UnitedStates-related stories
Celebrity Fitzness Report: Gold Medal Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson
Celebrity Fitzness Report, Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements
Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly, our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.
Pound for pound, Shawn Johnson would probably be the strongest member of the U.S. Army ... if she were in it. This petite 16 year old can do an insane amount of pull-ups on her first set alone, and has more drive than any NASCAR vehicle on the road. Wouldn't you love to have the strength, stamina and flexibility she's earned? Take some of the advice she gives here, and you may do just that. Just like the brilliant medals she won in Bejing this summer, Shawn's advice is golden!
Fitz: How many hours a week do you train before a competition?
Shawn: Before the Olympics I was training about 26 hours in the gym a week and up to five hours out of the gym running and swimming... doing anything extra I could.
Fitz: Your upper-body strength is amazing. How many pushups and pullups can you do?
Fit Factor: The body politic
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements
Come November 4th, 2008, a new President will be elected into office in the United States. This much we know almost with certainty. What is not known, however, is who that person will be. While I would love to wax on about my political beliefs and who I think the next person will be to sit in the Oval Office, I have no interest in causing a war of words -- polemics aren't really our thing here on That's Fit. Things concerning the human body? Yeah, that's more our speed. To that end, there are very specific physical traits that many of our past Presidents have possessed, some of which may serve as a predictor of who will win the race for the White House. Newsweek recently used this criteria to create a physical feature-by-feature breakdown of how John McCain and Barack Obama may fare come November.
Here's a summary of their findings...
HEIGHT: Four of the last nine elections have been won by the shorter candidate, giving the 5'7" McCain a fighting chance against the 6'3" Obama. However, in most of those cases the height disparity was not significant, whereas in this case McCain is giving up 6 inches to Obama. The last time anyone overcame such a blatant difference in height was in 1852. What's more, we haven't had a shorter-than-average President since the 5'6" Benjamin Harrison. Advantage: Obama
Workplace Fitness: Are you working in one of the most sedentary cities?
It's no secret that one of the biggest obstacles for all of us in our quest to be healthy and physically active as adults is the overwhelming and growing number of sedentary career and job options. In the olden days everybody, spare the king maybe, had to work physically for their living in some form or another and as a result it was much easier to be fit naturally as a course of living. Now I'm not suggesting we trade in our computer desks and telephones for the technology and science-impaired lifestyles of ages past (I'll pass on catching Polio, thank you) but we definitely have to do something to get moving. This is ridiculous.Obesity and lazy sloth-like lifestyles are linked to more than 112,000 deaths each year and also feed into countless chronic and potentially deadly conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Forbes recently compiled a list of the nation's 20 most sedentary cities -- are you in one of them?
Arthritis drug Prexige pulled in Canada and Australia
An osteoarthritis drug called Prexige has been taken off the shelves and can no longer be sold in Canada after Health Canada decided to pull the product. The drug was approved in November 2006 as a treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee and later was approved to treat general osteoarthritis symptoms in adults.
However, patients -- including two in Canada -- began reporting serious liver problems after taking the drug. Australia was the first country to pull Prexige and the United States rejected the drug altogether due to concerns over these side-effects.
Those who have been prescribed Prexige who want more information on the story can look here, and should visit their doctors in order to find an appropriate treatment to replace the drug.
Soccer in the spotlight: Get fit, make friends and have fun
Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements, Men's Health
With the FIFA Under-20 World Cup going on right now in various city's throughout Canada, and with kids getting excited about having hip soccer mega-star David Beckham playing for the L.A. Galaxy, soccer's (aka football) popularity is soaring among youth across North America.
The world's most popular sport has never gotten the same kind of play on this continent (with the exception of Mexico, where it's always been huge) as it has around the globe, but that's all starting to change. Soccer is quickly becoming one of the most popular recreational sports among younger kids, with leagues starting for children as young as 3-years-old. Sure, the little ones don't really know the rules but it gives them a chance to run around, have fun and begin to develop a love of the game.
Even adults who previously joined softball teams are getting into things. I've got a group of girlfriends, the majority of whom have never played before, who have created their own team this year just for the fun of it. Most of the team is pushing 30 and many have kids under 18-months-old. It's great exercise and it gives everyone a chance to get out and socialize. If you want to get in the game, take a look at the US Soccer Federation site for all kinds of info.
It's a small world, but we're all getting bigger!
Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment
Countries that are the hardest hit by this trend are in the South Pacific. As ties between the countries in this area and Westernized countries like the U.S. and New Zealand strengthen, the region sees more and more imports of processed foods heavy in fat in sugar. Urbanization is another culprit. People move away from their rural lifestyles, and away from the heavy labor and local food supply as well. These types of changes put countries like Nauru, with 94.5% of its adult population overweight, at the top of the list.
Experts warn that you really can't compare obesity rates country by country, but it's important to note that the trends are rising across the board. For a list of the "world's fattest countries," go here.























