FitBit: Get Fit in 5 Minutes a Day

Get Fit in 5 Minutes a Day. (Yes, 5 Minutes.) by HARLEY PASTERNAK

Now that we’ve gone over healthy eating habits, it’s time to move onto something weightier—strength training.

Strength training, or resistance exercise as I prefer to call it, is when a muscle or muscle group works against a certain resistance (dumbbells, body weight, water etc…) for a short period of time. Think: push-ups, squats, bench press.

When done consistently, resistance exercise has the power to transform your body from the inside out. Besides developing stronger, more defined muscles, research shows that strength training can also help raise your metabolism—meaning your body burns more calories at rest—increase bone density (fewer fractures!), improve balance and coordination, and increase insulin sensitivity. But many people still don’t do it. Why? I uncovered five common reasons:

1. They don’t have time.
2. They don’t have or can’t afford a gym membership.
3. They don’t have the know-how to do a complex program.
4. They’re intimidated by the images they see in infomercials for workouts such as Insanity or P90X.
5. They have been injured or are afraid of getting injured.

To combat these concerns, I kept two questions in mind as I did fitness research for my book 5 Pounds: What are the most effective exercises necessary to achieve the greatest results and what is the least amount of exercise you need to do to maximize results?

After months of study, two surprising truths emerged:

1. Short, intensive workouts are more effective than longer, endurance-focused workouts.
2. Variety is as essential as intensity to getting results.

Take this study published BioMed Research International as an example. Researchers divided a group of young men into two groups: One performed one six-rep set of nine upper body exercises three times a week; the other group did three six-rep sets of the same exercises. At the end of eight weeks, all participants experienced similar increases in strength but the one-set group—who spent nearly 70 percent less time exercising—lost significantly more body fat than the three-set group.

Seventy percent less time exercising! Imagine what you could do with that time. Actually don’t. Start experiencing it. The fitness portion of My 5 plan was created with this “less is more” philosophy in mind.

Here’s how it works: Do one resistance exercise for about five minutes, seven days a week.

That’s it.

Focusing on just one exercise a day works because you’re still able to generate enough intensity to break down muscle fibers and have enough time afterward to let them recover, which is when the fibers rebuild stronger and denser than they were before.

Get started with this 5-minute workout. Over time, as you get stronger, you’ll want to increase the weight you use and the time you spend exercising—but don’t worry, it will always be manageable.

Get Fit in 5 Minutes a Day













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Maye Musk, Elon's Mom

This is Maye Musk at 72 ( Elon Musk’s South African mother @mayemusk ).. I’m planning to read her book “A Woman makes a Plan” .. I watched some YouTube interviews and looked at her Instagram.. she quotes from one of her passages in the book about posture .. and how important it is to stand up straight with your shoulders back ( this weeks theme on my Instagram). 

pc: NYT

  It’s the beauty secret of being a super model at 72. And looking young and elegant at any age. She has immaculate posture. And was trained from childhood by a father who was a doctor who was very conscious of it .. he held awards for posture in his garden once a year and invited all his patients to the ceremony. I recently checked in with a brilliant physiotherapist to see how I was going.. Pilates and aqua aerobics help so much with posture because good posture comes from a strong core. I was advised to do neck exercises ( vital!) and stretch my shoulders back so they don’t curve forwards x and walk tall. Getting older is a full time job !! -- SC

pc: wikipedia

Serena C is someone I follow on IG.  She has a way of making a variety of topics interesting - thus, I like many (but not all) of her posts. As I get older, I notice posts on older women/seniors so as to have them as an example of health and attitude.  Good posture is something we can all achieve at any age.  Other than that, the Musk family members have their own character issues (the Dad of Elon & sibs, ewwww!).  The fruit does not fall far from the tree.

But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. (Psalm 3:3)

Maye Musk

The Importance of Posture

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A Lesson From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Lessons that will cost practically nothing to implement:

By Danish Hameed

When new virulent diseases emerge, such as SARS and Covid-19, scientists and labs begin to find new vaccines and treatments for those affected. As the current crisis unfolds, governments are enforcing quarantine and isolation and public gatherings are being discouraged. Health officials took the same approach 100 years ago, when influenza was spreading around the world. Though the results were mixed, records from the 1918 pandemic suggest that a few things proved quite helpful while dealing with influenza. Some hard-won experience from the greatest pandemic in recorded history could help us in the weeks and months ahead in view of the COVID 19.
In 1918, it was recorded that severely ill flu patients nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. A combination of fresh air and sunlight seems to have prevented deaths among patients and infections among medical staff. There is scientific support for this and research show that outdoor air is a natural disinfectant. Fresh air can kill the flu virus and other harmful germs. Equally, sunlight is germicidal and there is now evidence that it can kill the flu virus as well.

Open-Air’ Treatment in 1918
During the great pandemic, two of the worst places were military barracks and troop-ships. Overcrowding and bad ventilation put soldiers and sailors at high risk of catching influenza and the other infections that often followed it. As with the current Covid-19 outbreak, most of the victims of so-called `Spanish flu’ did not die from influenza: they died of pneumonia and other complications.
When the influenza pandemic reached the East coast of the United States in 1918, the city of Boston was particularly badly hit. So the State Guard set up an emergency hospital. They took in the worst cases among sailors on ships in Boston harbour. The hospital’s medical officer had noticed the most seriously ill sailors had been in badly-ventilated spaces. So he gave them as much fresh air as possible by putting them in tents. And in good weather they were taken out of their tents and put in the sun. At that time, it was a common practice to keep sick soldiers outdoors.
Open-air therapy, as it was known, was widely brought into use when dealing with patients from the Western Front. And it became the treatment of choice for another common and often deadly respiratory infection of the time; tuberculosis. Patients were put outside in their beds to breathe fresh outdoor air. Or they were nursed in cross-ventilated wards with the windows open day and night. The open-air regimen remained popular until antibiotics replaced it in 1950s.
Doctors who had first-hand experience of open-air therapy at the hospital in Boston were convinced that the regimen was effective and the same technique was adopted elsewhere. If one report, that was published in this regard, is correct, the treatment reduced deaths among hospital patients from 40 per cent to about 13 per cent. According to the Surgeon General of the Massachusetts State Guard: “`The efficacy of open air treatment has been absolutely proven, and one has only to try it to discover its value.”

Fresh Air is a Disinfectant
Patients treated outdoors were less likely to be exposed to the infectious germs that are often present in conventional hospital wards. They were breathing clean air in what must have been a largely sterile environment. We know this because, in the 1960s, Ministry of Defence scientists proved that fresh air is a natural disinfectant. Something in it, which they called the Open Air Factor, is far more harmful to airborne bacteria — and the influenza virus — than indoor air. They couldn’t identify exactly what the Open Air Factor is. But they found it was effective both at night and during the daytime.
Their research also revealed that the Open Air Factor’s disinfecting powers can be preserved in enclosures — if ventilation rates are kept high enough. Significantly, the rates they identified are the same ones that cross-ventilated hospital wards, with high ceilings and big windows, were designed for. But by the time the scientists made their discoveries, antibiotic therapy had replaced open-air treatment. Since then the germicidal effects of fresh air have not featured in infection control, or hospital design. Yet harmful bacteria have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.

Sunlight and Influenza Infection
Putting infected patients out in the sun may have helped because it inactivates the influenza virus. It also kills bacteria that cause lung and other infections in hospitals. During the First World War, military surgeons routinely used sunlight to heal infected wounds. They knew it was a disinfectant. What they didn’t know is that one advantage of placing patients outside in the sun is that they can synthesise vitamin D in their skin if sunlight is strong enough. This was not discovered until the 1920s. Low vitamin D levels are now linked to respiratory infections and may increase susceptibility to influenza. Also, our body’s biological rhythms appear to influence how we resist infections. New researches suggest that they can alter our inflammatory response to the flu virus. As with vitamin D, at the time of the 1918 pandemic, the important part played by sunlight in synchronizing these rhythms was not known.
 https://thekashmirimages.com/2020/03/16/a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic/

Spanish Flu 1918

A Lesson From the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Spain Becomes 4th Most Coronavirus-infected Nation

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The French: Lebon Toothpaste, Hermes, Versailles and Bathing

While at the Palace of Versailles in France, I was reminded once again by our tour guide that King Louis XIV of France  -  aka, the Sun King - was not only the longest reigning monarch in Europe (72 years, 110 days), he also lived to be 76 years old and rarely if ever took a bath, eeeeeeeeeeek. He must have stunk to high heaven and beyond. So much for opulent surroundings and great-looking clothes!

I doubt that King Louis could keep this short list. Funny that the best brands -- be it the most expensive tube of toothpaste (Lebon) I have ever bought, or Chanel, or Hermes -- are from France.

 Habits Worth Doing Daily:   

• Wash your Hands Often

• Brush Your Teeth After Every Meal

Lebon Toothpaste

pc: Anthropologie

box comparison to fun-size Hershey

• Shower/Bath Every Day

pc: Domino Magazine

 Bath twice a day to be really clean, 

once a day to be passably clean,

 once a week to avoid being a public menace.

- Anthony Burgess

Sun King

LIST: Longest Reigning Monarchs

Lebon Toothpaste

About Lebon

Palace of Versailles

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Disease Control: Wash Your Hands and Other Clues

The tips and resources below will help you learn about steps you can take to protect yourself and others from flu and help stop the spread of germ.
(by the CDC: Centers for Disease Control )

1. Avoid close contact.Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.

2. Stay home when you are sick.If possible, stay home from work, school, and errands when you are sick. This will help prevent spreading your illness to others.

3. Cover your mouth and nose.Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick. Flu and other serious respiratory illnesses, like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), whooping cough, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), are spread by cough, sneezing, or unclean hands.

4. Clean your hands.Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

5. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
6. Practice other good health habits.Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at home, work or school, especially when someone is ill. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

Preventing Flu at Work and School

At School

• Find out about plans your child’s school, child care program, or college has if an outbreak of flu or another illness occurs and whether flu vaccinations are offered on-site.
• Make sure your child’s school, child care program, or college routinely cleans frequently touched objects and surfaces, and that they have a good supply of tissues, soap, paper towels, alcohol-based hand rubs, and disposable wipes on-site.
• Ask how sick students and staff are separated from others and who will care for them until they can go home.

At Work

• Find out about your employer’s plans if an outbreak of flu or another illness occurs and whether flu vaccinations are offered on-site.
• Routinely clean frequently touched objects and surfaces, including doorknobs, keyboards, and phones, to help remove germs.
• Make sure your workplace has an adequate supply of tissues, soap, paper towels, alcohol-based hand rubs, and disposable wipes.
• Train others on how to do your job so they can cover for you in case you or a family member gets sick and you have to stay home.
• If you begin to feel sick while at work, go home as soon as possible.

by RRE:  Peak flu season is from December to February.  If you're like me -- suspicious of flu shots -- the things I readily do to keep the Flu bug away (and I strongly advice my family members to do likewise) are the following:  hand-washing, daily showers, avoiding close contact with the obviously-sick, much prayer to the Lord for good health, and faithfully taking my Vitamin D with my Multi supplement. The flu shot is not even in my top 6 options. 

Simplistic & ignorant, some say, but the proof is in the pudding.  I do not get the flu often, thank God.

Best Liquid Hand Soaps

CDC: Preventing the Flu

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