Fitness News & Views
A Publication of Graham Fitness

August 15, 2010 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
In This Issue of ″Fitness News & Views″

Well, it′s August and in this issue I make my annual predictions for Carolina′s upcoming football season. But don′t place any bets based on my prognostications. My record since I′ve been doing this is pretty lousy.

We′ll also take a look at how concession stands at various professional ballparks and arenas do when it comes to passing health inspections. Not so good actually.

The hamstrings are a hard muscle group to work out properly. I′ll offer a few ideas besides the usual prone or seated leg curls.

Ever wondered what′s the difference between sea salt and table salt and if one is better for you than the other? We′ll compare the two and let you decide.

And what′s the single best thing you can do for good physical, mental, and social health? Here′s a hint: It’s fun and everybody loves to do it.

Kudos to My Webmaster

In the remaining space, I′d like to invite you to visit my website: www.grahamfitness.com.

I′m very proud of my site, but the credit for it is not mine. I use a local website design, hosting, and consulting company called Convergent Design. Bill White and his staff can design a great website for you and get you at the top of Google and other search engines for a fee you can afford. You can call them at 803-603-8276 or email billwhite@convergesc.com.


     If it′s August, it must be time for my fearless Carolina football predictions. So ready or not, here goes. This year, South Carolina plays a 12-game schedule that features Alabama, Auburn, and Arkansas from the SEC West as well as all the usual Eastern Division culprits. It′s a formidable schedule to say the least.
     On the positive side, this could be Coach Spurrier′s best USC team to date. The offensive line is senior-laden and talented. It′s basically the same line that dominated Clemson last year except for center where someone will need to replace Jeanpierre and Anderson. The receiver corps includes Alshon Jeffrey and Tori Gurley, both just sophomores, and the running game should be solid with Miles, Giles, and Maddox competing for time and top-prospect Marcus Lattimore lurking in the wings.
     The defense took some hits. Gone are Nathan Pepper, Eric Norwood, Clifton Geathers, and Darian Stewart. But the depth chart still reveals some solid players such as Ladi Ajiboye, Cliff Matthews, Devin Taylor, Travian Robertson, Melvin Ingram, Shaq Wilson, Stephon Gilmore, Akeem Aguste, Devonte Holloman, Rodney Paulk, and Chris Culliver.
     Still when all is said and done, the ultimate success or failure of this team will rest solidly on the shoulders of redshirt junior quarterback Steven Garcia. Garcia has the potential to be great, but before we can declare him great, he will have to prove it on the field.
     Carolina opens with a tough Southern Miss team on a Thursday night in Columbia. This is one the Cocks should win. Georgia is next at Williams-Brice. The Bulldogs will be breaking in a new quarterback, and maybe the good guys can squeeze out a nail biter victory. Furman follows and should not be taken lightly. Still, USC should add it to the win column.
     The next two games, separated by an open week, are Auburn on the road and Alabama at home. Auburn is beatable, but Alabama probably isn&primie;t. Then come Kentucky and Vandy, both on the road, followed by Tennessee and Arkansas at home. All of those games are winnable. We finish the season with Florida in the Swamp, Troy at home, and Clemson away. Florida is most likely a loss. Their quarterback situation is a question mark, but it won′t be by mid-November. Troy is a practice game prior to Clemson which could come down to a battle between Kyle Parker and Garcia. Let′s hope Parker fares as well against the football Cocks as he did in the baseball College World Series.
     So after saying all this, here is my prediction: Carolina registers victories against Southern Miss, Georgia, Furman, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Arkansas, Troy, and Clemson. They lose to Auburn, Alabama, and Florida to go 9-3 on the regular season. They finish second or third in the SEC East and go to a decent bowl game where they will hopefully make a better showing than they have in the last two years.

     Speaking of sports, if you′ve ever been to a professional baseball or football game, you know how expensive the stadium food is. But you probably don′t know if it′s safe or not. Concession stands don′t display their health ratings as restaurants are required to.      Recently, ESPN’s ″Outside the Lines″ reviewed health department and inspection reports on all 107 stadiums and arenas that are homes to Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, and National Hockey League teams. The findings were a little disturbing. Only seven locales registered no major or critical violations. They were in St. Louis (the Scottrade Center), Toronto (the Rogers Centre and the All Canada Centre), Ottawa (the Scotiabank Place), Foxborough, Massachusetts (Gillette Stadium), and New York (Nassau Veterans Center and Meadowlands Stadium).
     The worst offenders with 75 to 100 percent of their concession stands reporting major or critical violations were the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, and six others, all in Florida – the St. Pete Times Forum and Tropicana Field in Tampa, the American Airlines Arena and Sun Life Stadium in Miami, the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, and the Amway Arena in Orlando.
     The Time Warner Cable Arena and Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte ranked barely better than those in Florida. Both had more than 50 percent of their vendors in violation. In contrast, Turner Field in Atlanta had a pretty good score with 19 percent of its vendors cited.
     It doesn′t look good, but I wouldn′t get too paranoid. No mass foodborne illness outbreak has ever occurred from food served at a professional stadium. Maybe all the beer kills the germs.
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     Most hamstring injuries are the result of an imbalance between the quads (front of the thighs) and the hamstrings (back of the thighs). Most leg exercises emphasize the quads. These include squats, lunges, and leg extensions. Hamstrings are often overlooked, but they shouldn′t be.
     Most gyms have leg curl machines. They can be either prone or sitting, but both work the hamstrings in much the same way. In fact, working the hamstrings on a leg curl machine is similar to working the biceps by doing dumbbell or barbell curls. Make no mistake, this is an excellent way to exercise the hams, but it shouldn′t be the only way if for no other reason than it gets boring after a while. Of course, any exercise repeated enough will lose its effectiveness. So let′s examine some alternative hamstring exercises.
     You can start with simple hip raises. Lie on your back (supine) with your knees bent and you feet flat on the floor. Place your arms to your sides at 45 degree angles with your palms facing up. Now simply raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Pause then slowly lower back to the starting position, but don′t allow your butt to touch the floor. Repeat this exercise 15 to 30 times. Perform three sets.
     You can vary this exercise by holding a weight plate on your hips as you raise them. Or you can hold any lightweight object such as a rolled up towel between your knees as you perform the exercise.
     You can perform the same basic leg lift one leg at a time or you can increase the intensity by placing both feet on a workout bench and lifting, either with both legs simultaneously or one leg at a time.
     For a really intense hamstring workout, try a sliding leg curl using a Valslide which is a disc designed to slide on the floor. Place both feet on the discs, one disc to a foot, with your hips slightly off the ground and slide the discs toward your elevated glutes. Pause for a moment before returning to the starting position. With all of these variations, strive for three sets of 15 to 30 reps.

     Recently, someone in the gym asked me the difference between sea salt and regular table salt. I said I didn′t think there was much difference since salt is basically sodium and chloride whether it comes from the sea or the earth, but I said I would do a little more research on the subject and get back to him.
     Turns out, I was right for the most part. Sea salt of course comes from the sea and table salt is mined from underground mine deposits. Sea salt has more trace minerals since it is unprocessed. These trace minerals, though insignificant from a health standpoint, give sea salt a slightly different flavor and color. Sea salt is also coarser in texture.
     Table salt is more highly processed and iodine, and essential nutrient, is often added to it. The thyroid needs trace amounts of iodine to function properly, and that is why it was originally added to table salt. Today, most people get enough iodine in their diets from other sources, so it is probably not necessary to get it in salt, but it is certainly not a harmful additive either.
     So to answer the question: One is not better than the other. It′s really a matter of preference. With either table or sea salt, don′t overdo it, especially if you have high blood pressure, since too much salt can exacerbate the problem.

     About the healthiest thing you can do for yourself is to laugh. Proverbs 17:22 says, ″A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.″ And modern science bears this out. Here is just a short list of some of the medically proven benefits of laughter:
          1. It boosts your immune system by increasing immune cells and infection
           fighting antibodies.
          2. It releases endorphins in the brain which can relieve pain and increase your
           sense of well-being.
          3. It improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow which help
           protect against heart and cardiovascular problems.
          4. It eases anxiety and fear and improves your mood, leading to better mental
           health.
          5. It strengthens relationships and attracts others to you.
     In order to laugh more, seek out funny people, watch a funny movie or television show, share a joke or humorous story, or play games with friends. Some of the best laughs I′ve ever had were while playing games such as Taboo, Pictionary, Balderdash, or Trivial Pursuit with good friends. But perhaps most important, don′t take yourself too seriously. Try to find humor in the ordinary, even the embarrassing situations of life. When you look for humor in life, you′ll find it all around you.

     With that in mind, here’s a joke with a lot of truth to it. A woman spotted a little old man in a rocking chair on his porch, and approached him with a question.
     ″I couldn’t help noticing how happy you look,″ she said. ″What′s your secret for a long and happy life?″
     ″Well, I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day,″ he said. ″I also drink a case of beer a week, eat anything I want, and never exercise.″
     ″That′s amazing!″ the woman said. ″How old are you?″
     ″Twenty-six,″ replied the man.

Graham Fitness
Tim Graham
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Website: www.grahamfitness.com
Email: tim@grahamfitness.com
Phone: 803-447-8557

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106 Hillpine Road
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Phone: 781-2281

The Harbison Rec Center offers more facilities for less money than anywhere else in town These are just some of the features: a new weight room with all new machines, free weights, treadmills, ellipticals, and stationary bikes; a 25 meter junior Olympic size indoor heated swimming pool; sauna; whirlpool; racquet ball and tennis courts; a basketball gym; and miles of traffic-free trails for walking or jogging. There are classes for seniors as well as summer camp and after school programs for kids. Also newly remodeled locker rooms and an all-purpose room for large gatherings. All for only $315 a year for singles or $600 a year for families.












Wolf′s Fitness Center
5432 August Road
Lexington, SC 29072
Phone: 356-6400

Wolf′s is a total fitness facility offering some great amenities. There′s a huge recently expanded weight room featuring free weights and machines. There is a cardio area with treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, stair steppers, and the cardio theater. Other amenities include an indoor walking/running track, sauna, child care facilities with an attendant, tanning beds, showers, locker rooms, and sports supplements. Prices are very reasonable and there are no enrollment fees ever. Wolf′s also offers a full slate of fitness classes including kickboxing and pilates, as well as all new spinning classes .
Check out their website, www.wolfsfitness.com.