This is an article I wrote for the upcoming Mayor's Newsletter for Senior Citizens:It’s no surprise that exercise is good for your heart, but recent studies show that regular activity also benefits the brain! Increasing the amount of physical activity you do, even by a few minutes each day, can have a direct improvement on brain growth and cog…[more]

Stretching can do more for our bodies than just increasing flexibility.  Take a look at the other good things that come along with it: Increased flexibility and better range of motion of your joints: flexible muscles improve daily performance.  Tasks such as lifting packages, bending to tie shoes or hurrying to catch a bus become eas…[more]

The effort is actually worth it!Benefits of Strength TrainingIncrease in bone mass: Strong bones increase overall quality of life.  An increase in bone mass decreases the possibility of osteoporosis, and helps prevent injuries that weaker bone structures are more susceptible to.Increase strength in connective tissue: Con…[more]

No matter what your age or how inactive you have been, you can decide to be physically fit. Even if you dislike vigorous exercise – or have tried and failed more times than you care to remember – you can make regular physical activity part of your life. The point is not to make physical activity an unwelcome chore, but to take adv…[more]

Perhaps the most difficult thing about maintaining a healthy lifestyle is the challenge of dealing with barriers along the way.We all have them; time constraints, boredom, injury/sickness, peer pressure, discomfort with exercise/gyms, lack of knowledge, etc., but how can we prevent them from stopping our progress?For example, I'd lo…[more]

Bike to Work month is May, and I encourage everyone to give it a try this year.I signed up for the YMCA's team last year.  You only have to ride 5 times out of the WHOLE month!  I rode a grand total of ... zero.  Sad, I know.  But here's the story:I moved to Seattle on December 29, 2006 from Memphis, TN.  Do you know how challengin…[more]

"I made no resolutions for the new year.  The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me." ~Anais Nin I may have made no resolutions, but I sure did make a lot of plans, do a lot of criticizing, sanctioning and molding!  I have an entire list of aspirations to better myse…[more]