Fitness

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports launched its Adult Fitness Test in May of 2008. I am one of those that missed this announcement as I am certainly not one that does a very good job of watching my own fitness. I tend to focus on other parts of my life and find it difficult to balance out those Six Spokes of Life.

So recently I was reading the October issue of Readers Digest and found a pretty simple and easy guide to measure yourself as an adult. I found that I'm not close to these particular and simple tests. Yet I'm setting a goal for myself to achieve these.

You will see they don't take expensive equipment or gym memberships to achieve them. So we will see how I do and how long it takes.

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The Test: Push-ups
The Goal:
Women (on knees): 33 without stopping,
Men: 40 without stopping
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): Work your chest and triceps three days a week. Vary the push-ups by doing them on an incline or decline, or do some chest flies or chair dips, says personal trainer Kelli Calabrese, author of Feminine, Firm & Fit.

The Test: 1.5-mile run
The Goal:
Women: under 12 minutes,
Men: under 10 minutes
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): Walk/run three times a week, and do non-impact activities like swimming or cycling on the other days. Add a day of interval training (going faster than your normal pace with periods at a much slower pace).

The Test: Half sit-ups
The Goal:
Women: 60 in a minute,
Men: 65 in a minute
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): Do a variety of abdominal exercises three days a week. "Core strength is so important because it improves posture, can reduce back pain, and may help stop a fall as we age," Calabrese says.

The Test: Sit and reach
The Goal:
Women: 9 inches beyond heels,
Men: 8 inches beyond heels
Tips to Boost Your Score (gradually, to prevent injury): After warming up, Calabrese says, increase flexibility by doing the yoga pose downward dog: Position your body in an inverted V, with your hands and feet on the ground and your butt in the air.
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But why get fit? Will it add years, days or just minutes to the length of my life?

The point in my mind is not how much longer one might live by being more physically fit. What it will do is make all of your years of living that much better. One can live to be 85 years of age, but if you are so unfit that walking six steps is a struggle for the last 30 of those years, then the quality of those 85 years just isn't very good.

So try to achieve the goals above; try to join the President's Council and take the Adult Fitness Test. Enjoy a more fit life; enjoy life!
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Open Road Missions Update

Go to Open Road Missions.

Find the DONATE button to support Paul in his efforts.

Bless him with our giving and then pass it along to your friends.
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Congratulations Barack Obama

Congratulations to our newly elected 44th President of the United States.

His opponent John McCain said it best in his speech:

"In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.

This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too."

All of us as Americans have much to be proud of in this historical moment. The days will pass and the ideological differences will remain among us. But the inspiring aspect is that we will peacefully transition power. We've done this fourty-three times and it will happen this fourty-fourth time on January 20, 2009.
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Halloween Fun

The October Game by Ray Bradbury

"Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night."

-Steve Almond

Halloween is upon us and little kids in costumes of ghosts, witches, princess' and Spiderman will be filling the streets. The origination of this holiday is rooted in the (from Wikipedia) ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year."

Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops.

The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

In modern terms, it has evolved into a a fun and spirited time to simply enjoy the fall weather and gather candy; lots of candy. So the bags will be filled, tummies will be bursting from chocolate and bubble gum. Little feet will be tired and the morning will come all too soon.

But this year it falls on a Friday night so it is likely many will be out much later. Heck, the kids can sleep in on Saturday morning and miss some of the cartoons. Parents can rest and possibly sift through the candy finding the good stuff before the little ones wake up.

With all of the fun and good cheer, drive careful, walk careful and above all - have fun!

Boo!!
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