Category: health & fitness

… “never get old”

On By Rick McIn friends, health & fitness, things getting worse1 Comment

That’s the advice I’ve been getting from “Physical” Ed Vincent … for decades.

Ed is something like 100yrs old in chronological years — about age-50 to look at while he’s training gymnastics.

Seems old age is bad for your health. It’s Dave’s birthday today — look where he ended up. 🙂

Dave getting his knee fixed
Dave getting his knee fixed

The same week … Warren Long:

… I landed foolishly in the gym from a simple front tuck. I landed with one knee locked and did some damage. After hours in Emergency and XRays and a CT scan, it was found that I had fractured my tibia and probably damaged lots of other stuff.

This morning, after a rush MRI (very lucky to get in), I learned that I had done almost no other damage! No surgery required and no ACL repair needed. Just need to let the bone heal and not let anything else atrophy.

Same week I spent 7hrs in Emergency, arriving by ambulance.

After a dozen tests (EKG, CT scan, etc.) the Doc finally confirmed it was — as he originally suspected — vertigo …

… a subtype of dizziness in which a patient inappropriately experiences the perception of motion (usually a spinning motion) due to dysfunction of the vestibular system …

Dizziness and vertigo are common medical issues, affecting approximately 20%-30% of the general population. …

Best case scenario mine is “Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo“.

No medication. Normally treated by manipulating the head to move out debris in the semicircular canal.

NEVER get old.

Thule win Adventure Racing Worlds

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, sport - amateurLeave a comment

… 168 hours and 23 minutes to complete the 850k course that visited both the Northern and Southern borders of Costa Rica, climbed the highest mountain in the country (Cerro Chirripo 3,800m), and saw both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. …

Thule Adventure Team won in 2011 (Tasmania) and this year. (RESULTS)

Costa Rica was a brutal race.

Click PLAY or watch Part 1 on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/81299186

Click PLAY or watch Part 2 on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/81452778

The AR World Championship in 2014 will be hosted in Ecuador.

Jane’s fantastic Swopper Stool

On By Rick McIn Art and beauty, health & fitness, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Everybody LOVES this alternative to an office chair. It’s far better than an exercise ball.

… truly one of a kind. With over a dozen patents on it worldwide there is nothing else like it on the market today. The Swopper is designed to provide the user with three dimensions of movement; horizontal, vertical, and lateral.

… engages the core muscles that normally go unused in a normal office chair. …

Amazon $699.00

swopper-stool-lge

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Friday Night Lights

On By Rick McIn education, ethics, health & fitness, product endorsements, TVLeave a comment

Do you think that God loves football?

I find myself watching Season 1 of the acclaimed TV series Friday Night Lights. (2006-2011)

It’s very intense. Very well done.

Is Texas truly this football obsessed?

Click PLAY or watch a promo on YouTube.

All the acting is strong. The writing excellent.

I really like Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins. And Connie Britton as Tami Taylor.

In fact, for a TV series about a macho male sport, the female lead characters are all good.

I never played football. Never much liked football.

Watching the show in 2013 I mostly worry about brain damage. Concussion.

Rishikesh Adventure Sports

On By Rick McIn health & fitness, hiking, travel, travel IndiaLeave a comment

For centuries a Holy city, Rishikesh, India is today branding itself as an outdoor Adventure Sports centre. Especially for white water rafting. The Ganges here offers medium to rough rapids rated class 3 and class 4.

Raft Ganges

Bungee jumping was recently introduced, the only leap in India.

I’m here for trekking. But the trekking guides are NOT busy though it’s still high season.

My contact at Red Chili Adventures blames it on the Spring flooding which damaged many of the mountain roads. You can still see the damage here in Rishikesh.

June 2013, Rishikesh
June 2013, Rishikesh

In any case, I hope to survive a 9hr drive over those damaged roads tomorrow. En route to the Kuari Trek. Vistas of Nanda Devi.

I hear most of the flood damage has been cleaned up. In Rishkesh, it’s ongoing.

Sadhu River

damage Ganges

More Rishikesh photos.

the most DANGEROUS drugs

On By Rick McIn economics, food, government, health & fitnessLeave a comment

Economist – A new study suggests alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack

dangerous drugs

related – Influential and successful marijuana users

I’m thinking of quitting. Alcohol, that is.

Dear Gun Nuts …

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, firearms, government, health & fitness, product complaints, things getting worseLeave a comment

A great opinion piece by Matt Bors:

… After every mass shooting—which is essentially all the time these days—gun rights advocates drag out the “more guns = more safer” argument. And yet: we’re still not safe!

Despite having almost one gun for every man, woman, and child in the nation, peak safety has yet to be reached. …

gun deaths USA

If you take the positions of the NRA and add them up, you can see how the world would look if the gun lobby got everything it wants: Every American would have easy access to assault weapons, gun dealers would not be required to check the criminal record and mental health history of someone before selling them a gun, the capacity of gun magazines could be near-infinite, and it would be illegal for a city to stop people from carrying guns in public. This would be a country where you could literally buy an AR-15 at Walmart, immediately put on full tactical gear worn by SWAT teams, and stroll into a school for your parent-teacher conference with another fully armed adult….

read more – Dear Gun Nuts

related – My Gun Stance

American Health Care Sucks

On By Rick McIn bad news, economics, ethics, health & fitness, product complaints, things getting worse2 Comments

John Green explains why.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via upworthy)

Obamacare slightly improves the suckiness, but not much.

gun in home 12 times more likely to shoot family / visitor than intruder

On By Rick McIn ethics, firearms, government, health & fitnessLeave a comment

An American study published in the Southern Medical Journal (2010) …

Based on a review of the available scientific data, Dr. Lippmann and co-authors conclude that the dangers of having a gun at home far outweigh the safety benefits.

Research shows that access to guns greatly increases the risk of death and firearm-related violence. A gun in the home is twelve times more likely to result in the death of a household member or visitor than an intruder.

The most common cause of deaths occurring at homes where guns are present, by far, is suicide. Many of these self-inflicted gunshot wounds appear to be impulsive acts by people without previous evidence of mental illness.

Guns in the home are also associated with a fivefold increase in the rate of intimate partner homicide, as well as an increased risk of injuries and death to children. …

details

Whether Oscar Pistorius shot and killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp out of anger, or stupidity, the fact remains that one of his many “defensive” weapons killed a loved one, not an intruder.

oscar-could-wait-y_2489969b

Before the shooting Oscar would have been a Gundamentalist, denying the danger.

Oscar was just indicted on a premeditated murder charge.

The court set March 3, 2014 as the trial date for Pistorius.

The main charge laid by prosecutors carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years in prison if Pistorius is convicted.

I’m guessing Oscar is a suicide risk.

related – Political arguments of gun politics in the United States