Star Trac P-TBT Total Body Trainer

Now you can have it both ways. The Star Trac P-TBT Total Body Trainer™ is the first machine to integrate strength training into a cardio workout. The product of Star Trac’s partnership with BMW Group DesignworksUSA, the P-TBT Total Body Trainer gets your heart pumping and your muscles moving like nothing else. Features: Soft Trac® pedals provide ultimate shock-absorbing comfort throughout the entire workout. Efficient footprint and approachable, stable platform with minimal step-up height for easy access from all angles. Star Trac’s popular adjustable personal fans create a more rewarding workout. User-friendly console features a large message window, motivational track, 8 user-specific workout programs, personal fan and multiple cup and accessory holders.

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Team 40/10

As many of you know (if you’ve been paying attention) I will be running the Turkey Trot with my husband Alex, my friend and her husband.  What I haven’t shared with you is the big picture…the big, giant, humungous picture.  Spurred on by my friend Julie (Turkey Trot partner), we have created Team 40/10 (we all turn 40 in 2010) to run the Chicago Marathon in October next year.  You can stop laughing now if you’ve been reading my Tweets that declare a personal best of 2 miles non-stop outside and a first 5K non-stop on the treadmill.

I am practicing the fine art of finding motivation to keep up my running workouts.  I won’t disclose the identities of my fellow team mates, but I will say we are a collection of 4 high school friends. We have all been to each other’s weddings, our kids have grown up playing together, and apparently we are all equally delusional. If I think long and hard about our end goal of surviving and making a good showing at the marathon, I get breathless.  If I think about how tough the first 5K on the treadmill was and multiply it by 9, I get panicked.  If I look at the faces of friends when I tell them of this ultimate goal, I feel embarrassed.

I am not a runner.  I will become a runner.  I don’t run because I enjoy it.  I didn’t run at all before this proposition.  There is a famous saying, “If you see Toni running you better run too because something/someone is chasing her.”  The point being that I don’t run for the sake of running.   I am now running toward a goal.  I cannot express fully what a huge difference this has made in my workout mind.  My focus is different.  I’m always looking to improve something about my run.  I’m looking to improve my speed, distance, heart rate, endurance, strength, and injury prevention.  I understand I am very early in the process and a whole slew of obstacles could and probably will pop up over this training year.  But…hold on to your hats….I am ENJOYING running!!! I don’t think I’ve experienced the rumored “runner’s high” just yet. I think you have to run longer, but I’m really looking forward to making small improvements every week so that I can feel that “high”.

Team 40/10 is a thing of beauty.  We share our workout logs, our triumphs and challenges.  We encourage one another and share tips and info that we find on-line or from experience.  There is something to be said for community.  Our little community has kept us honest with our workouts and kept us belly laughing at our dilemmas.  I am not suggesting to anyone to take on this challenge.  This is my challenge to you- Figure out what will give structure and focus to your workouts.  What will light the fire under your feet to get you up and out of bed on those dark mornings? What’s going to make it worth it for you to get off the couch and move with a purpose?  Will it be emails to a workout confession friend, a personal trainer, Weight Watchers, a workout journal, or your version of Team 40/10? Whatever it takes, figure it out and do it.

Now what you all have to look forward to is updates on the trials and tribulations of Team 40/10 in addition to the follies of the Kuhel family.  Wrestling season has just started for my Evan and Jared, Renee has returned to her Jazz dance class and Alex has a renewed spark to begin running. The stories are about to get very good, or at the very least, very entertaining.  I’d love to hear about any goals you are setting.  You can do anything. My immediate goal is to complete the Turkey Trot non-stop with Julie – vertical and smiling at the end. I’m off to add another 5K onto my running shoes – gotta report to the team later and I’m not prepared to fess up to missing a run.

Until next time…Live Well! – Team 40/10 ROCKS!!! – Toni Kuhel  

Cross Keys Gym Provides 24-Hour Service to Customers

    A 24-hour, seven-day-a -week gym recently opened in late October of this year.  Located at 611 Berlin Cross Keys Rd in the Shoppes at Cross Keys in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, Anytime Fitness is the only gym of its kind in the southern half of Gloucester Township. 

    According to General Manager, Timothy Brickner, the fitness center appeals especially to emergency responders because of the gym’s easy accommodation to shift work. “We have many firefighters, police officers, and Emergency Medical Technicians that joined our gym because they like the idea of being able to work out around their shift schedules.” Brickner added, “We value all of the emergency responders of the community and reward them with a 10 percent hero discount.” 

    Anytime Fitness prides itself on being a “specialized boutique fitness center.”  The most popular forms of exercise according to Brickner include cardio weight training and Zumba classes.

    Brickner believes that Anytime Fitness stands out from other clubs located along the Cross Keys Road corridor because of its dedication to customer service. According to Brickner, “We concentrate more on customer service and offer a more hands on approach in helping our members achieve their goals.”

           

medicine that damages more than cure

My cousin who’s suffering from Cavernous Angioma (story posted here) is taking Depakote to prevent seizures.   No one researched on the medicine until today.  We were all for what the doctor said – prevent the seizures from happening.  She has been taking this medicine for almost a month.  Days ago, my cousin was complaining that she gets extremely sleepy.  So, they went to visit the doctor again and he prescribed another medicine.  They bought it and my cousin was about to take it when they noticed a long list of negative side effects.  Only when I was advised by my mom of the first medicine did we come to realize how dangerous the previous medicine was (the second one, equally alarming).

 

If you check this page, you will see this list.    The following are the  common side effects:

• Shakiness (tremors) — in up to 57 percent of people
• Nausea — up to 48 percent
• Headaches — up to 31 percent
• Drowsiness — up to 30 percent
• Vomiting — up to 27 percent
• Weakness — up to 27 percent
• Dizziness — up to 25 percent.

Some other common side effects, occurring in 5 percent to 24 percent of people, included:

• Hair loss (see Depakote and Hair Loss)
• Abdominal pain (or stomach pain)
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Flu symptoms, such as a fever or chills
• Infections
• Double vision
• Insomnia (see Depakote and Insomnia)
• Indigestion or heartburn
• Blurred vision
• Nervousness
• Weight gain (see Depakote and Weight Gain)
• Back pain
• Coordination problems
• Uncontrollable eye movements
• Swelling or water retention in the arms, legs, or feet
• Memory loss (amnesia)
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Increased appetite or loss of appetite
• A fever
• Emotional problems
• Weight loss.

Serious Side Effects:

• Depression
• Signs of liver damage, such as yellow eyes or skin (jaundice)
• Signs of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), such as:

• • Severe abdominal pain (or stomach pain)
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Loss of appetite

• Worsening of seizures
• Low body temperature (below 95 degrees F), known as hypothermia
• Unexplained bruising or bleeding
• Signs of an allergic reaction, including unexplained rash, hives, itching, and unexplained swelling
• Suicidal thinking or behavior (see Seizure Medications and Suicide).

 

The medicine is for seizure prevention and yet its side effects listed that seizures can worsen.  More than that, the list is long enough for us to be doubtful whether or not we should let my cousin drink it.  I mean, would you let your child drink a medicine such as this, if it seems more harmful than useful?  The doctor sure knows what he is doing but it doesn’t mean that he knows better.  Yes, he is trying to cure/prevent seizure because this is the current main complaint.  He will find some other medicines when my cousin will complain of hair loss and then another, when my cousin complains of loss of appetite or the opposite thereof and yet another, when my cousin complains of loss of memory and the medicine would go endlessly.

 

Sometimes, it’s better if we just let  things be there rather than do something that could worsen it (cause more damage).  But then, it’s a matter of trying also.  But trying can sometimes be dangerous   (i.e. we will never know if my cousin will have memory loss/amnesia until she’s there.)

 

There are only two things to do now – take it or leave it.  Tough one!

 

(P.S.  We have not decided yet whether or not to push through with surgery.)

Nov. 11, Mile 11: Speed Bump

Over the years I’ve had fitness clients get blown out of the exercise water for one reason or another.  Only a few of the justifications I’m told are actually legit but most are just excuses they want me and themselves to believe.  When I hear an excuse from clients & myself I remember a poem that my husband was trained to memorize & recite in his college fraternity.  I googled it, turns out there are many poems they have to commit to memory for different purposes. 

Excuses (a poem you`ll have to recite if your Dean or a member thinks you`re giving an excuse to something) “Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent.  Used to build monuments of nothingness.  Those who excel in it seldom excel in anything else but excuses.”~ unknown   It’s Wednesday again…. the busiest day of the week in my world.  So I had a ton of excuses.  Not to mention my swollen knee.  But, like I tell my clients when they sprain an ankle, pull muscles, or incur other injuries… Stop seeing these things as Road Blocks to your destination/destiny.  These are only Speed Bumps to slow you down to learn lessons and habits along the way that you’d miss if you were going too fast.  Today is my opportunity to exercise creativity, committedness, determination, and the ability to shift.  Instead of giving up, today I altered and ran on my mini trampoline.   Walking Pedometer Steps Equivalents 1 mile = 2000 average steps (range 1900-2400) Did you know that jumping rope for 10 mins. is equivalent to a 12 min. mile?  Here’s a huge list of pedometer equivalents http://walking.about.com/od/measure/a/stepequivalents.htm   11 miles done, 19 to go.

Good Old LA Fitness

Went to LA Fitness for the first time in a W-H-I-L-E. My husband and a bunch of his friends go together so it was nice going with some people you know for a change. Julie and I have our first body pump class this Wednesday (after our rocking kickboxing instructor had an injury and stopped teaching) and I thought I’d go ahead and warm my muscles up a bit… I took it pretty easy and today I’m sore

It’s raining and cold so we’ll see if I make it out of the house this evening! Lol!

 

Interesting blogs

Here are links to some interesting articles I have come across recently:

The Hindu Push Up – a variation on the old classic

Eating quickly is associated with overeating – and overeating associated with…

The human body is built for distance – on a hot day a human can outrun a horse over a marathon

Moderate amounts of protein best for building muscle – over 30g may be a waste of your time

Baseball – head first slide is quicker – and more likely to result in your head hitting baseman’s/catcher’s knees!