That's Fit

On Monday, I graduated from my rehab stint. Physical therapy rehab, that is. There was no big ceremony or anything. Just me and my therapist reviewing my progress over the past five weeks. It was pretty enlightening, what we talked about, and I left the clinic feeling both successful and motivated.

When I first walked through my rehab clinic doors, I wasn't sure anything could be done to fix the tightness, the limited range of motion, the sometimes pain I felt in the area of my left arm. It had been three long years since I'd had surgery to remove a breast cancer tumor, after all, and almost that long since radiation zapped the whole cancerous area. Both are to blame for what I was experiencing and the way I considered it, if my problems weren't solved long ago, there was little that could be done now.

I was wrong.

My therapist took tons of measurements when we first started working together. I moved, bent, stretched, pushed, and pulled so she could record numbers of all sorts. Then we spent weeks on our tasks. She massaged and manipulated and broke down scar tissue, stiffness, knots. Armed with weekly exercises, I stretched and strengthened by body at home. Together, we achieved victory -- my improved numbers prove it. I'm responsible for 50 percent of the success, my therapist tells me. She takes credit for the other 50 percent.

Before I left my final appointment, my expert shared a few parting words. Here they are.

• My posture is better. She could tell the moment I walked in the door. Must be the exercise in standing tall she'd given me during one visit and my new awareness of the poor posture I'd been carrying with me all these years.

• I should be sleeping on my back, not on my side. Back sleepers enjoy better alignment and less rounding of the shoulders -- one of my posture problems. My assignment from this moment on is to sleep on my back with one relatively flat pillow under my head. I should make sure my pillow fills the gap between my neck and my bed. I should enjoy the benefits of this technique immensely, says my therapist.

• Keep at it, says this same gal who streamlined all my at-home exercises and told me precisely what I need to do to hang on to the results the two of us have achieved.

A few years ago, I helped my (female) friend move. Moving is one of those jobs that tends to be delegated to men by default, but I figured we could handle it. After all, we're a couple of strong, independent chicks. And the whole thing went pretty smoothly -- until it came time to life the large TV onto the high dresser. I could not lift it above my head, no matter what. The lack of strength I had in my shoulders was painfully evident.

Shoulders are an oft forgotten part of the body, but they're just as important as the bigger muscle groups--working on them will not only increase your strength but help prevent injury too. Here are some exercises that will tone your shoulders, making them sleek, sexy and best of all, strong:

Summer may be coming to a close but now is as good a time as every to work on getting beautifully toned and sexy arms. With the weather getting cooler and routines starting to take shape again after all the summer craziness it just might be the perfect time to start a new goal. And since you can get buff arms in just 4 moves it can't be too hard to work it into your existing workout, right?

I know I need to work on this area because I always end up working my legs during cardio while my arms get almost completely neglected. Not any more!

Physically interactive games are all the rage lately, with the most common examples belonging to the Nintendo Wii game system. But pretending to swing a golf club and play the guitar are one thing while arm wrestling in a Japanese arcade with the "Arm Spirit" game is something else altogether -- you could end up with a broken arm.

Game makers insist that the mechanical arm players "wrestle" with quote "isn't that strong," but they still can't explain how 3 different players ended up with broken arms. They're recalling the 150 "Arm Spirits" from arcades around Japan to check them for malfunctions, although a rep says "We think that maybe some players get overexcited and twist their arms in an unnatural way."

Yikes. Did they get their quarters back?

The iLimb, from Touch Bionics, is now generally available and has been successfully fitted to patients all across the U.S. and in Europe. The iLimb is a big deal because it not only looks like a real human hand but it acts like one too, with 5 individually powered fingers and the ability to sense when enough pressure has been applied in delicate situations like picking up a glass or holding someone's hand. And it can even be adapted to fit people who only need a partial hand due to missing fingers from accident, war, or congenital defect.

This iLimb totally looks like something out of the movie iRobot, don't you think? Must be the white plastic.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Dear Fitz, I need to lose only five pounds and want to rev up my walking program in the hope that I can lose these last few pounds. I wear wrist weights thinking this will boost my metabolism. Do you have any suggestions on how to make a walking program more intense? I have heard about walking poles but I'm not sure this is the answer and I think I would feel silly using them on the city streets -- thinking I would look "strange." So if you have any suggestions as to how to put more OOMPH in my walking to lose these few pounds, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. Thanks. Judith

A. Hey Judith. Love your ambition, and I'm so glad you asked the question. First of all, I do not ever recommend using wrist weights while walking. Adding weight to your wrists will only adding strain to the elbow and shoulder joints as you swing your arms back and forth. Plus they really serve no great benefit to you anyway. Small weights wouldn't amp up your calorie burn significantly and if you want to build the muscles in your arms you'd be much better off just doing specific strength training exercises for your arms!

In order to challenge yourself while walking you can do several things. Walk faster. Walk at an incline. If you don't have hills in your city, find some stairs or use a treadmill on occasion. Adding weighted resistance can be a great idea, but the wrist or ankle weights are definite no-no's. Instead you can look in to a weighted vest. This type of resistance is well-balanced, and will not strain your joints. Weighted vests can make things more challenging as you can carry significant weight this way. You can use a vest with anywhere from 10-40 pounds, and increase the weight as you progress. The benefit of using an actual fitness vest instead of a backpack full of books is that the weight is distributed evenly across your chest, ribs and back.

As far as looking funny goes,forget about it Judith! I think for the most part, when we see others exercising we're more envious and impressed than anything else. If you're working toward better health, you'll always be cool and that's a fact. Click here to check out the weighted vests. Let me know when your five pounds disappear! Fitz

Q. Hey Fitz. I'm 14 and I weigh around 118 lbs. Sometimes I feel too thin. How can I gain muscle without losing weight and getting smaller? Stacy

Just thought I'd share one of the cutest things that happen in my house. My husband has confiscated and is now in posession of my deodorant. Of course, he may get even with me for telling you this, but he uses my Lady Speed Stick and it works well. In fact, the reason he uses it is due to the men's deodorant creating a weird chemical reaction with his body. The 'guy stuff' would leave odd stains on his shirts and create funky odors.

What makes it all so great is that he's this big perfectly muscular and athletic guy who is a police officer. He's totally all the manly guy things in the world, but his armpits smell like strawberries and I think it's adorable. More importantly, the deodorant works and that's how this is all relevant to you. I buy the Lady Speed Stick clear drying deodorant in strawberry and it's awesome.

I spend all day in the gym and after he runs seven miles and lifts weights (then showers), Rob spends all day in a bullet proof vest. From what I've been told we don't smell half bad. The clear drying stuff is terrific because I wear a ton of tank tops and the last thing I'd want is yucky white stains on my shirts. Lady Speed Stick seem to cost less than the other deodorants on the shelf and it also comes in Cool Coconut, Berry Blossum and Pink Crush. The scents are fun, so give em a try. You can smell fruity instead of smelly too.

In my world, right after 'tight abs' comes 'sculpted arms' on the list of the most "impossible to attain," and the most "impossible to maintain," fitness goals. But maybe I've just been missing out on some secrets? Hm.

This article has 5 tips to getting beautifully sexy arms, including things like using antagonist workouts, perfecting the timing between sets, perfecting your form when you're doing toning moves, and making room for "specialization days" in your workout. Of course you'll also have to lower your overall body fat, but I think we all knew that one already.

Some of these do sound like helpful tips, and I'll definitely give them a try. But I still think my main problem is something else: discipline discipline discipline!

Push-ups are by far my favorite upper body exercise. In fact, if you had to choose only one exercise to do for your upper body for the rest of your life.......you better pick the push-up. This all in one exercise works just about every muscle above your hip and then some. No other strength training exercise has the ability to work your chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearm, abs, erector spinae (low back), glutes, calves, anterior tibialis (over your shin), neck. and more. Not only are they the best, they're something almost everybody can do. Barring spinal injuries and rotator cuffs, unless you've specifically been told not to do push-ups.....you should do them.

Here's a bunch of fun ways to do a push-up, in order from easiest to hardest. Keep in mind, your back should always be straight, Your tushy should not sag down, or stick up. Breath, breath, breath. Suffocation is rarely useful. I normally start my clients with three sets. Do the most you can possibly do on your first, rest and repeat two times. You'll be surprised at how quickly you progress.

Level 1:

Wall push-ups. Hands on wall, feet on floor about a foot away. Push out.

On knees, butt high. Hands and feet shoulder width apart on ground, push-up.

On knees butt flat. Hands and feet shoulder width apart on ground, push-up.

I'm definitely more of a pear-shape, so I've never really given much thought to my arms when it comes to the whole fitness/body image thing. That is, until I started doing yoga about 2 and a half years ago and realized that positions that others can do with ease, such as downward dog, were a struggle for me because I was severely lacking in arm strength. After that, I began paying attention to my arms and noticed, with horror, that when I hold my arms out to make a T shape, I actually had these saddlebag things that wiggle. Ick. You know how wen daffy duck tries to show off his muscles and a section of his upper arm droops into a U shape? That's how I felt.

So, in the interest of cute tops and not embarrassing myself in yoga class, I've set out to make my arms as strong as my legs, which are toned from endless hours of walking, running and climbing up stairs.

In today's fast paced world, getting hurt or injured can put a serious kink in your plans. Whether it's something major like a broken bone, or minor like a paper cut, I'm sure most of us would agree that the faster it heals the better.

So, what if you do break your arm? Believe it or not, there is something you can do to help that cast or sling come off faster than it would with usual methods: ask your doctor about ultrasound therapy. Ultrasonic waves stimulate cell growth in the broken bone, and can save you as much as one third the time, or 2 months, of invalid status.

Other remedies for speedy recovery? Put antiperspirant on a nick from shaving, have steak and cranberry juice for dinner to cure a urinary tract infection, and moisturize moisturize moisturize a skin scrape. Click here for other creative healing ideas for things like headaches, blisters, and side stitches.

I'm seriously curious now if any of these really work?