That's Fit

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.

This week I got to sit down on a beautiful sunny day, in The Swamp with the very sweet, smart and athletic ESPN College GameDay Analyst Mr. Kirk Herbstreit. No, we weren't knee deep in mucky water. We were in the heart of Gator Country enjoying the breeze after Kirk completed his workout, running zillions of steps at the University of Florida football stadium, The Swamp. Kirk retired from playing football more than 15 years ago, after four years at quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes. But now, he's one of the major faces of college football. Pandemonium strikes college campuses across the country when he -- along with host Chris Fowler and analyst Lee Corso -- set up shop outside the biggest games of each week.

Kirk brings something unique to the team. Every time the GameDay crew heads to the University of Florida, I find more than just the expected crowd of rowdy football fans swarming their booth. There is always an unusual amount of females in a frenzy to get as close a look as possible into Kirk's pretty blue eyes. He's definitely worthy of the attention. From my interaction with Kirk, I think he's a genuinely nice and genuinely thoughtful person. Before we started talking fitness, Kirk shared concerns over all the violence taking place on college campuses. He's a protective father and husband who tries to excel in his career while taking care of his family. He is just plain old sweet! And even though his professional life has been built around sports, he works hard to squeeze in fitness and manage nutritious eating just like the rest of us. Kirk seems to be an expert juggler of life and shares some great tricks for staying fit on the go. He also dishes a few doozies on football.

Fitz: What types of things do you do to stay in shape?

Kirk: It's kind of a lifestyle really. As an athlete I worked out so hard, I could eat anything without paying the price for it. As I got older, I still had that appetite and I was not able to work out as hard as I did when I was playing football. What I really try to do is control my portions, and mix in cardio and strength training workouts four to five days a week. If I can do that, I feel like I'm in a pretty good place. It's just about doing it though!

Fitz: What do you do while you're on the road?

I'm literally a sobbing crying mess as I write this. I fell in love with a dying man a few weeks ago when I caught wind of him giving an amazing gift to his students, colleagues, friends and family at Carnegie Mellon University. Randy Pausch, a computer science professor gave his Last Lecture now famous on YouTube, on September 18, 2007. Randy's lecture was called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." Now, I have my own spectacular husband, but I imagine anyone who knows, or knows of Randy . . . would love him very much.

For a man whose pancreas is being destroyed by a cancer that could take his life within months . . . he was hysterical, energetic, inspirational, and relentless about the idea that life can be wonderful every day, and that his days still are. He told stories of his childhood and made one of the most insightful statements I've ever heard. "Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore? Choose!"

I wrote the other day about the death of University of Central Florida football player Ereck Plancher. Plancher collapsed on March 18 after completing team conditioning drills. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

The autopsy on Plancher is complete but is inconclusive.

More testing is necessary to determine what killed the 19-year-old. Results are expected in a few weeks.

University of Central Florida freshman football player Ereck Plancher collapsed and died yesterday during an off-season workout intended to prepare his team for the opening of spring practice.

Plancher, a redshirt freshman receiver, was leaving the Knights' indoor practice facility when he collapsed. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death will be determined by an autopsy.

Plancher's death has stunned students on UCF's Orlando campus.

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. My high school offers very few sports, but I'd like to play something. I'd like to try out for football, but my old-fashioned mother thinks that will make me a "tomboy". What do you think? Katie

A. You've come to the right place Katie! I happen to have embedded myself in the traditionally male sport of full-contact kickboxing, and you know what? It made me a better woman! Sports are sports. Whether you play with a ball, racket, gloves or sneakers...sports are just a more fun way to exercise and flex your competitive muscles. Period.

I loved getting in the ring to try and knock an opponent out. I loved the strategy, speed, and power of the event. Fighting, in fact, is one of my favorite things to do. Some of the girls I've competed against thought they had to take on some sort of macho persona. Short hair, yucky jeans, and mean snarls. I, on the other hand, preferred to act like a monster in the ring and show up to the after-party like a lady in a pretty dress and heels. Embracing my athleticism, strength and courage has allowed me to appreciate how wonderful it is to be a woman. A strong, athletic, educated woman who loves to have the doors held for her.

I just returned from ESPN the Weekend, at Disney World's Hollywood Studios. One of the highlights for me was when I stumbled across an interesting conversation between football all-stars Donovan McNabb, Chris Carter, Tony Gonzalez and a few others. The men were on an open stage being interviewed my Mike Greenberg of the Mike and Mike Show. What caught my attention was the taunting of Tony Gonzalez with strange veggie jokes. Why were they poking fun at this "lettuce man"? Little Miss Fitzness had to stop and listen.

The taunting was followed by Kansas City Chief tight-end Tony defending his vegan lifestyle. I was both surprised and impressed. Tony was bragging about his ability to jump rope and hit the weight room while his teammates were stuck in the mud the day after a game. He's beaten lethargy, increased his energy, and found many more fascinating benefits since he changed his eating habits. The nearly 250 pound tight end is not someone anyone would guess to be a vegan, but I think that's why he's so neat.

I just returned from a place I've decided to be Man Heaven. Man Heaven is a place where loads and loads of men dressed in various colored athletic jerseys giddily board trams with feverish excitement to spend time with their favorite sports heroes. These men were squirming in their seats, beaming bright smiles and high-fiving their way all the way to the entrance gates of Disney World's Hollywood Studios. ESPN the Weekend is Man Heaven.

The weekend was filled with endless opportunities to meet, train with, question and listen to America's favorite ESPN stars: Donovan McNabb, Tony Gonzalez, Hershel Walker, John Stockton, Cal Ripken Jr., Chris Carter and more. Oodles of ESPN Sportscasters took stages across the park hosting their own scheduled and aired ESPN shows, and also hosted other fun question and answer sessions with the stars of Man Heaven.

That's hard to believe isn't it? After all, this is the man that had a whole movie named after his famed curved free kicks. But the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer star feels that, though he's been training, he's not fit for a match right now. Becks, also a member of England's National team, is jonesing for his 100th England Cap. But his fitness level could keep him on the bench as it did during this month's match against Switzerland. On his blog, Beckham stated that he respected the manager's opinion to sit him out of that match. He's racing against time in hopes to be "match ready" by the March 26th soccer duel between France and England. He could become the first player to earn 100 England Caps.

Beckham is used to breaking records. He was the first England player to score in three world cups. He's one of only five players (including Pele... that's some great company there) in World Cup history to score twice from a direct free kick. And he's captained England's team 58 times -- one of the most in history.

Even though the Super Bowl is over, there are still plenty of great sports match-ups for fans to enjoy (I'm personally enjoying the stellar season the Celtics have had so far). As great as that is, there is an apparent downside to being a sports fan.

A study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine revealed that emergency room admissions were 40 percent higher in the hours following televised sporting events than on similar days when there were not any games taking place.

As it may be expected, these results centered around men (also known as the Gender That is Too Consumed with Weeing the End of the Game to Check Themselves into the E.R. to Deal with that Nagging Pain in their Chest -- or G.T.C.S.E.G.C.T.E.R.D.N.P.C. for "short".).

The published results came from a 3-year study held at the University of Maryland Medical Center. After reviewing records of emergency room visitation in the hours immediately following a televised sporting event, the researchers found that 50% more men showed up after a football game than while it was taking place. Baseball saw similar results, with 30 to 40% more men arriving to the emergency room after the final out had been called than during the game. Being that I didn't see any figures realted to basketball games, I feel like I can breathe a little easier.

I'm writing to both congratulate and brag a bit about the newly announced Heisman trophy winner, Tim Tebow of the Florida Gators. I'm a Gator. I've earned all of my degrees up through my Master's at the University of Florida and am very proud of this young man. The first sophomore ever honored with this award.

Being great at football is one thing, and boy is he great at football. But, Tebow is the kind of kid you want to chase down and give a big congratulatory bear hug to. He's of great moral value, strong in academics and more humble than he should be. When millionaire athletes seem to be making both reckless and criminal decisions on a daily basis, Tebow just keeps getting "gooder". "More gooder", as my friend Izzy would say.

It's the day after Thanksgiving. You're probably still lounging around amid relatives. I'm not going to tell you to go light on the turkey sandwiches or make a break for it and hit the gym, hoping your family won't miss you.

But if your family missed out on being one of the thousands to participate in a backyard Turkey Bowl yesterday, how about rounding them all up for a good old fashioned family football game today? Even if you threw a pigskin yesterday, what's wrong with going for Round 2? Keep it friendly. Include the little ones. Remember you're not Braylon Edwards. Far from it. Even 10 years ago.

My husband forgot this fact two years ago when a heroic catch led to knee surgery and months of PT. Don't do this. Be careful. Burn off some mashed potatoes and gravy. Have fun.

I was stuck in a traffic jam today on the way to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I and the bazillion others stuck on the Florida Turnpike had our engines off for over thirty minutes while an accident up ahead was being attended to. Most of us just kind of loitered near our cars, but a group of men and boys actually got together on the side of the road to play some football (pictured at right). Hmmm.

I suppose it was safe in that they certainly were in no threat of being hit by a car, but it just seemed a little weird. In fact, since oncoming traffic was completely stopped as well and the lanes opposite mine were completely empty, a group of teenagers spent some time skateboarding in them. Weird. Lesson being, always come prepared for fitness? Keep some sports equipment in your car for traffic jams? I don't know. It was just a little funny to see.

A few days ago, I asked Is football making you fat? Not many owned up to it, but I suspect that one too many pizza-and-beer binges on Football Sunday have packed on a few extra pounds. Now, I'm not here to lecture you -- go ahead and enjoy your football diet if you want. But if you're going to keep it up, why not balance it out with the Football Workout?

Yahoo Health recently posted on the workout regime of the Baltimore Ravens. It looks pretty darn hard, so I'm sure if you followed it, you could work off at least a few of those beers you downed, particularly if you're used to spending most of your time on the couch. To find out more about the workout, click here.

How do you manage to stay trim during football season?

Football is a sport that can burn a ton of calories. But guess what? That's only if you play it. If your idea of participating in a football game is wolfing down some beer and hot dogs while you cheer on your favourite team, chances are this 'sport' is making you fat.

Still, taking in a football game wouldn't be the same without the junk food. Here are some tips:

• Compensate. If you know you're going to be indulging, get up early and head to the gym for a couple of hours before kick-off.
• Remember, moderation is the key. A few cheesy nachos isn't so bad, but a few dozen will pack a calorie wallop.
  
• Pick your battles. If the Pats are your favourite team, don't go crazy when it's the Seahawks vs. the Steelers. Save your partying for the Pats games.
• Host the guys (or girls) at your house. When the game's on your home turf, you can make sure the snacks are healthy, or at least healthier.
  
• Play it. Instead of always watching it from the couch, why not organize a game of pick-up in your backyard before or after the game?

How do you celebrate football season without ruining your diet?

Also:

• Is there such a thing as healthy holiday snacking?
• Fighting obesity can save the planet
• Are obesity ads too soft on fat?

Imagine working so physically hard you can't keep on the pounds. Imagine stuffing your face until you can stomach it no longer. Imagine being called lanky and undersized, despite the overload of fuel you consistently dump into your body. For some University of Florida football players, this is no lesson in imagination. This is reality.

It seems a bit backwards in a day and age when overeating is taboo -- and terribly unhealthy -- but every Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM, several Florida players meet at a campus dining hall for The Breakfast Club. Their mission: Pack on the pounds. With their strength and conditioning coordinator and nutritionists looking on, these guys eat as much food as they can tolerate. They eat eggs, pancakes, anything to help them gain weight, says freshman Duke Lemmens who weighs in at 240 pounds but still has room to grow.

"We don't really like it but it's for our own good," says Lemmens. "It makes me not want to eat anymore."