Stirton.net

Teaching Tenacity

stirton — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:24:40 +0000

Probably not a day goes by in which each U.S. citizen is not in some way reminded of the need to exercise. National and community-based exercise promotion campaigns, advertisements from fitness centers and equipment manufacturers, television news and the print media all confirm the validity of exercise for maintaining/improving physical and psychological health. The recently released Surgeon General’s report18 has stated to the public, in no uncertain terms, that a sedentary lifestyle is toxic to health.

Why, then, are individuals largely unable to maintain exercise programs? It can be confidently predicted, through extensive research, that 50 percent of those undertaking regular exercise will quit within six months of starting. How can the fitness industry change this rate, given that a great amount of education is already in place? Possibly, we can learn from past failures. Possibly, education and information are not as closely linked to behavior change for the better as was thought.

I have been critical of the fitness industry for not being sensitive enough to clients’ inabilities to spontaneously adapt to their new exercise situations.1 Although many in the fitness industry seemingly find it hard to believe, exercise is like work for the average new participant. Muscle fatigue, boredom and feelings of exertion are not akin to a pleasurable state for most.

For many, exercise experiences are connected with feelings of discomfort, displeasure and frustration. Couple this with a frequent perception of being out of place, in an arena where everyone appears to know what to do and how to do it, and a high likelihood of dropout emerges.

While education regarding the need for physical activity brings large numbers into an attractive, well-staffed, state-of-the-art facility, keeping sufficiently more clients than are lost requires large-scale, directed efforts that enhance their ability to adapt to exercise. As an industry, let’s take a look at where we have been, where we are and where we need to go.

Exercise During Pregnancy

stirton — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:58:18 +0000

Pregnancy is no time to start running marathons if you’ve never done it before. But there are plenty of things you can do to stay in shape during your pregnancy, even if you’re not already a world-class athlete.

Before starting any exercise program, talk to your midwife or physician to make sure it’s safe for you to begin. Common reasons to avoid exercise in pregnancy include vaginal bleeding or if you have a history of pre-term labor.

If you have a major medical illness like heart disease or diabetes, talk to your doctor first, but in many cases, mild exercise such as walking or swimming is OK. In fact, swimming is an ideal exercise for pregnant women, along with low-impact aerobics, walking and dancing. Weight training is also fine, in moderation.

It is critically important to drink enough water while exercising and to avoid exercising outdoors when the weather is hot and humid. Dehydration is dangerous for the mother and fetus. The baby’s temperature is higher than yours to begin with and increases slightly when you exercise. That’s why drinking water is so important. And, water is what your body needs; there’s no need for expensive sports drinks.

If you are a trained athlete such as a runner or a cross-country skier, you will probably be able to pursue your sport throughout the pregnancy. Expect to slow down in the last half of the third trimester, and remember that you may have a hard time catching your breath.

Your body will change in a number of ways to accommodate the growing fetus.
Your ligaments get looser from hormonal changes so your pelvis can enlarge during delivery.
Your center of gravity changes, moving forward due to the weight of the baby and of the increased size of your breasts, making any exercise that involves balance, like skiing, much more difficult.
Your lower (lumbar) spine curves forward due to the change in your center of gravity, making you more prone to low back pain.
Although it’s best to remain active, there are certain sports that should be avoided during pregnancy. They include:

scuba diving
snowboarding
downhill skiing (after the first trimester)
competitive sports in which there is a risk of abdominal trauma or of falling including ice hockey, soccer, basketball, gymnastics and horseback riding

Exercise is not harmful to the baby in a normal pregnancy. Most babies grow well even if their mothers exercise. Some studies have suggested a bit less body fat among the infants of women who exercise strenuously during pregnancy. If you experience heat exhaustion or your doctor finds that the baby isn’t growing normally, it’s best to stop working out until after your delivery.

Staying in shape through walking and swimming has dozens of benefits in pregnancy. It burns calories so that you can keep your weight in check and helps you digest food more easily and avoid constipation. Exercise improves circulation and keeps your body from retaining fluid and decreases your chances of getting varicose veins. The muscle tone you’ll gain will help you in your delivery and in getting back in shape after the baby is born.

So, if you’re not pregnant yet, now is a good time to start exercising, and even if you are pregnant, moderate exercise, even a regular brisk walk, can pay off.

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Getting the Word Out

stirton — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:21:06 +0000

The traditional way to get your newsletter to your members is through the mail, and this option can still be the best. There are, however, less costly ways to send out a newsletter.

Many fitness facilities have their newsletter on their website. They may do this in addition to mailing it to their members. An e-newsletter is also an option, where you simply email your newsletter to members.

This is time-efficient, saves money and makes keeping your mailing list updated simple. You can also include links to bring your members to your website or to newsletter sponsors.

Member response

According to Kove, her members love the newsletter: “Member response to our newsletter [is] wonderful. On our six-month and yearly surveys, we ask our members [what] the best way [is] for us to inform them of new programs and events, and the newsletter is always the No. 1 response.”

Are you Part of a Caring Staff

stirton — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:43:25 +0000

Instructors play a significant role in client retention and how members view the aerobics program. When new students walk into the room, are they greeted warmly? Do you briefly go over with them what to expect from the class and discuss safety precautions?

One of the worst insults is to be ignored — especially when it’s at a time when attention is needed the most, as with new students. An instructor who walks in at the last minute, pops in a tape and says “Let’s go!” isn’t going to win any loyalty from participants.

Early in my career as an aerobics director, a member once approached me and said, “I’ve made the decision to go to a different health club as soon as my membership runs out here.” I found out it had nothing to do with the schedule, the equipment or the facility. It was simply that “Nobody on the staff ever says ‘Hi’ to me.” It was a lesson I never forgot. Just saying “Hi” may seem insignificant to most of us, but to a new student or to someone feeling down, it can carry a lot of power. While we concentrate on meeting the fitness needs of our students, we sometimes forget to meet the human need to be recognized as individuals.

Understanding the importance of getting to know students by their first names and developing a caring, nurturing attitude will pay off in increased participation.

Schedule classes so there is at least 15 minutes between each one so you have adequate time to chat with students and answer questions. If your club’s schedule is too tight, designate an area where instructors and students can meet after class.

Ongoing, friendly interaction between the instructor and students will go a long way toward keeping aerobics participants enthusiastic. A sincere, well-timed compliment can be a powerful motivater. When negative feedback is required, begin with positive praise, then work toward the correction.

The Weekly News In Review

stirton — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:43:45 +0000

Despite its failure to attract any contestants at all, a government-backed Argentinian television network is going ahead with its proposed new game show: “Who Wants To Be President?”

“We believe we have a unique concept here,” a spokesman claimed. “Instead of the winner taking all, the loser will be forced to become president.”

Upon further questioning, the spokesman admitted that the very prospect of becoming Argentinian president is also the biggest drawback in the show’s concept, “but we’re working on it.” It is unclear at present whether the “loser” (president) will be chosen through a vote of viewers or a vote of the other contestants.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get it built,” the spokesman said.

Ornery Reports staff are experiencing difficulties in tracking down reports that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is so desperate to hang onto control of something that he has offered his services both to Argentina and to Enron Corporation.

Enron Corporation officials acknowledged that, while Mugabe has years of experience running an economy into the ground and seeking to corrupt the political process, they do not plan to contact him should the position of CEO come open.

“We are perfectly happy with Kenneth Lay’s performance to date,” the source advised.

Meanwhile, the US will be using 2,000 military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to train for work in one of the remaining growth industries in the US – prisons.

Said a spokesman, “we figure once these soldiers have handled Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners, they’ll be ready to move right into positions with federal, state, and local prisons and jails guarding just about anybody.”

Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, calls Guantanamo Bay the “least worst” place to which the US can send captured Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners. He refused to answer press questions as to what location would be the “most best.”

Rumors persist that the US would have housed these “unlawful combatants” at the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump if not for the strident opposition of environmentalists.

“President Bush himself admits that these al Qaeda and Taliban detainees are highly dangerous (read: toxic to the environment), so why should we Nevadans have to suffer them on top of nuclear waste?” said one.

Bush administration officials, though maintaining “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between terrorists and nuclear waste”, succumbed to pressure in an effort to shore up the president’s stance as “a friend of the environment.”

Bush administration officials also moved to quash reports that the importation of al Qaeda and Taliban “unlawful combatants” into Cuba signalled a softening of the long-time embargo against that island nation.

“While it is true that Cuba’s crop of domestically-trained terrorists has lagged far behind the times, we have no intention of lifting the ban on terrorist imports,” said a source. “We are simply training military personnel to become corrections officers.”

Finally, the Republican Party has issued a blanket denial of persistent reports that it “has been in bed with” various energy companies.

“We state unequivocally that we did not have sex with those corporations,” a Republican source declared.

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Staff Gratuities

stirton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:38:07 +0000

In November of 1995, Pierpoint decided to give its members a chance to show its holiday gratitude to the staff. A letter was sent to all members informing them of the creation of an “Employee Holiday Fund.” The members were invited to contribute to the fund, if they wished.

No one knew at first how the program would be received. The club was making a fairly unorthodox request, after all, and there was no way to anticipate the reaction. But the club had high hopes. Previous to the creation of the fund, members had thanked the staff with cards, cookies and candy. Now they could do something really special.

“We were very pleased with the results,” said assistant manager Pamela Stewart. “Our members felt this was a very positive way to say ‘thank you’ to our team. We had 79 members contributing, which is 8.2 percent of our membership.

We had gifts ranging from $5 to $100, with an average contribution of $21.20. We were able to distribute $1,675. Every employee received a portion of this; with gifts ranging from $10 up to $100.”

Everyone was a winner, and because the program was so popular with the membership, the club has elected to continue it indefinitely. “We were a little apprehensive about starting the program because we didn’t want anybody to feel obligated or pressured to contribute,” Stewart admits. “However, it was so well-received that it will be a program that will be continued for many years to come.”

GhandiaTed Explosion, Part 2

stirton — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:11:49 +0000

Reader’s comment: “There are two sides, and although each has responsibility Ted did what was decent and necessary for the energy flow to be restored. Ghandia is stuck in a time warp and must learn to forgive herself and others.”

Given the fact that the cameras were on them all night, I wonder why they didn’t show anything Ghandia mentioned. Is it because Ted really did not nibble her shoulder and rub her hair? Maybe. Then again, recall Clarence and the bean incident. They could’ve showed this as well, but instead they chose to let everyone speculate just as they may be doing now.

Reader’s comment: “According to Lex and Lindsey, in Africa, the cameras are only on them for a little bit at night. That is why no one knew Lex had an autistic child, he only talked about it at night because he didn’t want it on camera. Apparently it is too expensive to run 16 night vision cameras just to watch people sleep, however, since the cameras are on for some of the night-it’s possible the survivors would not know if they were being filmed at that moment or not, which makes Ghandia more believable about the biting, etc. ”

Do I think Ghandia imagined the nibbling and hair rubbing? No.
Is it possible Ted grinded her without realizing it? Yes.
Could Ted unconsciously nibble and rub hair? I doubt it. This is quite a stretch.
Did I believe Ted was sincere when he apologized? Yes.
Will this happen again? No way.
Should Ghandia have simply stopped him when it first started happening? Yes.
Should Ted have done this in the first place? No.
Is either one of them perfectly innocent? No.
Are you as ready as I am to change the subject? I hope so.

The meeting ended. Everyone said it’s a clean slate, yada yada, but I didn’t feel like anything was really resolved. It seemed like Ghandia still thought what she thought and that some people still doubted Ted.

Either way, if I were in that tribe, even if I thought Ted DID try to get with Ghandia, I wouldn’t vote him out because that would increase the chances of my tribe losing immunity challenges, which would, in turn, increase my chances of losing out of a million dollars. Call me selfish. Call me immoral. Doesn’t matter to me. What happened between two people I’ve known but a week would be insignificant to bringing home mega-bucks for my family.

GhandiaTed Explosion, Part 1

stirton — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:36:44 +0000

Ghandia went nutso. One of her issues with Ted was that he was going to act like nothing happened. From what I understand about rape victims, not being believed or actually being blamed is far too common, unfortunately. It’s an immense source of pain and it’s easy to see why Ghandia freaked when she heard that Ted denied it.

Ghandia screamed and threw rocks and cursed and name-called and punched a log and chopped a piece of bamboo until the Red Beret took the axe out of her hand. Clay likened her to a 2-year-old throwing a fit who needs a good ass-whoopin’.

Ted stated what seems to be the general consensus of most people on the boards, “Ghandia was making an issue that was very, very small and could’ve been handled in a very professional, one-to-one manner and has exploded it into an issue that goes beyond me and beyond this game.”

Reader’s comment: “Ted’s excuse may be ridiculous, but on two occasions he earnestly confessed to what happened, and appeared to want to reconcile it with Gandhia, and then with the tribe (once she made it public). Can Gandhia shut up long enough to hear his apology, or is she so focused on what she’s saying next that what someone else says doesn’t matter?” – Howard

Another comment: “I have posted quite frequently on RealityTVfans site and have read other contributors’ views. The consensus of opinion seems to be that Robb is an overbearing but intellectually challenged doofus but a great source of entertainment, and that the Ghandia and Ted drama has most people thinking that Ghandia is overreacting and unwilling to take responsibility for her part. It would have been as easy as getting up and walking away.”

I’m not saying that Ghandia’s reaction was wrong. All I am saying is that she reacted irrationally but that her reaction was perfectly understandable.

The fact that she conveniently left out Ted’s apology and painted him in the most negative light possible, well that’s a different story. There’s no excuse for that.

Ted and Ghandia called a tribe meeting. He described without the least bit of prompting or denial how he had grinded Ghandia in his sleep and that when he realized what was happening, he immediately stopped. He explained how he apologized to Ghandia and how it would never happen again.

Ghandia mentioned that he had denied it to Brian, but she refused to hear that just seconds earlier Ted admitted to grinding her.

The argument then shifted to how he nibbled her shoulder and rubbed her hair. He emphatically denied this and said that he is “not even attracted” to Ghandia and that he is 150-200% happy with his wife. (Spoken like a true software guru. I guess this means that he’s really happy with her.)

From Ghandia’s actions (playing with the sand, eye contact only when she speaks, not directly responding to anything Ted said), I’m thinking that Ghandia refuses to accept Ted’s apology and probably STILL thinks that Ted would like to “get with her.”

The Margins of Classical Homoeopathy, Part 2

stirton — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:39:11 +0000

A week later she rang to say there was no change so I posted a further dropper bottle of the same combination remedy with instructions to again take two drops per day. I did not hear from her for over a month, but then she called at my practise, without appointment, and waited to see me between patients. She just wanted to show me her clear complexion of which she was justly proud. The cure was complete. At last it was a complete cure, as far as the patient was concerned. She was clear of a disfiguring skin problem and that was why she had come to me.

There has been no relapse and the last time I saw this client, some four months later, for a recurrence of her gastric problems, I gave her a single does of her constitutional, Arsenicum 200C which cleared the problem without a need for further consultations. She is still taking Amlodipine.
Conclusions

In this article I have presented a view of a very controversial aspect of homoeopathy, and I hope to have provoked some deep thought. I also hope to have caused some consternation amongst my colleagues, especially those who are strictly classical.

If that includes you, please do write in and state your view. I would like to see much discussion on these marginal aspects of homoeopathy and I am sure the editor will be able to find room in future issues for letters and articles discussing these matters.

The FDA Is Doing Its Job. Part 2

stirton — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:51:52 +0000

In 1999, two similar agents for diabetes treatment were approved and marketed — SmithKline Beecham’s Avandia, and Lilly’s Actos. Thus far, the liver toxicity that led to 63 deaths among those on Rezulin has not been seen with these drugs.

Last week, as a result of standard post-marketing surveillance, and given the availability of the newer, safer agents, the FDA sensibly requested Warner-Lambert to withdraw Rezulin. But this remedial action came too late to suit Dr. Sidney Wolfe, of the Naderite group Public Citizen. He immediately criticized the FDA for having approved the drug in the first place. He argued that since FDA’s fast-track procedure was initiated, dangerous drugs have been unleashed on the American public, injuring patients. He went on to note that if the agency had acted earlier, as had authorities in Britain, some patients would still be alive.

But many diabetics would be sicker, or dead, without Rezulin, given that its two alternatives were not available in 1997 and 1998. That’s the real lesson — Rezulin’s unique benefits justified its risks. The risk-benefit ratio is as paramount when the FDA evaluates a medicine, as it is when a physician prescribes one. The enviable health and longevity of the American people is in large measure attributable to the professionalism and responsibility of the FDA in evaluating our pharmaceuticals. Of the more than 500 drugs approved since 1980, only 15 (or slightly more than 2 percent) have been withdrawn.

The FDA rightly stands by its approval process on Rezulin. The agency asserts what should be self-evident, even to those aiming at sensation rather than truth: all side effects of a drug cannot possibly be detected in the small-scale clinical trials that precede mass marketing. Rezulin was tested on 2,500 patients before release, and severe liver damage was not detected. Officials of the FDA’s Clinical Drug Evaluation Center pointed out that Rezulin would not have been withdrawn even now if not for the recent availability of the newer, safer insulin-sensitizer drugs. Even the most thorough regulatory process will fail if the appropriate safeguards are ignored when a drug is mass marketed. This is the responsibility of the treating physician.

To pontificate now that the drug should never have been approved amounts to Monday-morning quarterbacking, or “viewing through the retrospectroscope” in medical parlance. Ninety serious reactions out of 1.9 million patients is evidence of a job well done, not of dereliction. All drugs have risks, especially new drugs, and we often need the data from post-marketing surveillance to detect them. There are many drugs on the market more dangerous than Rezulin — it’s all about benefit vs. risk.

The withdrawal or restriction of a drug does not mean that its approval was inappropriate or the process shoddy. To shy away from releasing breakthrough drugs because of fear of unpredictable side effects would cripple the system that has benefited us immeasurably. The withdrawal of Rezulin during post-marketing surveillance shows that the system works.

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