Tag Archives: exercise

Y Is For Yawning – Why Is It So Infectious

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Just what is it about someone yawning that causes everyone around them to also yawn?

It’s just weird isn’t it, and it doesn’t matter whether you see someone yawn, or just hear someone yawn, you feel the need to follow suit and join in with yawns of your own.

The most amazing thing in my opinion is that you can be on the phone with someone who is on the other side of the world, and given just the merest hint that they are yawning, off you go with your own succession of yawns.

So why do we do this?  There seems to be no obvious reason, after all a yawn is just the effect of someone’s body telling them that they need to suck in more oxygen.

When this question was posed to readers of The Guardian in the UK, it triggered a number of responses…

When you yawn, you equalise the pressure in your middle ear. This causes a small, localised pressure change around you, which affects others in the vicinity – and therefore they have to yawn to equalise the pressure in their own middle ears.

Interesting theory, but I don’t really think that this could trigger a yawn in someone who is thousands of miles away.

I heard that infectious yawning was an instinctive survival technique, passing on the yawn from person to person meant that others had to stay alert as one was feeling sleepy.

I rather like this theory, since either the sight or sound of someone yawning could be the trigger that made someone else yawn.

It seems to be that yawning only triggers a response in those who are in empathy with you, and for some reason, autistic children who were shown a video of people yawning, yawned themselves less often than when they were not shown it.

Let’s face it, whether it’s the body telling you that you need to inhale more oxygen, or that you need to exercise your facial muscles, yawning itself is a phenomenon.

The fact remains though, the reason why others helplessly yawn in response, will probably always remain a mystery.

Are Wii Fit Yet?

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I have spent the last three years trying to eat healthier, to lose weight, and to get myself fitter, so imagine my horror when I got on the scales last week for the first time in several months and found that I had put on 10lbs.

YES TEN POUNDS!

I put a lot of this down to it being Winter, and with the dark evenings, the cold and ice of England, or if not that the rain.  Combining these together make it very unpleasant to take a walk after work, or even at the weekends, and what’s worse, the cold weather makes you want to eat more wholesome food, like stews and steaming hot dishes with lots of gravy.

The weight gain is also partly due to my new lifestyle, since I started a new job three months ago, and now instead of walking at lunchtime, as I used to do when I lived in Florida, I usually spend my time on the computer and write articles – like this one…

I am guilty too of having been addicted to Evony (which I wrote about in another article), and for the last six months of last year I spent far more time sitting at the computer playing an on-line game than getting out and exercising.

Well, it’s now 2010, today is the 1st February, and I want to lose those 10 pounds and more and to return to being a bit fitter again.

My fiancee bought us a Wii for Christmas, primarily so that we could use the Wii Fit package, but we haven’t really used it until the end of last week. She registered on Wii Fit and tried it out, and on Saturday I thought “Right, it’s my turn to try and do something about my situation!.

So on the Wii Fit Board I get, and go through the registration process and tests. My balance has always been fairly good, although I couldn’t walk along a narrow beam to save my life, but imagine my surprise when the results showed that my Wii Fit Age was 38! Not bad since I am actually 55!

I thought it best to start with Yoga, since stretching and pose are good for you, but I quickly found out that this is not really my thing. I need to get into this later as I know it will do me good, but when your body is stiff and overweight, it’s not exactly easy.

So I moved onto Muscle Toning, and this seemed just as bad as Yoga. By now I was getting a little frustrated, and so I moved onto Aerobic Workout, and here I found I could have some fun. I started off by heading Soccer Balls, which took some doing, since I was leaning towards them with my upper body and not changing my body balance. Doing the Hula Hoops is not something I can do well in real life, but I quickly mastered this on the Wii, even though my fiancee was laughing hysterically at my movements. I think she got almost as good a workout as I did from just laughing!

Off now to do some Step Exercises, which not having done this in real life I found a bit hard, until I was shown how, and then I was off. I think of all the Aerobics exercises I enjoy the Hula Hoop and Step Aerobics best, since they are not too strenuous, but you can feel the effects.

Finally, I moved on to the Jogging, which again is something that I have never been good at. Having been overweight all my life and not having the greatest knees in the world, this is quite strenuous on my body, but off I set, jogging on the spot in the middle of the living room floor, and the way that my legs were kicking out had my other half in hysterics again. Even on the lowest level, by the time I got to the end of the course my legs had turned to jelly, but I could feel the benefits as I was puffing and panting away.

“OK it’s YOUR turn I said”, knowing that my fiancee isn’t any better at exercising than I am, and so she logged into the Wii Fit program and set about doing the Hula Hoops. Well, I practically got the camcorder out it was so funny to watch. I wish we had both videoed ourselves, as we looked ridiculous.

She then tried the jogging, and I could tell by the time she got halfway through the course that she was puffed and about to give in, but she didn’t, and kept going right on to the end, but like me it left her out of breath for ages.

I will keep you up to date as we progress, and I know that this will help us to get fitter over time. It’s still not the same as being outside in the fresh air though, and fortunately the days have started getting longer, and it’s possible to start going for evening walks again, which we both really enjoy.

Do you have a Wii and use it for keeping fit? I would love to hear how you are using it and what success you have had, so if you do, please leave a comment and let me know.

In A Word – Blisters

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Well it had to come I suppose, I have been pushing myself all week to exercise more, and have been doing a good 2 1/4 mile walk at a fast pace every morning, with the result that I now have blisters forming on the balls of my feet.

I decided to slow things down a bit yesterday morning, which helped, my feet weren’t too bad during the day, but then I went on another 4 mile hike yesterday evening which left them sore again.  I was determined not to miss my walk this morning, but knew it had to be done at an even slower pace.  I also wanted to try and take a swim after, to make the most of my workout routine.

I lost track of how long the walk took this morning, but it was a while longer than the 36 minutes of the previous days, helped along with some more good music from my trusty MP3 player, today being a fresh batch of random songs from the same selection.

The walk starts and ends with going down and back up 6 flights of steps from my 7th floor condo, and within 10 minutes of having got back from the walk, I was changed and back down for a dip in the pool.  I managed 20 lengths, then back upstairs again, by this time just after 10am.  It really is nice to be living in Florida where you can do this sort of thing most of the year.  If anything the summer time is hte worst, since it’s just too hot and humid, even in the early morning.

I was feeling nicely energised after the walk and swim, and not very hungry surprisingly, so I made do with an orange and a banana.  I then set to on the internet, catching up with messages and postings on various sites.

Before I knew it, 1:30pm had come around, so I legged it downstairs for a 3rd time to put the sauna on, then grabbed a light lunch of cheese and tomato sandwich, my favorite since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  I topped this off with a yoghurt.

An hour later I headed down to the sauna, then did 20 lengths in the pool, took a steam, and another 30 lengths, before heading up those steps for a 4th time.   That made a total of 70 lengths in the pool, my daily record, plus I think a record for going up and down stairs.

I was going to have some homemade chicken soup for dinner, but didn’t feel like something that heavy, so I made do with some sliced carrots and ranch dip, followed by an apple and orange.

My day of working out wasn’t over yet though, as I went out for another walk to check out the opening times for the local Farmers Market and for a couple of items to Target.  I hadn’t been to this Farmers Market before, but Tim, who I rent from went today and got some real bargains, all important if you are on a tight budget.  We also discovered a nice park around the corner from the market, with several walks and lots of ornamental shrubs and trees.  I guess we covered about 2 miles in total.

So here I am at almost midnight trying to get my daily post completed before the day ends.  I have spent the evening trying to catch up with comments on my Squidoo Lenses and also on Tagfoot.   And so it’s almost time for bed, catch you tomorrow.

My Daily Walk

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This week I started my new regimen of trying to get up earlier and to take a walk to wake my body up and get going, prior to showering and breakfasting, just to try and start the day off right, and ideally be more productive.   I know that lying in bed, then getting up, grabbing a bit to eat, checking the internet etc, has led to it being close to lunchtime before I really achieve anything, which isn’t very good when you are struggling to write and establish an online presence to earn a living.

So this morning I managed to wake up just before 7:30am, quickly checked my email, and was out the door for my walk about 8:15am.

Monday I managed a really fast walk, covering the 2 1/4 miles around the block in 35 minutes.  I developed a small blister on the side of my big toe, so I thought for yesterday I would just wear a pair of open sandals that I have walked in before to give my toe a break.  Bad move!  By the time I got halfway around the block I had a blister starting under the ball of my right foot, and by the time I got back a matching one on the left foot.

I can usually walk a long way without developing blisters, but it’s the speed that does it, so today I wore socks and sneakers (as one should) and decided to take things at a slower pace, which worked out perfect.  It still only took 4 minutes longer in total, but of course walking a bit slower doesn’t burn quite as many calories.  Hopefully I can take another walk tonight as well to double my efforts, as well as a swim this afternoon.

Well when I walk alone I usually take my trusty MP3 player with me, loaded with my favorite tracks, and it’s set to play them randomly, so I never know what to expect.  Normally, every time I power my MP3 player on it starts at the same track, but if I hit the forward button it locates something new each time.  Well today I got Deja Vu when it immediately started playing “Highway Star” by Deep Purple., the same starting track as yesterday.  I said to myself “ok, this is a good driving rhythm to start me off even if it is two days in a row” and off I set.  The next song was a slow Country song, “She’s In Love” by Mark Wills, followed by more Deja Vu and another track from yesterday “No Se Tu” by Luis Miguel from the album Romance.   This was followed by another favorite of mine, “News Of The World” by The Jam, a great Brit-Rock band that you don’t hear too much about now, other than the lead singer Paul Weller doing covers on his solo concerts.   Next a song I really like, but little known, “The Mystic Journey” by Arlo Guthrie (remember him from Alice’s Restaurant?).  That was nice and mellow, but then another rock classic, “Love Reign O’er Me” by The Who from the album Quadrophenia.  Absolutely the best Who album musically, aside from Who’s Next which has all the singles that you still hear as themes to television shows like CSI etc.   This took me to the final leg, and the music switched again to Country with another favorite of mine, “My Next Thirty Years” by Tim McGraw.  This often has me thinking back at my life, and what the next years are going to bring.  And finally just as I rounded the side of the building, a long track that I would have to cut short unfortunately.  This is really little known except to Progressive Music fans who like PFM, “River Of Life” from their Live In Japan 2002 double CD.  You can learn more about PFM on my Squidoo lens about them.  It has a a number of video clips, including the full version of this song.

I added below a list of the track that I have on my MP3 player right now in case you are interested.  I think youwill agree that I have a very varied musical taste.

Getting back home I was feeling rather peckish, not really in the mood for Oatmeal, which although it’s healthy wasn’t going to hit the spot today, so I cooked Cheese And Beans On Toast, and English classic meal that works equally well for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Well this post is dragging on and so is time.  I have had so many interruptions today it’s unbelievable.  I hoped to have this complete by 11am, it’s now close to 3pm Eek! and time for my daily workout in the pool.

I hope you enjoy the music (most of the links have previews behind them) and I am interested to know what you think of the blog, the postings, or if you have a blog too and would like to swap links.

My MP3 Playlist

An Early Morning Walk

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I decided (see my last post) that as from today I need to start getting out of bed earlier, and to take a good walk first thing to get me moving and to start the day off right.

So I arranged for Debbie to wake me up around 7am this morning with a phone call, however I woke up on my own around 6:45am instead of my usual 8am.  Do you find too that if you need to wake up early, you don’t always need to set the alarm, your body somehow wakes you up at the right time?

I chatted with Debbie for a while on the webcam before she headed out for an afternoon appointment (remember she is in the UK), then checked some of my emails and Tagfoot messages, and headed off for my “hopefully” daily walk around the lake, golf course and nice homes where I live.  It’s a 2 1/4 mile route around the block, with 6 flights of stairs down and then up at the end, which takes about 35-40 minutes if I “hoof” it and make it a brisk walk.

Well I spent a bit too long chatting and messaging, so it was 8:30am by the time I left, but it was an almost perfect day, partly cloudy, a nice breeze, and about 70 degrees.

When I walk alone I always take my trusty MP3 player with me.  It’s about 3 years old, doubles as a flash drive and only has 512mb of memory, but it’s enough for me, since when I mostly use it, I am either walking or flying, and for both I really enjoy listening to a selection of my favorite tracks.  I have it set to play songs randomly, and although it always starts on the same song, flipping to the next I never know what it might play.

This morning I did pretty well, the MP3 player selecting for me a good driving track to start the walk off right, “Highway Star” by Deep Purple.  That saw me setting off to a good pace (I tend to change my walk pattern to match the music), and it was followed by a slower track that I love, “No Se Tu” by Luis Miguel from the album Romance.  Some of you might remember it as the featured love song from the movie “Speechless” with Geena Davis and Michael Keeton (Romance is a great album of love songs by the way, remade hits of the 50′s-70′s in the style of Nat King Cole, but in Spanish).   Then one of my all time favourite songs, “Cinema Show” by Genesis, from the album Selling England By The Pound.  They use a section of this on their medley of “really old songs” in concert, but this was the original, and has one of the best Genesis instrumental sections ever.  By this time I was 2/3rds of the way around the circuit, and the next random track was also a good one, “China Girl” by David Bowie.  Today I recalled the duet of this between Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in The Wedding Singer – a great movie.   Finally, for the last leg, my trusty music machine kicked out “Kill The King” by Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, which saw me along the straight, across the road, and up the stairs to the front door.

Home, I took a cool shower, made some Green Tea With Lime for later, and grabbed a bowl of Oatmeal for breakfast.

So how did you start your morning today, and what would be on your listening selection if you were taking a walk before breakfast?