Social Workout

Scientific

Even Tiny Exercise Increments Make a Difference

So maybe you were one of the many who panicked over that study suggesting people had to work out an hour a day, every day, for the rest of their lives, or face steady weight gain. But fear not! A new study at the Harvard School of Public Health shows that just a little bit of biking and brisk walking goes a long way. The study looked at more than 18,000 women over a 16-year period and found that biking, even as little as five minutes each day, and brisk walking, averaging about 30 minutes a day, worked wonders for weight control. Biking was particularly good. "More bicycling predicts less weight gain...The more time women spent bicycling, the better," says the author's lead study. 

Workout

my first lakefront bike ride of the year

one of the things i love most about chicago is the lakefront path. finally got over there today, after weeks of convincing myself that taking the front wheel off the bike to put it in in the car was just too much trouble. but it really wasn't trouble at all. and definitely better than dodging all the broken glass on the sidewalks and in the streets.

Workout

10 mile bike ride!!

today was a day for NO MORE EXCUSES. brought my bike out of the basement. packed up my tax paperwork. then hit the streets (and sidewalks), dodging pieces of glass all the way, to the tax software sharing spot. music, receipts, imagination. DONE.

a double sense of accomplishment.

Strange But True

Unable to Walk, Parkinsons Patients Can Cycle Like Champs

Your name is Dr. Bloem, and you're a Dutch doctor specializing in Parkinsons disease. In to your office walks a 58 year-old man with an advanced case. He has the telltale tremor, and he falls over if he tries to walk more than a step or two. That's all sadly familiar, and yet this man tells you he loves to bicycle. Moments later, you help him on to a bike, and he takes a spin around the parking lot, weirdly symptom-free. You are stunned, and promptly put other Parkinsons patients on bikes to see what will happen...

Bike Snob

Bike Snob Unmasked

Heretofore hilarious but anonymous, the Bike Snob will henceforth be hilarious in public. Meet Eben Oliver Weiss, the best anonymous blogger since Fake Steve Jobs, Manolo the Shoe Blogger, and Salam Pax. The unmasking was fought over by the Wall Street Jounal (they had the rights), and the New York Times (they leaked the info online first), but you can safely ignore their accounts and simply read Mr. Weiss' own much funnier version. Or skip all of the above, (Weiss is 36, married, a Brooklynite, and used to work as a literary agent...), and read his even funnier post about this past weekend's Ghent-Wevelgem bike race in Belgium.....

Workout

i love the feeling of being on a bike

my first ride of the season - short (2.4 mi), but sweet. don't know why i was so unsure of myself. but as soon as successfully got my feet in the 'pedal clips' and took off, i remembered how much i absolutely love riding.

Bike More Now

Google Adds Bicycle Directions to GoogMaps

The bike rennaissance rolls on, pushed forward by the techno, environmental idealists at Google. Effective immediately, you can now map your bike ride using the directions feature of Google Maps. Cool! FYI: According to Google, it will take me just four days and 23 hours to bike the 1,435 miles from Social Workout HQ to Miami Beach. Not sure if they're accounting for sleep, but I am sure the route would be scenic. Their route includes 962 directions. From the Official Google Blog: 

...we knew that when we added the feature, we wanted to do it right: we wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes. So that's exactly what we've done.

AllStays

Since 1999, I've been researching just about any place you can stay overnight, worldwide, from parking lots and primitive camping to spas and high end resorts.

AG Fitness Resort - The Round Up

It's a wrap.  My ten days in paradise aka AG Fitness Resort are so dunzo.

THE STATS:

Other Places

Newslinks

More Bikers, Less Accidents and Andre Agassi, Meth-Head

• We're in the middle of a bike rennaissance: More racks, more bike lanes, more bikers. And, you might fear, more accidents too. Not so! To the contrary, says the Times, the more bikes on the road, the more motorists adapt, and odds of accidents go down. Fabulous news.
• In his new book, Andre Agassi admits to using crystal meth back in 1997. Actually, he failed a drug test that year, his worst on the tour, but told the authorities his use was accidental, and they ignored the issue. In fact, Agassi was snorting away on a coffee table with his druggie assistant "Slim." Now he's come clean about the incident, but maintains it was a one time thing....
• The NFL is offering aid to ex-players suffering from memory disorders. Though the league still does not officially acknowledge there's a link between repetative blows to the head and memory trouble later in life.
• Counter-intuitive but true: A new study shows that living near restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, and even fast food restaurants actually lowers your risk for obesity. It's when you live more than half a mile from any of the above that you're in trouble. My read of the data: Suburbs make you fat.
• New research shows that chronic disruption of circadian rhythms (a.k.a. sleep cycle) leads to weight gain, impulsivity, and slow thinking. Hey, get your sleep discipline here!
• New research also shows crushing computer-simulated cigarettes helps people break free of tobacco addiction in real life. Which makes you wonder, what else could we virtually crush?