Social Workout

Derby Darlings

Are You A Future Rollergirl?

So what makes a nice girl turn to Roller Derby? There are the potential fitness benefits (recall our interview with Derby Doll "Janis Choplin" who lost 30 pounds after taking up Roller Derby). But then there's the other appeal. "I have never been athletically inclined," NPR reporter and Alex Cohen, also known as "Axles of Evil"  told Morning Edition today. "I was always the theater and speech and debate geek. When I started doing derby, I was amazed to see I really liked beating people up." So there you have it. But apparently, there's actually more to derby than just beating people up. And a new book, Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby, gives you the scoop, from the derby's depression era origins to what it takes to become a rollergirl. If you don't want to buy the book to find out if you have potential, good news: The Are You A Rollergirl? quiz on NPR's website is quick and surprisingly entertaining. (FYI, I have a shot! I'm thinking "Surely Tempest"...)

Fighting Shape

The New Army Boot Camp

“What we were finding was that the soldiers we’re getting in today’s Army are not in as good shape as they used to be. This is not just an Army issue. This is a national issue.”

— Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, overseer of basic training for the Army.

“Between 1995 and 2008, the proportion of potential recruits who failed their physicals each year because they were overweight rose nearly 70 percent.”

— from "Too Fat to Fight," a report by a group of retired generals and admirals published earlier this year.

Both quotations published in a New York Times report today on the army's new boot camp training, which involves a lot more yoga and Pilates and a lot fewer long runs and other drills that are likely to injure new-to-fitness soldiers-in-training.

Feats

Walking The Amazon In 859 Days

What's your longest walk or run? 26.2? 10K? How about 6,000 miles? That's the length of the walk completed yesterday by former British Army Captain Ed Stafford, who followed the entire length of the Amazon River on foot. Starting from the origin of the Amazon at the peak of Mount Mismi in Peru in April 2008 to the mouth of the river at Meruda Beach in Brazil yesterday, he kept slogging despite 50,000 mosquito bites, a bow and arrow attack by the Ashaninka Indians, and some other freaky tropical insect and skin disease situations. You can read about Stafford's adventures on his website. On a much more reasonable note, yeahredgymnast beat her personal longest run record yesterday. Congratulations! (via Outside)

Red Fitness

Resume the Communist Stretch Breaks

Because sitting will kill you, we here are Social Workouts are big believers in stretch breaks. Which I guess makes us a little like the Chinese Government — since 1951, everyday at 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. on comes the radio calisthenics program and up go the Chinese workers. Today, trade unions in Beijing re-started the mandatory “radio exercises” after a three-year break surrounding the Beijing Olympics. Anything mandatory is a little scary, and the Chinese calisthenics music leaves something to be desired, but I kind of love the idea of universally decreed move-your-body break. Rather intriguing video of the exercises (plus an earful of the music) after the jump.

Yoga Trends

Give Grandpa A Yoga Pass For His Birthday

“It makes me feel good, happy, full of energy, vibrant. I walk better now.” — Sylvia Guzman, 81.

“My body feels lighter. I’m not as tense. I sleep better. I eat better.” — Francisco Battista, 88.

Just two of the new-to-yoga 80-somethings the New York Times cites as part of a growing trend — yoga for the very old. Data points: Studies show strength and flexibility gains that result in “significant improvement in quality of life measures” in individuals 65-85 who take up yoga; senior yoga classes are selling out; and even among seniors with significantly limited mobility, the trend is catching on. “I’m not trying to get them to do a warrior pose,” says Andrew Greenland, who teaches yoga at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “I might do the whole lesson with them lying in the bed. I work on breath awareness and gentle movement. In a way, their physical limitation allows them to be closer to the root of the yoga experience, which is breathing and awareness.”

Newslinks

right...'cause nobody actually believes marketing schemes, right?

Apparently Coca-Cola is being sued for untrue claims that Vitamin Water is a healthy beverage. The company's response? "Well, nobody ACTUALLY believes us."

New York

Obesity Apocalypse

The New Obesity Numbers Are Out

The CDC released the latest data on Americans and weight yesterday. Bad news. In 2007, only three states had crept over the 30% obesity line. Now nine states have: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia. Even worse news, the data is probably painting a rosier picture than reality, since the numbers are based on phone surveys, and everyone knows we're all big fat liars when it comes to our weight. Only Colorado and DC have obesity rates under 20%. The CDC thinks it might have something to do with Colorado's bike trails and DC residents' regular use of the subway, which is shown to decrease obesity. Unclear. For Mississippi, which is the heaviest state with 34.4% obesity, here's hoping the legislature fitness challenge catches on with the citizenry at large. That or maybe they'll pass the proven-to-be-effective pizza and soda tax. Or something? Anything? Wow, these numbers are so depressing that I can barely finishing typing this post...

Newslinks

You Thought Your Two Hour Yoga Workshop Was Long?

Yesterday at 5 P.M. Canadian yoga instructor Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow, age 28, completed a 32-hour yoga marathon, thereby breaking the Guinness World Record for longest yoga session. The previous record was 29 hours 4 minutes. For Fudakowska-Gow's sake, I like to imagine an eight hour savasana built in there (aren't yoga teachers always saying that's one of the hardest poses?) but somehow I don't think the record keepers would have gone for that.

Events

Wanderlust Wrap-Up: What You Missed

Yesterday Wanderlust 2010 wrapped. Highlights from the second year of the Lake Tahoe yoga and music festival:

• Moby's post-performance speakeasy chat on why he's a vegan
• The Village Anusara tea house, which Elena Brower said was "a magnet for the chill outs."
• A tidy $6,000+ raised for Yoga Aid "Off the Mat into the World"
• Lots of dancing in yoga pants
• Souvenir Wanderlust gear

If you're bummed you missed it all, you can still get a little taste of Squaw Valley with the Elena Brower Daily Asana Wanderlust video series. 

Mega Feats

How Long Does It Take To Row Across The Atlantic?

Answer: At least 55 days. Or at least that's what everyone thought, 55 days being a speed record which had held, despite many attempts to best it, since 1896. But this weekend four rowers shattered the record, paddling across the Atlantic from New York to southwestern England in a mere 44 days. During their weeks living on their 23-foot boat, the team ate freeze-dried chili con carne and 600 candy bars. Don't hurt yourself, we'll do the math for you — that's about five and half bars each per day.