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RE: Can you be just as fit, lower your resting heart rate, blood pressure and stress levels and feel great about yourself from both the outside and from within?…

Well Jon Benson believes it and has achieved it!

With Jon’s book Fit Over 40, you will learn to take back your life and feel like you did before the stress of life, the demands of families and the effects of aging have taken on your body, mind and spirit. 

The changes come from within but everyone will be taking notice!

http://fitover40.rxsportz.com

What would you do if you could turn back the hands of time?  If you could start your adult life over from scratch and be in full control of your body, mind and spirit in the quickest time possible?  Is there a better investment than yourself? 

"Fit Over 40 is like a cross between Body For Life and Chicken Soup For The Soul. This type of combination between how-to information and inspiration is what the fitness industry has been missing for a long time."
- Kostas Marangopoulos, Greece – Founder of BodyForLifers.Com

http://fitover40.rxsportz.com

Many have found Fit Over 40 to be the missing piece of their well-being puzzle.  This is not just for the fitness savvy but anyone who really wants to take that first step to their overall well-being. 

Get back the muscle tone you once had, add to what you’ve got or develop for the first time. 

Get rid of that sagging skin and soft looking body and rewind time!

Don’t just get a personal trainer and dread your time with them, let Jon motivate and guide you through a plan that you can believe in and make work for you !

Work with your doctor to help reduce the medication you take, or avoid going on anything at all. 

With a healthy heart and good blood pressure you can add years onto your life to keep enjoying everyday.

http://fitover40.rxsportz.com

If a longer healthier life is what you desire, the visit the site to learn more.  Fitness is not a fad or a trend, it is a necessity for all of us, especially once we hit that fabulous mark of 40 years. 

Follow the link and see how many people just like you there really are…

With your own research you will come to the same conclusion as everyone else (including myself) has….

…Jon’s teachings are just too important not to listen to!!!

To your success and wellbeing,

Arthur M.
http://fitover40.rxsportz.com

P.S.

Listen to what just some of the thousands of people who have followed Jon’s teachings are saying about him.

"Man, I can’t believe how inspiring your new book is. That’s powerful stuff-all those pictures, personal stories, and how-to, rolled into one package."
- Charles Burke, Japan – Author of Inside the Minds of Winners and Command More Luck

"This is not a book just about staying or being fit. It is a book which takes fitness to a much higher level than what we see today. A brilliant combination of real-life stories with messages and information about staying fit in body, mind and spirit. Read it for the priceless information, inspiration and motivation and use it to keep yourself fit forever. This is real dynamite material."
- John Harricharan, Atlanta, Georgia, USA – Award-winning author of the bestseller, When You Can Walk On Water, Take The Boat

http://fitover40.rxsportz.com

By The Muscle Nerd, Jeff Anderson

In This Strength Training Article:

Why something as simple as your rep speed could be holding you back from reaching your goals…and how one little change can help you shortcut your way to success!
BONUS DOWNLOAD:  2 Free Chapters from my book, "Optimum Anabolics" to show you how to build MORE MUSCLE FASTER…with a lot less effort!

Lifting tempo is the technical term for how fast (or slow) you lift and lower the weights during a rep.

Lifting tempo has a couple of other aliases, lifting speed and rep speed to name two.

A rose by any other name as they say, because whatever you want to call it, lifting tempo has a huge impact on your training success.

Neither speed is right or wrong.

Rather, different lifting tempos help you achieve different results.

What’s important is making a conscious decision to lift at a certain speed. Selecting a lifting tempo should be part of creating a training program.

To put it simply, high muscle tension during a lift is what makes for big muscles.

The faster your lifting tempo, the lower your tension. However, a fast rep enables you to lift heavier weights.

If you’re looking to increase sheer power and strength, you go with a faster lifting tempo.

A slower lifting tempo, as explained above, is what increases muscle tension.

To increase muscle size, focus on a slower lifting tempo.

In general, you want to let the weight down more slowly than you raise it.

Cowboy up—we’re going to have to take a foray into the world of technical terminology.

An exercise starts with you lifting the bar. This is called the “positive” phase of the rep.

It’s also called the “concentric contraction.”

On the other hand, lowering the weight (not surprisingly) is the “negative” phase and the “eccentric contraction.”

The positive phase is where your muscles are doing the work; the negative phase is where your muscles face resistance.

You want to come down slowly because the negative phase is the phase that promotes blood flow.

Increased resistance equal increased blood flow.

Why should you care about blood flow?

Because it causes “microtrauma.” Microtrauma, though ominous sounding, is our friend.

It’s what keeps your muscles growing stronger throughout the day, post-workout.

Ok, so I’ve been talking about “slow” and “fast” lifting tempos, but to put this info into practice, you’re going to need some definitions to go along with those terms.

Fast lifting tempo: These are the explosive-type reps. Use enough weight to really push yourself, but not so much that you can’t use proper form.

Slow lifting tempo: Ten seconds total. Four seconds up, four seconds down, and a two second pause at the top.

As Goldilocks wanted something in between the hot and cold porridge, so too do bodybuilders need a middle ground in order to use both lifting strategies to maximize size AND strength. 

For this I actually prescribe a 2-stage repetition that allows you to target ALL of your muscle fibers and benefit from BOTH lifting styles.

You can get my full step-by-step instructions just by downloading 2 free chapters from my best-selling natural bodybuilding book, Optimum Anabolics. 

Just go to http://optimum.rxsportz.com and look for the download signup form about halfway down the page.

So here’s the million-dollar question:

"What’s the number one reason people do not work out?"

Is it lack of money? Lack of motivation? Perhaps they lack the ideal workout plan?

Nope. It’s TIME. Or rather the lack thereof.

"We know that 50 per cent of the population doesn’t [exercise] and the most commonly cited barrier to exercise is lack of time." This quote comes from exercise researcher Martin Gibala, a kinesiology professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Gibala put his theory to the test in a study that was published in the Journal of Physiology. In it Gibala compared a group who exercised "traditionally" — 90 to 120 minutes per day — with another group exercising far less:  Only 20 minutes per day and only three days per week.

That’s a whopping one hour per week folks.

Did you know that Jon Benson’s "7 Minute Muscle" plan calls for only five 7-minute workouts with resistance training (weights or bodyweight) plus only 9 minutes cardio a few days per week?

And that actually works?  Yeah… you bet it does.

If you do the math, that’s about an hour per week as well.

This is the "Level 1" workout. There are three levels depending on your goals and exercise tolerance.

Find out more here —

http://7mm.rxsportz.com <— brief is best!

Back to Gibala’s study:

In just two weeks both groups showed improvement in both exercise performance and oxygen uptake. (Remember, fat burns in the presence of oxygen.)

The kicker is that both groups were almost identical in their improvement. Why? Because the brief exercise group trained with greater focus and more intensity — exactly how Jon suggests you train.

This is just one of dozens of studies that confirm the benefits of shorter but more intense workouts.

However, there is a catch:  Train too hard and you will shut down your fat-burning furnace.

Your body perceives over-exertion done over an extended period of time as a sign of pursuit. It can trigger an ancient hormonal sequence that says, "I’m being chased by a tiger! Horde the fat!"

The body literally shuts down what it considers to be unnecessary activity in favor of self-preservation. And guess what? Burning off those hips and love handles is not a biological necessity.

You have to learn when to hit it hard AND when to rest and recover.

Finally, you have to put yourself into the proper mental state in order to see greater results in the shortest period of time.

Jon devotes an entire chapter to putting your mind into your muscle to make gains faster than ever before in "7 Minute Muscle." You can read more here —

http://7mm.rxsportz.com   <— brief is best!

Just remember these three key points:

    1.  Time is the greatest barrier to fitness.
    2.  Workouts can be short and very effective.
    3.  The body goes where the mind directs.

Until next time, train smart.

Sincerely,

Arthur M.

If you’re serious about adding nutritional supplements to your diet and fitness program then your first step is to realize that this is going to be a monthly expenditure just like your car payment or phone bill.

And of course, you want to keep it MUCH closer to your phone bill than your car payment, right?

Let me share with you 2 EASY STEPS to saving a TON on your supplement bill…

Step 1:  Car…Phone…Groceries…Supplements?

Take a practical look at your MONTHLY expenses and first determine EXACTLY how much money you can commit to spending each and every month to help you reach your goals.

Ahhhh…what’s the matter?

Did you hear your wallet slam shut like a dungeon door?

Attaching a monthly “commitment” to buying supplements took all the “fun” out of shopping around for glitzy newcomers you see in each issue of the latest bodybuilding magazine, didn’t it?

Yes, it’s MUCH easier and exciting to get all worked up about the miracle new “fat burner” and whip out your credit card to look like the fitness model in the add 30 days from now, isn’t it?

And herein lies the problem…

Emotional decisions are what force us to spend more money than what we planned on sometimes worthless supplements…and then we’re left scratching our heads when the credit card bill comes in and we wonder how the current balance got so high.

Let me tell you…while establishing a monthly budget for your supplement purchases may force you to face the fact that there really IS a cost associated with them, most people spend MORE money on supplements by NOT setting a budget and sticking with it!

Bottom line…without a budget, you have no way of limiting yourself and you’re likely to overspend.

But setting a monthly budget can help you in other ways as well…

By staying within a certain spending limit, you’re forced to REALLY make rational, educated decisions about your supplement choices.  While the new “miracle” muscle-builder you were frothing at the mouth over in the latest muscle mag may be calling your name, once you see that it will blow this month’s AND next month’s protein purchase, it won’t be so magnetic and you’ll be able to stick with your tried and true supplement program that will take you MUCH further toward your goals.

Step 2:  Make Your OWN Supplement Formulas!

Yes, you heard me right…

There’s no need to pay such outrageous prices for name brand supplements when you can EASILY create your own recipes right in your very own kitchen.

You don’t need to be a laboratory scientist to do this…it’s actually amazingly simple if you know how!

Want to see just how simple it really is?

Here’s a 4-step process you can use yourself to create your very own powerful supplement formulas… http://supplement.rxsportz.com

Once you read this report, you’ll never look at supplements the same way again…

…and you won’t have to go broke in your quest for more muscle and less fat!

Arthur M.
http://rxsportz.com

By Brad Pilon, MS

http://eatstopeat.rxsportz.com

Carbohydrates and Fats have both taken their turn as the evil food that you should never eat, but protein is always the golden child that can do no wrong.

Or can it?

I think protein has been put so high on a pedestal for both weight loss and muscle gaining that you can begin to suffer from something I like to call “protein guilt”.

So what is protein guilt? Well I’ll tell you.

If you eat any food and especially EXTRA food simply because you think you need it for protein, then you have protein guilt.

I realized I had protein guilt a few years ago when I used to analyze every meal I ate for the protein content. If the meal I was eating didn’t have at least 30 grams of protein I went out of my way to eat something else to make sure I got my 30 grams.

This is a perfect example of protein guilt – I felt guilty if I didn’t eat a precise amount of protein at every meal. I couldn’t just enjoy food anymore, I could only think about the protein content because I believed protein was so important for burning fat and gaining muscle.

Now I realize that I was actually OVEREATING because I felt the need to get more protein into my body. I would drink an extra glass of milk or make sure I ordered double chicken breast when I ate salads, anything to make sure I was eating MORE protein. I was denying the fact that I was overeating just to get more protein.

And it showed around my waistline.

This is how protein guilt can sabotage your weight loss efforts, namely justifying overeating just to get more protein in your diet.

To this day I still struggle with protein guilt (I use it to justify my chocolate milk cravings) but now at least I can eat an apple without forcing myself to have some milk or chicken to bring up the protein content of that meal. Doesn’t this sound crazy?

I’m getting better for sure, but I still feel twinges of protein guilt almost every time I eat. If you’re anything like me you know exactly what I am talking about.

If you live in any modern industrialized society you most likely already eat enough protein without even thinking about it. Even though I now know better, this protein guilt still bothered me enough that I researched and wrote an entire book about protein just to ease my mind about how much protein I really needed to build muscle while losing body fat.

I know this sounds a bit extreme but this was the only way for me to get over my protein guilt. Fortunately for you I’m done writing the book and you can get the final answer about protein without having to do all the research and write your own book.

So if you want to find out how much protein you really need to build and maintain lean muscle and your fat burning metabolism, and if you want to know the TRUTH about protein supplements, post workout protein, and protein guilt, then you need to check out my new book “HOW MUCH PROTEIN”

****
Brad Pilon is a nutrition professional with over eight years experience working in the nutritional supplement industry specializing in clinical research management and new product development. Brad has completed graduate studies in nutritional sciences specializing in the use of short term fasting for weight loss.

His trademarked book Eat Stop Eat has been featured on national television and helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat without sacrificing the foods they love. For more information on Eat Stop Eat, visit http://eatstopeat.rxsportz.com

How much time do people waste just figuring out what they are going to eat, a lot! If your training hard in the gym and looking to build muscle, lose body fat, or all of the above; you realize how important it is to feed your body the right healthy food at the right times.

Then people say, “I don’t have time to cook 4-6 times a day!” Well, with the right amount of planning, you won’t have to. Having your kitchen stocked with the proper foods is essential to preparing healthy meals in minutes.

For your protein needs have your freezer well stocked with chicken breasts, lean cuts of beef, pork, and fish. Have lots of skim milk, and lean deli cuts of turkey, chicken, and roast beef in your refrigerator for additional protein. Combine this with a couple protein shakes and meal replacements, and your protein needs should get met.

As for sources of carbohydrates. Keep your kitchen well stocked with oatmeal, whole wheat breads, (multigrain if possible), different types of rice, white and sweet potatoes, as well as fruit and fruit juices for that post workout insulin spike to top of your energy supplies. Don’t forget to have lots of fresh and frozen veggies on hand for most of your daily carb intake.

With a well-stocked kitchen, even if you’re rushed, you can make a quick and tasty meal in no time. Try different recipe combinations by taking one of the above protein sources, frying it up in a skillet or on a grill, throwing in some frozen stir-fry vegetables (they come in many flavors), and add a complex carb source on the side.

Learn the "The Truth On Fat Loss, How To Finally Lose That Beer Belly" in this FREE report from Sean Barker at http://dadfitness.rxsportz.com. Sean is a Certified Personal Trainer and a proud and busy Dad. Sean has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 15 years and have appeared in High Performance Muscle Magazine, been on health and fitness radio shows and was selected as a sponsored athlete by one of the top supplement nutrition companies in the world. His popular Dad Fitness fat loss workouts have helped thousands of Dads around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 3 hours per week. For more information on the Dad Fitness workouts that will help you burn fat without spending hours in the gym, visit http://dadfitness.rxsportz.com

Yoga Day Canada, Feb 28: Well it doesn’t quite have the ring of Yoga Day USA, but yogadorks of the great white north can still have their own day of yoga awareness and free studio marketing too. Indeed, Yoga Day Canada 2009 is set for this Saturday February 28. Hadn’t heard about it? No worries, you’re probably not Canadian! If you are, go to the official website for more info on participating studios and how to get your free yoga on. [Yoga Day Canada]

Baba Ramdev 24/7 like 7-Eleven: Seriously? By now we’ve been conditioned not to flinch when hearing news about the Swamster’s next business venture – he’s already conquered the internet, the food industry , and has been a staple of India’s “faith tv channel” Aastha with his 5 1/2 hour yoga shows (Aastha is shown across 170 countries, with 20 million viewership). So it’s hardly surprising to hear about his new 24-hour TV channels (there are 2) to be launched in April, and frankly we don’t know what took him so long. The first channel will feature Indian and traditional music, like bhajans, and the second will focus on propagating the Vedas.  Next up for Ramdev? Political cleansing. [Times of India]

Pure Yoga Wall of the Living Dead: Sadly, the Pure Yoga  “green” wall that was once so plush and fancy-free hasn’t weathered so well through the winter. And now the poor thing is being choked by oppressive scaffolding. Damn you NYC construction! *shakes fists* We swear this town will be great once they’ve finished building it. And perhaps the green wall will be sprung back to life once Spring comes (provided upper east siders can still afford the luxury).  [A Fine Company]

Huzzah! Fellow yogadork and steadfast yogi blogger, Erica Rodefer, showed us some love on Yoga Journal’s  ‘Yoga Buzz’ blog yesterday. Big thanks to Ms. Rodefer for the shout out!

Read more about our new tee Yoga Is My Bailout.

From YJ Yoga Buzz…

Evidently, it’s Gwyneth Paltrow Day in the yogasphere. New York Magazine was also at the fundraising event last night and caught up with the Goop-y one on how being an uber celebrity is so stressful, why she speaks the word of yoga and her blase position on future plans as a lifestyle guru.

“I think what stresses me out the most is trying to do so many things at once all the time, trying to be a good, present mother, trying to act, to cook,” Paltrow told us at the Bent on Learning gala last night. “I do a lot at once, and I think that sometimes the idea of trying to do all of that stresses me out a lot,” she says. Also, there’s traffic. “Traffic really fucking stresses me out,” Paltrow adds.

Celebriyogis are just like us! When asked about venturing into the realm of lifestyle guru, what with her new Goop website and newsletter causing all the rage (seriously some people get so snarly about it), Paltrow simply states that she’s in it for the enjoyment and the only real business-y deal is a book she’s working on. So no Goop Mag or Goop Soup talk show in her near future.

We have nothing against the gal. She is just sort of… blah. Then again, it is slightly annoying that she recommends The Ritz as THE place to stay in Paris in her latest newsletter (as if).

What’s her favorite yoga pose? the humble cobbler’s Baddha Konasana “It’s the most painful, but then it gets me the furthest,” she explains.

[NY Mag]

Mrs. Chris Martin herself was the host of a big charity event in the West Village last night, where yogi celebs united to raise money for Bent On Learning, an NYC yoga organization. Talk about yoga in schools, Bent On Learning tends specifically to NY inner city public schools and youth centers, reaching out to kids who may not otherwise connect with yoga or meditation, let alone physical activity during the school day – many of the schools they work with do not have gym class – desks are pushed aside right in the classroom to make space. (we do have to note that they charge $75-100 per class).

While it wasn’t all celebs, naturally the only attendees who got the spotlight were Gwynnie, Christy Turlington, Russell Simmons and the mom from Gossip Girl (Kelly Rutherford). Oh and everyone’s favorite bald-headed electro-yogi Moby. Here’s hoping other loaded fans of yoga attended as well since tickets were $500 and tables could be snapped up at $25,000  $10,000  $5,000. Which was probably totally worth it as we heard there was a performance by the Slumdog Millionaire dancers! (see the clip of the magical end credits dance scene)

Intrepid reporters at Fox NY snagged some footage and snippet interviews from the event…don’t get too excited though, it’s what you’d expect from local newscasters:

Reporter: “Ommm. Are you guys Yogis?”
Anchorwoman: “Oh I do yoga”
Anchorman: “Yogi? heyyy Boo Boo…. blah blah yadda [trying to be funny but just being a dufus]”

Anyway, enjoy the clip of yoga celebrities spreading the good word… More importantly visit Bent on Yoga for more info on their honorable work.

[MyFoxNY.com]

Avoid a strength and weight loss plateau by changing the amount of weight you’re using and the number of reps you’re doing.

Get past those exercise plateaus from your About.com Exercise Guide

What’s your excuse for not working out? Find solutions to your exercise problems.

Staggered pushups are a twist on traditional pushups, adding challenge and intensity to the exercise. Learn how to do staggered pushups.

This Pull Workout targest the butt, hamstrings, back and biceps

Learn how to deal with the temptation of cafeteria buffets, late night studying and more from your About Exercise Guide

Learn how to change your training method and get past exercise plateaus from About.com’s Exercise Guide

When you start exercising, you probably expect to lose weight. You’re doing all that activity, burning all those calories…it follows that the weight would come off, right? Maybe…

Each week, people send me emails about their new and exciting fitness products. Some of them are a little weird but, sometimes, they actually sound promising. I love…

Hostile men may pack on more pounds over time than their less hostile, more laid-back peers, new research shows.

by Sean Barker, CPT

Old habits are hard to break. But if you keep doing these 5 old school exercises you will be breaking more than old habits.

1. Leg extensions- Unfortunately this exercise seems to be the extent of most guys leg training.  Probably because sitting down and pumping out reps of leg extensions are a lot easier than squatting down with hundreds of pounds on your back. 

Despite the "burn" you may feel from your upper thighs when performing this exercise, it is not a very efficient leg exercise as it only isolates the muscles above the knee. 
The only time this exercise has much benefit is in a rehab setting where these muscles directly surrounding the knee need to be developed for stability and strength. Otherwise opt for any variation of the free-range squat.

2. Behind the neck pulldowns- This is another exercise that I still see people doing in the gym. I cringe every time I see someone take a wide grip on the angled ends of the pulldown bar and start pulling it down behind their neck.

The angled ends of the bar are an outdated design and are not where you should be gripping the bar. This puts your shoulders and rotator cuffs in a very vulnerable position. 

Putting most of the stress on the shoulders and limiting range of motion away from the back muscles this exercise should be crossed off your list. Work on being able to do bodyweight chin-ups instead or at least pulldowns to the front.

3. Behind the neck shoulder press- Similar to the behind the neck pulldown, the behind the neck barbell shoulder press places your shoulder in a delicate position.  It is basically the same movement but by adding additional weight to the bar and pushing up in the vertical plane you are putting your rotator cuffs at an even greater risk of injury.

With the extra weight you can pile on the bar with this exercise, trying to even unrack the bar will soon send your shoulders screaming in pain. Switch to the safer option; the front barbell shoulder press.

4. Concentration Curls- Probably the most popular bicep exercise for beginners wanting to "get the pump" and get Arnold-like biceps.  It’s too bad a lot of experienced trainers still waste their time on this exercise.

No matter how many reps of concentration curls you do, you won’t get that bicep peak like the Terminator, as muscle SHAPE is genetically determined. Muscle SIZE on the other hand can be increased through basic movements that allow a heavy weight while using many muscles instead of isolating one smaller muscle.

Standing barbell or dumbbells curls are a better choice for bicep development, but better again are close grip chin-ups, which put a lot of stress on the upper arms while working many other muscles.

5. Crunches- It would be nice if all you had to do to get that ripped six pack would be to lie on the floor and pump out hundreds of reps of back breaking crunches. Despite what the infomercials want you to believe, this is NOT true!

You wouldn’t build your biceps by doing 100 reps with no weight, so why would you think you would develop your abdominals by doing 100 crunches or more? Your abdominals primary purpose is to actually stabilize your spine and to keep your torso from twisting in half under times of physical stress, not lift your neck off the floor.

Overall, the best exercises for your abs are exercises that allow your body to use your core the way it was meant to be used: for stability and support. Bodyweight planks, and compound exercises like squats and overhead presses will work your abs better than any crunch will ever do. Combined with a clean diet you might just see those abs looking back at you in the mirror.

…OK quiz time.  Do you see a trend with these 5 exercises?

They all involve sitting or lying down, (which we are all experts at already) and they work only a small section of muscle, allowing you to pump out endless reps without much effort.  

For you busy guys who want to get the most out of your workouts, stop wasting your valuable time on these old school exercises that break your body down instead of building it up…

For the Ultimate Workout Plan For Busy Dads visit this site: http://dadfitness.rxsportz.com

By The Muscle Nerd, Jeff Anderson

In This Chest Training Article…

Why 95% of the guys in the gym are short-changing their chest training…WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT! How a simple (but POWERFUL!) form change in your bench press can pay off with BIG DIVIDENDS in building mass on your chest!

Today, I want to share with you a VERY common mistake most people make when training their chest…

Ignore this info at your own peril!  The difference in muscle fiber stimulation is IMMENSE!

Here’s what I’m talking about…

When you perform "pushing" exercises like the Bench Press, most people don’t know where to place their "focus" and ultimately just end up instincively pushing the weight up in any form that feels "natural".

However, what happens to 95% of you is you end up using too much "front shoulder" and take a large part of the focus off of your chest muscles, leaving them short-changed on fiber stimulation for maximum growth.

Here’s how to overcome this common blunder with what I call the "Shoulder-Rib Lock":

1.  When lying on the bench (for a Bench Press), begin by dropping your shoulders BACK (toward the bench) as far as comfortably possible.

2.  Next, roll your shoulders DOWN (in the direction of your feet).

3.  And lastly, "puff" out your ribcage to keep it held high.

Consider this your "locked" position for the entire movement and keep your pectorals "aimed" high toward the ceiling!

You’ll be amazed at how much of a difference you’ll see in your chest workouts!

Oh…and what about using this technique for bodyweight exercises?

Well, these very same principles apply to the PUSH UP as well!

Just go through the same little "checklist" and keep your shoulders locked back and down while keeping your ribcage "puffed out" and you’ll see the same difference in your training (AND your RESULTS!)

—————————–
Visit Underground Chest Training at http://chest.rxsportz.com

There are tons of strategies floating around to keep students in their chairs, with some teachers pushing the boundaries of child abuse in their harriedness to keep the kids still. But what if fidgeters were allowed to reign free? Amazingly, The NY Times has a story about new “adjustable-height” desks that allow kids to stand and shimmy around all day while they learn! And the teachers are finding their students to be more attentive by embracing the natural fidgetry and allowing the kids to decide for themselves whether to sit or stand.  Wow, if only they had these stand-up desks at our dinner table growing up. Could not keep our heinies in the chair! (but who’re we kidding, we still can’t really).

Speaking of kids on the move, another piece in the Times highlights the key ingredient to learning in the classroom: everyone’s favorite subject, recess! Walks outdoors and physical activities have been shown to improve students’ concentration and focus, and even helping to quiet the fluctuations of ADHD. The theory is that, as humans, we experience “attentional fatigue” – and let us add that it’s compounded by a million in the age of the interwebs and mobile technology (did you just update your tweets?) So we can fine-tune the “directed” attention like concentration needed to complete a math problem by getting our wiggles out outdoors in nature. Any of this sounding  familiar to the YogaDorks out there? Directed attention? “Distractedness”?

So it’s funny we should come across all this today since we were about to write a post about kids yoga in schools. We’ve mentioned teachers trying yoga in the classroom, or incorporating yoga balls, and even the big to-do among parents concerned about using the word “yoga” for the exercises.

Here are just a few more recent examples of teachers finding the benefits of bringing yoga into the classroom.

Pittsford, NY: Yoga teacher helps school become ‘fit, relaxed, empowered’ Yoga teacher Heidi Kaufman has trained 80 staff members -including the principal – of French Road Elementary in the YogaKids program.  Armed with yoga kits, teachers are encouraged to use yoga as a “springboard” for creativity. [read more]

Severna Park, MD: Severna Park Elementary offers after-school yoga as part of the Educational Enrichment Program.  Says the PTA spokeswoman, “We were interested in yoga because of its relaxing nature as opposed to more competitive activities. In addition, it’s a way of getting kids to exercise after school.” Believe it or not, the program was started in response to parent requests. [read more]

Knoxville, TN: Yoga Program Started in Kindergarten is set to track students’ progress into 5th grade.  Now in its second year, an experimental weekly yoga class is already producing improvements in focus, but not without some heated debate from the peanut gallery. Check the flurry of comments on this one. It gets full into the Satan talk. [read more]

The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess [NY Times]
Students Stand When Called Upon, and When Not [NY Times]

Students at Holy Cross Elementary School must’ve been praying extra hard! This past Monday basketball superstar LeBron James made a special visit to the school, for yoga class! Yep, 26 lucky kiddles got to practice with the b-baller as part of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Fit as a Pro program. And they even got to use special Cavaliers yoga mats – (only LeBron gets his name on one though.)

The pics of the event are priceless. As is LeBron’s endorsement of yoga as part of his fitness regime, credited for keeping him on top of his game. And of course the Cavaliers program that promotes fitness and inspires kids.

We’ve heard of yoga in lots of other pro sports these days…football, baseball, golf…Other basketball yogis? The most famous Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Bikramite:  “My friends and teammates think I made a deal with the devil. But it was yoga that made my training complete,” he said in a 1992 Men’s Health article.  Right on. With Bikram though his friends and teammates were probably right.. ohh we kid.

Got to LeBron’s blog for more pics of LeBroga!

LeBron James Trades His Basketball for a Yoga Mat [NBA.com]

The banks got billions, but where’s your bailout? A stimulus we need indeed, and at the risk of sounding hokey, it occurred to us in a moment of clarity…Yoga is our bailout.

We’re so excited to present our first YogaDork offspring,
the “Yoga Is My Bailout” t-shirt.  Read More…

or order one now at the YogaDork Shop!

100% organic bamboo. 100% YogaDork.