabeth Taylor

Brigitte Bardot

Ursula Andress came out of the water in a James Bond film:

Ursula Andress

Jean Simmons was great in the movie Elmer Gantry:

Jean died this week

Mamie Van Doren:

Mamie Van Doren

Barbara Eden starred in “I Dream of Jeannie.”

Barbara Eden

Julie Christie:

Julie Christie

Ann-Margret

Sophia Loren

Tags: Ann-Margret, Barbara Eden, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, how our looks change with the years, Jean Simmons, Julie Christie, Mamie Van Doren, Sophia Loren, the aging process in action, Ursula Andress, women who've aged

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New Olympics Sports—For Adults Only

Jan 25

Posted by ira in humorous stories, sports

These new Olympics sports can only be entered and watched by people over 17. Click on the pictures to see these videos:

precision vaulting

no-hand weightlifting

Tags: for adults only, new Olympics sports, no-hand weightlifting, precision vaulting, trojangames

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Catching Up And Choking Up

Jan 23

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, sports, squash, tennis

If playing and watching sports often results in our forgetting about “real life,” and the drama of sports is often regarded as a metaphor for “real life,” then how much can we adapt from sports success and failure to improving our daily lives?

A lot, I hope. When an athlete or team is way behind and comes back to win, what can we learn from that to help us also upgrade our own performance…in sport as well as possibly going from rags to riches? Or personal setback to major achievement?

And just as a player way ahead often blows his/her lead, what can we glean from that choking that will stop us from doing the same in our own athletic contests and also our personal quests? So we don’t go from castle to hovel, from happy marriage to divorce?

There is this sports announcer thing about momentum, more confidence, change in mood, reviving, rallying. What is it all about? What happens on a psychological level that obviously affects the physical level and then the score and final result?

I have seen recently a few sports situations that make me think about these changes for the better and worse (when one comes from way behind, someone else blows their big lead, right?).

So let’s explore this subject in a series of posts. First some Wikipedia definitions: A “choke” is a failure to perform in sport due to anxiety. This is a form of panic attack in which the athlete may literally experience breathing difficulty or otherwise lose physical composure. Successful champions do not choke, but are “clutch” players — rising to the occasion under pressure rather than collapsing.

In sports, clutch refers to competent and/or superior play during high pressure situations. Most often it is a successful action taken under high pressure during a game, usually at the end, that may result in a significant change on the game’s result. In the mainstream, performance in important situations is often attributed to some wealth or deficit of character that causes a particular outcome…

So I was watching a college squash match, and the Trinity player was behind one game to two. (A winner needs three games out of five.) He’d just been crushed in the third game 2-11. The score in the fourth game was 6-10, so it only takes one more point to 11 for Trinity to lose this individual match to Dartmouth. Although the odds of a Trinity comeback are incredibly remote, I have some faint intuition that this game is not yet over. But I don’t say anything, don’t want to jinx the outcome. I’m all for Trinity.

The score inches up to 7-10, 8-10. Now the fans sense defeat is not inevitable. The players must realize it a bit as well. 9-10, we are almost there. What is going on? Is the Trinity player gaining confidence? He must have more hope now than when it was 6-10. What about his opponent? From a sure or very likely win, enormous optimism, maybe even cockiness, he has to be worried, more fearful, tightening up on his shots.

Suddenly it is 10-10, the unimaginable has happened. It’s a new game. More tension, excitement, many minutes of back and forth. In fact there are six match points total, until Trinity’s Parth Sharma wins 16-14. What a turnaround! Now Trinity has the momentum, the greater enthusiasm; his opponent has to be debilitated and let down. Sharma wins the fifth game easily 11-3, and that individual match goes to Trinity.

How did that happen? How can we make that happen? In sports. Or off the court. People do rise to riches. They do get the girl. They do zoom from doom to boom?

Last year at the Wimbledon final, Andy Roddick wins the first set, goes to a tie break in the second set, and takes a huge 5-1 lead. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Andy Roddick, Antonio Salas, blowing leads, choking up, cracking under pressure, Dartmouth squash, Parth Sharma, Paul Assaiante, psychology of sports performance, Radek Stepanek, Roger Federer, sports comebacks, Trinity squash, Yale squash

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The Situation At The Jersey Shore

Jan 18

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

This post is dedicated to ER who actually created the name of this web site at lunch one day, when I was describing my idea. He thought it was catchy, and I agreed.

Mike's great abs

Yesterday at another restaurant lunch, he told me that he watches an MTV reality show called Jersey Shore, about Italian Americans who rent a summer house together, and that one of the characters nicknamed The Situation has abs that should be displayed on my site. From what I gathered, he has this name, because as soon as he takes off his shirt and any young women see his abs, there is this “situation” in which they fall desperately in lust with him. Cute. I checked out the show for 10 minutes, saw Mike in the hot tub with a girl who fell for his muscles, and figured I had grasped the idea completely.

So here is a shot of Mike Sorrentino, who said the following:

“I’m very confident in being Italian. I’m proud to have spiky hair and I’m proud to have my six-pack. Whoever doesn’t like it, I’m not really too worried about it because everybody should love themselves. If you don’t love yourself, who will?”

Tags: Jersey Shore TV show, Mike Sorrentino, Mike Sorrentino's abs, The Situation

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Shocking Good News About Living 100 Years

Jan 16

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise

Here is some shocking news: According to a projection of the century-long rise in life expectancy published in The Lancet in October, 2009, more than half the children born since 2000 in wealthy countries can expect to celebrate their 100th birthday.

This New York Times article by Jane Brody continues in predictable ways: “ If so many of us are destined to become centenarians, it is all the more important to be able to enjoy those years unencumbered by chronic disease and disability. There is no virtue in simply living long; the goal should be to live long and well.”

This is certainly how I feel. My brother wrote that my anxiety about dying was what drove me to watch my diet and to exercise so passionately. I still disagree. I want to be fit and mobile as I grow older.

“But while much is known about how to raise the odds of a healthy old age, only a minority of Americans incorporate into their lives what is likely to give them the biggest bang for their buck…

“After decades of government guidelines and advice from friends, family and physicians, Americans have made some improvements in their eating habits. On average, we consume less red meat and saturated fat and somewhat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables…

“But, and this is a big but, we are a long way from consuming the kind of diet most closely linked to a low risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke and dementia. That diet need not be strictly vegetarian, but it should emphasize plant-based foods over the meat and other products that come from animals that eat plants. The closer to the earth we eat, the healthier — and leaner — we are likely to be…

“The second crucial ingredient is regular physical exercise. The single most effective activity, studies have found, is an aerobic activity like brisk walking — about 30 minutes a day. If you can’t get out of the house, walk inside. Go up and down stairs, walk the hall, walk from room to room, walk in place. If walking doesn’t suit you, try dancing to music…

“So get off the couch and make this year the year you discover the joys and benefits of movement.”

The article has lots of good hyperlinks to other articles that you may find beneficial, and I will post excerpts from some of them soon.

Tags: benefits of diet and exercise, components of a healthy diet, half of children born recently will live to 100 in wealthy countries, living to 100, living well as you are living long

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Tough Guys With Tough Abs

Jan 15

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

actor Channing Tatum is so tough he chews glasses

David Beckham's abs are like rope twists

Tags: abs, another Beckham underwear ad for Armani, Channing Tatum, Channing Tatum's bare chested GQ picture, David Beckham

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The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

Jan 14

Posted by ira in diet

(These excerpts are from an article By Tara Parker-Pope that was originally published on June 30, 2008 and recently appeared on The New York Times’s list of most-viewed stories for 2009. I just ordered a delicious sardine sandwich with capers, onions and tomato as a result of #8.To read the entire article, go here

Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. But some of his favorites, like purslane, guava and goji berries, aren’t always available at regular grocery stores. I asked Dr. Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” to update his list with some favorite foods that are easy to find but don’t always find their way into our shopping carts. Here’s his advice.

1. Beets: Think of beets as red spinach, Dr. Bowden said, because they are a rich source of folate as well as natural red pigments that may be cancer fighters.
How to eat: Fresh, raw and grated to make a salad. Heating decreases the antioxidant power.
2. Cabbage: Loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes.
How to eat: Asian-style slaw or as a crunchy topping on burgers and sandwiches.
3. Swiss chard: A leafy green vegetable packed with carotenoids that protect aging eyes.
How to eat it: Chop and saute in olive oil.
4. Cinnamon: May help control blood sugar and cholesterol.
How to eat it: Sprinkle on coffee or oatmeal.
5. Pomegranate juice: Appears to lower blood pressure and loaded with antioxidants.
How to eat: Just drink it.
6. Dried plums: Okay, so they are really prunes, but they are packed with antioxidants.
How to eat: Wrapped in prosciutto and baked.
7. Pumpkin seeds: The most nutritious part of the pumpkin and packed with magnesium; high levels of the mineral are associated with lower risk for early death.
How to eat: Roasted as a snack, or sprinkled on salad.
8. Sardines: Dr. Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” They are high in omega-3’s, contain virtually no mercury and are loaded with calcium. They also contain iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese as well as a full complement of B vitamins.
How to eat: Choose sardines packed in olive or sardine oil. Eat plain, mixed with salad, on toast, or mashed with dijon mustard and onions as a spread.
9. Turmeric: The “superstar of spices,” it may have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
How to eat: Mix with scrambled eggs or in any vegetable dish.
10. Frozen blueberries: Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and don’t spoil; associated with better memory in animal studies.
How to eat: Blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds.
11. Canned pumpkin: A low-calorie vegetable that is high in fiber and immune-stimulating vitamin A; fills you up on very few calories.
How to eat: Mix with a little butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.

You can find more details and recipes on the Men’s Health Web site which published the original version of the list last year.

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Joe Rollino—The Greatest Strongman Ever (Pound For Pound)

Jan 12

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, aging, diet, exercise

[How do some people become so much stronger or physically talented than others? Is it just that people are born with superior physical capabilities, and you are lucky if you have those skills ? Of course you have to cultivate your potential? My doctor suggested that I can play three to five hours of tennis nonstop, "because of my physiology," while he is wiped out at the end of just two hours. Anyway one of the world's greatest strongmen died yesterday. Here are excerpts from his story in today's New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/nyregion/12ironman.html?hp)]

Joe Rollino once lifted 475 pounds. He used neither his arms nor his legs but, reportedly, his teeth. With just one finger he raised up 635 pounds; with his back he moved 3,200. He bit down on quarters to bend them with his thumb…

Joe Rollino at 10 years old and 68 pounds

People called him the Great Joe Rollino, the Mighty Joe Rollino and even the World’s Strongest Man. Mr. Rollino stayed away from meat. And cigarettes. And alcohol… He said he walked five miles every morning, rain or shine. At the height of his career, he weighed between 125 and 150 pounds and stood about 5-foot-5…

Joe Rollino—2009

He was a legend within that small Coney Island society in which few New Yorkers would want to become known as legends: the men and women who swim in the Atlantic when it is at its harshest and coldest. On a 6-degree day in January 1974, Mr. Rollino and six other members of the Iceberg Athletic Club swam into the waters off Coney Island. The freezing Atlantic was like steel: It didn’t intimidate him…

“He was known as the Great Joe Rollino, and he was great. You knew he was great just by standing next to him. He just had that humble confidence and strength. It shined.”

Sounds like a very special human. Even if we can’t come close to equalling his talents, we can learn how to be healthy and stronger like him. I’m very impressed that he acquired all that strength and protein without eating meat. When he died from a car accident, he was still fit and had lived to 104.

Tags: amazing feats of strength, greatest strongman for his size, how to live to be over 100, Joe Rollino

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Wall Street Journal Is My New Sports Hero By Billie Jean King

Jan 9

Posted by ira in exercise

Just bumped into this story encouraging regular exercise by Billie Jean King, Founder, Women’s Sports Foundation. Posted: January 7, 2010 on the Huffington Post

I’m not big on hero worship, but I may have to re-think my position.

“The Hidden Benefits of Exercise,”the cover story in the “Personal Journal” section of the Wall Street Journal (January 5, 2010), almost made me swoon (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB40001424052748704350304574638331243027174.html).

There it was — everything our Women’s Sports Foundation has been saying for decades: “Even moderate physical activity can boost the immune system and protect against chronic disease.” Yes!

Other studies show that exercise

– lowers the risk of stroke by 27%,

– reduces the incidence of diabetes by approximately 50%,

– reduces the incidence of high-blood pressure by approximately 40%,

– can reduce mortality and the risk of recurrent breast cancer by approximately 50%,

– can lower the risk of colon cancer by over 60%, and

– can reduce the risk of developing the risk of developing the Alzheimer’s disease by approximately 40%.

Game, set and match. Less colds and flu, too. How can you beat those odds?

I urge you to share your healthy living story with me, because it is important to me to know what you are doing to improve your life. You can write to me at BJKBlog@womenssportsfoundation.org and I will send you a link to the Women’s Sports Foundation’s new study on health called Her Life Depends on It.

Go for it and happy new year of exercise and health to everyone.

You can read more words of wisdom by Billie Jean on this site: Competition and Its Importance In Your Life(http://www.irasabs.com/?p=971 and Tennis And Life (http://www.irasabs.com/?p=952).

Tags: benefits of exercise, Billie Jean King, reduce illness, Women's Sports Foundation

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Using Abs To Sell Underpants And Movie Tickets

Jan 7

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Where do we acquire our idealized images from? Movies and underwear ads seem to be two big sources. So here is a Robert Downey Jr. shot from his latest movie as Sherlock Holmes and another anonymous body selling for Calvin Klein.

anonymous abs to sell undies

Robert Downey Jr as a fighting Sherlock Holmes—2009

Tags: Calvin Klein underwear ads, Robert Downey Jr, sherlock Holmes movie, using abs to sell movies and underwear

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Startling Use Of Plastic Surgery To Challenge Your Ideas About Conventional Beauty

Jan 5

Posted by ira in aging, photos of celebrities, plastic surgery

Looking fitter and younger can certainly be helped by healthy diet, exercise, sports, and muscle building. Some people also turn to hair coloring and cosmetic procedures, and this is the fourth article discussing these topics in some detail. It may be easiest to scroll down to the earlier posts, which appeared on January 2, 2010 (http://www.irasabs.com/?p=3400), December 28, 2009 (http://www.irasabs.com/?p=3287)and December 20, 2009(http://www.irasabs.com/?p=3153).

Millions of women modify their features thru cosmetic surgery, so they will look like: celebrities they admire; their own ideas of what is beautiful; or what will make them more attractive to men.

A totally different approach to altering one’s looks took place from 1990 to 1993, when a performance artist named Orlan carried out a series of nine surgeries viewed live by audiences during which her face was transformed through plastic surgery. Orlan’s “Carnal Art” was an attempt to question stereotypical ideas about beauty promoted by advertising, fashion and media professionals.

Orlan long before any surgeries—1977

Orlan—1977

You can see what she looked like in these pre-surgery pictures of her in 1977.

Years after the surgeries, she said, “…with cosmetic surgery, you can look like a Barbie doll, or some big star, or you can try to create you own inner portrait.”

One of her objectives was to embody the enduring visions of beauty created by renowned painters throughout history. She accomplished this seemingly impossible goal by surgically replicating the most cherished facial feature as it was presented in each famous artist’s most revered artwork.

Orlan after some of the surgeries—1992

For example, she has the chin of Botticelli’s Venus, the nose of Gerome’s Psyche, the lips of François Boucher’s Europa, the eyes of Diana from a sixteenth-century French painting and the forehead of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Orlan picked these characters, “not for the canons of beauty they represent… but rather on account of the stories associated with them.” Diana because she is inferior to the gods and men, but is leader of the goddesses and women; Mona Lisa because of the standard of beauty, or anti-beauty, she represents; Psyche because of her fragility and vulnerability within the soul; Venus for carnal beauty and notions of fertility; Europa for her adventurous outlook to the horizon, the future.

Orlan as Frankenstein's fiancee

Yet another surgery implanted two symmetrical bumps that look like horns in her forehead to mimic the protruding brow of Mona Lisa. Sometimes she highlights these protrusions with glitter.

Orlan with forehead bumps

The events that brought her closer to achieving ultimate beauty were celebrated and special. Each surgery was captured on video, fed to live international audiences via satellite link-ups, and exhibited in a number of galleries in Europe and the U.S.

Instead of the sterile environment of the operating room, she constructed an operating ‘theater’ in which everything was choreographed, and the space was decorated with flowers. Famous designers, such as Paco Rabanne and Issey Miyake, designed costumes for Orlan and her doctors to wear during the surgeries. Poetry was read and music played, while she lay on the operating table fully conscious of the events taking place (only local anesthetic was used) read from scripts and answered questions from viewers around the world.

In all these ways she demonstrated that there are many standards of excellence and diverse models of beauty. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: altering your face by surgery without facelifts, Carnal Art surgeries by Orlan, challenging society's conventional standards of beauty, changing the operting room into a theater, cosmetic surgery, designing surgical gowns by Paco Rabanne and Issey Miyake, Jennifer Hawkins, Jennifer Hawkins nude cover, Michael Jackson's plastic surgery, Miss Universe 2004, Orlan, Orlan's plastic surgery performances, plastic surgery, the chin of Venus by Botticelli, the forehead of Mona Lisa by da Vinci, the lips of Europa by Boucher, the nose of Psyche by Gerome, why women choose cosmetic surgery

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Tennis/Crunch/Sport Report

Jan 4

Posted by ira in exercise, tennis

On December 10th, I reported that including November 30th, I had played 32 1/2 hours of tennis and squash in nine of the previous 11 days. This passionate, or manic, behavior continued for the next eight days, when I played tennis five times in a row, an additional 13 1/4 hours. That adds up to 14 days out of 19, 45 3/4 hours of squash and tennis. Then I took a Christmas season, spend-time-with-family break to rest my arm and wrist, which were both pretty sore. I only played one more time for 3 1/4 hours. This brought my December total to 41 3/4 hours of tennis, 2 hours of squash, and 22 days of physical activity. (November had been 25 days of sports and crunches.)

Helluva month. And my game definitely improved. Received two tennis books as gifts: The Inner Game of Tennis and Strokes of Genius, about the Federer/Nadal 2008 Wimbledon final. Both are inspirations, and I can’t wait to apply some of the new lessons grasped.

I also worked on my abs:

Dec 1: 150+150+200+250=750 ball crunches
Dec 8: 100+100+100= 300 bicycles + 250 balls
Dec 12: 250+250+250=750 balls
Dec 14: 100+100+100=300 bicycles + 250 balls
Dec 18: 250+250+180(interrupted 10 minutes)+ 250 balls
Dec 20: 100+100+100=300 bicycles + 300 balls
Dec 23: 250+250+250=750 balls
Dec 26: 100+100+100=300 bicycles + 400 balls
Dec 29: 250+250+300=800 balls
Jan 1: 100+100+100= 300 bicycles + 500 balls

Additionally I went skiing once, ice skating once, rowed once on the Concept2 indoor rowing machine for 1000 meters, played squash once and joined adult friends for my first game of laser tag (we were destroyed by the other team of all kids under 17).

Now let’s see if I can do more weight lifting in the new year to rebuild some muscle…

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Plastic Surgery Thoughts And Top Procedures

Jan 2

Posted by ira in aging, plastic surgery

To look younger and more in accordance with our culture’s standards of beauty, some people exercise to make muscles, some color their hair and some resort to cosmetic surgery. A plastic surgeon I know, Dr. Dean Jabs, sent me this response to the December 28th article about Demi Moore’s possible plastic surgeries(http://www.irasabs.com/?p=3287):

Ira,

I think most people overestimate what can be done with surgery. People’s imaginations get the best of them. Too much Hollywood, not enough Main Street, so to speak. We can do a lot, but like I tell my patients, “My name tag says M.D., not GOD”. Lipo can contour but not reduce your body fat to 6%. Facial surgery and breast surgery can go a long way to restoring a youthful appearance and liposuction can contour…but that doesn’t take the place of a good diet and exercise, appropriate sleep and laying off the “sauce.”

Cheers,

Dean

At the end of this post are three of Dean’s company web sites, and one of them offered the following information:

May 15, 2009

Here at Cosmetic Surgery Associates we have definitely seen a shift in how people are viewing cosmetic surgery. People are concerned about the economy and are more willing to do smaller things now such as botox or fillers to maintain their looks rather than address the bigger issues that might require surgery. The recent release of statistics from our national society, The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, bears this out. Here is a summary of the stats. Enjoy!

The top five surgical cosmetic procedures in 2008 were:

1. Breast Augmentation (355,671)
2. Liposuction (341,144)
3. Eyelid Surgery (195,104)
4. Nasal Surgery (152,434)
5. Tummy Tuck (147,392)

Women accounted for 92% of the total.

The top nonsurgical cosmetic procedures were: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Dr. Dean Jabs, plastic surgery, top nonsurgical cosmetic procedures, top surgical cosmetic procedures, what plastic surgery can do for you

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Celebrity Abs That Inspire Us To Keep Crunching

Jan 1

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Brazilian model Jesus Luz has been dating Madonna—3/09

Supermodel Marisa Miller is wearing a diamond studded bra worth $3 million

Tags: jesus luz, Madonna, Marisa Miller, Victoria Secret Fantasy Bra worth $3 million

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Different Views About High Cholesterol

Dec 31

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, gym stuff

My brother, Michael, stayed at my house a few days and said that I am obsessed with food, and that he was uncomfortable eating with me, believing that I am judging him for eating “badly.” “I like to eat what I want,” he said, “and if it means I live a couple of years less, who cares. I’m not willing to give up those foods I like so much.” My argument about how some people get their endorphin high from food instead of exercise doesn’t seem to apply in his case, because for many years he did triathlons, and at 53 still does one leg of those races. He also goes to the gym once a week or more.

When I mentioned that maybe his diet and high cholesterol numbers—I think he is near the 240-plus that I read is heart attack range—might cost him 10 or 20 years, not just two, and that he was setting himself up for a heart attack, he said that I was overreacting. He pointed out that our father had a cholesterol count of 300 and lived to 88. It’s just genetic for him, and nothing he does lowers his count. So why worry about high numbers or attempt to do anything that isn’t going change them.

HERE IS MY BROTHER’S RESPONSE TO THE TWO PARAGRAPHS ABOVE.

Ira, a couple of things as I remember them:

I observed that you are obsessed with Dying, and eating correctly is a part of that. You are obsessed over cholesterol, I am less of a fanatic. I am not “uncomfortable” eating with you, I enjoy eating with you, we have great conversations. I feel that you are often lecturing that “what works for you” should be the standard for everyone. I have read many relatively new reports that imply that the cholesterol connection has been flawed, and we have 3 generations of doctors who have been taught that this is gospel. The AMA doesn’t want to admit they made a mistake! They don’t want to tell you that cholesterol is totally necessary for proper brain function, and that the drugs they have prescribed for years may be the cause of some alzheimers patients, in addition to the known liver damage, kidney damage, and possibly cancers people seem to be having.

I don’t give up anything, but I eat and drink everything in moderation. When at your house, I eat all those great cheeses you supposedly buy for us. I never have them (unless someone gives them as presents) except at your house, or the occasional party. Are you then buying them for us, or for you?

I don’t get an endorphin high from eating, or biking, or running, or cycling, or tennis. No need to go into details about when I do get that high by the way!

My cholesterol is around 235. Doctors (who insist it should be under 200) still want to put me on cholesterol medicine to bring it down. I refuse—the fix is more damaging then the cholesterol. I am not a heart attack candidate, I am not significantly overweight, I can out run, out swim, and out cycle most of my peers, and many who are 15 years younger than me. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cholesterol, cholesterol can't be lowered in all cases, eating bad food causes minimal damage, high cholesterol is not bad for some people, how bad are high cholesterol numbers, how important is eating for good health, obsessed with dying

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A Reader Criticizes This Site

Dec 30

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise, gym stuff

A woman friend said my web site is now sending out a bad and superficial message: that it is important to look good, and that your body’s appearance is ultra important. This is reinforcing our culture’s terrible emphasis on youth, looking young, and acting like anything but your age, if you are over 30 or 40. I have been seduced, she said, and am simply a pawn in the plan, especially when I am showing so many toned and fit bodies, women naked or in bikinis, and working to make my own body look younger and fitter with defined abs and hair coloring. Most people are not so muscular or thin, and the pictures on my site are insensitive, making some viewers feel resentful, insecure and unattractive.

I actually thought the photos might inspire people to work at diet and exercise to improve not only how they looked, but how they felt physically as well as psychologically. An additional benefit, I thought, was that readers would become healthier and have fewer colds and illnesses.

What do you think?

Tags: do idealized bodies inspire others to work out, emphasizing abs is superficial, fit body photos are insensitive, muscular bodies make ordinary people insecure, terrible youth culture

4 Comments

How Far Will YOU Go To Improve Your Appearance?

Dec 28

Posted by ira in aging, diet, exercise, photos of celebrities

Demi Moore’s name and body have been in my consciousness since I saw this 1991 cover.

Demi Moore—1991

She was criticized recently for looking old, especially her neck and cheeks. She responded, “I’m 47 how am I supposed to look?” Over the years, she has been fighting ageism in Hollywood, and complaining about her difficulty in landing some of the few good parts for older women. All this in spite of how young she looks.

Demi's rumored plastic surgery and expense—2007

Having just colored my hair to look younger in keeping with my more youthful body, I wondered if she was modifying her looks artificially as well? After “doing the google,” I discovered some startling stories:

“Demi Moore is rumored to have spent over $120,000 on plastic surgery over the years and over $330,000 on diet and fitness routines, including nutritionist, personal trainer, yoga instructor and kick-boxing champion. Demi Moore has had a breast augmentation in 1996 for the film Striptease, only to remove them subsequently and get a breast lift. Additionally, Demi Moore is rumored to have had liposuction to her hips, stomach, and inner and outer hips, a brow lift, numerous Botox injections and chemical peels, and teeth veneers. Most recently, the actress has been rumored to have had a knee liposuction surgery. The actress is also rumored to have had her nose done. Moore has all these procedures because she reportedly cannot bear to find any part of her body with flaws.”

HOWEVER MOORE DENIES THAT SHE HAS EVER HAD ANY PLASTIC SURGERY AT ALL.

Here are some more Moore photos.

Another Moore nude—1992

Demi's abs in movie, Striptease—1996

Demi flexing

Movie stars obviously go to extreme lengths to keep their careers alive. Yet the idea of shaping your body with the knife, Botox injection or steroids is a question many ordinary people must face all the time. You can only do so much by just eating differently and working out. Maybe you can lose a few inches around the waist, thin out your back. But doesn’t it take surgery to change breast size or eliminate deep facial wrinkles? It’s sort of cheating, but so what, if no one knows…about your nose? I grew up with hair color ads asking “Does she or doesn’t she?” Now I am reading that the perfect plastic surgeon’s work is not apparent to anyone. It looks as natural as apple pie…

My own interest in a six-pack has a lot to do with improving my appearance. I also like seeing definition in my arms. And this is mainly for me, so that I like how I look in the mirror. Of course I am proud when others who see my changes are impressed as well.

How we look—and desire to appear—has to play a major part for many who go to the gym or exercise in other ways. The path we select to come closer to that idealized vision is another story. Maybe sit ups are fine, but liposuction is off limits. Or maybe sit ups are too difficult, and liposuction does the trick easily. Cosmetic surgery can be a tough personal choice. And I know many friends who have done it. Is it okay for you? What do you think?

Tags: Demi Moore in movie Striptease, Demi Moore makeover controversy, Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover, Demi Moore's abs, exercise or liposuction, is it OK to improve your appearance with plastic surgery, plastic surgery

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Lawyer Martin Dodd Rows Daily At Lunchtime

Dec 23

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, rowing

I took up rowing about 25 years ago at the age of 32. Although the crew team recruited me heavily in college (I guess I had the build for it), I ran track and swam. I ran seriously through law school and eventually started doing triathlons, but knee surgery and a pretty stupendous bike crash got me seeking a new sport. At the time I was living right on Long Island Sound and could drop a boat in the drink right off my front yard, which I used to tell people went “all the way to Portugal.”

Leslie at about age 50—2008

My first boat was an Alden double that was kind of sluggish but beamy, stable and fun. While I always rowed it as a single, it would comfortably accommodate a passenger, and often I’d let my girl friend row me around. On a scale of one to ten, Leslie was at least a fourteen-and-a-half, and with her at the oars in a skimpy bikini, while I lounged in the stern with Heineken in hand, I soon became the envy of many a yachtsman as we plied the waters around the Thimble Islands. “What’s that guy in the funny little boat got that I don’t?” Leslie is an accomplished actress and playwright who still lives on the shoreline. We usually get together once or twice a year and go for a row.

I have since moved inland, and, while I get out into the salt as much as I can, I do most of my rowing now on the Farmington and Connecticut Rivers, as well as some lakes in Northwest Connecticut. Currently I have two rowing boats, an Alden Star and an Appledore Peapod.

Martin in his Appledore—1995

Named after one of the Isles of the Shoals in Southern Maine, the Appledore is an old workboat design modified for sliding seat rowing. It’s 16 feet long, 33 inches wide, and was the proudest creation of Arthur Martin who basically invented the sport of recreational rowing with the introduction of the Alden Ocean Shell in 1971. The boat has a real sharp entry, a lot of bow flare and is relatively flat amidships. She can be rowed single or double, carry a passenger and a lot of gear (yes, for old time’s sake, Leslie still rows) and handle incredibly rough conditions. Somebody rowed one around Cape Horn once, and there have been times when it’s started to blow that I would have felt more secure in the Appledore than my 23 foot powerboat.

An Alden Star (not Martin or Martin's scull)

The Star at 22 feet long and 18 inches beam is also somewhat flat bottomed but does not pound. Its most unique feature is a squared-off reverse step transom that supplies some hydrodynamic characteristics of a longer boat, as well as lift to keep you from pooping in a following sea. (Ed: pooping is when the sea comes over the stern—rear—of a vessel) This boat is also truly amazing in big waves. It’s rugged, and I have dropped it a number of times and run it into all manner of stumps, logs, lobster pot buoys and other obstacles, all without damage, although I did need to patch the transom once (an easy job) after my ex-wife ran into it with her little blue Volkswagen.

I have a high pressure, sit-down job as general counsel of a large engineering company, but my office is about five minutes from a beautiful stretch of the Farmington River. I keep the Star on a rack on my pickup truck, and most days when there is no ice, I drop it in the river at lunch time and am gone for about an hour. I row downstream to an old dam, then turn around and row upstream back to where I started. Things that seemed like problems when I started are mere bagatelles when I finish. As Arthur Martin used to say, “my boat is too small to take my cares with me.” The other day as I was loading the boat back onto the truck, I asked myself how much extra money would I take to go back to the high-rise law firm world where I couldn’t do my noontime rows. The answer was: “no amount of money in the world!”

A lot of people work out at lunch here, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: advantages of kayaking over rowing, advantages of open water boat over sleeker racing boat, advice on how to row, Alden double, Alden Star, Appledore Peapod, Arthur Martin, Garmin bicycle computer for rowing, kayaking, lawyers who row at lunchtime, lunchtime workouts, Martin Dodd, rowing, rowing is good exercise and easy on your joints, rowing on Farmington River, rowing on Long Island Sound, rowing with a heart rate monitor, Strokecoach for rowing, Thimble Islands, where Ayn Rand wrote The Fountainhead

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Does Aging Bother You? How About Looking Older?

Dec 20

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, aging

This is a big subject I want to discuss in many posts.

I will show you famous people who have aged horribly and look terrible.

I will talk about people who go through incredible plastic surgery to look younger.

I will talk about the performance artist ORLAN whose medium was once her own body as she directed surgeons to transform her lips, eyes, nose, etc to look like the most perfect body parts seen in paintings and sculpture.

I will mention Botox, hair coloring, dieting and exercise to look fitter and younger.

Let’s start with a True Confession: I color my hair. Here I am in a 2008 photo that shocked and disturbed me, because I thought I looked so old.

old-looking Ira at graduation—6/08

It’s not that bad for a father aged 67 at his daughter’s high school graduation. But I was very upset. I had been going to the gym and playing tennis, each for about a year. I was OK aging, mainly because I wasn’t sick or lame or inhibited in any major way from doing the physical things I wanted to do.

Maybe I don’t have the reflexes of a 20-year-old. But I have truly felt for years that each birthday celebrated means I lived another year and am glad of that achievement and the life experience. I had some friends who died in high school, and others at older ages. So I am thrilled to still be living and learning and laughing and loving.

But as toned as my body was starting to look with all that gym work and cardio, suddenly I appeared to myself like an old man from the chicken neck up, like my father or grandfather.

Then after months of thinking and hesitating and judging the vainness of doing something, anything, I took the leap and colored my hair. Women start in their teens. Movie stars do it before they are on screen…and a lot more. Why couldn’t I do it too? Yes I was self-conscious. But I always admitted it or volunteered the truth whenever any questions or comments arose. Which was almost never. (“Damn, Ira, you look so good. How do you stay so young-looking?” “It’s easy…I exercise and color my hair.”)

younger-looking Ira—12/09

Every six or eight weeks, after my hair is looking grey and too long, I head for a haircut and some new pigment. This week when the great change was complete, I looked at myself in the mirror and said to the stylist, “Marlene you are a magician— l look at least 10 years younger…”and better, I thought. It still amazes me. Thank goodness for that blend of delicious dyes named Burnt Sugar, Butter Almond Crunch, Hazelnut and Iced Latte. Who knows why they are all food related.

I resent the Youth Culture mantra that I grew up in and live with. The society that says old and older people are not as valuable as youngsters. They may have lived longer, but those antique “gray-hairs” aren’t as attractive or hip or energetic or worth knowing. Even their wisdom and advice might be out-of-date and easy to ignore. Nevertheless, it looks like I succumbed to part of the message: it’s better to look younger.

I have a woman friend who refuses to use make up, color her hair or do anything about her wrinkles. She welcomes older age and wants to experience it as fully as she can. She is very energetic, used to be a dancer, is very physical and loving toward her children and grandchildren. She knows who she is and is not embarrassed that she looks like a grandma.

But most people don’t do that. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: aging, hair coloring for men, how do you like growing older, looking older, not valuing older people, should you color your hair, youth culture

4 Comments

Why I Froze My Gym Membership

Dec 19

Posted by ira in exercise, gym stuff, tennis

After going to the gym 6 to 10 times a month for 2 ½ years, I just turned in my key…”temporarily,” of course. Although I have gone only five or six times in the last 4 ½ months due to an arm and wrist injury, I have become a passionate tennis player: 32 hours in 9 days out of 11 and then 13 more hours in 5 consecutive days out of the next 8. That’s 45 hours in the last 19 days. The wrist hurts in the morning, before I start playing and for a few hours after. But I love the sport too much to stop. Hopefully there will be no permanent damage.

A friend who wrestled in college said that he just tuned out the aches, bruises and injuries. He felt no pain. Similarly, when I am playing, I usually don’t feel anything, except when I hit a ball in certain positions. Then the “ouch” is pretty major. Traumatic. I also have difficulty serving forcefully, which requires a lot of wrist motion, as well as certain high and net volley shots.

I thought this week I would take it a little easier, but then three different much stronger players called for partners (in addition to my regularly scheduled doubles games), and I was seduced easily into two different singles sessions and a super powerful doubles game yesterday morning. By the end of 4 1/2 hours of doubles yesterday, I was punchy. Seriously tired. It was close and tense. I saved five set points during one game I served. And my team lost by just 7-6 and 7-5. Most importantly, I am improving, even with the pained wrist.

One of the singles contests was with a man I’ve played occasionally for two years, but never won a set. I beat him 6-0 for the first time last week, and this week I won 6-4, lost 3-6 and then 5-7. Getting better. Can’t win more than two games a set from the other singles player, who serves the ball around 110 mph, according to a friend who has coached tennis more than 50 years.

But all that tennis and my hesitation to really strain my wrist have kept me away from the gym. I have some weights, core roller, exercise ball and other tools for muscles at home. Still find it hard to make myself use them. But maybe now that I am going to take a little break from such strenuous tennis playing, I will discover the will-power that has been missing. The tennis sure is fun, though. I love it. And I can also report that I just finished another set—not for tennis—of abs crunches. This is the fifth time this month. I am back up to 750 (250 each time with two one-minute breaks) with legs on the ball and 550 when I do 300 bicycles plus 250 on the exercise ball.

It’s all part of my evolution to build a six-pack and a flexible, fit and healthy body. What an adventure. I am really hooked on this journey and very relaxed about the detours and route changes on this path that is taking me as much as I am directing it.

Tags: exercising at home, finding the will power to exercise, giving up on the gym, passionate tennis, playing with injuries and pains, sports seductions, the fun of improving at sports

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Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin

Dec 17

Posted by ira in diet, exercise, gym stuff, weight loss/overweight

Here is a challenging article that John Cloud wrote for Time Magazine’s August 9, 2009 edition. (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html)
A summary of the main thesis is as follows:

“…The conventional wisdom that exercise is essential for shedding pounds is actually fairly new. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against rigorous exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly overstated…

“…The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn’t necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder….

“…Yes, it’s entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don’t. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight?…”

Tags: benefits of working out, diet, does exercise cause weight gain, exercise, overweight

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Marc Sokolik Earns Another Medal Shotputting At The Senior Olympics In Arizona

Dec 12

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, shot put

[Back on July 3rd(http://www.irasabs.com/?p=1037), 69-year-old Marc Sokolik described how he is still throwing the shot put since he started in junior high school and had won a bronze medal at the 2005 Senior Olympics. At the recent Senior Olympics in Arizona, he competed again and sent in this proud report.]

I JUST RECEIVED THE SILVER MEDAL. I WAS IN MY AGE GROUP OF 13 SENIORS AND WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO PLACE SECOND WITH A THROW OF 31′. IRONICALLY THE GOLD MEDAL THROW WAS 31′ 1,” SO I ONLY MISSED THE GOLD BY AN INCH.

I DON’T THROW COMPETITIVELY AGAIN UNTIL FEBRUARY.

Marc Sokolik wins the silver at the 2009 Sr. Olympics in Arizona

Congratulations, Marc. Go for that one inch increase! Along with his latest smiling award-winner photo, here is an earlier one from the previous post. I also have to include a key excerpt from his story that really describes his brilliant strategy:

Marc Sokolik keeps throwing the shot put

AT 5′6″ AND 160 LBS, I WAS TOLD I WAS TOO SMALL TO THROW THE SHOT…IN THE EARLY NINETIES WHEN I TURNED 50… I STARTED THROWING THE SHOT COMPETITIVELY… AND I HAVE JUST KEPT DOING IT. I DO NOT COMPETE AGAINST THE OTHERS, AS THEY ARE ALL BIGGER THAN ME STILL, BUT AS THEY DIE, BECOME UNABLE TO COMPETE OR JUST DROP OUT, LIKE THE ENERGIZER BUNNY, I JUST KEEP THROWING… AND BY THE TIME I AM 80, GOD WILLING, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE THE ONLY ENTRANT AND GET A GOLD MEDAL.

Tags: Arizona senior olympics, he's like the energizer bunny, how to win medals at the senior olympics, Marc Sokolik, senior shot put champion, shotputting

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Dan’s Love of Sculling Covers 54 Years

Dec 11

Posted by ira in OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, exercise, rowing

(None of the photos below are of Dan or his specific boat. But they will illustrate for newcomers some aspects of this wonderful sport.)

I have been rowing sculls in the northeast since I was 14 years old. On and off, except for one break of 15 years. It’s a great sport, a non-impact kind of exercise. You’re on the water, which gives me a good feeling, and is a nice place to be. I love going so fast.

singles rowers in foreground—notice squarish, symmetrical oar shapes

It’s great cardio, uses every muscle in your body. You use your legs, arms, feet and back. I’m usually in pretty good shape.

Actually it’s not just exercise. It’s a total experience, being part of nature. I don’t even mind rowing if it’s raining.

I row close by each summer, beginning in April or May as soon as the ice is out. I’m off the lake early October. I usually row four to five times a week for an hour and a half each time, so it’s about two hours total round trip. I go around 7 to 7:30 in the morning or 7 to 7:30 in the evening, when there is a beautiful sunset.

Mt. Tom Pond, where I row, is about 65 acres, and I can go about 0.9 mile per lap. I do 6 to 8 laps each session. After it is too cold to row on the water, I use my Concept 2 rowing machine. (see photo below)

before the stroke with seat near feet—notice legs bent before pulling the oars

A scull is a boat in which your feet are fixed in foot stretchers, and the seat moves forward and backward on wheels in a track. There are two long oars that the rower uses.

Some rowing boats have 2, 4, or 8 oars, but each rower only handles one oar. These are called “sweeps.”

racing shell—notice legs extended after finishing the stroke

I have two different boats. One is a shell (a racing scull), which is 26 feet long, 11 inches wide—pretty narrow—and weighs just 45 pounds. I use it in the warmer weather. It’s made by a company called Schoenbrod.

The other is a wherry, an English style rowboat that is sleeker than what you usually see here. It’s about 15 feet long, 30” wide and weighs about 140 pounds. I use it when the water is cold and icy. Mine is a Heritage 15 design by Little River Boat Works. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Concept 2 rowing machine, hatchet oar, Little River Boat Works, racing scull, rowing, Schoenbrod shell, sculling, shell, symmetrical oar, wherry

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Anger Creates Tennis Fanaticism

Dec 10

Posted by ira in gym stuff, tennis

I am now driven to play, in spite of wrist/arm discomfort and occasional tiredness. I am guessing that it has to do with how angry and upset I have been. (See earlier post on December 8th) I have gone over the edge. As a friend observed, working out and sports activity are the best way to vent bottled up emotions.

I have played tennis and some squash for 32+ hours in nine out of 11 days:

Nov 30–2 hrs doubles + 3 hrs singles = 5 hrs

Dec 2–2 hrs dbls + 1 3/4 hrs sngls = 3 3/4 hrs

Dec 3–4 hrs dbls = 4 hrs

Dec 4–3 hrs dbls = 2 hrs hitting = 5 hrs

Dec 6–3 hrs dbls + 2 hrs squash = 5 hrs

Dec 7–3 hrs dbls = 3 hrs

Dec 8–1 hr hitting = 1 hr

Dec 9–1 hr hitting + 1 hr sngls = 2 hrs

Dec 10–3 1/2 hrs dbls = 3 1/2 hrs

I certainly feel fit. And I am definitely improving. Sometimes I feel really tired. I was like a zombie in one session. Punchy in the head. At first I thought I might be running away from my responsibilities. Or in denial about something. But now I think it is related to my rage at some of the bad breaks or illness I and my friends and relatives are experiencing.

I also believe that I am playing as hard as I can while I can. A way to convince myself that I am not aging and deteriorating.

One 62-year-old said that he sees the guys in their 70’s moving less rapidly than he does and flubbing shots. He wonders when that will start to happen to him. Not yet. At this point, with a new knee, he makes it to the ball almost every time. But don’t we all fear the negative results of becoming older, losing agility, putting up with new aches and pains, working around memory lapses?

Yes I missed much of the fun of playing when I was younger. I had to earn my living. But at least I am making up for that now. Until it changes.

With all this effort on the tennis courts plus my aching wrist and arm, the gym has become non-existent. Is this the end of the gym phase of my life? I feel sad about even the thought of it.

Tags: anger creates madness for sports, fear of aging leads to unreasonable determination, tennis, venting emotions thru physical activity

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Re-Channeling Anger To Become A Tennis Terror

Dec 8

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, my background, tennis

I wrote earlier ( http://www.irasabs.com/?p=2240) about how I lack the killer, cuthroat instinct. How it shows on the court. I am definitely competitive and want to win and try what I think is my best. But if I lose, big deal. It’s only a game. And I am constantly saying just that to new doubles partners: “Relax. We’re here to have fun. You never have to apologize for a bad shot and say, I’m sorry.”

Observers of my tennis game have commented on my nonchalance about winning. They say my niceness shows up, that I don’t run desperately for each ball, that my net volleys are firm, but not so forceful as to knock someone unconscious if I hit them in the head. I should be tougher.

All that changed yesterday, December 7th, when I was playing and became pissed. Now I must interject that I have had some personal setbacks, disappointments, anxieties about a relative dying, friends with their own problems. And the doubles game was going slowly. I grew impatient for a speedier match, and all my suppressed negativity broke through. I was outraged, annoyed, ticked off—at the world and the difficulties of living a life. At the raw deals people are stuck with, and their daily burdens. It all busted loose. I may have wanted to scream and shout.

So I took it out on the tennis balls. I served rapidly, faster and harder than ever before. I hit powerfully for me, deep and accurately. The other team was commenting on how impossible returns were. And what was going on stroke after stroke?

I was experiencing new and rare emotions that I couldn’t recognize. I felt enraged and ornery and furious and threatening. God damn evil and dictatorial. Some caused I’m sure because a relative of someone I know had been murdered a few days before. If I’d had a hammer, I might have hit someone in the head. There was a lot of pent up energy.

So I channeled it into my game.

When it was over and a few hours had passed, I thought about who I had become. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: benefits in sport and life in being pissed, disadvantages of being nice in tennis, Dr. Jekyll, killer instinct, Mr. Hyde, re-channeling your anger, tennis

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Some More Celebrity Stomachs

Dec 7

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Rock star Gwen Stefani is a 40-year-old mother of two who has the rare six-pack not usually seen on female celebrities

Actor Nick Cannon has abs that show well

Tags: celebrity stomachs, famous people's abs, Gwen Stefani, Nick Cannon

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Getting Better At Something When Others Get Worse

Dec 1

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, sports, tennis

So in spite of a sore arm and wrist, my frequent tennis playing has improved my performance. I am still frustrated with poor shots, but there are now many more better ones. And by watching the lessons on the Tennis Channel—which finally arrived in my little rural town that was the very last one in the state to have cable offered at all—my serve has become more powerful and directed as well.

This is not just my opinion. In the last 10 days, four different people from much better doubles games have asked me to sub for them or someone in their group. This is a big deal. Only a month ago, when I heard that a member of one strong game was going to Florida for the winter, and I offered to fill in, I was told that “We’re not sure.” “I’m not in charge.” Etc, etc. It was polite evasion that really meant: “You’re not good enough for us. We want to find a better substitute.”

Now that same diplomat is asking me to play for him. And I feel honored. This is a breakthrough. Other people at the courts are getting the same impression, and suddenly a number of more advanced players are approaching me. I have made a certain cut. I am now “good enough” to try out with these guys. And some are already inviting me back for additional substitutions.

I told a friend how pleased I was that I was improving. He said that he was in the decline phase of his performance. He has been playing sports so vigorously for so many decades that although under 60, his body is wearing out, he hurts when he plays, and his tennis game is now getting worse. And knowing that he can’t improve, he feels his cavorting on the court is over. He’s turned to golf, where he can learn a new sport and enjoy progress and satisfaction. At tennis, he experiences decline, frustration and disappointment. It’s too upsetting to not be able to hit like he used to, place a shot where he wants it to go, make serves that are whammers instead of wussers.

I understand where my friend is at. Life is fragile. So are our bodies. This can be the exceptional case in which “if you use ‘em, you may lose ‘em.” A 74-year-old was walking around the court yesterday to warm up before our doubles game started. (I jog around the court twice to loosen my joints.) He said after the match that his aching Achilles heel prevented him from chasing after some balls. Later I received a phone call informing me that the pain intensified, and he will be out of action for months.

It’s obvious that if you leave the couch potato sofa and shake your booty a bit, you have a bigger chance of injury…though a lesser chance of heart attack from poor circulation. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: declining performance, diplomatic turndowns, frustration in sports, how to deal with lesser ability in sports, improving performance, life's constant compromises, sports injuries, tennis, wearing out your body

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Positive Thoughts Give Elite Athletes The Vital Edge

Nov 30

Posted by ira in LIFE LESSONS, OTHER PEOPLE'S STORIES, sports

We always hear about top athletes having confidence, visualizing their success, seeing themselves win in advance of the game. Here is an article that spells out (sort of) how it is done with actual case histories. Now let’s see if I can hit like Davydenko tomorrow and play at the net like the Bryan Brothers (these three tennis champions won the ATP World Tour Finals singles and doubles on Nov 29th).

LONDON (Reuters) – Elite professional sport with its unrelenting demands tests the mind and spirit as much as the body.

When the difference between winning and losing can be a fraction of a second or the unexpected bounce of a ball, encouraging positive thoughts and banishing the fear of failure is a consistent theme in the lives of successful athletes.

England cricket captain Andrew Strauss is a recent convert to the power of positive thinking, praising the controversial self-help book “The Secret” after his spell in the international wilderness.

“The theory is what you think about happens,” said Strauss in his own book “Testing Times.” “If you think positive thoughts, then those thoughts will come about.”

“The Secret” by Australian writer Rhonda Byrne, which started life as a film, has been praised as a life-changing text and criticized as pretentious psychobabble.

Whatever the verdict, the lessons Strauss drew in 2008 — positive thoughts, a winning frame of mind, visualizing success — are certainly not new.

Twenty-five years earlier, the same principles resurrected the life and career of New Zealand’s greatest cricketer Richard Hadlee.

At the end of an exhausting year on and off the field, Hadlee was close to a physical and mental breakdown.

“It may sound a little melodramatic, but at this stage I was preoccupied with the thought of death,” he said. “I was convinced I had heart trouble which in turn made me worse.”

WILKINSON RETURNS

Motivation expert Grahame Felton, who ran a three-hour course for the Canterbury team, transformed Hadlee’s life.

Felton talked about visualization, control and belief, explained that fear was negative and emphasized the importance of setting targets. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Andrew Strauss, book Tackling Life, book Testing Times, Clare Fallon, cricket, Grahame Felton, Jonny Wilkinson, philosophy of Buddhism, positive attitude's importance in sports, power of positive thinking, Rhonda Byrne, Richard Hadlee, rugby and cricket players, self-help book The Secret, The Secret, Victor Thompson

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An Antidote For Tennis Elbow

Nov 29

Posted by ira in exercise, tennis

After injuring my arm and shoulder, I wondered if part of my problem might be a tennis elbow. So I did a bit of online searching and found a very useful August 25th story in The New York Times written by Gretchen Reynolds (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/?scp=1-b&sq=tennis+elbow&st=nyt).

Therma-Band still life with oranges

The article recommends a product called a Therma-Band, which is a cylinder of rubber with ridges or indentations up and down the long side, so you can twist the thing and stretch out your wrist, forearm and elbow tendons and muscles. It feels great to me. No cure yet, but it loosens my stiffness and reduces the discomfort I feel after playing tennis and squash. Neither the orthopedist nor physical therapist had heard of it, but I bought one and recommend it totally. It’s even easy to fuss with while watching TV.

Here is what it looks like and how you use it. Hope it helps ease your aches if you have any.

how to use the therma-band

Tags: arm injuries, Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, tennis elbow, Therma-Band

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He’s Naked!

Nov 28

Posted by ira in humorous stories

At a dinner party over the Thanksgiving weekend, someone mentioned my website and how much fun it was to check in periodically. I explained to some questioners that I was trying to build a six-pack. One friend revealed that I was working on it and might qualify for a three-pack, which I challenged. To prove my point, I showed my latest progress photo that was still in my camera—the one I’d taken in the mirror.

I was startled to hear this woman yell out for the whole table, “He’s naked!” I panicked, wondering what shot she had seen if she had accidentally moved the viewer to another frame. I didn’t remember taking any nude pictures of myself. Nor having any one else do it. What the hell was she looking at? Uh-oh. I was in trouble.

I quickly reached over my hostess and grabbed my camera and saw that it was just the photo I had intended to present. You can see it at the top of the page in “My Progress Photos.” Yet for his woman, a man in gym shorts with no shirt is considered naked. Whew! Big sigh of relief. Yet I forget how self-conscious some folks are when it comes to displaying or perceiving the human form. Maybe it was the shock of seeing even a photo of a bare male chest at a dinner table.

Wonder what she thinks of the underwear ads on this site and billboards all over the country? Or when she goes to the beach in the summer?

Anyway after a closer look, she agreed that it looked like I was already in the six-pack range. Back to crunches and making extra-special sure what is on my camera when I pass it to others.

PS/Update: I told this story to someone who insisted that the woman at the dinner was just being cute to get attention. But I don’t think so. She’s no professional actress. She was surprised and blurted out the first thing that came to her.

Tags: humorous story, what does "naked" mean?

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Celebrity Abs

Nov 27

Posted by ira in abs pictures, photos of celebrities

Bumped into two web sites on the New York Daily News site that showed 150+ celebrities on summer beaches and also a gallery of hot celebrity stomachs. Pretty trashy. But with my new interests in good looking abs, I am right there picking out the best bods for you to see. So I will post a few every now and then. This is all in the interest of keeping us inspired to do our crunches and avoid that extra dessert, of course.

If you can’t wait to see all my selects, here are the two sites:

Beach bods:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/galleries/_/_.html

Best stomachs: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/galleries/absolutely_hot_stars_show_off_their_stomachs/absolutely_hot_stars_show_off_their_stomachs.html

And here are my first two: